Mr. Chamberlain, speaking at Oxford on Friday, March 3rd discussed
the political crisis. He admitted that the "great departure" in surrendering to Sinn Fein had come as a severe shock to some of the best men in his party. Yet differences about Ireland must not develop into a split. Mr. Lloyd George, observing the Unionist unrest, had offered to resign and support a Unionist Ministry. Mr. Chamberlain said that he and his Unionist colleagues had replied that the interests of the nation, and even of the Unionist Party, would be injured by the Prime Minister's resignation. The Coalition had given the country a stable Government and, thanks to it, Great Britain stood " like a rock in shifting sands" as the most influential Power in Europe. Mr. Chamberlain defined the main objects of the Unionist Party, apart from the upholding of the Throne, as the maintenance of Parliament, the defence of private property and individual freedom, and the guaranteeing of peace abroad by an alliance with France and Belgium. The Coalition Liberals, he said, had the same aims, whereas the Labour Party and the "Wee Frees" challenged such a policy and would be the only peopleto profit by 's breach in the Coalition.
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