GREAT BRITAIN: Economic Dictator

To Sir Stafford Cripps’s bony hands, Prime Minister Attlee this week entrusted Britain’s economic fate. His official title was Minister of Economic Affairs. In reality, Sir Stafford had become Britain’s economic dictator.

Under the old setup, Herbert Morrison was the nearest thing to an economic boss. He presided over the committee to coordinate domestic economic policy. Foreign economic policy was handled by a separate committee. Morrison failed at his job, in part because of ill health, in part because he had too many other things to do, in part because the setup itself left him in the splendid isolation of a high-level policy committee, where his executive abilities had little to take hold of.

Officially, Cripps was described as minister without portfolio and chairman of the economic committee. This looked like a repetition of the organization that had failed to work under Morrison. But this time, high-level policy on both domestic and foreign economic affairs will be handled by a committee of which Prime Minister Attlee will be chairman. Cripps’s new committee will be concerned with actually carrying out production plans.

Replacing Cripps as head of the Board of Trade will be Harold Wilson, 31. As Secretary for Overseas Trade, Wilson worked directly under Cripps. In his new job, he will in effect continue to work under Cripps, instead of becoming the autonomous head of a separate department.

Herbert Morrison, the Labor Government’s man-of-all-work, had slipped another notch politically, but he would still have plenty to do. He will continue as general coordinator in matters other than economic. He will relieve aging Arthur Greenwood of his duties. The chief one is chairmanship of the legislative committee, which sorts out in order of priority all the bills proposed by various departments.

Arthur Greenwood’s resignation was long overdue. Attlee is expected to do more firing soon. Pink old Lord Addison, whose white hair looks like the blob of whipped cream on a strawberry sundae, is expected to be dumped from his Commonwealth relations job. A. V. Alexander may be shifted to make way for a more vigorous man in the Defense Ministry.