Evening star., 1942-12-26
Durlun-And After

Dorlon-And After
The assassination of Admiral Jean
Francois Darlan raises many ques-
tions and ushers in period of grave
uncertainty in French Afriea's in
| ternal situation. To both the Euro
pean and native populations, the
admiral undoubtedly represented the
legal succession of power by direct
delegation from Marshal Petain, the
Vichy chief of state. The French
are highly legalistic people and in
stinctively respect what they deem
to be constituted authority. This is
especially true of French officialdom,
both civil and military, who shrink
from acts which might imperil their
jobs and jeopardize their retirement
| pensions and emoluments.
This was the strength of Admiral
Darlan in his assumption of the
office OF high commissioner for
French Africa. He was the keystone
OF the administrative arch with
which General Eisenhower and our
State Department found it wise to
deal as a going concern that could
insure internal order and stability.
Now that the keystone has suddenly
fallen, 1t may be difficult to find
another personality who can make
an equal claim on the allegiance of
officialdom and the general popula-
ton.
The logical successor is General
Honore Giraud, at present COM
mander of the French North African
forces which are being reorganized
to fight the Axis in Tunisia beside
the Allied army of occupation.
Giraud's patriotism is recognized by
all parties, including De Gaulle and
his Fighting French. But the gen.
eral lacks the legal sanction which
Darlan possessed. This is shown by
the fact that he was originally picked
by the American and British govern
ments to head the hoped-for rally Of
French Africa to the Allied side, but
proved unable to persuade the local
French military and naval forces to
cease opposing the landing of our
troops. 1t was Darlan who gave the
order to cease fire, and Giraud gladly
placed himself under the regime
which the admiral set up on his own
initiative. Only the other day,
Giraud stated that he is simple
soldier, concerned solely with fight
ing the Axis and leaving politics to
those prepared for it." Such a
man, concerned as he Is with mill
tary affairs, may find it hard to
function administratively amid the
scramble for power and preferment
that is likely to take place in official
ranks.
Whether Darlan's removal will
tend to unite or further divide the
French factions is as yet uncertain.
Much depends on who the slayer is
and what are his political affilia-
tions. First reports speak of him
as a youthful French citizen Should
he prove to have De Gaullist SYM
pathies, the effect will be most un-
fortunate. On the other hand, If it
Is established that he is paid
Axis agent, that would tend to weld
French sentiment against the COM
h@1r - {1,N
deed, committed under circum-
stances which gave the assassin vir-
tually no chance of escape, suggests
that he is a fanatic rather than
hired killer A traitor subsidized
by a'foreign power usually does his
best to plan a getaway in order to
profit personally by his crime.
The tragedy of Darlans end is
enhanced by the fact that his last
public words were a plea for "un-
ion at once" of all Frenchmen in
arms against the Axis. Reiterating
his recent pledge to retire to private
life after the present emergency, he
emphasized to a group of French
newspapermen that his own per-
sonality was of no significance. "It
is of no Importance that Frenchmen
have rallied around me-" he said.
whether it is I or some one else
does not matter"
Perhaps those self -effacing words,
spoken in the very shadow of i'm
pending death, may serve as a rally
ing cry which will heal factional
bitterness and promote patriotic
unity in French hearts. That, at
least, is the redeeming hope in what
is otherwise an unmitigated mis-