STALINGRAD AND ELSEWHERE

WHILE the Russian advance over a large sector of the front west and north of Moscow continues, and the German advance in the Caucasus is slow and liable to actual set-backs, the situation at Stalingrad grows steadily graver. The resistance is being maintained with incredible heroism, but von Bock's reserves of men and material, including aircraft, seem to be inexhaustible and his forces are driving forward yard by yard by the sheer weight of the artillery and armour they command. Precisely how near the fall of Stalingrad is cannot be determined from the rival com- muniqués. It would indeed be premature to conclude that it cannot be held even yet. Street-fighting, if it comes to that, will favour the defence and add to the already colossal losses the Germans have sustained. Serious, moreover, as the fall of the great industrial city would be, the Germans' immediate gain would be limited. Nothing but a shell of a city would remain ; all its industries would be out of action for months ; there would be little even to provide Bock's armies with winter-quarters. Unless the Volga crossing is forced, what is left of Stalingrad will be under perpetual fire from the eastern bank, if not from the islands in .mid-stream, and though the invader would be in a position to stop traffic on the Volga, ice would soon be doing that in any case. It is in the light of next year's campaigns that the loss of Stalingrad would be most disastrous to the Russians and its capture most advantageous to the Germans. By that time it may be hoped the general situation will have changed materially, though it would be more encouraging if we had not to wait so long for signs of that. The fighting in Egypt has died down, and both sides are once morr engaged in a race for reinforcements ; in that this week's raid on Tobruk may have put Rommel at some disadvantage. Mr. Lyttelton has spoken rather cryptically of coming evidences of victory. The feeling that it is quite time they came is growing daily. Meanwhile our one effective offensive, the air-war on Germany, is quite clearlY Yielding reiults.

The Price of Dieppe

It was always clear that a heavy price had to be paid in the Dieppe raid in killed, wounded and prisoners. It has been announced in Ottawa that the Canadian total losses were 3,350, of whom 2,417 are reported missing, the majority of these being pre- sumably prisoners. It should be remembered that the Canadians constituted by far the greater number of the land forces employed. These casualties are a heavy item on the debit side of the reckoning. On the credit side we must put the slightness of the losses to the

Navy, the crushing victory which the Air Force achieved in the air, the damage done to the enemy on land, and the experience gained with a view to invasion. Probably one of the lessons is that landings in a full-scale invasion must be preceded by intensive bombing or shelling of the fronts to be attacked—a military action likely to cause so much destruction among French civilians that we might well refrain from taking it for the minor purposes of a raid. One of the objects of such a raid as this must be to keep the enemy constantly on the qui vive, not at one point only, but everywhere on their long coast-line from Norway to the Bay of Biscay, so that, compelled to strengthen the whole line, they may have to employ large forces in defence. But to attain that object frequency is necessary. A score of raids, following in quick succession, each at one-twentieth of the strength of the Dieppe raid, would serve this purpose.- It is surprising and disappointing that we have not had such constant evidence of the offensive spirit.

Laval's Reckless Treachery

Laval's actions make it clear that he knows he has burnt his boats, and that he is committed to more and more co-operation with Germany however much it may alienate America, provoke protests from the Vatican, and scandalise and embitter opinion in France. The forced-labour decree issued by the Vichy Government is designed to enable him to send Frenchmen to work for Hitler in Germany as well as in war factories at home. Religious opinion throughout unoccupied France is outraged by the mass deportation of Jews to a country which wants them as slaves. This cynical defiance of humanity havroduced strong protests from the Vatican, and the clergy in France have boldly read in the churches the Pastoral Letter condemning the persecution of the Jews. A profound impression has been created in France by the stand of the eight Jesuit priests in Lyons who hid and refused to surrender Jewish children demanded for deportation. Laval himself, supported only by Germany, sinks deeper and deeper into a cruel and reckless pro- Nazi policy. Mr. Cordell Hull's protests last Tuesday against the aid Vichy is giving to the enemies of the United States will not deflect Laval, though they may cause more uneasiness to Petain, who already found himself charged by the Holy See with actions irreconcilable with the religious feelings so often invoked in his speeches. Is Marshal Petain unwilling or powerless to check the abominations to which Laval is committing his Government, and which are kindling such a fire of hatred among Frenchmen as will one day sweep it to destruction?

Success in Madagascar -

Though at the time of writing only the request for an armistice in Madagascar, not its actual conclusion, has yet been reported, there can be little doubt that all serious resistance to the British advance on the capital, Antananarivo is at an end. The operations, which began with the seizure of the northern port of Diego Suarez last May, were necessitated by the grave danger that Japan, whose penchant for seizing strategic islands has been ominously demon- strated elsewhere, would establish herself athwart our essential communications with the Red Sea and the Middle East and India. The hope that once Diego Suarez was reduced the Governor would co-operate with the Allied forces on the basis of their pledge that French sovereignty should be fully respected during the occu- pation and fully restored afterwards has been disappointed ; hence the further operations. There could be no doubt about the out- come. At the time of the last census there were only some 25,000 French in Madagascar out of a total population of nearly four mil- lion, and it is clear that most of these have little sympathy with the present Vichy administration. The Madagascar operations were well conceived and efficiently executed. They should be followed by peace and prosperity in the island, but there will clearly have to be a substantial occupying force to guard against possible Japanese attack still.

