Henderson daily dispatch. (Henderson, N.C.) 1914-1995, 1946-09-16
Signs Of Confusion


The radical speech OF Henry Wal
lace IN New York last Thursday
night. wholly III keeping with his
lcftwIna doctrines; its dISavowal by
the State Department.. and the Strad-
ding position of President Truman
are further signs OF the confusion
that exists IN the nations foreign
policy. Il Is an evidence of the
!utillty oil having a host of leaders
OF many divergent views trying Ia
dictate 'he course OF the ship o!
state. and OF having man Al tho
head oi them al who seeks 10 cater
To both sides. but when backed
against the wall usually llups TO the
ultra-!ibcral side.
Wallace was both Kissed AMI
chccrcd for his statements. and when
the booing disturbed him he digrcSs-
cd from his manuscript to try L.
pour ointment into the wounds in
the hope OF avoiding animositicS o..
loss Of prestige. He wanted TO drop
Britain out of the equation entirely.
and divide the world into United
States and Russia spheres of in
!lucncc. Wallace can usually be re-
lied upon 10 tax" his stand close 20
that o! the SOvic,S. because ne is So
iar TO the left himself he feels much
more Al home when warming his
feet by their fire.
The Wallace program is tanta-
mount 10 admitting defeat for Amer
ic"m diplomacy. in that i, comedies
tie Russian viewpoint cannot be
Uvcgcomc--i! indeed he himself has
any desire or wish to overcome il.
whatever the policy of his own ma
ton Moreover. ne essays the role
o. Secretary Byvnca when ne at
t-mpts 70 make Uulcd States foreign
policy. function largely in tn
bands OF the President and Nj.
Hyrucs.
The State Department has dis
ayowcd all responsibility for the
Wallace speech. and some opinion is
that II Is far aiicld from the things
Hyrnca mas been plugging for at the
pIriS peace conference. Then Prcsi-
dent Truman takes different stand
by saying no read the speech and
approved it. and that he regarded !.
a no departure from foreign policy
upon Byrncs.
A more perfect hodgcpodge OF
opinion On the part of responsible
leadership could scarcely be imagin-
cd. The President is caught between
IN" divergent viewpoints and at
tcmptS TO look both ways at one and
the same time, thus giving the i'm
preston OF crOSs-cycd policy,
WallaCc'S statements could not be
both at odds and in agreement with
Byrncs. Truth of the matter is that
Wallace is lcftwingcr, and thinks.
talks and acts thai way. and might
be expected TO Sympathize with So
Wet idcologics. the kind we fancy he
would like to sec applied in the
United States.
Actually. the world should not and
need not be divided into spheres of
influence at all. The system has
never prevented wars, though the
old balance of power policy in Eu-
rope was considered as aiming in
that direction. Even if there were
agreement 10 divide the universe be-
tween the United States and Russia
there is no assurance that Moscow
would respect the arrangement Thu
Krcmlin's policy since the end of the
war has been anything else but con
!istent. except in furtherance oi
communist doctrines. And Henry
Wallace's utterances have given the
impression that he is in sympathy
with leftwing programs. II his New
York speech was the utterance of a
statesman, as has been said, II is :
type Of craftsmanship at odds wit.
American tradition and policy.
Scientists say the human race
eventually will have no legs, Lif.