A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK T HE view that Lord Swinton ia as
good a choice as could have been made for the post of Minister of Civil Aviation is confirmed by the fact that no one, so far as I have seen, has put forward any better suggestion. Lord Knollys's .name has been mentioned, but since one of the fundamental questions to be decided is whether there shall be a single all-comprehensive British Air Corporation— one " chosen instrument "—the chairman of the existing chosen instrument could hardly be appointed. Lord. Swanton had a good record as Air Minister from 1935 to 1938 ; what precisely his personal part was in deciding on the Spitfire as the standard British fighter cannot perhaps be nicely determined, but he certainly had enough to do with it to entitle him to the lasting gratitude of the nation. In the early part of the war he was chairman of the small and studiously unobtrusive " Security Executive " dealing with certain aspects of national security, where his thoroughness made a considerable impres- sion in the few who were in a position to observe it. More recently, as Minister Resdent in West Africa he has had under his eyes one of the great air-traffic centres of the world ; the full story of Takoradi and other African airports has not yet been told. Lord Swinton throughout his official career has demonstrated his diligence. He has now to demonstrate whether he possesses drive.
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