Evening star., 1942-06-29
ChurchiII's Home Ordeal

ChurchiII's Home Ordeal
Winston Churchill is back in Lon
don from his third wartime American
visit, tanned and smiling. Yet be-
hind that confident demeanor, his
agile brain must be working fast.
For he knows that he faces the most
crucial test Of his premiership which
he has had to encounter. Both Par
lament and the British people are
aroused and demand a clear and full
accounting of his stewardship.
The immediate reason for this
politico-popular upsurge Of discon-
tent is, naturally, the disaster at
Tobruk and the threat to Egypt with
all that this implies. But there is
much more behind. For more than
two years, BritonS have been treated
to an exasperating pattern of opti-
mistic official build-ups ending in
dlslllusioning let-downs. The pattern
began with Norway in the spring of
1910, quickly followed by Dunkerque.
Then, after an interval, the series
continued with Hong Kong, Singa-
pore, Burma-and now Tobruk; not
to mention other episodes like Greece
and Crete. Under the circumstances,
Tobruk is the proverbial straw that
has broken the back of British pa
tience. That prominent paper, the
Manchester Guardian, typifies the
prevailing mood when it writes edi-
torially: THE Libyan disaster has
bitten more deeply into the British
consciousness than any other disaster
OF the war, and the government will
have to take extraordinary pains to
meet frankly the disquiet that has
been caused" That Mr.. Churchill,
on the whole, has not been given to
optimism, is a circumstance which
seems to have been largely forgotten.
John Bull is not only angry, he is
deeply perplexed and uneasy. The
first reverses could be explained by
unpreparedness and lack of equip
ment. But for two long years, the
British people have toiled unremit-
tlngly to remedy those deficiencies,
and they have been getting a great
amount of American aid. Yet Libya
has just revealed Germany still ahead
in about everything from tanks and
field guns to initiative and general
ship. John Bull wants to know def
nitely, why? What is wrong with the
picture? The profound heart search
ing now going on in Britain is shown
by the London Times, which asserts
that: considered in its broadest
terms, the causes of our failure may
be reduced to lack of imagination and
lack Of capacity to innovate. -
The causes of failure lie deeper than
any individual incompetence. They
lie in the inadequacy of a whole out
look and a whole method Of ap-
proach."
Given such temper of press and
public. the coming debate In Parlia-
ment should be deep-going inquiry
into the entire course of the war.
Political maneuvers and party lines
will clearly be out of place. Yet there
seems to be scant disposition to vent
mere Ill feeling by seeking a scape-
goat. Already, the motion Of lack of
confidence proposed by small group
of M. Ps at the first shock of Tobruk
is deplored by the press. There is
scant disposition to overthrow
Churchill and his government, even
if there were an acceptable substi-
tute for the premiership. The chief
criticism of Mr. Churchill is directed,
not at his political activities as Prime
Minister, but at his refusal to dele
gate the running of the war to other
and technically more expert hands.
Demands for such a delegation Of
authority have arisen before, notably
after Singapore. Hitherto, Mr..
Churchill has uncompromisingl re-
fused. 1t remains to be seen whether
he can continue to maintain his po-
sition this time.
Much will depend, no doubt, upon
the trend of events in North Africa.
If General Rommel's daring attack
fails, Churchill's task will be much
easier. If Egypt and the Suez Canal
should be really imperiled, almost
anything might happen in British
politics. Yet even an easing of the
immediate military situation will
hardly avert the sweeping inquiry
which British public opinion demands
and Parliament is ready to under
take.