Evening star., 1951-11-11
The $64 Question
Can they get away with it?


In Britain should make a fascinat-
ing study for students of political
science. Superficially, at least, a
strong argument can be made that
the Tories have less chance of
making Britain accept the neces-
sary sacrifices than the Labor crowd
would have.
There was some talk, during the
campaign. that a Conservative VIC
tory could produce national strikes,
or that the workers in one industry
or another would 60 out if the Con-
servatives tried to do thus and so.
First indications, at least, are that
this was largely just talk. British
union leaders take great pride in
their reputation as men OF RESPONSE
bility. They have had 10 years of
association with government, in Mr..
Churchills wartime coalition setup
as well as in the Labor regime after
the war.
Rank and File Trouble
They may have trouble controlling
the rank and file; Communist agi-
tators, always active, can be counted
on to exploit every unpopular move
Mr.. Churchill makes. On the other
hand, the selection of the politi-
cally spotleSs Sir Walter Monckton
as Minister of Labor should help.
The Tories are acutely aware that a
strike in any major industry could
cripple the entire economy in a
matter of days. It is certain, there
fore, they will move with utmost
caution, doing everything they can
to prepare labor psychologically for
the steps which must be taken.
The fact remains that the aver
age worker does not have, and can
hardly be expected to have, the nat
ural loyalty to this government that
he had to the Labor government.
Under Labor, when he embarked on
an unauthorized strike, his leaders
could always say: This is your gov
ernment, and you must back it up"
They cannot say that any more.
This is the argument that is being
made today by Laborites, who be-
lieve sincerely that theirs is the only
party capable of pulling Britain's
chestnuts out of the fire with the
cooperation of the British laborer
which is the only way it can be
done.
The Tory Argument
But there is another side to this
coin, a somewhat more subtle argu-
ment which is being put forward
by some of the younger, more hope
full men around Mr.. Churchill. It
is that the Tories-whatever they
said and did not say in the cam
paign-can afford to tell the people
more boldly and clearly the grim
facts of life. Therefore, in the long
run, the little man of Britain may
take from them what he would not
take from a Labor government.
The reliance here is not merely
on the magic spell of Mr.. Churchills
oratory. 1t goes deeper than that.
1t comes down to a paradoxical
proposition that while the laboring
BritiSher may not like Mr.. Church.
i'll and the Conservatives, he re-
spectS them-in times of adversity.
One Conservative MP puts it this
way: when you want pie, you 60
to the pie merchant. But when you
know you need bitter medicine, you
go to the apothecary who knows
how to administer it. I'm convinced
that is what this country has done,
perhaps almost subconsciously."
Brove WhistIine
It may be whistling in the dark,
but at least it is brave whistling.
And those who are making this ar
gument in Britain today carry it
one step farther. 1t may, be, they
say, that the electorate will not
swallow the medicine that must be
taken, and that the Churchill gov
ernment will be thrown out if it
tries to make them swallow it. But
unless this medicine is swallowed,
the future of Britain will be so hope
less that the future of the Con-
servatives will not matter much. The
conclusion is that this is one of
those desperate situations in which
the only sensible way to act is to
act with courage.
in the first days after the election,
grave doubts were expressed in va
rious quarters as to whether the
. Churchill government would have
the necessary courage. Politically,
it was said, the Conservatives would
be dead ducks If they allowed living
conditions for the working masses
to deteriorate at all from what they
J had been under the Socialists. It
was little like all the talk before
the election to the effect that, if
elected, Mr.. Churchill would in
few months hand over the reins to
Anthony Eden and retire to a peace
full old age, having satisfied his lifes
ambition of leading his party to a
nj of %Ha yolJc