Correspondence
A LETTER FROM LIVERPOOL. [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]
Sin,—The opening of the annual Autumn Exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery usually coincides in Liverpool with a general awakening of activities after the lull of the summer holidays. The present year is the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Walker Gallery, though the Autumn Exhibition itself began under Corporation auspices some years before, and celebrated its Jubilee in 1922. The death of Alderman John Lea, for so many years the chairman of the Liverpool Arts Committee, removes a distinguished figure from the anni- versary celebrations. He was instrumental in bringing some of the world's greatest pictures to Liverpool, either by invita- tion to the Autumn Exhibition, or through purchase by the city for the Walker Gallery's Permanent Collection, and was well known in art circles in London and abroad. This year's " Autumn " has an international aspect in the exhibits by noted artists of France, Spain, Italy, and Sweden, whilst what is regarded as the " advanced " aspect is perhaps inure evident here than formerly.
In October the University of Liverpool installs Professor H. J. W. Hetherington, a native of Fife, as its new Vice- Chancellor, in succession to the late Doctor J. G. Adami. Professor Hetherington, who is only thirty-eight years of age, and comes to Liverpool from Glasgow University, where he occupied the chair of Moral Philosophy, has no easy task in following so able an administrator as Dr. Adami ; but the young Vice-Chancellor, in addition to profound scholarship, has a wide experience of life. During the War, after repeated rejections by the Army owing to his shortsightedness, he worked in a munitions factory in Sheffield.
When this letter appears Liverpool's Civic Week will be drawing to a close. Since Liverpool originated this form of communal publicity four years ago many centres have copied the idea, but judging by the happenings of the last few days Liverpool's efforts are still unsurpassed. The Mersey provides such a splendid backcloth for the able showmanship of the Liverpool Organization which—whole-heartedly sup- ported by the Corporation—exists for the purpose of adveitising the port. We have had Sir Philip Cunliffe Lister here opening the marvellously varied 'exhibition of commerce and industry arranged by the Liverpool Post and Echo ; we have had Lord Birkenhead as the chief speaker at a Civic Week banquet ; we have seen St. George's Hall—our finest architectural possession—wonderfully illuminated by flood lighting ; we have had the commercial exchanges and the local works and factories thrown open to visitors ;
we have toured the town in an old stage coach starting from the 'Angel Hotel,' in Dale Street, just as it did a hundred years ago, but accompanied now by the latest thing in six- wheel buses to demonstrate the advance in transport facilities ; we • have seen the pageantry of the flower-girls of Clayton Square ; we have witnessed a Marathon race round the city and we have had music—military, classical, or jazz —wherever we went. But it is the river and the docks that have remained the chief attraction. There have been thousands of applications from all parts of the country to go aboard the liners available for public inspection and the minesweeper, H.M.S. Dunoon,' sent by the Admiralty for the occasion, and it has been quite impossible to satisfy the whole of these demands. It proves that there is still salt in the blood of the British people and that even the inhabitants of the Midlands love ships and the sea.
The Air Display at Hooton Park Aerodrome, one of the chief events of a memorable week, was amongst the finest things of its kind ever seen in this country, in spite of appalling weather. Sir Alan Cobham and his historic machine of the Cape and India flights took part, and Capt. Sparks of the London Aeroplane Club carried off a well-deserved victory in the light aeroplane class.
As soon as Civic Week, with its demonstrations of unity and good fellowship, is over, Liverpool plunges straight into the Municipal Election campaign, which is always fought on party lines with considerable spirit. It will be interesting to see whether the Conservative Party in Liverpool can maintain its big majority in the City Council in view of the fact that the local government of near and far places like Leeds, Sheffield, Glasgow, Birkenhead, Manchester, Wigan, and many other boroughs has been captured either completely or partially by the Socialists. It is remarkable that in Liverpool, with its teeming population of riverside workers, the Conservatives should at the present time have 96 municipal members out of a total of 151, and that the Socialists can only muster 18. This year 23 Conservatives are seeking re-election, whilst tho Socialists have 7 seats to defend.
This week the Association of British Chambers of Corn. merce meets in Liverpool for the first time for twenty years, when every phase of activity in the commercial life of the country will be represented. The President of the Association for this year is Mr. Gilbert C. Vyle, and the Liverpool Chamber has as its Chairman Lieut.-Colonel A. Buckley, who was Parliamentary Secretary to the Department of Overseas Trade in Mr. Boner Law's Administration.
On the tenth anniversary of the capture of Jerusalem Mr. Raymond Savage, the author of Armageddon, will lecture at the spacious Philharmonic Hall on Allenby's campaign in Palestine. The subject is one of deep interest here, as it was from Liverpool's Riverside railway station that a large portion of Allenby's Army, including many Lanca- shire units, embarked secretly at the dead of night on their way to what proved to be one of the most complete military triumphs of all time. Other lecturers booked for Liverpool in the near future include Mr. G. K. Chesterton, Mr. St. John Ervine, Mr. Ian Hay, Lord Burnham, Lord Salvesen, and Miss Beatrice Forbes-Robertson.
Unemployment continues to present a problem on Mersey- side equally with other parts of the country. It is the mono- tonous hours of waiting and drifting about the streets in search of work that have such a soul-destroying effect. In an attempt to mitigate something at least of this side of the evil the Liverpool Corporation has opened, on the site of the old Adeiphi Theatre, in a closely populated working-class district, a large and suitably stocked reading-room in tele- phonic communication with the Employment Exchanges, where men can spend their time profitably without missing the chance of work. As news of vacancies comes in it is posted up, and the latest information is always available regarding labour conditions not only in Liverpool but in all parts of the Empire. This reading-room for the out-of-work, which is doing for employees what the Liverpool Newsroom and the Commercial Library do for merchants and employers, is the first of its kind in the Kingdom, but it might be copied with advantage by other large industrial centres.
Youa LIVERPOOL CORRESPONDENT.
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