The spread of the war is having serious effects in
Whitehall —or what may still be called for convenience Whitehall, even though it includes both Bloomsbury and Berkeley Square. The Ministry of Information finds its activities considerably re- stricted. Norway and Holland and Sweden are beyond its reach except by radio, and the same is largely true, and may be truer, of Belgium. One result is that the very useful Review of the Foreign Press is no longer being published, for half its quota- tions were from papers which no longer appear or are under enemy direction. The Ministry of Economic Warfare is in much the same position, and Mr. Dalton, the new Minister, may find that he has succeeded to something like a sinecure. Holland, Norway and all the countries on the Baltic are now outside its scope, and if Italy enters the war the Mediterranean can be largely ruled out. As all American ships are kept clear of the war-zone every extension of that zone reduces the dangers of complications with her, till they are now virtually non- existent. There should be some small saving on staff-salaries.
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