CHAMBERLAIN
SOCIAL REFORM AND FOREIGN POLICY
THE STRUGGLE FOR PEACE
Mr. Arthur Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister from 1937 until this year, whose death we-announce on another page with the deepest regret, was born at. Edgbaston, Birmingham, on March 20, 1869, the son of Joseph Chamberlain by the second of his three marriages. The late Sir Austen Chamberlain wAs the son pf the first marriage. Their father deliberately planned that the two sides of his lifes work should be separately carried opt by his two sons. Austen was to be the states- man, Neville the captain of ind stry. Accordingly, after leavipg Rugby, Neville was sent to Mason College, Birmingham, a technical training school for commerce, which has since been' absorbed into Birrningham University. On. completion of this training he entered the office of a firm of acccountants. Meanwhile Joseph Chamberlain had lost'much of his capital in South American investments, and now, in 1890, was looking for recouppment to speculation. Hearing glowing accounts of the prospects of the sisal industry in the Bahamas, he bought a plantation and put his younger son in charge. Neville stuck to his task for seven years. By the end of the fifth year it was apparent that the enterprise was a failure. Nevertheless' Chamberlain, with a perseverance in the face'of disappointment of which he was to- give examples in the high places of statesmanship long afterwards, continued for twg years to try to retrieve the position. After his return to Birmingham in 1897 he was iMmersed for 20 years in com- mercial r.outine. Bpt he kept up an interest in public affairs through the Birmingham and Edgbaston Debating Society, and, as prosperity came to him, began to show. himself the heir of his father's enthusiasm for social bstterment in Birmingham. He rapidly impressed his personality on municipal governnient, and in 1915 was elected Lord Mayor. Social reform is a function of peace, and the Lord Mayoralty fell in times of war. Chamberlain, however, "plunged with energy into the special tasks of war-time administration, and showed a special talent for finance. In furtherance of the war savings movement he obtained from the Legislature the necessary statutory powers for the creation of a Corporation Savings Bank, which is still a thriving concerti. THE LAST WAR Efliciency, in the stress of the " man- power" agitation that followed the heavy casualties of the Battle of the Somme, was the watchword of the hour; and the name of the Lord Mayor of Birmingham as a possible ally soon occurred to the Prime Minister, who offered him the newly created office of Minister of National Service. Chamberlain acceptecl, and began his new work in Janiary, 1917. 'Iis dtity was to manipulate the available supply of lab our in order to supply the de- mands of thc War industries ; and that had to be done on a voluntary basis, against the ba7ckgrournd of compulsory combatarnt service, recently instituted for men of inilitary age. Not having a seat in Parliament, he could do little to influence the form of this legislation, and throughout his tenure of office he found himself attempting to execute a plan of whici the foundation wifs uncongenial to him. In 1917, after seven months of fuitility, and considering himself inadequtately sup- ported by the Cabinet, lie resigined, and went hack to commercial and mlilicipall life in Birmingham. Hc felt, however, tilat he had a political reputation to retrieve, and in the ' khaki " election of 1918 he was elected for Ihe Ladywood Division of Birmingham as a supporter of the Coalition Government. Dur-ing the four year-s of the life of this lParliament Neville Chamberlain, thotigh no great orator, hadl made his mark as an eitiiicnt representative of his father's policy. Boniar Law had taken note of lNim, and, when ilte ,.revolt of the Under-Secretaries " broke up thie coalition, wished to have him in the new Goverinment. Neville Chamberlain was not present at the famous Carlton Club nweting, being away on a holiday in Canada. fHis friends of the Birmingham protectionist groip, wlio were seceding with the Under-Secretaries and Mr. Bonar Law, attached great impor-tance to his adhesion, but feared that he wouldl feel it his duty to follow his brother into the wilderness withi Mr. Lloyd George. A poli- tical friend cabled to the ship imploring Neville Chamberlain not to commit himself before they met, arranged with Bonar Law to keep the office of Postmaster-General open, and went down to the port to meet the ship. After a long private discussion Chamberlain was persuaded that it was his dutiy to join the new Administration. That was the true turning poinlt of his career.
