Hottest Seat

Bleak Lord Linlithgow, Viceroy of India, was scheduled to retire in April 1943, and, though it was well into December, his successor had not been named. His term had already been extended through two abrasive years and he was tired of the job.

For months Winston Churchill and his advisers had sifted through the eligible names without turning up the right man. No wonder. Though the man for the job might be Tory, Liberal or Labor, he had to be of solid family, preferably aristocratic, and immensely able. More important, he had to be of liberal, humanitarian instincts and record, yet willing and able to act with a rough, uncompromising hand in any emergency and in all circumstances.

In recent weeks London reports had Churchill tapping eligibles. Newly appointed Lord Privy Seal Viscount ("Bobbity") Cranborne, a liberal, conscientious Tory and a Cecil, was asked. He declined on "grounds of health." Then rumor had it that Australian Robert G. Casey, currently Resident Minister in Cairo for the British War Cabinet, was approached. Lately came news that Liberal Party Leader Sir Archibald Sinclair was the choice, that Churchill had taken him along on a northern tour to sell him the idea. But Sir Archibald, too, said no.

In normal times the refusals would have been more than surprising. For India's viceroyalty has long been the Empire's gaudiest spot: -L-20,000 salary annually, with all expenses paid, a fabulous palace to live in rent-free, and virtually unlimited power over 400,000,000 subjects. But today the viceroyalty is Empire's hottest seat. So, with time growing embarrassingly short, Winston Churchill last week had to announce that Lord Linlithgow would continue as India's Viceroy until October 1943.

From India came this comment on the Indian problem by Chakravarti Rajagopalachariar ("C. R."), stanchest United Nations friend at liberty to speak his mind: "Whoever is to blame, they have succeeded in creating a great mess. The extension of the Viceroy's term symbolizes the situation most completely. Every party is sitting tight. . . . Now the situation is more difficult than before."

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