Evening star., 1941-01-08
BY WILLIAM McGAFFIN,

NEW YORK, Jan. ga few short
hours after Anthony Eden moved
into the British foreign office again
after the three-year absence precip-
itated by the Chamberlain appease-
ment program, he was closeted in
long, friendly" talk with Russian
Ambassador Maisky.
This was an unusual experience
for the little Russian. Repeated re-
bluffs had been his fate under Mr..
Eden'S predecessor, Lord Halifax,
whose appointment as Ambassador
to Washington left the post clear
for the return Mr.. Eden always had
yearned to make.
The meeting symbolizes press
ing problem which has weighed on
Winston Churchill ever since he
became Prime Minister-that is.
how to win Russian support and
how to control Britain's reactionary
Conservative party which dominates
the country's political life. The two
are related.
Britain even under Mr.. Chamber
lain recognized the need of Russian
cooperation, if possible; of Rus
sian neutrality at the least. But
the counting of the Russian bear
was halfhearted and futile, partic-
ularly under Lord Halifax. He rep
reSents the dominating reactionary
element in the Conservative party
that has always feared Communism
more than NaI-ism-at least up to
the beginning of the war.
Halifax Nullified Progress.
England finally sent wealthy So
cialiSt Sir Stafford Cripps to Mos
cow to try his luck But Halifax
critics say that as fast as CrippS
made any progress his lordShip back
in London responded with some
maneuver that nullified the gain
Mr.. Eden and Mr.. Churchill are
Conservatives, too, but of the
Young Turk" brand. With the
fate of the empire hanging in the
balance they see as vitally impor-
tant the task of winning Soviet Rus
sia, with her immense reservoir of
man power and resources, to Brit
aims ald-or at least preventing her
from springing to life on Hitlers
side.
Thus with Lord Halifax gone, the
British campaign takes on new i'm
petus. How successful 1t will be is
another question. Britain has gained
American aid. If now she could
win over Russia, observers say it
might be the deciding factor in
the war.
The British are encouraged by
various reports of GOODNESS" sprung
up between the Soviets and Ger
many since the signing of the non
aggression pact which preceded the
war.
The British are fairly certain
Germany is getting little or no help
from Russia at the moment. But
at the same time they have not
forgotten their conviction that the
Russian policy always has been to
divide and conquer" They say
there is no evidence to indicate
Russia has abandoned for one mo-
ment the idea generally credited
to her Of waiting until England and
Germany both are exhausted from
their titanic struggle.
Russia Wants Two Things.
Reporters in London, admitted to
the Russian Embassy by the square
shouldered Muscovite doorman, who
first peers through a speakeasy-
style slit in the door, hear Mikhail
Korj expound Russian policy.
This small, sparkling, round
faced first secretary of the Embassy
and ace press contact man of the
London diplomatic corps argues
convincingly that Russia wants only
two things-to develop her own re-
sources and to trade with every
one,
The Soviets say they want to be
friends with Britain. but add under
their breath that they look behind
all Whitehall offers for any hint
that Britain is trying to get the
Russians to fight Britain's battle.
They say an ancient will-o'-the-
wisp of the Conservative old guard
has been the thought that by fence
sitting and cunning manipulation
it could get the Nazis and the So
vietS at each others throat.
1t seems, however, that II any
Briton could win the Russians over
it would be Anthony Eden. The
British public firmly believes there
is more to him than his Savile Row
clothes and oxford accent. They
know that in Russian eyes he has
been on the right side" of most
of the important international de-
velopments of interest to Russia
ever since the Spanish Civil War.
These include the matter Of
Spanish non-intervention, the Chi
nese-Japanese War and non-ap-
peasement in the Czecho-Slov
crisis which led to the Munich
carve-up.
Eden Distrusted Least.
The Russians themselves say that
Mr.. Eden is one of the Enghshmen
they "distrust the least" The ques-
tion is, can he tear down the great
wall of suspicion and distrust erect
ed in Russian minds by a long line
of old guard British statesmen?
Critics of the old guard faction
say this is only one of the things
they have done to weaken Britain's
war effort"
These critics incidentally repre-