A “ CHARACTER."

Hokitika Guardian, 21 January 1924, Page 4

A “ CHARACTER."

BRITISH PREMIER'S .-ON. Mr (River bald's in. the lit tti •!. Prime Minister's Socialist mi. vialived ilia oret::rival i""ver- to uppm-e lit- fat her in tb-a ie -. i-b civ ; ie.o. ; - about to :ft out I >ram i her el hi ■ .be a •:,- ei on Bed with -lit tie- : ->tettu.-. lie has t rat e! had m men .nm 1: ,ri ii.ittolry exc.'tit Sealed.. mid Peiaml. in many parts of At>•: me. in the East. lie has su tie red r -p: • iinment at the hands of the Rol le;vi'. and Turks. In tin- drawing-room of No. In Downing street. Lore.ion, o owning recently he lohl a "Lou lot "Da.i'y New- - ' representative L.iat 1 ■ won;.; leave for a few day--, ami g i fir.-i to Paris. “After that my plat:- are certain. I just want to —e lan. oltr a [lairs :n'e going on. . 1 may ro la Brussels. . . or Italy. . . or Airiea. -Exploring:'”

“N;>; unfortunately 1 haven't tlio money.” Mr Oliver lialthvin is extremely pessimistic of England’s future. Tlio only place in the world where an Englishman’s word is of any value is in England. "Do you think Mussolini would have acted as he has if he thought England had .sufficient power to stop him?” he asked. Yet Mussolini's firmness attracts him, because he regards it as so contrary to England’s weakness. "Five Italians are killed by the (Ireeks, and within a few hours Italy is demanding redress. Mow many English men and women have been shot and imprisoned and tortured without this country lifting a little linger? Take my own ease: even out representatives did nothing." •DVINh IS XOI'IHXi; TO ME." ••\Ve -linn't have another war within the next lit minutes; hut it i- inevilabh l,i. lore long. ihe Teuton race is doomed. It matters nothing to me, ! am free and v.ito no ties; dying i nothing to me. But what about the marie..l men with salaries and a job to keep?" • -And the League of Nations?’ lie ■■A gigantic waste o! money, absolutely helpless, and run by men who do not know the Initt mul t,i a rille from the oilier. Theorists all of them, and helpless when faced by the facts. Mr Ha Ida in has joined the Labour IV,rtv. Some day lie hopes to run as all | mlep'-mieiit Labour candidate, lie • ays lie cannot ail'ord to J.n at present. !ls- thinks. lioivni r. i hut thl.al.nur Party represents tin. town view too much. "Not until it has cap lured more o! the agrteuhnr.il iut,:~la- say.,, "will it he in tie-strong position in", ary to ■■ in-res', ltd gov-

ernment. In my view, tin- yeoman larniei's ninl agricultural u,.ikcis aiv the linesl types in t!:i eon lit i y today.” Mr Baldwin has the family gift for suit horsliip. lie has just finished i, is lirsj honk- ;v novel with a purpose. ••!, illustrates the fall ol Western civilisation,” he says, ‘‘and should cii!ihi* st'iiip coni rov(‘rs\'. M A (-PEAT I’l PE-SMOKER. The Premier’s heir shares hifather's nnptilariiy in (he Slnurpnrt di -1 i'ii*l. where he i- neoepted us a "character." Like I he Prime Mini i-i»-i. lie i- a great pipe-smoker, and always "-niokes” his lather's favour iio pattern. 1!.- is a .'dim. got'd-looking. tv ■- iiiiiiinered young man, who is linppier. lie su\s. "amoiie: the aiwjivs imi re-i----ing oi din ary folk than in any dr.tw-iiig-ni'.in." lie an instiliahle seeker alter information as well as adventure, and InUi-ii'iiis villi anybody "out of the eoiiiinon." "I am I lie god-l'al ln-r ol a gip-v. mill proud of it.” lie declared. ”Y> Idle driving my ear across llartlehun ('oiniiu.oi I iivertook a gipsy rumiing in the direction of Stourpnrt. 1 slopped and iin 11! ire-i! hi. uimsuiil haste, lie wanted a midwife. I fetched one. mi l the grateful gipsy -turfed m die under his tent for the price of a drink. UI.IVEP P.Al.inVlX. THE (H PAY. No.’ I told him ; ’if your wifi ('olemmi." presents you with a soil name him al'ier lile.' And there he i>. a hare footer!, siiitrl'-hraeered little ra-eal. riilining ahout Hie eoininon. and ."*■ ion-in .• in ih'- name ol Oliver llaldwin

A few days before tlio interview Mr BaldwTu. was motoring to Chequors, when he encountered two out-of-works tramping along the Oxford-road. “I lunched with thorn by the roadside,” he said, “and had a delightful time. Both were old. One had walked from Wolverhampton and the other from Leicester, and the gave tun casual information about casual wards in the workhouse.”