Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1943-07-25

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to stay"
If Churchill should retire to write a
history OF the war in which he has
played the leading part, his successor
would in all likelihood be Anthony Eden,
the present Foreign Secretary Church.
i'll has made Eden his protege and within
the Conservative party it is generally
agreed that the younger man-Eden is
46-will take up leadership when his
great predecessor puts it aside.
One reason certainly is Edens age
The Tory party is pushing youth ahead
while making calculated appeal to
younger voters. The average age of
Conservatives in the House OF Commons
is at least 10 years under of the average
age Of Laborites in the House. After tine
war the Tories have plans to run young
flyers for important seats. They are
ready with a positive program that will
appeal to men and women returning
from war, BY present reckoning, the
Tories are an odds-on bet to win the
first election when the fighting ends.
Eden Would Hold Edge.
This is not to rule out the Labor party.
Labor has aggressive, realistic leaders,
foremost among whom is Herbert Nor
rison, Secretary for Home Affairs and
Minister of Home Security. But the
Labor party has shown far less political
awareness tan the Tories. And they
have no one in their ranks the stature OF
Churchill.
The Laborites have no leader with
reputation in the international field.
This is where Eden would have an edge.
His countrymen knew him before the
war as the champion of international
order and the foe of appeasement. They
know today that he has done his best
to elaborate with De Gaulle and the
Fighting French even when the difficult
ties of temperament seemed insuperable.
Eden has occasionally differed with
Churchill and when the Prime Minister
called him to North Africa recently to
discipline De Gaulle and apply force to
the French situation, the Foreign Secre-
tarv declined His know-how in the
foreign field will be an invaluable asset
in the troubled postwar years.
Both here and in America a great deal
of talk goes on about how much more
democratic the British have become and
how different everything will be when
there is peace again. Partly this is true
but it is also true that class lines as
deeply engraved as those in Britain are
not wiped out overnight.
The class attitude. deeply ingrained, is
illustrated by a story Eden told me.
When it is possible to get away from his
desk in the Foreign Office, he goes for
a week end to country hideout not far
from London. Motoring back and forth,
he has his chauffeur stop to pick up Ca
madam and American boys who are
hitchhiking. The boys from overseas
talk freely even when they recognize
their host and Eden enjoys exchanging
views with them.
Not long ago at Eden's direction the
chauffeur stopped for a British trooper.
Recognizing the Foreign Secretary, the
lad was tongue-tied with self-conscious-
ness and Eden could get little or nothing
out of him. Later Eden remarked to the
chauffeur that he thought it was too bad
the British boys lacked the easy friendli-
ness of the Canadians and the Amer
leans
perhaps. sir" the chauffeur replied,
they know their place
Certainly there are inroads and major
inroads. More than so per cent of the
youths at Oxford and Cambridge are
graduates of schools other than those
which formerly supplied the great ma
jority Of students. Many of the new
corners are scholarship students This
dilution of the ranks of the old school
tie will continue after the war, it is pre-
dicted here. No longer will Elton, Har-
row and the other public" schools DOM
mate the chief universities.
All Trains Third Class.
On all suburban railway trains today
there is only one class-third. Serious
discussion goes on in the papers about
atolishing class distinction, on the basis
Of price, on all railways. The distinction
is in any event slight, first-class car
riagos today being merely converted
third class with somewhat fewer passen-
gers
Except IN homes with ancient family
retainers, servants have all but disap-
peared. Britishers predict that neither
women Tor men will want to go back to
tSee BRITISH, Page C-3D