Change Guard

COMMONWEALTH (British Commonwealth of Nations)

At Whitehall, the seat of Government at London, the Labor Government went out and the Conservative Government went in; the Old Guard was remounted.

Resignation. At a Cabinet council held at No. 10 Downing Street, the Labor Government met for the last time, decided, as it no longer held a mandate from the people, to tender its resignation to the King.

Premier James Ramsay MacDonald was driven in his handsome Daimler into the courtyard of Buckingham Palace; three-quarters of an hour later he emerged. King George had accepted the Cabinet's resignation.

Successor. His Majesty, accepting the advice of the retiring Prime Minister, then commanded into the Presence the Rt. Hon. Stanley Baldwin, leader of the Conservative Party.

At Paddington Station, a reporter presumed, in a question, that Mr. Baldwin had accepted the King's summons. The prospective Premier countered: "Is it not the duty of every subject to obey the commands of the King?"

A brisk whirl around the corner in a taxi and Buckingham Palace was reached. Mr. Baldwin was immediately ushered into the Presence; and the King-charged him with forming a new Cabinet--a mission which he was prompt to accept.

New Cabinet. A short walk down the Mall, then up the steps and past the Duke of York's Column and into Waterloo Place went Mr. Baldwin. At No. 1 Pall Mall, on the corner of Waterloo Place, he was seen to enter; for it was the Carlton Club, headquarters of the Conservative Party. Soon after, a stream of messages summoned the leading lights of the Party to the Club; and the following day, Mr. Baldwin began Cabinetmaking. His choice, which was everywhere termed courageous:

Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury and Leader of the House of Commons: Stanley Baldwin.

Lord President of the Council and Deputy Leader of the House of Lords: The Marquess Ciirzon of Kedleston.

Lord Privy Seal: The Marquess of Salisbury.

lord Chancellor: The Viscount Cave.

Chancellor of the Exchequer: Winston Spencer Churchill.

Secretary of State for Home Affairs: Sir William Joynson-Hicks.

Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Deputy Leader of the House of Commons: T. Austen Chamberlain.

Secretary of State for the Colonies: Lieutenant Colonel L. C. M. S. Amery.

Secretary of State for India: The Earl of Birkenhead.

Secretary of State for War: Sir Laming Worthington-Evans.

Secretary of State for Air: Sir Samuel T. G. Hoare.

First Lord of the Admiralty: Rt. Hon. William Clive Bridgeman.

President of the Board of Trade: Major Sir Philip Lloyd-Grrame.

Minister of Health: Neville Chamberlain.

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries: Hon. Edward F. L. Wood.

Secretary for Scotland: Lieutenant Colonel Sir John Gilmour.

President of the Board of Education: Lord Eustace Percy.

Minister of Labor: Sir Arthur H. D. R. Steel-Maitland.

Attorney General: The Rt. Hon. Sir Douglas M. Hogg.

(For remarks on some of the above gentlemen, see NEW BOOKS, page 11)

Compared to the last Cabinet of Air. Baldwin, the present one shows a general reshuffling of offices among the same personnel. The only men who were reappointed to the same office excepting the Prime Minister: Lord Cave, Sir Samuel Hoare, Sir Philip Lloyd-Greame.

A number of new members were included : Austen Chamberlain and Lord Birkenhead, for long faithful to the Lloyd George Coalition; Winston Churchill, the prodigal son of Conservatism; Sir John Gilmour; Lord Eustace Percy, brother of the Duke of Northumberland; Sir Arthur Steel-Maitland.

Those dropped: Viscount Cecil, son of the famous Lord Salisbury, better known as Lord Robert Cecil; the Duke of Devonshire and the Earl of Derby; the Viscounts Peel and Novar.

One notable inclusion in the Cabinet was the office of Attorney General which goes to that genial, chubby lawyer, Sir Douglas Hogg. (See Page 11.) Usually the Attorney General is not included in the Cabinet.

The new Cabinet is equal in brilliancy to any which has held office during the present Century. Not so much can be said for its leadership; but whatever Mr. Baldwin's shortcomings are, he at least inspires unbounded confidence. Although he has been mercilessly attacked for wrecking his last Government on the shoals of Protection (TIME, Nov. 19, 1923, et seq.), little is made of the fact that he was the power behind the then Sir George Younger at the famous Carlton Club meeting which decided to part company with the Coalitionists. As such, he was more responsible than any other man in preserving to the Conservative Party its historical integrity as the political custodian of the Constitution.

Three of the outstanding appointments are those of Winston Churchill, Austen Chamberlain and Lord Curzon.

Churchill. Mr. Churchill can certainly be regarded as the Admirable Crichton of British politics. There is hardly a Government office along Whitehall that does not know his beaming countenance. He has been at the Colonial office, the Home office, the Admiralty, the War office, the Air Ministry. He has also been President of the Board of Trade, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister of Munitions. Now he is Chancellor of the Exchequer--a post held by his vitriolic father who, it is alleged, was so intrigued at seeing a decimal point for the first time that he inquired: ''What is the damned thing?" It seems only a matter of time before Mr. Churchill is Foreign Secretary, Premier or Lord High Chancellor.

Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was born 50 years ago, the son of the Tory leader Lord Randolph Churchill, who was a son of the 7th Duke of Marlborough. For a time, he followed in his father's footsteps and was a good Tory, but, in the revolt against Protection, he crossed over to the Liberals; and it was with that Party that his meteoric career has been identified.

He has been criticized severely for the Dardanelles fiasco, which has completely eclipsed his exceedingly bold stroke in 1914 when, on his own responsibility, he kept the Navy together after the Spithead review of July. Subsequently, as Minister of War, he made himself unpopular over demobilization.

While he has a great many friends, he has also a great many enemies. His appointment to the Chancellorship of the Exchequer was, therefore, received with mixed feelings, although his capabilities were never called in doubt. The Times, whose intelligent Conservatism is most to be trusted, welcomed the appointment. At least on the side of oratory, Mr. Churchill is a valuable acquisition to any Government. But The Morning Post referred to him as Mr. Baldwin's "coruscating colleague," said:

"We might be quite willing to endorse the parable of the prodigal son, even though repentance is somewhat more equivocal than we could desire and although not merely the fatted calf but the national cow is to be sacrificed on the altar of this reconciliation."

Chamberlain. Most interest attaches itself, especially abroad, to the Secretaryship of Foreign Affairs; it is by no means a super important Cabinet office. Be that as it may, Mr. Austen Chamberlain is preeminently the right man in the right place.

As favorite son of "fighting Joe" (the Rt. Hon. Joseph Chamberlain), he was brought up to supply the deficiencies which the father lacked. Unlike his irascible pater, he is a mild-mannered man and he has the advantage, which his sire had not, of conversing fluently in German, French and Italian. His monocle, however, is a point of resemblance. Frequently it is alleged that the eyeglass is a piece of pure affectation. It is perfectly true that he was as fond of his father as the latter was of him and that he dresses with that neat severity which always accentuated the dominant personality of the first "Joe." It is quite untrue, however, that he apes his father to the extent of wearing a monocle; what is true is that, like his bemonocled forebear, he suffers from myopia in one eye.

For many years, Mr. Chamberlain traveled about on the Continent. On account of the position which his father held at home, he was received by the greatest statesmen of the time. At Berlin, he was admitted into the family circle of Emperor Wilhelm I; and there he met Prince Wilhelm, later to become the last Kaiser of Germany. He was also much in the house of the great Bismarck. In France, Premiers Waldeck- Rousseau, Charles de Freycinet, Jules Ferry were struck by his intelligence. In Austria-Hungary, Premier Count Kalman Tisza and Count Gustav Kalnoky, Minister of Foreign Affairs for 14 years, and in Rome, Premier Francesco Crispi and Premier Marco Minghetti were his friends.

It has been said that the greatest hole in his knowledge is the lack of it concerning the U. S. This is not quite true, for Mr. Chamberlain is known as a student of U. S. affairs and has several times visited the country, the most famous occasion being when he acted as best man at his father's wedding--the third--to Miss Mary Endicott, daughter of President Cleveland's Secretary of War.

Curzon. The Most Honorable, the Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, etc., received, in the eyes of many, a most satisfactory post--that of the Lord President of the Council. Fears were entertained that he might be reappointed Foreign Secretary; and rightly enough, for as Disraeli felt about Lord John Russell, Nihil tetigit quod non perturbavit*. But, as The Westminster Gazette said: "Lord Curzon could not have returned to the Foreign Office. His role is to speak fraternally with foreign kings; and there are so few left that it is as well to lay him aside in purple and fine linen."

Even The Morning Post, in an ironical vein, philosophized: "He will fill the position of Lord President of the Council and leader in the House of Lords with the dignity to which we have become so well accustomed; and, if toes continue to be trodden on, we have the consolation of knowing that the injured feelings of a Peer are, after all, less important than the resentment of an ally."

The Seals. Following the announcement of the new Cabinet, Premier MacDonald and his Cabinet marched to Buckingham and delivered their seals of office to the King. In leaving the Palace gates, the ex-Labor Ministers met the incoming Conservative Cabinet. Hearty greetings were exchanged, which further lends evidence to the fact that the relations between Conservative and Laborite have never been branded with that bitterness which has marred of late those between Liberal and Laborite.

In the Throne Room of the Palace, His Majesty received the Cabinet-designate. The time-honored ceremony of kissing the King's hand after receiving the seals, without which it is impossible to conduct the King's business, was observed. Premier Baldwin then led his Cabinet away to prepare for the music at Westminster.

The excitement was over until the opening of the Sixth Parliament of King George which takes place on Nov. 18. Premier Baldwin went on a visit to Chequers Court, the official country residence of the Premiers of Britain.

* He touched nothing without muddling it.