Overtones of Crisis .sx WHATEVER magician's wand of economic recovery the CHANCELLOR may flourish in the next few days , it is impossible not to feel that the Government has come rather ill out of the preliminary skirmishes .sx July is a traditional month for economic crises , and the beginning of the period of seasonal weakness for sterling .sx In 1955 , 1957 and 1961 it has also been the month in which the Government has chosen to create a national sense of economic anxiety .sx In fact , this time the recognition of the crisis comes surprisingly late , for Britain's trading position deteriorated sharply last year , and is now getting slightly better rather than worse .sx The Government's propaganda may indeed have over-reached itself .sx Undoubtedly the CHANCELLOR'S speeches , and the PRIME MINISTER'S blunt warnings to the 1922 Committee , were intended to prepare the nation and the Conservative Party for strong measures to put the economy right .sx These warnings , however , have run too far ahead of action .sx After so long a period of uncertainty we are left with a sense more of emergency than of urgency .sx Nor has this helped the national confidence .sx There is a growing feeling that the economic crisis is only a symptom of a profounder failure to find Britain's proper international position in the post-war world .sx The delay in working out the new economic policies , and in deciding on our European policy , has left an impression that the Government does not itself know what to do .sx Certainly there has been a lack of that sort of leadership which inspires national unity .sx Current bickering about the surtax concessions in the Budget evades the point .sx The Government is not to be blamed for wanting a more dynamic economy with higher incentives , but it has failed to explain to the nation any consistent and practical policy to achieve expansion , and it has therefore failed to carry the nation along with it .sx The economic measures which are going to be introduced will need to be tough , and must be judged primarily by their effectiveness ; but it is also very important that they should be fair .sx The mixture of slow economic growth with financial " get rich quick " in recent years has been wholly bad in its social effects .sx The sacrifices that are now to be called for must be carried by the whole country and not by any one section of it .sx The general public , and the trade unions , will be the more willing to accept the need for restraint , for earning first and buying later , if they can see a clear objective which sacrifices will help to achieve , and if those sacrifices fall as heavily on the private sector as on the workers .sx Liking Yuri .sx THE wave of goodwill that has accompanied Major Yuri Gagarin has been remarkable , not least for its apparent detachment from conventional Anglo-Soviet attitudes .sx After all , he arrived here hard on the heels of Mr. Khrushchev's declaration that Russia must spend substantially more on arms because the West was doing so , and of an impressive and well-publicised display of Soviet air-power .sx These were not ideal heralds .sx Nor is his undoubted success entirely accountable in terms of his personal charm , great though that is , nor of the presence of the Russian Trade Fair .sx What in fact Major Gagarin seems to have done is to have shown us how much we want to like the Russians , in a spirit of genuine neighbourliness .sx This , and the fact that British visitors to Russia usually find a reciprocal warmth of welcome there , is surely a portent worth noting by the political leaders on both sides .sx 'Giant' of the Left .sx MR. FRANK COUSINS'S success in maintaining the support of his Transport and General Workers' Union for the lost-cause campaign of unilateralism is a personal triumph , though it is fortunately unlikely to affect Mr. Gaitskell's new firm control of his party .sx But the Brighton conference at which he won a 3 to 1 victory is important for other reasons .sx The extent of the personality cult which has sprung up around Mr. Cousins astonished many observers .sx The nadir came after the disarmament vote , when his principal opponent unblushingly declared :sx " I feel like a dwarf in the shadow of a great man .sx " The big stick of the T.G.W.U. , with its 1,250,000 well-disciplined members , is now held firmly in the Left hand of Mr. Cousins .sx In the days of his distinguished predecessors , Ernest Bevin and Arthur Deakin , the union was always inclined to the Right .sx It seems that T.G.W.U. politics depend upon the personal views of the man who heads its permanent machine .sx The majority trot comfortably in the wake of the reigning " giant .sx " It is a disturbing view of democracy .sx South Bank Puzzles .sx THE non-party enterprise of the London County Council in stimulating at least the possibility of action over the National Theatre is wholly commendable .sx But it is clear from the latest proposals that the problems involved have not been adequately thought out ; when the Council meets on Tuesday to consider the report of its General Purposes Committee it will be faced with the raw material for many hours' debate .sx The suggestion that Sadler's Wells opera should join the National Theatre on the South Bank entirely changes the whole picture .sx In a statement to THE SUNDAY TIMES yesterday , reported elsewhere , Sir Isaac Hayward said that it may be necessary to think of three auditoriums .sx There is no question of " may" :sx such an extension will be quite essential if the National Theatre is not to be reduced to a travesty of what it should be .sx In any case the whole building will have to be redesigned .sx Perhaps this is no bad thing , for the existing plans are already twelve years old .sx If the new proposals are accepted , the design of the new building should be put up to open competition- and a building might emerge at last of which Britain could be proud .sx The Council might also think it wise to ask the Chancellor for a clarification of his statement that his subsidy would be limited to +400,000 :sx a statement that seems to take no account of the fact that the new building cannot in any case be ready for at least three years , nor allows for possible changes in the value of money .sx 1,000th Refugee .sx BRITAIN received last week her 1,000th refugee under the scheme initiated by World Refugee Year in June , 1959 .sx Of all the refugees resettled since the first humanitarian impulse of the Year , we have taken in almost one-third ; more than any country in the world .sx Most have come from the " hard core " of physically or socially handicapped families rejected by almost every other State .sx Public response did not drop after the end of the Year , and places have already been found for the 100 or so refugees who are still to come before the limit set by the Government is reached .sx But what then ?sx There are still 80,000 unsettled refugees in Europe .sx Britain can be proud of the new impetus she has helped to give to this essential task , but where many have shown charity , there have also been apathy and intolerance .sx No doubt some refugee families have shown ingratitude ; have spurned the houses provided for them , or even returned to their camps .sx But we cannot deny responsibility for the mental as well as the physical condition of those left rootless for sixteen years by a warring world .sx Until the last refugee is resettled our obligations must remain .sx Tell the Patient .sx MOST doctors will agree with the Minister of Health that " the patient and all concerned with him have the right to be treated as intelligent persons .sx " Most will say that they do tell the patient all he should know about his condition .sx But , of course , they will invariably add , when pressed , that there are others who are not so forthcoming , so frank or thoughtful .sx What Mr. Powell calls , in modern jargon , the failure of communication is a fact of the medical service , particularly in hospitals , that is not the fault of any small minority .sx It has persisted into these frank-speaking days as a result of a professional attitude , fostered and inculcated from one generation to the other as a kind of mystique- or as a safeguard against being proved wrong .sx It is usually justified on the grounds that " a little knowledge " can be harmful .sx But , as the Minister says " the failure to speak two sentences can cause deep antagonism .sx " Training in communication should perhaps be included in the medical student's curriculum .sx A Call to Unity .sx THE British are a realistic people who do not always choose to face reality .sx At present they are trying to avoid facing not one but a number of crises with an almost desperate complacency .sx For a few days , a nine-day wonder , it seemed that the economic crisis was really penetrating the national consciousness .sx But by the end of last week people were waiting for Tuesday with all their usual tepid equanimity ; even the Stock Exchange was edging upwards .sx Yet at least the economic crisis made some impact .sx That was more than could be said of the impending decision on the Common Market , and certainly more than of the crisis of Berlin .sx The decision to be made on joining Europe is possibly the most important Britain has had to make since the war ; yet no one could claim that the public debate has been on a high level .sx So great is the apathy that the Government could probably go in or stay out without vitally offending either its own followers or the country .sx The national awareness on Berlin is even more unawakened .sx This is the gravest of the three crises , one on which the issue of peace or war could turn .sx The British Government has from the beginning sought a negotiated settlement , but has always accepted the basic decision that the people of West Berlin cannot be abandoned .sx Yet the national attitude seems almost to be that Berlin is not to be allowed to interfere with the summer holidays .sx This complacency is a poor basis for policy ; and a poor substitute for that sense of moral purpose for which the PRIME MINISTER and the CHANCELLOR have appealed .sx The economy , Berlin , the Common Market- here are three issues whose gravity has during the past few days led to regretful sighings over the impracticability of a National Government .sx The British system has never taken kindly to government by Coalition , which is certainly not the answer now ; but almost as disturbing as the national complacency is the apparent lack of any real sense of national unity .sx Party Views Not Far Apart .sx YET even in the economic field , where the division is widest , and where the Labour Party can most reasonably expect to reap political credit , the judgment and sentiment of the party leaders are not all that far apart .sx Mr. GAITSKELL'S speech last Tuesday was a constructive and sensible contribution to the economic debate .sx On Europe it seems almost certain that Mr. GAITSKELL would find himself moving along the present line of policy if he were Prime Minister .sx ( He would be foolish to risk splitting his party in Opposition ; Governments have to make unpleasant choices , Oppositions can avoid them .sx ) On Berlin again the responsible Labour Party view and the Conservative view are so close as to be indistinguishable .sx There is therefore a genuine basis for unity , and many people in the country would like that unity to be made apparent , for a bi-partisan policy would undoubtedly strengthen British influence for peace- an influence more necessary now than it has been for years .sx At present the obstacles to a bi-partisan policy , at any rate over Berlin , are partly personal- Mr. MACMILLAN and Mr. GAITSKELL have never fought side by side as Lord ATTLEE and Sir WINSTON CHURCHILL did in wartime .sx These differences need to be reconsidered .sx Yet the greater weakness is perhaps the failure to waken the British people .sx When great issues are shirked , little differences are given more than their proper weight .sx The call to national unity and the call for national leadership perhaps come in the end to much the same thing .sx