Another Greek Government
The desire of the American authorities for a more broadly based Government in Greece has been to a great extent met by the formation of a coalition between Populists and Liberals, whose repre- sentation is small, but whose inclusion in the Government recog- nises the impossibility of one-party government at this time. There is no doubt that the pressure exerted, by Mr. Loy Henderson, the American special envoy, must have been considerable, since it was able simultaneously to heal the thirty-year-old breach between Populist and Liberal parties, and to persuade the aged M. Sofoulis to accept the office of Prime Minister in a Cabinet in which the Populists hold a bare majority of seats. Whether the new arrangement will work remains to be seen. As much depends on the behaviour of Mercurial junior Ministers as on their seniors. The device whereby an inner Cabinet under the Populist leader, M. Tsaldaris, considers issues for submission to the full Cabinet is sufficiently unusual to require careful handling, though it may turn out to be useful. In any case, any difficulty the new Government may have in working together will be quickly reduced if it can over- come the menace which now threatens Greece. Success in winning the support of those sections of the Left which are willing to com- promise, in drawing the sting from the criminal minority, and in Bearing the frontiers of mischief-making foreign elements, will really settle the matter. On the whole, the conditions are more favourable than for some time. M. Sofoulis, by his previous record, has no inhibitions in offering an amnesty, and, by virtue of grow- ing American support, he has a fair chance of dealing with the rest.
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