MINISTER OF HEALTH
Chamber lain was quickly promoted to the Cabinet in the highly congenial post of Minister of Health. But he was soon inter- rupted by the resignation of the Prime Minister on Whitsunday, 1923. Mr. Baldwin succeeded to the office, and not without considerable relictance the Minister of flealth transferred himself to the Treasury as Cliancellor of the Exchequer. He did not survive to introduce a Budget. Behind the scenes of the administra- tion a great controversy had been raging, and resulted in the conversion of the new Prime Minister to the view that the national economy, now settling into the doldrums after the illu- sive post.War prosperity, could no longer be satisfactorily carried on on the historic basis of free trade. The protectionists were con- fident that they could win over the con- stituencies, provided that they could first devote the autumn and winter to a campaign of propaganda. Their plan was that the Prime Minister should immediately declare his opinion, but not ask the House of Commons for more than a resolution in favour of the general protectionist principle, and should go to the country in the spring. Meanwhile the question'could be fully ventilated. To the consternation of Chamberlain and his friends, however, Mr. Baldwin insisted that his pronouncement in favour of the new liscal policy should be imnediately followed by a General Election. They predicted disaster and their prophecy was fulfilled, the Conservative Party coming h)ack in a minority to the com- bined Oppositions, and Mr. Baldwin's Admini- stration faliling to an amendment of cenisure to the Addiess. A year later Mr. Baldwini was back, but pledged not to interfere witil the system of free trade. Cliamberlain would have been inconifortatle at the Treasury now that the Cabinet had bound thiemselves to a fiscal policy its which htc had little faith; and at 'Iis own request tie rcttiurned to his old place at the Ministry of -Health. Durinig his live ycars at the Ministry of Hlealth Chamberlain passed 28 Bills through Parliament. Untler thie Chamberlain Housing Act of 1923 hotises were now going up in expanding numbers, financed by a judiciotis conbilhation of private enterprise and public assistance. and greatly helped by the grow'I of the btuilding societies, whicii owe more to Chamberlain than to any other states- man. He took up on a national scale his father's policy of slum clearance. He was closely involved with the passage of the Widows', Orphasns', and Old 'Age Pensions Act, whbic brought to fruition another of Joseph Chamberlain's favourite projects. But the most laborious tasks of his administration were 'the drafting and passage of two voluminous and highly technical measures, the Rating and Valuation Act of 1925 and the Local Govern- nment Act of 1929. These two Acts reforned root and branch and codified the whole body of municipa1 law in its administrative and financial aspects. On the defeat of the Conservative Party at the General Election of 1929 Mr. Baldwin en- trusted to Chamberlain the task of reconstruct- ing the Central Office. The process was drastic, and in the course of it Chamberlain created, under his own chairmanship, a research de- partment, charged with the duty of studying and framing party policy for the future. In that was involved the whole internal con- troversy over Protection. By the time of the Imperial Conference of 1930, however, Cham- beslain bad so far reconciled the differences that the party could once more show a :united front. Plans for a complete rariff system were ready. Meanwhile the publication of the May Committee's report was followed in August, 1931, by 'the collapse of the Socialist Government. The complex nego- tiations that followed were governed by the necessity for an assurance that ' the Budget would be immediately..balanced. It fell to Chamberlain who was in London while Mr. Baldwin was on holiday, to con- dpct most of the fin-ancial discussions, and it was largely due to-'him' that the first National Government was formed under Mr. Ramsay MacDonald with a programme of drastic retrenchment and increased taxatiotn while the tariff isspe was' eft updecided. In that temporary coalition Chamberlain returned to the Ministry of Health; but all offices were known'to be provisional. After Snowden's second Budget of 1931 had staved off the threat'of imniediate financial-chaos, MacDonald went to the country with the appeal for what, in the political jargon of the day, was called a " doctor's mandate." The Coalition remained pincornmitted on the question of protection or free trade; and when it came back from the polls with the prodigious majority of over 500 the con- troversy remained to be settiled within its own raniks. Free-traders and protectionists re- mained colleagues in the Cabmet; but Snowden left the Treasury on elevation to the peerage, and Chamberlain took his'place.
