ABSTRACT
The new government’s comparative success in its first parliamentary session only added to Chamberlain’s bitterness. So too did a series of diehard promotions, including that of Reginald Hall as Chief Agent, a particularly ‘serious offence.’ Austen Chamberlain would not respond to any gestures of reconciliation from the government and declined the chairmanship of a Royal Commission on the Indian Civil Service. Chamberlain’s initial inclination was to decline to assume direct personal responsibility for a policy on which they had not been consulted, but, after listening to Birkenhead, he agreed that if a suitable offer were made to them they would be compelled to join. Baldwin had made a gesture towards Chamberlain by inviting him to join a committee on reparations, but the latter had declined in view of the Conservative government’s uncertain future. Chamberlain’s damning indictment of Asquith on 21 January earned Baldwin’s praise.
