Western Mail (Perth, WA : 1885 - 1954), Thursday 4 September 1947, page 8


í IW S R E E L

OATH OF OFFICE:

Th*. Prime Minister of Pakistan (Mr* Uaqtidt Ali Khan) signs his oath of

off let jtforo the Governor-General (Mohammed Ali J inn oh), ot the formol ceremony marking the transfer et power from the British Raj to the Dominion* of Pakistan. The ceremony took place in the Government Buildings, New Delhi, last month, when Urd andi Lady Mountbatten welcomed

¿ha now Goveffior-GeneraK

r

OVERSEAS Free India

:^feSS than three weeks ago-on August 15 . the; British Raj transferred its sovereign pocéis in India to two new Dominions-India aïio^: Pakistan-each with a Prime Minister and Já Ô!ôVèrnor*General of their own choice. So, wftfc * blaate of trumpets and world-wide

j^c^lmááóh, Iridia at last attained her freedom.

*r U/kái<- Ilia* <Pt-<»«ai4rttv* *YÍt*t¡+,6 rutila* W*f\%T* 'I* A *%A**

ï^ W£tttt that freedom means musí now oe per-

plexing those idealistic leaders who have fought iso tpng to see their ambitions realised. From ? the very beginning of the negotiations which ended in the partition it was obvious* that the dagger spot was the Punjab with its restless hordes of Moslems on the ; one hand and the iUercè Sikhs and more complacent Hindus on ÄOther. The division or the province ^art to india, part fe Moslem Pakistan^has >esutt tt. in more black .pages being added in Ja lew weeks to India's bloody book of history #hahwere written over a century.

, i À retort v looting, rape and murder-these are \ip&$ words in the civil battlefield that is the . |FMn jab iod&y Where indescribable atrocities

':are «-being perpetrated by Sikhs and Hindus oh Moslems and Moslems on Sikhs and Hindus. Hundreds of thousands Of refugees of all , castes, easy, orey to marauding bands, clog the ^.l^9%)ñvi«tel^l flight east br West to the sane* Ä homes in India or Pakis #fin Thus has free In£ia been bom.

Britain Taking lt

fJUST eight years ago what was then jocularly

referred to as the "phoney war" began-^ the war that dragged ¡ri; a whole world and engulfed more blood. ar»d treasure in its six sickening years than the insatiable gods of ; Mars or Moloch ever dreamt of. Britain was

the first to feel the shodk and for a desperate

year and more, she took^it unaided. "Britain can take it** was an Allied watchword; now, in the vear* of victory. Britain has to take it aT in

'ictory has brought l\ ons no relief (apar( from vtich minor troubles as blitzes and V-bombs) from the stern austerity of the war. To bolster her tottering economic structure the Attlee Government has decided to enforce r. ^re drastic cuts on imports in an effort to relieve the dollar expense account to the tune of £228.000.000 sterling a year. To do this

(among other surgical incisions) the micro-scopic meat ration is to be reduced from 1/2 to 1/ a week, while petrol will be available only for essential users, as it was in wartime / As for anybody contemplating a.holiday jaunt

' overseas: "After October i the provision ot

foreign currency for pleasure tîavel abroad wilt be wholly suspended." Plans to help Britain will be Considered by delegates from all British Commonwealth countries in London this month after the meeting of the International Sank and Monetary Fund on September il.

According to the Ministry of Food, the new meat ration will vary from time to time, as supplies become available and it is not expected that more than two-pennyworth will be canned nieat. Steps are also being taken to limit the number of. and the attendance at. public

GRAVE FACES ON IT:

britons, Foreign

Minister, Mr. Ernest Bevin (right) leaving the House, of, Commons with the secretary for Overseos Trade, Mr. Harold Wilson, after the second emergency meeting :f cabinet ministers called during the slimmer recess. The discus-sions were again connected with Britain's economic crisis and the progress of Anglo

American talks in Woshi»gton.

luncheons and dinners, so the Australian tax-payer may comfort himself with the warming thought that fewer Ministers from Canberra are likely to visit the Cold Country at his expense in the next year or so.

Millions of Telephones

RAPID expansion of Post Office Services in

Britain since World War II has resulted in the installation of 2,000,000 more telephones. The total number now in use is more than 4,500,000.

During the year ended March 31 twice as many new telephones were provided as in any year before the war and 2,500,000,000 calls were made in the year, an increase of 136,000,000 calls over the previous 12 months. The Post Office claims that there is delay in only 25 per cent of ali trunk , calls.

PERSONALITIES

Young Perth Artist

A BEWILDERED and excited 17-year-old

youth was in evidence at the recent ex-hibition of the Junior School of Art in the Newspaper House Art Gallery. He was Rolf Harris, of Bassendean-parade, Bassendean. With other young artists he had listened to the Lieutenant-Governor (Sir James Mitchell) open the exhibition with the words, "I am here today because I love young people," but he never expected to be the recipient of some of that regard.

Sir James became interested in a portrait done in oils and copied from a magazine cover. Rolf was the painter and he quickly offered the work to its

admirer. As Sir James

accepted it, the lad hesitantly mentioned that he had a great de-sire to paint the Lieu-tenant-Governor him-self. "Certainly," said Sir James, "I'll sit for you."

Quickly arrangements for four one-hour sit-tings were made and a highly elated Rolf went

off to make his pre-

parations. After about three hours of painting the portrait was finished. Rolf attempted to ex-press his overwhelming gratitude, but Sir James cheerily waved it aside, "Don't worry," he said, "It's only because you're so young that I agreed to sit for you; I love young people."

Rolf's grandfather, George R Harris, was a portrait painter in England, who visited Sydney in 1921 and was widely acclaimed in artistic circles there. Another member of the family, as Pixie O'Harris, writes and illustrates her own books for children. Rolf himself has always had a flare for art and less than two years ago began to use oils. Last year he was one of the 80 child entrants in the Australian Archibald Prize Contest with an oil painting. Materials have been almost un-procurable and much of the early work of this self-taught artist has been done on sheets of 3-ply wood or masonite.

When the Junior School of Arts was estab-lished by Mr J. A B Campbell, Rolf became one of those to benefit considerably from it. He obtained materials, guidance and inspiration from his association with other artists and

his work is steadily progressing. On Saturday he will show his portrait .of Sir James Mitchell to Mr. Campbell and students of art at their class in Perth Boy's School.

To most people in Perth, Rolf is well known

as a champion swimmer, who last year did well in school sports and State events. He is very popular at Modern School and takes a keen interest in most school activities.