The New Zealand Herald AUCKALAND, SATURDAY, APRIL 15, 1944 ALGIERS CHOOSES DE GAULLE

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 24869, 15 April 1944, Page 6

The New Zealand Herald AUCKALAND, SATURDAY, APRIL 15, 1944 ALGIERS CHOOSES DE GAULLE

The star of General de Gaulle is in the ascendant. Theirs are those who, remembering 1940, v\ ill see little to deplore in that. A clioice had obviously to be made, i\f only to end the damaging tension in French counsels, and, all sentiment aside, of the two available* leaders de Gaulle was clearly thja more suitable. For all the gallantry and patriotism of General Giraud, it must be admitted thant he dates from the sorriest epoich of the French General Staff. 'lnhere is no record to suggest that he raised his voice in protest against those who poured defeatism into the i.expensive concrete of the Maginot and resented the urgent warning's of the younger de Gaulle with his t plea for mechanisation and the spirit of attack. The maua of the thricevindicated prophet, the prestige of imaginative leadership, the glamour of a bold, inspiring stand, all these will make it difficult for warm French hearts to pass by the first champion of French freedom* To this might be added a very .real gift of eloquence. There are speeches of de Gaulle which are already known by their text, or refravn. "Marshal Foch, we will do otur duty" ; "Monsieur le Marechal, oiio voice must reply to you ' ; "Thfi guns of Sidi Barrani" ; these ancfl, other messages came as the thrilling voice of liberty to bewildered millions in the first day of defeat. They all form a reason for de Gaulle's triumph, and Allied chiefs who plan the administration of liberated France understand the fact, however much they may be worried i over some aspects of the genera! s I character

The project of administering France can l*c worked out on paper with notably greater ease than it, can be worked out in practice Algiers is vividly aware of this, and quite obviously apprehensive lest too rigid a plan should fail to give due attention to the unique position of France psychologically and historically. If Algiers has thrust de Gaulle forward and relegated Giraud to a sinecure, the action forms the plainest of French hints to the Anglo-Saxon world. With that world the personality of the chosen champiom has not always found approval and he has done things, notably in Syria, meiiting strong disapproval. North Africa has been the see fie of much administrative difficulty* The Darlan incident, however justified by the moment's expediency, discredited foreign opinion wry thoroughly in the eyes of patniotic Frenchmen. From that discredit Giraud, who enjoyed some favour with the Allies, hao progressively suffered. Last week's eclipse can be traced directly back to it. Simultaneously, the impatience of those same Allies with the rather difficult de Gaulle has been worn down b% French determination. The Frenchmen whose opinion now evidently predominates share, indeed, thajt sensitiveness which has sometimes made de Gaulle a troublesome person to deal with. It has its rootts deep in the nation's wounded pridie. France herself is temperamentally difficult, and it is a spirit which is likely to deteriorate if it meets misunderstanding on the day tof libeiation. From Norway down to Greece the nations which fell under the Nazi shadow can number littSe more than a hundred years of modern history. Holland was the one minor exception. Norway might remember the Vikings, Greece the Hoplites of Thermopylae, Poland might cherish the name of Kosciusco and Serbians the ancient story of conflict with the Hapsburg tyrannies, buit none of them look back down a» long, unbroken history of national! greatness. France was a nation when the Germans still fought and lived as forest tribes. France gaw. its first polish to German art and France lived to see the mass of petty States on whom shie looked with tolerant contempt feap forward into the modern worW on the inspiration of those ideals of freedom which she interpreted to Europe. She lived to see those same ideals worn down and the "German Second Reich grow to formidable strength under the inspiration of more ancient minds. She s*aw the ancient Teutonic chieftains reincarnated Bismarck, and lotet two

fair provinces to his grasping; hand. The world knows how she woia them back, removed the black draperies from the marble statues of Alsace and Lorraine and felt whole a-gain. Then came the crowning horrtor of 1940. Alone of nations, the British people, had the Empire fallen, could have understood what goes otn in the best French hearts to-day* All the crimes of Vichy, all the culpable disunity which maired the testimony of pre-war France must, not muike the world forget that such [frenchmen live. If de Gaulle speaks with the impatience of their pain, lie deserves tolerance, and, indeed, has received it at Allied hands. IJio only hope for France is the rebirth of the spirit of her youth.

GREEK POLITICS Hope that the ever-sharp political, hatchets in Greece may be buried is; contained in the report that Colonel Venizelos has accepted the King's invitation to form a Cabinet. There are many parties in Greece—a recent message spoke of at least a dozen of them —hut all revolve around the old division into monarchists and republicans. A former King of Greece and his statesmanlike Prime Minister led their country to brilliant successes in the Balkan Wars that preceded the Great War. The latter struggle broke the fruitful partnership, brought Greece no honour, much ignominy, and the terrible disaster of Smyrna. The King was Constantino ; the Prime Minister, Venizelos. The present King George of Greece is the son of Constantine and his new Prime Minister the son of the brilliant but fiery Venizelos. Have the sons remembered that in combination their fathers raised lireece to new heights ami I hat." in division they brought her lou, and

were themselves confounded, Constantine being deposed and Yenizelos subsequently forced into exile 1 The sons can scarcely have forgotten. It is, therefore, an encouraging sign that they have agreed to join forces to further the common cause. Their coming together should inspiie a general closing of the ranks in order to fight the common enemy. As it is, resistance to the German and Bulgarian invaders lacks effectiveness because the Greeks are split up into several organisations, each antagonistic to the other. So much so that the Allies have been reluctant to supply the partisans with arms, lest they be used to exterminate not the enemy, but the opposite Greek party. Now that Colonel Yenizelos has agreed to serve under the King, there is strong hope that these suicidal schismatics may be abandoned in favour of national unity for the discomfiture and final defeat of the enemy. RATE BURDENS A sense of injustice over the burden that local rating imposes is never far beneath the surface with country landholders. Not long ago there were widespread protests at increased hospital levies, imposed on a substantially higher scale in spite of the operation of social security medical benefits. When the whole issue was debated in Parliament over a year ago, the Minister of Health admitted that there was_ a ,case for reform. The average increase hi hospital rates for the IVominion in had been 15 per cent, compared with the amount beifore social security came into operation, he said. A\hile agreeing fhaV something should be done, tie suggested that action should be postponed to a more favourable timet. He said representatives of the Comities Association were ready to accent, that necessity. They may not be so disposed much longer if remarks made at a meeting of the Whangarei County Council yesterday are an indication. The extension of the county franchise which the Government has just forced through Parliament has revived feeling over the question. To the old axiom, "No taxation without representation' - the? county ratepayers are supplying the corollary "No representation "without taxation." This feeling is particularly strong in those counties with large areas of native land from which little rate revenue is collected. Theirs is a long-standing grievance, but it has lost none of its force or genuineness with the passage of time, ft is probable that by insisting on the widened franchise in the counties, the Government will be compelled to do something about a problem systematically shelved for many years past—the inequity of the rating burden, particularly of the hospital rate, on rural land.