Evening star. [volume], July 21, 1948, Image 11

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
Columnist Predicts
Extended Crisis in
Berlin but No War
'Incident' Could Provoke
Hostilities but Neither
Side Has Mobilized
By David Lawrence
The war crisis is going to be a
Continuous affair for several weeks
or perhaps months—but there isn’t
going to be any war.
It f&kes two nations to make a
war, and there is no basis for the
assumption that either Russia or
the United States wants war.
The real fear is that an “inci
dent” may provoke a war. But if
both sides choose not to let an "in
cident” provoke a war. then war
doesn't materialize. Again and
again in European history—and in
Far Eastern history, for that matter
—there have been overt acts that
both sides chose not to construe as
an act of war.
Thus when the Japanese bombed
the American naval vessel Panay
in the 30’s, the Japanese expressed
their regrets and agreed to pay an
Indemnity. That ended the matter.
*rhe present danger is that there
may be a collision of Allied and
Russian airplanes in the air cor
ridors. It could be construed later
as an “accident” and the usual
regrets and decision to investigate
would follow.
Russian Strategy.
The Russian strategy at the mo
ment is to harass the United States
and Britain and the other democ
racies and to carry' on a crisis of
nerves. It is conceivable that the
Russians, in their misguided view
of what is happening in the presi
dential campaign, think this is one
way to help Henry Wallace and
defeat, the m,ner two parties. There
are Russian officials who really be
lieve Mr. Wallace la going to win.
If that belief is widespread, then
all the Russians have to do is to
wait till next January when the
supposed Inauguration of Henry
Wallace as President would occur,
and presumably at that time all dis
putes will be resolved peaceably.
Another theory prevalent here is
that the Russians believe their form
of pressure will succeed for the
very reason that the United States
and Britain will not go to war over
an “incident” or over harassments
no matter how annoying. In a
sense, this is correct. Unless and
until there are signs that Russia
Intends a major attack, there will
be no war. There are as yet no
signs of any such intention on the
part of Russia. No mobilization of
armed forces such as would precede
a major attack is reported from any
quarter.
So it all adds up to a form of
“cold war," the news of which up
to qpw has been to no small extent
from America’s side. The announce
ment of the Truman doctrine, the
aid given Greece and Turkev, the
formation and execution of the
Marshall Plan are all looked on in
Moscow as anti-Russian. The de
cisions on the part of the Allies to
form a throe-zone Germany and to
issue currency of their own are also
regarded bv the Kremlin as anti
Russian moves.
The Berlin blockade is the crude
answer or reprisal how coming from
Russia. There is evidence that the
issuance of new currency v.as the
spark that touched off the new fires
of resentment.
Seek Way To ‘Save Face.’
tinder such circumstances, it is
incredible that the diplomats with
their ingenious and resourceful
minds carmot find some new way
or revive some old way to negotiate
a settlement. The Russians are in
no hurry to solve the over-nil prob
lem of Europe and are not likely to
make any major concessions under
pressure, but it would appear worth
while to agree to new conferences
If only to afford the Russians a way
slowly to ‘‘save face.”
The Russians know now that
‘‘appeasement,” in the sense of sur
render to impossible conditions that
hurt the prestige of America in
Europe, isn't in the cards. But ne
gotiation on a fair basis is always
an American policy and the British
are similarly inclined. If an im
passe occurs, there is the oppor
tunity to put the United Nations to
its severest test in settling a dispute
that threatens the peace of the
world.
Americans may be unused to a
war of nerves or a series of crises
designed to be of propaganda value
to their sponsors but that's what
the Berlin episode really is and
will remain no matter il there are
skirmishes or collisions between the
air forces of the rival powers.
If war does come, it will not be
because of an "incident” but be
cause the United Nations has failed
to adjust the major dispute itself.
If Russia blocks a settlement in
the United Nations—something that
may be weeks or months awav—
it will be time then to examine the
preparations for war and see if eith
er side really contemplates a re
sort to force.
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This Changing World
Top Level Conferences Held Here Daily
On Explosive Situation in Europe
By Constantine Brown
Daily top level conferences are
being held in Washington on the
highly dangerous situation in
Europe. A climax in the crisis will
not be long de
layed, accord
ing to. sources
close to the
ff n i t e House
and State De
partment,
So far no
definite line of
policy has been
agreed on, ac
cording to these
sources. Some of
President Tru
man’s advisers
believe that un
less we maintain
a firm attitude
Constantin* Brown.
and refuse to yield to tne Russian
squeeze the whole of Western
Europe will fall into Soviet hands
before winter.
