Britain Not Going Into Liquidation

Chronicle (Levin), 1 October 1949, Page 5

Britain Not Going Into Liquidation

LONDON, Sept. 30. The erisis in British history was such as to warrant the ealling of a conference of the British Commonwealth and Empire as a matter of high urgencv, Mr Harold MacMillan, Consevative member of Parliament told an Empire rallv in London. "With our kitli and kin and our own people we should prepare a plan of aetion to put before our friends in Europe. We should then demand a special session of the Council of Europe. The broad principles of a joint British Em-pire-Western Europe -policy eould be settled within a few weeks. The first steps eould be approved and a start made by the beginning of 1950. Such a start would put new spirit and breathe new life into all." Mr MacMillan said that nations might live for a term on capital or might be sustained liv the assistance of benevolent friends. The process might last for years, but a nation that once sets upon this course was doomed. "American investment in Britain to be healthv must be private investment, and the Government should make eonditions which will attract such investment, but it must be equity investment. "We are not prepared to mortgage the British Empire. We are not yet foreed to .sell it in a general liquidation, nor would our American friends wish that to be so. ' ' The only way we can create an ex j panding and balanced economv is by developing in co-operation with our Commonwealth partners the vast undeveloped resources at our joint disposal. Between the conception of European and commonwealth economic cooperation there need be no conflict. The two developments eould largely supplement each other, and by so doing hasten world recovery." I