Service Pay

The whole question of Service pay and the increases which were announced last week has been put in a false perspective by the attempt to equate them with wages prevailing in industry. For this the Government is partly to be blamed by issuing a White Paper which, in an effort to explain away the discrepancies, made estimates which broke down under investigation. The first fact to be recog- nised is that the Government has made some increase in the basic rate of pay and in the allowances for dependants which is welcome and will make a difference to the men. Everyone wishes that the Service-man should be paid a3 well as possible, but it would be a lamentable thing if Members of Parliament should enter into a competition of vicarious generosity and raise expectations which cannot be satisfied. Those who object to the Government's decision to stabilise the rates of pay in the Services (so long as prices remain unchanged), though they are not stabilised in industry, could make a much stronger case against the Government for failing to stabilise prices. Sir Stafford Cripps did well to break right away from the line of argument implicit in the unfortunate White Paper, admitting at once that the problem could not be solved on the basis of comparison with industry—the most that can be done is to see that the soldier sailor or airman can cover his own requirements and provide adequately for his family. The most effective criticism is that which has drawn attention to certain anomalies, such as disparities in the pay of junior officers in the Navy as compared with the Army, and the delays in the making of grants. When orice a tolerable rate of pay and main- tenance has been provided for the Serviceman what matters most to him is that his position after the war should be secured. That is a problem which requires assiduous attention, now rather than later.

The Trade Disputes Act

A danger signal was hoisted at the la ft meeting of the Trades Union Congress which should warn the Government that it js very unwise to shirk consideration of the Trade Disputes Act. The Labour Party, and trade unionists in particular, feel very bitterly about the continuance of this legislation unamended on the Statute Book, and it was frankly stated at the Congress that unwillingness to consider the matter is straining national unity to the uttermost. The Act was passed in the year after the General Strike by a Conservative Government determined to deprive the unions for ever of the power to repeat so grave an error, and its drastic terms were regarded by the unions at the time as an act of vengeance. Strikes, whether primary or sympathetic, designed to coerce the Government were declared to be illegal, even if workmen had law- fully terminated their contracts. Criminal liabilities were imposed

on officials supporting such strikes. Trade union funds were made liable in respect of damages awarded to employers arising from illegal strikes, and the principle ot "contracting in" was substituted for that of "contracting out" in the matter of members' contributions to a political fund. It has to be remembered that since the Act was passed the whole trend of trade unionism has been away from the unconstitutional to the constitutional. It has become an active, necessary partner in industry, tending to eliminate rather than create friction. Unions of civil servants should no longer be for- bidden affiliation to other organisations, and municipal employees should be on the same footing as other trade unionists. The unions are not on strong ground when they ask to be allowed virtually to compel their members to subscribe to political funds. But they are asking for amendment, not complete repeal, of the Act. The Prime Minister has asked Congress not to press for consideration of the ques.ion in the Middle of the war. This attitude has provoked the criticism that the war is to be an excuse for delaying reform. It would be far better to have the matter discussed in a friendly atmosphere than to wait till bitterness has grown to antagonism.

Co npulsion for Youth ?

Is the Conservative Sub-Committee on Education, which this week publishes a report on "the 14 to 18 age-group" the same Conservative Sub-Committee on Education which last week published a report, duly noted in these columns, on Educational Aims? If so it can only be supposed that the latter, an admirable document, was produced in a moment of abnormal exaltation, or the former, a deplorable document, in a moment of abnormal aberration. What the sub-committee, which must be animated by a considerable wistful admiration for the Hitlerjugend, desires first and foremost after the war is compulsion. It is not made entirely clear what is to be done with the 14-18's—it is doubtful whether the sub-committee is really clear about that itself—but the essential thing is that the State shall be in a position to do what it likes with them. They are to be regimented into a Federation of Youth, with the existing registration of the 16-18's, which the sub-committee wan.s extended so as to begin at 14, as basis, and a special depart- ment of the Board of Education created to deal with them. There is little need to discuss the scheme further, for nothing more is likely to be heard of it, but the demonstration of the existence of a section of the Conservative Party bent on establishing control over youth on characteristically totalitarian lines cannot be dismissed so lightly—though foreknowledge may have its value in stimulating vigilance. The discussions of "opportunities for service" is altogether desirable, but the whole idea is vitiated when it is discovered that what is meant is compulsion to service.

Nursing as a Profession

Some years ago it was tempting to argue that just as a doctor cannot be a doctor unless he is fully qualified, so a nurse cannot be a nurse until she has been through the full training required for State registration. The analogy is a false one. None but a fully qualified doctor is competent to prescribe, but in fact there are thousands of assistant nurses, not registered, actually rendering and capable of rendering indispensable services in hospitals and elsewhere. The Horder Nursing Reconstruction Committee, which has just submitted a report to the Minister of Health, comes down emphatically on the side of the logic of fact. Apart from the State- registered nurses, a recognised place must be found for assistant nurses, but their status must be secured and safeguarded by precise conditions. The Committee recommends that they should be en- rolled under the control of the General Nursing Council, and that nursing should become a closed profession, including none but State- registered nurses, State-enrolled assistant nurses and those recognised to be in training. A two-years' course with the appropriate experi- ence ending with a practical test should be required for the enrol- ment of an assistant nurse. For the proper care of the sick and the well-being of those who undertake charge of them it is of urgent importance that the professional status of all engaged in nursing should be clearly defined and improved. At present the pay is poor, the hours of work long, the conditions of service exacting.