SICK LEADERS

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 449, 3 September 1928, Page 9

SICK LEADERS

British Conservatives STRENUOUS WORK WHO WILL LEAD NEXT? (i. ■ it' <1 .I .— By Telegraph Copyright) lAustralian and XS. Press Association) (United Service) LONDON, Saturday. The dying months of the term of office of the Baldwin Government are noteworthy for the illness of its leaders. Faced with a general election next year, the . question arises, who will be the next chief? It may be that in the next Parliament the Conservatives will have onl> a working majority. Hence they will require all the talent available. The retirement of Mr. W. C. Bridgeman, First Lord of the Admiralty, emphasises how the Old Brigade of the Conservatives is diminishing, if not disappearing. Many of the parly leaders -are suffering from ill-health and some are considering retirement to an easier life.

The Prime Minister himself frequently shows sign of strain. and avails himself of every opportunity to seek seclusion. Sir Austen Chamberlain, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, is far more seriously ill than was at first imagined. His condition when he left on Thursday on his protracted voyage was a shock to all his friends, and he will probably desire a less exacting life. It is certainly realised in intimate quarters that Sir Austen no longer ambitious for the reversion of the party leadership. WEAK IN LEADERS Lord Cushendun, v who acted as deputy for Sir Austen at the signing of the Kellogg Pact, and is now doing the same at Geneva, is not a strong man. He had a serious and trying illness recently. Mr. Winston Churchill, Chancellor of the Exchequer, has only just emerged from a serious illness which necessitated his absence from many recent discussions on the Budget. Certainly he is not himself to-day. Mr. Neville Chamberlain. Minister of Health, has escaped serious illness, but is not strong. Sir William Jovn-son-Hicks, Home Secretary, who works too hard, runs the constant risk of a breakdown. Ministerial life seems to be more strenuous than ever. The House of Commons is singularly weak in leaders. Many prominent men have deserted politics for the city. Sir Eric Geddes and Sir Robert Horne are examples.