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Show Sincerity Marks Peace Parley at San Francisco . : n Creation of Flexible Organization Foreseen; ; ! j Position of President Truman Eolsters J Hand of U. S. Delegation. By BAUKIIAGE News Analyst and Commentator. WNU Service, Union Trust Building, Washington, D. C. SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. There Is something significant, I believe, In the fact that this world confef-ence confef-ence which hopes to plot a happier course for the future of the world Is being held at the Golden Gate. I can't help contrasting the atmosphere atmos-phere with that which enveloped the gathering on the banks of the Seine 26 years ago, which I also covered. I think there is much more hope for success for this gathering than there was for the Paris conference con-ference two decades ago, although most of us who crowded into its opening session on the Quai d'Orsay In Paris on a sunny January day in 1919, were well supplied with hope, too. I think the meeting place was well chosen and if the agenda becomes unfinished business, it might well be concluded on the same spot where the clean fog sweeps in from the Pacific whose wide waters unite the east and the west. There still lingers on California's shores the memory of its multifold historical national contacts. It was here In "Drake's Bay" that the famous fa-mous English explorer is said to have stopped to repair his ship. I say was Drake's bay for later, Cer-meno, Cer-meno, the Spaniard, on a voyage from Manila in 1595, was shipwrecked ship-wrecked in the same body of water wa-ter and gave it its present name of San Francisco bay. The Franciscan missionaries built missions a mule-day's mule-day's journey apart from southern to northern California. The sword followed the cross and Portola's Spanish soldiery fought their way up to what is still called the Prae-sidio, Prae-sidio, the very year the American nation was born. Less definite are the records of the czar's explorers but the "Russian river" just north of here remains a flowing memento of their early visits. Less distinguished Chinese and Japanese came and raised their problems; great settlements of Hindus Hin-dus remain in the state and colonies of Swiss and Italians toil among vineyards reproducing the products of their homelands. Seek to Build On Firm Ground As I write these lines two things appear as near certainties as certainties cer-tainties exist in this kaleidoscopic world. The United Nations are sincere sin-cere in the hope of erecting some sort of structure which, if it is humanly hu-manly possible to do so, can provide pro-vide a place for the shelter, care and feeding of the dove of peace. A shadowy and almost paradoxical corollary of this statement is the frank acknowledgment that probably prob-ably one desideratum primum omi-num omi-num of only one of the great powers is the international organization itself. it-self. What Russia and Britain want, first of all, is an inner citadel girded gird-ed by strong mutually protective alliances. al-liances. The rest of the structure Is, for them, largely window dressing. dress-ing. Nevertheless, to obtain cooperation cooper-ation among the strong few, they are willing to include the weaker many. The second thing which I think even at this juncture can be predicted pre-dicted is that no matter how harmonious har-monious the building of this new temple of hope may be, the final edifice edi-fice will be constructed on such a broad foundation and with such wide portals, that it will not confine its tenants to any very strict restraint of action. There will be plenty of room to turn around in it, in case some of the occupants feel they don't want to go in exactly the same direction as their fellows. This is not a cynical conclusion it is simply sim-ply the result of a practical desire not to put anything in the way of getting something started. The American delegation realizes that. An agreement on major questions which could be decided following the meeting of Stettinius, Molotov and Eden was announced by the delegation delega-tion before we left Washington, which meant that Senator Vanden-berg Vanden-berg was satisfied that the wording of the final agreement which the Americans would accept contained enough elasticity to provide an "escape "es-cape clause." This assures the senate sen-ate and the American people that this nation will not be bound, even by implication, to support injustices perpetrated by other nations, past or present. Truman Understands Congress Viewpoint With Harry Truman in the White House the position of the delegation has been strengthened by his announcement an-nouncement that he would not attend the meeting in person, but would back up his delegates from his desk "where he belonged." There are several other things that augur well for harmony. The senate knows that Mr. Truman is not personally .committed .com-mitted in any way to Britain or Russia since he did not participate in any of the talks of the Big Three; they noted his remark that Foreign Commissar Molotov when he arrived in this country would pay his respects to the President of the United States "as he should." This time the mountain had come to Mahomet, Ma-homet, not the reverse. Lastly, there is the very potent fact that President Truman was Senator Truman for a long while. He knows the legislative viewpoint and, to know the legislative viewpoint, view-point, not academically as an outside out-side observer, but as a long-time possessor of that viewpoint, is of great practical importance. Remember Remem-ber the frequent controversies between be-tween the administration and congress con-gress in the past few years. Note, likewise, two of the outstanding successes suc-cesses in obtaining cooperation between be-tween the executive and the legislative legisla-tive branches: Cordell Hull and James Byrnes, both former members mem-bers of congress. So much for the hope for domestic domes-tic harmony. Now consider the difference dif-ference between the position of the United States in 1919 and the United States in 1945. Then, it is true, our entry into the war made victory possible. But now we have taken over the major burden of the fighting and in so doing do-ing have become the most powerful country in the world and of all the powerful countries, the one which emerges with its military resources least impaired by far the most powerful in terms of army, navy and war material and wealth. On the whole I think it is fair to report a general feeling of optimism on the part of the American delegation delega-tion and at least a feeling on the part of other delegates I have met, of willingness to try to justify that optimism. A G.I. President It is a long time since we have , had an ex-soldier in the White House. President Truman is the first veteran of World War I to accept ac-cept the mansion. As you know he broadcast to the troops overseas soon after he addressed ad-dressed congress. Naturally the movie-cameras and the sound-track boys were there. So were the army photographers. But the Big Boys get the priorities at such shows. The newsreels, the top-flight magazines and the rest. The boys in uniform were pushed back. They didn't belong. be-long. As a result they got a sad side shot that was strictly ng. So the officer in charge went up and asked if he could have a retake. re-take. "Certainly," (or words to that effect since we don't quote presidents) presi-dents) said President Truman. "Go ahead, we'll do the whole thing over." Well, army pictorial does things right. It has some of the best Hollywood Hol-lywood technical men in uniform. It took a long time to-get just the right lighting. So an official came up and said: "You have just ten minutes more." Up spoke the captain: "Do you want the President taken right or wrong?" The President broke in: "Take all night if you want to." (or, as I said, words to that effect). This picture pic-ture was for the G.I. s. And so they fiddled and fooled until un-til they had the lights right, until they had everything just right. And then the President went ahead and did his speech over again. It is one of the best action shots taken in the White House. But you won't see it. It was just for the G.I.s. BARBS . . . by Baukhage The miners came in '48 to Cal-i-for-ni-ay, the diplomats in '45 are digging in to stay. . Max Schmeling, former heavyweight heavy-weight champion, who was put in a soncentration camp and 'treated" for defeatism by the Nazis, is now a welterweight, according to the Berlin correspondent of a Swedish paper. America is bankrupt, says a Jap foreign office spokesman yenful thinking. One of the shortages which has not been called to general attention is the lack of garbage cans. The OPA says that only one-fifth of the number demanded is being produced. pro-duced. This will soon be evident to anyone who doesn't hold his nose. |
