Portrait of the Week
THIS week's main news has been the results of the French elections, which have powerfully reinforced the normal British tendency to self-righteousness at the expense of foreigners. The figures of seats indeed look startling, but, if we take the percentage of votes, the change does not appear to be so great. In terms of percentages the Communists have lost ground in spite of gaining fifty-two seats, while the unexpected Poujadist success shows what can be achieved under a system of proportional representation by a small pressure group led by a demagogue. M. Poujade and his followers had been respon- sible for the unpleasant tone of the electoral campaign, and their violence at meetings and abuse in speeches recall some earlier French right-wing movements. A't the moment the only possible government seems to he a coalition from moderate right to the Socialists, but it is not altogether easy to see how this can be brought about. Meanwhile Algeria, which figured largely in pre-election polemics, has been giving trouble again with raids by terrorists and outrages in the towns. French public opinion was moved by the horrible incident last August revealed by L'Express in the course of the election campaign in which a French -gendarme was photographed shooting a prisoner. The Government tried to explain matters by accusing the newsreel cameraman in question of having bribed the gendarme to shoot the prisoner. The accusation appears to have been false, and it is in any event surprising that the gendarme has not yet been brought to. trial. In Morocco there have also been raids in the Riff area, and French army posts have been captured along the border of Spanish Morocco.
In Malaya, Tengku Abdul Rahman, Chief Minister of the Federation, and Mr. Marshall, Chief Minister of Singapore, have ended their talks with the Communist leader, Chin Peng, without reaching any agreement. The point on which the talks broke down was that of a loyalty investigation of Malayan Communists, surrendering to government forces. Now the amnesty offered them is to be withdrawn as from February 9, and an all-out drive against remaining guerrillas has been announced by General Bourne, Director of Military Operations in Malaya. In the Middle East, Israel has introduced one year more of military service, making three and a half in all. There have been more incidents along the frontier with Syria, which now seems to have its own quarrel with the Lebanon. In Cyprus there have been more security sweeps, and three men armed with machine-guns have been captured. The Sudan has now formally declared its independence. Mr. Selwyn Lloyd has summoned all British envoys in the Middle East for a confer- ence which, it can only be hoped, will spell the end of present policy.
In Europe the eightieth birthday of Herr Pieck, the East German President, has brought congratulations from behind the Iron Curtain. Thb festivities include the bringing to trial of various members of the East German Christian Democrats for 'war propaganda.' In West Germany the new army has formed its first units, and Dr. John's wife has 'revealed' to the Manchester Guardian correspondent that her husband was drugged and abducted to the East. A new Saar government has been formed by Dr. Ney, the leader of the Saarland Christian Democrats, In Russia Mr. Khrushchev, speaking to the united houses of the Supreme Soviet, gave vent to his usual sentiments about Western colonialism. and, rather more important, Marshal Bulganin announced that Russia would soon have an intercontinental ballistic missile, i.e. an H-bomb rocket capable of reaching America. In America there are still floods in California, while President Eisenhower has stated that the peaceful liberation of Soviet satellites is still American policy. In Canada a fire at the Soviet embassy in Ottawa has caused a diplomatic incident, since the firemen had to force their way in against opposition from Soviet officials. In Columbus, Ohio, there has been rioting during the long-stand- ing strike of two thousand employees of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation. There have been ninety arrests and one death.
At home the shipment of surplus arms to continental ports from this country and thence to the Middle East led Mr. Gaitskell to request a meeting with the Prime Minister, at which he asked for the recall of Parliament, a debate before Sir Anthony Eden's visit to America, and the publication of a White Paper on the export of arms. The Government, which had previously declared that arms surpluses were only exported if the countries concerned gave an undertaking that they would not be re-exported for military use, answered that it would issue a White Paper on the subject of the export of war sur- pluses, which the House could debate in due course, but that Parliament would not be recalled early for the purpose. This Mr. Gaitskell described as 'aloft unsatisfactory.' Apart from the intrinsic military value of the arms, which seems almost non-existent (the Valentine tank has been obsolete for years). the discovery that arms leakages have been going on from this country to the Middle East undermines the Prime Minister's declaration that Britain would not embark on an arms race in that area. The new Leader of the Opposition is, at least, quick off the mark.
Other home news includes a fall of two million tons last year in coal output and a wage demand for a 15 per cent. in- crease by the engineers. New Year Honours include a barony for Colonel Astor and various honours for artists and writers ranging from Margot Fonteyn to Agatha Christie.
The week's most insane item is that the tomb of Sir Francis Walsingliam in the church of St. Nicholas, Chisle- burst, is to be opened in the hope of finding papers to prove that Marlowe wrote Shakespeare. One thing is quite certain : if Marlowe wrote Shakespeare, Marlowe did not write Marlowe. The Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem and ex-Mayor Hague of Jersey City have died. Gilbert Murray was ninety this week. The new Astronomer Royal, Professor Richard van der Riet Woolley, has mortally offended the youth of this country by describing space travel as 'utter bilge.' Readers of the News of the World this week will have seen that 'Uncle Eli Lucas, of Whitesburg, Kentucky. has just become a father for the nine- teenth time at the age of ninety-two.'
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