THE TABLET August 30th, 1958. VOL. 212, No. 6171

IT i t TAB!' FT

A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER’& REVIEW

Published as a Newspaper

Pro Ecclesia Dei, Pro Regina et Patria

FOUNDED IN 1840

AUGUST 30th, 1958

NINEPENCE

The Lambeth Report : Winds from the Mission Fields Soviet Commentary : The Missing Generations. By Victor S. Frank Christianity in the United Arab Republic: Minorities in Moslem Lands Critics' Columns : Notebook : Book Reviews : Letters : Chess

A CHANCE TO HALT

'"pHE scientists at Geneva have had good news for the world, for they consider it quite feasible to devise forms of control over nuclear tests which will not involve the.close inspection which the nuclear Powers so naturally shrink from permitting. The Russian and American and British scientists met as men with a common interest; they wanted to agree, and found they could agree, not wanting to devote all their talents to equipping their separate Governments with the means of mass destruction, and glad of the chance to act collectively and constructively in the cause of peace.

The British Government lost no time in announcing its willingness to suspend its own tests as from the end of October ; and the British and American Governments have formally proposed to the Russians a year’s truce from that date, to which it is greatly to be hoped the Russians wilhagree. What is agreed to for one year can be extended year by year, and there can be a mutual agreement not to push on any further in the dangerous and extremely costly competition of the last few years.

The scientists’ announcement brings nearer that course for which Pope Pius XII has been pleading for nearly five years : an agreement to call off the nuclear arms race. If this agreement is attained we hope the French too will agree to suspend their tests, because if they did not do so the Russians would conclude that this was a typical Western trick, to continue under French auspices what has been renounced by America and Britain, and the Russians then could sail forward under one of their satellite flags. The Germans would be generally thankful to see a halt called to this kind of preparedness ; and other countries would be equally relieved.

It is unfortunate that at this moment there should be a flare-up in the Far East, with the Chinese Communists shelling the Quemoy Islands near the mainland, avowedly to put a stop to the raiding by the Nationalist forces on Formosa. The Nationalists do not deny that they have been engaging in such harassing activities, and this could be quite a sufficient explanation, even for large-scale Communist operations designed both to end a nuisance and to impress the Asian world with China’s growing power. It is unfortunately the truth that the regime in Formosa which the American Government protects never finds itself so much appreciated at Washington as when there is some activity in the front line. The Arabs Agree

As they saw their affairs increasingly debated by the world, and felt themselves being treated as in need of care and protection, not to say the attentions of the probation officer, the Arab States pulled themselves together, and last weekend resolved the present crisis by being able to announce that they had agreed. The essence of the agreement is that the independence of the Lebanon and of Jordan is to be respected ; the corollary is that the Governments of those countries, while thanking the British and Americans, will invite them to depart. The United Nations is not cold-shouldered. Its SecretaryGeneral will go to the Middle East with the understanding that as long as the United Nations talks in terms of observers, or of technical helpers, it is welcome. What would not be welcome would be a serious attempt to police the area.

The Egyptian Foreign Minister, Dr. Fawzi, has played a leading part in this development, and has very much increased his stature among statesmen, for it is certainly true that his country has everything to gain now from a policy of moderation. Baghdad has ceased to be a rival focal-point for Arab unity. The Iraq-Jordan dynastic union has been dissolved, and it would be very difficult for King Hussein of Jordan to maintain the sense of crisis and keep the loyalty of the Army at the requisite high pitch if everywhere else there is a change of mood and language, and it is emphasised that no peoples are to be bullied or cajoled into union if they do not want it, but that the advantages of even a loose union can be very great for them all.

As soon as the Americans and the British began to underline the truth that they were not trying to defend any exclusively Western interest, but were supporting friendly Governments, they had to prove their sincerity by making their continued presence depend upon those Governments. It then became the obvious diplomatic course for the Egyptians to reassure the Lebanon and Jordan, and, this is what they have been doing.