The Voice

Two political facts dominated Europe's news last week. One was the might and mass of Russia's rush upon Germany through Poland. The other was the voice of a 70-year-old man, defending before a Parliament of free men his course in the politics of war and liberation. Prime Minister Winston Churchill spoke primarily to Britons. But he was also addressing the U.S. and the world.

He touched on Britain's policy in Italy and Yugoslavia. He reviewed the course of the war in all theaters and reasserted the slogan of unconditional surrender. But the heart of his speech was his defense of his widely challenged policy in Greece.

As politics, his speech raised a basic question facing the western Allies: did they mean to use force, if necessary, to permit the people of liberated nations freely to choose their future governments --be they right or left--by democratic procedure, under law?

But though Parliament gave him a sweeping vote of confidence (340 to 7), as politics his speech also left many questions unanswered, many grievous doubts unresolved.

As prose, it was one of the greatest speeches in a career whose speeches have dramatized (and made) history.

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