WORK AT TREASURY
STERN AND GRIM
Chamberlain's administration of the Treasury was stern and grim, in reflection of the harsh necessitie4 of the situation; but it ranks among the great administrations of modern times. Very early in its course he was able to gain from the Cahinet, which still included the free-traders Snowden and Sir Herbert Samuel, its consent to a compromise, whereby a general tariff should be adopted, but regulated at a level that should make it clear thfat it was imposed for revenue rather than protection. That did not satisfy the protec- tionists outside the Cabinet, bilt to Chamber- lain at least it seemed an earnest of the ful- lilment of his father's hopes. For the re- niainder of the year the Chancellor of the Exchequer was cngaged in carrying finan- cial reconstruction on' a vast scale. In the early summer lie gained a great proof of the extent to which confidence had been restored by his success in conyerting the ?2,000,000,000 of the Five per Cent. War Loan to a Three-and-a-lHalf per Cent. stock. Thtereby Chamsberlain was enabled to appro;tch the deli- cate question of the debt to the United States, which was threatening to wreckc the Lausanne Conference, With renewedl authority, and to arrange with President Roosevelt that, in con- sideration of a "' token " payment, Great Britain shoild not be branded with default. In the same year he le(d the English delega- tion to the Ottawa Conference. For the next live years Chamberlain was absorbed in the highly technical task of work- ing out the details of a new financial system.- The free trade Ministers left the Cabinet after the passage of the Ottawa Agreements Act at the end of 1932, and the five later Budgets that he introduced represented the fiscal policy of a united Administration. His speeches on those occasions were models of lucid exposition and marked hinm out for the succession to Mr. Baldwin, whose retirement from the office of Prime Minister was expected to take place immediately after the Corona- tion. When the time came there was no rival whom the King needed to consider. Cham- berlain accepted his Majesty's invitation at noon on May 28f, 1937. IBe was then the sole Parliamentary representative of the family tradition, for Sir Austen had died on March 16.
FOREIGN POLICY
Ilitlierto he had held the reputation of a dis- tingitished domestic administrator. Now, how- ever, all the most urgent problems before the country were in the foreign field, and the Prime Minister took them into hiis own special sphere of influence and ininiediately showed hIis mastery. lie had long been convinced that a radical change in foreign policy niust he accepted: that the failuire of the lIeague of Nations in practice to prevent or check the wars ii Abyssinia and ManciliLria listist he acknowledged, arid sonse new peace-makinig force called into existence to supply its place. I Ic set liimself the task of softerning iiiter- natioial aninmosities by direct approach to thse riulers of States with whicih relations were strained. lie began by a31 exchlange of letters withi Mussolini, ir which tIhe two statesnieli assured onse another-of the desire of their peoples for nittiual t'riendslsip. anid prepared the way for formal negotiations in the following February. But tfiere were still hitter nmenories in the counstry of the campalign of' aggression against Ahyssinia, andstrongfeeling against the breaches by Italy of the non-inter-vention agree- ment, and to some the proposal to negotiate withi the Duce before he 'iad given final satis- faction oni this scented a betrayal both of the League and of political principle. The repre- sentative of this view in the Cabinet was the Foreign Secretary himself, Mr. Eden: and a sharp clash in the council chansber between the old policy and the new brought about his resignation and that of his Under-Secretary, Lord Cranborne. Lord Halifax took his place, and, with a Foreign Secretary in the Upper House, the Prime Minister himself undertook to represent the Department in the House of -Commons.
