THREE CATHOLIC M.P.s, CONFIDENT OF THE FUTURE, DISCUSS THE PRESENT CRISIS

Benin As Labour Minister — Emphasis On
Agriculture — New Approach By Worker — Among The Suggestions Made By Them
Catholic M.P.s, approached by The Catholic Herald reporters for their views on the present crisis, are confident that we can win through. None shirks the real seriousness of the situation, all have different ideas of how to meet it.
The M.P.8 were Mr. Christopher Hollis Conservative M.P. for Devizes, Mr. Richard Ewart, Labour M.P. for Sunderland, and Mr. Robert Mellish, Labour M.P. for Bermondsey. Mr. Bob Walsh, Editor of the Catholic Worker, an expert on labour problems, also gives his views.
Three main points emerge from the views of the M.P.s and the publicist interviewed. They are: I. Coal and agriculture are the two problems which will have to be faced most radically if a solution is to be found.
2. A new outlook on the part of the worker, who must be made to feel his interest and importance in the community, must be achieved despite historic difficulties. • 3. We shall win through eventually, but the necessary measures will be drastic and unpopular.
We Can Narrow And Bridge The Gap
—MR. R. EWART "I put the crisis down to two factors : the world shortage of raw materials, and the world shortage
of dollars. And if the .British people have been slow to grasp the real gravity of the situation, I think that the psychological reasons can be traced back to pre-war days." 'this was the opinion expressed to me by Mr. Richard Ewart, Catholic M.P. for Sunderland.
"There have been ,Warn appeals and explanations, but so tar the deep-ingrained impression has remained that because wages are higher all round the nation is better off. The reason for this state of mind is an old one. Between the wars we suffered front under-employment and an over-supply of goods that didn't go round. I think, too, that many people still associate higher wages and harder work with the old danger of losing their jobs.
"What must be done to overcome present difficulties? We must have moderate direction of available manpower—for we cannot produce too much. Alternatively, we must control our short supplies of raw materials.
" I think myself that output of coal will go up—through the harder work of the miners, and the wider introduction of machinery in the pits. Eventually. 1 am certain we can narrow and bridge the gap."
Put Bevin In Charge Of Manpower
—MR. R. MELLISH " In plain terms the present crisis means that we're on our own as a nation. We can expect emergency measures that are sure to he drastic and may be unpopular. But to win through, we must co-operate —and win through we will." So said Mr. Robert Mellish. M.P. for Bermondsey, the first of the two Catholic Labour Party members who spoke to me about Britain's economic predicament.
"What about the objection that the Government has been spending dollars unwisely ? I asked.
"I want to squash that lie," answered Mr. Mellish. "I know it's said that we've been squandering dollars on luxuries like films and tobacco when we should have been buying badly wanted machinery. The fact is, we've been buying all the essential machinery that is available, at the same time trying to maintain decent living standards for our people. Are we also to be blamed because dollars buy less owing to a rise in American prices? Are we expected to control the U.S. standard of living?"
Mr. Mellish thinks the crisis gives no cause for " gloom and despondency," serious as it is. " We have to make good a deficit of £450,000,000 in our yearly budget, and that means much harder work as well as cuts in imports."
" Do you think that women should go into industry to ease the manpower shortage?" asked.
"Yes and No must be my reply to that," said Mr. Mellish. "There can he no question of interfering
with the family circle. The Government realise that. But women without family ties. and those already engaged in less productive jobs should be turned to vital work."
The final words of Mr. Mellish caught my undivided interest: "It's my own belief that the one man in the Cabinet who could stimulate the country's productive effort in these critical days is Mr. Ernest Bevin. Put him hack in charge of manpower. and the results would warrant the change."
Mines And The Land Are The Keys
—MR. C. HOLLIS Characteristically practical was the approach of Mr. Christopher Hollis, Catholic Conservative M.P. for Devizes, when I spoke with him on the Terrace of the House of Commons. He spoke of the present crisis in terms of real wealth, coal, food, work and human relations.
" What should be our general attitude to the crisis 9 " I asked him.
" We should realise," he replied, "that coal and agriculture are of the first importance. We should strive to rid ourselves of Article 9 in the American Loan Agreement, even if it means losing U.S. aid. We should collaborate more closely with the British in other parts of the Empire. We should see our future in terms of what we can earn from our work.
The great moral paradox in British economic life to-day seems to me to be, that while it is regarded as wrong for an individual to want a higher standard of living than another individual, it is somehow regarded as a good thing for a