The Washington Balance
The process of assessing just how much was achieved in the course of the visit by Mr. Churchill and Mr. „Eden to the United States is likely to go on for a long time. The main aim of the visit was intangible—the establishment of a new atmosphere in Anglo-American relations—and the results are therefore difficult to measure, particularly in a short time. But it is surely not too soon to list some positive gains. A million tons of steel, and the diversion to Britain of substantial supplies of iron ore previously earmarked for the United States steel industry, are a solid enough gain. They will go far towards solving the immediate difficulties of the British iron and steel industry. The price, it appears, was a high one, and the price at which the United States is to buy 20,000 tons of tin as part of the raw materials agreement is in the present state of the world market a low one. But the bargain is made, and threatening industrial dislocations on both sides of the Atlantic have been averted. The positive statements of British foreign policy, particularly in the matter of European unity, made by Mr. Churchill and Mr. Eden, must also be accounted a gain. _It is often said—perhaps more often than the facts warrant— that the Americans like plain speaking. But there can be no doubt that plain speaking about British policy is good for them —whether they like it or not—and they certainly got it in good measure on this occasion. Even the unpalatable reminder that British troops are in Egypt defending interests which arc not exclusively British was worth giving. It is unlikely to produce any immediate result, in the shape of the token military forces for which Mr. Churchill asked, but the idea can be left to work in the minds of a people who are still going through a process of self-education in foreign policy.
