Word: ceylonization
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Last week as the ministers ended six days of sessions, Bevin was reminded again of his union days. Summing up what the Ceylon conference had accomplished, he said that his followers used to ask if anything ever got done at trade union conferences. Bevin would reply: "We meet all our old pals. We remain pals...
Britain's Ernest Bevin was tired and blue around the gills when he came ashore at Colombo, Ceylon to attend the Commonwealth Foreign Ministers Conference. "I can't stand this climate," said Bevin. "It's like August bank holiday on Hampstead Heath." His hosts arranged to have him carried in a sedan chair with four strong bearers. Said a friend to Bevin: "You are using a means of transportation which your old union* would not approve...
That was a good description of the Ceylon meeting. Few concrete agreements emerged, but the ministers of the United Kingdom and seven Dominions had freely discussed explosive Asiatic questions-without explosion...
Much conference time was spent belaboring the point that low living standards in Asia encouraged Communism. No one denied that, but, as the Ceylon meeting ended, London's Economist raised an all-important caveat: "The most immediate requirement is obviously that of defense. Communists at least do not share the Western illusion that one can dispense with bayonets provided there is a promise of bread . . . The first assurance that the Commonwealth needs to give not only to its own Asian partners but to the newly formed independent Asian nations is of assistance against violent internal or external attack...
Strange donors are found on the gift lists. Last year these included the National Museum of Colombo, Ceylon, the Eagle Pencil Company, and the Revere Racing Association...