Evening star., 1938-05-01
London and Paris Turn to US.
To Break R0me>Berlin Axis
Mussolini Must Be Shown That Last Three Big
Democracies Are Cooperating Closely,
Is View of British Foreign Office.

h Foreign Office.
tors casually said in referring to the ILL
temper Of the administration in regard to
the totalitarian states: II am assuring
the American diplomats that the various
official statements of the leaders Of this
country have as little effect on Mussolini
and Hitler as a flea bite on an elephant.
OF course, the appearance of an American
fleet in the North Sea or the Mediter-
ranean, with decks cleared for action,
would be another matter. It would worry
them considerably"
Next Years War Games.
At the heels of Mr.. Roosevelts approval
of the Italo-British agreement came an un-
official but inspired announcement from
Honolulu. The United States fleet, which
has been stationed in its entirety on the
West Coast, is planning next years war
games in the Atlantic. Somebody high up
must have heard the above quoted remark
Of the totaltarian diplomat. 1t has been
repeatedly emphasized in official quarters
that our chief strategic problem lies in the
Pacific, hence the fleet has been made into
one unit based on the West Coast. While
Navy Department officials consider the
statement from Honolulu premature, they
do not deny the possibility that the fleet
might be brought to the Atlantic next year
because of the 1889 New York Fair. But
In political and diplomatic quarters this
unexpected announcement, coupled with
the intimation that New York may also
be the seat of another peace and limitation
OF arms conference, is interpreted IS a
preparation for some important political
activities by Uncle Sam The American
Navy is highly regarded in foreign coun-
tries; it is considered qualitatively the best
in the world and equaled only by the Amer
lean air force. The presence Of some 100
warships, well seasoned for any kind Of op-
GRAFTON after five years Of intense training.
is no mean lining to any mailed fist which
might be shaken under the dictators noses.
Under the Popular Front government in
France, and while Eden was the master of
Britain's foreign policy, it was believed that
the problems of the two European democ-
racies might be solved by collective security,
by common front at Geneva and by the
immense masses of men and raw materials
Of the U. S. S. R.
But these hopes have faded away. COL
lective security became bankrupt the day
Italy and Germany revealed how strongly
they were armed Geneva died its inevitable
natural death when the best-armed coun-
tries abandoned her; finally Russia proved
more liability than an asse: to her allies
and associates. The result of this total
bankruptcy has been the fall of Eden and
the adoption by Great Britain Of . make
shift realistic policy-vith no tangible and
durable effects.
Ne0-Realistis in France
In France the Popular Front government,
stubbornly devoted to the League Of Ma
tions and the alliance with the Soviets, has
been replaced by the neo-realstic cabinet
OF Edouard Daladier. with Georges Bonnet
| in the foreign Office.
| Bonnet is not trained diplomat Aside
| from the few months he spent in political
exile in Washington, where Leon Blum sent
| him as Ambassador because he was politi-
cal nuisance in France, he has had no
diplomatic experienced factor in his
| favor. He is intelligent and shrewd. His
sojourn in Washington convinced him of
the inexhaustible power of the United
States. He did not spend his time teaing
and cocktailing in the National Capital
He saw people, talked to people-even to
| those who were not in the books of the pro-
fessional social secretaries whom every for
elgn ambassador hires as soon as he ar
| rlves. He even saw John L. Lewis, who is
! taboo except at the Russian Embassy, and
| congressman who are not receivable" in
the salons of the Capital And he learned
in seven months more than most diplomats
learn in seven years.
Bonnet took the uncomfortable armchair
in the Quai d'Orsay somewhat against his
Will. He fancies himself a financial genius
and preferred to remain at the head of the
much-depleted French treasury. But the
foreign official appealed to him in the end
because they thought he could divert
FRANCOIS foreign policies into more salu-
brious channels.
He became a realist, too France, sur
rounded by potential enemies on three
fronts-the Rhine. the Alps and the Pyre-
nees-can preserve her old importance in
Europe only by close cooperation with the
Anglo-Saxon countries An agreement with
Chamberlain was not difficult It has been
achieved already; the alliance with Russia
will remain only on paper. Czechoslovakia
will be left to her fate. These are not
times when government can make empty
and bombastic gestures. Together with the
British government Bonnet now is direct
ing all his attention to the United States,
BY hook or by crook something must be
done by the three remaining carriers of the
democratic torch
Hence we can look forward in the near
future to new negotiations for trade agree-
ments" and parallelisms of interests. Lon
don and Paris are convinced that the saw
which might destroy the Rome-Berlin axis
cannot be found in the vaults Of the
wealthy city bankers or in the files Of the
gentlemen's agreements. It Is in the hands
OF President Roosevelt and Secretary Hull.
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