The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1942-02-27

that Of custodian Of the great seal,
which IT was essential TO afiix TO
state documents, to give them
validity.
Back in the 1905. when his sub
tects rebelled against King James
II and he had to scoot for CONT
mental Europe, he took the seal
with him and chucked It into the
River Thames. Lack Of It nearly
stalled the incoming regime until
a substitute could be provided.
Naturally taking care Of IL was
responsible stunt IN that era.
Now its nothing much but SYM
bolic sort Of ar office. Yet Z classes
as highly important In hereditary
kind OF a way. That is TO say it's
important If its incumbent is an
outstanding personality. If he isn't,
II doesn't amount TO anything con-
siderable, but, If he Is, it gives him
additional eclat. so to speak.
Well, Sir Stafford Grips Is.
Besides being lord privy zeal, for
whatever that may be worth TO
him. he also becomes the Winston
Churchill administrations party
leader in the house Of commons,
and that's a post Of genuinely capt.
tai magnitude.
Accordingly, he is due for bit
OF analysis.
Joined Labor Party
As son Of the first Lord Par
moor, he sought TO rate as an aris-
tocrat. He was only a younger
son, however, and nobody can tell
in advance how younger sons will
turn out Instead of remaining
sristocratic. young Stafford, who
hadn't had the Sir predxed to his
monicker then. tied up with the
British labor party, got into parlia-
ment and soon became so promi-
nent that presently King George V
knighted him. Hence the Sir
In due course the labor party ex-
PEELED him as too radical" and
anybody who is too radical for
those British laborites must be
radical in capital letters. The labor
ties, though, said that his radical
ISM had a conmunistic tinge. and
communistic tendencies aren't in
cluded in their philosophy.
Be that as it may, Sir Stafford
was lawyer, independently Of his
political activities, ard, as law
yer, he made so much money that
he retired from his legal practice,
saying he was tired Of trying cases
between mere Capitalists and capt.
talists." Possibly it's noteworthy
that he didn't tire OF It until after
he'd accumulated his own bank
account.
Anyway, on the loose again and
being entirely too industrious an
individual to hnd unqualified leisure
any fun, he got himself named as
British ambassador to Moscow.
Anglo-Russlan relations were
pretty strained at that iuncture,
and the probabilities are that Lon
don considered the Soviet capital
good place 70 dump him into, get
ting rid Of him at home. He was
pest TO his home government even
there, though, with his everlasting
ciamoring for better terms between
It and the con1munistic crowd.
Then, all at once, what should
break out but war between the
Nazis and the Sovietsi-and Rus
s.a, automatically, became over
night, Britain's ally.
His Stock Scars
The Soviet aggregation already
liked Sir STAFF personally, for he'd
been sympathizing with them. He
was the ideal chap to fix things up,
and he did II in classy shape. Be-
tween sunrise and sunset he
bounced from deuce to ace high in
London's estimation.
He was so valuable 10 John Bull,
r short, that he couldn't be spared
any longer as far away as Moscow,
and, as soon as he'd cemented the
Anglo-Russian tie. had to be
brought back to headquarters for
his present lord privy sealership.
and the Churchill leadership in
the house Of commons. The bet
ting Is that he'll get the peerage
shortly-will become a viscount or
an earl or duke or some such
title
Prime Minister Churchill made
several other changes among his
advisers, simultaneously with his
appointment Of Sir staff 10 his lord
privy sealership. Some were Of
lively interest in Washington. Some
weren't especially so. One in the