T H E T A B L E T , December 29th, 1961

THE TABLET A WEEKLY NEW SPAPER AND REVIEW

PRO ECCLESIA DEI, PRO REGE ET PATRIA

VOL. 198, No. 5823

LONDON, DECEMBER 29th, 1951

NINEPENCE

FOUNDED IN 1 8 4 0

PUBLISHED AS A NEWSPAPER

OUT OF TOUCH British Progressives and European Realities

UNPUBLISHED RECOLLECTIONS OF DR. JOHNSON : II

By Frances Reynolds, Sister to Sir Joshua Reynolds FRASCATI PIECE THE QUIETUS OF Q A Story by J . D. Utley By Mgr. R. A. Knox

THE LITERARY GENIUS OF SPAIN

Mr. Brenan’s Analysis. By A. A. Parker

EVERYMAN’S VOCATION Father Merton and Mystical Theology. By T. S . Gregory BENEATH ST. PETER’S TWO VIEWS ON “BILLY BUDD”

A Note on the Excavations By Anthony Milner and Rosemary Hughes

CREDITS AND DEBITS: 1951 A S 1951 closes, and can be viewed in retrospect, the good and the bad items o f the account are both massive. On the credit side there has been an undoubted recovery, even more marked morally th an economically, in Western Europe. A lthough the large Communist Parties in Italy and France have maintained their membership and organization, they, have lost much o f their power for harm , a t any rate for the tim e being, and now recognize that, if they a ttem p t to call political strikes, the people they injure most are themselves. There has been some real, if painfully slow, progress in building up military force, though a year passes very quickly between a number o f committees none o f which can take the next step till some o ther committee has moved. But the statesm en whose policy is greater unity have all maintained themselves in power, and little by little the European scene is being transform ed. S trong as are the la tent dangers o f resurgent nationalism , making a special appeal to the young, these forces have so far been held in check.

and the economic development o f the African and other territories politically united to Western Europe. M r . Lyttelton Reports from Malaya

Mr. Lyttelton’s description o f the situation in Malaya as “ very grave indeed,” and the determ ination th a t the military campaign must be taken much more seriously, is a commenta ry on the earlier much more optim istic forecasts, which responsible officials made, but which they can claim to have made in the norm al trad itio n o f those conducting a war, who have to profess confidence th a t their victory is already alm ost an accomplished fact.

But on the o ther side o f the account, money, in all these vital Western countries, continues, though a t very different rates, to lose value, and prices continue to creep upwards. The last report o f O .E .E .C . gave an uncom fortable picture o f th e way the economy o f Europe, which is so dependent on im ports o f raw materials and o f food, which are indispensable, has continually to pay more for them. In p a r t this is a longte rm development, th a t th e term s o f trad e are moving in favour o f the prim ary producing countries ; th a t food tends to become dearer all the time, as more and more people, bo th on the spot and abroad, are able to compete to buy it. In part, it is due to immediate causes, o f which rearm ament, where the Americans set the pace, is among the chief. E u ro pean manufactured exports face growing difficulties from the high price o f materials and o f labour, and this is much aggravated by high taxation. The net result is to confront every Government with the dilemma, either to fail to play their p a r t in measures o f rearm ament whose necessity is all too clear, or, playing their minimum part, to impose on their peoples sacrifices which are inevitably resented ; so th a t there is always a great tem p ta tion to believe th a t they are unnecessary.

The basic economy o f Malaya has stood up very well to the strains o f the last two years, but our enemies there have discovered a relatively cheap method o f waging a kind of guerrilla warfare, and with a great base behind them in Communist China can continually organize reinforcem ents for their war o f attritio n . There is no simple forward policy of greater Malayan self-government. The country is too divided between Malayans and Chinese, and the numbers o f Chinese, and their exits and entrances, are controlled with such difficulty. The Malayans should, in their own interests, exercise patience until the acute phase o f military operation, which can only be undertaken by British authority, is past.

The year ends with the deadlock quite unresolved in Persia, and the Persian economy running down through what will look in Persian history as acts o f quite exceptionally wanton irrationality. The last days o f December see the same sombre prospects unfolding in Egypt, where the measures which the British are compelled to take to protect the lives o f British soldiers th reaten to create a series o f incidents before which the more moderate politicians will find themselves helpless. It is perhaps no t too much to say th a t the policies which the European countries adopt in Asia and Africa will prove decisive, more decisive than any domestic measures they may take in their own countries, for their own futures. Europe presupposes a world in which a growing in te rnational trade is possible and widely understood to be im portant, so th a t national and local passions learn to discipline themselves. The Continuing Tension

One great tru th th a t stands out in consequence is the im portance o f their Colonial Empires to the British, F rench and Belgians, and the intim ate connection between th e standard of living which the artisans o f these countries may hope to mainta in by their labours, whether for the home o r export markets,

Mr. Vishinsky’s charges in the United Nations, and the Moscow radio announcem ent th a t two spies and saboteurs dropped in Russia by the Americans had been captured and executed, underline the continuing gravity o f the in te r­