The Wanganui Chronicle. THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 1937. SIR AUSTEN CHAMBERLAIN

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 65, 18 March 1937, Page 6

The Wanganui Chronicle. THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 1937. SIR AUSTEN CHAMBERLAIN

Qlii ALHTEN CHAMBERLAIN had some first-class qualities, but fate was never kind to him. His first difficulty was that lie had to follow a father who had made a great name for himself, who had battled his way to the front, and in so doing had trodden on many feet. He was, prior to the rise of Mr. Lloyd George, the best-loved and the worst-hated man in England. “Old Joe” captured the heart of the man in the street by reason of his aggressive qualities. Sir Austen’s way had been cast in easier paths. His position had already been made for him, he had been trained to occupy a front-rank plaec in the Conservative Party. He came to his appointed, or rather inherited place, however, endowed with some splendid gifts. More punctilious than his father, more generous in his instincts, and less aggressive in his nature, he could not make that incisive mark which was the achievement of “Old Joe.” But he was an honest worker, he was liked, he had no rancour and he caused none. The war was not kind to him, his career was temporarily marred by the events in Mesopotamia, but such was his worth that he was not thrown to the discard. It was when he became Foreign Secretary that his greatest achievement was accomplished, and that was the Locarno Treaty. The ide.a of Locarno had been preached by Mr. Harold Williams, the New Zealander, who after having lived in Russia for many years, became the Foreign Editor of The Times in London. Mr. Chamberlain carried the idea through the tortuous paths of international diplomacy to success. But here again he was to be defeated, for Herr Adolf Hiller tore up Locarno and threw it away. In another way, too, was Fate to treat him meanly. In early life he had espoused the cause of Protectionism for England, but it was after he had retired from Cabinet rank that his half-brother brought England into the ranks of Protectionist States without any to be remarked-on resistance. What one sows another reaps in polities as well as jn other fields of human endeavour. Sir Austen Chamberlain will not, perhaps, be long remembered in history, but had he been born to quieter times, when his patient work could have borne its fruit, he might have enjoyed more •rcncrnl recognition.