March 18.
By Austen Chamberlain's death Great Britain loses a man who as the result of forty-five years service to his country in many important] positions rose to be considered as an Elder Statesman, The fact that he never took office as Prime Minister in no way diminishes the excellent record he achieved, for it well known that on two occasions at least, loyalty to his friends and colleagues, carried to a degree which most politicians would condemn as absurd punetillio, stood as the sole obstacle between' him and the Premiership of Great Britai The eldest son of Joseph Chamber lain, upon entering Parliament, at} the carly age of 29 years, he showed. no signs of suffering from the fact, that he was the son of his father, as so many other men have done, and very carly in his political career proved that he was ultimately bound to make a name for him-Self as great, if not greater than that which his father was to make.
The story of his debut in the House of Commons is well known, but. worth the repeating. He made a noteworthy and capable, maiden speech, and when the great William Ewart Gladstone rose to follow him debate he handsomely congratulated his arch-foe Joseph' Chamberlain on his filial echo in terms which brought tears to glisten behind the latter's cold monocle.
Al the age of 32 years Sir Austen had reached ministerial rank as:
Civil Lord of the Admiralty, and. since then he has held so many positions in the Cabinet that he seems to have sat in nearly every! seat round the table at No, 10
Downing Street. His great asset was his conscientious thoroughness, perhaps dull, bul certainly capable devotion, and an uni peachable integrity. Ev trusted him, a tremendous thing to say of any' politician at any time or anywhere.
was while Secretary of State] for Foreign Affairs that he placed the coping stone upon the rebut tion which he had been steadily building up for over thirty years, and the Locarno Pact is directly attributable to his skill and ability in dealing with the then widely divergent views held by the leaders of France and Germany. The fact, that the Pact docs not now have the importance it then had in no way. detracts from the brilliance of his He came back from Locarno with his blushing honours thiel upon him and the knighthood. of the Garter which was bestowed. upon him—making him the unique case of a man not a peer being so decorated, for Balfour's Garter was soon followed by an earldom—was. indicative of the appreciation commonly felt for the excellent work. he had done. From a Far Eastern point of view another important Jandmark in his history was the publication of the Memorandum in December 1926, stating the revised British policy towards China, It will be remembered that at the time that statement while it was generally received abroad and at home with acclamation, was round ly condemned by many Brilish and foreign residents in China. But taking the long view of the matter, it may now be said that a great deal of the dissatisfaction, which was expressed, arose from a'realisa~ tion of the conditions which then prevailed in this country. China was in the throes of a civil war.
Hankow had fallen into the hands of the Nationalists in their sweep northward from Canton, The British Concession there was ultimately to fall into the hands of the invaders, while the tragic events succeeding months, early in 1927, seemed {0 confirm the view that the memorandum was a huge mistake und a betrayal of British interests in China. 'The view was a pardonable one all things considered, but subsequent history has proved' that the British attitude as enunciated by Sir Austen was the correct one, and one which eventually contributed to a great improvement in Anglo-Chinese. relations, There may still be some who will criticize the action of the British Government on that occasion, though probably their number has greatly diminished during the years which have since elapsed. The majority, however, will hold to the opinion that Sir Austen had taken a longer view of the situation than was possible for people on the spot to have taken. Throughout, the whole of 1927 the situation in China was dangerous, but the coolness of Sir Austen undoubtedly contributed to a saneness of vision without which mistakes might have been made of which the consequences would very probably have been most serious. Itis a tragic fact that by his death at this juncture, Sir Austen has been deprived of the privilege of seeing his half-brother, Mr, Neville Chamberlain, in the office which he and his father were never able fo assume, Nevertheless the knowledge of what is so likely to happen was his before his death, 80 that he takes with him the satis faction that his family should ultimately be represented in the highest office of State. While there must always be grief that the State has Tost so fine a servant as Sir Austen, it must be tempered with the pride that Britain can produce such men to serve her in her times of need. He may not have been so picturesque as some of the other statesmen who have engaged public attention from time to time, but he had the satisfaction that his declining years saw no anti-climax in a diminution of the high regard in which he was held,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.