Evening star., 1950-01-30
; Delicate Problems
OF Recognition Are
Now Before President
Decisions Must Be Made
On Communist Chino,
Spain, Vatican Issues
By David Laurence

DV DUVtU LULUY eUCe
Three delicate problems Of "rec-
ognition" are before President
Truman and, curiously enough,
they involve in one way or another
complications Of O political nature
growing out Of the attitude OF
religious groups In America.
First, there Is the problem of
recognizing q Communist gov
ernment in China. It appears to
be settled here that, since the
Communist governments in Rus
sia, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Bull
garia and Hungary are recog-
nized, the Truman administra-
tion will sooner or later follow the
lead of Great Britain and extend
recognition to the government OF
Mao. This could antagonize the
anti-Communist elements in the
United States, included In which
are the Catholic groups.
Second, there is the problem OF
strengthening the recognition OF
the Franco government in Spain
where technically no withdrawal
of recognition ever occurred when
ambassadors were withdrawn
though the gesture amounted to
the same thing. Pressure from
the military strategists here has
been exerted for more than a
year now to bring Spain's mill
tary bases into the inter -allied
orbit as a protection for future
operations in the Mediterranean
The Catholic groups in America
favor full recognition of Franco
Third Problem Cited.
Third, there is the problem of
f1lling the vacancy caused by the
resignation of Myron c. Taylor as
personal representative of the
President of the United States" at
the Vatican. Diplomatic relations
between the United States and
the Holy See were interrupted
about rs years ago. When Presi-
dent Roosevelt sent Mr.. Taylor to
the Vatican, 1t was officially
affirmed that no recognition" Of
the Vatican in a diplomatic sense
was involved. though, of course,
the Vatican state is not a part of
the territory Of Italy and hence
the American Embassy In Rome
has no official relations with the
papal offices. Naturally, the Cath
olic groups in the United States
would like to see this mission con-
tinued.
II Mr.. Truman recognizes the
Communist government in China
and thus alienates Catholic senti-
ment. which is nti-Communist
would he overcome the political
consequences of that step If, at
about the same time, he sent an
ambassador to Spain and ap-
pointed someone to go to the
Vatican in Myron Taylor's place? ?
It Is natural for the POLITICAL
minded here to be appraising
these steps in relation to one
another. though nobody high in
our Government would concede
for a moment that there Is any
of that kind involved.
Protestants Opposed. .,..
But practical politics sees an
other problem. It is the attitude
of those Protestant elements
which oppose any further rela-
tions with the Vatican on any
basis. The President has been
asked by these groups not to fill
the position and to end the mis-
sion which he had described to
them once before as only temper
ary." From the fact that the
career diplomat who acted as
assistant to Mr.. Taylor has also
come home and his Office has been
closed. it has been inferred that
the President has no intention of
appointing successor.
But there is hint in MIR. Tay-
lor's letter of resignation which
may afford the President O way
out without antagonizing any re-
ligious or political groups. Mr.. Tay-
lor, without making any recon-
mendation. recalls that President
Roosevelt originally sent identical
letters to the leaders Of the
Protestant, Catholic and Jewish
faiths to consult with him and
throw the weight Of their influence
In strengthening the moral forces
of the world. Mr.. Taylor also men,
tions that President Truman in
structed him in 1947 to consult
with the leaders Of many faiths
abroad and that he made extended
visits to various countries to carry
out that mission.
It may be that the next oc-
cupant of Mr.. Taylor's post will
be a rowing personal representative
contracting all faiths and keeping
especially the important contact
with the Vatican, where so much
information of value from inside
and outside the Iron Curtain coun-
tries is gathered daily and fire.
quently transmitted to our Gov
ernment to assist it in handling
the vexing problems of the post
war period.
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