Question before the House

LIFE'S scoop on Churchill's secret war speeches caused a sensation in London. It was a scandal, huffed a sizable section of the London press. Were the words of a Prime Minister his own, or the property of the state? Cried the London Star: "Such a document [the speech explaining Singapore's fall] is historic. It will long be counted part of the very fabric and structure of our greatness. . . . Once the ban on publication had been lifted, it should have been made a state paper."

Asked Political Columnist A. J. Cummings in the News Chronicle: "Who gave the document to the editor of LIFE, and by what authority? And what are Parliament's rights. . . ? A question will certainly be asked in the House."

Some of the answers were already available: Churchill himself gave LIFE the speeches. Last fall TIME & LIFE'S European Area Director Walter Graebner secured the right to reproduce 20 of Churchill's paintings in LIFE. About to leave, Graebner remarked that he would soon visit the U.S. Said Churchill casually: "Come and see me when you get back. I may have something for you." The "something" was the secret documents, which had been cleared for publication by British authorities and which Graebner bought for LIFE.

The trade journal of British newsdom, World's Press News, looked into the matter, concluded that Churchill had every technical right to release the speeches. That seemed to solve the legalities of it, but did little to lessen the indignation of Britons over the moral decision Winston Churchill made.

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