MR. CHAMBERLAIN'S DEMOCRATIC FAITH
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR]
Sm,—In his reference to the Prime Minister's astonishing remarks about nest-fouling " Janus "seems to me unnecessarily charitable. It is true that on formal occasions the Prime Minister pays handsome lip service to democracy and its ideals, but his tongue is quite often unguarded and I submit that it is on the whole more reasonable to suppose that the true texture of Mr. Chamberlain's mind is revealed in those moments when he blurts out what he really thinks. For example, there was in February last the extraordinary reference to the Nyon Agreement. Nyon was the one occasion when England and France called Italy's bluff. Yet the fact of Italy's absence from Nyon had, by February, completely faded from the Prime Minister's memory. My belief that that remarkable lapse of memory was due to a (possibly sub-:conscious) sympathy with Franco and Fascism has only been strengthened by the utter- ances to which you refer. Or, to turn to action, is Mr. Chamberlain's treatment of the House of Commons during the Crisis, or his deliberate supersession of his appropriate Foreign Office advisers, evidence of democratic faith ? Are not these things much more likely to be indications of a dictatorial spirit ?
May I add that it looks as if Mr. Chamberlain will beat all Prime Ministerial records for statements that sound, in truth, incredible ? His comment on the air bombings at Canton was well-matched by the reference to the people of Czecho- slovakia in the famous broadcast, and suitably capped by "peace with honour" and peace for our time !—Yours, &c.,
MIDDLE CLASS.
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