Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1943-07-25
British to Face Postwar Era
Confident of New>Found Unity
By MmQuis ". CMIds.

IONDON.-ln TOUR years OF Nar-tne
awful danger of 1910, the terrors of the
Nazi blitz, the hardships and the bore
don-the British have found new unity.
They will come out of the war with an
inner security and conference that will
be rare in the world.
There will be grave problems, of course,
profound adjustments to make. But I
believe the British will come through that
period without putting too great strain
on social order that has been steadily
evolving toward a more equitable and
decent way of life. It will not be a para
disc either for the right or for the left,
but it will preserve the liberties of free
society and in a war-racked world that
achievement alone may loom very large.
One reason, POSSIBLY the chief reason,
Britain promises to come through the
postwar storm and strife so we'll is that
British conserva lives have learned how to
conserve. The have learned that the
function Of a Conservative party is not
simply to stand still and say no to all
change. They have learned that living,
progressive society must have residence;
within an accepted framework there
must be room fU: change.
A short time before the war John D. M
Hamilton, then chairman Of the Repub-
lican National Committee, came to Eng
land to find ont why the Conservatives
we're able to win elections in the face of
the growing strength of organized labor
What impressed him, according to re-
ports reaching London later, was the
successful technique employed by the
Conservatives, their adroitness in hiring
clever professionals. That was the rea-
son for their success.
Out -Beveridges Beveridge.
This ignores the real reason. which is
the fact that the Conservatives have
known how 70 offer enough in social
gains to draw votes away from the Lib
erals and Labor. It is precisely what
Prime Minister Churchill Gid in his last
broadcast. He out-Beveridged Bever-
idge. He called for another great ad-
vance" which would mean national COM
pulsorv insurance for all classes for all
purposes from the cradle to the grave"
He described himself and his colleagues
as strong partisans" Of such national
system.
It is. of course, the genius. or the good
luck, of the Conservative party to have
had a Churchill to turn to in Britain 5
greatest crisis ir 300 years or more.
When the Chamberlains and the Bald
wins we're swept into the discard by the
onrush Of history, there stood the short,
solid figure Of the man who has come to
embody all that is stout-hcarted in Brit
ish character.
The central fact in Britain today is the
affection, yes. Ire veneration almost, that
ali classes hold .cr Churchill. At the en-
trance of Downing street. which is hardly
more than half block long, a small
crowd is always waiting in the hope of
seeing him pass. They look down at No.
10 with wishf~l kind of awe and hope
in their faces. They are ordinary Brit
ishers. some Of them up from the country,
others in from the remoter suburbs.
Two policemen stand at the end of the
street and the watchers keep a decent
distance, but they are there for vigil
which may or may not enc with a pass
ing glimpse of their hero
On November 80 the Prime Minister
will be 50 years old. What decisions he
makes for his OWE future Will obviously
have great bearing on Bri aims immc-
ciate political future. At one time, ac-
cording to persons close to him, he had
decided to stop out of public life the
moment the last shot was fired in the
war. The peace, he had decided. was
not his dish; he would let others struggle
with the reconstruction of a sick world,
Churchill Can Continue.
Now he has apparently been persuaded
to stay on for at least two OR three years
after the cessation of hostilities. Wheth-
err he stays as the head of a coalition
government or leads a Conservative ticket
to victory in the first general election
since 1885. his friends are confident he
can remain as Prime Minister if he
wishes to.
Churchill is sid to have discussed the
question Of his future with an American
official in the course of a recent CONVEX
saton. He declared his intention of re-
firing at the earliest opportunity when
the fighting should end. The visitor
protested that. o. course, the peace would
require his great talents, his wisdom, his
skill in handling people, Just as the war
had done.
In that case" the Prime Minister is