Evening star., 1942-05-22
Gen. De Gau|Ie's Lack
OF First-Rate Aides
Seen Cause Of Ills
InternoI Troubles With
Colonies Involves
No Greet Principle

SdlCdoAlAd DSCAl PubASAy ASASAASN
to, it mad better be more fully
described. What is the trouble ir
the island now ruled by the "Free
French" and placed under the COM
mand Of an American general. who
by the way, successfully performs his
task?
The origin of the trouble is two.
fold. First, although the United
States Government concluded, last
January, a formal agreement with
Gen. Charles de Gaulle in London
and with Admiral George Thierry
d'Argenlieu, the high commissioner
In Noumea. for the defense of New
Caledonia, it does not appear, so far
that the part to be fulfilled by the
admiral, within the American pat
tern. has ever been defined. The
latter is left alone in his corner
Sometimes he has to learn from the
newspapers the steps taken for the
protection of the island. Yet, he
has under him small army.
Second. for long while, it has
become public knowledge that High
Commissioner dArgenlieu - whose
authority includes all the French
possessions in the Pacific-and the
governor of New Caledonia. M
Sautot, do not get on to we'll to-
gether.
Sautot is an easy-going Official
OF no particular distinction. DAr-
genlieu Is naval officer, an aristo-
crat and a priest. He is the superior
Of the French Carmelite order, a
man trained to spiritual life, per-
haps stern disciplinarian. When
he entered his new post he must
have found good deal to reform
Inevitably, he clashed with vested
interests
Shipped OF to London.
According to press reports, d dArgen-
lieu placed Sautot under arrest.
The truth is that he shipped him
on to Gen de Gaulle's headquar-
ters in London
Now, on the American side there
Is A noticeable tendency To support
OASOo "eoAAiSS ~ SCllhCu.
Such are the main points. The
rest can easily be guessed. Gen. de
Gaulle is not the man to throw over
board lieutenant Of d'Argenlieu's s
emlnence without making sure that
no injustice will be done.
To make the picture complete. it
must be added that Vichy's agents.
not all strictly controlled, and a
Japanese fifth column are on the
lookout for any opportunity to foster
disturbances. In New Caledonia it
should not prove very difficult for
the American general in command
and Admiral d'Argenlieu to straight
en- out their differences.
Other Differences.
But New Caledonia is not the
only French colony mentioned in
the headlines. Equatorial Africa
also has its share. The story need
not run into so many words. Gov.
Gen. Eboue. highly respected Negro
born in Martinique. who was chiefly
instrumental in bringing the native
population over to Gen. de Gaulle,
does not find 1t so easy to cooperate
with the high commissioner, an
offlcer of the Medical Military Corps,
Gen. Adolphe Eugene Marie Sice.
Their respective duties are over
tapping, and occasionally this
brings about some conflict. But
both men are deeply devoted to the
leader of the Free French move
ment, and their mutual controversies
cannot be pushed very far. These
dont involve any great principle.
They are commonplace.
Beyond those negligible incidents
which elsewhere have their patterns
In much more serious form, the real
question arises. The unprejudiced
observer cannot fail to be struck by
the fact that the De Gaullist or
ganization comes in for a share of
adverse criticism which greatly ex-
ceeds what should normally be ex-
pected. How can that fact be &C
counted for?
First-Rate Aides Lacking
That there are weak spots in the
Free French structure nobody de-
nies. They are mainly due to the
lack Of flrst-rate men around the
general. The names of Camille
Chautemps and of others are some
times put forward as a remedy. 1t
should be more widely known that
De Gaulle would not gain anything
but. on the contrary, lose a great
deal If he agreed to enlist the serv-
Ices of such outdated politicians.
The disparaging campaign con-
Quoted against the Free French
arises from the ignorance of the
great headway made throughout
France by the De Gaullist idea. We
hear from time to time of heroic
deeds of resistance to the German
conqueror Most Of them are to be
ascribed to groups which turn to
the Free French headquarters in
London for leadership.
Three months ago many OF those
groups, which consist of peasants,
workers, university professors,
teachers, army officers and intel
lectuals of every kind came to a
close understanding Today their
network extends all through oc-
cupied and unoccupied France. They
have been in direct contact with the
general and complete agreement
was the outcome Those who carp
at Gen. de Gaulle must not forget
that he is much more than the
head of the Free French outside the
metropolitan territory. Above all,
he is a permanent inspiration to
the patriots who daily risk their
life in attempts to check Abetz,
Stuelpnagel and Laval.
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