Moscow Storm

Moscow's War and the Working Class lashed out at still another American. This time the target was Michigan's Republican Senator Arthur Vandenberg. War and the Working Class, which is just as much in line with Government policy as the rest of the controlled Russian press, cried out that Arthur Vandenberg's ideas on world cooperation were clearly "imperialist."

W.W.C. said that Senator Vandenberg, who will be one of the U.S. delegates to the San Francisco Conference, wants the U.S. to boss the world: he wants the kind of unity "which Jonah enjoyed when he was swallowed by the whale."

Shrilled W.W.C.: "Such is the logic of the imperialist that he regards as nationally ethical that 'what is mine is mine and what is thine is mine.' Vandenberg's . . . unbridled covetousness lays claim to the entire world. . . . The avowed imperialist assumes that if not his belly, at least his pocket will have the requisite capaciousness. . . ."

To what remarks of the Senator his Soviet caterwauling might refer was hard to guess, since the Senator is not imperialist. Last week Senator Vandenberg spent most of his time preparing for the San Francisco Conference. Promised freedom of action by Franklin Roosevelt, he seemed determined to exercise his freedom to the fullest.

The Revisionist. Along with the other U.S. delegates, he had an hour-long meeting with Secretary of State Stettinius. At its conclusion, Senator Vandenberg handed Ed Stettinius a nine-point memorandum suggesting revisions in the Dumbarton Oaks formula. None of them was unacceptable to the Secretary of State.

The memorandum was not made public, but one of its big points had previously been elaborated by Vandenberg on the floor of the Senate. He will insist that all decisions made during the war (Poland, Greece, Rumania, Yugoslavia, etc.) be re-viewed at the final peace conference. This proposal may have provoked W.W.C.'s outcry about imperialism. Pundit Walter Lippmann, frankly in favor of spheres of influence, cried that Senator Vandenberg's suggestion would cause "endless confusion." But Harold Stassen, internationalist, has also insisted that any world organization should include provision for peaceful change as it is needed.

And Arthur Vandenberg stuck to his guns. In his Senate speech he had pointedly said: "Inevitably, many [of these decisions] unavoidably consult expediency. Expediency and justice frequently are not even on speaking terms with each other."

The Soldier's Voice. Senator Vandenberg announced that, in formulating his plans for San Francisco, he would give top priority to the opinions of U.S. fighting men. He said he had already received a large batch of G.I. mail. He summed up the soldiers' opinions: "They are for an international organization, with the U.S. participating. But they very definitely do not want an international sucker made out of Uncle Sam. They want us to negotiate with our eyes open."

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