Evening star., 1947-04-07

1dEuly ally Ullc dASoCIito 1iOat tiAoe
view now. No such unanimity in a
Senate committee of this Importance
on a matter so vital could possibly
be achieved If 1t did not measurably
reflect the sentiment of the Senate
as a whole, and~t the country at
large. In this case all the worth
while arguments have been made
already. There is slight probability
that anything can be said now that
will change minds already made up.
Under the circumstances, to sug-
gest that the Senate will override
its committee is to suggest that it
will act in an utterly unprecedented
and illogical way. So far as the
House is concerned, its Committee
on Foreign Affairs, OF which Repre-
sentative Eaton, Republican, Of New
Jersey, Is chairman, has been over
whelmingly favorable almost from
the beginning, and the House Is
even more unlikely to reverse the
action of one of its main commit
tees than the Senate.
Fight Seen as Over.
For either Senate or House to do
that would not only be to reject
the majority leadership but the NIL
nority leaders as we'll. So; 1t can
be set down that barring some to-
tally unforeseen event. the fight for
the program in Congress is over.
There will be some fireworks. OF
course. There will be some indis-
Greet and unwise things said. There
will be a good deal OF demagoglc
breast beating. But, after the roll
has been called, all that will seem
unimportant and be quickly for
gotten.
The other healthful thing which
that solid Senate committee ap-
proval has done is to make 1t clear
that, contrary to reports, the pl-
partisan foreign policy arrangement
is still working smoothly and well.
Recently there have been sugges-
tions that for a number OF reasons
it had begun to bog down.
One of these, it was said, was be-
cause both the White House and
the State Department had falled
to confer or advise with Republican
leaders before important steps IN
foreign policy were taken. An ex-
ample is supposed to be the ap-
pointment of Gen. George G. Mar
shall as Secretary OF State. on tne
other hand. Senator Vandenberg, IL
is stated. did not submit his impor-
tant amendment nullifying the con-
tention that the United States Is
proposing to act in this Greece.
Turkey business independently OF
the United Nations.
A third idea is that the Repub-
Ncans are not as anxious to CO.
operate with the President now that
he has gained such strength ana
popularity with the people as pos
sibly to make him formidable Zoe
in l948 instead of rather pathetlc
setup. Nor, for much the same
reasons, it is alleged, is Mr.. Truman
now quite as cooperative as ne was
Bipartisan Policy Is Strong.
There is more plausibility in these
arguments than soundness. Un-
doubtedly. in that there is talk OF
this kind in certain circles there is
some basis for the suggestions.
However, the reasons for rejecting
them seem overwhelmingly clear
and strong.
In the first place, to accept them
one has to agree that there is
neither good will nor real patriot
ism on either side; that the men
upon whom the bipartisan foreign
policy rests are incredibly small,
completely selfish and incurably
narrow politicians-thoroughly con-
temptible men. i.
No other view could be taken OF
them. In addition. deliberately to
scuttle the present bipartisan pol
icy. so concededly vital to the
world, as well as to ourselves,
would be a work of idiocy as well
as of wickedness. For it could not
possibly profit politically those re-
sponsible. Far more likely it would
spell ruin for them.
The truth is that our bipartisan
foreign policy is strong and endur-
able because it largely depends on
two men who want it to be that
way. President Truman is one and
Senator Vandenberg is the other.
OF Senator Vandenberg's high
minded patriotism and whole
hearted sincerity there has been
abundant and convincing evidence
in the last two years. OF Mr.. Tru-
mans personal good will and firm
belief that bipartisan cooperation
is essential to the national interests,
there is not the least doubt in the
world.
So long as these two men are
united In this conviction-and they
are-so long will the bipartisan
policy work well. They are both
human, it Is true. But neither is
either silly or depraved. And they