Only one slip did Mr. Chamberlain make. In his penultimate
sentence he remarked that " throughout the Continent there is a relaxation of that sense of tension which six months ago was present." Had he entirely forgotten the speech delivered by Mr. Churchill on March 24th, a few days after the German invasion of Austria ? Mr. Churchill said : " Now after Austria has been struck down, we are all disturbed and alarmed, but in a little while there may be another pause . . . Then people will be saying, ' There now, see how the alarmists have been confuted ; Europe has calmed down, it has all blown over, and the war scare has passed away.' My right hon. friend the Prime Minister will perhaps repeat what he said a few weeks ago, that the tension in Europe is greatly relaxed." Disraeli's advice to Members of Parliament to make a constant study of Hansard is still followed by some of the younger members, and this quotation was used with considerable effect by Mr. Acland.
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