ABSTRACT
Sir Austen Chamberlain (1863–1937), himself experienced in cabinet from Civil Lord of the Admiralty (1895–1900) to First Lord of the Admiralty in 1931, while holding other key posts such as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1924–1929), expresses his opposition to revising treaties: Revision is a dangerous word. Revision should never appear, I venture to think, in the mouth of a statesman or in the policy of a Government until they are prepared to define very closely the limits within which they think revision should take place. The long history of this country has in one sense been a history of the revision of Treaties. Eleanor Rathbone (1872–1946) says that she has rarely seen the House so unanimous and notes that Members who usually have disparate views, such as Clement Attlee and Austen Chamberlain, agree.
