A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK
MR. BEVIN'S new and serious illness must, it would seem, bring the question of the Foreign Secretaryship to a head, for it can hardly be possible for him to carry the heavy burden any longer. The burden, unfortunately, is abnormally heavy at the moment, with the Korea crisis at its height and a Council of Foreign Ministers of the utmost importance probably impending. Who is to represent Great Britain there ? In the absence of a Foreign Secretary no one but the Prime Minister would carry the necessary weight, and unless the conference were held in London Nfr. Attlee could certainly not manage it. That means that a new appointment must be made quickly in the event of Mr. Bevin deciding to resign, and no one has been suggested to displace Sir Hartley Shawcross as the most appropriate successor. The Attorney- General has had to deal with many important Foreign Office matters at successive United Nations Assemblies, and his frequent contacts with Mr. Vyshinsky would give him particular qualifications for a place at the Council of Foreign Ministers. He knows the Soviet Commissar for Foreign Affairs better than Mr. Dean Acheson or M. Schuman does.
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