A fortnight or so ago an M.P. said to the
Chancellor of the Exchequer in the lobby " I hope you are going to be able to stand all this physically." "Oh, I hope so," Sir Stafford replied with a laugh which suggested that the opposite possibility was not troubling him much. Whether he knew then that he would have to slack off for the moment I cannot say. That he carries universal sympathy with him to Switzerland is certain ; no one could have affirmed that more warmly or more gracefully than Mr. Eden on Monday. It is obvious that for the last eighteen months Sir Stafford, with the whole finan- cial and economic policy of the country in his hands, has been bear- ing an intolerable burden. Yet he has shown few signs of finding it excessive. In his speeches in the House his voice has always been strong, his articulation perfect and his general appearance (to adopt a serviceable word which I happen to dislike) debonair. (What value such impressions have is demonstrated by the references of the Daily Express correspondent at the Chancellor's Press Conference on Monday to " Sir Stafford Cripps, looking drawn and tired," and of the News Chronicle's to " Sir Stafford Cripps, looking as though he had just returned from his impending cure in Switzer- land.") Once more the importance, and the limitations, of the human factor in public affairs is arrestingly emphasised ; it often has been before—at the Paris Peace Conference of 19t9 and many other such gatherings, when judgements were obviously warped by sheer physical fatigue. Sometimes, as in this case, the human machine must somehow be got working again because there is no other to replace it. No doubt it will be
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