Changes

Some changes are going to be made in Britain.

Winston Churchill is not in immediate danger. But several of his policies, practices and men are in danger, and London this week was sure that some of them are going out.

Eden Out? Anthony Eden's time as Foreign Secretary seems to be about up. The prime reason has to do with a notable, very recent change in Britain's attitude toward its allies and the world. Britons, long willing to suffer almost anything in silence rather than trouble Allied relations, are fed up with national masochism. They are in a mood to stand up for themselves to Russia, the U.S., anybody who tramples on British patience.

No weakling, long an exponent of the strong line toward Britain's diplomatic enemies and rivals, Anthony Eden nevertheless personifies the soft word rather than the tough approach. Last week, individually and in their press, Britons displayed their new mood: they barked angrily at Cordell Hull (for blaming London for recent news leaks and political censorship); barked as sharply at Soviet Russia (for its bad-mannered handling of the Italian question).

Beaverbrook In? Other pressures are at work. Fundamentally, Britons want a change--and dare not make a complete change at the top while the war is still on. A shift in the Foreign Office, perhaps others elsewhere, will give Britons a feeling that their Government has responded to their deep desire.

Some of the pressures are personal, and are remarkably similar to the irks of Washington. Brash, capable, erratic Lord Beaverbrook has come back fast in the P.M.'s esteem, is now very close to Mr. Churchill. It is no secret that Churchill. Beaverbrook and pervasive, ambitious Minister of Information Brendan Bracken are three big bugs-in-a-rug at No. 10 Downing Street. Too often to suit him, Eden has felt lately that high policy came down to him from this trio, and particularly from Beaverbrook. Last week some London correspondents, pondering Beaverbrook's comeback, guessed that he may be headed for the War Cabinet.

It remained for the Yorkshire Post, a newspaper controlled by the family of Eden's wife, to report a more astonishing possibility: that Lord Beaverbrook may succeed Eden at the Foreign Office. Growled the Post: "Lord Beaverbrook's dynamic energies have more than once rendered the country valuable services, but he has never displayed a great interest in the affairs of Europe, and tact in negotiation is not commonly regarded as one of his outstanding gifts."

In any event, Anthony Eden need not be completely out. Recently he has been overwhelmed by his triple labors as Foreign Secretary, Government Leader in the House of Commons and member of the War Cabinet. He could relinquish the Foreign Office, still have a large place in the Churchill Government and in British politics. Conceivably, he might find more time to pave his way toward Mr. Churchill's place in Downing Street.

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