SPLENDID RECORD.

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 385, 17 March 1937, Page 5

SPLENDID RECORD.

POLITICAL CAREER. Faithfully Followed Conservative Policy. With his perfect poise, cultured • manner, immaculate dress and monocle, the late Sir Austen Chamberlain has been a leading figure in Britain's political life eince his first important appointment as Civil Lord of the Admir- ' alty in 1895. As a son of the late Rt. Hon. Joseph Chamberlain, England’s champion of Protection and Colonial expansion, Sir Auste was, in a sense, born into a political world. A true Conservative, he contributed very largely to his party’s policy during the whole of this century. After leaving the Admiralty in 1900, he was made Financial Secretary to the Treasury, 1900-2: Postmaster-General, 1902-3; and Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1903-6. During 1915-17, as a member of the -Unionist Government, he was Secretary of State for India, and in 1918 was a member of the War Cabinet. In 1919 he returned to the Treasury as Chancellor of.the Exchequer until 1921, and in 1922 was 1 Lord Privy Seal

and Leader of the House of Commons. When Mr. Baldwin’s last Government was in th£ throes of foreign diplomacy in 1931, Sir Austen took charge of the Foreign Office and achieved his greatest personal triumph by engineering the famous Treaty of Locarno, the first post-war collective security agreement of any note. He returned from Switzerland, the hero of all Europe, and w;is knighted by his late Majesty King George V in recognition of his services. Since the formation <»f the present National Government, he has not occupied a Cabinet position, but few private members of the House of Commons - could wield such tremendous personal influence in affairs of State. He was the confidant of all. knov’a as the true polished English diplomat; in political circles in England he was recognised as a statesman* of outstanding ability; and in Birmingham, the home of his father and the birthplace of himself, he was revered as a friend and counsellor whose one aim was service to those who put their trust in him. The late Sir Austen Chamberlain will be mourned as a great statesman, one of the greatest men this age has produced.