CRITICAL DAYS IN RUSSIA

THE last week of August finds Russia still the one front on which fighting with decisive possibilities is taking place. There seems every likelihood, it is true, that a battle that may be of major importance is taking place in the Solomon Islands, but only in- complete information about that is forthcoming so far. American losses are naturally and rightly not yet disclosed, but it is clear that serious damage has been done to Japanese warships. That is worth bearing in mind when critics are disposed to disapprove the Solomon Islands operation as a purposeless dispersal of effort. To destroy an enemy's navy is as important as to destroy his armies, and Japanese casualties in aircraft-carriers may prove a particularly heavy blow. But meanwhile the Russians are fighting desperately at Stalingrad against heavy odds. Berlin has announced that the city is to fall this week, and von Bock appears to be throwing in all his reinforcements. It is still conceivable that he may fight himself to a standstill with his purpose unachieved, for the successful Russian offensive on the Central and Kalinin fronts, though it has not secured much in the way of territorial gains, which are im- material here, is at least pinning down large German forces from which help might otherwise have been sent to von Bock. But the position at Stalingrad is critical in the last degree, and in the Caucasus it is not much better, for though the Russians have a good defensive line in the mountains, all the airfields in the plain are left to the enemy. The apparently imminent resumption of heavy fighting in Egypt may mean some diversion of German air- power from the southern Russian front, but it will hardly be on a scale to make much substantial difference.

Indian Hopes and Doubts

In some ways the most important development in India this week has been the return of the province of Assam to constitutional government, which means that five out of the eleven provinces are now self-governing, with purely Indian Cabinets responsible to elected Assemblies. Sir Stafford Cripps very usefully underlined this and other relevant facts for the benefit of American readers In an article in the New York Times on Monday. The decision of the Viceroy to summon the Central Legislative Assembly at Delhi on September 14th, considerably earlier than the expected date of meeting, is another important step, which reveals both courage and

confidence on the part of the Government of India. Sir C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar has resigned from the Executive Council, for the purpose—so far from being in any disagreement with the Council's policy—of freeing himself to organise opposition to the Congress Party from outside. Sir Firoz Khan Noon, the Defence Member of the Council, is putting forward proposals of his own for a settle- ment of the Indian deadlock, and Sir Ramaswarni Mudaliar, the newly-appointed Indian member of the War Cabinet, is bringing another set with him to London. The British Government, which has been charged with reluctance to re-open negotiations, has declared officially through Mr. Amery that the Cripps proposals, which came so near being accepted, still stand. It seems increasingly evident that there is a mass of moderate Indian opinion ready for a reasonable settlement. The difficulty is to crystallise it. The Viceroy can hardly take the initiative unless there is good prospect of its succeeding. Meanwhile the general situation remains sur- prisingly—though perhaps deceptively—calm.

The Duke • of Kent

The Duke of Kent was on active service, flying to Iceland on duty, when he lost his life with the crew of the Sunderland flying- boat which crashed in the north of Scotland. The nation's sym- pathy for the Royal Family is deepened by the knowledge that its members have ever been ready to share the experiences of the rest of the nation in time of war, and have played their part to the utmost in accepting exacting duties and dangers. The Duke of Kent, like his brothers, was never content to be merely an ornamental figure in the life of the nation. For ten years he lived the life of a naval officer, and afterwards he was actively engaged, now as a civil servant, now on special duties in the industrial areas, and recently he was serving as Chief Welfare Officer of the R.A.F. Home Command. During the war he had flown many thousands of miles, and visited Portugal, Canada and the United States. He would have made a good Governor-General of Australia, and would have begun his term of office in November, 1939, but for the outbreak of war. The part which he took in public life shows how simply and harmoniously our constitutional monarchy, with its Royal Family, fits into the scheme and developing tradition of British democracy.

The Prime Minister's Return

Mr. Churchill reports that he has come back not tired but re- freshed after his eventful journey across a great part of the eastern hemisphere. Though the visit to Moscow was his principal object, his visits to Cairo, to the desert front in Egypt, and to Teheran were important, and no doubt illuminating subsidiary incidents. In Teheran he saw the Shah, and went to British Army headquarters in Persia—at the moment when a separate command was about to be created for Iraq-Persia. In Egypt he saw King Farouk, the Prime Minister, General Smuts, Sir Archibald WaveII, and many commanding officers and officials. The discussions he has had with Mr. Stalin in Moscow will fit into their place in his mind side by side with what he has seen for himself and reviewed in talk at the key-points of British power abroad, and close to the fighting- front where a great battle is imminent. Though Mr. Churchill would he ill-advised to make frequent adventurous journeys of this kind, the contacts he has made this month have helped to cement mutual confidence between Russia and Britain, to bring the fighting commands in the East into closer touch with authority at home, and to "refresh" the mind of our hard-worked Prime Minister. Mr. Churchill is not expected to make any public announcement about his visit to Moscow until Parliament meets, but since pre- sumably the talks were mainly about secret military matters there may not be very much to be divulged. But the official communiqué issued at Moscow spoke definitely of "decisions," so the results of the conferences there may make themselves known elsewhere than at Westminster. .

