MR. CHURCHILL'S BALANCE-SHEET

THE survey of the war situation given to the House of Commons by the Prime Minister on Tuesday left little room for criticism, addition or even interrogation, which was nd doubt why the House shocked Sir Stafford Cripps by allowing the expected debate to collapse incontinently. Mr. Churchill's review as a whole inspired sober confidence. He has never been disposed to minimise adverse factors ; in this case he told the House plainly that Mr. Stalin had felt that Russia ought to be better supported than she was by her allies ; and the fact that his cautious verdict "not unsatisfac- tory" could be applied to practically every field of the war is a reassuring comment on the situation existing as the summer of 5942 passes into autumn. Little new information was given to the House, and little was expected. Some fresh light was thrown on the decision to change the command in Egypt, and it was a happy coincidence that it fell to the Prime Minister to make reference to that just when the failure of Rommel in face of particularly skilful handling of the British armour and artillery had given the appointments of General Alexander and General Montgomery every appearance of justification. It is satisfactory that Mr. Churchill feels able to guarantee the safety of Egypt "for several months," but what is needed more urgently, as Field-Marshal Smuts has pointed out this week, is such a victory as will make the Mediterranean relatively safe for Allied shipping. The first round in a new campaign has gone in our favour—very decidedly, if Mr. Wendell Willkie, who has just been on the battle-front, is right in saying that Rommel lost a hundred tanks—but it would be affectation tc, describe the situation as good so long as the Eighth Army stands penned within the Egyptian frontier. Malta, fortified by the arrival of the recent convoy, is helping the Eighth Army by resuming Its attacks on Rommel's convoys, but what is wanted more is for the Eighth Army to relieve the pressure on Malta.

One welcome feature of the Egyptian campaign is the increased support the American Air Force is giving, particularly in long- distance raids on Tobruk. In every field Anglo-American co-opera- tion is growing closer and more extensive, and in it lies the key to ultimate victory. The disclosure made by the Prime Minister regarding the comprehensive Staff talks between the British and American High Commands in July lends force to the confident

declarations made by President Roosevelt on Monday regarding coming offensive action, which, as he observed, could be taken at a dozen points on the coast of Europe on lines which the Dieppe raid fairly clearly foreshadowed. Geography unfortunately pre- vents any such close collaboration at present between either the Americans or ourselves and Russia, and if the Prime Minister succeeded in any considerable degree in reconciling Mr. Stalin to a situation in which Russia is fighting to the death in the east, and millions of British and American troops are still standing by in the west, he did something that must stand high even in his unique record of achievement No one, certainly, in America or Britain, is any happier about that situation than the Russians themselves. It is, of course, largely a question of shipping, and one of the most welcome features of the Prime Minister's speech was the assurance he was able to give of at any rate a temporary turn, in the adverse submarine-warfare tide.

At the opening of the fourth year of the war hopes alternate with fears. There is reasonable hope that the shipping situation will improve ; that even now Stalingrad and the oil of the Caucasus may elude the German grasp ; that Rommel may once more be driven west by the Eighth Army ; that the Americo-Australian offen- sive which began with the landings on the Solomon Islands may pursue a methodical and successful course ; that the systematic bombing of German industrial centres by the Russians from the east and by ourselves, and soon by the Americans, from the west, may effectively disorganise war-output and communications. Not all these things will happen as we wish. Russia's bitter sufferings may become more bitter yet, for it would be unwise to base too much hope on the Prime Minister's sanguine implication that the campaigning season in Russia is so far advanced that Germany can hope for no decision. Russia will certainly not break, but Ger- man successes that would gravely cripple her powers of recovery are still possible. If they do not materialise it will be more because of Russian gallantry than of Russian snows. The next six weeks will determine that, but no developments those 'weeks at present foreshadow forbid the conclusion that the foundations of an Allied victory have been laid, even though, like most foundations, they may not show much above the surface as yet.

Mr. Roosevelt and Inflation

Enlightened opinion in the United States is alive to the danger arising from the rising spiral of prices and wages and the increased spending power which war employment has put in the hands of the people at the very time when goods available for consumption are becoming fewer Here are all the elements of a situation which, unchecked, would lead to disastrous inflation ; but the President, with or without the help of Congress, is determined to stop it. In his special Message to Congress last Monday he asked for the passage of legislation by October 1st authorising him to stabilise the cost of living, including the price of farm commodities. His j)lan is to stabilise both prices and wages, and put a stop to the process in which the one chases the other upwards in inevitable sequence. He has frankly stated that if Congress fails to act, and act adequately, he will apply the powers which are vested in him in war-time and proceed on his own responsibility. But that is not all. We in this country were quicker to learn the war-time lesson of the necessity of financial sacrifice than the Americans have been up to the present, and very soon realised that the most severe taxation, direct and indirect, were absolutely necessary, not merely to "pay for the war," but to use up excessive spending power which must be diverted from the private consumption of goods to the production of war material ; and President Roosevelt, in his determination to increase taxation and spread it over the whole community, has not had the support from Congress which our. Government has had from Parliament. He appears determined, if necessary, to act without that, and there is every indication that the country, apart from the farmers, will be with him.

