Strickland Goes Home

The great squabble between Lord Strickland, Prime Minister of Malta, and the Archbishops of Gozo and Malta, which began when Lord Strickland refused to permit the expulsion of one Fr. Miccalief, pro-British monk, from Malta to the mainland (TIME, June 16), continued last week with the following developments : Harry Charles Luke, former chief secretary of the Government of Palestine, whose conduct during the Jewish-Arab riots of 1929 was so bitterly assailed by U. S. Jews and so enthusiastically vindicated by Britain's Shaw commission of inquiry, was ordered to Malta at once, appointed Lieutenant Governor by George V. In Valletta, Malta, an excited crowd of pro-British Maltese assembled in front of the church of S. Giovanni during pontifical high mass, shouting, whistling, screaming "Abbaso L' Italia! Down with Italy!'' Protesting vigorously that the Maltese police did not intervene "for several minutes," Archbishop Caruana of Malta wrote to the Governor, General Sir John Du Cane, then sent another even stronger protest against the new British Blue Book on the Malta situation (TIME, June 16) denouncing it as "a series of gross libels against the Church and clergy." Just before sailing for Britain last week to confer with Foreign Minister Arthur Henderson, Lord Strickland violently defended, to reporters, his own Catholicism."

When I was in Australia [1909-13]" said he, "I was considered an exemplary Catholic. On my return to Malta Pope Benedict even intimated that I would be persona, grata as Minister to the Holy See. ... I observe that even now my faith and morals are not impugned by the Vatican, only my methods in administering self-government at Malta on English-Australian lines during the transitional period from autocracy to democracy.''

Sonorously the Prime Minister concluded: ''Few of the King's servants in responsible positions for 43 years can look back without regret for some words spoken or left unsaid. I being no exception, cordially express regret for any sentences which caused pain but categorically deny any charges of having followed an anti-Catholic policy."

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