Stn,—Surely preoccupation with the niceties of protocol in the face
of treason and sedition are not the monopoly of 'the Establishment' and its press. In those parts of the Common- wealth fully disestablished, similar circum- stances 'have arisen.
The failure to cope with the Maclean ménage is paralleled by the Canadian reluc- tance to afford facilities to Igor Gouzenko, and the insistence of Mr. Bialoguski upon true Australian hospitality towards Vladimir Petrov which at one time did not seem forthcoming.
Are not the causes the same in each terri- tory? An increasingly influential body of Left-wing propagandists, whose own loyalties are conditioned by the interests of the Krem- lin, are responsible for the massive body of opinion nurtured on neutralism. The local and Commonwealth publicists of the Politburo have not been unsuccessful in parading the Rosenbergs as heroes and Gouzenko and Petrov as renegades.
Hardly less effective is the widespread re- fusal to believe the nature of Communism and its essential machinery or espionage and sabo- tage. That is not altogether the public's fault. There has been an overdose of soothing syrup by the Welfare State. The only effective anti- dote has been the popular press, which has displayed a remarkable consistency of accuracy in the post-war years. It has not minimised dangers and has exercised the alert vigilance expected elsewhere. It was exclusively the popular press which exposed the dilatory officialdom over Kenya and Cyprus—as with Burgess and Maclean.—Yours faithfully,
HAROLD SOW
123 Beaufort Mansions, Beaufort Street, SW3
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