The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-06-20
TODAY and TOMORROW
A Very Ugly Situation
By WALTER LIPPMANN

A Very Ugly
In system OF personal govern
meot. where the will of one man
is supreme, fortnight discussion of
public questions is difficult and
NAV be dangerous. If the object
is to reach solutions and not mere
" to agitate, it becomes necessary
to trim the argument to his moods.
lest the very fact that his views
are criticized cause him to cling
to them more stubbornly. TIL
grave question Of our French
policy, which may yet involve our
relations with Europe and the set
Element of the war, has become a
personal matte. to a degree which
the American people have not yet
realized, to degree which respon-
sible and informed American
journalists feel constrained to touch
upon with great reserve.
Throughout the winter and
spring, while the preparations for
our landing in France were being
made, it was the general belief in
high official circles that agree
ments on all moot points would
certainly be reached as result of
the elaborate negotiations among
the British, the French committe
and our military financial and dip
lomtaic agencies. Specific and I'M
qualified assurances were. given
that agreements had, in fact, been
reached and that they required
nothing more than the formal ap-
proval of the President. AS the
weeks dragged on and that ap-
proval was rot given it was ex-
planned that the President had been
overworked and i'll but that the
papers were on his desk and that
he would get to them very soon.
Even Secretary Hull must hSve
thought this was the position or ne
would never have said what he
said about France in his address
Of April 9. But the approval was
never given, and the invasion had
tc be launched without any agree
ment among the Allies, without any
agreement with the French and
without any plan for the govern
ment of liberated territory.
The ugly consequences of this
situation were anticipated by re-
sponsible officials, informed OBJ
servers here and abroad. They are
now becoming apparent. One may
Judge how serious they are by the
fact that four European govern
ments, all of them deeply concern
ed to retain the good will Of the
President and of the American ma
ton, have openly separated them
selves from Mr.. Roosevelt by rec
ognizing the French provisional
government. That would not have
happened. il. they were not pro-
foundry convinced that General de
Gaulle is the leader of the French
nation and that as Europeans they
can not and dare not enter the
period of their own liberation with
out a working partnership with
France,
One may judge the seriousness
of the matter by the fact that Mr..
Churchill had to make personal
plea to the House of Commons not
to debate the Presidents policy.
Why are Parliament and virtually
the whole British press so aroused
over this obstinate muddle? Is it
because the British people know
they need immediate assistance
and must have the lasting friend
ship of the Fighting French? Or
is it that the British do not know
as much about the war and are
not as interested in the success of
the invasion as the persons in
Washington who have started
another smear campaign?
We may judge also the ugly con-
sequences Of this personal ad-
venture in diplomacy by the news
from Algiers, reported by Mr.. Har-
old Calender, of The New York
Times that the French there dis
trust the intentions of M. Roose-
welt and believe that he has designs
upon their colonial empire. This
explanation of his persistent refu-
sal to countenance the creation of
strong French national authority
has long been current as rumor
and gossip in Washington. It has
now been brought into the open by
an article in "The United States
News" which was published in
Washington on April IA and was
reproduced in summary form by
1.-The Stars and Stripes which
circulates in North Africa.
This article on Mr.. Roosevelt's
view has never been officially dig
avowed. Yet similar report of our
alleged designs on Brazil was i'm
mediately and unequivocally dis
avowed by Secretary Hull. Let us
hope that the failure up to this
time to disavow the report about
France was an oversight.
=.
It is oninous that at this time