What kind of a People do they think we are? - Winston Churchill

tion of the State in almost every area of human activity.The two World Wars and the great depression betweenthem severed, to a great extent, the line of liberal thoughtthat had developed over the previous century.Of Churchill himself, one can only feel that hewas fated to be the great war leader. Certainly, oppositionto communism and later to the rise of European tyranniesdominated the remainder of his political life. It is perhapsironic that a reason so often given for his dismissal in1945 is that he was not capable of dealing with socialproblems, and thus was unfit to be a peacetime leader.The People's Rights tells a very different story andcomes now not as a document of historic interest but as achallenge to politicians, indeed to the entire electorate, toconsider again the causes of poverty and the basic issues ofsocial and economic justice. Perhaps current disillusionmentwith politics springs from a sense that if justice inthe community can only be achieved at the expense of individualliberty, the price—especially in terms of ever-increasingtaxation and bureaucracy—is too high to pay.As a proposition that justice in the communityand the freedom of the individual are complementary andthat taxes may be raised without undermining either, ThePeoples Rights comes as a major contribution to currentpolitical and economic thought. Indeed it deserves a placein the annals of man's struggle for freedom and yearningfor a society in which the genius of every person would benurtured and the liberty of every person respected.Biographic Note: Born in Glasgow in 1883, AndrewMacLaren was active in the Scottish Liberal Partyand was working with the United Committee for the Taxationof Land Values in London when Churchill sent forcopies of Henry George's works at the time of the greatbattle over the "People's Budget." He was in 1970 one ofthe few alive who could speak from personal and intimateknowledge of the events and personalities of that time. AsLabour Member for the Burslem Division of Stoke-on-Trent, MacLaren was a fervent advocate of Land ValuesTaxation and Free Trade and—to the consternation ofmany socialist colleagues—fiercely opposing the WelfareState and nationalisation of industry as an alternative todealing with the basic causes of poverty and injustice. M>"Whatever happened to the International Churchill Society?"FUNDING THE CHURCHILL CENTERAt a recent meeting, several present asked "whathappened to the International Churchill Society ofthe USA?" ICS/USA has become The ChurchillCenter. The name change was appropriate, we reasoned,since the organization had grown—from a society of peopleinterested in Churchill to a major institution, includingthem but dedicated to impressing Churchill's thoughtsand deeds on young people through programs of teachingand publishing. The UK and Canadian organizations arestill ICS, but at least one of them is thinking of becominga "Churchill Centre" in its own right.Five years ago we set out to create a multi-milliondollar endowment. To date the amount pledged is $2 millionand the amount in hand approaches $ 1 million. Thismoney is never spent, but invested to sustain the Center'swork through its earnings. This year it will add about$50,000 to the Center's budget. All of this success is dueto the Churchill Center Associates (see next spread), whohave donated or pledged from $10,000 on up to the endowmentfund. All members of our Board are Associates.Greater yet is the fact that we have an endowmentnow taken seriously by individuals to whom wehave appealed for very large gifts. We are just now formalizingtwo major gifts from two such individuals, earmarkedfor specific projects—electronic teaching throughour website and publications.This new support will allow us to build the infrastructurewe now lack. Administrative expenses have littleappeal compared to far-reaching projects like the Internetand publications, which extend the Churchill saga far andwide, particularly among young people. But the administrationmust still be done. Thus, support for educationalprograms frees up part of our annual regular income topay an administrative director to direct programs, conferencesand the membership office—tasks that have heretoforefallen almost exclusively to volunteers.If you are already one of the Churchill Center Associates,you have our deep gratitude. If you are not, wewould welcome your participation. A telephone call toour special number for Associates, (888) 454-2275, willdisclose how this can be done in an almost painless way,all donations being, of course, tax-deductible by Americancitizens. We are 20% of the way home. We continue torely on you for your faith and your generosity.If you cannot help in that way, there is an otheropportunity: our annual Heritage Fund appeal, which isan important part of our everyday expenses, everythingfrom stamps to Internet fees. That appeal was recentlymailed to American members with our 2000 Annual Report.You can pledge by telephone—even use Visa or Mastercard.All Heritage Funds are completely tax-deductible.The number to call is (888) WSC-1874. continued >»FINEST HOUR 112/43