SAN FRANCISCO QUESTIONS
AS the date of the San Francisco Conference approaches the necessity for realising how disastrous anything like failure would be increases. There is, indeed, no reason to anticipate anything like failure, but it is clear that the discussions will need careful handling if they are to yield full success. Even with the foundation laid at Dumbarton Oaks to build on, the framing of an actual con- stitution by so large a body will be difficult. But a prior question is whether, in view of the military situation in Europe, the Conference should be held at all on the appointed date. Mr. Stettinius indicated on Tuesday that there was no thought of postponing it, and, on the whole, postponement would be unfortunate, for not only are some of the preliminaries of the Conference, like the meeting of British Commonwealth delegates in London, already in train, but there is advantage in dealing with any disputable question before divergent views have diverged further. That such questions exist is not to be denied. Quite apart from the problem of votes on the Security Council, concerning which debate continues and will continue to the end, there is the Russian application (which Great Britain and the United States have undertaken to support) for separate votes in the Assembly for the Ukrainian and White Russian republics. That opens the door to a good many inconvenient possibilities, and it is still to be hoped that Russia may decide in the end not to press her claim, relatively unimportant though votes in the Assembly are. It it satisfactory that the United States, which had proposed to counter by asking for thre votes for herself, has abandoned that idea.
This is only one of many welcome signs of the growth of a reso- lute co-operative spirit in America. A referendum taken under State auspices in New Hampshire last week showed a majority of 21 to I (16,285 to 813) in favour of "U.S. membership in a general system of international co-operation such as that proposed at the Dumbar- ton Oaks Conference, having police power to maintain the peace of the world," and more recently Representative Fuibright, a personality of growing importance, has laid the failure of the United States to enter the League of Nations at the door not only of the American Senate, but of the American people, and insisted on the need for a different attitude this time. These may be only straws, but they are welcome straws. Co-operation between Britain, the Dominions and the United States at San Francisco seems assured. If the co-opera- tion of Russia in equal measure is forthcoming there need be little misgiving about the final result. It is matter for regret that M. Molotov is unable to attend. The Russian Ambassador at Washing- ton will be less competent to take important decisions.
The differende of opinion between the. Allies regarding the repre- sentation of Poland at the Conference is. unfortunate. The
problem has two aspects ; in regard tb' owe of them Russia appears to be taking a quite unjustifiable line ; in rep-id-404e other there is more to be said for her attitude than has generally been realised. All the available evidence goes to suggest that M. Molotov and the so-called Lublin Government are conducting a manoeuvre totally alien to the spirit which, it was believed, prevailed at the Crimea Conference. It was there agreed that a new Polish Pro- visional Government of National Unity should be formed by additions to the "Provisional Government now function- ing in Poland," the additional members being nominated by a Commission consisting of M. Molotov and the British and American Ambassadors at Moscow. The new Govern- ment was to receive an invitation to San Francisco. It is notorious that the commission of three has achieved nothing. The existing "Lublin Government" arrogates to itself the right to veto any nominees it dislikes—notably M. Mikolajczyk and other poli- ticians in London. The result of this convenient but intolerable arrangement is that Lublin can say that, since no new government has been constituted, it itself holds the field and is entitled to the invitation to San Francisco. This, of course, disregards entirely the fact that it is the Polish Government in London that alone is recognised by Britain and the United States, r.cither of which Powers could possibly endorse the issue of the San Francisco invi- tation to Lublin. On the subsidiary question of whether the new body should be formed by additions to the Provisional Government in Poland, or as an entirely fresh organisation composed of selected members of that Government, of the administration in London and of the Polish Resistance Movement, it has to be acknowledged that the wording of the Yalta communiques—" the Provisional Govern- ment now functioning in Poland should be broadened by the in- clusion of democratic .leaders from both inside and outside the country "—supports the former interpretation, though it is not the more desirable interpretation.
The Feeding of Europe
General Eisenhower's warning to the farmers of Germany that unless they continue to cultivate their fields Germany, no longer able to loot food from occupied countries, will starve, is only the latest reminder of the almost intractable magnitude of the problem with which the Allied Powers have somehow to cope. Desperate as the state of Germany may prove to be (though it is clear that the state of parts of Germany is so far not desperate at all), Germany must wait her turn. Her victims come first, and it will be long before
they can be supplied with even the barest necessities. Last week's debate in the House of Commons, when Mr. Attlee gave an account of his recent visit to France, Belgium and Holland, did more to reveal the gravity of the situation than to indicate means of dealing with it. It is by no means only a question of securing food ; the food has to be conveyed where it is needed, and shortage of ships and of lorries is as serious as shortage of foodstuffs themselves. No country is evoking more sympathetic anxiety than Holland. On conditions in the liberated areas Mr. Attlee was on the whole re- assuring, but in the area still occupied actual death by starvation on an extensive scale has to be reckoned with as something more than a possibility. Even since last Thursday the liberation of Holland has been brought substantially nearer. As it is achieved, the food-problem will become increasingly urgent. The responsi- bility lies in the first instance with the military; but the military will soon be sweeping eastward on other errandS. No Dutch Government returning to its country from London could command a fraction of the resources for which the crisis calls, and, rightly or wrongly, U.N.R.R.A. has not inspired complete confidence in its ability to meet such a need. In replying for the Government, Sir James Grigg promised serious consideration to two proposals advanced in the debate—Mr. A. P. Herbert's, that the little ships which rescued a British army from Dunkirk should be mobilised to carry food to rescue Holland ; and Sir Arthur Salter's, that a Reconstruction Council, comparable with the Supreme Economic Council of the last war, but with wider powers,. should be set up at once. Something of this kind is plainly necessary, for the task is larger than U.N.R.R.A. even professes to be equal to.
