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202

Winston Churchill

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:3,000.00 - 4,000.00 USD
Winston Churchill

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Auction Date:2012 Apr 18 @ 18:00 (UTC-5 : EST/CDT)
Location:5 Rt 101A Suite 5, Amherst, New Hampshire, 03031, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
Unsigned partial wartime draft typed manuscript, one page, 7.5 x 9.5, G.R. Embossed letterhead, no date, but circa June 1943, the second page of a longer manuscript, heavily edited by Churchill. Manuscript is presented as originally typed, followed by Churchill’s revisions.

Beginning, “so little risk, and have such a quick turn round, that a very large traffic can be supported by a very small annual output.+ ” This partial line has been crossed out in pencil; all other edits are in red ink. The footnote “+” is typed at the conclusion. Each typed paragraph is numbered in ink 4, 5, and 6.

Paragraph 4, as originally typed: “Our two earliest excursions into civil aviation during this war have recommended complete internationalisation. It is unnecessary however now to consider the arguments for and against this proposal since it is clearly unacceptable to the United States, the Dominions and probably Russia. We must therefore agree upon some less radical line of approach to guide us in the forthcoming international discussions.”

Paragraph 4, corrected in red ink by Churchill: “Our two earliest Studies of post war civil aviation have recommended complete internationalisation. If by this is meant a kind of Volapuk Esperanto cosmopolitan organization managed & staffed by committees of all peoples great & small with pilots of every country from Peru to China (especially China) flying every kind of machine in every direction many people will feel that this is at present an unattainable idea. It is unnecessary however now to consider the arguments for and against this & kindred proposals, since it is clearly unacceptable to the United States, the Dominions and probably Russia. We must therefore agree upon some less high spirited line of approach to guide us in the forthcoming international discussions.”

Referring to “the forthcoming international discussions” Churchill mentions in this manuscript, Brewin notes that “The discussions which Churchill had in mind were to secure the Dominions’ agreement on certain basic principles and then hold preliminary discussions with the USA. In June 1943, it was decided to invite the Americans to a conference in Ottawa to be preceded by Commonwealth conversations. Lord Beaverbrook [British Minister of War Production in 1942 and a close confidante of Churchill], himself a Canadian with strong imperial loyalties and American sympathies, was charged with preparing these negotiations although the conference never took place. A new committee of officials was appointed to advise on the issues. This disproportionate emphasis on the Anglo-Saxon states led to correspondingly unequal treatment of the Russia and other Europeans…Between the spring of 1943 and the Chicago Conference in November 1944, there were four separate strands in British thinking: continued internationalization; Beaverbrook’s ‘gang-up’ with the United States and Canada; an exclusive imperial policy; and Churchill’s policy of ‘a fair field and no favour’ [as suggested in Paragraph 5].”

Paragraph 5, as originally typed: “After the war some world organisation, or some grouping of Continental Councils, will be set up for maintain peace. Air power resulting from civil aviation will necessarily be subject to the control of this body or bodies. Our policy should be based upon the principle of ‘a fair field and no favour’ and any disputes that arise should be referred for adjustment to the Sub-Committee or Sub-Committees of these organisations.”

Paragraph 5, corrected in red ink by Churchill: “After the war some world organisation, or some grouping of Continental Councils, will be set up for maintain peace. Air power resulting from civil aviation will necessarily be subject to the control of this body or bodies. We must be careful not to stereotype development; & there is much to be said for the principle of ‘a fair field and no favour’. Any disputes that arise should be referred for adjustment to the bodies set up under the world organization.”

Paragraph 6, as originally typed, nine words which continued onto page 3, “Within this framework the three main facets of our,” is unchanged by Churchill. The footnote to “+” at the end of the beginning phrase above, is typed under a solid line across the page:

+ Footnote , as originally typed: “By sea and air less than a million and a half passengers went to Europe in a good pre-war year. These could all be carried in about 150 aircraft. The number going to other continents was under 150,000. Having regard to the longer turn-round, these could be carried in as many aircraft again. Hence even if all passengers leaving these shores went by air, a fleet of less than 1,000 civil aircraft could carry them. To maintain this fleet, considerably less than 40 aircraft a month would be required as compared with the 400 heavy bombers we shall soon be making. It will probably be many years before the development of mail and freight traffic will falsify this general picture.”

+ Footnote, corrected in red ink by Churchill: “The number going to other continents was under 150,000. Having regard to the longer turn-round, these could be carried in as many aircraft again. Hence even if all passengers leaving these shores went by air, a fleet of less than 1,000 civil aircraft could carry them. To maintain this fleet, considerably less than 40 aircraft would be required to be built monthly as compared with the 400 heavy bombers monthly we shall soon be making. It will probably be many years before the development of mail and freight traffic will falsify this general picture.” Page is affixed to a slightly larger off-white sheet. In very good to fine condition, with all ink of Churchill’s notations lightly faded, but still legible, punch hole to top left, and a uniform shade of mild toning.

In June 1943, Churchill was planning to counter a monopoly of American air power in civil aviation. Already outdistanced in technology and capacity, Britain wanted to protect its market share while the US pushed to break the British stranglehold on free trade with its empire and Commonwealth. To this end, Churchill ruled out "complete internationalisation" as unattainable and unacceptable; instead, he advocated a world organization or 'Continental Councils' to regulate "air power resulting from civil aviation.” While Churchill intended to invite the Americans to preliminary discussions in Ottawa, they were never held. At the 1944 Chicago conference, the United States proposed the "five freedoms", a multilateral exchange which promoted a competitive "open-skies" policy for access to previously closed avenues of trade, but the prime minister, by advocating "a fair field and no favor" approach, successfully blocked the United States' free trade ambitions. This draft sold at Sotheby’s London on July 17, 2008 for $5,122.
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