"APPEASEMENT"
FAILURE OF SYSTEM
The system of " appeasement," as it came to be called, was launched directly into the storms in which it presently foundered. In April, indeed, an agreement was reacied witlt Italy on the insany subiects in disputc; bttt its opera- tion was postponed to the withdlrawal of Italian troops from Spain. It did not in fact conie into force until November, and in the meanwhile Chamberlain had been subjected to bitter attack by the Labour Party, botls for moving the League of Nations to recognize the Italian dominion over Ethiopia and for appearing to condone the Italian military action against what they close to call democracy " in Spain. But while these older animosities smouldered on, new and greater threats to world peace had manifested themselves in Central Europe. The German-Austrian Ansclulrss was con- summated in March by movements too swift and violent to allow Great Britain to make her influence felt. Chamberlain protested strongly, and refuted Baron von Neurath's claim that Great Britain had no right to be heard in defence of Atistrian independence; but, unsupported- as he was by any other Power, he was in no pos ion to act. The integrity of Czechoslovakia, now threatened, was guaranteed by our ally France, hut not by England: and Chaos- herlain told the House of Cqmmons tihat our obligations to her were only those of one menmber of the ILe-.gite of Nlations to another; nor would lie coitteiiiplate any further commitments. It view, however, of the lissatisfactiolt with thlis inegative policy that was expressed by nany of his own party. as well aS of tihe Opposilion, he conceded on Mar-chi 24 iliat, over and above ilte * auto- issatic contmitments of Gre:tt Britain, our ties with IFrance might bring us to her suppor: silould she he involved in war in consequence of discharging her responsibility to the Czeclhs. He made it clear also that British good o0ices would he freely available in the quest for a solition of the Czechoslovak problem, which Hitler was now about to raise in the form of a demand for contcessions to the German or Sudeten minority in the Republic.
IRISH NAVAL BASES
Before this controversy came to a head, Chamberlain made an agreement with Mr. de Valera for the settlement of the long-standing dispute witit Eire. Though the House of Commons passed 11w second rTading without a division,. it was severely criticized by Mr. Churchill because it deprived the Royal Navy of the use of Irish ports in time of war-a complaint that was remembered two years later. Meanwhile preparations were being made to meet the imminent European crisis, including the strengthening of the country's means of defence in case it. should result in war. The Prime Minister and the Fornign Secretary mt M ri DalMdier and M. Bonnet in London to concert policy; a substantial Vote fpr Air Raid Precautions was obtained from the House of Commgns; and persistent criticisms of tile lack of preparedness in the air may have in- fluenced Chamberlain in accepting the resigna- tion of 'Lord Swinton and appointing Sir Kingsley Wood to the Air Ministry. He refused to set up a Ministry of Supply, but .evealed that a Bill for compulsory military training was alrfady drafted against the occurrence of an emergency. At the beginning of August Lord Runciman left for Prague on the invitation of the Czecho- slovak cGovernment, to Teport on the Sudeten proble. Thopgh not an official envoy of the British Prime Minister or the Foreign Office, he was clearly marked as the. missionary of appeasenient. In spite of the intoler- a Mie manner of its presentation, the case for a revision of the frontier was in- herently plausible, and Chamberlain's diplo- nacy throughout August and September was directed to persuading: the Czechoslovak Government to make concessions. his hand was strengthened by Lord Runciman's report in the same sense; but front the German side there was no hint of willingness to compromise. A series of plans put forward by the French and British Governments broke down against the increasing truculence of the Nazis, and by September. 14 it seemed that war might break otit within a few hours. On that day Chamberlain surprised the world by himself seeking a personal interview with Hitler to try to find a solution of the crisis. The followipg day he was received at Herchtesgaden-in- cidentally travelling by air for the first time in his life-was treated with the greatest per- sonal cordiality, and returned to London to say that discussions had begun, and another meet- ing would shortly be held. Throughout these discussions Chamberlain was in a weak bargaining position, for which not he individually but the'framers of British policy over a long period of years, not except- ing the Opposition critics who had so greatly influenced it, were to blame. lHe now had behidd him a country still very ill-equipped for war; and he knew also that very little reliancg was to Me placed on the fortittide of the French Government. In these circurmstances he was forced to appeal to the Czechs for the utmost possible concessions, and so armed he met Hlitler again at Godesberg on September 22. Even now, however, he found the Fiuhrer's demands intolerably exorbitant; he could do no more ihan hand over the terms to the Czechs Without any recomnmendation for acceptance, and they were in fact rejected. Hurried conferences were held with the French leaders, and it was decided to support the Czechs in arms; and Parliament was sum- nmoned on September 28 in the presence of a German ultimatum, expiring on.October 1. War pn that day appeared certain. The Fleet was mobilized; evacuation of London had begun; and trenches were being dug in the parks.
