"Irresponsibility & Ignorance"

In London last week there was much criticism of U.S. policy and attitudes. It sprang not from a deliberate anti-American press campaign but rather from an unease deep within Britain itself. Britons sense that a new world power is moving onto the scene--and that Britain must come to understand and deal with that power on new terms.

One-Way Trade? The London Times took a glum view of U.S. trade ambitions, concluding that the U.S. was preparing to assume the "role of economic leadership played by Great Britain in the 19th Century." But, complained the Times, the U.S. is not planning to import as well as export, and that way lies disaster for the U.S. and the world.

Irresponsible Dynamics? The Economist noted a revival of anti-British sentiment in the U.S., blamed it mainly on the "all-pervading irresponsibility" of the U.S. political system. Wendell Willkie was held up for examination, with the suggestion that the dynamics of U.S. politics might force him in an anti-British direction.

Coin of Victory? The Financial News discussed comparative British and American sacrifices and expenditures during the war, and reached the terse conclusion: "The only coin in which America can expect to be repaid for Lend-Lease is victory."

Insufficient Partnership? The Times deflated the idea that Britain and the U.S. could form "an exclusive and self-sufficient partnership whose power would in itself guarantee world peace." Instead, the Times plumped again for a European policy based on permanent Anglo-Russian alliance.

George M. Young, historian and chairman of the formidably named British Association for International Understanding, told the Royal Society of Arts that in the U.S. "the mass of positive ignorance about the British Empire is enormous." Horrible (and unidentified) examples: 1) a history professor who suggested that Britain should release Canada from taxation; 2) a Senator who urged that Britain solve the Indian problem by following U.S. precedent and herding the Indians onto reservations.

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