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OUl LONDON LETTEL - a-1

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OUl LONDON LETTEL a- 1 [From our Sptcial Correspondent.] Many smokers have confided to me that they have great difficulty in obtaining their favourite brands of tobacco, often trying half-a-dozen shops in vain. I have had the J came experience myself. The tobacco I smoke is-well, perhaps I had bettor not give the name, as I object, on principle, to free advertisement; but' for me there is no other "just as good." I hunt for the tobacco with an energy and a do £ :;r<d deter- mination which are worthy of a better cause. I daresay it is a shameful confession, but there it is. And, as I said, there are many others who have a similar aim in life. A certain cheap and popular brand of cigarettes, I am told, is practically unob- tainable. And they say—though, of course,. they may be wromg-tnat the coming Budget has something to do with causing this scarcity of tobacco. I do not say it is j I merely repeat what is being freely stated. It is, at any rate, curious that just when rumour began to get busy with stories of new taxes and increased duties ft began to grow difficult to get one's favourite "weed." Whatever proposals the Chancellor ot the Exchequer may make with regard to the in- crease of income-tax will probably chiefly affect those people whose incomes arc above the five hundred figure. If the rate is raised for incomes smaller than that, it is believed that abatements for this, that, and the other will make matters about equal. Many men now assessable to income-tax will, of course, be taken for the Army under the Man-. Power Act, and the Chancellor of the Ex- chequer will have to reckon with that fact in making his estimates. Among the sugges- tions of which there is nevej- any lack at this time, is one that penny postage should be abolished. This suggestion is made by a well-known financial writer. He declares that penny postage haa become an absurd anachronism owing to the depreciation in the buying-power of the penny. By doubling postal charges all round, he Kays, the Go- vernment would either get more revenue or save much labour now wasted on delivering unnecessary letters. In these times, when letters from almost every family in the land are going regularly to soldiers abroad, it would be difficult to think of any proposal likely to be more unpopular. The rumour that a number of the W.Å.,A.C.'B in France had been captured in I the German advance towards Amiens had very wide currency. The numbers varied a good deal in the different stories. Some people said hundreds of the girls had been taken, while others, determined to make the thing as bad as possible, talked about thou- sands. So widespread was the rumour that an official denial has had to be issued. There is no shadow of foundation for the rumours. There were no W.Â..Â..C/s within twenty miles of the firing line at any time. So much for that particular rumour. There have been others which have come to the ears of most of us. These particular rumours have been passed from lip to lip, and have almost cer- tainlv done harm in creating it. the public mind a prejudice against the Women a Army Auxiliary Corps. It is Matter for satisfaction that exhaustive official inquiry has resulted in clearing the W.A.A.C.'s from the shar-es made against them. The Com- mission finds that there is no ground for the suggestion of general iaiisconduct, and stateS its conviction that, with some few excep- tions, the conduct of the members wf the Corps in France has been upright and self- respecting. The b4, -t answer to the charges has been given by the Queen's gracious ac- ceptance of the position of CoNi-nandant-in- Chief of the Corps. There are indications that air reprisals are not much to the liking of the Germans. The people of the big and important Rhine towns, Cologne, Mannheim, Coblenz, Treves, and others complain bitterly. That German airmen should drop bombs on Lon- don and on English towns was all right enough, and the sort of thing we ought to have expected, when we went to war with Germany; but bombs on Mannheim and Cologne were n vastly different thing, and ought not to be allowed. From reports in the German pa.pers it is clear that, what- ever the German Government, safe at Berlin (hitherto) may think, the people who live in the Rhine towns are quite. of opinion that all air raids ought to be stopped. Their municipal councils are passing resolutions in favour of air raids being confined to places within the war zone. Strange that they never thought of doing this until their own towns were attacked. The new Man-Power Act gives enormous I Dowers to the Minister of National Service. I should not like to sly how many hundred year.9 we should have to go back to find a Minister holding such control over the liyu and destinies of the British people. It is a remarkable thing that this power should be exercised by a Minister who a year ago was practically unknown to the general public. "Otkcr Ministers have grown up in the House," says Mr. Tim Healy, "but the Minister of National Service became a giant oak in five minutes." Sir Auckland Geddes's rise has been no whit less sensational than that of his brother Sir Eric, though the lat- ter's would probably make a more exciting cinema story. Lately Sir Auckland has been more in the public eye than Sir Eric, and he has given proofs of efficiency and sagacity which make us easier in our minds about handing over to him our lives and liberties. Cesar Franck's great Symphony in D minor was the chief item in Saturday's Symphony Concert at Queen's Hall. It is a masterpiece, and becoming a fairly well- known one now. But its beauty is such that we cannot have too much of it. Sir Henry, Wood and his orchestra played it magnifi- cently, with that complete understanding which makes their performance of this and some oth-z works unapproachable. The same composer's symphonic poem, "Lea Djinns," was in the programme, the piano part being beautifully played by Mies Myra Hess, who was also a soloist in a -Jozart concerto. Madamo D'Alvarey sang two numbers very finely indeed. The concert began with a Wagner item and ended with the delightful liamean ballet music. A. E. M.

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