"We Get Better"

As the debate in the Peace Conference Rules Committee dragged on, the Russians last week were startled, annoyed--and a bit impressed and pleased--to hear some blunt talk from a new voice, speaking in a rolling Glaswegian burr.

The voice belonged to stocky, sandy-haired British Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Hector McNeil. As Molotov doggedly insisted that voting procedure was a substantive matter requiring a two-thirds vote, McNeil's pawky accent cut the smoke. "How can the voting procedure be substantive when, by very definition, the Rules Committee is only qualified to deal with procedural matters?" he snapped. Then, for about ten minutes, the young (36) Scot assailed the Russian position, with such impolite epithets as "baffling," "bewildering," "illogical," "absolute nonsense."

But the Russians showed once more that they like a man who stands up to them. As they had sat down at the conference table that day, Molotov had asked McNeil through an interpreter if he was prepared for a long session. "There are two things we Scots have in common with you Russians," McNeil replied. "We get better as the night grows longer, and we like to drink with our chess."

After the long meeting (ten hours) had been adjourned, and after McNeil's strong talk, Molotov sent his interpreter to ask McNeil: "Are you going to drink with your chess now?" "No," said McNeil, "just drink."

"Almost Appalling." If McNeil did have a nightcap after that session, it was likely his native Scotch, with two dashes of water and no ice. As for chess, he says in Who's Who that it and "intelligent argument" are his favorite hobbies.

In 1929, when Molotov was a veteran member of Russia's Politburo, McNeil was at Glasgow University, trying to make up his mind whether he was headed for the Scottish Presbyterian ministry or for politics. (In Scotland, up to a point, training for either is training for both.) His father, a shipwright, died that year, and his firm gave McNeil's mother a pension of -L-26 a year ($125). "That," says McNeil, "was when I turned to Socialism."

In 1941, McNeil won a seat in Parliament after two unsuccessful tries. Ernie Bevin, an authority in plain speaking, recognized McNeil's quality, appointed him Under Secretary. At Paris as stand-in for the ailing Bevin, McNeil may have somewhat overplayed his act as a simple country boy among the slick diplomatic professionals. He professed ignorance so often that Russia's Vishinsky last week cracked: "Perhaps Mr. McNeil is right about himself."

But his tussle with the Russians in Paris confirmed his reputation as one of the fastest rising young men in Britain's Labor Party. Glaswegians, watching McNeil's rise, recall the words of James Barrie: "A young Scotsman of your ability . . . what could he not do? It's almost appalling to think of; especially if he went among the English."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.