Wingless Words This season of mists is also, aptly, the
season of oratory: and even partial exposure to the political conferences so far reminds one of the mediocrity of most public speaking today. Per- haps, since more and more people feel the need or desire to address audiences, Mr. Crosland should consider giving the subject greater atten- tion in the schools. That might at least improve the quality of the routine speeches. But why, on another level, are so few leading politicians capable of distinguished or ennobling utterances? The explanation for this can hardly lie in faulty training: it is to be found, no doubt, in the very nature of Contemporary politics.
The Liberals have perhaps the most accomp- lished platform speaker of the day in Mr. Grimond (given a friendly audience); but he is hardly typical. Mr. Lubbock's humdrum earnest- ness is nearer the present-day Liberal norm. The Prime Minister has his brilliant days, but the brilliance sometimes looks flashy. Mr. Brown is often good fun, Mr. Callaghan plods along like a well-intentioned schoolmaster, Mr. Cousins tends to be bemusingly obscure: there is cer- tainly no one approaching Nye Bevan on the Government side. Among the Conservatives, I had better leave Quoodle's alter ego out of the account. One thinks of Mr. Hogg (sometimes splendid, sometimes far from it); of the tinfoil- ingly earthbound Mr. Maudling; and, of course, of Mr. Heath.
The new Tory leader has yet to show himself an orator. At a seminar, or when lucidly expound- ing a complex theme, he is admirable. But he has not so far escaped from the clutches of speech-writers, researchers, and other expert advisers, to reveal himself as the sort of speaker who can quicken his hearers' pulses.
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