A NEW PILOT

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5297, 9 January 1947, Page 4

A NEW PILOT

i i . i . - i GPHE news of the resignation of Mr. Byrnes as United States Seeretary of State, j when all preparations for the 'f main peace treaties with Ger1 many and Japan are in train, was apparently as totally unexnected in Washington as by

I the world at large. Like his opposite liumber in Great , Britain, Mr. Byrnes has been ; feeling the strain of his responsibilities and he obviously spoke from the heart when he said that there were only 1 two happy days in the life of one elected to eminence — the day he was appointed, and the day he left ofhce. An assuranee has been given | that the choice of General ! Marshall for the post does not indieate a chang-e- of poliey. Nevertheless, from the forthright '"'farewell to Chipa," i General Marshall has been permitted to publish, it seems likeiy that there will be a i very direct approach adopted I by the new appointee in I dealing with stieky situations. | Our bemused and harassed j Mr. Bevin may hnd comfort in this faet. General Marshall ; now comes clearly into the 1 picture as a future President. j His repulation as^ a soldier stands very high indeed and his work in China, although he admits defeat in his main objeutive of bringing the warring factions of that country together, has increased rather i than diminished his, stature. Should he be elected to the highest office in the gift of the American people, he will join a select company of men who gained distinction

m ine armea service oi tne Republic before heing appointed ' to rule its political destinies — 1 George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Zachary Taylor, Ulys- ! ses S. Grant, James A. Gar- ' field, Chester A. Arthur, Ben- ! jamin Harrison and Theodore ; Roosevelt. Only the other day, an apocryphal story was printed concerning General 1 Eisenhower, that he had been

: warned by a "ghost" not to 1 accept the office of President, because a former commander-in-chief of the Union, Grant, had been an abject failure at the White House. It is hard to imagine either Alarshall or Eisenhower, both ; men at the height of their powers, who have shared | ! supreme military responsibility j : in the greatest war in which ' their country has • been en- : gaged, failing to fill the role 1 of President- with credit to | themselves and profit to their i country. j It seems that the British . | Commonwealth, too, is taking ! full advantage of the talents ; revealed by men in the pro- ; I fession of arms, in the post- i 1 war world. New Zealand has gained by this trend in her last two Governor-Generals ; ; South Africa " has for nearly i half a century had the benefit I of the services of Field-Marshal i Smuts in peace and war alter- i |j nately; New South Wales has ; j a distinguished serviceman as : | State Governor; Field-Marshal • i Lorcl Wavell is in the peculiI arly onerous position of Vice- ! roy of India and Field-Marshal | Lord Montgomery apparently j is on the way to accomplish- ! ing in Moscow what all the | diplomats have failed"to achieve ' — the raising of the iron curtain. I.