Parliament's Week The Commons:

P: The long imminent reshuffle of the Chamberlain Cabinet came this week, hastened by heavy debating pressure upon His Majesty's Government in the House of Commons. Charges that Viscount Swinton as Air Secretary has made a muddle of his end of British Rearmament were hurled even by some M.P.s of the Government's own Conservative Party, by many Liberal and Labor M.P.s.

Laborites led in attacking Swinton's recent decision to buy some U. S. war planes (TIME, May 2), demanded a return to purchase of nothing but craft "built by honest British labor." Shouts of "Liar!" in which some Conservatives joined greeted a Government declaration that "British factories are filled to capacity with orders!" After hours of acrimonious debate, the Cabinet won a vote of confidence by only 299-to-131, and it was clear that Swinton would have to be permitted to resign, as planned by Tactician Chamberlain, to provide a scapegoat for the unpopular "American purchases."

Bedded with gout at No. 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister reshuffled his Cabinet as follows: Sir Kingsley Wood, formerly Health Minister, becomes Air Secretary; Lord Harlech, who had just entered the peerage because of his father's death, and who formerly as William Ormsby-Gore was Colonial. Secretary, is succeeded in that post by Malcolm MacDonald, son of the late great Ramsay; Lord Stanley becomes Dominions Secretary, the office vacated by Mr. MacDonald; and Major Walter Elliot is made Health Minister, relinquishing the Secretaryship for Scotland to Lieut. Colonel David John Colville, formerly Financial Secretary to the Treasury.

The House of Commons saw this as a series of merited promotions for Sir Kingsley, MacDonald, Stanley and Elliot who have long been marked as comparatively youthful "comers." In the dropping out of Peers Swinton and Harlech was seen an effort to give the Chamberlain Cabinet a more "democratic" guise before a General Election becomes necessary. This week London papers began saying openly that for this same reason Viscount Halifax may soon be succeeded as Foreign Secretary by a "commoner," possibly even by Vote Getter Anthony Eden.

P: Various Conservative M.P.s representing agricultural constituencies warned that "the British farmer is suffering this spring the gravest drought since 1815 and steps must be taken before it is too late!"

Less than one inch of rain had fallen during the past 100 days, and the drought was said to be costing United Kingdom farmers last week $2,500,000 per day. With the grass shortage forcing British farmers to fling unseasonably large flocks of sheep on the Home market, thus threatening to break the price, Conservative Robert Hugh Turton begged His Majesty's Government to "keep overseas sheep off the market!"

Mournfully replied Minister of Agriculture William Shepherd Morrison, a protege of Earl Baldwin: "The Ottawa Empire agreements do not permit such a course. The situation may greatly improve if there is rain in the next two weeks." All churches in the diocese of Bristol were ordered to offer prayers for rain. Within 48 hours heavy rains doused almost the whole of the British Isles, the drought was called "definitely broken."

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