4 MARCH 1938, Page 6

What, I have been trying to imagine, did Mr. Amery

mean when he said at Manchester the other day (if; as I assume, The Times reported him accurately) that " when Mussolini invaded Abyssinia the leader of the sanctions movement was the young League of Nations Minister, Mr. Eden " ? The lead in the sanctions movement was given the day Sir Samuel Hoare made his famous speech, with its historic reference to " steady and collective resistance to all acts of aggression," in the League of Nations Assembly on September x ith, 1935 ; the decision to impose sanctions was taken while Sir Samuel was still Foreign Secretary ; and while he was still Foreign Secretary they were actually applied. Mr. Eden's views were never in doubt, but he was in no position to give a lead over the head of his Secretary of State.