NOTES AND COMMENTS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 59, Issue 45, 2 December 1938, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS

GERMANY TAKES STOCK. For the second time this year Germany is taking stock of the value of newly acquired territories, writes the Berlin correspondent of the “Sunday Times.” The value of the new Sudeten territories in industry, man-power and raw materials is being estimated in the press and periodicals in a much more conservative vein than in the ease of Austria, several months ago. This was probably done to avoid a repetition of the disappointment which was quite evident in Germany a few weeks after the “Anehluss,” when the population was called upon to “make greater sacrifices than ever for the sake of Pan-Germany.’’ At the beginning of the Czech-settlement, Germany was overwhelmed with relief and joy at the thought that war had been averted. All week long the radio echoed with the cheering of 'Sudeten Germans “being liberated by the Fuhrer’’ and the people were eagerly congratulating each other. Eater, as the housewives started their week-end shopping in the numerous picturesque open-air markets, no trace of this enthusiasm was left. Eggs and butter were scarce, the bread was of the same yellowish-white colour as it has been for weeks and the population was asking, “What was the use of getting Sudetenland if it does not improve our food situation?

MR CHAMBERLAIN. Interest aroused in Germany in the personality of Mr Chamberlain prompted Count Carl-Erdmann to make the following pen-portrait:— To the question: What kind of a man is Neville Chamberlain, one always gets the same answer from those in England who ought to know: he. is a practical man, a realist. Englishmen say that with satisfaction. It is the quality they value in Neville Chamberlain. Of the three men who have ruled England since the war—excepting Bonar Law— Lloyd George was too crafty for them, Ramsay MacDonald too conceited, and Stanley Baldwin too wise, he had too deep an understanding of human nature to be able to completely disapprove of anything. Chamberlain, however, is a business man with a clear head, reasonable, energetic, and with great experience of business and administration. The manner in which Chamberlain has conquered the highest and most coveted post in England is significant of the man and his whole 'life. Throughout his life there has always been this strange inevitability. He has never pushed himself forward. He has never achieved specially brilliant public actions. He has never caught the imagination of the public. But in decisive moments he generally proved to be the inevitable candidate for the solution of a problem or for a post, because he was better prepared and because lie could be trusted. His brilliant career rests exclusively on positive work. Ho has never shone, or attempted to appear someone special, nor has ho shown special rhetorical ability. AH in all, he is a moderate speaker who docs not fascinate his hearers like a Churchill or a Lloyd George. Conscious of his aim, he has risen from rung to rung, and has revealed in the bearing of defeats a tenacity and a firmness which is astonishing.