Milford chronicle., 1948-07-16

most dispassiOnate OF american
writer's upon foreign affairs, recent
" discussed the very vital problem
OF continuity and consistency in our
foreign policy, in a column appear
ing in the Wall Street Journal. AS
he writes, "An America that wob-
bles and vacillates will not carry
the weight in world affairs that Is
appropriate to its political, eco
nomic and military power"
This is not, however, as simple a
matter as it may appear on first
glance. tor, as Mr.. Chamberlain
also says, There can be no cOntin-
uity in inconsistency" And the
glaring Inconsistencies that ap-
peared in our foreign policy both
during and Immediately after the |
war have undoubtedly weakened
our prestige, and aroused suspic-
ions as to our motives and our Wis |
dom in quarters whose whole F.
hearted cooperation is necessary II i
the Western powers are to present
TO the world a strong and unified
front.
Mr.. Chamberlain discusses Yalta
where in his opinion "a high point
of hypocrisy was reached" At Yal-
IA, Roosevelt Churchill and Stain
again affirmed their faith in the
broad principles of the Atlantic
Charter. The most important single
provision Of the Charter is that all
peoples shall have the right ito
choose the form of government un-
DER which they will live" Another,
of almost equal moment is that all
nations, including victor and van
quished, shall have access on equal
terms ito trade and raw materials
of the world" These great princi-
pies presumably were the rock
hound basis on which the war aims
of the great powers rested.
Yet, at YaIta a deal was made
whereby Russia was allowed to
take over close to half of Poland's
pre-War territory, and Poland was
not even represented at the con-
ference. Following that, 1t became
increasingly clear that the peace
settlement, to quote Mr.. Chamber
lain again, was calculated to turn
Germany into an economic waste
land and Europe into a perpetual
dependent on American subsidies" 7"
The roots of this lay in the Nor
genthau plan which was designed
to reduce Germany permanently to
a fOurth-rate economic power.
OF course, hind-sight is easy.
During the war there was an UNI
derstandable eagerness to keep
Stain happy, and this unQuestion-
ably led to Over-optimism as to the
sincerity behind Soviet pledges to
work with this and other countries
for world peace and rehabilitation.
Even so, the fact that the acts OF
the great powers nullified the At
lantic Charter even as their repre-
sentatives praised it in general and
meaningless terms, did US no good
abroad. And it helped the Commu-
rists, who are experts at making
capital out Of human disillusion'
lnent to build up their large fol
lowings in France, Italy and else
where.
ately, something more nearly re-
sembling a consistent and eontinu.
Gus foreign policy has come into
being. It has been forced on us by
the dire necessity of stopping Rus
sia before her sphere Of inhuencs
goes clear to the Mediterranean an(
the Atlantic Ocean. The idea o.
permanently destroying Germany
as a major economic power ha!
been abandoned. And there hai
been a very real effort, bipartisaI
in character, to reaffirm through
positive action the principle Of tn
self-determinatiOn of peaples--
principle, curiously enough, whicl
hasn't changed in significance sinc
World War (, when Woodrow VIII
son made his courageous but doom
ed fight for mis- IA points.
It is certainly clear that the SO
Wet Union has not, and has neYe
had, any desire for self-determina
ton. Her policy lies in encouraging
and giving material support to, rev
OlutiOns inside nations where sIna
but beautifully organized minOritie
take over all the reigns of pOwC
and later justify them with th
phOniest kind of elections. Til
technique has been the means /
giving Russia all Ct her tremeI
dous gains since We Day. Ye
from the Kremlin's point Of vieV
It may not all be rosy. There
every evidence that millions 4
Poles, Czechs, Yugoslavs an
others hold the bitterest hatred 4
Russia. The COMMUNISTS can liqu
date the leaders of the oppOsitio
but they can't clean out all the di
sidents among the rank and file.
the event of war, or any intern
emergency, the Soviet Union ce
tainly could not depend on her S
tellite countries for enthusiast
assistance. There are some who
lieve that these countries mig
prove to be an intolerable drain
Russia, by forcing her TO poll
them with armies of trained men.
In any event, there is more al
more talk of the need for an abs
lutely clear-cut American forei
policy which will say, in effect, I'll
we will help the cooperating d
tiOns recover, and will suppC
them in selecting governments
their own choosing, through fl
and secret elections. The empha
would be on constructive action
rather than being passed on mt
or less unrelated programs desil
ed to help contain Russia. We hs
made progress in that directis
and the hope is that the next "
will see a real job done.
-O0O-