The Future of Burma
It is difficult to see how the Government could have reasonably gone farther than it has done in its assurances to U Saw, the Prime Minister of Burma, who came to this country to offer support in the war and to ask for Dominion status on its con- clusion. To this extent there is agreement, that Dominion status is the goal ; towards that goal, Mr. Amery promises, this country means, when the war is over, to go as far and as fast as we can. But it would not be right amid the preocctipations of war to promise that a drastic constitutional change should be made in one move on a given date. The questions of Burmese defence and foreign policy present difficulties not made easier by the fact that supplies to China go by the Burma Road and that Japan is threatening Burma's neighbour, Thailand. These will have to be considered in the light of the post-war situation. Moreover there are other matters which demand the fullest inquiry before the future constitution can be irrevocably fixed, and not the least of these is the relations between the Burmans proper, estimated at 9,000,000 people, and the five millions of other races and languages. These and other questions cannot be fully and fairly considered in the midst of the war, and Mr. Amery justly explains that it would not be right to make promises until we are sure that they can be fulfilled. U Saw is undoubtedly disappointed. He will return to Burma without the precise pledges which he had hoped to secure. But his visit has at least awakened in this country an increased interest in Burmese constitutional problems, which will henceforward rank among the major Imperial questions demanding an early solution
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