Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-11-11
Public Memorial
Rites Are Planned
For Chamberlain
Statesman Who Led
EneIcnd at Munich
Dies in I'D Year
By the Associated Press.

public memorial service-possibly If
Westminster Abbey-were being ar
ranged today for Neville Chamber
lain. who died Saturday amid the
bomb-strewn wreckage Of his dream
for peace in our time"
The tall, lean statesman who lee
Britain from the Munich appease-
ment through the first 81 months
of war with Germany resigned as
Prime Minister May 10 after the
British withdrawal from Norway
and stepped from his last cabinet
post little more than month age
e., an exhausted, i'll man.
He died at $50 pm. Saturday at
his Hampshire countryside estate
where the grounds near his RAM
bling, 18th century home have been
peck marked by Nazi bomb craters
He was II.
At the wish of the family his death
was not announced until yesterday
morning-after parishioners at the
neighborhood church had prayed
for his recovery.
Grand Failure"
At evening services the Rev. H
r. P Tringham said in eulogy:
Blessed are the peacemakers, for
they shall be called the children
of God, and no one has worked
harder for our peace. Although
his work seemed failure, it was
grand failure"
That and the press praise of Mr.
Chamberlin as an honest states
man" who did his best to save
peace without attempting to side
step criticism of the results of his
policies were the first tributes paid
publicly.
King George VI and Queen Eliza
beth headed the list of many who
sent private messages to the family.
During his illness they recently spent
an hour at his bedside.
Official tributes awaited the next
r session of Parliament. when Mi.
Chamberlain stanch friend, VIM
.ston Churchill, who succeeded him
as Prime Minister, will speak in his
honor along with other senior
statesmen.
Under a heading He Served
Britain" the Daily Mail said today,
Neville Chamberlain will be re-
membered as sincere, high
minded. steadfaSt statesman. His
successes and his failures all sprang
from one abiding motive-to serve
right in serving Britain
Rumors of Change Revived.
The Times said of Mr.. Chamber
Iains efforts to reach peace under
standing with totalitarian leaders:
I'VE know now that what he at
tempted no man could have
achieved, but against organized evil
with which he was fated to contend
the work which he did for his coun-
try will shine in its sincerity more
and more strongly as the years
pass"
Mr.. Chamberlain death revived
rumors in political circles Of new
changes in the government.
1t was suggested that his long
time associate, Lord Halifax, be
shifted from the foreign Office to
the India Office. There, the Laborite
Daily Herald said, he would be
probably better qualified than any
one to heal the present lamentable
breach" with India.
These reports also mentioned War
Secretary Anthony Eden, who broke
with Mr.. Chamberlain over the ap-
peasement program, as the possible
successor to Lord Halifax in the
foreign Office.
Appeasement Apostle.
It fell to the lot of Mr.. Cham
berlain, who once described himself
as "a man of peace from the depths
of my SOUL" to lead the British En-
pire to war against Germany in 1899.
Before this he had been the apostle
of "appeasement" and non-interven-
ton in an alarmed Europe, still try
ing to adjust itself to the tremendous
effects of the World War.
Once. when war seemed imminent
over the acute crisis between Ger
many and Czecho-S lovakia, he
STAYED it off at the eleventh hour
with the historic pact of Munich"
with Adolf Hitler
For this he was hailed in London
and throughout most of the world
as hero. But his day of glory was
short
Criticism was quickly mixed with
applause; war-like problems were
repeatedly presented by Germany,
eliminating with the invasion of
Poland
Broadcast War Decision.
Disillusioned, at last, the aged
Prime Minister-he was 10 then
resolutely prepared for eventualities.
For the first time in Britain's history
she guaranteed the frontier of East
ern Europe; for the first time since
the days of Oliver Cromwell she
conscripted men in times of nominal
peace.
And so, after Hitlers legions had
swarmed over Poland, despite Mr..
Chamberlain warning of the conse-
quences. he broadcast to the Empire,
in a firm but sorrowful voice, Bri-
talnS declaration OF war.
Once in the war, he devoted him.
self as whole -heartedly for victory
with arms as he had years before
striven for peace. But Britain was
not prepared; there were staggering
problems to be met against the fully
prepared Germans. Crises arose in
the government; the Prime Minister
met them with outward calm.
AS the German war machine rum
bled over Poland, Norway, Denmark,
the Netherlands and Belgium, crltl-
cism at home became more voluble
and insistent Reshuffllngs OF the
cabinet followed. Mr.. Churchill
was named as war co-ordinator
and the tempo was stepped up.
Tainted With His Own Words.
During the fighting in Norway
Mr.. Chamberlain proclaimed he was
more confident of victory than ever
that Hitler had missed the bus"