WIDE AGREEMENT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 10 April 1943, Page 2

WIDE AGREEMENT

WITH THE UNITED STATES MR EDEN REPORTS ON MISSION WAR AND POST-WAR ISSUES. POLICY TOWARDS FRANCE. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, April 8. “I feel convinced that no mission of which I have ever . been in charge was so fundamentally worth while as this,” Mr.*Eden told the House of Commons when he made a statement on his recent visit to the United States and Canada. The terms of the communique issued on his arrival were very wide and he could assure the House that the discussions were equally wide. Mr. Eden referred to the cordiality of his reception in both the United States and Canada and said that, with the full approval of Mr. Churchill, he had invited Mr. Cordell Hull to visit' Britain at any time convenient to him. Describing his informal discussions with members of the Congress Foreign Relations Committee, Mr Eden said they had exchanged views very freely off the record and to his very great advantage. Mr. Eden then placed his conversations under three headings:— First, military operations “not normally under the aegis of the Foreign Office and questions which arise always in wartime between Allies engaged in a common struggle.” On these subjects both parties were satisfied that progress was being made. POLITICAL CO-OPERATION. Secondly: Political co-operation. Mr. Eden said that as the war progressed it became ever more important that there should be close co-operation between the military and political sphere. For instance, with regard to North Africa, there was no doubt it was felt in the United States that there had been some misunderstanding in this country of the purpose of the United States Administration in keeping up relations with Vichy. “I can assure the House that their motives were not a special tenderness for Vichy. They thought, and we agreed, that by maintaining relations with Vichy it would be possible to keep open a useful window on Europe. I have no doubt that we were right and they were right.” It was only through the maintenance of those relations that the American Government was able to. place a considerable number of agents in North Africa who were invaluable in paving the way for the arrival of Allied troops. It was quite clear to him, he added, that many in the United States felt that Britain attributed to them a tenderness for Vichy, Petain, Laval and the rest which they did not feel. He was satisfied that, as regards the future policy toward France, there was complete agreement between Britain and the United States. Both had only one desire —to see all sections of the French people who were prepared to fight the common enemy united together. Regarding the extension of a common policy in respect of Spain, Portugal and Turkey, Mr. Eden said a common policy had been agreed upon. As regards occupied countries, there was only one policy Britain and the United States were pursuing—to do all in their power to restore them to full liberty at the earliest possible moment.. SIMILARITY OF OUTLOOK. The third heading covered a wide range of questions, including practical problems which would arise on the surrender of the enemy and the task that would face Britain, the United States, Russia, China and other United Nations to safeguard the world against further aggression. “We have a very close similarity of outlook,” said Mr. Eden. “Admittedly the exchanges were entirely of an exploratory character, and neither committed the United States Government nor ourselves. The last thing we wanted to do was to bind our Allies to hard facts and rules.” Speaking of relations between Britain and the United States, he said it was a mistake to attempt to base these relations mainly on sentiment, but they should be based on a true foundation —common interest in the maintenance of world peace and preventing a repetition of these catastrophic world conflicts. If we could keep to that foundation we would be less in danger of the ups and downs we had sometimes seen in Anglo-American relations. He believed that definition to be profoundly true and well understood on both sides of the Atlantic. We here recognised the need for some authority to ensure by force that Germany, Italy or Japan should not be able to repeat aggression and he believed the Ame rican people shared that view. He had reported to the United States that in Britain there was no disposition when the struggle was over to trust to luck and hope for the best, and he found exactly the same mood in America. In conclusion, Mr Eden paid striking tribute to the war efforts of both the United States and Canada. AUDIENCE WITH KING MR EDEN REPORTS FULLY. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 9.45 a.m.) RUGBY, April 9. The King .gave an audience to Mr Anthony Eden, who reported fully on his visit to the United States.