The Timaru Herald SATURDAY, APRIL 10, 1943. MR EDEN’S REPORT

Timaru Herald, Volume CLIII, Issue 22553, 10 April 1943, Page 4

The Timaru Herald SATURDAY, APRIL 10, 1943. MR EDEN’S REPORT

"JHI. British Foreign Secretary, Mr Anthony Eden, reporting on iris recent visit to the United States in the House of Commons, said: “I felt convinced that no mission of which I have ever been in charge so fundamentally worthwhile as this.” Mr Eden’s visit was probably necessary and well as worthwhile, for no advantage can be gained by disguising the fact that the alliance and friendship of the British and American peoples must be kept in a constant state of repair. Both peoples are striving towards the same ends, and while this common bond is a strong foundation for enduring friendship, it has to be acknowledged that the fundamental outlook of the peoples on either side of the Atlantic differs in important ways. What the points of difference are was explained simply in a dispatch sent recently Io the Economist by a special representative in the United States. One paragraph said: “Britain is not the kind of country the Americans would normally like. Yet they do like Britain. There are no limits to which American admiration of Britain will go. It was so during the Battle of Britain. But if, when the smoke of the fire lifts and the grime of the night’s agony is wiped off Britain’s face, there seems to be the same old face, tough, elderly and arrogant, the swing or irritation is equally strong in the other direction. This state of mind is extremely precarious and very unsatisfactory. The liking for Britain is largely instinctive. The more it is repressed and frustrated bv contrary emotions, the weaker it becomes.”

Since these differences in outlook exist, it is expedient that unremitting efforts should be made to reconcile them. It is imperative also that the greatest possible unanimity should be secured on the political questions which loom large in the background of the war. Unless this is done frictions will become evident and, unhealed, they could grow into serious breaches. All such difficulties can be removed by candid diplomatic exchanges and by full and honest discussion of problems as they arise. Mr Churchill’s visits to the United States were welcome gestures, but as the correspondent of the Economist wrote: “The American disregard of history covers recent history. People want to know what Britain is doing now and what it is going to do next.” Mr Eden’s visit was, no doubt, a useful follow-up of those made by Mr Churchill and other representatives of the British Government in the past 18 months. But there were special reasons why questions of immediate importance should be discussed now. There is no difference of opinion between the British and American Governments on the conduct of the war. The Axis must he beaten, and it can be beaten only bv a full summoning of the resources of the English-speaking peoples in combination with those of the other United Nations. It is upon political and economic questions that differences are most likely to arise, but it seems from Mr Eden’s necessarily guarded statements that a basis of new understanding has been reached. A political question of first import ance has existed for some time on account of continued relations between the United States Government and Vichy. This resulted in political complications in North Africa after the Allies landed on French colonial territory. The American attitude, as disclosed by Mr Eden, is that the Americans thought it desirable to “keep open a useful window on Europe.” “I can assure the House,” said Mr Eden, “that their motives were not special tenderness for Vichy.” Mr Eden’s visit to Washington resulted in a balance between apparently opposing British and American views on the French question. His summing-up was: “I have no doubt that we were right and they were right.” There was another question Io which Mr Eden could make no reference in a public statement, but it is certain to have been discussed; it was essential that it should have been discussed. That was the relations between the United States and the Soviet Union. As the war continues new problems will arise, but as long as they can be discussed honestly they will cause no more than rapidly disappearing ripples on the surface of Anglo-American diplomacy.