BRITAIN’S FOREIGN SECRETARY.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 December 1935, Page 4

BRITAIN’S FOREIGN SECRETARY.

With the appointment of Mr. R. A. Eden as Secretary for Foreign Affairs the recent Cabinet crisis in Great Britain may be regarded as closed. Mr. Eden’s appointment is of more than ordinary interest. To have reached' the highest Ministerial office save that of the Prime Minister at the age of 36 is a record few English Parliamentarians have succeeded in creating. Mr. Eden will bring to his new responsibilities not only the vision and the vigour of a younger generation, but also a wide experience obtained in the post-war years that have seen a definite swing back to the belief that war is an inevitable concomitant of human progress. No Minister in Great Britain has made more personal contacts with the rulers of Germany, Poland and Russia than Mr. Eden. He has seen the existing Governments of those countries at work, and he knows more of their attitude towards the British Empire and towards peace than any of his colleagues. To those who are anxious to see the League of Nations overcome the recent challenges to its authority the appointment of Mr. Eden as British Foreign Secretary will be very welcome. If, as seems likely, he is to retain his position as Britain’s chief representative at the League councils there will be little probability of any repetition of the misinterpretation of the people’s desires which led to the resignation of Sir Samuel Hoare. The Cabinet has closed its ranks again, and when Parliament reassembles after the Christmas holidays further reference to the errors of the past is unlikely.