RUMOUR DENIED

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22971, 24 February 1938, Page 13

RUMOUR DENIED

LADY CHAMBERLAIN NOT AN AMBASSADRESS VISIT TO SIGNOR MUSSOLINI By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright ROME, Feb. 22 Lady Chamberlain, widow of the late Sir Austen Chamberlain, to-day denied a suggestion made by a section of the English press that she was a sort of unofficial ambassadress to Italy. Her visit was a private one, she said. Signor Mussolini was an old friend of herself and Sir Austen, who had frequently visited him. Both knew Count Ciano long before he s became Foreign Secretary. There had been n suggestion that Lady Chamberlain's reports had influenced her brother-in-law, the Prime Minister, Mr. Neville Chamberlain, and that she had conveyed Signor Mussolini's desire for a restoration of friendship to England.

QUESTION IN HOUSE SUGGESTED INTERVENTION UNOFFICIAL THIRD PARTY LONDON, Feb. 22 In the House of Commons to-day Mr. Herbert Morrison, in winding up the Labour Party's contribution to the debate on the censure motion, asked if there was any unofficial third party intervening between representatives of Brifaiu and a foreign Power. If so, the House had a right to know whether this was the first occasion such a thing had occurred, whether this unofficial person was located in London or Pome, and whether it was a man or a woman. FRENCH REACTION

- M. DELBOS' POSITION MINISTERS' CONFERENCE POSSIBLE COURSE OF ACTION LONDON, Feb. 22 W hen Mr. Eden's resignation was regarded as likely M. Delbos, French Foreign Minister, informally indicated to Mr. Chamberlain that such a happening would perturb France. Consequently it is not surprising that messages from France speculate on the possibility of M. Delbos also resigning. The Paris correspondent of the Daily Telegraph states that at an important Ministerial conference held to-day the chief business was to examine whether, in the circumstances, it would be inopportune lor the Government to resign and thus pave the way for a Cabinet which would unify the nation. An official report issued after the meeting of the Council of Ministers, however, made no mention of the proposal that the Government should resign in favour of a National Government. M. Delbos, in reply to questions in the Chamber of Deputies, said that while he supported Mr. Eden's policy he considered co-operation between France and Britain to be essential. If Britain opened negotiations with Italy, France would decide upon her course of action in the light of Signor Mussolini's undertakings. France remained hostile to a recognition of the Italian conquest of Abyssinia without the consent of the League of Nations. FUTURE OF CABINET RECONSTRUCTION LIKELY DIFFICULTIES OF POSITION LONDON, Feb. 22 The political correspondent of the Australian Associated Press states that in the future great and far-reaching changes, not only in Britain's foreign policy, but in her internal politics, will be the sequel to Mr. Chamberlain's emergency over Mr. Eden. The reconstruction of tho Cabinet, he says, is certain in the near future. This will involve the retirement of at least two Cabinet Ministers, which, because of the week-end's events, would have been most embarrassing at that moment.

Mr. Duff Cooper, Secretary of State for War, and Mr. Oliver, Stanley, President of the Board of Trade, whose handling of their respective offices, says the correspondent, is increasingly disappointing, may go. However, Mr. Chamberlain, apart from the difficulty of discovering additional members of the Cabinet, has his greatest problem in appointing Mr. Eden's successor. Not a single person on the front bench would command the confidence of Parliament and the country as Foreign Secretary. Consequently the Prime Minister has not hesitated for the present to direct the Foreign Office himself, assisted by Viscount Halifax, who, however well he may be fitted for the portfolio, is not acceptable because lie sits in the House of Lords.

MR. EDEN'S SERVICES LOSS CAUSES DISM/XY LONDON, Feb. 22 The executive of the League of Nations' Union to-day passed a resolution expressing dismay at the loss of Mr. Eden's services in circumstances •which created the impression that it was due to foreign hostility to the League. The National Council of Labour has called a conference of the General Council of the Trades Union Council and the national executive* of the Labour Party to discuss the political situation. The council, in a statement, says it views the events which led to Mr. Eden's resignation with the utmost gravity. FACTS FOR DOMINIONS LONDON, Feb. 22 The Australian Associated Press states that one of Mr. Chamberlain's first tasks will be to outline his new policy to the Dominions. He will convene a meeting of the High Commissioners later in the week. »