Madcap Chancellor

Chancellor of the Exchequer Winston Churchill is an individualist of such reckless stamp that only chance kept him from the gallows until he attained the armor of prestige and power. A minor exploit of his youth was to "shinny" up the central pillar in a London music hall, wearing the uniform of his Queen (Victoria) and demand three cheers for every daughter of joy in the house. Theirs were, he shouted, the only bosoms on which the tired head of a British soldier could always find repose. By a miracle he was not cashiered--rose to hold the purse strings of the Exchequer.

Last week, vacationing at Rome (TIME, Jan. 24), he praised extravagantly the Fascist regime which stamps out so ruthlessly all individualists.

Said Chancellor Churchill to Fascists: "If I had been an Italian I am sure I would have been wholeheartedly from start to finish with Fascismo's triumphant struggle against the bestial appetites and passions of Leninism.

"In regard to the Fascist foreign policy I may say that your movement has rendered a service to the entire world. The great fear which torments any democratic or socialist leader is that he might be ousted or succeeded by another leader more extremist than himself. It has been said that a continuous course toward the left, a kind of fatal ebullition toward the abyss are the characteristics of all revolutions. Italy has demonstrated that there is a way of dealing with subversive forces. She has found the necessary antidote against the Russian venom."

Finally madcap Chancellor Churchill described Signer Mussolini in unique terms: "I could not help being charmed by his gentle, simple bearing and his calm, detached poise."

Newsgatherers, who present only Il Duce, ruthless, blatant, were vexed by this unmasking of the quiet, singularly winning man who Signor Mussolini can become when he chooses.