THE FOREIGN SECRETARY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22976, 2 March 1938, Page 12

THE FOREIGN SECRETARY

That the new British Foreign Secretary, Lord Halifax, possesses rare qualities is made apparent by the tributes paid to his personality and character by all parties in the House of Commons. Mr. Chamberlain is so intent to retain him at the Foreign Office that he has overruled the relevant objection that Lord Halifax does not sit in the House of Commons. Maybe it is not a bad thing at present, vrhen foreign policy is being made a football of party politics and a subject of intolerant passion, that the Secretary of State should be sequestered in the quieter atmosphere of the House of Lords. To woi-k effectively in the current tension of world politics, a certain detachment should be an advantage for the exercise of the cool judgment, firm hand and steady eye that should shape the line of foreign policy. Lord Halifax is credited with these qualities in a high degree. Mr. Churchill speaks of his "great integrity and courage." The ascription is just in view of his fine record as Viceroy of-India in the troubled years 1926 to 1931. In an appreciation of an administration whose work proved enduring, the Times wrote of Lord Halifax's "courage and faith and patience," as well as of his strength. His religious faith remains a legend in India, a land where the things of the spirit still hold their true value. Indians could not forget that the Viceroy spent his first day in their land, not in receiving the plaudits of Bombay, but on his knees in church, laying his human mission before the Divine Power. So he brought to the Government of India "fine sincerity, high purpose, and the fervour of religious duty." The seven years since have served to enhance the reputation of Lord Halifax. He was friend to Lord Baldwin and to-day he is indispensable to Mr. Chamberlain. At the Foreign Office he is assuming vast re'sponsibilities. Yet his character should bring reassurance to Britain, the Empire and the world, a character in which a former Foreign Secretary, Lord Grey of Fallodon, said firmness, consideration, sympathy and inex-haustible-patience jwere'toombined*