T H E TA B LET, M a rch 26th, 1955. VOL. 205, No. 5992

Published a s a N ew sp a p e r

TH E TAB LET

A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER & REVIEW

Pro Ecclesia Dei, Pro Regina et Patria

FOUNDED IN 1840

MARCH 26th, 1955

NINEPENCE

The Urge to Talk : 1Communications without Expectations

Inheritance from Yalta: Policies for the Future o f Germany, and their Sequel

Baghdad and Babylon: Catholics under Islam. By Douglas Woodruff

A Catholic Library Needed: A Reference Library in London. By D. J. T. Englefield

Hindemith in London : Last Week’s Concerts. By Rosemary Hughes

Tribute to Evie Hone: An Artist in Glass. By A rthur Pollen

The Lincoln Cult: The Man and the Legend. By Christopher Hollis

Books Reviewed: An Essay on Christian Philosophy, by Jacques Maritain ; Egypt's Destiny, by

Mohammed Neguib ; Robert Grosseteste, Scholar and Bishop, by various authors ; The Salt o f the Earth, by André Frossard ; The Story o f the Venerable Francis Libermann, by Helen Walker Homan ; Gloucestershire Marriage Allegations, edited by Brian Frith ; Hymns and the Faith, by Erik Routley ; A World o f Love, by Elizabeth Bowen ; / Was a Stranger, by Martin Mewburn ; and Return to the Wood, by J. L. Hodson. Reviewed by Hilary J. Carpenter, O.P., Sir Rupert Hay, Edward A. Sillem, B. C. L. Keelan, Irene Marinoff,

John Wright, W. S. Bainbridge and Peregrine Walker.

COMINGS AND GOINGS

I T is not surprising that the National Executive of the Labour Party, when it met at Transport House on Wednesday, postponed any decision about Mr. Bevan’s membership of the party. On the one hand there was the judgment of the parliamentary party. But on the other hand appeals for Mr. Bevan had been made by two of the largest trade unions in the country, the Amalgamated Engineering Union and the National Union of Railwaymen, asking that he should be censured and no more ; there had been much expression of similar views among the constituency parties ; and the talk of an early general election had arisen since the parliamentary party took its decision, and had grown greatly in volume.

It was a singularly badly timed disclosure, from the Conservative point of view—if disclosure it was—that the Prime Minister is proposing to retire quite soon, and that there will be a general election in the summer or autumn. Supposing this news to be accurate, we still cannot understand why it was not delayed for another week, to let the Labour Party quarrel grow. It is natural to suspect that the secret might have been kept for a little bit longer but for the arrival of Lord Beaverbrook in this country, which was immediately followed by the assertions in his newspapers, which then spread to the rest of the Press.

It is never easy to know with Lord Beaverbrook where exactly news ends and views begin ; or whether this retirement is something which his old friend preserved as a titbit of news for him, or something which he made up his mind ought to happen, and could be made to happen if it was announced with sufficient emphasis. His last expressions to the Conservative Party when he went away for the winter were full of disgust at their failure to organize imperial tariffs, and Sir Anthony Eden and Mr. Butler will do well to refresh their memories of the events of twenty-five years ago, when this same angry newspaper-owner was trying to dictate his policy to the party.

If anything is calculated to inflame Lord Beaverbrook’s dissatisfaction it is the announcement this week of a new body, GATO, the General Agreement on Trade Organization, which confirms the work of GATT and sets up machinery for it. It confirms the decision of this country to act in accordance with the realities of our occupation as a world exporter, needing every market, and the freest trade we can encourage. By contrast Lord Beaverbrook has persistently wanted us to concentrate on trading inside the Empire, setting up tariff walls. This very injudicious advice is heard less stridently today, and we have just had another object lesson in its dangers. There has been an abrupt curtailing of British exports to Australia, notably motor-cars, to correct the Australian balance of payments. The only prudent course for this country is to have as many markets as possible, not to rely on a few which may contract or fail, and in so many of which, if they are Commonwealth markets, political considerations may enter, and tariffs and other controls may be used as a political weapon. Little enough remains after fifty years of the Rhodes-Chamberlain imperialism ; but something else has emerged which in terms of trade can be very much better.