The Candid Secretary

As Foreign Secretary of Great Britain, Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, 14th Earl of Home (pronounced Hume), occupies a post whose previous incumbents have often been primarily famed for their ability to speak at great length without saying anything at all.* In sharp departure from this cherished British diplomatic tradition. Lord Home, 57, is addicted to clear and candid statements that sometimes border on indiscretion. Last week, just before flying off to Bangkok for the critical SEATO meeting on Laos, Lord Home confided to a Tory meeting some of his thoughts on British foreign policy. Items:

ON NATIONAL PURPOSE: "When paleolithic man lived on lizards, he had two jobs: to provide security for his family and food for them to eat. Things haven't changed much. The basic objective of our foreign policy is to provide security and food with which to feed ourselves."

ON SOUTH AFRICA: "The basic reason for South Africa's leaving the Commonwealth was that if a member practiced apartheid, its influence within the Commonwealth would be destroyed anyway because the Commonwealth today is nothing if not multiracial. It is now up to the members to prove that they stand up for civil rights everywhere."

ON KEEPING THE PEACE: "War does not come from the balance of power but when it is upset. It is to this principle that those who would have us disarm unilaterally turn their blind eye."

ON RUSSIA AND WAR: "Communists have been convinced that total war is no longer a useful instrument of national policy. Our job is now to convince them that limited war is equally dangerous."

ON COEXISTENCE: "I believe there may be just room to coexist if we reply to Russia's Jekyll and Hyde performance with a certain duality of our own. We must expose and frustrate the conspirator and negotiate with the patriot. It is a difficult exercise."

* A notable exception: the late Ernest Bevin, one of whose pithier diplomatic exchanges was recounted in London last week by an old friend. Soon after Bevin took office with the Labor government in 1945, the Guatemalan minister in London asked for an audience. His mission: he wanted Britain to cede neighboring British Honduras to Guatemala. After a long, cool stare at the Guatemalan, Bevin politely asked: "What country do you say you represent?" The minister told him. "How do you spell it?" said Bevin. Irritably, the minister spelled out G-u-a-t-e-m-a-1-a. Again Bevin stared. "Never heard of it," he said finally. "Never heard of it."

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