Sept. 22.
Retired Presidents and Prime Ministers find in the huge sums offered by the Press for articl>s bearing their signature welcome mitigation of the asperities of the cost of living and, perhaps, a satisfactory substitute for that prominence in the public eye which is lost by relinquish mont of office, Mr. David Lloyd George and Mr, Winston Churchill are the foremost British exponents of this new form of journalism, Mr. Calvin Coolidge ig keeping up its American end and, in so doing, is getting himself into hot water owing to his imperfect grasp of the journalist's technique when discussing delicate subjects. Mx. Winston Churchill comes within a different category, it say be urged; he was a journal list—and_—soldier—before he attempted to scale political heights. Mr, Lloyd George and Mr. Coolidge however never served anything like a journal-antic apprenticeship. They came unto the profession from the clouds; they were not shot up from the inky depths of Fleet Street or Broadway. Mr. Lloyd George, of course, as a competent solicitor could, in the old days. make people pay for his Jucubrations. He did not, ever, have to experience the iting thrills of discerning ether the postman's knock brought a cheque or one of those hypocritical expressions of regret which Editors have the habit of circulating.
The fact remains that these distinguished recruits to the "trade" can command salaries and fees which make their newly acquired _brothers-inarms distinctly envious. It shows that the profession of letters permits itself to be toyed with by celebrities as other forms of art will not. If Mr. Coolidge were to paint a picture and endeavour to sell it at special prices he would be soon disillusioned. Mr. Churchill has attempted to win the art critics' applause but he never flattered himself that he could do s0 except strictly on his merits and, indeed, it is more than probable that he would have secured more praise if; he had been other than a distinguished personage. If Mr. Lloyd George bound himself to the brothers Shubert or to Mr. Maurice Browne to appear upon the stage, the contract might be profitable for "one night only." It could not possibly apply to a long run, The prospect of hearing Mr. Coolidge sing a theme song in a talkie would not create a single ripple on the placid streams of Hollywood.
Why journalism should thus permit itself to be exploited is something of a mystery. On many of the subjects dealt with by the nimble pens of Mr. Lloyd George and Mr. Coolidge there are other and abler experts who could be trusted to write with lucidity, probably more _accuracy and at leas cost. The explanation may difficulty of eres values in many forms of art. Maurice Chevalier, for ample, appears in London with a revue party on a salary of £15 a week and "flops" party and all. He conquers Hollywood and the world with his "Love Parade" and now London has to pay £1,600 a week to get him this" year to do what it would not tolerate a few months back, If Mr. Lloyd George submitted his contributions anonymously to Mr. Hearst he would get in all probability a pleasantly worded "rejection slip" signed by the secretary to the secretary of one of Mr. Hearst's many editors. The falsity of values is here revealed. It is no new perplexity. The boxer who makes a ecmpetonce for the rest of his life by enduring a few blows for a few moments, the light-weight jockey who balances himself like a fly on. thoroughbred streaks of lightning and acquires a bank balance beyond the dreams of any ordinary professional man, the much-divorced "star" who can wield the lipstick better than most and revels in Iixury on that account all illustrate the same conundrum. Perhaps the best explanation of it is that in reality there are no values—there are only contracts. If there were no Lloyd Georges and Coolidges there woul be no ghosts and journalists would be far wore off. As it is they can shine with the comforting glow of the thought that 2s they can write s0 much better than their mew colleagues they might quite easily have been greater Prime Ministers or Presidents,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.