Others survey the extremely lim
ited military potential of the West
ern European countries and our own
lamentable state of unpreparedness
and express the belief that a mid
dle-of-the-road policy would be ad
visable right now. at least so long
as the Russians do not commit, any
overt act.
Aware of Implications.
Those who counsel a strong policy
—on the ground that it is now too
late to do anything else—are fully
aware of its implications. They say
that so long as the administration’s
policy is to stay in Europe any
•weakening would cause us to lose
face. It is pointed out that if we
yielded on Berlin we would be com
pelled to yield on the rest of Ger
many, too.
The middle-of-the-roaders believe
that eventually w:e will be able to
throw the whole dispute into the
United Nations and leave to that
organization the task of faking
whatever decision might be advis
able. such as a blockade of Russia
or other similar steps.
These diplomats insist that we
are pledged to collective action in
event a major dispute arises and
our record would be clear before the
bar of history if we do not precipi
tate a crisis by our own action. They
realize that the U. N. has ro means
of coercing a power such as Russia,
which in the past has demonstrated
its contempt for any constructive
action by the U. N.
American diplomats also are wor
ried about the French attitude. So
far the French government has gone
along with the United States and
Great Britain, although somewhat
hesitantly, and associated itself with
the diplomatic representations made
to Russia two weeks ago. But from
reports which are being received In
Washington it is highly doubtful
whether the French will go further.
The Parisian press already is
pointing the way for French policy
when it rails for a four-power con
ference as soon as possible to deal
with the whole German problem,
despite the fact that in its protest
to Russia the French government
joined Washington and London in
demanding that the Russians lift
their restrictions from the Allied
sectors of Berlin before such a con
ference is agreed to.
According to information received
in Washington, the present cabinet
j crisis growing out of the resignation
of the Schuman government is not
due to any internal difficulties, but
to the desire of the French govern
ment to hand over power to a new
regime which would not be as ex
: tensively pledged to collaboration
with America and Britain as the
Schuman government was.
Tension in France.
Tension and fear of war are
greater in France than in Berlin.
French politicians, with the possible
exception of Gen. Charles de Gaulle,
are more concerned with securing
their own political positions than
with meeting the over-all problem
of Western Europe. They also ap
pear to fear Germany more than
they do the U. S. S. R.
When some members of Army I
Undersecretary Draper's mission to
Germany suggested in veiled terms
that it might be desirable to organ
ize a German force in the western
occupation zones as a first line of
defense against Russia, there was
a howl of protest from the French
officials.
It is natural that the French, who
have been invaded twice in less than
a quarter century, should have such
feelings about the Germans. But
those who look realistically at the
situation should understand that
Western Germany, which conceiv
ably might enter a federation with
other Western European states,
could be used successfully against
the Russians. In any event, it would
be better to use German manpower
to withstand the first force of the
Soviet attack and spare as many
American, British and French lives
as possible.
These arguments fell on deaf ears
in Paris, however, because, it was
said, no French politician could sfcay
in office if he agreed to such a
proposition. These are the consid
erations which prompt some of
President Truman's diplomatic ad
visers to urge him to act gingerly
in Berlin.
On the Record
Truman Seen Risking National Unity
By Partisan Campaign Strategy
By Dorothy Thompson
When Mr. Truman entered the
gasping, exhausted Democratic con
vention, every one rose, not in tri
bute to a candidate but in respect
lor the Presi
dent of the
United States. A
few moments
later any patriot
could have re
mained seated,
for Mr. Truman
had suspended
being president.
Americans love
a fighter, and
the first reaction
to his speech
was a chuckle.
Americans sym
pathize with the
underdog and
Dorothy Thompson, j
Mr. Truman had been the underdog
of the convention, contemptuously
kicked around by the delegations.
It was fun to see him spring to the
attack line, an angry terrier.
The man not only was telling off
the Republicans, but also the doubt
ers and traitors there before him.
They'd see who was going to win,
and how! And he was doing it in
unaccustomed language, right off
the street, and out of the side of his
mouth. For a few moments there
was the tension of a prize ring,
when the little fellow scrambles to
his feet on the ninth count and1
packs an unexpected punch.
Doves and No Peace.
But afterward, in the wan dawn,
as we ate a supper that was break
fast, the performance came back
bringing a bitter taste which was!
not due to excruciating weariness, j
The 48 whirling pigeons ("doves”
let loose to herald "peace for all
time'') and the roars of laughter
that went up as they beat their
wings against the electric fans,
which had to be turned off, and,
blinded by the klieg lights, plunged
into ladies' hats, causing feminine j
shrieks and hale snickers—had that
cheap peace stunt really happened? j
And how' would it read in Pravda?
