THE EDITOR RESERVES THE LAST COLUMN

...The Editor Reserves The Last Column THE resurgence of nationalism in Russia and Great Britain is one of the most striking developments in world, politics today, but it continues to go almost unnoticed in this country because our Anglophiles and Russophiles are too busy flogging American nationalists...

...Register summed it up best of all when it noted: "The incident is conspicuous only because of its contrast with the attitude of foreign sublimation and self-derogation which some persons who try to expound proper U. S. policy seem to think should be America's mood in dealing with her Allies...

...Nor through any weaker policy can any other nation long survive...

...When the Soviets act in accordance with this policy, there are admiring comments in the press and on the radio about "Soviet realism" and "Stalin's shrewdness and devotion to his country's needs...

...The same holds true when the British act and speak in behalf of British interests...

...Unashamed Empire Firster' This kind of talk from an American about America would be subjected, of course, to the most scurrilous attack and misrepresentation...

...Churchill made it crystal-clear that whatever agreements Great Britain and her commonwealths might make for international cooperation, there was to be no nonsense which might interfere with protecting Empire interests first...

...Note Of Thanks IWANT to take this opportunity to thank our subscribers for their magnificent response to our campaign for new readers...

...On the eve of the opening of the British Imperial Conference in London, Frederick Kuh, one of the best of American correspondents in England, cabled the Marshall Field papers that the Conference would determine whether the Empire would pursue an "isolationist" course or not...

...We are not prepared to play second fiddle to any other nation or empire," he snapped...

...Several editors did take a more realistic"view of the situation...

...In that respect he is an unashamed 'Empire Firster.' He knows that in no other way can the British Empire be held together...

...Thus, when the Imperial Conference resolved in favor of a world organization to preserve the peace, it was clearly understood that no such organization could interfere with a system of British imperial preference which would safeguard the commercial interests of the Empire...

...A sister daily, the Hartford (Conn...

...M.H.R...

...Shinwell Speaks Up Less than 48-hours afterward, Prime Minister Winston Churchill issued a revealing statement, announcing that even in drafting the Atlantic Charter—in the midst of Britain's greatest danger—he had sought and secured safeguards for the Empire's commercial system...

...Now, this determination to protect the Empire first is not confined to the Tory class for which Churchill speaks...

...Certainly they can find no model in the attitude evidenced by those who make or expound policy for our foreign associates...

...Coming from Englishmen, it becomes the subject of learned editorials oh the "alertness of the British" and "their grasp of the sweep of world politics," as one editor put it...

...We have commented frequently in The Progressive on the growth of a robust nationalism in Russia—a nationalism which says, in effect: "We're ready to cooperate with other nations, but not until we've secured the defenses of Russia and protected our primary interests...

...I want to devote most of my space this week to an example of British ,na-tionalism and imperialism which drew hardly a murmur from the same American editors who tremble with rage down to their toe-tips when Americans dare to talk of the "enlightened self interest" of America, as Wisconsin Progressives do in their recent Declaration of Principles...

...Where these get their apparent phobia toward standing four-square and unashamed for the natural and earned interests of the U. S. and its citizens, is difficult to see...

...It does not lie in the mouths of other nations and other peoples to indulge in derogatory remarks about our administration'until they put their own house in order...

...It's a wonderfully heart-warming experience to watch this response, and we are just big-headed enough to accept it as a vote of confidence...

...Our desire is to see this country and the dominions, in closest collaboration, take its place in the leadership of the world...

...The New Haven (Conn...

...The new subscriptions are still pouring in at a record-breaking rate, and we hope those who have theirs ready for mailing will get them off at their very first opportunity...

...Courant, put it even more succinctly when it said: "Churchill's foreign policy, even toward the U. S., to which he admits Britain owes a great debt, is based on self-interest, self-preservation...

...Yes, Kuh dared use that horrid word in discussing prospective British policy...

...During the same week, Emmanuel Shinwell, a leading Laborite in Parliament, denounced all efforts to make Empire interests secondary...