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pp. 7-8 · Read in the full issue
Fateful British Decision on October 25
A USTRALIA is the western guar- A. dian of the Pacific Islands; and the Australians, as they turn teir faces towards Asia, see a pic jre that grows uglier every day.
To realise the fearful menace of sia, and the dangers to which we ave become exposed by political r eakness and Socialist muddling, it > necessary to recapitulate a few lets.
In 1939, there was a threat in sia; but it was concentrated in ne place—Japan. The remainder I Asia was harmless—and peaceful, cid reasonably secure and well-fed. he Westerners smashed Japanese egression; and then they went ack to domestic arguments, while lese things happened: China became Communist; Indo hina, under Communist direction, igaged in long-range fighting ?ainst the French; Siam became a ippy hunting-ground for the Reds; le bemused British handed Burma, idia and Ceylon over to their ationals. and forced the Dutch to aandon the East Indies to the In mesians, thus exposing our fron er to Asia and opening an ap irently endless era of political tur ioil and economic chaos; British eakness permitted the establish lent in Malaya of a murderous mg of Red terrorists, who still re st authority’s bumble-footed efforts • remove them; Persia, defying-all eaties and agreements, and jeer •g at the British Government, eked out the British oil interests,
, which had developed an enormous industry and given Persia an econo mic backbone; British influence in the Arabic States of the Middle East—vital to us in World War 111 h ave been weakened and ridi culed; and, finally, the Egyptians nesting that the British leave the Suez area and the Soudan im mediately.
Surely, there can be no clearer mdication of what the Attlee Socialist Government has done to Britain and .the Empire than this spectacle of the Wogs “cocking a snook” at the Power which pro tected them for so long, gave them freedom, and defended them against Nazi invasion only a short decade ago!
B , , .. destruction of British strength and prestige, in the fields of diplomacy and economics, has been world-wide, although it is most clearly seen un der the limelight of Communist growth in Asia. A Britisher, sur veying the international spectacle, feels something akin to despair. Can w e retrieve our spiritual and material losses, and resume, with America, our job of maintaining orderliness in a seething world of hungry Asiatics, clamorous nation alists and crazy Planners?
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In 1945, Britain stood beside America on top of the world. She was there not only because of her military strength, but because of the unconquerable spirit of her people, their steadiness and cour age, and their capacity for sacrifice.
You cannot destroy the fundamen tal qualities of a nation in seven years.
The bewildered, war-weary and somewhat stupid British masses have been put on the skids by the Socialists, and they have slid far and fast; but it is not too late to pull them back from the precipice of national destruction. A clear cut policy in international affairs, jealous guardianship of our remain ing Empire, close co-operation with the Americans, and the ruthless exercise of governmental authority (especially in relation to Planners!) could do much towards creating a new world, and one worth living in.
The British people, this month, go to the polls. All the signs indicate that they are completely sick of their great Socialist experiment and that Winston Churchill will be sent back to clean up the unholy mess, just as he did in 1940. Mr.
Churchill is the world’s greatest living Britisher, and none knows, better than he, what is needed. But it is a terrifying task—and he is now 77 years old.
The re-establishment of the British Empire as a world power may quite easily lead to World War 111. Mr, Stalin, of Moscow, will re sent any interruption of the pro cesses by which he now is rapidly
conquering the world. But better a hot war, and the recovery of our battered freedom, than life under the intolerable conditions we have experienced since we achieved “the greatest military victory in human history.”
FOOTNOTE: As that last line was written, Sydney “Sun” of Octo ber 11 was laid on our desk. Across the front page: “Cairo Rioters Wreck, Bum British Shops.” Well, well—this from the Wogs! Hurry, Mr. Churchill.