3 MARCH 1939, Page 15

Having in this manner placed the Barons of Runnymede (or

their disgraceful epigones) firmly in the saddle, Mr. Bromfield proceeds to accuse them of " the murder of the aged mother." The mother in question is not, as one might suppose, the Mother of Parliaments, but Czecho-Slovakia. The actual processes of this maternity are difficult to define, but Mr. Bromfield is quite positive that some act of matri- cide has been committed. And the fact that the Chinese, the Spaniards and the Jews have suffered much during the last few years is attributed by Mr. Bromfield, not so much to the actions of Japan, Italy and Germany, as to the desire of our Runnymede Barons to preserve their position and their bank-balances. It is evident that Mr. Bromfield is seriously annoyed.

Yet the people with whom he is angry are not the British people, but their rulers. He regards the British people, now groaning under the yoke of Runnymede, as fine. It is the Inner Cabinet whom he accuses of hypocrisy and cowardice. I suppose that (were I also living at Oberlin in Lorain County, Ohio) I should be just as angry as Mr. Bromfield and just as brave. But as I live in London (England), E.C. 4, I may feel just as angry as Mr. Bromfield, but I do not feel by any means as brave.