Evening star., 1938-12-27

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England's "Cliveden set" and its
influence are analyzed here BY a
noted American ,uoman Driter
after interviewing Lord and Lady
Astor. reputed leaders OF the
group. and Claude Cockburn,
,ohose paper, the Week, linked
Col. Charles Ltndbergh ,Dith the
Cliueden set. Miss Bromley is a
colun,nist for the NeU York Post.
BY DOROTHY DUNBAR BROMLEY
LONDON, Dec. ~ (N.A.NA0.-
Would you." I asked Lady Astor
point blank, when I was lunching
with her on st. James Square, "ac-
cept a medal from Hitler as Lind
bergh recently did?" She thought
a minute. mo, I wouldn't" she
said, "any more than would want
to meet Hitler. I prefer to have
nothing to do with dictators."
STILL" Lord Astor broke in, "it's
only fair to remember that the
medal was given to Mr.. Lindbergh
AVA A4Aso eSAA1CfC11AC11US III dtldtlOll, IlOt
for any political reason"
Now perhaps I could get to the
bottom of L'Affaire Lindbergh and
find out where the so-called Clivden
set came in. The day before I had
talked with Claude Cockburn, edi-
tor OF the Week, the mimeographed
sheet which purports to give the
authentic lowdown on European
political events. Probably no item
IN this sheet has had wider circu-
lation in America than the story
OF Col. Lindbergh's alleged remarks
about the weakness of the Russian
air fleet. as compared with Ger
many's.
Guests Of All Shades.
The Week went so far as to implv
that Col. Lindbergh's views had in
f1uenced Prime Minister Chamber
lain In his decision to accept the
Munich terms, and it left question
IN peoples minds as to the quid pro
quo which Col. Lindbergh might
have received for doing his bit for
Hitler.
Mr.. Cockburn was morally GER
tain Col. Lindbergh had said that
the Russians had good planes, but
no able flyers to man them. He
admitted he had not been present
at the luncheon himself, but he had
the story from two people who were
there. "The Clivedenites," he ex-
planned, Invite all shades of guests,
from left to right. That's their
technique for taking people of some
Importance into their charming
camp. So it generally happens that
there's a leak after every week end
or gathering of a conglomerate sort -
II all made sense from the view
point OF the Week, especially since
Col. Lindbergh had later accepted
a medal from Hitler, and it had been
announced that he intended to spend
the winter in Berlin. Either he's
an innocent, or he's playing the
Fasclsts' game" Mr.. Cockburn sum-
med him up.
Little Interest in Politics.
This, on the other hand, is Lord
Astor's story. In the first place, he
said, the Lindberghs visited them at
Cllveden and neither lunched or
dlned with them in September in
London. I asked him If Col. Lind
bergh had said anything about the
RUSSIAN air force. eyes, he gave it
as his opinion that the Russians
mad flne planes and fine ayiators
nut ne was not sure of their indus
trial proficiency in turning ont
planes. He thought, too, that the
purges might have affected the
morale of the Russian Armv"
These were far less negative views
on Russian aviation than had been
advertised as Col. Lindbergh's. Pos
sloly Lord Astor may have been
trying to shield him from further
criticism, and yet, if I'm any Judge
at all OF persons veracity, / should
say that Lord Astor was giving me
the plain facts.
The Astors declared, as I have
always suspected, that Col. Lind
bergh interests himself very little
IN politics. HE had planned some
time ago." Lady Astor explained.
TO spend the winter in Berlin to
do some work, and you may be
sure he'd be no keener about living
permanently in Nazi Germany than
you or I would"
This still does not explain the
riddle of Col Tindheroh. Why bo
cared to accept q medal from Hit
Ter and why he should have chosen
this winter of all winters to give
the Nazi regime his tacit indorse-
ment by planning to take up resi-
dence In Berlin.
Boils Down to Very Little.
At any rate, this particular story,
which has been used to paint the
Civeden set as an intriguing group,
boils down to very little. Mr.. Cock