Cheers

Chancellor of the Exchequer Sir Stafford Cripps, whose official utterances are usually the occasion for deep parliamentary gloom, last week brought a note of cheer to the House of Commons. During the first three months of 1950, Cripps reported, Britain and the rest of the sterling area had chalked up a dollar surplus of $40 million more than ECAid; it was the first time since war's end that the sterling area had been out of the red, and few M.P.s could repress their, cheers.

Although the cheers were justified, Cripps's dollar triumph was not an unqualified victory. Said the Manchester Guardian next day: ". . . We probably need not fear any major shock during the rest of the year, but the 'breathing space' will not be prolonged forever . . ." One trouble was that the surplus had been achieved more by cutting imports than by increasing exports. Most of the actual dollar earnings were made by sterling areas other than Britain, e.g., Malaya, Australia, British West Africa.

Despite Cripps's temporary surplus, Britain was certainly not out of the woods. Without continued ECAid, she would slip quickly back into a dangerous crisis.

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