Rejected Thought

Towering, silver-haired, pink-faced Sir William Davison, 69, is a peppery, ultra-conservative M.P. who looks like an Esquire illustration of elderly, tweedy correctness. He is also a great believer in the power of thought. "I am no crank," says he, "but if people all over the world wished and willed the same thing at the same time there would be a great deal in it."

Last week Sir William tried to have his belief made an official part of British war policy. Rising handsomely in the House of Commons he urged that British citizens throughout the world "unite every night at the striking of 9 o'clock by Big Ben on some thought--such as the continued virility of the British Empire."

The Government thought this over. Finally it gave its answer through prim, schoolmasterish Lord Privy Seal Clement R. Attlee. Rasped the Lord Privy Seal like a tired tutor: "Nine p.m., British time, is not 9 p.m. throughout the Empire. It is inappropriate to broadcast nine strokes of Big Ben when it is 6 a.m. in Australia and the middle of the night in India."

Said Sir William: "Attlee's answer was rather silly."

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