Evening star., 1950-05-21
By John M. Hiahtower
Assoeioted Press SioH Writer

oSCIcJdIS VI otdtC ECllcSU11 10
coming home from London this
week with the key to the future
of bipartisan foreign policy tucked
away in his tan leather brief case.
What he does with it will criti-
cally influence the success Of the
still wobbly project to restore for
eign policy cooperation between
Republicans and Democrats.
Before he left Washington Mr..
Acheson gave several Republican
Senators the clear impression he
would report fully to them when
he got home. They look forward
to this report as an evidence of
the extent to which Mr.. Acheson
is willing to go in informing and
consulting them.
How he handles. the matter
therefore will have a far-reaching
effect on the future of what is
loosely called bipartisan foreign
policy.
Term Held Inaccurate.
1t is a loose and inaccurate
term. in the opinion of Democratic
and Republican leaders alike. be-
cause it covers too much ground.
President Truman said the other
day that bipartisanship is mis-
understood. 1t suggests something
which does not exist in fact-a
sweeping, down-the-line agree
ment to end two-party controv-
ersy over foreign affairs.
One Of the problems before Mr.
Acheson and Republican leaders in
the weeks ahead is to define how
far bipartisanship, or as some
prefer; non-partisanshlp, should
go.
When John Foster Dulles. be-
came a Republican adviser to Mr..
Acheson last month almost his
first move was along this line. He
felt he had to clarity his own posi-
ton and he talked alike to MI.
Truman, Mr. Acheson and Re-
publicans at the Capitol.
He told them his presence in
the State Department could not
bind the Republican Party to sup
port Administration policies. He
said his contributions to policy
making would serve these pur-
poses:
l. To tighten consultations be-
tween the Administration and Re-
publican leaders in Congress.
2. To help strengthen American
policies by introducing new ideas
from the Republican side into the
inner councils of the State De-
partment.
Cooper Preceded Dulles.
John Sherman Cooper, former
Senator from Kentucky, joined
Mr.. AcheSon's staff as Republican
adviser for the London talks few
weeks ahead of Mr.. Dulles ad-
vent. He was not a foreign affairs
expert, but was more acceptable to
the Truman Administration than
Mr.. Dulles, who aroused great
White House bitterness during his
senatorial campaign in. New York
last fall.
The point of the whole Dulles
Cooper incident is that personali-
ties and personal relations, politi-
cal maneuver and good faith
those rather than mechanical ar
rangements-are the stuff of BIZ
partisan cooperation in the field
of foreign affairs.
Underlying this fact is another
that neither Mr.. Dulles nor any
other individual-can speak for
the Republicans and even their
own congressional leaders-Sen-
ate Minority Leader Wherry. for
example - cannot commit the
minority members individually to
some future course of action.
This is quite different from the
position of the majority party
which. being in power. must have
program of action and a system
of discipline that enable the lead
ers to say what it will do on
specific issues.
2 Ideas Believed Bipartisanship.
Thus arises another point vital
to an understanding of bipartisan
foreign policy. This is that while
it is the responsibility of the rul-
ing party to pursue a positive
line of action-it is equally
function of the minority party to
criticize and attack this line.
The basic force behind the BIZ
partisan approach to foreign pol
icy is made up of two ideas. The
first is that if other countries are
to rely on American cooperation
they must know reasonably well