NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22776, 9 July 1937, Page 4

NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN

A PERSONAL GLIMPSE LYCEUM CLUB LUNCHEON* TALK "I have known Mr. Neville Chamberlain since I was a little girl, so that 1 ran speak of him as a friend," said .Mrs. Newland Fletcher, an English visitor who spoke at the Lyceum Club luncheon yesterday, on the new British Prime Minister and also on the Women's Electrical Association in England. Mrs. Fletcher gavo her listeners a personal glimpse into the life of Mr. Chamberlain, of whom she remarked that although ho never intrigued or cajoled, never went to Eton or Harrow, never sought after popularity, and was not rich, he was yet without a rival in the history of successful Englishmen. His features she described as sharp, his hair dark, his clothes neat and his general appearance undistinguished, Yet through his wonderful efficiency and energy in the affairs of government he rose in five years from being a private citizen to tho position of Chancellor of tho Exchequer. This post he obtained in Mr. Baldwin's government, after Mr. Lloyd George, observing his excellent Vork for Birmingham, had made liim director of National Service during the war. A Notable Englishman When lie became Minister of Health in Baldwin's second Government, Mr. Chamberlain laid the basis of a great slum clearance and raised his position to an importance hitherto unknown. "Overnight," the speaker said, "he became the managing director of the Conservative Part}*. Ho had an orderliness of mind, she said, which never permitted false words. "No one can voice tho soul of England like Mr. Baldwin, no one understands England like Mr. Chamberlain." His colossal war loan conversion, regarded by many with grave distrust at its announcement, had been, the speaker went on to say, a complete triumph, and had paved tho way to economic recovery. In private life, Mr. Chamberlain was humorous and unassuming, never bombastic or arrogant. His weakness was salmon fishing, and he also admitted that in his spare time he was "something of an amateur gardener." His marriage was one of the real romances of our time, and the presence of his wife had given joy and companionship to his life. "In debate," said Mrs. Fletcher, "Neville Chamberlain lias the same direct language as his father, the great Joseph Chamberlain. Ho can hold the House absolutely still, although ho is quite unaffected." That he had a soul was evidenced by .the fact that even the junior clerks in" the House spoko of him, with the most sincere affection, as "Neville." Women's Organisation Mrs. Fletcher also briefly outlined the work and objects of the Women's Electrical Association, of which she is a board member. She had been impressed in travelling through New Zealand with the wonderful power sources which this country possessed. The association was interested in the use and control of electricity from the women's point of view. It gave information to women regarding electricity as it affected the home, for labour T saving, hygiene and' rural advancement. At the conclusion of Mrs. Fletcher's address, the thanks of the gathering were expressed by Miss Ellen Melville, who took the chair.