The headlines of the papers did.
not report peace. Cairo had been
bombed. Togliattl had been shot.
In Berlin the beleaguered Amer
ican, British and French forces sat
with 2.ooo.txx) Germans iea not Dy
doves but by Gen. Clay’s steel
“pigeons.” And there were reports
of Soviet yaks assembling and of
Soviet maneuvers in the air corridor.
What did it all add up to? The
Czech coup? The Masaryk suicide?
The Communist purgings? Thr
Wallace candidacy? The with
drawal of Gromyko? The rift with;
Yugoslavia? What did Tito refuse
to do, one asked oneself? Could It i
not be that he refused to fall in
with war plans?
In this framework one recalled
the President's speech, and it no
longer w’as a good show. The Presi
; dent had thrown the election fight
into Congress, to stage on the floor
of the Nation’s highest deliberative
bodies a bitterly partisan struggle.
(Does the President know that they
are •’deliberative’’? Can men de
liberate with a gun at their chests?)
He had aroused the South as it has
not been aroused since reconstruc
tion days. He had appealed to
every divisive element in this turbu
lent democracy—racial and class. He
had summoned fears and discon
tents in the last well-fed and half
way normal Nation in the world.
Risked National Unity.
He had risked national unity in
! foreign policy.
Mr. Truman is President for an
; other half year. In the convention
he proved that he would rather be
j come President in November than
be it now.
I The strategy was sound enough—
for other, more secure times. But
Mr. Truman is President now—in
this fateful, desperate summer
when we must all hang together,
not for the Right or the Left, for
party or for class, but for each
other, for our homes, our civiliza
tion, our lives.
V
That is what matters. Not what
particular man sits in the White
House, but what kind of Nation he
governs—whether it is united, af
fectionate, stronghearted, devoted
and of good faith. If the national
spirit is healthy, no adventurous
risk will be taken by our enemies.
But if we are bitterly rent asunder,
it certainly will be.
And if MT. TrUman does not know
that, he is not fit to be President of
the American people.
So we thought that morning as
we read the papers and so we think
a week later, reliving that extraor
dinary, nightmarish experience.
(Released by the Bell Syndicate, Inc.)
LOUIE —By Harry Hanan
Drive for Young Voters
Stassen Important to G. O. P. Campaign
Because of His Hold on Veterans
By Doris Fleeson
Harold Stassen, who confers with
his successful rival, Gov, Dewey, to
morrow, is important to the Re
publican campaign because alone
among t h e ,
party's leaders
he has identi
fied himself
with young
voters, especial
ly veterans.
Gov. Dewey
has seen no war ;
service; Gov.
Warren was a .
1 i e u t enant in
the 363d Infan
t r y during
World War I
but did not go (
overseas. While
there is some
Dori« Flreion.
disposition among the rank and file
to suggest that to be a flag lieuten
ant—as Stassen was for Admiral
Halsey—Is not precisely a rugged as
signment, Mr, Stassen saw plenty of
a.ction in the Pacific and is general
ly accepted as one of the boys.
There is a dearth, too, on the
Democratic top level of World War
II veterans, though their ticket is
headed by a proud artilleryman of
the first war, Capt. Truman of Bat
tery D. Neither New Party nomi
nee—Henry Wallace nor Senator
Taylor—went to war. In fact only
the DIxiecrats are up-to-date in the
matter of World War II candidates.
Their presidential nominee, Gov.
Thurmond of South Carolina, land
ed in Normandy on D day from a
glider.
Hold on Youth Shown.
Both primaries and convention
demonstrated Mr. Stassen's hold on
young people and this apparently
was not lost on Gov. Dewey who Is
a noticing fellow.
Personally and politically. Gov.
Dewey and Mr. Stassen actually are
not sympathetic, one to the other,
and even their physical attributes
conspire against their association.
In the famous Oregon debate, Gov.
Dewey proposed a condition that
they speak from separate studios
because he did not want his picture
taken with the towering Minneso
tan.
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But both are young men, one not
quite on top yet and the other by
no means resigned to private life.
Neither can afford the luxury’ now
of a feud.
Mr. Stassen took a bad beating at
Philadelphia in the public view and
a worse *one behind the scenes.
Personal loyalty and the high cali
ber of his associates prevented the
latter from becoming well known,
but actually one Stassen lieutenant.
Victor Johnson, who managed his
Wisconsin triumph, quietly quitted
Philadelphia before the convention
ended.