The Re-equipment of France
A report issued by Shaef regarding Allied aid to France presents some impressive figures, yet anyone who knows the condition of France today will realise how much remains to be done to satisfy her urgent needs. On the military side, in respect of equipment, iris clear that a great deal has been done. Even in the days when the French armed forces were based on North Africa large supplies were sent in the form of weapons, aeroplanes, vehicles, petrol, and uniforms, and warships were reconditioned ; and this form of aid— to which General de Gaulle attaches so much importance—has con- tinued to arrive since the French Government was established in Paris. Transport has been the crux of the economic position in France, and still is ; and it is stated that rx,000 track miles of rail- way have been made usable and more than 200 railway bridges rebuilt, but it is not clear to what extent these are primarily reserved for military purposes and to what extent they are available for civilian needs. Large quantities of food have been sent from the United States, and from Britain supplies of coal and 672 locomotives. Seed potatoes from Canada and Canadian seed wheat stored in England are said to be on their way, but will obviously have to be distributed at once if they are to prove useful. It has to be remembered that the economic breakdown in France was nation- wide and on a colossal scale, owing to the thoroughness of German plunder and destruction by the armies and Air Force. Even heavy deliveries must seem small compared with the need. For example, a grand total of 734,192 tons of coal were imported into the Continent by the Allies for all purposed between early June and February 21st, of which 181,973 tons went to emergency French civilian relief, but the normal coal requirements of France would call for the importa- tion of many millions of tons in the same period. All that has been done so far is no more than a beginning.
Mulberry and Private Enterprise
Mr. Attlee has been taken to task for saying in his recent speech at Nottingham that Mulberry, the prefabricated port for the Nor- mandy beaches, was an example of the value of State enterprise. Mr. H. V. Cozens, chairman of Messrs. Cozens and Sutcliffe, has pointed out that every part was fabricated, constructed and erected by private enterprise ; and Mr. Gibson, managing director of Messrs. Pauling and Co., who co-ordinated the work of a large number of firms, is reported to have said that all the Government did was to authorise the supply of labour and materials. Doubtless Govern- ment Departments were responsible for designs and specifications, and it might be rather difficult to draw the line between what the Government did and what the firms working for it did, though it is evident that Mr. Attlee overstated the case. What Mulberry does provide is a favourable example of co-operation between State Depart- ments and firms conducted by private enterprise. On the other hand, it is fair to point out that no reliable deduction can be drawn from enterprises which, having been taken over by the Government in war-time, have proved inefficient or less efficient than they might have been. State management undertaken in time of war is a hurried improvisation which cannot be expected to stand up to the tests reasonably applicable to a business build-up under normal conditions ; and for that reason Socialists are justified in complaining when Socialism is blamed for the failures of wax-time experiments. A going concern in an emergency has obvious advantages over an improvisation, and for that reason even a Socialist Administration would have been compelled during a war to have enlisted the services of private enterprise.' War-time examples, adduced by the one side or the other, are generally misleading.
Justices and Justice
The debate on the lay J.P. continues—in the House of Lords, in the columns of The Times and elsewhere—with the balance of argument steadily moving away from the proposal to give petty sessional courts paid .chairmen with legal training. It is observed, in particular, With some force that if the proposal were adopted the ordinarylay J.P., thus branded as an amateur of lower status, would lose all interest in a public service which in most cases he values and takes seriously today. But, over and above that, the testimony paid to the lay J.P. by great lawyers like Lord Roche and Lord Maugham, and the reminder from them and from others that legality and justice are not the same thing, is notable. It is from great lawyers, indeed, that a warning not to over-estimate mere legal learning often comes. A Lord Chancellor of this country, of long House of Commons experience, wrote: " I am not sure that a first- rate Minister, although untrained as a lawyer, does not bring in sa great legal Bill better and more effectively than the best-trained legal mind, unless that mind has, which is rare, the political gift by nature in a high degree." To quote that, it may be said, is to compare great things with small ; even so, it has its application. Rather stronger appeal might be justly made to tradition. The lay J.P. has played too great a part in the evolution of English insti- tutions (as anyone will realise who traces his evolution through the Master of Trinity's English Social History) for him to be reduced lightly to a lower place today. That a greater fund of legal know- ledge is often needed in petty sessional courts may be true enough. The best way to achieve that, on the whole, is by raising the status of the clerk and depending on him more for legal guidance. But verdict and sentence must remain with the .Bench.
The Doctors and the State
A new turn is given to the discussion of the proposed National Health Service by the publication of what purport to be revised proposals laid before the medical profession by the Minister of Health. These are circulated to the profession, with the proviso that they should not be published—an unusual and unsatisfactory procedure ; the Minister has made it clear publicly that the new proposals come from him and not from the Government as a whole. If the B.MA. accepts them, then it is for the Minister to persuade his colleagues that he has made no more than a reasonable con- cession to the demands of the profession. It would appear that the country is to be divided into large regional areas and that the control of the planning of the health services will in effect pass out of the hands of the elected authorities and into those of the doctors and the voluntary hospitals. Whether the panel system is to be per- petuated and the Central Medical Board to go the way of the joint Boards is apparently by no means clear. The Health Centre experi- ment is to be severely circumscribed. The sooner the public, which is in the last resort the party most concerned, and in any case the party which has the last word, is informed of the purpose of these semi-secret pourparlers the better.
