editorial . dilemma of South Africa . Prime Minister after Prime Minister speaks out in revulsion against the South African government &apos;s policy of apartheid as we wait for the curtain to rise on the commonwealth conference in London . will it end with South Africa &apos;s exclusion from the commonwealth ? the issue is touch and go . there is a possibility that it will not be settled at this conference . it may be agreed to wait until South Africa actually becomes a republic later in the year . but if a final decision is to be faced now , on which side do the strongest arguments lie ? a mistake . the Archbishop of Capetown has shown that the matter is not clear-cut . the Archbishop has long been a courageous fighter against apartheid . he must be heard with attention . on purely practical grounds he holds that it would be a mistake to expel South Africa , weakening the whites who are working for a change of policy . in his view it would also be against the interests of the Africans . he holds that more pressure can be put on South Africa while she remains in the commonwealth than could be exercised were she cut off from it . on the other hand , those who favour expulsion , including African leaders , feel that nothing less than the shock of expulsion will weaken the grip of Dr Verwoerd and the nationalists . they point out that Dr Verwoerd refuses to consider abandoning the apartheid policy . wider picture . the commonwealth is a multi-racial society . a policy of racial discrimination in any of its countries is surely the one thing that it could not survive . whatever statesmen say at the conference table in London , millions at home would regard as fraudulent a commonwealth which had room for a racist South Africa . and this is a commonwealth in which five citizens are coloured for every one who is white . seen in this wider picture , a South Africa that clings to apartheid is a menace to the commonwealth and a liability to the whole western world . a practical solution would be for the commonwealth to draft a set of principles excluding race discrimination . and so leave South Africa to make the grade , or go out . the Queen &apos;s return . the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh come home tonight from their tour in the east . the duke &apos;s trigger-finger and the ritual slaughter of beasts have taken the headlines in this country . nevertheless , the tour has been an immense success . the Queen has won a triumph . it would be pleasanter if such cruel and feudal performances as tiger and rhino hunts were dropped from future royal programmes . but the Queen and the Duke have pleased millions by their visit . the warmth of their welcome in India and Pakistan are happy memories . becoming a better neighbour . West Germany - followed yesterday by the Dutch - has made the gesture of a good neighbour . she has put up the value of her money . certainly , the rise is very small . but it is a step in the direction of live-and-let-live . hopes will now grow brighter of further international co-operation , which is the only way to solve the payments difficulties that upset the western world . Britain and the U.S , which have problems with their balances , will gain some immediate help . what it means in practical terms is that our exports to Germany will now be a little cheaper for Germans to buy , while the goods which Germany exports will be made a little dearer . unpopular . booming Germany is deliberately encouraging more imports as a means to curb rising prices at home . she is also aware how unpopular she has been growing by failing until now to co-operate as a creditor nation should . Germany exports much more than she imports . for upwards of five years the world &apos;s reserves of dollars have been drained into Germany . there they have stayed uselessly locked up because Germany has no tradition of trading abroad . in addition the strength of Germany &apos;s trading position has attracted speculators to hold marks rather than pounds or dollars , hoping for the mark to rise , as has now happened . is it enough ? will the new valuation be enough to correct Germany &apos;s massive trading surplus and choke off speculation against dollar and pound ? that is doubtful . if , however , in addition to her new good-neighbour gesture , Germany takes a really big share in giving aid to underdeveloped nations , the world outlook will be brighter . what gives rise to optimism is the sign that Germany and the other leading western nations are at long last moving towards a solution of currency problems by co-operation . an advertisement . a curious advertisement appears on page nine , paid for by that curious body moral re-armament . those who lend their names to this kind of advertisement are worthy people , a little innocent of politics , perhaps , or carried away by the idea that moral regeneration would solve all our problems . so it would . while we are waiting for the millenium , however , most of us would prefer to put our hopes for earthly justice in instruments of democracy , such as trade unions and our local and national parliaments . should the herald publish such advertisements ? this is a difficult question . it would obviously be wrong to refuse all political advertisements with which we disagree . when an advertisement contains statements whose factual truth is doubtful , or where the total content would be deeply repugnant to our readers , it is right to exercise editorial discretion . the MRA advertisement falls into neither category , though many readers will dislike it . we publish it in the belief that the alert readers of the herald will not be beguiled by this kind of soft-soap . the hard way of peace . the authority of the united nations has suffered grave injury in the Congo . it must be restored . a united nations force composed of 135 Sudanese has been disarmed and expelled from the supply port of Matadi , after being heavily attacked by a