End of a Truce

Ever since Wendell Willkie returned from the Far East burning with advice and criticism for the Administration (TIME, Nov. 2), political insiders have known that he and Franklin Delano Roosevelt were at the parting of the ways. Last week the Christian Science Monitor's Roscoe Drummond put the open secret into print--with a sage analysis of the causes and likely effects.

Said White House Correspondent Drummond:

"The 75-minute conference which the two had at the White House on the afternoon of Mr. Willkie's return from his trip [helped create] the strain. There were few gentle words spoken during the interview. Mr. Roosevelt was effervescently cordial; Mr. Willkie was deadly serious and set out to tell the President what he considered the truth.

"When at his first press conference after the North African invasion President Roosevelt talked of how he had to sit smilingly and take it on the chin while ignorant outsiders were clamoring for a second front when a second front had already been determined on, correspondents knew that he was not excluding Mr. Willkie from this category of ignorant outsiders. . . .

"It is now evident that, however parallel their purposes [in the field of foreign affairs], they are not going to walk down the same road any longer.

"Before America's entry into the war, this partnership was an invaluable asset. It gave the President strong support when that support was indispensable. . . .

"The severance of that partnership at this time may prove to be as much of an asset as its creation was an asset in 1940. . . . Now that pre-war uncertainties are over, they may well accomplish more in the leadership of the nation as competitors than as allies."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.