Word: chamberlaine
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Many Britons who had thought that newly installed Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was barren of humor changed their minds last week. Before the wildly cheering House of Commons in his first speech as the nation's leader, "The Unknown" Chamberlain not for the first time revealed a flair for the sardonic.* Of retired Stanley Baldwin he said: "His love of truth wavered only occasionally, when, with a deceit which soon ceased to deceive anybody he was wont to describe himself as a plain, ordinary man. . . . Many comparisons have been made between Baldwin and other great Prime Ministers...
Stanley Baldwin having been disposed of, the House got down to business. Up for discussion came the tax on growth of profits proposed by Neville Chamberlain in his Budget Speech (TIME, May 3). Leveled at Britain's fattened armament firms, this tax was originally designed to yield an annual revenue of $125,000,000 toward the cost of the Government's $7,500,000,000 five-year armament plan...
...Party cracked down on the tax. It was described as "monstrous," as "the most disastrous proposal any government has put forward since the War." Only one Government supporter praised the measure-Sir John Simon, who as newly appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer had to speak well of it. Neville Chamberlain was in the unenviable position of being opposed by the Party of which he had been appointed leader that very...
...appoint you Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury." These were the traditional words, spoken by King George, that greeted Mr. Chamberlain a few minutes later. Mr. Chamberlain knelt, kissed His Majesty's hand. The King passed over the seals of office and the keys of the Prime Minister's dispatch box. 'Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain rose to his feet. By this brief ceremony he had reached the top rung of Britain's political ladder, a height attained neither by his father Joseph nor his more-publicized late half-brother Sir Austen...
Prime Minister Chamberlain next showed the King a list of his new Cabinet and sub-Cabinet down to the most obscure, unpaid assistant Government whip. At 5 p. m. that same day every one of these was summoned to the Palace to take his oath of office in strict order of precedence. A meeting of the Privy Council (His Majesty's advisers, including the whole Cabinet) was then held...