Evening star., 1953-08-30
Lost Prestige Reports
Discounted as TwuddIe
Writer Traces Impressions
To Former owl Employees
By Fronk R. Kent

The talk about the "loss Of prestige"
by the United States in Europe has
reached the stage where 1t makes one
just little sick. All the correspondents
and columniSts who 60 abroad send
back reports upon how low it has be-
come. Travelling senators and con-
gressmen give out statements along the
same line. Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt and
Adlai Stevenson harp upon an identical
key. Editors and others, who have not
been abroad in years, deplore it in
print. A lot of this "loss Of prestige"
stuff is sheer twaddle.
Upon what is it based, anyhow? So
far as can be aScertained, upon ex-
actly two things. One is that in order
to preserve our own solvency and
security, We have somewhat curtalled
the wild outpouring of billions for
foreign aid and defense. This does not
mean that we have ceased to support
our allies financially. militarily and
economically. Nor does it mean that
we have weakened in our determine
tion to so arm ourselves that we shall
be able successfully to cope with Soviet
aggression, whatever form it may take
There has been no change in American
foreign policy and every foreign gov
ernment is aware of that basic fact.
We stand just where we have always
stood. The distortions are without
foundation or excuse.
The other reason alleged for our
loss OF prestige" is Senator Mccarthy.
1t is not easy to explain why picture
of Senator Mccarthy so utterly at
variance with reality should have made
an impression either in Europe or here
at home. Partly. it is the fault of the
newspapers which continue to denouncs
him with such unrestrained violence;
partly to the correspondents here Of
English newspapers who have sent
groteSquely misleading dispatches
about his power and personality. They
have built him up into great menac-
ing figure. who affects national policy
and influences the Eisenhower Admins
tration. He is not that kind of figure.
He does not affect national policy and
he has no influence with the Eisenhower
Administration.
He does thrive on denunciation and he
loves publicity-no matter how bad A
good many people who dislike the man
and deplore his methods believe that, in
his inaccurate and bumbling way, he has
been doing a job that needs to be done
and that he has damaged the reputation
of no innocent man. Be that as it may,
there is certainly nothing about Senator
Mccarthy to justify soaring our Euro
pean allies nor excuSing public figures
and correspondents for portraying our
"loSS Of prestige" as due to his investi-
cations or insisting that the morale
of our foreign service is "Shot all to
hell" Either they deliberately twist
the facts or they don't know them.
Certainly, they grossly exaggerate the
Importance of Mccarthy.
Mccarthy is neither as powerful nor
as important a figure in our politics
as the late Senator Huey Long, Of
Louisiana, and, of course, he falls far
short of the stature of the elder Robert
M. La Toilette from his own State Of
Wisconsin. Mccarthy has a following
but it does not compare with that Of
Senator La Toilette, who was one Of
the original and strongest isolationists.
who violently opposed our entrance into
the first World War and who in 1924
ran as Progressive candidate for the
presidency. He was well financed, solid
ly supported by organized labor, polled
million votes but carried only one
State-hiS own.
No one who remembers that cam
paign and who knew the real strength
of Senator La Toilette would compare
him with Mccarthy. He was infinitely
bigger and more important. Also, those
who recall that period will recall that
right after that war our prestige was
even lower than it is alleged to be now.
All of our dear allies owed us huge
sums Of money. Some of them bitterly
disparaged our part in the victory. They
openly-and rightly-resented our fail
ure to join the League of Nations and
Certainly, the popularity of Americans
in Europe was almost non-existent
Considering these almost forgotten
things, thoughtful persons will not
take this 'lost prestige" talk too seri-
ouSly; nor will they believe that the
morale in the foreign service is in
quite the awful state depicted by Mrs.
Roosevelt and Mr.. Stevenson. Recently,
in the interests of efficiency and econ
omy, the State Department ordered the
dropping of several thousand job
holders who have been attached to our
embassies and legations since 1945.
Most of these were formerly on the pay
roll of the ONCE Of War Information.
When that agency was liquidated about
5000 who could not get employment
in private industry were transferred to
the State Department pay roll. There
was nothing for them to do, but they
were scattered all over the world where
they Uttered up the embassies and
legations and fretted our ambassadors
and ministers. Secretary Dulles is in
process Of getting rid of these. Recently.
he ordered several thousand dropped.
Naturally the morale among these
would be low indeed. Perhaps 1t was
from them that Mrs. Roosevelt and
Mr.. Stevenson got their impressions.