A Faint Cheer for U.N.

Beneath statues of the Duke of Wellington, William Pitt the Younger and of himself, 82-year-old Sir Winston Churchill, wearing white tie and tails, the blue ribbon of the Garter across his chest, looked and sounded the proud and unyielding Englishman as he spoke out last week in London's 500-year-old Guildhall. His audience was 550 American and British lawyers and their wives, his theme was that "justice knows no frontiers," and his warning was that "justice is not being achieved" in the U.N. Assembly.

Said Churchill: "I do not throw in my lot with those who say that Britain should leave the U.N. But it is certain that if the Assembly continues to take its decisions on grounds of enmity, opportunism, or purely jealousy and petulance, the whole structure may be brought to nothing." As a man who stoutly backed the ill-fated Egyptian adventure of his successor Sir Anthony Eden, Churchill to this day (like many Britons) deplores the part the U.N. played in halting the war short of victory, and he has always thought it unrealistic to give as much weight to the opinions of a small power as to a large. Said Churchill: "The shape of the U.N. has changed greatly from its original form and from the intention of its architects. The differences between the great powers have thrown responsibility increasingly on the Assembly. This has been vastly swollen by the addition of new nations. We wish all these new nations well. Indeed we created many of them and have done our best to ensure their integrity and prosperity. But it is anomalous that the vote or prejudice of any small country should affect events involving populations many times exceeding their number, and affect them as momentary self-advantage may direct.

"There are many cases where the U.N. have failed. Hungary does creep across my mind. We cannot be content with an arrangement where our new system of international laws applies only to those who show themselves willing to keep them."

Finally, he warned his listeners, "the mere creation of international organizations does not relieve us of our individual responsibilities. It falls to the righteous man individually to do what he can and to form with his friends alliances that are manifestly crowned with justice and honor."

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