The Republican., 1943-09-09
A PLAN FOR UNITY
WashingtOn, Sept.

Washington, Sept. 4.
Recent complaint has been made
that so many persons without either
experience or capacity were putting
forth peace and postwar plans that
the people GENERALLY are bewildered
and would welcome something of
practical nature, couched in simple
language, from someone whose back
ground gave him a right to speak. 1t
is not possible to make that complaint
since Mr.. Herbert Hoover's speech
Friday night. For one thing, though
he has no official position, his expert
ence and background qualify him to
speak; for another, his views are en-
inently practical and easily under
stood. They are more than that-they
emphasize the vital Importance of
agreement now, before the war is over,
among the Allies upon a workable
program. Unless this is done it seems
clear that chaos will ensue.
With great clarity and force Mr..
Hoover urges that there shall not be
this time the usual armstice or the
usual general peace conference, to
which forty nations will send 1000
delegates eager to crate and greedy
to grab Instead he proposes four
stcps-frst, an agreement before the
firing ceases Of all the United Ma
tions that a few leading nations be
appointed trustees or managers of
peace; second, that the terms Of
simple provisional peace be agreed
upon now which the managers or trus-
tees shall impose upon belligerent Eu-
rope the moment firing ceases-and
later on Asia; third, that there be a
transition period from war to peace
of a few years in which the world
can cool off and have time for delib-
crate solution of the long-view prob
lens of lasting peace; fourth, that
after the foundations of a real peace
have been laid some sort of world in
stituton or league be created to re-
place the managers or trustees and
preserve the peace.
Eleven very clear and cogent reas-
ons to support his four steps are
given by Nh Hoover. To few Of these
can exception be taken Concerning
two, no question can be raised. One is
that there is an instructive fear that
negotiation by our officials of the
gigantic long-view questions during
the war would disrupt the unity of
the United Nations. Hence the escap
list policy of "Victory first, discuss
peace afterwards In consequence of
this policy, aside from few very gen
eral aims and platitudes, victorious
nations in the past have come to the
peace table wholly unprepared for
the immense problems they must
meet.
As result, a laundering and bad
peace has been male-a peace that in
evitably led to war Such a peace will
follow this war if we go about max
ing it in the usual way and without
a transition period. The other indis-
putable Hoover point is that out of
five thousand years Of war an illu-
sion has been built up in the human
mind that war can be ended and peace
made by signing a piece of paper. In
stead, these hastily drawn documents
drawn while hate is still hot and
emotions run high-have usually be-
come the prospectus Of renewed war.
&#&
OF course, the essential foundation
of Mr.. Hoover's program is agreement
among Great Britain, Russia and our
selves. Everything depends upon that
and, of course, the President and Mr..
Churchill are fully aware of the fact
fully aware, too, that this agree
ment must be made before Germany
is beaten and the war ends. To this
end, they seek a conference with Mr.
| Stain. Russian cooperation is COM
pletely indispensable-but to gain
that cooperation some very practical
measures must be taken, concessions
made and compromises effected. The
! problems ahead are multitudinous and
vast. Victory comes first, of course,
! but victory is now inevitable and to
| delay agreement upon preliminary
postwar program until the surren-
der comes is obviously perilOus in the
extreme.
Mr.. Hoover offers concrete, logi-
cal plan that will hold the world to-
gether while the right solutions of
the great basic questions are sought.
1t would be fine if the President, in
stead of rejecting it because Mr..
I Hoover proposes it, should make his
would be fine, too, if the Republican
policy planners who meet this week at
Mackinaw Island, should follow suit.
Thus the whole business of foreign
policy could be eliminated from the
coming campaign. Thus, public senti-
ment would be consolidated. Thus, the
nation would be solidly behind its
President in dealing with interna-
/ tional affairs and the nolitical fioht