The Wilmington morning star., 1945-01-28
Washington Calling
BY MARQUIS CHILDs

in the House of Commons, Prime Minister
Churchill is a consummate politician, and
more than q politician
You feel, as you watch him, that he has
made himself, in a most primitive sense, Lead
er of his tribe 1t goes deeper than ordinary
politics and it may be the reason why he
will probably sweep the first election to
held after the end of the European war.
Over any opposition, of course he has al
most overwhelming advantages. There is first
of all the great weight of his prestige as
the saviour of Britain in time OF trial. Graft
tude growing out of that role could well be
a decisive factor in the first postwar test
Then there is his pugnacity-yes, his ar
rogance. He is master OF the political STRAIT
egg based on attack, attack, attack Add to
this his skill and long experience in the rough
and tumble of parliamentary debate and you
come to see why so few are willing to cross
swords with him, even though they may op-
pose his views.
Challenge
Watching him in recent debates, you get
sense of the tribal chieftan breathing de-
fiant challenge at a small band OF rebels.
Standing in the well of the house, he glared
across at left-wing laborites on the benches
opposite him, challenging them to come out
and fight.
Those who have followed his career through
in better form. Irony. scorn, invective, ridi-
cule-all these weapons he used to the fullest
extent In clarity and force of enunciation
he could have been man twenty years young
er. He was the old warrior at the top OF his
stride.
AS he has done SO often in the past, he
threw in what in America we call Fourth OF
July oratory, involving the Union Jack and
the white cliffs of Dover. No one can do
that SO well as Churchill, who seems to en-
body in his short, stocky figure all that we
have come to think OF as British.
His jaw juts out he catches the eye OF
William GALLAGHER, only Communist member
of the house, who has SO often braved the
Churchllian wrath He clenches his fists and
brings them down in emphasis on the black
dispatch box before him.
The Churchill technique is interesting On
the dispatch box before him, he has small
notebook-size sheets of paper. on each of which
are typewriter three or four brief paragraphs
Obviously familiar with his text, he speaks
it almost as though he were speaking extern
poraneousy. and he frequently lnterpolates.
Hard to Guage
The reaction of the country to his speech
is hard for an outsider to gauge support came
from sources that previously had been crltl-
cal, notably the London Times. In the speech.
Churchill gave the Times verbal spanking, and
the conservatives roared loudest approval OF
any point he made. Yet the Times reply was
an editorial headed Dangers of Disunity'
The editorial referred to widespread mlsun-
derstanding' about conditions In Greece, mis-
understanding which presumably was the rea-
son for the Times criticism of the govern
ment at the beginning of the Greek crisis
There is, incidentally, strong feeling OF
Times 'disloyalty." The liberal viewpoint
which it has expressed in recent years is
taken by some conservatives as a violation
of ancient and holy tradition It's the Daily
Worker in boiled shirt Conservative M
P. said to
It's hard to Judge small signs one comes
across A waiter in my hotel was anxious
first to learn my opinion on the churchill
speech, and then said ne ana MS A1ei1os oioil
like it at all.
Certainly. the feeling on Greece went deep
down. The situation could hardly have been
saved if Churchill and Eden had not HoWn to
Athens. One source of ChurchilPs strength is
that he acted with real characteristic bold
ness, flying off to Athens IN the lace OF real
danger at a time when most people were
thinking of their Christmas honoays
The whole situation seems to nave been
bad1v handled from the beginning, particularly
IN the information side. British information
shout the strength of ELIAS was way off the
mark. .4,
sinplified. 1t is not a simple choice between
right and wrong Greek excuses can be traced
back to the repress1ons Oh uie inela&as dlcta-
torshp
-, a.orro was the overriding need for ,1nitv
,.,heo churchill attends the Big Three meet.
w.. re,onorarily. at least, Britons have closed
r.nks But that does not mean end to
division.
Inc