MUNICH AND AFTER
HOPES DESTROYED BY NAZIS
Buit Chamberlain's speech was dramaticallv interrupted by the delivery of a message from the Foreign Office, to the effect that Hitter had consented to a four-Power conference the following.day. It was instinctively recognized that the crisis was averted; and in fact whenl Chamberlain and Daladier met Hitler and Mussolini at Munich an agreement was reached, whereby the two fornmer undertook to persuade the Czechs to a settlement by which, indeed, thev y must nmake grievous sacrifices, hut which, if honourably carried out by the Nazis, would afford a reasonable com- promise between the incomnpatible claims of the two races. To this agreernent was appended a separate declaration, signed by Chanmberlain and Hitier, by wvhich they pledged their cottntries henceforward to settie all their differences by peaceful means; and this Chamrberlain brought home to England, proclaiming confidently that he brought peace in otir lime." In the immense relief of tension brought by deliverance from the imminent threat of war the world was disposed to agree with hinm. For a little while he was the most popular personage in Europe: even in Germany his visits had been tritipilal piogresses. But the reaction was swift. A large body of critics held that be had been guilty of a pusillanimous suirrender to blackmail, and the bitter division of opinion has continued from that day to this. But the most violent denouncer of i Munich " has never indicated a practical alternative policy that Chamberlain. in his actual posi- tion as representative of a partly armed nation. could have pursuted. Ilis reliance on the Munichi declaration was not so great as to dissuiadle hint from taking immeeliate steps to pushi oan the national re- armament. Rec-riting for the Regular Army and the Territorials was pressed on the A.R.P. organizatipn was ftirtlier elaborated and a national register was opened. The great pogromil of November destroyed thel hopes of those who had believed it possible for civiliza- tion to absorb the Nazis. Chamberlain's visit to Rome in January. 1939. which produced little more than vague expressions of good will, may be taken as the last effort of appeasement. The overriuning of the remains of Czecho- slovakia in March showed Nazi perlidy naked and tinashamed; and, althougi the stroke was once more too sidden and devast;i1ing to give a chance of British intervention, no policv re- mained practicable -but that of or)en and intensive preparation for war. In a speech at Birmingham on March 17 Chamberlain roundly denotinced the breach of the Munich agreement: the Ambassador was recalled fron Berlin " for consultation ": and immediate steps were taken to find Allies in Eastern Europe, where it was expected that the next blow would fall. On March 29 he announced the creation of what would become in war- time a Minlistry of Supply. and on April 26 his intention to introduce comippulsory military train ing.
