United Front

Extraordinary preparations preceded the extraordinary speeches delivered in the House of Commons last week by Winston Churchill and Ernest Bevin. The leader of the Loyal Opposition, said knowing M.P.s, had sent a copy of his speech to the Foreign Secretary. Some members, noting the many similarities, suspected that Churchill, Bevin and Prime Minister Clement Attlee had broken all precedent by consulting beforehand.

Either way, the Labor Government and Tory Opposition presented a united British front to the world on 1) the atom; 2) Russia. About to fly to Washington (see NATIONAL AFFAIRS) , Clement Attlee could not have asked for stronger backing.

Churchill on Russia. On speech day, the House had the casual air it reserves for weighty debates. When Winston Churchill entered, he was as pink and rubicund as ever. Bevin followed him, wiping the sweat from his flushed face.

Churchill opened, occasionally underlining a point with a sweep of his spectacles. He approached the subject of Russia with glowing tributes to Stalin ("this truly great man") and the Russian people (whose friendship "should not only be preserved but expanded"). He went on: "Any idea of Britain's deliberately pursuing an anti-Russian policy or taking part in the making of combination to the detriment of Russia is thoroughly opposed to British thought and conscience."

But he added: "The world outlook is in several respects today less promising than it seemed after [World War I]. There is none of the confidence now among men that they or their children will never see again another world war, as there was un doubtedly in 1919. It is our duty to sup ply the solid ground from which this hope may arise again -- and live." Churchill then supplied the ground: British and U.S. collaboration on every thing, together always, and with Russia if possible (see INTERNATIONAL). Said he, giving President Truman's recent "Twelve Points," of U.S. foreign policy more weight than they had been accorded in the U.S. : "We should now make it clear to the United States that we will march at their side in the cause that President Truman has defined, that we will add our strength to their strength, that their stern, sober efforts shall be matched by our own. If everything else fails, which we must not admit, here is the best chance of survival.

... We should fortify in every way our special and friendly connections with the United States." Bevin on Russia. Ernest Bevin had none of Churchill's solid polish; he was sometimes almost incoherent. But his meaning was as plain as a bulldog's face: "We will do nothing or allow any of our agents and diplomats to do anything to stir up hatred or to provoke or create a situation detrimental to Russia in the eastern countries. ... I am not a criminal if I want friendship with neighbors bordering on the British frontier. What am I doing wrong? I am doing nothing to injure anybody, and I am not prepared to accept that position from any other country in the world. . . .

"Just as the Government is willing to give, so it claims the right to deal with France, Holland, Belgium, Scandinavia or other countries -- not a Western bloc -- for all purposes. ... I say I am entitled, on behalf of the Government, to have good neighbors on my street, just as any other country is entitled to have good neighbors on its street. . . You will probably think I am a little energetic about this. But I am a little resentful and I think the House will agree I am entitled to be. . . ." Churchill on the Bomb. The atomic bomb was the nub. On this crucial subject, Churchill and Bevin addressed them selves not only to the U.S. and Russia but to the British public and press, lately convinced that the U.S. was holding out on Great Britain. Said Churchill: "According to our present understanding with the United States, neither country is en titled to disclose its secrets to a third country without the approval of the other.

... I trust we are not going to put pressure on the United States [to disclose its practical production methods].

"I am sure if the circumstances were reversed and we or the Americans asked for similar access to the Russian arsenal, it would not be granted. ... I cannot myself feel the slightest anxiety as a Brit ish subject that these great powers are at the present moment in the hands of the United States. ... We should aid the United States to guard this weapon as a sacred trust for the maintenance of peace."

Bevin on the Bomb. Said Bevin: "Let it be remembered that we are not the sole agents in this matter. . . . There is a greater disturbance in the United States ... as the possessors of this bomb and having the responsibility of it, than there is among some countries not in possession of the bomb. ... It is a question of arriving at a moment of complete confidence as to whom you entrust it. The road to that complete confidence [depends] on confidence in the policy you are all following and the obligations you are entering into. . . . We have not arrived at that state yet.

"We agreed to give inventions to other countries. We did not have it in return. It may be that they were frightened to give it to us in return. But we did set an example, which was a very big thing. If our example is to be followed, let it [Russia] really get into the pool before we take an undue risk."

Doodles & Toasts. Such talk shocked Britons who had been taught to speak softly to Russia. Such talk from a Laborite Foreign Secretary was doubly shocking to those who had assumed that any socialist Labor Government would be automatically pro-Russian. Once more the House had received a lesson in two elementary political facts: British foreign policy overrides British party differences; by definition, socialism is hostile to communism.

Not a whit disturbed, Attlee doodled diligently during the speeches. Afterward he and Bevin went out together. Their destination: the Soviet Embassy, to drink Russia's health in vintage vodka, celebrating the 28th anniversary of the October Revolution. ,

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