Portrait of the Week
IN a week which has seen the lights of Blackpool switched on by M. Malik and Mr. P. G. Wodehouse applying for American nationality, peaceful co-existence is more to the fore than ever. Dr. Adenauer has been in Moscow, and, though the exchanges between him and the Soviet leaders have been barbed, with the history of the last twenty years being thor- oughly investigated and both sides ,losing their tempers over the question of who committed what atrocity when, the wonder is that there should have been any exchanges at all. The talks appear to have ended with an agreement to establish diplomatic relations and an undertaking by the Russians to restore German prisoners of war still remaining in their hands. However, it is still not clear whether Marshal Bulganin meant by this the odd sixteen thousand 'war criminals' he had referred to earlier in the talks, or whether the hundred thousand German civilians who disappeared during the liberation of Germany by the Soviet armies (and whose existence the Russians have up till now denied) will also benefit. The request which Marshal Bulganin is reported to have made, for the return of Soviet displaced persons from West Germany and M. Molotov's demand for the stopping of American propaganda operating from the Federal Republic may give some indication of the bargain the Russians intend to drive in this matter. As to the recognition or otherwise of East Germany, according to the official spokes- man of the Soviet foreign office 'both sides maintained their position.' Reunification does not seem to have been brought much nearer by jovial exchanges between Pr. Adenauer and M. Khrushchev on the ancestry of Karl Marx, but, as a West German daily has pointed out, it is inevitable that from now on the Federal Republic will have an Eastern policy and hence a greater freedom of manoeuvre in international affairs.
In Morocco negotiations for removing Sidi Mohammed hen Arafa, the present Sultan, have been carried a stage further by a letter to him from M. Coty, the President of the Republic. This is reported to contain an assurance that he will not be replaced by his rival, ben Yussef, and to suggest that he should retire to Tangier, while a Council of Guardians of the Throne is set up to act in his place. These proposals represent the result of much internal bargaining within the French Cabinet; in fact, General Koenig, Minister of Defence, has already issued a statement that he disapproves of the Government's Moroccan policy, thereby violating both the principle of collective Cabinet responsibility and the rules of ordinary courtesy between colleagues. Meanwhile, in Morocco itself further outrages have taken place, while in Algeria the Algerian Communist Party has been suppressed on the curious grounds that its very existence involves sup- port for Algerian nationalism. A note of warning has been struck by the mutiny at the Gare de Lyon of 400 French Air Force reservists called up for service in North Africa. This was apparently due to bad management on the part of the authorities, but this demonstrable lack of enthusiasm on the part of those who would have, to do the fighting, if Morocco turned into another Indo-China, will certainly strengthen the hands of those elements in favour of coming to terms with North African nationalism.
Developments in other parts of the world have neither been very startling nor very unexpected. In Cyprus British rein- forcements have been landing to the accompaniment of a good deal of abuse from Athens radio and stones from Cypriot youths. The appearance of a Turkish underground organisation called V olkan adds another complicating factor to an already complex situation. In Malaya the new amnesty that has been offered to the terrorists appears to have suffered from being signed by the High Commissioner rather than by the Chief Minister of the new Government of the Federation, and the Buraimi oasis dispute between Britain and Saudi Arabia has been the subject of some eloquent pleading by Sir Hartley Shawcross at The Hague Court. The Security Council has called for a cease-fire in the Gaza area, and the Egyptians have announced new regulations for shipping entering the Gulf of Akaba : in future they must give seventy- two hours' notice to avoid being fired on by Egyptian batteries: King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia has swept the polls at the elections, his party, the Popular Socialist Community, having won all ninety-one seats in the new Assembly. Cam- bodia is to pursue a policy of neutralism by the simple ex- pedient of refusing to recognise either of the two governments which claim to represent China or Viet Nam until those countries are once again completely united. A novel note has . been introduced into the Kashmir question by a suggestion that bands of Pakistani Satyagrahis should adopt the same tactics along the demarcation line as their Indian fellows have been doing along the frontier with Goa. On the American Continent news includes forest fires in California, a dockers' strike on the US east coast and the 'flaring-up of a perennial ' frontier dispute between Ecuador and Peru. Comedy is pro- vided by events in Malta, where Dr. Borg Olivier's Nationalist Party has been accusing the police of allowing Labour Party rowdies to break up their meetings an accusation which, when overheard by the acting Prime Minister in a café, caused him to summon the police and have the names and addresses of Nationalist leaders taken.
At home the TUC has brought its meeting to a close with the platform carrying most of the points it wanted to carry. Among these were the rejection of overtures by the Com- munist-dominated WFTU and the reaffirmation of belief in the principle of industrial arbitration. On the economic front the only news is that last month's trade figures were a little better. Mr. Benson. US Secretary of Agriculture, has said that there will be 'fair disposal' of American surpluses, a state- ment which does not seem to have reassured anyone par- ticularly. The NCB and NUM are to undertake a joint inquiry into the causes of the drop in cml production—not before it was time—while the hearts of economists will no doubt be suitably gladdened by Mr. Butler's statement, just before setting off for the meeting of the International Monetary Fund at Istanbul, that the Government will continue to fight in- flation. It has been announced that there are to be more tests of atomic weapons at Monte Bello and Maralinga in Australia next year. These, however, are not to include tests of hydrogen bombs. There have been protests in Wales about the proposal to dam the river Vyrnwy in order to supplement Liverpool's water supply on the grounds that the memorial chapel to the foremost woman hymnologist of Wales, Ann Griffiths, would be submerged. However, Wales is not the only place where lifting up eyes unto the hills tends to be ineffectual as a method of dealing with the authorities. The ITA and the BBC are to meet representatives of the main political partie's to try to come to an agreement on political broadcasting, but unfor- tunately the hill they have to climb over is an even more protuberant one than the Liverpool City Council.
Miscellaneous news includes a denunciation of the breeding of monstrosities among dogs, a mutiny by scouts on a training ship, and the granting of an ensign's commission in the US Coastguards to Norton Gaston, who had been refused one on the grounds that he associated too much with his mother, who had innocently belonged to a Communist-controlled organisation some years before. The British athletic team that went to Moscow was defeated by the Russians by 220 points to 141, and the Rumanians managed to 'draw with the Harle- quins on the football field. The prize of the week goes to the South Africa Customs, who sent copies of Black Beauty for inspection by the censor. What a seditious title!
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