GUARANTEE TO POLAND
OUTBREAK OF WAR
Chamberlaini had now substituited for appeasement the policy of the " peace front." It was based upon an Anglo-French gtmarantLe to Poland, the country whose integrity WaIs most immediately menaced by the Nazis; this was then fortified by a reciprocal pact with Turkey and unilateral guarantees to Runmania and Greece. The system needed to be secured by the adhesion of a Great Power in Eastern Europe; and to this end the negotiations with Soviet Russia, which had beep for a long time pressed by the Labour Party and repudiated by the Prime Minister, were at last undertaken. But negotiations hung fire in Moscow: and in August, when the Nazi agitation against Poland was working tip to war pitch, Europe was startled by the announcement that Soviet Russia had concluded a non-aggression agree- ment with the organizers of the Anti- Comintern Pact. This treaty, the result, as presently appeared, of an auction in which the British bidders stood no chance against the Nazis, who did not scruple to barter away the liberties of the small Baltic States to gain their ends, finally wrecked the peace front and made war in- evitable. For 10 days Chamberlain, supported by the Pope, the President of the Upited States and otther great personages, made strenuotis efforts to find 3 peaceful sotilion ; btit there vas inever any relil hope, and the treacherotis bombardment of Warsaw an September I wA'ithouit declaration of war caused tinivesail horror butt no surprise. The timec had conic ior Great Britain to ftilfil her obligations, and Chamberlain took his course without lhesita- tion. thouigh a little delay wAas caused by the hesitations of certain members of the French Government. Onl September 3 Chamberlain himself, in a tragic broadcast, ainotinced thc declaration of war and the ruin of his own hopes. Appeasemenit ha:l failed with honotir. By exhausting every possibility of peace before entering upon war Chamberlain had at least brought Great Britain into the conflict with clean hands; and that may comie to be con- sidered his greatest service to his country. So single-ninded a lover of peace was scarcely likely to make a great war Minister; and so it proved. He began by expanding his Government to include those militant Conservatives who had denounced the Munich policy, and especially Mr. Winston Churchill. As First Lord of the Adnmiraly the latter at onc established him- self as the dominant personality of the War Cabinet arid the leader in (he sphere.of.action; so that the conduct of the war is much less closely intertwined with Chamber-lain's per- sonal career tlian had been the diplomacy of the two precedirig' ears. .. What might have been his greatest achievement, the partial fusion -of French and Biritish goveinment through the Supreme War Council. was to perish in the collapse of France. I'he Prime Minister inaugurated-tie practice of niaking regular reporis to Parliament on the progress of the war; an( lie stood out as an tnequalled ex- positor of the ideals for which the tiationi and Empire were lighiting. But an impression was giadually created that tie intense concentra- tion of the whole strength of the counttry required for " total war " was not being attained tinder his leadership. There was still a faction that had not forgiven Munich, and these gained fresh ammunition froin the failure to support Finlanid against the Soviet att,ck. whieh they took to be an example of the old appeasement policy. T'he Labour leaders de- clined to joiti his Government, and while they stood out industry seemed to work at Iess than full pressure. Justly or- uniustly-and the present Prime Minister has never tolerated the suggestion that there was any difference of view between him and his old chief-the im- pression prevailed that every vigorous action taleen by the Government was to the credit of Mr. Churehill, and 'every instance of hesita- tion or fumbling due to- the influence of the Prime Minister. The climax came with the failuLe to prevent the German conquest of Norway. A motion in effect censuring- the Prime Minister was rejected by so small a majority that his resignation became inevitable. To Chamberlainl the vote was a surprise as well as a bitter disappointment; but when on his resigniation the Kiig's summons .wetit to Mr. Churchill he readily agreed so continiule in the War Cabitiet as Lord President of- the Cotincil. Rut his health was failing; dutring the stininer he underwent several sur- gical operations; and on October I this year he resigned from the War Cabinet and w ith- drew from political life. His work was done, and thie Churchill Admniiistration. which would have been gravely weakened by Nis defection in its early days, had been enabled by his self-elacement to inherit all the loyalties that had been concentrated upon him. He will be remembhered as;a slates- man wvho showed in sutbordinate office tihe greatness of his qualities for furthering peace- ful social progress, who as Prime Minister laboured for peace with unflagging industry and courage. btit who was not granted pe3ac in which to constimmate his leadership. In 1911 Mr. Chamberlain married Annie Vere, daughter of the late Major W. U. Cole, and had a son and a daughter. While hcr husband was playing a leading part in the municipal life of Birminguihm and throughouit his P'larliamentar -tcareer Mrs. Chamberlain has shared to the fttll his interets in housing Aind other political and social activities.
'Бій відлунав. Жовто-сині знамена затріпотіли на станції знов'
