SIR,—Mr. Evelyn Waugh has a strange notion of diplomacy; he
abuses our Foreign Secretary. Mr. Anthony Eden, for being polite to the Head of Yugoslavia who is not a Roman Catholic.
Surely he should know that our Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, has repeatedly visited Joseph Stalin, and so did the late U.S.A. Presi- dent Roosevelt; and that the business of all diplomats is to treat with courtesy, all important chiefs of other countries. Mr. Waugh now asks, " Will our politicians (and journalists) never learn ?" The answer is that they are not bigots, and do not propose to insult the statesmen with whom they are dealing. I see that Mr. Waugh disclaims that his fellow-Catholics share his insolence, but he now claims that his views are shared by Christians of all denominations all over the country— though he does not indicate the names of his fellow-bigots ! Some foolish persons criticised our Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, for using the formal polite language of diplomacy when declaring war on Japan, after the treacherous attack on the American Fleet at Pearl Harbour. But Mr. Churchill said, "When you are about to kill a man it costs nothing to address him politely." Yugoslavia is a friendly power, not an enemy. Mr. Waugh's advocacy of rudeness to Marshal Tito is just folly.—Yours faithfully, H. CHARLES ERITH. Hove.
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