Unity Reforging

The great man, bearing his 77 history laden years with impassive dignity, walked slowly through the standing, clapping U.S. Congressmen. He had aged, of course, but Winston Churchill seemed hardly a shade less pink-cheeked, rocklike and John Bullish than when he spoke before the House and Senate during World War II. In 1941, just after Pearl Harbor, his mood had been one of sober yet shining elation: ". . . Best tidings of all, the United States, united as never before, has drawn the sword for freedom and cast away the scabbard." In 1943, after the victory in North Africa, he had exulted: "One continent redeemed." In 1952, under the clouds of another gathering storm, he spoke with all the avuncular wisdom he had gained as a pilot of the Anglo-American alliance.

A Balance of Power. "I have not come here to ask you for money--" he said, and paused, while relaxing laughter swept the legislators on guard against more British requests for U.S. aid. The orator continued: "--to ask you for money to make life more comfortable or easier for us in Britain. Our standards of life are our own business, and we can only keep our self respect and independence by looking after them ourselves."

It was the Churchillian way, adroit and telling, of getting to the nub of his message, that Britain has a very special value to the U.S. and must not be lumped in U.S. calculations with other nations. Churchill quoted from his famed Fulton (Iron Curtain) speech of 1946: "Let no man underrate the abiding power of the British Commonwealth and Empire . . . If [this power] be added to that of the United States . . . there will be no quivering, precarious balance of power to offer its temptation to ambition or adventure."

The Prime Minister cited the figures of Britain's impressive postwar recovery, reminded his audience that Britain was contributing toward Western rearmament two-thirds as much as the rest of Europe put together. But, he went on, the speed of Britain's rearming depends on the extent of U.S. aid. "It is for you to judge to what extent the United States' interests are involved, and, whether you aid us much or little, we shall continue to do our utmost in the common cause . . . That is why I have come here to ask not for gold but for steel, not for favors but for equipment."

A Profound Shift. The British "utmost," if Churchill's words meant what they seemed to say, included a profound shift in the British outlook on China. Said the Prime Minister: "You have wisely been resolute, members of Congress, in confronting Chinese Communist aggression. We take our stand at your side . . . I am very glad that whatever diplomatic divergencies there may be from time to time about procedure, you do not allow the Chinese anti-Communists on Formosa to be invaded and massacred from the mainland."

Then, he repeated Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden's warning to Peking and Moscow (TIME, Jan. 21). Said Churchill: "Our two countries are agreed that if the truce we seek is reached, only to be broken, our response will be prompt, resolute and effective."

From China, Churchill traveled across the trouble-spotted globe. He praised the U.S.-sponsored Japanese Peace Treaty, forecast more effective allied action in Southeast Asia, urged the Israelis to make peace with the Arabs, and then startled everyone (and roused no applause) by suggesting that U.S. forces might some day help guard the Suez Canal. (This proposal drew an adverse response from three interested parties: Washington officialdom, the British press and the Egyptian government.)

He put his government solidly behind a West European federation and army--but as an ally and not as a member: "The British Commonwealth ... is not prepared to become a state or a group of states in any continental federal system on either side of the Atlantic."

The old statesman's final counsel drew the most applause: "If I may say this, members of Congress, be careful above all things . . . not to let go of the atomic weapon until you are sure and more than sure that other means of preserving peace are in your hands."

A Sense of History. The sense of history lay upon Winston Churchill as he reached the last pages of his notes. "Under the pressure and menace of Communist aggression," he said, "the fraternal association of the United States with Britain . . . and the new unity growing up in Europe ... all these harmonies are being brought forward, perhaps by several generations, in the destiny of the world. If this proves true . . . the architects in the Kremlin may be found to have built a different and a far better world structure than what they planned . . .

"Bismarck once said that the supreme fact of the 20th century was that Britain and the United States spoke the same language. Let us make sure that the supreme fact of the 20th century is that they tread the same path."

His wisdom imparted, the great man, allowing his dignity some small smiles and nods of acknowledgment, walked out as he had come in, through a heartfelt standing ovation.

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