MEN IN THE PUBLIC EYE

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 344, 27 January 1937, Page 2

MEN IN THE PUBLIC EYE

A STATESMAN: A JAPANESE GENERAL: A HISTORY PROFESSOR, AND A STAMP DESIGNER.

Mr Cordell Hull.i Perhaps the most outstanding personal achievement of Cordell Hull as U.S. Secretary of State is his success in winning the genuine good will and admiration of Latin-American Statesmen. While outwardly reserved and aloof, his inherent tactfulness and modesty, brilliantly displayed at the 1933 Pan-American Conference in Montevideo, won him the sincere esteem of the super-sensitive Latins. To Mr Hull’s intimate friends his mastery of the art of diplomacy is no surprise. They tell this story to illustrate his early proclivity in this

direction: As a young man Mr Hull was a horseback-riding circuit Judge in the mountains of Tennessee. One day, on the eye of a Court session, he was approached by an old woman. “Judge,” she said, “you’ve heard your father tell of being left for dead on the battlefield (Mr Hull’s father was a Confederate Captain), and how a woman took him to her cabin and nursed him back to health?" “Yes.” “Well, Judge, I’m that woman. I’ve come to ask a favour of you. My son is in gaol and is going to be tried by you to-morrow. We’ve got no money to pay a fine, and they’ll put ! him in gaol if he don’t pay. I’ve got no one to support me, Judge, if they take my son away. Can't you do something to help me?” Hull pondered a moment, then without saying a word pulled out his wallet and handed the woman £B. Next day he heard the case, pronounced the young man guilty, and imposed a fine. The fine was £B.

Professor R. M. Crawford. At a meeting of the Council of the Melbourne University recently the chair of history committee unanimously recommended that Mr R. M. Crawford, of Sydney, be appointed to the chair of history. The recommendation was adopted. There were six applications from abroad, and 12 from Australia and New Zealand. Mr Crawford is 30 years of age, and is a graduate of the Sydney University. At the conclusion of his course he gained first-class honours in modern history and English', and several scholarships, incitiding the Woolley Travelling Scholarship, which enabled him to continue his studies at Oxford. He was afterwards a master at the Sydney Grammar School. Two years later he returned to Oxford to fill the position temporarily of the senior tutor In history in Balliol College. At the end of 1934 he became lecturer in history at the Sydney University, and last year was acting head of the History School there. Mr Crawford will take up his duties at the beginning of February. Thp Deputy Chancellor (Sir John Latham) said he was greatly impressed with Mr Cr&wford. An Increase in the personnel of the history school was tieed'ed. It was quite impossible for one man to carry the whole burden and it would be a good thing if a second appointment could be made. The University was fortunate In having an Australian available who had had Buch a wide experience in the teaching of history abroad.

General Itagaki. A striking new figure is rising among the Japanese Army leaders. He is Lieutenant-General Itagaki, Chief of Staff of the Kwantung Army, which provides the North China garrison. A Japanese ofiicer said of him recently: fWatch Itagaki! He will shortly become a national, and eventually a world, figure.” He staged that the “Itagaki cult” was sweeping the army, owing to the General’s unusual magnetic power over .junior and senior officers alike. He is regarded as the brains of the expedition to the Asiatic mainland. In some quarters it Is openly urged that he should be advanced to supreme military authority at once. Others advocate that he should remain a “power behind the throne.” General Itagaki headed the army leaders who took part recently in a remarkable demonstration at TungChow, capital of East Hopei. East Hopei was one of the North China provinces, but has declared its independence. The demonstration was to celebrate the first anniversary of the province’s . autonomy. Although Tungchow is only 12 miles from Peking, the celebrations were reported to be intended as an open defiance of the Central Government. Mr H. J, Brown. A youth who was 18 last June played a part in designing the King Edward VIII. stamps. He is Mr H.

J. Brown, of Torquay. This revelation, made in “Gibbons Stamp Monthly,” indicates that it is incorrect to believe that there is a “close corporation” of designers of British stamps. It shows that there is no restriction as to who may submit designs. Correspondents have recently suggested in the London “Dally Telegraph” that there is a virtual monopoly in stamp designing which excludes the “unknown" or "free glance” designer. The "unknown,” however, has as good a chance as the famous artist. The G.P.O. committee of five, which may be reinforced in the future by a representative of the Royal Fine Arts Commission, examines; designs before submitting the best few to the King for his final choice. It considers each design strictly on its merits. “Early in the year,” it is stated.

"Mr Brown thought that he would like to try his hand at the job, and after considerable thought and experiment, evolved a design which has all the essentials of the one actually used. . . .” Features of it were the light and' dark shading, and the positions of the figure of value and the crown. The G.P.O. acknowledge that “certain features of Mr Brown’s design were used in the stamp.” Mr Brown is a member of the Torquay and Exeter Philatella Societies. He is a talented mathematician and linguist. He left Monckton Combe School in 1935 and is now a member of the Institute of Actuaries. Recently he started his career with a London assurance company. Another instance of G.P.O. impartiality was the choice of Mr Barnett Freedman’s design for the King George V Jubilee stamp. When his design was accepted Mr Freedman, who was then 33, had lived in a state of semi-starvation for years.