Evening star., 1940-05-11
Churchill at the Helm


In day crammed with such events
as studded Europe's tragic yester-
day-a black Friday If ever there
was one-none of them, at least Of
purely political magnitude, approxi-
mates the retirement of Neville
Chamberlain as British Prime Min
lister and his succession by Winston
Churchill.
Such a swapping Of horses in mid
stream was inevitable after Wednes-
days acrimonious, proceedings in the
House Of Commons. The tired and
harassed seventy = one year old
statesman, who had steered the ship
of state through three tempestuous
years, emerged from two days Of
debate over the Norwegian f1asco
nominally victorious, but with the
prestige of his government so shat
tered that it might well have been a
'>gote of no-confidence which was
recorded instead of the slender mar
gin of eighty-one In house of six
hundred and fifteen, by which the
cabinet technically escaped over
throw and was entitled to carry on.
But Neville Chamberlain was
prompt to read the handwriting on
the wall. It told him that popular
confidence in his capacity to conduct
q Britain fighting for its life was
gone; that the integrity Of the man,
the inflexibility of his high purpose,
are not enough in such a crisis; that
the hour calls imperiously for more
vigorous hands at the helm than
those of the deceived man Of Birm-
ingham, who made "appeasement"
of Adolf Hitler his shibboleth and, in
blind faith In fair Nazi words,
brought back hopes for peace in our
time" from Munich sad year and
q half ago. -
One can sense with little effort the
heartbreaking disillusionment which
welled up in Neville Chamberlain's
soul yesterday, as he broadcast to
the empire from Number Ten Down.
ing street the motives that led him
to submit his resignation to King
George. He confessed, with a poig-
nancy Of candor which will do him
enduring credit, that after Wednes-
days debate he had mo doubt some
new and drastic action" was required
to restore the nations confidence.
In farewell passage to the nation,
the man who had seen his dreams
Of peace so brutally blasted, bade
Britain to present her "full and
united strength behind the new gov
ernment" and adjured her that she
must faght until this wild beast that
has sprung out Of his lair upon us be
finally disarmed and overthrown."
To Winston Churchill, the empires
brilliant, bold and impetuous new
man of destiny, this herculean task
now falls. He assumes it, panoplied
not only in full war-waging powers,
but in full degree Of public assur-
ance that no other in the realm
measures up to his capacity for it.
To the "half- american" sixty-five-
year-old statesman, who has worn
many party colors in his day and
played vast variety of roles in
peace, war and statecraft, tenancy
Of the prime ministership comes
as the realization Of a lifetime
ambition.
Britons hope, and believe, it has
not come too late. None among them
personif1es, as does the dynamic and
sometimes incalculable winston"
the bulldog spirit the hour demands.
Hitler has not wantonly invaded the
Low Countries, primarily to subjugate
Dutch and Belgian independence. It
Is the North Sea coasts of Queen Will
helmina's and King Leopold's lands
which the Nazis covet as spring.
boards for attacks on the British
isles. In Berlin there is no conceal
ment of that objective, as the strategy
underlying what Queen Wilhelmina
brands as "this unexampled violation
of good faith and what is considered
decent between civilized nations"
Winston Churchill takes up his
burden fully cognizant Of its terrific
magnitude. For three years he thun-
dered unheeded warnings into the
ears of his government and country
as to the menace rising across the
North Sea. especially in the air. Day
in and day out he admonished q
somnolent Britain that it would pay
dearly for the folly Of not meeting
that challenge betimes. q
In many British minds, the name
Of Winston Churchill stands for
daredevil impulsiveness, rash state
ment and general recklessness. But
he is twenty-five years older than
when he instigated the ill-starred
naval expedition to Antwerp in the
earliest hours of the World War and
the even far more disastrous nlisad-
venture Of Gallipoli. He is the Wins
ton Churchill who said In his "The
World Crisis" written long after Jut-
land, that Admiral Jellicoe was per-
haps the only man In history who
might have lost q great war In sim
ole Afternoon The new Prime Min.