Find or Fancy?

"He struck at once, and without effort, the note of leadership." --London Times.

"Here is a new voice, a stimulating voice."--Daily Sketch.

"Total war --at last. That is in effect the directive that emerges from the in spiring speech." --News Chronicle.

"He has brought back with him to this country something of the spirit which stirred every British heart at the time of Dunkirk." --Yorkshire Post.

Thus, last week, did London acclaim Sir Stafford Cripps's maiden speech as new leader of the House of Commons (TIME, March 2). At the end of a two-day debate, the Red Squire, using careful jottings on tiny sheets of notepaper. an swered all major questions in the almost record time for 40 minutes. Though his mannerisms were coldly legal, M.P.s soon warmed to the passionate conviction he injected into his words. Only a major speech by Churchill (who was conspicuously absent) would have drawn a bigger house. Even a few tired, wise old peers climbed into the gallery to see for them selves whether this man was a find or a fancy.

What everyone waited anxiously to hear was something about India. Without revealing details, Cripps promised a debate shortly (see col. 2).

On home affairs he spoke more specifically : "We are not engaged in a war effort in which we can have as our motto: 'Business as Usual' or 'Pleasure as Usual.' The Government propose ... to prevent the abuse of the wishes of the majority . . .by any small or selfish group. . . . Dog racing and boxing displays ... are com pletely out of accord with the true spirit of determination of the people in this crisis. . . . Personal extravagance must be eliminated altogether. ... I am certain that every member of the Cabinet will be prepared to [attend] the funeral of that person whom I hope we may now describe as the late, but not lamented Colonel Blimp."

Sir Stafford also forecast a streamlined Parliament of "maximum efficiency," made capital out of one of Winston Churchill's most glaring faults, hatred of criticism. "I welcome the tone of criticism voiced in the House," he said. "Unity is not the same as uniformity."

M.P.s and Britons as a whole were satisfied that Sir Stafford had presented his case well, seemingly forgot that only last month Lord Beaverbrook had loomed as the powerhouse in British politics. In Sir Stafford's rise and Beaverbrook's fall there was a curious political paradox. Though Lord Beaverbrook played an infinitely more important role than Sir Stafford in improving Anglo-Soviet relations, the Beaver had to make way for the people's choice. But Canadian-born M.P. Garfield Weston (a biscuit tycoon) had another version: "We are told that Lord Beaverbrook has gone because he has asthma. But he has had asthma for 20 years. ... I believe he has left because he had become sick unto death of Government committees."

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