22 FEBRUARY 1946, Page 1

NEWS OF THE WEEK

THE Government's unprecedented decision to send a Cabinet delegation to India is first and foremost a demonstration to India itself, and not to India alone, that in spite of past rebuffs the situation is not to be allowed to drift, and that every effort to equip India for self-government, and whatever that may lead to, is to be made. The status of the mission was defined by the Prime Minister with sufficient clarity in the House of Commons on Tuesday. Its members will have considerable powers of action and decision, but on all vital issues they will refer back to the full Cabinet, and any changes involving legislation will, of course, come before Parliament and be discussed fully there. The personnel of the mission is of some interest. That the Secretary of State for India should lead it is natural, and it is a testimony to Lord Pethick-Lawrence's public spirit that at the age of seventy-four he should not shrink from what must necessarily be an arduous undertaking. Mr. Alexander goes as a hard-headed' " honest broker," claiming no special knowledge of India, but representing well the average of general Cabinet opinion. About Sir Stafford Cripps there may be more question. His mission in 1942 may be regarded as making him an obvious choice ; on the other hand, the wisdom of sending again a Minister who, certainly not through any fault of his own, was unsuccessful then is a little doubtful. Of all Ministers, moreover, the President of the Board of Trade can least conveniently be spared from his duties at this juncture. But the Cripps offer of 1942 still stands, though no doubt it is susceptible of some modification, and Sir Stafford is on familiar personal terms with Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. All things considered, therefore, it is well that he should form one of the Cabinet trio. A great opportunity is opened up. Lord Wavell has prepared the ground as well as any Viceroy could. The first re- action of the Indian leaders to the announcement of the mission is encouraging ; so are Mr. Nehru's unexpectedly conciliatory refer- ences to the Pakistan project. Any substantial step this country could take immediately in the form of famine relief would be of substantial help to the negotiators.