How Britain’s Growing

Troubles May Affer[?] S. Pacific’s f[?].

A Summary from R. W. RJ

London, Aug

What actually is happen

Britain today? Is she in the of a profound change, whio soon and sharply affect thr

of all European people

South Pacific, including Au

and New Zealand?

IAM one of many thousam are asking that questio xiously today.

This is only my personal o for what it is worth. But at am an old and experienced oh I have known Britain well fo' 40 years and all my life I har a student of national psych and international affairs. W have ventured on forecasts I have been far wrong. My firs? ing that Japan would invai South Pacific lands, for examp] published ten years before; Harbour.

I am of opinion that the Empire—which, 50 years ags the most powerful institution i world—is in process of colli think that the great majority 50 million people in the Britfij are as bitterly resentful oft changes as the 25 million Europeans in the Common: but few of them understand! causes or consequences, and tr not know what to do.

They have a feeling that tl; being “sold down the river” bd Government incompetence a* incredibly stupid diplomacy United States; and, if the Coc should become hot, and nothin pens to stir the masses to gerence, they may show the sas willingness to fight that the showed when Hitler invaded i early days of 1940.

Although the fate of three ; Commonwealth countries is? decided by events here in now, the British Governmenr which there seldom has been i tory one more unimpressive s imaginative—appears to be all the major decisions. Them evidence of serious consultatiol the Governments in Cas Ottawa and Wellington.

iese are the things that actually »oing on, as I write this despatch, I give them in what I regard as order of importance in the as lent of this situation:

ritain's Economy

; Very Sick

ie income which Britain now de from her overseas sales of s (which are regularly pub -1) and sales of overseas services i as shipping, banking, in ice, investments, which are not shed) is now far short of the ts she needs in order to pur -5 overseas her vital supplies of stuffs and raw materials. a far-reaching credit squeeze, !i includes a “pause” in all wage , has just been introduced; and lation still is quivering under the t. (Trade unions everywhere are ing out that there is no corres ing attempt to limit profits and ends, and they generally are pre ig for battle.) lis unfavourable trade balance not come suddenly. It is the in ble result of the dissipation by in, in World War 11, of about 10,000,000 in overseas invest s, the annual income from which a mighty effect on British stan -5 of life. itain might have recovered some from this vast dislocation of domestic economy, had it not for (a) the heavy costs of itaining defences and (b) the burden of maintaining her Wel

State.

iese two factors have added so li to the cost of producing manu ired articles for export that dn, slowly and steadily, has been )d out of many markets which srto she enjoyed. Unless Britain get more profitable overseas she must reduce the welfare fits she now distributes to the ses. That inevitably means poli retaliation and the introduction a Socialist Government—which Conservative classes greatly fear.

Ithough played down and hidden he politicians, this possibility has i in sight for many months; and Macmillan Government plans to iter it by stimulating British agri lfe (so that more foodstuffs may grown here, and less imported) by joining France, Germany, Holland, Belgium and Luxem > in the Common Market (which ae plan under which all frontier lers , trade and otherwise, will finally be removed).

2. What Is Behind The Common Market The proposal that Britain should join The Six, in order to recover some of the European trade she has lost since the Common Market be gan to function two years ago, has been the subject of lively and most bitter controversy between small fac tions. The vast majority of the British people seem lethargic and indifferent towards both Commonwealth and Colonial Empire.

There can be no doubt whatever that Britain’s adherence to the Market will greatly dislocate her trade with the Commonwealth. The produce of Australia, New Zealand

and Canada, which now enters Britain under reciprocal tariffs, must be displaced to a degree by the food stuffs of West Europe; which in turn means that Australia, Canada and NZ will reduce their buying of British-manufactured goods. It seems only too plain that what Britain may gain on the Common Market swings, she will lose on the Commonwealth roundabout.

Why does not Britain try to develop and strengthen her Commonwealth and Colonies, and ignore European ties and demands?

It is likely that considerations other than trade are forcing Britain into alliance with The Six. (Over)

e poor, blind Anglo-American ssmen” who allowed Stalin to lish his Communist Empire be the Iron Curtain after World II could not see what was com- By 1957, Russia was strong gh to defy the Western Powers, s then, Communist thrust and aganda have pushed back the is and influence of the West all I the line—in Europe, Asia, ‘a, even Central America, alin’s successor, Khrushchev, by oying everything short of ac war, has been winning every e—and especially since America, uez in 1956, forced Britain and ice to abandon their first retalia attempt to stop the march of the hy, then, does Russia now revive Berlin issue, and deliberately

threaten war? The British are cowed, the French shackled, and the Ameri can squawk around the world does nothing whatever to stop the march of Communism. The answer, of course, is Germany.

As in 1918-39, Germany has made the most extraordinary recovery from the devastation of World War 11, and the Germans never will rest until they regain East Germany, torn from them by the Reds in 1945.

Anyone knowing the history of Teuton-Slav relations over the cen turies knows that Germany sooner or later will challenge Russia. It is coming much sooner than Russia ex pected. Germany, given a little more time, can herself destroy the Soviet Empire, and free all the Central European nations which have had the Communist yoke fastened upon them since 1945.

