NEWS OF THE WEEK
THE reaction in various foreign capitals to the Prime Minister's speech of last Tuesday has been broadly what might have been expected. France is naturally gratified at the declaration that our obligations to her go far beyond mere legal commitments, and her satisfaction has since been increased by Mr. Chamberlain's further statement in the House on Wednesday that the Anglo-Italian undertaking to respect the status quo in the Mediterranean area certainly applies to Tunis. In Berlin and Rome the journalistic dis- honesty now habitual in those capitals was extensively practised, those portions of the Prime Minister's speech distasteful to the country concerned being suppressed alto- gether. Thus, most Italian papers omitted Mr. Chamberlain's assurances to France and his references to the reasons for British rearmament. In Berlin only one paper mentioned the absence of the German Ambassador and the German correspondents from the London dinner—an episode of• which the British Press on the whole made considerably too much. Some resentment is felt at the Prime Minister's eminently non-controversial observation that no political regime continues unmodified, but speaking generally the speech may be said to have had a good effect in countries like France and the United States, and a salutary effect elsewhere. Mr. Chamberlain's emphatic reassertion of his own democratic faith should dispel some groundless suspicions at home. * * * *
