The Wilmington morning star., 1947-03-07
Unfinished Business
Bv ANNE o,HARE MCCORMICK

Secretary MarShalPS departure Tor MOSCOW
was preceded by two sessions with Congress
sional commitiees-one on Monday with the
House subcommittee on appropriations, the
other on Tuesday with the Senate Committee
on Foreign Relations. The first was osten-
sibly to discuss the budget of the State De-
partlnent, the second to urge the speedy rat
~ification OF the treaties negotiated by Mr..
Byrnes for Italy, Rumania, Hungary and Bull
garia. In both it is to be supposed that the
Secretary was questioned on the business
which takes him to the Soviet capital, by any
reckoning the most difficult and momentous
an American diplomatic mission has ever I'M
dertaken.
But reports of the meetings indicate that the
overriding concern of the legislators was in
the new problem presented by the British call
for help in Greece. The idea that the United
States may be left 'holding the bag in the
Mediterranean of all places, as one mem
Der put it, seems to have struck Congress
like a bolt from the blue. The first result of
the shock was to postpone action on the APP
preparation for emergency relief in Europe
and, by this delay, in a situation where time
is of the essence, to increase misery in Greece
as well as many other places and aggravate
the danger of which Greece is the symbol.
The relief fund has nothing to do with the
grave question whether we will assume mill
tary or political commitments in Greece. That
4lA ooiu y ~ 40 vi
such transcendent Importance that only the
President and Congress can answer it. The
request for $3.50, 600, 900 to meet urgent need is
another matter altogether. 1t was sent to
Congress before the bigger issue came up and
was due to pass without opposition.
AS it is. relief is included with the other
unfinished business the delegation leaves be-
hind. The other delegations likewise leave
pressing questions hanging in the air. While
Mr.. Marshall was addressing the Senate Com
mittee, Mr.. Bevin and M. Bidault were meet
ing in the desolate beaches Of Dunkerque-
scene of bitter and embittering memories for
them both-to sign a fifty-year pact Of alliance
for France and Britain. But this, too, is like
a hastily written letter, "signed but not
read" Both sides admit that it is a skeleton
treaty, expressing an intention to stand to-
gether against German aggression but not an
accord On the policy to be applied to Ger
many now. Vital differences between them
are left unsettled for the sake of having some
thing to balance against their separate treaties
with Russia, some frame, if things go we'll,
for the four-power pact by which the French
and British hope to tie the Big Two together
and into an unbreakable ring with themsel-
yes.
The feature Of the scene at Dunkerque
is that it shows the British GREATNESS to come
to terms with France at the moment when
they give notice of their inability to police the
Mediterranean AS yet they have displayed
no sign of reducing their commitments in
Germany. This suggests a very interesting
development in British policy. 1t suggests
that in deciding to cut their coat according
to the available cloth, they have chosen to
put primary emphasis on Western Europe,
that is to fortify their position in the immed-
late neighborhood as an alternative to strength
ening the far-aWay bastions on which their
power has rested heretofore. This tendency
hor h01~ :z:LJ ---I
ended.
Whether this trend becomes definite de-
ponds largely on events, especially on what
happens in Moscow. Any portent Of eventual
agreement between the United States and Rus
STA would lay the specter of the division of
Europe and reverse currents driving England
and other countries to think in terms of zones
of their own. Meantime, it is easy to see how
uncertainty on this point influences the Brit
ish attitude on the German settlement, and
in particular on the relation of German econ
ony to British economy.
What happens to Greece is important only
in relation to what happens in Moscow. In
greater degree this is also true of Germany.
Next weeks conference will set the stage and
strike the key for a Great Power contest in
which the German and Austrian settlements
are almost as incidental to the main theme
as the question of Greece.
Mr.. Bevin takes the field weighed down by
troubles at home. He will be as little able to
bring an undivided mind to the negotiations
as will M. Bidault, who has to speak in the
two accents that blur and weaken the voice
OF france. Mr.. Marshall, too, is logged by
Inc questions he has to leave unanswered as
4e lakes off today. He is logged by uncer-
aihues OF policy, for the American people
are not determined on what they want in Ger
to 1"ny or on how far they are prepared to go
e, MAKE and support peace in Europe. Mr..
~ M Goesn,t know that, either, or Mr.. Bevin,
issn hloault. They all know that the real
1 11 is not Germany but the position Of the
0nnleed states vis-a-vis the Soviet Union. The
nnaerlcan is the keyman at the conference be-
h invs r when America takes a lead followers
Hivailaoly flock in her train. He has as rnnch
th as the Russians have, for no one beliauea
~. sto Tie .nal decisions have to be made in
lIIdSle. Ii there iA Ia 0 ~