Russia knows that. So she is acting swiftly to stop Germany. Hence Ber lin.

A united Western Europe, plus USA, can defy Russia. But Western Europe must be united. That is why Germany, France and United States especially USA —are forcing Britain into the Common Market. That is why Britain, politically bemused and economically embarrassed, cannot re sist the pressure, even though it means that she sacrifices the British Commonwealth.

Seen close-up, here, it is a truly horrible prospect. As many critics here frankly point out, we are in deed reaping the harvest of the Suez debacle of 1956. We—Britain and the British Commonwealth—are be ing obliged to strengthen Germany, so that German hatred of Russia may be used to break the Communist

Germany—in other words, by allow ing German reunification It is a dim hope-—no one can guess how the Red Russian mind works. But we can be

sure Russia Jo

jf thinks she can get away with 3. Disintegration of The Colonial Empire

BrUaln’T'once great cXS'empire

ds apac °_ under the double ‘hrust of American anti-colonialism, since > 945 - worki "8 directly upon colonial

Fiji Cement

Work on Fiji's first cement factory, at Wailekutu, near Suva, is now well advanced.

Fiji Industries Ltd. will be the operators. In the foreground, at left, the oil fired kiln is being assembled, and at the rear two concrete silos for the storage of the cement begin to go up. The lower photo, taken shortly after, show the 54 ft high silos completed. They were both done in 45 hours' work, spread over five days, using special hydraulic jacks hired from a Sydney firm. The moulds for the concrete were raised inch by inch as concrete was poured in from the hoists seen in the picture. Fiji Builders Ltd., of Suva, did the building job, with a man from the Sydney firm supervising use of the machinery.

Photos: Rob Wright and S. A. Whippy

;s, and indirectly, through ington, upon Whitehall, have ained pressure against the Brit ule over subject peoples, no r how unfit they might be for ivernment. ultaneously, the Muscovite mnists, as part of their world campaign to weaken Britain, ►rnerstone of Western European th, have never ceased their sub s activities throughout the i Colonial Empire, i results speak today for them- The colonial organisations of countries—France, Portugal, m, for example—have been rly affected; but the main drive een against the British, i success of the Communists— by the Americans, and by the ;ed thinking of the more recent :erial appointees to the British ial Office—has been phenomen this moment, in hitherto quiet peaceful British Colonies like ast African group, and British a, and Zanzibar, and Mauri there is growing political un ranging from direct threats t British property to outright m most of her Colonies, Britain rawn economic strength. Trade Jbly follows the flag. Not only Britain sell goods to these es . she also has received sub unseen revenues in her profits l PPing, banking, investments, in 'e, etc. 1 is in process of losing all that, lt the moment when the only

thing that will save her domestic economy from collapse is an injection of new overseas revenues.

In the past six years, I have personally visited India, Malaya, Singapore, Ceylon, Kenya, South Africa, Mauritius, Zanzibar, the West Indies, in addition to frequent calls upon all the South Pacific countries; and I "rf.r. ( l e^ P r t » WbereVer 1 C °V »’ of talking to the common people , f™ PPO ß d v t( £ be i achm f or freedom from British rule, and demandmg self-government.

In not one instance have I found any general demand for rapid constitutional change. On the contrary,

these colonial peoples—and this was especially the case among the Afri cans, whom I visited in July—are quite happy to continue the process of quiet, gradual social and political evolution, so as presently to reach the point where they may take over their own government, B ut this I do know: This far reaching change in Whitehall policies anc j practices is lowering British prestige every day throughout the world, and causing the most acute embarrassment to the trained men of the British Colonial Service, who hitherto have been the mainstay of the British Empire. (Over)

4. Effect on the British Commonwealth And, now, to the loss of morale suffered by the British people through the decay of their position in Wes tern Europe, and the disintegration of their great Colonial Empire, there is added the resentment of the British Commonwealth nations at the British move to enter the Common Market.

If ever there was need for a British Commonwealth Government, or super-Cabinet, it is seen today. Why should these badgered and bemused British Ministers have the power to commit the whole Commonwealth to

something we instinctively dislike and suspect?

The Commonwealth nations in dividually are not strong enough to stand by themselves in a turbulent world—especially a world which pre sently will be rent by the demands of Asians and Africans. Yet, having lost their ties with Britain, where will they go?

Whether a shooting war comes or not —and pending events in relation to Germany represent the keypoint of that alternative—the countries of the South Pacific are faced with far reaching changes which must alter the shape of our political future and

our individual lives. Britain, ministrative incompetency an indifference and inertia, is re herself from European presti Commonwealth leadership.

Who now will lead our Pacific world? America? Ye in Berlin, Lyndon Johnson patting babies, bellowing ; cliches and shaking a thousand distributed hundreds of b: pens engraved “With the 1 ments of the Vice-President United States’’!

Yesterday, the London newspapers gave little space troubles of Britain’s Coloni pire, but much to a discus whether the plus-fours of Minister Macmillan, grouse-f with the Duke of Devonshire, creases in the right places.

For a parallel of these thir Gibbon’s Rise and Fall of the Empire.