Nothing Petty/'Properly Made"

Nothing Petty "Properly Made"

What does Edward of Wales think of the British "dole"? Officially no member of the British Royal Family has thoughts upon so controversial a subject. But in Manhattan last week one Alphonso A. Cella, genial proprietor of a flourishing Sixth Avenue delicatessen store, told the world what H. R. H. thinks of the dole.

To doubting reporters Mr. Cella showed photographs of himself and his sister Mrs. Paul Hippolitus, posed with British royalty on the liner Oropesa which carried T. R. H. to South America (TIME, Jan. 26, et seq.) "I joked the Prince of Wales about Britain having to resort to the dole system," said Mr. Cella, "and he came back with this remark:

"The dole is abused in England like Prohibition in the United States."

"The Prince also said he regretted the criticism of that part of the American press which regards his visit to South America as 'petty salesmanship.' He said he regarded Calvin Coolidge's appraisal of his journey as fair and authentic. Mr. Coolidge said [in his column] that it was 'properly made'."

Intercambio ComerciaL There was nothing petty about H. R. H.'s opening of the $20,000,000 British Empire Exposition in Buenos Aires last week. The public was excluded from the fairgrounds. By invitation only some 3,000 of South America's elite sat in the broiling sun in their best clothes while H. R. H. under a canopy faced the microphone.

The president of the Exposition, Sir Herbert Gibson, read his address with his back to the microphones, his front to the Prince of Wales.

Facing the microphones, H. R. H. began his speech opening the Exposition with an allusion to his father's visit to Argentina 50 years ago. He closed by recalling that 80 years ago his great-grandmother. Queen Victoria, after opening the London International Exposition of 1851, went home and wrote in her diary: "The triumph is immense."

Between these two allusions (a sort of Royal sandwich) was the meat--typical Edward of Wales' meat; sound and salty words he had probably written himself:

"In the course of my study of the Spanish language I have been impressed by the fact that the term generally in use in Argentina in referring to foreign trade is 'intercambio comercial' [commercial interchange]. That, to my mind, is wider than our own and gives a clearer conception of the essential reciprocity of trade. Failure to recognize trade as interchange, obstacles placed in the way of reciprocal trade, are perhaps the main causes of the world's present trouble. If, as we all hope, the response of the Argentine purchasing public to the appeal of the exhibition leads in some measure to a revival of industrial prosperity in Great Britain and consequently a diminution in industrial unemployment, reciprocal results of an increase in British consumption of Argentine meats and Argentine cereals are certain."

Handsome Amends. The New York Times, which fortnight ago gave away the secret that Edward of Wales and Prince George smoked U. S. cigarets while the rest of their party smoked British (TIME, March 16), made handsome amends last week by stating as an unqualified front-page fact that "The Prince of Wales . . . undoubtedly could be elected President of the Argentine Republic tomorrow if he wanted the position."

Sir Godfrey J. V. Thomas, private secretary to T. R. H., saw to it that last week he smoked long Russian-type cigarets of British make, although Sir Godfrey admitted that the tobacco in them was Virginia.

Exposition, Although not complete when opened (few expositions are), that at Buenos Aires last week was a most creditable performance. Featured was British transport apparatus of all sorts: cars, motorboats, planes, railway equipment. English jam, rolls, chocolate, pickles and crackers were also prominent. Wondering South Americans strolled through a "mimic London," admired the Tower, London Bridge, and something called "A Bit of Piccadilly."

Promoters of the fair, all British, were privately upbraided by Edward of Wales for not advertising it as an all-South America not just an Argentine affair. There is still time, advised H. R. H., to retrieve this stupid blunder. To the crestfallen promoters the Prince of Wales estimated that he personally had persuaded at least 2,000 South Americans who would not otherwise have come to visit the fair--no petty achievement for the "Empire Salesman" since most of those personally persuaded were potent folk.

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