Evening star., 1943-09-05
Return Of Murphy
From North Africa
Is Expected Soon
BY HAROLD ID. CALENDER.
(Copyright. 1943. by the New York
Times and NJ A NJ A "

Gen. Dwight d. Eisenhower and
holding the rank of minister rep
resenting President Roosevelt, is
expected soon to return to Wash
ington for conference with the
President and the State Depart
ment, and it is understood that
he may not return to AlgierS.
1t is pointed out here that Mr..
Murphy is considered by his super
iors to have done extremely good
work in North Africa before and
since the Allied landing there, and
it is said that If he retires from that
post. 1t will be because of i'll health
and the strain of the last year. 1t
is understood that no decision yet
has been made regarding his trans
fer or his successor.
There are reports that the War
Department would suggest he be
replaced by military man, and the
names of Maj. Gen. Allen w. Gull
lion, provost marshal general, and
Brig. Gen. Patrick j. Hurley, have
been mentioned as possible success
orS.
Post is Political.
While North Africa is a military
zone and the supreme authority
there is Gen. Eisenhower, the civil
regime is under the French Commit
tee of National Liberation, recently
recognized by Great Britain and the
United States as the administrative
authority for French overseas terri
tories and by Russia as the trustee
for the French State. Mr.. Murphy's
post, like that of Harold Macmillan,
the British Minister, has been
political.
Recognition of the French Com
mittee, while falling short of the
committees desire, at least regular
lied and defined the relationship be-
tween 1t and the Allied Powers and
thus removed the uncertainty that
had surrounded the status of the
committee since its formation in
June. The belief here is that it
also paved the way toward better
cooperation between the committee
and London and Washington.
But the committees recent deci-
sion to hand over to justice" Mar
shal Philippe Petain and the mem
bers of his "pseudogovernment" did
not accord with the known desire of
British and American officials that
the French leaders should direct
their attention to the future rather
than to the past and should seek
unity through tolerance among
Frenchmen who have been SO
sharply divided since the defeat in
1910.
The view of these officials is that
the Committee is good one on the
whole, and their hope is that it NAV
justify the confidence of its friends
IN france and abroad by overcoming
the differences within itself and
mus contributing to the unity of
Ffenchmen everywhere.
Authoritative reports reaching
washington are that the French
people, intent on freedom from
German domination and GETTING
enough food ~ to insure life and
health, assume that complete agree
ment exists among Frenchmen out
sloe and between those Frenchmen
ana the British and Americans
ihey expect the Allies to work
closely with Gen. Charles de Gaulle
Whom they accept as a symbol of
french liberation, and they look
particularly to the United States to
hasten Frances deliverance.
French Back De GaulIe.
Nearly all the French are for the
De Gaulle program of 1910 for
which Gen. de Gaulle receives the
credit, these reports say, though
many esteem also Gen. Henri
Honore Giraud as commander of
the French army. Almost every one
In France Is reported to be anti
collaborationist, but the general
view appears to be that most of the
officials who have worked under the
Vichy regime have done so in order
to protect so far as possible the
interests and welfare of the French
people.
According to these reports, the
French would not tolerate a regime
established by the Allied armies or
one established by the French COM
mlttee. They assume that both the
Allies and the committee are work.
ing together in anticipation of the
day when the French may choose
their own regime.
Mr. Murphy has been the official
link between the French committee
on the one hand and Gen. Eisen-
hover and President Roosevelt on
the other. Hence his post is re-
garded as peculiarly important for
the future relations Of the United
States and France.
Mr.. Murphy was sent to North
Africa in January, 1941, to pre-
pare, in cooperation with Gen.
Maxine Weygand, who then repre-
sented the French government there,
the trade between this country and
North Africa which kept the gate
open," as officials express it, for our
eventual military action on that
southern shore of the Mediterran-
can.
Army FIYs PeniciIIin