Evening star., 1946-03-19

mediator between the warning
| the Na@ional Government and
some signs of working together
of civil war.
This friendly description of
to be unintentionally misleading
He has accomplished no miracle.
1t is far from certain that what
he has seen begin will last. What
he has done is to write new ant
bright chapter in effective diplo
macy, the sort of diplomacy of which
this troubled world stands in grea'
need today He has used. in addi'
ton to his energy, his usual tac'
and sincerity. He has been assisted
by two things: First, the prestige
of compelling personality, which
the Chinese respect; second, the OBJ
vious desirability, which intelligent
Chinese leaders understand, of work
ing together for strong and unified
China in place of the chaos of con-
| tlnued civil war.
We reached ChungKing, after a
flight from Shanghai, just three
weeks and day ago-in time tu
witness very moving ceremony
The ceremony was the signing OF
the agreement between representa-
tives of the Chinese governmnt
the Chinese Communist party and
Gen. Marshall, as adviser, for the
military reorganization, and "inte.
grafton" = of the Communist forces
into. the national army of China
AS a passing note on modern trans
portation, the party with which l
travelled visited, after seeing Gen
Marshall in Chungking, other parts
of China, the Philippines and
Hawaii on our way back to the
United States. Gen. Marshall, leav-
ing China two weeks after we left,
has been back in Washington for
several days for conferences with
President Truman
Found Chinese Writing Notes.
The signing of the agreement
consolidating in one reorganized
army the armies of the Central
Government and of the Chinese
Communists was in sense the
elimination of Gen. Marshalls pre-
paratory work in China. 1t marked
the lend Of the beginning" and the
fact that he was standing there
between the two Chinese generals,
tall and soldierly and looking some
what tired, waiting to add his sigma
ture to theirs. must have brought
Gen. Marshall considerable per-
sonal satisfaction. II so. he con-
cealed it. His response to the two
rather f1owery speeches of the
Chinese generals was brief and to
the point. He thanked them for
their personal references to him
and he hoped that nothing done by
either side would stain the agree
ment just signed
A large degree Of Gen Marshall's S
success has been due to his lack
of confidence in the mere act of
signing piece OF paper. The sig
nature Of too many agreements has
represented not merely the begin
ming but the end Of what the agree
ments signify. Gen. Marshall has
believed that agreements may de-
fine the scope of what is to be done
but that doing 1t is the proof of the
pudding.
When he came to China he found
the Communists and the Central
Government. while fighting, indulg-
ing themselves in the pleasant pas
time of writing notes to each other
a sometimes dangerous and usually
futile proceeding. With character
istic directness, he suggested elimi-
nation of the correspondence in
favor of direct negotiations. These
were undertaken and in a remark
ably short time the negotiators
were ready to issue, effective as of
midnight on January 13, cease
fire" order signed by Generalissimo
Chang Kai-shek.
What happened then is what has
given substance to the agreements
and some hope for the future. In
anticipation of the agreement and
issuance of the truce order, Gen.
Marshall-ably assisted by that out
standing American Army officer, 1t.
Gen. Albert c. Wedemeyer, COM
manding our forces in the Chinese
theater-had organized field teams
consisting Of an American officer
usually a Regular Army colonel
with experience in China and
Chinese officers casually ma jor gen.
erals representing the Communists
and the National Government.
Equipped with airplanes, jeep and
radio transmitting and receiving