EARLY RETIREMENT

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 53, Issue 133, 17 March 1933, Page 5

EARLY RETIREMENT

SIR AUSTEN CHAMBERLAIN. , POLITICAL AMBITIONS PAST. HINT TO HIS CONSTITUENTS. , (United Press Association—Copyright). (Received This Day, 8.25 a.m.) " LONDON, March 16. Sir Austen Chamberlain, in a speech at Birmingham, hinted at his early retirement from Parliament. "Any politic-ill ambitions I ever cherished lie in the past," he said. "It may not be long before I. seek relief from the prolonged hard labour I have gone through." Sir Austen Chamberlain has a noteworthy administrative career .to his credit, justifying the Birmingham belief that he would prove a worthy son of his distinguished father. He first entered the House of Commons in 1892 as member for East Worcestershire, holding the seat until 1914 when he was elected for Birmingham West, his present From the -outsot the precise young man with a monocle proved that he did not neea to depend on the prestige of hereditary succession for preferment. He is a pleasant speaker but lacks the pungency of his father's debating power. His maiden speech delighted the brilliant parent nad won a charming compliment from Gladstone. Time brought the inevitable distinctions. He became Civil Lord of the Admiralty in 1895 and held the office till 1900 ; Financial Secretary to the Treasury, 1900-02; Privy Councillor 1902; PostmasterGeneral, 1902-03; Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1903-05; Secretary of .State for India, 1915-17 ; member of the War Cabinet. 1918-19; again Chancellor of the Exchequer 1919-21; and Lord Privy Seal and. Leader of the House of Commons. 1921-22. In the days of Mr Bonar Law's physical collapse it seemed as though the only successor to die office of Prime Minister would be Mr Chamberlain. It was not to be: he remained loyal to the belief that national circumstances demanded a form of stable government that no single party then could provide. Any other government, he contended, must be short' lived. In November, 1924, he joined Mr Baldwin's Cabinet as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, which office he held until 1929. From August to October, 1931, he was First Lord of the Admiralty in the National Government. On the signing in London of the Treaty of Locarno in 1925 he had conferred' upon him the honour of Knight of the .Garter, and created Lady Chamberlain a Dame of the 'Order of the British Empire. Sir Austen was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1926. Sir Austen is 69 years of age.