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| FACT AND) FICTION HE White Paper on the disappear T ances of Macivan and Burgess tells gs jibtle that is new, confirms Ene - guspicion of (incompetence in falling to prevent the get-away, because the ¢ did ft at the week-end Instead of dur- ing working hours, and Kills the mypn af MinisterMl respomsibilily. fhe myth that the Minister Is rahporsible for the acts of any oF all ofthe thousands of employees of any ~pdytiéatar Ministry (sa place of fiction conveniently ercated to save face all round. ‘ It enables the Minister bravely ard. frankly—~and quite safely—to accept responsibility which he, and everyone else, knows is not his, its ysefulness is: : that the higher branches of the Civil Service are thereby protected fron) the ‘ yRigar scrutiny of the people ' eterything ¢an goon exactly as begore. onour, so te speak, is satished Bad _wébody loses his job. serpent gg enone me the Lee ener oe eae ery opera piles Mes east a tn a anes ernnaninitinn = NNER Sr ety =< iy 7 . a ; ye “os x 5 we le cies. — Soa age: y peat et eget oo a Nas Et "Spee Ta a AF a i a a Ln ae ge. oA ea EN er Daoud ae ilar Demolished \ That, presumably, was the idea in Hie inds of Mr. Harold Macmillan, the . Minister, arui of Lord John Hope, the . Under-Setretary, in building up this myth in the past tew days. Unfar- tunately for them the White Paper *‘demolishes it. rete ti hep eshte nan emmnsi inee ny The indictment of the Forelen OMce ‘arising trom the Maclean and Burgess ease ig that such. men could cantinue ta hold responsible, and coveted, posi? Hors after nehaviour which any per- sonnel manager would regard as un- fitting @ man for apy positlan gof i responsibility, - Prue, the relatively unimportant yeweomer BULResSs Ws due to pe acked, tut Maclean was promoted. @ WES a gemiune member of the sac~ roganct caste which creates and, rung the machinery of the Foreign Office. More than Any ofher State organisa- tion the Foreign Office is a product of the class system of the 18th Century. i Weds net open to the rebust competi- tion of the comnien people. Nurture is more Important than character. No witch hunt We do not wants witeh hunt in the Porelgn Office like the McCarthy In- quisition that paralysed the American Sdate Department. We-want a Htple fiesh- atv in the place, fresh minds, min whe don't know, and what is mo e ada’t care; whai School anyone went to. ae ae pe yee, went aed aarp eR “ mae Ryne \ pe wee Ue eee ee