.JOURNAL OFTIIE CHURCHILL CKNTER AND ... - Winston Churchill

100-75-50-25 YEARS AGOthe economic slump not to foreigncompetition, but to "a serious and widespreaddecline in consuming power"which was caused by "taxation...andimprovident methods of finance inmany countries."Foreshadowing what was accomplishedwhen Margaret Thatcherbecame Prime Minister over half a centurylater, Churchill's article "ShouldStrategists Veto the Tunnel?" appearedin The Weekly Dispatch on 27 July. WSCwas highly critical of a recent decisionby the Committee of Imperial Defence,dismissing a proposal for a Channeltunnel which had been supported byover 400 members of Parliament.Churchill ridiculed the secrecy surroundingthe decision and the fact thatit was reached after a limited discussion:"They must be quite short argumentsbecause we know there were onlyforty minutes available for their presentation,for their discussion and for theconclusion to be recorded. Twenty minuteswould, therefore, perhaps suffice torepeat them. One column of an ordinarynewspaper would readily containthem. Why should we not have them?Why should this matter be wrapt inmystery? The public have a right toknow what were grounds in which agreat decision like this was taken."Churchill then set forth in considerabledetail why British security wouldnot be endangered by a Channel tunnel:"Fancy trying to invade this islandby a tiny tube when the whole air isopen to a stronger assailant. Comparethe risks of London being destroyed byincendiary bombs or poisoned by chemicalbombs from the air, with the risks ofour not being capable of flooding thetunnel in time and safeguarding ourown end of it. The risks from the air arenow a hundredfold greater....The dangerof invasion following on treachery is thesole ground on which a government isjustified in vetoing the scheme. And ifthat ground is shown to be illusory, dieway will be cleared for the fair examinationof an enterprise which might wellbecome a notable symbol in the advanceof human civilisation."In a letter to Clementine on 19August 1924, Churchill gave her anupdate on how repairs were progressingat Chartwell: "Everyone is working franticallyat your room. The whitewashes,the oak stainers, the carpenters and theplasterers are hard at work from morntill night. I hope that all will be to yourliking when you return. They are allowingnothing to stand in the way ofthis....My Beloved, it will be jolly havingyou back on Monday. The house seemsvy empty without you. With tenderlove, your devoted W"On 11 September, Churchillaccepted an offer from the ConservativeParty's Constituency Committee inEpping to stand for Parliament in thenext General Election as a "Constitutionalist"with Conservative Party support.At Epping, and one of its successorconstituencies called Woodford, hewould find at last the "Seat for Life" he'dlost in Dundee.Fifty years ago:Summer 1949 • Age 74En garde, frangais!Churchill continued working onthe third volume of his war memoirs,spending much time in Italy on holidaywith Clementine and his entourage,described on this occasion by WalterGraebner. No matter how far he went,whether by rail or air, Churchill tookwith him all the equipment for anoffice, other than tables and chairs.Nothing was left to chance: he wantedan office functioning within an hour ortwo after his arrival. Crates and blackdespatch boxes were filled with typewriters,paper clips, pencils, ink, paper,paste, scissors, pins, envelopes, sealingwax,seals and string.The management of this vital partof the holiday operation was entrustedto two secretaries from the London staff,one of whom was available wheneverChurchill called between 8AM and2PM.There were always about a dozenpeople in the Churchill entourage. Twowere Scotland Yard detectives, whoworked twelve-hour shifts each so thatChurchill was never left unguarded.Since they were the same team assignedto him in England they felt quite at easein the party, and on painting and picnicexcursions they pitched in and helpedlike everyone else. Also present was avalet, who not only dressed Churchilland looked after his other needs in thebedroom, but squeezed the tube whenhis master wanted more paint, saw thata fresh cigar was never more than a fewfeet away, and did hundreds of other littlethings which added to his comfort.Immediately prior to departing onholiday, Churchill addressed a Conservativerally in Wolverhampton in whichhe harkened back to his 1924 theme ofexcessive taxation:"...our Socialist spendthrifts andmuddlers have dissipated every overseaasset they could lay their hands on, andin addition have exacted and extractedfrom our people a higher rate of taxationthan was required in the veryheight of the war, from which we victoriouslyemerged. It will be incredible tothose who come afterwards that somuch should have been cast away in soshort a time, so many sacrifices demanded,so many restrictions and regulationsimposed and obeyed, and that atthe end we should be where we arenow."Churchill concluded this passageby borrowing and adapting to presentcircumstances one of his most famouslines: "Never before in the history ofhuman government has such greathavoc been wrought by such smallmen." He also repeated the attacks onSocialism he had made twenty-five yearsearlier, promising that the Conservativeswould "...return to a system which pro-FlNESTHOUR103/l6