Monday, May. 28, 1934

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When Commander Oliver Stillingfleet Locker-Lampson, son of the poet Frederick Locker, was host to Albert Einstein eight months ago he was so convinced that Nazi agents would attempt to murder the benign German scientist that he mounted a guard of gamekeepers over him. Lately the blatant manifestations of black-shirted British Fascist Sir Oswald Mosley have filled Commander Locker-Lampson with wild alarm. He rose in the House of Commons last week to introduce a bill that would not only deprive Sir Oswald of his uniform, but would strip the shirt from his distinguished mother, the very dignified Katharine Maud. Lady Mosley, who used to deplore Sir Oswald as a Laborite, now is his warm supporter. Presenting his bill to prohibit the wearing of uniforms for political purposes, Commander Locker-Lampson cried:

"Which is the most English, Disraeli or Mosley, who dresses up as a continental dancing master, who masquerades as Mussolini with his dirty shirts--Disraeli or the man who had to go to Italy for a name for his organization and to Germany for his bullying spirit? "Some people say 'Leave Mosley alone; he will never become castor oil king of England.'* Mosley wants to turn England into a Communist camp. He breathes Bolshevism at every step."

Only two years ago Commander Locker-Lampson had a somewhat Fascist organization of his own which wore blue shirts, tramped about to an anthem entitled "March On." How many Fascists he in his time had or Sir Oswald Mosley at present has is impossible to say. Only accurate gauge is that both succeeded in filling Albert Hall, which seats some 10,000 people, at party mass meetings. Cooler than Commander Locker-Lampson last week. Edward Tumour, Earl of Winterton, hoisted himself to his feet to oppose the motion. First he explained that, as foreign governments have discovered to their dismay, it is practically impossible to define a political uniform. Continued the worthy Earl of Winterton:

"The mere fact of bringing in this bill will have a bad effect abroad. It will lead people in foreign countries to think that this country is menaced by the sort of movements that are going on on the Continent. That is quite untrue. Commander Locker-Lampson has done a great service to Sir Oswald Mosley by the mere fact that this bill was brought in and by the advertisement thus given him. . . . Bill Smith of England is a very different person from August Schmidt of Germany. He won't let anybody walk over him, either in peace or in war." Not one of the 615 members of the House of Commons voted to bring in frightened Commander Locker-Lampson's bill.

*Last February one George Richardson, expelled Mosleyite Fascist, sued for damages claiming that the Mosleyites not only copied Benito Mussolini's Black Shirts but also II Duce's notorious punishment of forcing victims to drink pints of castor oil.

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