"Deeds, Not Words"

GREAT BRITAIN Parliament met last week for the first time since the Christmas recess. The first thing the House of Commons wanted to hear was what Neville Chamberlain had to say about what Adolf Hitler had said to the Reichstag the day before (TIME, Feb. 6). The Great Appeaser did his best.

"I do not pretend that I have had time to examine with care every phrase in [Hitler's speech]. ... It touched upon a great many topics and covered a wide field," said the Prime Minister, in a voice so low that diplomats in the gallery had to crane to catch his words. But Mr. Chamberlain had apparently taken time enough to comb out of Hitler's formless harangue every conciliatory crumb of comfort it contained. These he singled out for special praise. "I very definitely got the impression," the Prime Minister went on, "that it was not the speech of a man who was preparing to throw Europe into another crisis. It seemed to me that there were many passages in the speech which indicated the necessity of peace for Germany as well as for other countries." Other prominent readers of the Reichstag address did not get the same impression (see p. 27).

Although he did not state categorically that he would go to war for them, African colonies were demanded by Herr Hitler in passage after passage. Mr. Chamberlain skipped any direct reference to this problem, but with characteristic obliquity remarked that if there were going to be any more international concessions, the dictators ought to do some conceding too.

Said he: "It is no use to embark on discussions with a view to general settlement of differences, satisfaction of aspirations and removal of grievances unless those who come to the table are all convinced that all those who sit around it want a peaceable settlement and have no sinister idea in their minds. I say, therefore, that what we want to see is not only words which indicate a desire for peace but--before we can enter upon that final settlement --we shall want to see some concrete evidence of a willingness, let us say, to enter into arrangements for, if not disarmament, at any rate a limitation of armaments." This did not mean that "appeasement" was to be abandoned--on the contrary, Mr. Chamberlain assured the House that "it is steadily succeeding"--but it was about as close as the Prime Minister has ever come to adopting the attitude of "deeds, not words" held by Anthony Eden and many of Chamberlain's Conservative and Opposition critics.

Meanwhile, the Great Appeaser's Government pushed ahead with deeds to get Britain's civilians and fighting services ready for a war. It made Britons feel a lot better when, one after another, Cabinet members trooped before the House last week to disclose new preparedness measures.

> Sir John Anderson, Lord Privy Seal and Minister in charge of civilian defense, announced that plans for decentralizing the Government immediately on the outbreak of a war have been made. England, Scotland and Wales will be divided into twelve districts, the civil and military affairs of each to be administered by an autonomous "dictator" during wartime.

> In addition, Sir John revealed that one of the civilian defense deficiencies complained of during the Czech Crisis, the fact that there were no gas masks for children under five years of age, had been remedied. Special masks for toddlers under two have been ordered and a similar respirator adapted for children up to five is being developed, 1,200.000 in all.

> Minister of Health Walter E. Elliot announced that: 1) doctors are being catalogued and assigned to wartime service posts throughout the country; 2) plans for building additional hospitals are being drafted and arrangements made to provide 200,000 hospital beds for the first day of bombing, 100.000 later.

> Oliver Stanley, President of the Board of Trade, echoed the advice of Sir Auckland Geddes. Wartime Minister of National Service, who three weeks ago told British housewives to keep at least a week's supply of food on hand. He also let it be known that special steps, of an unspecified nature, were being taken to insure the continuity of Britain's water supplies in case of air attacks.

> As she did during the World War, Britain will compensate her servicemen for casualties on the battlefields of the next war. In the next war, however, announced Sir John Simon, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Britain will also compensate civilian wage-earners for loss of life or injury and property owners for loss or damage of property "as far as circumstances permit" --i. e., as long as the treasury is able to pay. In order to keep vital trade going during a war, the Government has worked out an insurance scheme with Lloyd's of London and eight other insurance concerns, which will, in turn, be reinsured to a certain extent by the Government, to cover British merchantmen, their cargoes and the stock of goods stored in the country.

> The Air Ministry decided to purchase from the U. S. 250 fighting planes, in addition to the 400 ordered last summer. Cost of the 650: about $25,000,000.

> The Cabinet approved record appropriations of $2,500,000,000 for the three defense arms during the fiscal year beginning April i. This sum does not include the supplementary appropriations which can be obtained if & when necessary to match Germany's increasing armed strength. About half of the huge sum will be met by a defense loan, the rest from Government funds, thus necessitating no increase in Britain's already almost intolerable tax rate.

Part of this huge defense expense may be met through a "profit" which the Government last week arranged to obtain by revaluing its gold. Introduced by Sir John Simon in the House of Commons was a bill to allow the Government to revalue each week, at the current market price, the gold holdings of the Bank of England. Since Britain went off the gold standard in 1931 this gold has been carried at the old parity of 855. per ounce. Gold was last week selling at 148 1/2. per ounce in the open market. At the old figure the Bank's gold holdings amounted to only -L-126,000,000. Revaluation would up it to -L-221.000,000--a paper profit which can be used to meet Government expenses, such as rearmament.

> These hurried efforts to get Britain in shape, partly due to the fact that able, energetic Lord Chatfield has replaced slow-moving Sir Thomas Inskip in the Chamberlain Cabinet as Minister for the Coordination of Defense, were in striking contrast to the three-and-a-half-year rearmament muddling that has paralyzed Britain diplomatically. That persistent critic .of the Chamberlain policies, Cartoonist David Low of the London Evening Standard, prodded civilian defenders further along with his pen by picturing Neville Chamberlain, Sir Thomas Inskip, Sir John Anderson, Minister of Labor Ernest Brown leading a crowd of hopeful citizens down the street). Caption: "Good, but not good enough!"

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