Sir John Reith, British Minister of Information, prescribed a good war tonic at a banquet given by the Cinematograph Exhibitors' Association at Grosvenor House, London. Sir John prescribed the wearing of white ties at official functions to eliminate the self-imposed drabness and informality through war-time conditions. Sir John told the gathering: "This is the first time I have worn a white tie since the war started. I congratulate you on making it a white tie affair. I think the policy of wearing a white tie is right and proper—and does us good." Incidentally, the dinner was London's first banquet since the meat rationing began and the six-course meal consisted entirely of unrationed foodstuffs. Sir John's advice was sound, Extreme conditions such as those engendered by a war on which the fate of the Empire stands naturally should eliminate any sort of extravagance or luxury, or any wasteful effort which might tend to transform comparisons between the degrees of burden shouldered by different classes of society, but they should certainly not be permitted to develop into a form of senseless and unintelligent restriction of normal activity, It has been constantly emphasized that the home front is quite as important as the battle front, and a strong and normal moral at home will add considerably to efforts elsewhere. A man in a white tie feels a dignity and responsibility based on the impregnability of social convention which may have no bearing on the magnitude of war production but does strengthen the social system on which the country's life exists, The Chartered Accountants, at their dinner in Shanghai the other night, stuck to their white ties and tailed coats as symbolic of the tradition and the soundness of their profession and long may they do it. It has long been a jibe, rather than a joke, that the Englishman in-the heart of the jungle or the desert dresses for dinner. Let him continue to do it. There are abiding social conventions which arè much stronger than the temporary fevers of war.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.