A SPECTATOR
2S NOTEBOOK 0 OME of the references in the past week to Mr. Eden's possible
retirement from the Foreign Office, with the suggestions that he is the victim of a Ministerial intrigue, or, alternatively, that there is considerable dissatisfaction with his work at the Foreign Office, are unfortunate in the extreme. There is no truth in the former allegation and no justification whatever for what is implied in the latter. The situation is quite plain, and much to be regretted. Mr. Eden finds the double burden of the Foreign Secretaryship and Leadership of the House of Commons more than one man, at any rate that one man, can carry. That being so, a change . must be made somewhere. The first man to reach that conclusion, I believe I am safe in saying, was not any critic of the Foreign Secretary in the House or any commentator in the Press, but the Foreign Secre- tary himself. The obvious question. arises: If he is to relinquish one of the two offices, which shall it be? That depends on where he can more easily be replaced—a matter which virtually settles itself. There is at least one other possible Foreign Secretary, Lord Cranborne, who served with Mr. Eden as Under-Secretary for three years from 1935, resigning with him over Mr. Chamberlain's vagaries in regard to Italy in 5938. For the Leadership of the House of Commons—and how exacting that position can be this week's events sufficiently demonstrate—there is literally no one. It would be invidious to prove the truth of that proposition by citing the names of possible leaders, but to do so would be conclusive, particularly since the large Conservative majority in the House would be dis- satisfied with any but a Conservative leader ; it was not satisfied • with Sir Stafford Cripps. There the matter stands ; questions of physical endurance have their inevitable bearing on affairs of State. Mr. Eden has with brief intervals been associated with the conduct of foreign affairs since he became Parliamentary Private Secretary to Sir Austen Chamberlain in 1924.; no one else has comparable experience in that field. But in addition to the Foreign Secretary- ship and the Leadership of the House, which entails long absences from the Foreign Office, he has all the normal work of the War Cabinet and of the Defence Committee, the importance of which at this moment needs no demonstration. Something therefore must go, and it looks as if it can only be the Foreign Office. * * * * One Cabinet change, of course, usually involves others, and this may involve several. On relinquishing a Secretaryship of State the Leader of the House should be given some senior but sinecure office, such as that of Lord President or Lord Privy Seal—neither of which is vacant—though he could possibly figure as Minister of State or Minister without portfolio. If, moreover, Lord Cranbome goes to' the Foreign Office a new Secretary for the Dominions will be needed at a moment when a Prime Ministers' Conference is pending and the Australian Prime Minister in particular is about to pay an important visit to London. Two names suggest themselves, those of Mr. Malcolm MacDonald, who has been Dominions Secretary twice before and has lately acquired intimate experience of one Dominion, Canada ; and of Mr. Harold Macmillan, who, now that Mr. Duff Cooper has gone as envoy to the Committee of National Liberation and Sir Noel Charles to the Advisory Council on Italy, could be replaced much more easily at Algiers. If a new Govern- ment spokesman in the House of Lords is needed, the most likely seems to be Lord Selborne—unless, of course, Lord Beaverbrook aspires to that role.
The film The Song of Bernadette has come here from the United States with great reclame. It will no doubt have con- siderable success and incidentally stir up new discussions about the miraculous cures at Lourdes. The story, which follows Franz Werfel's novel, also follows history, and not very distant history, for it was as recently as 1858 that the alleged appearance of the Virgin Mary to a peasant-girl named Bernadette Soupirous in the grotto at Lourdes started the cult. Hollywood is to be congratu- lated on treating a religious theme with reverence, but the motto
of the film, "To those who believe in God no explanation is neces-
sary ; to those who do not believe no explanation is possible," is a statement of something other Than fact. To many people who believe in God a very great deal of explanation is necessary. Holly- wood, moreover, in succeeding in achieving reverence, has not suc- ceeded completely in excluding sentimentality. One critic, I observe, writes that the film "will bring tears to the eyes of millions of film- goers." If so, they must be easy weepers—but I expect there are in fact some millions of easy weepers about.
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One of the most important bits of news of the week is contained in a couple of lines in Monday's Times, to the effect that "Australian research workers have taken the ' tickle ' out of wool." I hope the discovery will make their fortunes. They deserve it This is not a time to dwell on minor sufferings, but the total volume of anguish scratchy vests have inflicted through the ages must amount to some- thing terrifying. The chief reason why I hope (without any very assured expectation) to keep out of prison for my remaining days is dread of what the underclothing would be.
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The Bradfield Rural District Council and the Ministry of Food are at issue about rats. These repulsive quadrupeds, it seems, must only be caught and killed, or killed without being caught, after they have been surveyed and mapped. Yon didn't know rats were mapped? Well, listen: "The war on the rats is still in the preparation stage, and the Coun- cil's rat officer still has not been given permission to destroy the rats he has been surveying for many weeks now. . . . A representa- tive of the Ministry of Food had ruled that on no account should the killing start until the survey was completed and the maps pre- pared--1,600 properties had so far been inspected, and to major and 257 minor infestations had been located."
On hearing which Sir George Mowbray very reasonably -wanted to know how many minor infestations would become major ones in six
months of normal breeding. He proposed that the rat committee should set about clearing the matter up. If I were a rat I shouldn't quite like that expression "clearing the matter up." * * * *
Basic English has been basking in such distinguished patronage of late that there may be something a little salutarily tonic in the decision of the educationists of the Allied Governments in London that Basic English will not meet their needs, the reason, apparently, being that they want to be able to converse with Englishmen and they know no Englishman who limits his conversation to 85o words.
That seems sound, though I suppose the sponsors of Basic English would reply that language has other uses than to facilitate conversa- tion with Englishmen, and that a Norwegian with 85o words of English can get a long way with an Abyssinian similarly equipped.
Have the Allied educationists thought of that? jANUS.
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