much stronger force of Colonel Mobutu &apos;s Congolese troops . the first reaction of the Sudanese government was to denounce the united nations for negligence and impotence , and to say that its 400 troops in the Congo would be taken home . the reaction can be understood . the Sudan &apos;s concern for its men is natural . but this could hardly be a dignified exit . wrong target . if the UN is blamed for being weak , it would be more logical to send in more men , not weaken it further by desertion . it is unjust to pass the buck to Mr Hammarskjold and the UN &apos;s servants . the responsibility rightly belongs to the nations which have undertaken the task of preserving peace in the Congo . that is not a ceremonial duty , and the soldiers have every right to blame the politicians unless they see it through . when the united nations instructed Mr Hammarskjold to use force if necessary to prevent civil war , it was clear that new dangers would arise unless it gave him the physical power to comply with the policy . that was the first point that Mr Hammarskjold made . India has responded handsomely by providing 3,000 men , who must take about a fortnight to arrive . if the UN forces were thick enough on the ground , such incidents as that at Matadi would not happen . U.S ships . the UN &apos;s ability to keep peace depends simply on adequate support by the nations which have set their hands to this plough . the big powers involved in the cold war must of course keep out . the Americans were justified in diverting naval ships in case non-combatant help was wanted ; but they stressed that there was no intention to intervene in fighting . yesterday the ships turned away again , satisfied that they were not required . it is to be hoped that the UN will be re-established in their port by negotiation and that there will be no more outrages . but back , Mr Hammarskjold is determined , they must go . the best news for the Congo would be agreement between its rival political leaders . through the patient efforts of UN conciliators they are meeting for the first time , in Malagasy ( formerly Madagascar ) . only safeguard . the world will sigh with relief when this strife-torn land gets itself a government which all outsiders can recognise . nobody will want to police the Congo when the Congo itself can do the job . all the UN contingents will be glad to go home . meanwhile every statesman in Africa must realise that there must be far worse consequences if the UN had to abandon its task . small nations would not remain free for long in this world if the UN was not their bulwark . the smile on the face of Verwoerd . the British public has now had the chance to take a close-up look at Dr Hendrik Verwoerd , Prime Minister of South Africa , the foremost apostle of the pernicious doctrine of racial purity . he has made a strong impression . but not , perhaps , quite the impression that he intended . for most people the sight of that bland , unctuous , impregnably righteous face , wreathed in smiles , has been enough to make their blood run cold . some misguided people might have a sneaking sympathy for a man who defends a racial policy on supposedly practical grounds . at least it would be possible to argue with him rationally . but a man who believes , like Dr Verwoerd , that a basically evil policy is good , that it has the sanction of religion and is a bulwark of Christianity , is beyond the reach of reason . cocooned . only a man wrapped in the impenetrable cocoon of what he regards as a divine mission could have spoken of apartheid as a policy of good neighbourliness . we may be sure that he is not being hypocritical . that is what he really believes . a good neighbour to those Africans who , under apartheid , will be forced back to their tribal reserves with no prospect but a cramped and primitive existence . a good neighbour to those Africans who will continue to live as hewers of wood and drawers of water in the white areas of South Africa , without rights and without hope . nightmare . the same sort of good neighbour that he proved to be to the Jews fleeing from Hitler in the thirties . it was Dr Verwoerd who led a protest against admitting any of them because they would defile the national white stock . it is impossible to make contact with Dr Verwoerd in his nightmare world . it is this that makes illusory any hopes that he may be influenced to change course . the Archbishop of Capetown , Dr Joost de Blank , has pleaded that South Africa should be allowed to stay in the commonwealth . otherwise , he says , those inside the country who still oppose apartheid will be left even more isolated and alone . the views of the Archbishop , who has maintained an unflinching witness to what Christianity really means , must carry weight . but what , in fact , can the other commonwealth countries do to bring support and comfort to this gallant minority ? expulsion ? there is no evidence that the policy of appeasement has modified the actions of the nationalists . on the contrary , apartheid is being applied ever more ruthlessly . the shock of expulsion from the commonwealth now seems to be the only way left to try to bring home to the people of South Africa that Dr Verwoerd is leading them to disaster . it may be that the commonwealth Prime Ministers will decide against this final step . if that is their decision they should also go unequivocally on record that they regard apartheid as evil and indefensible . unless they do at least that , Dr Verwoerd will be able to return home claiming a triumph . his smile will be blander than ever . the old routine . we are in for it again : another royal wedding . between now and June , when the Duke of Kent will marry Miss Worsley , hardly a day will pass without a story or a picture or probably both , about the nuptial arrangements . men readers may grow more than a little weary of it all . so may a few emancipated women who pride themselves on their commonsense . 