The Pusillanimous Nations
Failure to reach agreement on the former Italian colonies is a triumph for no one ; it is, rather, a humiliation for each individual member State of the United Nations and a resounding defeat for the concept of settlement by negotiation which the United Nations is supposed to represent. It was easy enough to point out the shortcomings in the British plan for the colonies which was finally voted down on Wednesday ; it was much more difficult to suggest an alternative plan which should command equal support, and that is precisely what the critics of the Bevin-Sforza compromise have failed to do. Both the British and Italian Govern- ments made concessions on matters of principle in order to achieve a working agreement ; their critics made no concessions and the result is no agreement. It may seem reasonable to some of the delegates at Lake Success that the British occupation authorities, who have jogged along tolerably well in North and East Africa for the past five or six years, should be asked to jog along for another six months. until the Assembly has its next chance to make up its collective mind in the autumn. By that time the switch of one vote, or a compromise amendment to the compromise plan, may produce the necessary two-thirds majority which will finally give the former colonies a settled government. But even if this happens (and on present form another deadlock is just as likely), it will be too late to be of any credit to the Assembly and, what is more important, too late to carry much weight among the peoples most concerned. In the meantime the position of the British occupation authorities will have become one of intolerable difficulty. We have all along urged that the fate of the colonies should be settled piecemeal, if no comprehensive solution could be reached, but the United Nations, having successfully agreed to a settlement for three-quarters of the colonies, has voted down its own partial settlement because there was no agreement on the last quarter. Justifiable indignation at this dithering would be more impressive if Great Britain had not shown precisely the same pusillanimity in the United Nations debates and voting on Spain.
