MAN WITH A PURPOSE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23181, 29 October 1938, Page 12 (Supplement)

MAN WITH A PURPOSE

Braving Antagonisms to R a Generation from War Fears

By ROBERT HIELD

A Special London Representative—(Copyright Reserved) MIL CHAMBERLAIN returned from the Munich Conference, bringing his sheaves with Viim. The harvest that he lias reaped is the harvest that he has sown —a harvest of peace. His coming home was as swift and sudden as his setting out; and in that little interval of time, measured by the quickened heart-beats of the world, the whole outlook on the future has been transformed. In one of his broadcast speeches Mr. Chamberlain professed himself a man of peace to the depth of his soul. "Armed conflict between the nations," he said, "is a nightmare to me. . . I am going to woik foi peace to the last moment." He has been as good as his word ; and to-day he has his reward. Out of the nettle, danger, he has plucked the flower, safety. No Pretensions More than that. He lias not merely saved the world from the imminent deadly breach; ho has brought into counsel and eo-oporation embattled adversaries, and by proving how possible it was lor them to reach agreement, he has opened out a fairer promise of future appeasement to the sorely vexed peoples of Luropo. Something has been done to serve the future hour. Civilisation, like Orestes, has heard the oracle which may bring deliverance from the besetting 1* uries. What is not less remarkablo than the achievement itself is that so big a thing should havo been the sork of a man who has made no pretensions to greatness and in whom no signs of uncommon capacity had been recognised On the contrary, when Neville Chamberlain put on the mantle which Lord Baldwin had put off they were not few who believed that the garment was too big ior the new wearer. He was at once contrasted, to is i disadvantage, with his illustrious father, and even with his elder brother. The qualities of leadership and statesmanship were denied to him, anil not .only by his political opponents, who assailed him with persistent disparagement nnd intense personal animosity. Their regard was well illustrated bj the cartoonists of the Left, who delighted to picture Mr. Chamberlain as a cunning, mean-spirited, evil-working creature, devoid of human sympathies, and bent only on betraying every pood cause—a blend of Shvlock and Tartufe and lago. Yet this was the man who, if he were matter-of-fact in transaction and unfriendly to pleasant illusion, hud obviously a very human side. Vulnerable Spot Like Viscount Grey of Fallodon, he is a devoted fisherman and lover of birds, whose comings and goings it is his hobby to observe. What a primrose by a river's brim may be to him is pot in evidence, though he is fond of flowers; but he can find absorbing interest in the mystery of a missing egg from a blue-tit's nest; and music and painting share iho claims of foreign affairs upon his attention. He has another human trait—his liability to gout —"a highly respectable disease," as his father said, "and most characteristic of a statesman." Like Achilles, Mr. Chamberlain is vulnerable in one spot—but it is not the heel; it is the toe. One sign of exceptional quality as a Bolitieian Mr. Chamberlain did give. le pursued his appointed way importurbablv in disregard of all this embittered hostility, and his strength was that he had an appointed way. He ac-

ecptod the Prime with a clear and definite purpose in his nund. It was to savo his generation from another world-war, and to abate the fends and antagonisms by which the nations were so perilously rackod. His policy—and ho charged himself with the peculiar care .of foreign to substitute, if possible, understanding and agreement for threatonings and slaughter, before it was too late to avert disaster. Sacred Principle It is not a little ironical that it is the unflinching pursuit of that purpose which lias earned for him the bitterest hostility and the deepest distrust among those, too, who proclaim their special devotion to peace. Recognising that it takes all sorts to make a world, Mr. Chamberlain also recognised that the sacred principle of self-determination must be extended even to nations which prefer dictatorships to democratic systems of government on tho British model. Ho saw that to refuse to bo 011 good terms with peoples whose political philosophies are not the same as ours is a stultification of the freedom and tolerance on which democracy itself is founded. Swift Decisions Imperviousness to misrepresentation, however malevolent, is undoubtedly 0110 of Mr. Chamberlain's strong points. His pertinacity is not easily to be shaken, and though lie knows on occasion how to defend himself, he lacks tliose formidable weapons of self-de-fence which his father wielded so invincibly. He gives the impression of a man whose mind is made up; who lias wrestled with doubts and hesitations and overthrown them. Ho has shown that he is capable of swift decisions and fearless actions. His sudden announcement of the intention

to fly to Bcrchtesgaden and meet the Fuehrer face to face captured not only tlio sympathy, but tho imagination of the nation. Here was a man, in his 70th year, who had never before taken to the air. resolving at a moment's notice on this adventurous excursion, for all the world like the hero of a movie-thriller. How severe was tho strain, spiritual as well as physical, to which he had submitted himself his visage told only too well when ho laced a crowded and expectant House of Commons to tell his story. In that hour ho seemed to have aged a decade. If he bore himself with such a quiet, constant mind, not a little of his strength must, have been given by the overwhelming response which he evoked. Heartfelt Emotion The oldest Parliamentary hand may search his memory in vain for a parallel to such a scene in the House of Commons —a scene in which the "long-pent stream of life dashed downwards in' a cataract." It was as though the heartfelt emotion of that packed assemblage had burst its barriers in one irresistible tidal wave of relief. Never was it easier for a Minister to read his history in a nation's eyes. Perhaps, when he began his historic, his almost epic narrative, .Mr Chamberlain himself did not know how well it would end. But when tbe end came be knew that he had prevailed and that the country's heart leapt up, like the poet's, because thanks to his efforts it beheld a rainbow in the sky. To what further achievements Mr. Chamberlain will be able to carry his policy of understanding and appeasement time will show. But this is certain —that his way has been made easier and his authority, abroad as well a* at home, has been immensely btrengthi ned. Decidedly, he is the Man of the Hour.