In the country house of Britain's Prime Minister the generation of empire menders was at work. The worried ghosts of the empire buildersamong them. Raffles of Singapore and Coen of Batavialooked on. The great Far Eastern domain they had helped create was badly cracked, in danger of breakdown.
Clement Attlee played the firm but friendly host to Holland's Premier Willem Schermerhorn. Guests included British Minister of State Philip Noel-Baker, who had publicly demanded that Indonesians and Dutch get together; Netherlands Minister for Overseas Territories J. H. A. Logemann, who had publicly barred...