The Wilmington morning star., 1946-08-14
MORE ABOUT
ALSOP
FROM PAGE N
change announced by Bevin is the

~ tA
ct. But the Chancellor of the Elk
chequer, Hugh Dalton, had to point
out that he was in the situation of
old Mother Hubbard. The treasury
cupboard was bare, and a network
Of T. v. AS in the Middle East
would be very costly. Therefore,
full implementation of Bevln's plan
had to be deferred, and is still
being deferred.
The same restraining influence
is at work in many other areas be-
sides the Middle East. But the
fact that the British do not as yet
have the cash to act upon their
new concept of foreign policy, does
not alter the fact that the concept
exists. Ultimately, the Labor gov
eminent hopes to secure the Bri-
fish position all over the world by
using economic means to promote
social, political and economic
health in areas of British influence
or attachment.
This will be a radical modifica-
ton of the old power politics.
Omitting the Middle East, which
deserves separate and more detail
ed examination, there are already
many signs of the new concepts
Importance.
Within the Empire, the rule had
held since the seventeenth century
that the colonies must be self
supporting. Two years before the
Labor government took power,
however, the astute colonial minis
ter of the Churchill government,
Oliver Stanley, announced that the
British treasury must at last be-
gin to contribute funds for colonial
development. The Labor govern
ment has considerably extended
the scope Of Stanley's plan. India
is being given full responsibility
for her W future; Egypt is be.
ing evacuated; and throughout thu
colonies, there is hardly Il where
constitutional changes tending TO.
wards characterization have MOI
been announced in the last twelve
months. At the same time an mi
tial sum of about $500, 900, 900 has
been set aside as the contribution
of the British people to future col
onial development, to be matched
by contributions from the colonies
themselves.
The development schemes VI
der consideration emphasize irri-
cation, erosion control and indus.
try Of local social value, rather
than the profitable extraction in
dustries, such as gold and diamond
mining, and the big scale planting
which used to be the colonial stan
dard. In the field of foreign policy
proper, evidences of the new con
cept are less general but still OBJ,
servable. One such was the report
of Bevin's able assistant, Hector
Mcneil after investigating the trag-
lc Greek situation. Mcneil told the
Cabinet that with $500, 900, 900 and
half a dozen competent admins
traitors" the position in Greece
could be so improved that within
twelve months there would be no
danger from the extreme right or
the extreme left. Again, the Bri-
fish insisted upon a reasonable
level of economic well-being in Ger
many long before anyone else, and
were denounced for their pains.
And as to the future, it has already
been reported in this space that the
Labor government planners pro-
pose investment of a large part of
future British SURPRISES in a re-
markable new kind of overseas as
sets, namely projects of the T. V.
A. type in the Middle East and
many other areas
Thus far, SO to speak, the foot of
the new British foreign policy has
only just %protruded beneath the
rather dlngy curtain of the old
policy. Besides the financial reason
already mentioned, there is anoth-
er reason for this. At several vital
points, the British system has been
under intense pressure, either from
the Soviet Union OR from accumu-
lated local discontents. Besides be-
ing too expensive, economic meas
ures are long in bearing fruit. The
British are no more ready to re-
sign their status as a great power
than we should be in a similar
situation. Therefore, with a GER
tain desperation, the Labor gov
eminent has been driven to en-
ploy the old methods in their emer-
gency situation.
This has been misleading to peo-
pie abroad, and very troubling to
many sincere members of the La
oor party here in England. Here
again, n encounters the same
comic divergence in view between
almost exactly similar personali-
tles OF the British and American
lett which has been noted in these
reports. American liberals have
groaned persistently that the, wiles
OF the foreign office have trans
formed the United States into a
mere stooge of British imperial
Ism. But no less a figure than
Richard H. S. Crossman, one of the
most articulate and acute of the
labor back-benchers, cried out pas
slonately to this correspondent that
American gold would not be per-
always to transform Britain
INTO the "stooge" of the anti-Soviet
policy of the reactionary United
This correspondent yielded
cheerfully to the irresistible temp
tatlon to quote Mr.. Max Lerner
right back to Mr.. Crossman.