Mr. Chamberlain spoke with surprising freshness and vigour. In his
broadcast address the previous evening he had sounded like a man who was exhausted and overwrought. But no signs of this were discernible on Wednesday after- noon. Of necessity his speech had been hurriedly prepared, with the result that Sir John Simon had to correct him on More than one occasion in his references to particular pages of the White Paper. This, however, did not detract from the effect. He contented himself with a simple narrative, avoiding almost all comment ; but it was a narrative which in the end caught up with actual events. The House listened breathlessly while Mr. Chamberlain described the meeting at Berchtesgaden. When he came to Godesberg there was scarcely any interruption, but it was easy to sense the deep feeling of universal indignation at Herr Hitler's letter delivered on the Friday afternoon. Then his Parliamentary Private Secretary was seen hurrying along the second bench with two slips of paper which he handed to Sir John Simon, who in his turn seized the first opportunity to place one of them in Mr. Chamberlain's hands. Naturally, members did not appreciate at the time the importance of these documents, although Lord Halifax had been observed slipping out of the Gallery a short time before. Presumably we shall never know how Mr. Chamberlain would have ended his speech had it not been for the arrival of Herr Hitler's invitation to Munich. As it was, he disclosed its contents to the House, and sat down with a brief appeal for the immediate adjourn- ment of the debate.
* * * *
Previous page
