Parliament's Week

The Lords--

P: Aired the issue of British tariffs in a pointed debate between Baron Arnold, free trade Labor peer, and the Earl Stanhope, Conservative champion of the National Government.

Unanswerably Baron Arnold pointed out the Government's "absolute failure to achieve any important reduction in the tariffs of other countries" by using British tariffs as a bargaining weapon.

Just as unanswerably the Earl Stanhope replied that Britain's tariff policy, adopted in 1931, reduced the Kingdom's adverse merchandise trade balance -L-120,000,000 last year. As to bargaining tariffs down, said the Noble Lord, His Majesty's Government now have that job in hand.

The Commons--

P: Watched Chancellor of the Exchequer Neville Chamberlain, a statesman far too aloof to squirm, submit in frigid silence to tongue lashings by Laborite and Conservative back benchers who compared him unfavorably to President Roosevelt.

"The people of Great Britain would rather have Franklin Roosevelt as Chancellor of the Exchequer than Neville Chamberlain!" shouted Laborite Colonel Josiah Wedgwood. "Every year Mr. Chamberlain gets up and says that prices should be restored but no action is taken!"

"When Mr. Roosevelt said he was going to raise prices the World believed he would do it!" chimed in Conservative Robert Boothby. "The British Government doubtless would be shocked by the American Public Works Bill, but I hope they will be continuously shocked by Mr. Roosevelt, because if a policy of controlled inflation succeeds in the United States it will prove to be the salvation of Great Britain."

Tut-tutting such back bench exuberance, the House proceeded to pass the final provisions of Chancellor Chamberlain's budget (TIME, May 8) by a smash vote of 290 to 42.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.