The Prime Minister

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 249, 17 July 1937, Page 1 (Supplement)

The Prime Minister

“I do not think it is the long hours or the hard work that form the most alarming aspect of the duties of a Prime Minister,” said Mr. Neville Chamberlain, the new British Prime Minister, in a recent speech.

“It is rather, as it seems to me, the knowledge that in all the perplexities and the problems which rise up day after day in front of any Government in these troublous times, the ultimate responsibility of rhe final decision must rest upon the shoulders of the Prime Minister.

“No major point of policy can be decided, no real fateful step can be taken without the assent, either active or passive, of the Prime Minister, and if things go wrong be can never escape the reflection ‘I might have prevented this if I had thought or acted differently.’

“I believe it is that ultimate and inescapable responsibility which is the real root of the anxieties which have worn down the energies of our recent Prime Ministers, and it is that responsibility which now lies in front of me.

“These next two years may well bo critical in the history of Europe, and whether they end in chaos or in a gradual appeasement of old enmities, and the restoration of confidence and stability, will depend very likely upon the part played by this country, which is bound to be important, and may well be decisive.

“If we are to produce the deepest impression, we must be able to mobilise the widest possible publie opinion here and throughout the Empire.”