A Spectator's Notebook
THERE are certain public servants for whom there is
no statutory office, but whose service is none the less indispensable. One is the Public Orator—the man who can put into words what a nation feels, and interpret it to itself. The task may be performed by a writer, but the spoken word is more dramatic than the written word, and perhaps—especially in these days of broadcasting—it carries further. The post may be filled by a Politician, but it is better on the whole to keep it free from party affilia- tions. Lord Rosebery for some years was pre-eminently t he -Public Orator of Britain, saying the right word on the great occasion, and Mr. Baldwin at various times has been accredited to the office. Its occupant need not be a great orator : the vital thing is that his mind should be attuned to that of the nation, and that he should be able to give the lead which the nation 'demands. To-day the duty is perfectly performed by the Prince of Wales. His speech on personal service last week at the Albert Hall had far more than the authority of his great position. It was the speech of one who can make explicit the instincts of his countrymen. * * * * .
Another invaluable unofficial post is that of "handy- man," the public servant whose mind is so keen and elliatic that he can be set to pat order and common sense into any tangle of technicalities. The occupant should be the right kind of lawyer, what Pleydell in Guy Mannering described as "not a mechanic but an architect." Lord Macmillan is our supreme example to-day. He has already presided with success over the most diverse Commissions, and now he has taken over the chairmanship of a Committee appointed to codify and simplify Income Tax law. The work is long overdue. Dozens of statutes, hundreds of judgements in the courts, and a consistent practice of legislation by reference have made the subject a by-word for confusion. Chancellors of the Exchequer have had dreams of reform— Mr. Asquith, when he took office in 1906, had such a dream —but the weight of their day-to-day duties has always prevented them.. The first Lord Esher once described the system as "enough to puzzle one's head off " ; Lord Esher was not easily puzzled, and that was forty years ago, and the ease is worse to-day. The first requirement of a revenue system is that it should becomparatively simple and intelligible. Really simple it perhaps can never be, for the subject is complex and simplicity could only be purchased at the cost of adequacy. But there is no reason why it should not be intelligible, and without intelligibility there can be no certainty.
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It seems a far cry from the Restoration to the Y.W.C.A. The collection of objects of the first now being exhibited on behalf of the second has a pleasant austerity to eyes a little dazzled by the exuberance of French art at Burlington House. Among the treasures displayed are pictures, miniatures, needlework, jewellery, and a carved birdcage, in which Lady Castlemaine might have imprisoned her singing birds. It was disappointing to find only an inferior portrait of that beguiling lady, but there is a robust Nell Gwynne, and an exquisite presentment of the Duchess cf Orkans, Charles's sister, the Mere Minene of his adoring epistles. But I liked best a captivating picture of that most charming of letter-writers, Dorothy Osborne.
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A few weeks ago Sir Leonard Hill argued that animals subjected to an air pressure the same as that of the top of Mount Everest showed no progressive acclimatization, hut on the contrary, a steady degeneration of the principal organs. His conclusion was that Everest could only be conquered by a rush from a fairly low base camp. This is, obviously, a question of the first importance for mountaineers, for on its decision will depend the:strategy of the next attempt. Mr. Odell, with the authority ,a practical experience, has provided an answer which seems to me convincing. Herr Bauer's party on Kanchenjunga were able to ascend at the speed of 650 feet an hour at an altitude of 26,000 feet without suffering any organic degeneration. On the, last Everest expedition the men in the highest camps did not deteriorate beyond a slight loss in weight. He explains the result of the experiment on animals by the fact that they were .passive and had no active exertion to assist their acclimatization; an airman who has to sit still suffers the same thing at comparatively low altitudes. His conclusion is that for the conquest of the highest mountains " siege " methods and not " rush " methods are the more hopeful tactics. But human constitutions differ, and it is
important to find men who can be acclimatized. - * * * * The Colonial Service was recast two years ago by a strong Commission, and now it is announced that the Malayan and Hong Kong cadetships, formerly only obtainable through the annual Civil Service competitive examination, are to be brought inside it. Only Ceylon, of the colonies, stands out, and Ceylon no doubt will follow. The attractions of the Colonial Service Alt Verir real, as is shown by the large number of yeiting men at the Universities who desire to make it their profession. The absence of an examination enables a nun' to be selected on wider grounds than mere attainments in scholarship ; proficiency in mathematics or classics obviously gives no guarantee that the applicant will be a good district officer. As compared with the 'Indian Civil Service, there is the advantage that the members arc all of one race, and that there is a provision for bringing overseas officials back periodically for a term]. of service at home. To prevent people being stuck in a remote corner there is a time limit to any man's duty in a particular colony, unless he desires to remain. The leave regulations arc generous, and the plums of the Service are confined to the Service. The technical side is of special interest, for it offers an opportunity to every kind of scientific talent. It is too little recognized that the chief problems of the modern Colonial Empire are problems of applied science.
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Our habits to-day have made connoisseurship in wine a rare thing. I find few younger men who possess what used to be part of a liberal education, some apprecia- tion of those classic vintages, the names of which read like the names of Napoleon's marshals or Charlemagne's peers. When Professor Saintsbury and Mr. *Hoe arc gathered to their fathers who will remain to hymn those sweet symphonies? But the habit, of cocktails- which to me arc what port was to Walter. Scott, a "',dia- agreeable kind of medicine "—has one 'advantage, The cocktail party seems a most rational form. of enter- tainment. It -fills up one of the spiritless hours between tea and dinner. It costs little, it has no formality, and it enables one to see a multitude of friends, for busY people cannot get away from work earlier. My only grievance is against the name, which has an ugly, raffish flavour. Could we not borrow from France and re- christen this pleasant interlude " rheure de ruperitir ? But perhaps familiarity will work its cure. After all, there was a time when "coffee" and even "chocolate" had a rakish sound -to old--fashioned CAM 'AtiSPEX4•
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