Evening star., 1951-10-27
The Kings First Minister

After the First World War, in which he played
conspicuous role, he sank into relative obScu-
rity. Then came second great war; and the
lesser men who had governed and misgoverned,
Britain were swept away as the furious blows fell.
Winston Churchill returned to power. His vigor,
his courage, his somber prose and his unwavering
resolution merged into raying point for the
British people. In its darkest hour he became the
symbol and the inspiration of Britains will to
survive. But when that storm had passed the
British voters, war-weary and charmed by the
promise of socialism, turned him out of office.
Now he is back at the helm once again. In his
77th year, when most men would be worn and
broken by the exertions he has endured he re-
turns to the battle and eagerly accepts the new
challenge. If he can measure up to it, this will
be safer and better world for all of us.
This new challenge, however, is a stern one,
more difficult, perhaps, in way than the chal-
lenge of World War H. At least, Mr.. Churchill
then had united and dedicated people behind
him. That is not true today The Conservatives
have won, but their margin of victory is dah-
gerously small. 1t looks as though the Labor
Party although losing control, polled the largest
popular vote, and it may we'll be that the Con-
servatives would have been beaten if the Liberal
Party had entered it's usual number of candidates
At any rate, there certainly has been no marked
change OF political sentiment in Britain. The
new Prime Minister will enjoy only slim ma
jorty in Parliament, and he will have an even
more precarious margin of popular support.
In the realm of foreign policy this may not be
too disadvantageous. The man who once said
that he did not become the Kings first minister
in order to preside over the liquidation of the
British Empire returns to power as that empire
is in process of disintegration. If Mr. Churchill
can reverse or check this process by any meas
ures short of war he will not be lacking in public
support
1t is in the area of domestic affairs that his
scanty margin of victory gives rise to greatest
concern. For the weakness of Britain's domestic
economy has not only been primary contribut-
ing factor to the decline of Britain's stature
abroad it is also by all odds the most difficult
problem, politically speaking, with which the new
government will have to deal 1t would be diff
ficult enough if Mr.. Churchill had been returned
to power with an overwhelming majority. 1t
becomes really formidable in view of the popular
following which the Labor Party was able to hold.
In July, August and September the gold reserve
of the sterling area declined 5000 million AS the
London Economist expressed it, "once again the
life blood of the sterling area is running away
and the whole basis of this islands livelihood is
In question"
This points to an obvious conclusion: Britain
has been demanding more of its economy than
that economy can provide One can explain
this in part by the heavy demands imposed by
the British rearmament program But both the
Conservatives and the Laborites-the Aneurin
Bevan faction excluded-are firmly committed to
that program. 1t is hardly to be supposed that
Mr.. Churchill will seek to resolve his economic
dilemma by cutting back on arms in the face
of the threat from Russia.
That leaves the so-called social services as a
possible target of attack. Six years of socialism
have tended to graft these services firmly onto
the British scheme of life. Mr.. Attlee and his
advisers, if they privately believed that this
the area for retrenchment lacked the courage
to make any significant cuts. Will Mr. Churchill
have the required political courage, and will he
be politically able, to do any better?
He can temporize for a while if he should
be able to obtain new dollar aid from the
American Treasury. There is however, no as
surance that he can get such assistance, and, at
best, it would be merely an expedient. In the
end, the new government will have to face up to
the question of whether, in period OF imitation,
and in period of dollar deficits it is econom-
ically feasible or possible to keep on stimulating
domestic consumption by such devices as the
food subsidies, the housing subsidies and rent
control. Stated another way, the Conservatives,
in all probability, must decide whether they are
going to try to push down the living standards OF
the British people, and whether, with their slen-
der majority, they could succeed in such ven
ture if it were undertaken.
1t may be that this view is excessively pessi-
nistic. Winston Churchill has weathered days
that looked dark if not darker, and his in
spirational talents may be able to summon forth
from the British people qualities of energy,
initiative and enterprise that have lain dormant
under the socialist regime. Back in the war
days, when the outlook was bleakest he spoke
to the people of his island in these words from
Arthur Clough:
For i0hile the tired tcdues uainly breaking,
Seem here no painful inch to gain,
Far back, through creeks and inlets, making,
Comes silent, flooding in, the main.
The sturdy optimism of that occasion was vim
dicated by events which most of us could not then
foresee. Perhaps, beneath the angry surface of
today's world affairs, another silent tide is set
ting ina tide that will enable the British people,
and the rest of us, to solve problems that now
seem almost insolube. In any event, as Britain's
peerless wartime leader returns to the fray,
AmerNans will wish him all success. A2d we on
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