26 SEPTEMBER 1947, Page 4

Relations between this country and the Argentine Republic seem to

be rather of an oscillatory character, and it is really not our fault. Unhappily Argentina has one permanent complaint against us—she holds that the Falkland Islands, which belong to us, ought to belong to her. (In 1771, long before the Argentine Republic came into being, Spain ended a long dispute by ceding the islands to Britain.) The latest tacit demonstration is a commemorative stamp issued by Argen- tina in connection with this year's Antarctic expedition, representing what is called the Argentine Antarctic Sector, showing the contested islands well embedded in it. But, as they say on the ordnance maps, the fact that a footpath is marked is no evidence of a right of way.

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