Parliament's Week

The Lords

P: Welcomed into their House with a quaint five-minute ceremony, the Most Reverend Father in God Cosmo Gordon Lang, new Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of All England.

Entered the Primate and the Bishops of Southwark and London, his introducers, wearing black caps. Solemnly stalwart Cosmo Gordon Lang presented his great patent of office to Baron Hailsham, the Lord High Chancellor. Next the three black caps paraded solemnly around the chamber to the back bench of the Lords Spiritual. Seating themselves, the Primate and Bishops faced the Lord High Chancellor, rose, bowed, removed their black caps, and lastly with finality and weight resumed their seats.

The Commons

P: Virtually ignored the most historic event of the week, though attention was duly called to it by His Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, bleak, precise Sir Austen Chamberlain. The event (see China) was formal recognition by the greatest empire (British) of the most populous Republic (Chinese).

It was no less than a masterstroke by Sir Austen to order fired, last week, by a British warboat, the first salute ever received by the new President of China from one of the Great Powers. Three months ago the U. S. State Department was on the verge of ordering such a salute, but procrastinated, thus allowing Britain to steal the 21-gun thunder. Since long-memoried Chinese attach extreme importance to such events and are apt to celebrate them with "anniversaries" for decades or centuries, the salute of last week may be deemed the smartest move made by Sir Austen Chamberlain in 1928.

P: Shouted down Sir Austen Chamberlain when he resumed his exasperating habit of telling the House both too little and too much about what his Foreign Office is doing. In touching upon last fortnight's meeting of Europe's "Big Three"--Chamberlain, Briand, Stresemann--during the regular Winter Session of the Council of the League of Nations, Sir Austen confirmed by implication sensational rumors that the Allies plan greatly to accelerate their evacuation of the Rhineland.

Pressed for details, Sir Austen would say only: "I derived from our conversations the impression that circumstances are favorable to a solution [of the Evacuation and Reparations problems] if further polemics can be avoided while the experts are performing their task. That is all I can say at present in the public interest and in the interests of peace."

Laborite shouts of disapproval caused Sir Austen to ask if he might make a personal plea to the House against "polemics;" whereupon "Noes" were hurled until the Foreign Minister sat down, growling testily, "Oh, very well--very well!"