Sir Stafford Cripps And The Empire

Chronicle (Levin), 4 November 1948, Page 5

Sir Stafford Cripps And The Empire

Received Wednesday, 7 p.m. LONDON, Nov. 3. Explaining Sir Stafford Cripps's xeference in his Bristol speech, to his pre-war conteution that the Enipire should be liquidated, the Daily Heiald says he does not mean by "liquidating" what the Conservatives mean. "To them," says the Herald, "the word Empire means a private economic and racial presgi've where Britain 's exploitation of the peoples and resources can still be enjoyed as a perquisite of a past military conquest — an out-of-date eonception doomed to disaSter in the modern world. The national consciousness and aspirations of India, Burma and Celyon, for instance, have nierely been reeognisod and not created by the Labour Goverument. The result of that recognition is a free and' powerful association of friendly democratic nations. ' ' Commenting upon this explanation which is regarded as being official ly inspired, the Evening News says editorially: "Does Sir Stafford Cripps feel that the liquidation has gone far enough ? If not, what is next. on his list? That seems to us not unimportant. Does he, for example, as Chancellor of the Exchequer and therefore one of the ehief benefieiaries of Imperial .preference, regard this as a shameful r'elie of our imperialist past — the sort of thing that caused him to remark in 3935, 'You have only to look at the paths of British Imperial history to hide your head iu shame that you are British"? While we eongratulate him on his courage, we eannot help regretting that. it •shows that -.eveu with the best members of the Soeial'ist Party, the rule is,-once a doctrinaire always a doctrinaire. "