Supreme Commander ?
The unexpected delay in appointing a successor to Sir Henry Gurney as High Commissioner for Malaya is having an unsettling effect in Malaya itself. Sir Henry was murdered more than three months ago. It might have been better if a new appointment could have been made immediately, but, if there had to be a delay, it was reasonable that it should have been prolonged until after the election, and then again until after Mr. Lyttelton had completed his tour. But the belief gained currency, both in this country and in Malaya, that on his return Mr. Lyttelton would urge the appointment of a supreme commander who, on the analogy of General de Lattre de Tassigny in Indo-China, would combine the civil and military functions, that a "big name" would be chosen for the job, and that the official announcement would be made before Mr. Churchill left for Washington. None of these expectations has been fulfilled. In Malaya itself there has been a sense of anti-climax, and the interval is being not very helpfully filled in by arguing about the merits of various hypothetical candi- dates for the still hypothetical post of supreme commander. It has also given a chance for critical analysts to read more into what Mr. Lyttelton did or did not say while he was in Malaya than is justified. In view of all these uncertainties it is essential that the name of the new High Commissioner should be announced immediately, and that whether or not he is to com- bine the civil and military functions, he should be a sufficiently prominent figure for the fact of his appointment in itself to undo some of the harm that has been caused by delay. Who- ever he is, he will have to make several decisions of the first importance, the most controversial of which concerns the future of the Chinese population. It is -now clear that the active co-operation of the Chinese in the war against the terrorists has yet to be won, and that it is unlikely -to be won as long as the question of their citizenship is in any doubt. The logic of facts may be unpleasant, but it cannot be escaped.
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