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Show Tripartite Picture Clearer Since Meeting in Quebec U. S., England, Russia Agreed on Fundamental Funda-mental Policies; Observers Optimistic Concerning War, Post-War Cooperation. By BAUKIIAGE Newt Analyst and Commentator. not quarrel with his action. Death took Darlan from the picture. It did not end the arguments, but since we know now that the head of the Communist state of Russia was able to swallow Darlan, the squeamlsh-ness squeamlsh-ness of some of the critics seems a little far fetched. In the days that followed the recall re-call of the Soviet ambassadors to London and Washington, the outcry over the absence of Stalin at Quebec increased. Roosevelt, Churchill and Secretary Hull were blamed there was the blow-up over the charges by a columnist who said Hull was anti-Russian. I talked with Secretary Hull about that time. Whatever his feelings may be regarding communism, he indicated from his remarks to me that Russia was looking sympathetically sympathet-ically on the attempts at a Joint conference, and a few days later, a fcigh British source stated flatly there was no great divergence of views between the Soviets and the ! Allies. Agreement Both were thoroughly agreed on the necessity of the destruction of Nazi tyranny and Prussian militarism, mili-tarism, and it was revealed that Marshal Stalin was rising in prestige pres-tige with the army and that the Soviet So-viet army was rising in prestige with the Russian people until it was already al-ready on a level with the communist party itself. This seemed to indicate, indi-cate, as Captain Rlckenbacker said when he returned from Russia, that the ideologies of the policies and the capitalist nations were growing nearer. Today, as Washington looks back on this last visit of Prime Minister Churchill, there is a feeling that not only are Britain and the United States closer in both their war and their post-war aims, but that the possibility of bringing the Soviets into the circle is greater. One reason rea-son for this is that certain problems on which there has been disagreement disagree-ment have been met and thrashed out successfully between Roosevelt and Churchill and the way is open to a much more extended discussion with Stalin's representatives. WXU Service, Union Trust Building, Washington, D. C. The ink is now dry on the secret footnotes which appear In the memoranda memo-randa officially recorded after the long and quiet conversations which took place in the presidential study in the White House when the Allied strategists worked out the end of another chapter in the history of World War II. My own modest notations, scribbled scrib-bled on the backs of envelopes, and on scratch pads, and written in taxi-cabs, taxi-cabs, leaning against a White House elm after a press and radio conference, con-ference, taken down while the President Pres-ident or other officials were speaking, speak-ing, make a clearer pattern. Words and phrases take on new meanings, rough sketches are filled out in revealing detail. The speculation, the criticism, the attacks and the apologies which swirled about the Allied policy toward Russia, for Instance, it is plain now was built mostly on half knowledge. While press and public were crying cry-ing for a tripartite meeting of the representatives of Russia, Britain and the United States, the arrangements arrange-ments for a whole series of meetings were already being made. It was not until almost the end of the Roosevelt-Churchill visit that we learned, first, that the tripartite meetings "on the foreign minister level" had been definitely agreed upon and, second, (which no one then guessed) that a commission was to be formed of representatives of all three powers to discuss the situation arising out of the Allied victories in the Mediterranean in which Russia is so deeply concerned but which, militarily speaking, she has been forced to view from a distance. dis-tance. When we received that news, we were unable to indicate its source. The Darlan Question Another source of bitter controversy contro-versy which has been allowed to fester was cleared up at the same time. Certain groups in England and America from the very beginning begin-ning violently objected to the choice of Darlan as the man with whom Meanwhile, the position of Secretary Secre-tary Hull, within the administration, has been greatly strengthened as one after another, he has taken over the functions of all agencies which have any dealings whatsoever with foreign countries. He has placed the question frankly before the President Pres-ident who had to choose between his secretary of state and those who opposed him inside and outside of the state department. HuU'm Pnmitlnn the Allies dealt in North Africa. There have been two revelations on that score which, had they come earlier, might have cleared the air. One concerns the Russian attitude and the Russians certainly ought to lean as far to the left as anyone. It now seems that the Soviet leaders, lead-ers, frankly opposed to Darlan and ell he stood for, actually accepted the British and American policy on the basis of an old Russian saying that in matters of military strategy or comparable situations it is sometimes necessary to deal with the devil and his grandmother. A word from the chief of staff revealed re-vealed in his annual report to the secretary of war is interesting in this connection. He says of the diplomatic dip-lomatic preparation before the invasion in-vasion of Africa: "Should an approach ap-proach be made to a single Frenchman French-man who proved unsympathetic to our purpose, we risked the slaughter of our soldiers on the beaches of North Africa as well as decisive losses to our shipping . . . unexpectedly, unexpect-edly, Admiral Jean Darlan, Petain's designated successor, and command- er-in-chief of all French forces, was found to be in Algiers visiting his sick son when our forces landed. He was taken into protective custody custo-dy and when it was found that French leaders stood loyal to the Vichy government, a series of conferences con-ferences immediately followed with the purpose of calling a halt to the French resistance against General Patton's task force in the vicinity of Casablanca." The Background Then, on the morning of November Novem-ber 11, the Germans invaded France and Darlan obligingly rejected the pseudo-independent Vichy government govern-ment and assumed authority in North Africa in the name of Marshal Marsh-al Petain and ordered the French to cease all hostilities. Just what pressure or argument was used in getting Darlan to yield to Allied wishes has never been revealed re-vealed or what his motives may have been they may indeed have been prompted by the devil or his grandmother but those who knew the inside military expediency, did Secretary Hull's position is this: the policies which I have sponsored and insisted upon have justified themselves. Either my department must have full authority in the field of foreign relations or I will hand in my portfolio. The President faces, first, a congress con-gress which has had time to think over its position, has heard the complaints com-plaints and received the advice of its constituents. It returns determined deter-mined to imprint its will on national policy, foreign and domestic. Its texture is and has been for some time strongly away from the so-called so-called new-deal policies, strongly toward the conservative side. , Secretary Sec-retary Hull probably stands higher, has more friends, and can exert more Influence with congress than any member of the cabinet. The President needs a congress which will stand behind him if he is to carry out the plans for further conduct con-duct of the war and the winning of the peace according to methods he believes it is necessary to employ. And, of course, there is the fourth term ahead, for continuance in office of-fice is essential, the President's friends believe, if he is to mold the post-war world. Secretary Hull is his anchor to windward. This is due to his political polit-ical influence and also because he and what he symbolizes both at home and abroad, have become inextricably in-extricably bound up in world negotiations. nego-tiations. And for the President, there is but one objective now that is, to be the peacemaker as he was the war leader. lead-er. All else choice of counsellors, domestic policies, must dovetail into that purpose. |