Triumph, Exultation

COMMONWEALTH (British Commonwealth of Nations)

As Foreign Minister Austen Chamberlain arrived in London last week, returning from the Locarno Conference, he was greeted with official honors and popular ovations which recalled those accorded to the returning Prince of Wales the week before (TIME, Oct. 26).

The Prince, Lord Cromer and Vice Admiral Sir Lionel Halsey were on hand at Victoria Station to congratulate him in the name of the King on the successful issue of his labors. Crowded about him many members of the Cabinet, including the genial Winston Churchill, Lord Cave, Lord Cecil and Colonel Amery. As they wrung his hand, they noted that the returning diplomatic hero had for once chosen to appear publicly in a crinkled grey lounge suit instead of being austerely and formally attired as is his usual custom. Mrs. Chamberlain, who had accompanied her husband to Locarno, was all but overwhelmed with flowers; and outside the station, by special fiat of King George, a state coach waited for the son of famed and beloved "Joe."*

Before he was whirled away amid cheering throngs, Mr. Chamberlain spoke a few words of thanks to representatives of the British press for their work at Locarno, which he said was "often a help and never a hindrance to our efforts." He also issued an official statement, in part as follows: "I am full of gratitude that it has been given to me to represent my Sovereign at such a moment. The treaties initialed at Locarno threaten no one, are directed against no nation, secure the safety of many and are welcomed by all."

The London Times erupted into exclamations for once: "No more invasions of Belgium! No more devastation of French territory! No new occupation of the Ruhr! No new attempts to foster separatist movements in the Rhineland! It seems almost incredible we should have escaped from that series of nightmares, yet this solemn pledge intends nothing less. The spectre that held the peoples of France, Belgium and Germany in perpetual fear has been exorcised, at any rate for a period in which the will of the present generation may operate."

Said Premier Baldwin:

"The miracle of Locarno is that there has sprung up in Europe for the first time since the War the will to peace. If the promise at Locarno is fulfilled the peace we have built up in Western Europe is a prelude to the peace that will ultimately be built up throughout the whole of Europe."

Exclaimed the Outlook (Independent), finding time to be acidulous even in an hour of rejoicing, and expressing a sentiment frequently voiced last week in Europe:

"One notices a certain amount of pique in American press comment that Europe has got together without America's assistance and worked out some sort of an agreement. It does not fit in with the preconceived notion on the other side of the Atlantic of a hate-torn Europe, which could only be reconciled through the pious efforts of the United States.

"Coolidge himself is an estimable man, who personally would be glad to make some sort of a move, but he is timid, with his ear always to the ground, afraid of public opinion, which, when watching European affairs, is completely uninstructed in America. So, it seems, that Europe need not expect much from America except the usual duns about debts and loans on profitable terms to Americans."

*Joseph Chamberlain died July 2, 1914; onetime Secretary of State for the Colonies (1895-1903); famed M. P.; onetime Lord Rector of Glasgow University, to which post of honor son Austen was likewise elected last week (see EDUCATION).