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Show Rlcj all iU; tTi I DTlf t j Personalities Still Affect r r Relationships of Nations '!,;, Strain Between FDR and De Gaulle Com- lff I plicates Postwar Understanding 'rf Between Two Great Powers. I : ' --a By BAUKIIAGE News Analyst and Commentator. WNU Service, Union Trust Building, Washington, D. C. Some years ago that highly scientific scien-tific organisation, the Smithsonian institution, discussed the possibility of a relationship between sun spots and wars. It was carefully explained that sun spots, which are really great explosions on the sun's surface, sur-face, allected the weather on the earth and frequently bad weather in turn affected the dispositions of human hu-man beings and might conceivably conceiva-bly render national leaders less amenable to reason and more likely like-ly to get their countries into trouble. At first glance that seems rather ar-fetched but the fact that a clash of personalities can '" " a(ject me course of , ' , nations today, al- " most as much as it i:: i did when people 4 I (ought at the whim of a king, has been ' brought out striking- iw4 ly in Franco-Ameri- can relations, iwtt There isn't much .v qUestjon that the President common interests of Roosevelt France and the United States would be better served if one Franklin Roose- rww,l velt could "get along" better with t N . one Charles De . . 1 Gaulle. t 1 Of course, it is f j j only fair to say that '- s 1 there are others h ,v . ; i who don't "get ? along" with the tall, ff' 1 handsome and aris- aJ tocratic French general. gen-eral. It is no secret Gen. De Gaulle that one Josef Stalin, although he arranged a highly advantageous treaty with France, including some even more advantageous private understanding with De Gaulle, had no desire to invite in-vite him to Yalta. But the Rooseveit-De Gaulle differences differ-ences seem to be recurrent and just when everybody thought, after the latter's visit to Washington when he was understood to have given his colleagues in France the impression that the visit was highly satisfactory satisfac-tory to him, came the answer "I regret" to Roosevelt's "respondez-vous, "respondez-vous, s'il vous plais" and the meeting meet-ing on the President's cruiser off Algiers did not take place. Etiquette Poses Difficult Problem In diplomatic circles it has been carefully explained that De Gaulle could not accept an invitation from a peregrinating president to call upon him in French territory, which t was explained was a sort of "come down and have a picnic with me in your backyard, I'm too busy to call on you in your parlor." To which American diplomatic circles explained: it wasn't an invitation in-vitation to De Gaulle to come to Algiers, Al-giers, which is French territory, but an invitation to call on the, President Presi-dent aboard a U, S. warship, which Is American territory. Peut-etre, was the reply, but the chief of a great power, indeed an empire, cannot be expected to be treated any better than the rulers Df such minor domains as Arabia, Egypt or Ethiopia, royal-blooded though they be. (Roosevelt entertained enter-tained the gentlemen earlier.) There the discussion bogged down in mutual chagrin with all but two of the leading French newspapers newspa-pers (one conservative and one communist) insisting that De Gaulle was right and the apologists for Roosevelt explaining that the President Presi-dent could not undertake what probably prob-ably would have amounted to a visit of state and a triumphal tour of France, when he had a war to win. It was also recalled that one thing Mr. Roosevelt prides himself on avoiding is making the mistakes mis-takes Wilson did. Wilson received a wild ovation in France and Italy BEFORE BE-FORE the peace conference, and suffered the results of a most painful pain-ful reaction afterward. How great a part Roosevelt's failure fail-ure to pay a visit to De Gaulle in Paris played in motivating the general's gen-eral's refusal, or, if it were the chief cause, how much was personal pique on the part of De Gaulle and how much a feeling that his nation had been slighted, it is impossible to say. My own impression garnered gar-nered from conversations with persons thoroughly familiar with the French attitude is that "difficulties" were expected to arise in 'Franco-American 'Franco-American relations the moment it became clear that France was not invited to participate in the counsels coun-sels of the Big Three. It was not expected that the role her armies are able to play would make her eligible to join the military councils at Yalta but the French were ardently ardent-ly desirous of having a place at the general negotiations which made up the second part of the parleys. General Gen-eral De Gaulle was in no mood, when he received the President's invitation, to brook what he considered consid-ered a further slight. It was clear, on the other hand, that the President felt he had sound, practical reasons for omitting any visit to Paris before the San Francisco Fran-cisco meeting. He also felt there were sound, practical reasons for a conversation with De Gaulle. He said there were a number of points that had to be cleared up which required re-quired French action before the United Nations meeting could be held. Indeed, I imagine, he felt that he was showing especial regard to France when he offered to review the accomplishments at Yaltana" sonally for De Gaulle. j" FDR Comments f On Prima Donnast That is supposed I the extemporaneous I serted in his repo; about "prima donnal Those remarks, l versally interpreted I De Gaulle, came as I and immediately afll Brewster publicly laj judicious." I I was following the! cial release in the ll lery as the Presidj had noted the mil which he tossed rj asides and which hel talk the intimate nl But I was startled I following the text a an agreement with read the sentence, I it is in the process and then he looked ul a touch of what verjj in his voice, remarktl only that, but in sor.J we have to remembi great number of prl the world, all who wil Before anything will may have a little dl listen to more prim;l That startled me ;1 must say I did not a could mean De I seemed impossible. H1 ers mentioned it, I btl for granted, for I knl the procedure of votil upon at Yalta was I France the agreement announced. There were! upon which France haal suited in advance of the well, i 1 The French ambassado seated in the diplomati showed no sign whateverX was affected by the words a he is said to have told a frieV it was hardly likely that the donna reference could have meant to apply to France since President had completed his ci ment on what disposition of Fren interests had been made and hai moved on to another topic, Yugoslavia. Yugo-slavia. That, of course, is a good alibi. And it is necessary that there be an alibi for I am convinced that had there been even unofficial admission ad-mission that the President was hitting at De Gaulle a really difficult diffi-cult situation would arise. It is known that although many people consider the general what the French call "difficile," the French do not call De Gaulle that and his friends and admirers are warm in their loyalty and would instantly instant-ly resent any unfavorable comment on his conduct. No serious difficulties are expected ex-pected to arise between the United States and France but some of their common troubles in the past show that there is much difference between be-tween foreign relations, bolster them with protocol as you will, and personal relations, after all. BARBS ... by Baukhage A farmer in Indiana swapped a two-year-old horse for 15 cartons of cigarettes. Apparently he would rather burn up the carpet than the road. The Germans have a new rocket ; that looks like a stove-pipe. Well, 1 they have thrown up everything else but the kitchen sink and the sponge the latter is overdue. Ceiling prices on strawberries will be the same as last year. Which means, we hope, that short cake will be no shorter. One of the causes of increase in illness among workers is described as due to mental strain of new workers who haven't been employed for a long time. Work has always been the curse of the leisure classes. |