BRITISH CRISIS. CAUSES CHANGE IN U.S. OPINION

Greymouth Evening Star, 17 March 1947, Page 7

BRITISH CRISIS. CAUSES CHANGE IN U.S. OPINION

(Rec. 2 p.m.) LONDON, March 16. . “Just as the United- States seven years ago debated th(? military consequences to the American people should the Germans overrun Britain, so today , the United States debates what its role should be in the face of Britain’s economic decline,” says The Times in a leading article. “American commentators who only yesterday attacked British ‘reaction’ in Palestine, Greece, and India, today bewail the ‘power vacuum’ left by what they have prematurely described as the passing of an Empire. “The crisis in Britain has served to make better understood the heavy burden under which Britain is labouring and the degree to which American economic, besides political, strength will have to be thrown into the scales if the balance is to be tipped in favour of a peaceful and prosperous world. “The Allies had anxious months between Dunkirk and Pearl Harbour, but if the party leaders in the United States can convince their followers that American political and economic foreign relations are indivisible, then 1947 may be as much a turning point as 1941.” Effect on Moscow Talks There is no indication whether President Truman’s speech has prejudiced or made more difficult the work of the Council of Foreign Ministers, says The Times Moscow correspondent. Pravda has repeated and emphasised Isvestia’s complaint' that Mr Truman has abandoned the United Nations, and added: “Truman is trying to justify his expansionist policy by pretending to defend free peoples from the menace of totalitarian regimes. This is not a new method: Hitler also spoke about the Bolshevik menace when he was prepai - ing for aggression.” The correspondent comments that in spite of this plainer speaking it is impossible to discern the sharp and emphatic response which might have been expected. Leftist Comment

The National Action Committee ol the Shop Stewards’ National Council urged the Government to repudiate President Truman’s policy on Greece, and Turkey, because it “is a long step towards World War 111, it by-passed the United Nations, and is designed to support reaction throughout the world.” „ The executive committee ol tne Communist Party described President Truman’s statement as a challenge to the democratic forces of the world. This flagrant intervention could only encourage reactionary governments to further aggressive measures. ’