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enn Performs Unprecedented Act in Leaving House of Lords
By GREGORY JENSEN
United Press International
London - CTI' - On the last
afternoon of July a slender,
handsome, dark-haired man
of 38 walked quickly into
Britain's gilded House of
Lords. An attendant greeted
him at the door with the
words: "Good evening, my
lord."
A few minutes later the
fame man walked out of the
House of Lords. This time the
attendant said, "Good night,
sir "
During those minutes, the
second Lord Stansgate, Vis
count of the United Kingdom
and thus an automatic mem
ber of the House of Lords, had
performed an act unprece
dented in a thousand years of
British history.
He had legally renounced
his title. He disclaimed all
right to be called "Lord Stans
Bate," to sit and vote in the
House of Lords, to wear the
traditional "two and a half
rows of ermine, the coronet of
13 silver balls," to bear the
privileges of peerage and the
status which obliges Queen
Elizabeth herself to address
him as "our right trusty and
well-beloved cousin."
At 6:22 p.m. that day, as a
paper passed from his hand
to that of Sir George Cold
si rem, the clerk of the crown
in chancery. Viscount Stans
gate became Mr. Anthony
Neil Wedgwood Benn, com
moner. Two Vestiges Remain
Only two vestiges of Wedg
wood Benn's former lordly
status remain. One is the dor
mant title, . to be inherited
some day by Bonn's eldest son
Stephen, 12. The other is a
test-tube full of the "noble
blood" of the Viscount Stans
gate who is no more.
"I had the blood specially
extracted and bottled while
I was in hospital in Bristol,"
Benn said. Thai was 10 days
before he stopped being a
lord and. as he put it, "ac
quired the infinitely greater
distinction of being once
more a plain mister - a citi
zen with a vote."
Anthony Wedgwood Benn
had been fighting for 10
years for the right to be call
ed "plain mister." Almost to
the end it looked a losing
fight.
He was only 17 when the
story began. That was in 1942,
when his father, William
Wedgwood Benn, was created
the first Viscount Stansgate.
The elder Benn accepted the
title reluctantly, and only to
bolster his Labor party's rep
resentation in the House of
V - v. m if
sJ W i m
RENOUNCES TITLE Anthony Wedgwood-Benn and his
U.S. born wife, Caroline, leave the House of Commons after
he legally renounced his title, disclaiming all right to be call
ed "Lord Stansgate" and sit in the House of Lords. He wished
to remain in the House of Commons, where political power
now lies in England. (UPI)
Britain is in the House of
Commons.
Power Slips Away
The House of Lords, for
centuries the real power in
Britain, has seen that power
slip steadily away. In 1832,
reform acts broke the aristoc
racy's control af parliament
ary constituencies, and in
clash after clash since then
the power of the Lords has
been diminished until today it
is a high-class debating society
and little more.
Bonn went to his father in
1953 and explained his dil
emma. Viscount Stansgate
quickly agreed. As a matter
of fact, the Viscount himself
was growing weary of his
powerless position in the
House of Lords and wanted to
get back into the political
fray - he had been a mem
ber of the House of Commons
for 24 years.
The first Lord Stansgate, as
a result of his son's pleas,
himself tried to renounce his
title and, for reasons buried
Lords during the wartime ,
coalition.
Brother Killed ;
Benn was not due to in- j
herit the title at all. He had
an older brother, Michael,
who was first in line of sue-;
cession. But Michael, a Royal I
air force pilot, was killed in
World War Two, making the
younger man the heir.
A pilot himself in the R A F.
and the Royal Navy. Benn
went up to Oxford after the !
war, taking a first degree i
with honors in 1943 and a ;
master's degree with honors a :
year later.
Once out of the university,
Wedgwood Benn plunged into
politics. He was, like his fath
er, a Laborite, and again like
his father he early won a
seat from 1950 to the time his
father died in 1960 - and he
became a viscount.
Even while his father was
still alive, Benn had decided
he didn't want the title.
Benn was determined to
stay in politics - and the place
for an ambitious politician in
deep in British history, he
couldn't.
Then young Wedgwood
Benn decided to try it on his
own. In 1955 at his son's re
quest Lord Stansgate intro
duced a bill in the House of
Lords permitting his heir to
renounce the title.
