ENGLAND
S
were
out and thought
felt
CLIVEDEN SET
21
it
was a good
idea.
Chamberlain
himself had a hefty interest (around twelve thousand shares) in
Imperial Chemical Industries, affiliated with /. G. Farbenindustrie, the German dye trust which is very actively supplying Hitler
with war materials. The difficulty was Anthony Eden, British
who was opposed to fascist aggressions because
he feared they would eventually threaten the British Empire.
Eden would certainly not approve of strengthening fascist coun
tries and encouraging them to still greater aggressions.
At one of the carefully selected little parties the Astors invited
Eden. In the small drawing room banked with flowers the idea
was broached about sending an emissary to talk the matter over
with Hitler some genial, inoffensive person like Lord Halifax
(huge land interests) for instance. Eden understood why the
Times had suddenly raised the issue of the lost German colonies
to an extent greater even than Hitler himself, and Eden em
phatically expressed his disapproval. Such a step, he insisted,
would encourage both Germany and Italy to further aggressions
which would ultimately wreck the British Empire.
Nevertheless, the cabinet ministers who had been consulted
brought pressure upon Chamberlain and while the Foreign Sec
retary was in Brussels on a state matter, the Prime Minister
announced that Halifax would visit the Ftihrer. Eden was furi
ous and after a stormy session tendered his resignation. At that
Foreign Minister,
period, however, Eden s resignation might have thrown England
into a turmoil so Chamberlain mollified him. Public sympathy
was with Eden and before he was eased out, the country had to
be prepared for it.
In the quiet and subdued atmosphere of the diplomats draw
ing rooms in London they tell, with many a chuckle, how Lord
Halifax, his bowler firmly on his head, was sent to Berlin and
Berchtesgaden in mid-November, 1937, with instructions not to
get into any arguments. Lord Halifax, in the mellow judgment