Merit & Persistence

Twice a year, on New Year's and on King George's birthday, good Britons are rewarded by their sovereign with titles, promotions, ribbons, For at least five years British art dealers have awaited the honors lists with one question uppermost: Would Sir Joseph Duveen, Britain's best known art dealer, finally get his peerage? Sir Joseph, head factor of the firm of Duveen Bros, of Paris, London & New York, has done much to earn himself the honor. He has been lavish with gifts to the British Museum and the Tate Gallery. When young British artists accused him of unfriendliness to modern art Sir Joseph, one of the world's great traffickers in antiquities, handsomely turned the other cheek by purchasing the works of modern British and U. S. painters, writing a letter to then Prime Minister Baldwin and publishing a book which called present-day

British painting the greatest since Gainsborough. At least twice, apparently authentic stories of Sir Joseph's approaching peerage were printed in British and U. S. newspapers. Sir Joseph in 1931 purchased an estate in Kent (first house he ever owned) in order to play the part better and he is supposed to have postponed his daughter's wedding so that he might give her away as Lord Duveen. But something always happened. Theories for the delay were found in the fact that Sir Joseph has been sued three times for $500,000 for disparaging the paintings of other dealers (to settle the last one out of court cost him $100,000), and that the U. S. Treasury accused Duveen Bros, of mulcting the Government out of $5,000,000 in unpaid duties, accepted $1,080,000 in settlement. Waiting and anxiety were over last week. Right at the top of all newspaper lists of New Year's honors was Sir Joseph Duveen, at last a Baron of the United Kingdom.

Including 38 women, 563 people were honored. Besides Sir Joseph's five other new peerages were created, six men were made baronets. 28 were knighted, two men were elevated to the Privy Council. Among the lucky:

P: To Sir Thomas Jeeves Horder, 62, physician in ordinary to the Prince of Wales--a barony.

P: To Field Marshal Sir George Francis Milne, 66. retired Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Wartime commander of the British force in Macedonia--a barony.

P: To Sir Owen Seaman, 71, who retired fortnight ago after 26 years service as editor of Punch--a baronetcy.

P: To Sir Hari Singh, Maharaja of Kashmir, celebrated several years ago as "Mr. A." in one of Britain's best-known blackmail cases--a knight grand commandery of the Star of India.

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