The Wilmington morning star., 1947-07-19
Foreign Policy
BY ARTHUR KROCK

WASHINGTON,-The Secretary of State to-
day put en- a sounder and more inviting base,
so far as Congress is concerned, the effort
of the administration to legalize the prompt
entry into the United States OF a substantial
number of displaced persons. Instead Of try
ing to commit Congress to a long-term policy
it is unwilling to approve-the annual admls-
sion. of 100, 600 such aliens for four years, as
certain bills propose-General Marshall asked
merely for authority to import a "substantlal
number this year.
This would afford Congress and the people
it represents, an opportunity to observe the
working Of the experiment; and it would en-
courage a similar experiment by nations
which are now holding back because of our
~inaction. Also, it would transmit through an
Overwhelming circle in Europe a renewal of
faith that in the democratic system OF the
West there is practice as well as preachment
Of principles, and this would c%auterize one Of
the screst spots created on the Continent by
the postwar differences among the victors IN
World War II.
General Marshall's modification of the leg
islative proposals that have been made may
not break down fundamental resistance to re-
Taxation of the immigration bars before this
Session EilOS. IL t1iAAC 40 oAOA'3 aAo
of Congress permit delays which could block
any action whatsoever. But long-term entry
plans such as the Stratton Bill outlines. have
no chance of approval at all IN this session,
and might conceivab!y have less IN the future.
| Therefore. if there is a vestlge OF hope that
| Congress will take any forward step IN this
vital matter of foreign policy, the Secretary
of State has given to that hope all possible
nourishment.
Tho Jicp1ooad rerSOne in the camps OF Ell.
rope whom it is proposed to locate elsewhere
in decent citizenship are generally 1ugltlves
from Communism, though a small minority
Of Jews among them are %stateless because
of the fires of persecution that were rent
and fed by Hitler. They include Bats and
Poles and sturdy inhabitants of the Balkans,
especially fit 10 relieve the American labor
shorta pes on the farms and in the construc-
ton industry. And many nave 1rlenos anu
relatives here who speak their language ana
offer what General Marshall calls reason
able" assurance they will not become public
charges.
Also. the administration has abandoned the
purely sentimental approach to the problem
of screening these displaced persons which
aroused natural opposition in Congress and
among The body of the American people: IL
seems willing to agree to priorltles OF selec-
ton that are both humane, and practical.
Since Congress surely will not open the imml-
RIduOu due u1HSS liza N]N
part Ct the arrangement, this contributes an
important means of agreement.
A chief obstacle that remains is lack OF
time, which plays into the hands OF those
members of Congress who are determined to
defeat the project III any form. But, unless
there are enough of these IN the Senate 10
engage in a fulldress filibuster, which seems
improbable, the Congressional machinery IS
sufficiently flexible to produce the legislation
before adjournment.
There is, however, another obstacle which,
in the developing psychology of warfare be-
tween Congress and the President, could
prove to be even greater than the time rae
tor. This arises from the feeling that the
President has >practlsed cooperation with
the Republicans in Congress as a one-Way
street, as merely an affair OF WORDS Wnich
his actions do not sustain. From this teellag
the impulse has arisen to deny all further ao-
miaisrration requests, including those on for
eign uolicy, until Mr.. Truman has had a taste
of his own medicine. Moreover, there are pol
iticians among the Republicans who report
that many people in this country would ap-
prove this course for the present as a oe.
served rebuke for the Presidents vetoes OF
legislation passed oy overwhelming major
tiles: and for the inconsistencies between his
infiat,onary actions and his canute-llke attl-
tude that the economic tides these have pro-
duced must retreat because he says they
should
If foreign policy could be co-mpartmented
by some mira Gle -working carpenter OF gov
ernment, so that it never would become en-
tangled with domestic policy or politics, this
pa particular obstacle would not exist. Foreign
policy would be formulated and operated by
norpartisar machinery. and political warfare
on the domestic front would never break it
down. The rivalry and hostility between the
executive and the legislature which are i'm
plicit in the Constitution, even when the SAM
party controls both, could be pursued with vi
olence yet foreign policy would be harmoni-
Gus and unified at all times.
Unfortunately this cannot be. And the inter
twining Of the two programs grows closer
every day as our internal economy matches
its increasing disturbances with those of the
rest of the world. the President has often
procee ded as if this were not an immutable
fact, as if he could ask everything Of Con-
gress On the plea of essential cooperation and
world necessity and reject whatever it asked
of him.
If there is a drawing back from the Mar
shall Plan and dangerous delay in financing
it, and also if the DPS are left in their
misery for another year, this executive be-
havior must be charged with much of the
blame.-New York Times.