The Changes in Spain

The removal of Senor Sutler from the post of Foreign Minister in Spain has been expected for some time, for it was clear that his ostentatious sympathy with the Axis Powers by no means ac- curately represented the attitude of General Franco, whose main concern is to preserve to the end of the war the neutrality which Spain has successfully maintained for three years. General Jordaba, who succeeds, is a moderate who already has experience as Foreign Minister, for he held that office immediately after the civil war. The change is welcome from the point of view of the Allies, but it would be a mistake to exaggerate the importance of the Cabinet re- construction externally, for it is clear that the main reason for the changes is to be found in the exigencies of domestic politics. The Falange and the monarchist groups are mutually suspicious rivals, and General Franco has decided to strike at both. With Senor Sutler, who loses the headship of the Falange Party, and the Vice- Secretary of the party, Senor Luna, go General Varela, who was War Minister, and Col. Galarza, Minister of the Interior. General Franco assumes the chief position in the Falange himself. The displaced Ministers are capable of becoming centres of discontent, but there have been rumours that Senor Sutler may go as Ambassador to Rome, a translation in which there would be obvious advantages. On the whole, the changes are likely to make for peace and stability in Spain, and they seem to have given some encouragement to the monarchists.

The Trade Union Congress

In his presidential address to the seventy-fourth Trade Union Congress, Mr. Wolstencroft struck the note which was to dominate the proceedings, various and far-reaching as they were. He ex- pressed the unqualified determination of trade unions to leave nothing undone to overthrow the enemy dictatorship. The refusal by a small majority to remove the Congress ban on Communists was certainly not due to any unwillingness to co-operate with Russian trade unionists, as is shown by the agreement between the British and Russian Labour movements, and the British attempt to create a link between Russia and America. The resolution which was passed calling on the Government to arrange for more active participation by trade union representatives in the management of vital war industries was mainly pressed on the ground that by this means better results would be obtained, and production made more

efficient. Also it was with a view to maximum planning and pro- duction that Congress called on the Government to take over entirely all industries vital to the war. It will be noted how the emphasis which in peace time has always been on maximum em- ployment and pay, is now laid on maximum output. This is not merely because today there is no unemployment, but because it is now a trade union objective to produce more with a view to winning the war. Trade unionism has entered into a.partnership with the Government and the industrial managements in consequence of which it now thinks as much in terms of its responsibilities as of its rights. It is acquiring more and more a position in the State which may be described as constitutional.

Educational Progress

Both the Conservative and the Liberal Parties have been con- cerning themselves in the past week with the vital question of education, the Liberals approving at their annual conference a com- prehensive report on the subject drawn up by a competent com- mittee, and the Conservatives issuing an interim report framed by an educational sub-committee of their Central Committee on Post-War Reconstruction. The Liberal document covers the wider ground of the two, and the reforms proposed are in keeping with recognised Liberal principles. Demand is made in particular for the raising of the school age to 16, with compulsory continuation schools till 18, for the integration of the public schools in the national education system, and for the more effective training of teachers, who should take arts courses at universities, and not be segregated in training colleges providing for one profession only.

The most notable feature of the Liberal report is the insistence on the desirability of one type of school for children of all social classes up to the age of ii. The principle has worked well in the United States, and economic factors alone are bound after the war to direct towards the Council schools thousands of children whose destiny but for that would have been some private school, probably enough much less efficient. The suggestion that the com- mon school up to it should be regarded as the ideal, and the private school, if it survives at all, be submitted to rigorous inspection, and required to attain to specified standards of accommodation and efficiency, is interesting, but the experiment would need to be carefully watched. Social distinctions inside schools can be more undesirable than social distinctions between schools.

Religion in the School

The Conservative Report on Educational Aims is significant in that nearly half of it is devoted to the religious factor in education. These pages well deserve careful study as they stand, the more so since some of the published summaries have rather suggested that the report regards religion primarily as a serviceable alternative to ideologies like Communism or Fascism. The full report by no means bears that interpretation. Religious influence, as the report puts it, "has always been grounded on the individual citizen's own sense of obedience to a divine society, transcending but by no means unrelated to the earthly society to which he belongs by birth." When it comes to the practical question of religious teaching in schools it is highly encouraging to find that the committee, which was initially unfavourable to "the agreed or interdenominational or undenominational syllabus," ended by reversing its opinion. The agreed syllabus, as framed after long and careful consultation between representatives of education authorities and teachers in counties like Surrey, is achieving admirable results and laying the foundation of a body of Christian belief within which there may well be differences, but such as distinguish rather than divide. It is, of course, imperative that such teaching should be given by teachers to whom the spirit is as real as the !etter, and this may give rise to difficult questions of tests. There are other difficulties about the "right of entry" by denominational -.eachers into Council schools, recommended by the committee in certain cases, but the report as a whole (to be obtained from the Conservative Central Offices, 24, Old Queen Street, S.W.r, price 6d.) is a constructive and valuable contribution to the discussion of one of the most vital post-war problems.