Evening star., 1938-03-02
In the Garden of Eden.

Amld characteristic British Calm-or
phlegm-the international helm in
Downing Street has been transferred to
other hands. Where Anthony Eden a
brief ten days ago was at the wheel,
Vlscount Halifax now charts the course.
On Monday night. the House of Com
mons, after debate which reflected
mainly Parliaments disappointment that
the head of the Foreign Office will sit in
the Lords, instead of in the Commons,
the government was given a resounding
vote OF confidence on the chief issue
involved in the cabinet crisis. Though
the seals of Office pass to Lord Halifax,
the circumstances in which he inherits
his portfolio leave no doubt that it is
the Prime Minister who, for all practical
purposes, has become Foreign Secretary.
The voice henceforth may be the voice
of Jacob, but the hand will be the hand
of Esau.
Now that ten days have elapsed since
that able pilot was dropped, the possible
consequences of Captain Eden's fall are
assessed both at home and abroad
somewhat more dispassionately than was
the case when Mr.. Chamberlains sacri-
flee of his young lieutenant seemed a
shocking surrender to the dictators. The
impression was inescapable that Eden
had walked the plank at the behest of
Hitler and Mussolini, much as Theophile
Delcasse was booted out of the French
foreign Office in 1905 at the demand of
Germany Today, with Europe slowly
recovering from the repercussions of the
Austrian coup, Hitler's Reichstag ha-
rangue and the British government
shake-up, an impression is crystallizing
in London and other capitals that the
call of the hour is the advice another
Prime Minister once made famous-the
Asquithian Wait and See." Men now
are saying it is premature to prejudge
either the purpose or the ultimate effect
Of Chamberlain's kowtow to Fascism.
The commonest alibi is that under
cover OF apparent capitulation he is
delivering diplomatic master stroke.
Nothing less than the weakening and
eventual disruption of the Berlin-Rome
axis are said to be his stealthily pur-
sued goal. BY selling Mussolini on the
idea that friendly Britain is better for
Italy than an allied Germany, Mr..
Chamberlain's interpreters envision him
In the act OF accomplishing an astute
deal for the enduring tranquility of
Europe. Nor do they depict him in the
Machiavellian guise Of statesman bent
upon isolating the Nazis. On the con-
trary, his strategy contemplates, so this
version runs, four-power peace and
non-aggression pact embracing Britain,
France, Italy and Germany. The time
to judge the effectiveness of so benign
a program will be when the fate of
Austrian independence is settled and
Hitler's purposes elsewhere in Central
Europe are clearer.
The Prime Minister'S apologists, re-
sentful Of worldwide opinion that he has
played democracy false, diagnose his
governing motive as passionate desire
to avoid war at any price. 1t is all very
well, his advocates argue, for peoples who
are not within few hours reach of
Continental air fleets, to blame Neville
Chamberlain for thinking first of Brit
aims perils and second of democracy"
The man responsible for the island
Kingdoms safety, we are adjured, must
watch his step, and in the same breath
comes the reminder that John Bulls
rearmament will not be complete until
1912. BY that time, if not before, the
Prime Minister'S friends are persuaded,
the lion will have recovered his roar.