Triumphal Bumble

In No. 11, next door to the residence of the Prime Minister in No. 10 Downing St., lives (so every upper class Englishman has been brought up to believe) the Chancellor of the Exchequer--but this rule has ceased to hold. Gaunt, dynamic Chancellor Neville Chamberlain has every right to live in No. 11 and is rated the real head of the ruling Conservative Party, but he joins in showing every deference to the party's titular Leader, beloved and bumbling Stanley Baldwin who (conscious of his shortcomings as a statesman) was always trying to resign during his two terms as Prime Minister (1923-24 and 1924-29). Today beloved Stanley Baldwin lives in No. 11 with the determined woman who would never let him resign, good Mrs. Lucy Baldwin whose archaic hats are as famed as the Queen's. That her husband is, not Prime Minister* as would normally be the case with the leader of a party which holds an overwhelming majority--but the holder of a mere sinecure in the Cabinet, is to pious Mrs. Baldwin only one more proof that the ways of Divine Providence are cozily inscrutable. Last week, supremely confident that her Stanley could not fail, she sent him forth to face 1,200 delegates of the Central Conservative Council gathered to tackle a party issue which might decide his right to keep the name of Leader with a big L. The issue, ideal for Conservative squabbling, was whether His Majesty's Government should follow their vague but benevolent White Paper program destined to give India a little more freedom some years hence, or scrap the White Paper here and now. As the scrappiest of pro-scrappers appeared peppery, red-haired Winston Churchill who for years has been trying to steal the Party leadership from "flaccid" Mr. Baldwin and "cold" Mr. Chamberlain.

''I am extremely anxious that India should be kept out of the political arena." began Mr. Baldwin and bumbled on in well-bred fashion for half an hour, after which the Conference sang "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow!''

Mr. Churchill, snorting with impatience, jumped up to shout that "Mr. Baldwin made up his mind on India three years ago! . . . More recently the Viceroy. Lord Willingdon, has told us that the only party that could work this scheme is the Indian Congress party [of Mahatma Gandhi]. And where are the Indian Congress party? They are in jail! Are we to place the loyal police under the control of the very Congress members they arrested?" Thus challenged last week. Bumbling Stanley showed exactly as much and no more metal than is pleasing to the middle-of-the-road Conservatives who have returned him again and again as Leader. Walking over to Mr. Churchill, he put a big paw on his shoulder, waited until cheers and counter cheers had subsided, and then made with emphasis his big, defensive utterance of the day. "I did not make up my mind about India three years ago!" said Honest Stanley. "I said and I repeat that I took three years considering it."

This shot, according to reporters covering the Conference, threw Mr. Churchill badly out of his stride. "He never seemed to recover from this setback and failed to make his expected 'fighting speech!' "

Not for long months will the. White Paper come up before Britain's Parliament to be enacted and give a new. more liberal Constitution to India or to be thrown into the discard. Not being in a hurry, the Conservative Conference voted last week 838 to 356 for "Safety First" Stanley Baldwin. It broke up amid more singing of "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow," thus firmly convinced Mrs. Stanley Baldwin all over again that God is in his Heaven and all is right with the English world.

Too busy with World Conference matters last week to take part in the Conservative debate. Chancellor of the Exchequer Neville Chamberlain hewed close to the line of tight, efficient Conservative Party management, left the Baldwins happy in No. 11 while he made Empire policy at his office in the Treasury and in his snug, sumptuous home at No. 37 Eaton Square.

* Ramsay Mac Donald is Prime Minister as the result of an agreement between his small wins of the Labor Party and Stanley Baldwin's Conservatives to form a National Government in 1031. Mrs. Baldwin likes and trusts Prime Minister MacDonald because, although a Socialist, he too believes in Providence .

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