VISCOUNT CECIL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19736, 8 September 1927, Page 11

VISCOUNT CECIL.

EFFECT OF RESIGNATION. BRITAIN AND THE LEAGUE., LONDON. Aug. 30. "I much regret Viscount Cecil's cessation of his activities, as a member of the Cabinet, at the League of Nations Assembly, but I do not think that his absence is entirely necessary." This statement was made by Sir Austen Chamberlain, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, prior to his departure for Geneva. Much stronger views of the resignation prevail in official circles, says a special political correspondent. Nobody attempts to deny that England, has lost a strong man, but the severity of the strictures of the Prime Minister, Mr. Baldwin, is fully supported in those quarters in which it is considered that Lord Cecil has blundered badly, and while it is not likely that his action will affect domestic politics, it may have a different influence outside. It is certainly a hard blow at Britain's influence within the League of Nations. Although possibly it may not be said that Lord Cecil was a popular figure at Geneva, he was highly respected. Lord Cecil was feared also, because nobody so quickly summed up the Latin mind. Moreover, he persistently dragged into the light of publicity what some nations tried to restrict to secret diplomacy. Some well-informed people are inclined to regard him as an ultra-idealist, whose outlook, because, it extended beyond the policy of the Government, rendered a hitch inevitable.