The Persia-Iraq Command

The appointment of General Sit Henry Maitland Wilson to be Commander-in-Chief in Persia and Iraq, now separated from the Middle-Eastern Command, is a recognition of the increased im- portance of that region as a possible theatre of war. In the spring of last year the Middle-Eastern Command controlled a vast area which seemed likely to be exposed to attack from two directions— Libya on the one side, and Syria, by way of Crete and Cyprus (or possibly across Turkey) on the other. Such a Command had a natural unity. Iraq and Persia, always important for their oil-fields, were protected by our forces in the Mediterranean zones. But the Iraqi revolt and the danger of an extension of the trouble to Persia compelled us to look to our defences farther east, and our occupying

Brazil at War

The Germans doubtless counted the cost when they made the ruthless attacks on Brazilian shipping which have provoked Brazil into a declaration of war. But they have added a new formidable barrier to their ambitions in South America and a valuable active ally to the United Nations. The five thousand miles of the Brazilian coast-line and the adjacent waters will henceforward be more closely guarded by the not inconsiderable Brazilian fleet and by shore-based aeroplanes, which will help the United Nations in the war upon enemy submarines. Spies and fifth-columnists, whe_her Germans or Italians or their sympathisers, will now be sternly dealt with, and their financial dealings will be checked by the closing of German banking houses. Though it is true that Brazil was already giving much economic help to the Allies, the scale of assistance becomes quite different when rendered by a country stimulated by the moral enthusiasm of war in a cause in which it believes. Nor is it Biwa' alone that is affected. The whole South American continent has been stirred to its depths. The Inter-American Defence Board at Washington has passed a resolution of friendship to Brazil in her • war with Germany and Italy, in which even the representatives of Argentina and Chile participated. Uruguay is wholly in sympathy with her great neighbour and is rendering practical assistance. Far away in Europe the Portuguese Government with great courage has expressed its moral solidarity with a country with which "the close ties of blood render telations unalterable." The world war is assuming its logical shape under which even in Latin-America neutrality is passing by quick stages into belligerency—a fact causing no small embarrassment to the Government of Argentina.

forces in certain parts of Persia have .grown with the necessity of improving communications for the supply of Russia. The time has now come when it is obvious that we must be preparea,to use those communications for our own Tenth Army as well as for the Russians. The Germans are already hammering at the northern foot-hills of the Caucasus. If they crossed the range it would be incumbent on us to fight them side by side with the Russians for the defence of Iraq and Persia. If we had strength enough in that region we might even go' forward to meet them before they got so far. Clearly a Persia-Iraq front is a possibility; supplied as it would be from the Persian Gulf and separated from Syria and Palestine by wastes of desert, its problem would be quite a separate one from that of an Egyptian or a Syrian front. General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson is an experienced Commander who carried out his little campaign in Syria with marked success.

Hitler's New Justice

If any single act were needed to prove that Hitler is building on sand it is that in which, appointing Thierack to be Minister of Justice, he gives this notorious man power to set aside all written law. The absolutism of the Roman Emperors was fortified by the sense of security created by Roman law. Napoleon had reason to be proud of the codification of law carried out under his regime. But the decree Hitler has now issued strikes at the very basis of law and order, and so at the sacredness of authority itself. When last April he declared himself to be the Supreme Law Lord he announced that if need be he would set aside all laws. But he goes much farther when he delegates this authority to another, and appoints him both judge and legislator with power to make the law with the same breath that he pronounces judgement. This is nothing less than the open and avowed abolition of justice and of all civic rights before the law. The person charged can make no defence, since the prosecutor can dictate the law to ensure his guilt. Hitler has armed himself and his Gestapo agents with this weapon of summary procedure in order to dispose of any person whom he fears or disapproves of. No need for a future Roehm Purge. He can get the same results by haling his enemy before the "People's Court," of which the new Minister of Justice was the ruthless president. Hitler's decree is a sign of fear. No ruler sure of himself would resort to action so damaging to his own regime.

Post-war Planning

There are few signs that this country realises how much intelligent people in the United States and the Dominions look to Great Britain for a statement of her post-war reconstuaction policy. The point was made by Mr. Walter Nash, the New Zealand Finance Minister, when he was about to leave England for America to resume his work at Washington. He thought that there was failure here to give full weight to post-war development, which to a large section of the American public is the major war-objective. This does not mean that for Americans any more than ourselves the winning of the war is not the first objective. But they do want to be sure that the winning of the war is worth while, and that we are fighting for something which is clear in our own minds and for which we are methodically preparing. We have had the general outline in the Atlantic Charter and in speeches by Mr. Eden, Sir Stafford Cripps and others, but these generalisations cannot be translated into realities at the critical time unless solid spade-work has been done to prepare the way. No doubt a good deal is going on underground which is not brought into the light of public criticism. The Board of Education is making its inquiries. The Ministry of Works and Buildings has not been idle. Such bodies as the Nuffield College Reconstruction Survey are making valuable investigations. But that comprehensive inquiry which Mr. Green- wood was originally appointed to conduct has never become a function of the Government as a whole, and has never been pursued to the point where the Prime Minister could make a declaration about progress made, or even about the direction it Was taking. Here is a very serious gap in our war activities—one of which our allies are aware. There may be some excuse that we were unprepared for war. There will be none if we are found unprepared for peace.