It is understood that. Mr. Johnson,
an old hand at practical politics,
disagreed with the high-powered
methods of the West Coast ad
vertising man, Ted Gamble, who
was put in charge at Philadelphia
by Mr. Stassen. Mr. Gamble pro
duced some ornate effects plus the
longest and most glamorous demon
stration of the convention; Mr.
Johnson contended that the votes
lay in the quiet cultivation of
smoke-filled rooms.
Shock Over Footsie Game.
Some of the Stassen followers
also experienced a slight sense of
shock over Mr. Stassen's footsie
game with Col. McCormick, the
Chicago isolationist. The Stassen
version is that he dined with the
colonel to warn him that Gov.
Green of Illinois, the convention
keynoter, was breaking away to Gov.
Dewey, although the colonel's
avowed favorite was Senator Taft.
The colonel responded by coming
out for a Taft-Stassen ticket. This
pulled the rug from under Gov.
Green, who was forced further to
advertise his humilation by an
nouncing Illinois’ 40 votes for Sen
ator Taft on all ballots. But it also
confused the Stassen liberals in
other delegations.
Mr. Stassen has been offered the
presidency of the University of
Pennsylvania; many of his asso
ciates think it is the most suitable
thing he can do. He has had
lucrative business offers also. It is
understood that he feels that he
can’t increase his stature via Min
nesota politics any more, though
there is a Senate seat coming up
there this fall.
McLemore—
Irish Never Heard
Pat and Mike Yarns
By Henry McLemore
LIMERICK, Ireland.—"When In
Rome, do Just what the Romans
do,
"When In Limerick you must do
uie same,
“So I’ll write
you a verse,
"Though it be
very terse,
"And this lim
erick will gain
me no fame.”
Now I feel
better. I just
couldn’t come to
Limerick and
not write a lim
erick. Writing it
wore m e out,
though, and I
hope and pray
that on my way
Htnrr Kelcmirt.
around the world by Clipper i
won’t be let off at Sonnet, India,
say, or Quatrain, Siam. I don’t!
believe I am quite up to writing a!
sonnet or a quatrain. Horrible
thought: Suppose I am grounded at
Epic, Egypt. Trying to do an epic
poem would finish me, for sure.
Slowly Going Batty.
I am working—a journalist never
has a real vacation, you know; he
must always lug that typewriter
around—I am working in a room
that overlooks the River Shannon,
and I am slowly going batty.
Know why? I can’t remember how
that song “Where the River Shan
non Flows’’ goes. Every time I try
to sing it I wind up with either
“Did Your Mother Come From Ire
land?” or “When Irish Eyes Are
Smiling.” I used to know it as a
youngster, and I know that some
where in its lyrics there is some
thing about "where the three-leaf
shamrock grows.” But I can't put
it together.
The Irish themselves have been
no help. I have asked Foleys and
O’Connors and O'-everything-else
how the song went, but none had
ever heard of it. They were
familiar with “Nature Boy’’ and
that Bongo-bongo-let-me-live-in
the-Congo thing, but the song about
the flowing of the Shannon left
them cold. They admitted to hav
ing flsfced in it for salmon and
trout, bathed in it, canoed on top of
it, but all denied ever having sung
about it.
Trying to get my mind off the
song, I went out and walked through
the streets of Limerick. I thought
that perhaps to listen to a few Pat
and Mike jokes would clear my head
and put me at rest. But again I
was doomed to disappointment.
They don’t know Pat and Mike
stories over here. The home of
Pat and Mike jokes is America. I
am not much of a story teller, but
in a quiet, dimly lighted, oak
beamed orange juice stand I held
an audience of Irishmen spellbound
with yams about those two undying
fellows, Pat and Mike.
Toasted With Orange Juice.
By the end of the evening I was
a very popular fellow, indeed. The
men of Limerick toasted me with
double orange juices. They voted
me a life member of a football club,
and one chap went so far as to
suggest that I be made a member j
of the Irish Olympic team. I don’t
exactly remember what event I was'
to enter, so strong is the orange!
Juice one gets in this country, but
I believe it had something to do
with the ten-yard dash.
Tomorrow I have to go back to
Shahnon Airport, 15 miles from j
here, to take off for London. It’s
a beautiful 15 miles, the road wind-1
ing through little villages whose
homes are thatched, whose pasture
land is lush with a greenness that
belongs to Ireland alone and
abounds with fat cows, all of which
moo with a charming brogue.
Tis indeed a sweet country, of
nice and gentle folk.
(Distributed by McNausht Syndicate. Inc.)
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