Evening star., 1953-03-28

President Should Send
Aide in Search of Peace
Senators Feel Eisenhower
Should Stuy in White House
By Gould Lincoln
Can the President of the United
States serve efficiently as his own
diplomat? This question has cropped
up in connection with reports that
President Eisenhower may, under GER
tain circumstances, undertake a face
to-face conference with Soviet RuSsia'S
Premier Malenkov somewhere in
Europe. Some members of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee are in
clined to view coldly such an UNDER
taking-on the theory that a Presi-
dent would be in better position in deal
ing with the government of Soviet
Russia through regular diplomatic
channels
These Senators recall, with misgiv-
ings, the history of President Woodrow
Wilson and his efforts personally to
direct the writing Of the treaty of peace
at Versailles at the conclusion of
World War I. They say they believe
that President Wilson would have been
far better off had he remained in the
United States and sent his representa-
tives to deal with the foreign diplomats
IN Europe-retaining always his power
to veto proposals that were unaccepta-
BILE to the United States. They refer,
also. to the conferences which more
recent Presidents, Franklin D. Roose-
velt and Harry S. Truman, engaged in
with Churchill and Stain during and
after World War II. They contend that
the White House is strong vantage
point for a President of the United
States, when it comes to dealing with
the heads OF foreign governments.
One Writer'S View.
James Morgan of the Boston Globe,
long an inciSive observer and ANALYST
OF current and past history, writing
recently in his newspaper, commented
on Woodrow Wilson's experience abroad.
He wrote:
While he had the White House for
Fl his sounding board, Woodrow Wilson
carried the presidency of the United
States to the pinnacle of world in
fiuence. On his arrival in Europe, he
was deliriously hailed by the masses
OF France, Italy and England as the
apostle of new order. But once the
disciples of the old order got him be-
hind the locked doors Of the Big Four
in Paris, he found himself cut off from
public opinion. the source of his
strength. He had to grapple single
handed with the forces that had kept
Europe cockpit of war since the be-
ginning Of written history. Under that
strain he broke down long before he
returned home to his final martyrdom."
Mr.. Morgan pointed. too, to the diff
f1culties which arose when President
Roosevelt met with Churchill at sea
to write the Atlantic Charter-and it
was not long after that the two authors
were disputing what it meant. And
later, at Casablanca. when Churchill
complained that Roosevelt Sprang upon
him a demand for the unconditional
surrender" Of the enemy nations.
In contrast, it was pointed out, this I!
country had done remarkably we'll in
the conduct Of its foreign relations
for more than a century, when the
usual diplomatic channels were used,
from the days Of Benjamin Franklin on.
Opposition Not New.
Opposition in the Senate to having
President of the United States 20 to
Europe to confer with heads of govern
mentS or their representatives on vital
problems Is not new. Here is an ex-
ample: About the time President Wilson
was announcing his intention to 90
himself to Paris at the conclusion of
World War I, called at the rooms of
the Senate Appropriations Committee
at the Capitol. The late Senator Martin
OF Virginia was chairman of the COM
mittee and Democratic leader of the
upper branch. found Senator Martin
str1ding up and down. his hands behind
his back, which was straight as a RAM
rod, his face flushed, talking to him.
self, with an occasional damn" in.
Jected. When I asked what was bother
ing him, the Senator replied:
i have just come from the White
House, and do you know what the
President told me? He said he was
going to Europe to make the peace.
told him he couldn't do it and that he
ought not to go. but send his repre-.
SentativeS"
The advantage President has when
he remains aloof, as a court of last re-
sort. is the cooling-off period which
diplomacy provides. President Eisen-
hover has expressed willingness to go
halfway" to confer with any one, if
it will lead to stable peace. There is no
slightest doubt about his sincerity. or
that his foremost aim today is peace.
The question, however, is how best
negotiations looking to that end may be
carried forward. If Malenkov is sincere
in his protestations that differences be-
tween his country and the United States
may be peacefully negotiated, the diplo-
matte channels are open to him, and
also the forum of the United Nations.
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