BRITAIN'S RESTLESS HOOD CONTINUES

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 122, 26 May 1942, Page 6

BRITAIN'S RESTLESS HOOD CONTINUES

DESIRE FOR ACTION

Controversy Over Second

Front Rages

Kporiiil ('oi ro«ponrlent. Ifnllrd f'rcsK Association. —Copyright. Iv'pc 2 .'lO p.m. LONDON, May 25. The restive mood of Britain continues unabated. The people are demanding not only action but. successful action. "The strongest of all the currents behind the eddies in the recent House of Commons debate," savs The Economist, "is the demand of ordinary people for action. They are tired of statistics. They are asking for some further sign that the Job is positively in hand. They ask not, for assurances but for proof, h'irst. they call for evidence that the weapons made in the factory will be used with success in the field: secondly, that no vested or sectional Interest or service, industrial or labour, shall stand in the way of act ion.

"K\er since Britain was saved in I!) It) from what seemed certain defeat the demand for action has stood first. It. has been multiplied by the sufferings and success of the Russian people, fanned by the disasters in the Ear East, exacerbated by the escape of the German warships from Brest, and whipped up by t.he controversy over fuel rationing. In a recent survey of production problems the Mass Observation organisation recorded a two-fold sentiment as the leading cause of dissatisfaction with the war effort: Eirst, weapons and men mobilised were not employed effectively; secondly, the interests of certain sections of the community still stood In the way of full efficiency .

The task now is to solve problems of command, production and industrial organisation.

Intrigues Against Churchill "To say this is not to share in the Intrigues against Mr. Churchill and his Ministers. It is right and the duty of every responsible citizen and every worthwhile member of Parliament to demand the best policy from the Government. There are intriguers. On the Tory bench there is surly resentment against the Prime Minister and his non-Tory advisers; on the Labour back bench there is petulance and impatience with the Conservative connection. "They shoot here, there and everywhere, but tiiey mean to hit Churchill. But these are only the petty plaints of little men, afraid of the darkness that is falling on them and their puppetry. It Is Britain that is at stake, not this flotsam and jetsam. The Government is not challenged by these factitious people, but by facts." Mr. Harold Nicolson, writing in The Spectator, comments on the demand for a second front. "I have been both touched and disconcerted lately by realising what deep emotion the men and women of this country centre on their hopes on the Ftusslan front," he .says. "I do not find, in addressing audiences, whether In London br the Provinces, that they respond with more than perfunctory approval to commendation of our prowess at sea, on land and In the air, nor are they vitally mindful of the stark dangers through which we have passed, or even of the gratitude we owe those who, under the Inspiration of an heroic leader, saved Britain when she was crippled, battered and alone.

Help Given By Dominions "I do not find that they recognise that the fact of the selfless, almost reckless, help given in the hour of trial by the Dominions, Colonies and Dependencies is proof that our Imperial mission has not been ill-ful-filled. The refusal of occupied Europe to surrender either to blandishments and starvation, or police terrorism is taken unwittingly, lgnorantly and selfishly almost for granted. A reference to the struggle In which our Chinese Allies have for so long been engaged provokes but a ripple of condolence, while a statement of the vast power which the United States is so rapidly accumulating for a final victory arouses among British audiences but a few nods of perfunctory acquiescence.

Strategic Difficulties "Yet one has only to mention Russia and the whole meeting flames as suddenly as a wisp of hay drenched in paraffin. One feels upon one's cheek the wind of the wings of passion." Mr. Nicolson praises the Russian achievements, and continues: "The clamour for a second front is inevitable and in some ways salutary, but it does not proceed from any acute understanding of the strategic or the transport position as it exists to-day. Firstly, we are already fighting on three fronts—the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Middle East. Secondly, the assistance given Russia by the presence of our armies in Libya, Syria, Iraq and Iran is both useful and contiguous. Thirdly, the public underestimates the substantial sacrifices made in providing Russia with a stream of British war material.

"It is necessary also to bear in mind that if Hitler fails to crush the Russian resistance in the next three months he may well hesitate to commit his people to a second winter campaign. It is more probable if he fails this summer to achieve a decisive victory over Russia, that he will strive desperately to extricate himself from his difficulties by offering most lavish terms. We must remember that Hitler is in a position if necessary to offer rich rewards to Russia in return for an Eastern peace. He could promise to give her, if he wins, not the Straits only but the Persian Gulf and the whole Empire of India. What counter-offers could the United Nations oppose to such extreme generosity? "I shall be accused, I suppose, of displaying anti-Communist bias. I have no such bias, All I regret is that so many of my countrymen should put all the eggs of their war-minded-ness into the Russian basket. It is a splendid, sturdy basket, which may well brine all the egers out for the market, but Tt Is not the only basket. There is our own little basket which has proved taut and tough of which we ought to be proud. There is the American basket, strong, expansive and capacious."