This Sad & Breathless Moment

He had predicted World War II: "I saw it all coming and cried aloud to my own fellow countrymen and to the world. . . . There never was a war in history easier to prevent by timely action. . . . But no one would listen."

Last week, in Fulton, Mo., in a husky, dogged voice, Winston Churchill cried aloud again.

The man who had carried, as no other living man has, the burden of high responsibility in two great conflicts had "no official mission"; 71-year-old Citizen Churchill spoke only for himself ("There is nothing here but what you see") to the English-speaking world.

As usual when he speaks, in or out of office, Winston Churchill set the world agog, this time with: 1) an assault on Russia; 2) a plea for combining the military strength of the U.S. and Britain in a "fraternal association." The plea, not new, was nevertheless startling at this juncture of world affairs.

The Marauders. "Two gaunt marauders--war and tyranny--" are abroad, he warned. "We must make sure that [UNO's] work is fruitful, that it is a reality and not a sham, that it is a force for action and not merely a frothing of words." UNO must be armed immediately with an "international armed force"--air squadrons under the direction of UNO.

"It would be criminal madness to cast [the secret of atomic power] adrift in this still agitated and un-united world. ... I do not believe we should all have slept so soundly had the positions been reversed and some Communist or neo-Fascist state monopolized . . . these dread agents. The fear of them alone might easily have been used to enforce totalitarian systems upon the free democratic world, with consequences appalling to human imagination. . . . Ultimately, when the essential brotherhood of man is truly embodied and expressed in a world organization," the secret could be shared--but not now.

Tyranny has reduced many countries ("some of which are very powerful") to dictator states. "We must never cease to proclaim in fearless tones the great principles of freedom and the rights of man."

One Army, One Navy. But "at this sad and breathless moment," said Mr. Churchill, these things are not enough. "This is no time for generalities, and I will venture to be precise." Then he precisely recommended the course of action which startled the U.S., Britain and the rest of the world:

P: "The continuance of the intimate relationships between our military advisers, leading to common study of potential dangers, the similarity of weapons and manuals of instruction and the interchange of officers and cadets at technical colleges.

P: "The continuance of the present facilities for mutual security by the joint use of all naval and air force bases in the possession of either country all over the world. This would perhaps double the mobility of the American Navy and Air Force . . . greatly expand that of the British Empire. . . . Already we use together a large number of islands; more may well be entrusted to our joint care.

"Thus, whatever happens, and thus only, shall we be secure ourselves and be able to work together for the high and simple causes that are dear to us and bode no ill to any. . . . Eventually there will come the principle of common citizenship, but that we may be content to leave to destiny."

Are such relationships alien to the principles of UNO? "On the contrary, they help it," so long as the allying nations "have no aggressive point against any other country, harbor no design incompatible with the Charter of the United Nations."

The Iron Curtain. Thus Winston Churchill marked out the "path of wisdom" which he saw through "somber facts." Said the man who had conferred with Stalin at Moscow, Cairo and Yalta: "Nobody knows what Soviet Russia and its Communist international organization intend to do . . . or what are the limits, if any, to their expansive and proselytizing tendencies.

"From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of central and eastern Europe, and the populations around them lie in what I might call the Soviet sphere . . . subject to control from Moscow. Police governments are pervading from Moscow . . . Athens alone is free. . . .

"Turkey and Persia are both profoundly alarmed and disturbed at the claims which are being made upon them by the Moscow Government. . . . An attempt is being made by the Russians in Berlin to build up a quasi-Communist party in their zone of occupied Germany," which will "give the defeated Germans the power of putting themselves up to auction between the Soviets and the Western democracies. . . . This is certainly not the liberated Europe we fought to build up. . . ."

The Haggard World. "In front of the iron curtain are other causes for anxiety. In Italy the Communist party is seriously hampered by having to support the Communist-trained Marshal Tito's claims to former Italian territory at the head of the Adriatic. The future of Italy hangs in the balance.

"Again, one cannot imagine a regenerated Europe without a strong France. All my public life I have worked for a strong France. I will not lose faith now. . . . The outlook is also anxious in the Far East, especially in Manchuria. . . .

"In the days [after Versailles] there were high hopes and unbounded confidence that the wars were over and that the League of Nations would become all-powerful. I do not feel that same confidence or even the same hopes in the haggard world at the present time."

For a Century. "I do not believe that Soviet Russia desires war. What they desire is the fruits of war and the indefinite expansion of their power and doctrines. . . . What is needed is a settlement, and the longer this is delayed the more difficult it will be. ... From what I have seen of our Russian friends and allies during the war I am convinced that there is nothing they admire so much as strength, and there is nothing for which they have less respect than for weakness, especially military weakness."

Said Britain's wartime leader: "Let no man underrate the abiding power of the British Empire and Commonwealth . . . do not suppose that we shall not come through these dark years of privation as we have come through the glorious years of agony. . . .

"If the population of the English-speaking Commonwealth be added to that of the United States, with all such cooperation implies in the air, on the sea, all over the globe, and in science and in industry and in moral force, there will be no quivering, precarious balance of power to offer its temptation to ambition or adventure. On the contrary, there will be an overwhelming assurance of security.

"If we adhere faithfully to the Charter of the United Nations and walk forward in sedate and sober strength . . . if all British moral and material forces and convictions are joined with your own . . . the high roads of the future will be clear, not only for us but for all, not only for our time but for a century to come."

Pilgrim's Progress. Three days later Winston Churchill arrived in spring-touched Richmond to address the Virginia Assembly. He was a little bitter over the chilly reception to his Fulton speech. (see below). "You have not asked to see beforehand what I am going to say," he said. "I might easily blurt out a lot of things people know in their hearts are true but are a bit shy of saying in public." He blurted:

"It has been said that the dominant lesson of history is that mankind is unteachable." Nevertheless, he had a "very simple message which can be understood by the people of our countries. It is that we should stand together."

He had read, he said, that an English nobleman had complained that Britain would have to become a 49th state, that an American editor had written that the U.S. should not be asked to re-enter the British Empire. "The path of wisdom lies somewhere between these scarecrow extremes. . . . Peace will not be preserved by pious sentiments expressed in terms of platitudes or by official grimaces and diplomatic correctitude. . . .

"Great Heart must have his sword and armor to guard the pilgrims on their way. Above all, among the English-speaking peoples, there must be the union of hearts based upon conviction and common ideals. That is what I offer. That is what I seek."

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