Lord Stansgate spoke elo
quently in support of the ef
fort. Referring to the death
of his eldest son, who should
have inherited the title, he
said "it heaped onto the un
willing shoulders of this
young man (Wedgwood Benn)
honors which were going to
bar him from all the am
bitions of his life."
But their Lordships dis
agreed and by vote of 54 to
24 rejected the bill.
On Nov. 18, 1960. the first
Viscount Stansgate died at 83.
Much against his will, An
thony Wedgwood Benn be
came a lord, and could sit no
longer in Commons. He
plunged at once into a fight
UPI to Syndicate,
Produce Newsfilm
Services for TV
that gained him world - wide
attention as "the reluctant
peer."
Benn announced he would
never use the title. He refused
to take his seat in the House
To Size 43
New York-IUFIi-United Press
International announced to
day that effective Oct. 1 it
will produce as well as syndi
cate its newsfilm services for
television.
The announcements was
made by Mims Thomason,
president and general man
ager of United Press Interna
tional, who said plans have
now be been completed for
the inauguration on that date
Hatfield Urges
Care in Driving
Gov. Mark Hatfield has
urged care in driving during
the period Sept. 4 to 11.
which has been designated as
National Child Safety week.
In a statement issued this
week, the governor reminded
residents that schools through
out the state will be reopen
ing with thousands of Oregon
children en route to and from
schools each day along the
streets and highways travel
ing by foot and on bicycles.
There is obviously need for
alertness on the part of mo
torists, in school zones, near
playgrounds, or any area
where groups of children are
active, the governor con
tinued. The statement concluded
that each Oregonian should
cooperate in every possible
manner, not only during this
special week, but throughout
the year, in making the streets
and highways safe.
Portland -IUPIi- Portland po
lice said Wednesday a wide
spread car theft ring has been
broken up and four young
men arrested here.
of UPI's own newsflim pro
duction facilities for serving
its TV subscribers throughout
the world.
For the past, 12 years UPI's
television newsfilm services
have been produced in collab
oration with Movietone News,
which is discontinuing its ac
tivities in the domestic news
reel field. The arrangement
will terminate Oct. 1.
Leroy Keller, UPI vice
president and general sales
manager, who organized Unit
ed Press Movietone News
with Twentieth Century-Fox
in 1951, paid warm tribute to
Movietone for the cooperation
extended to UPI during the
association.
"Our joint efforts have won
for UPI television newsfilms
a world-wide reputation for
its scope and quality," Keller
said.
"This reputation will now
be further enhanced and ex
panded with the complete co
ordination of newsfilm cov
erage, production and serving
facilities within the frame
work of UPI's global com
munications complex.
UPI newsfilm services are
now seen on television sta
tions in 45 countries. Subscrib
ers in this country include
more than 100 independent
stations in addition to the
American Broadcasting Co.
network. Outside the United
States UPI newsfilm is sup
plied to national net work
and individual television sta
tions in Canada, Europe, the
Middle East, Africa, Asia, Aus
tralia and Latin America.
Thomason announced that
Hary Varian, former assistant
general manager of UPI
Newspictures, has been ap
pointed general manager of
I the new UPI newsfilm service.
j
' .34-48
of Lords. He began a seeming
ly endless series of legal ma
neuvers to strip himself of his
unwanted honors.
His greatest supporter was
an unlikely one - his wife.
Caroline Wedgwood Benn is
an American. And as one Brit
ish newspaper said in 1960,
Serve Smartly!
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no wonder you'll love it.
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FIFTY CENTS in coins for
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just after the first Lord Stans
gate died:
Wife Supports Him
"You might imagine that
Mrs. Bonn would love to be a
Lady and contemplate all
that ermine. But no. Mrs.
Benn is Mr. Benn's most
forceful supporter."
Mrs. Benn, who retains her
American citizenship, remain
ed outspoken in her husband's
cause, and once said, "even if
a title didn't stand in the way
of my husband's career, I
would always prefer to be
plain 'Mrs.' "
The end of the battle came
in sight in this year's parlia
ment with the introduction in
the House of Commons of the
Peerage bill, commonly call
ed the "Wedgwood Benn en
abling bill." This time, with
both Conservative and Labor
Party support, it passed.
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THIRTY FIVE CENTS
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Print plainly NAME, AD
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SAVE
FOR
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FUTURE
Just as the industrious beaver plans for the
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Medford Mail Tribune
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