Mr. Wallace's Visitation
It is difficult to know what benefit has accrued to anyone from Mr. Henry Wallace's visit to this country, apart from the pleasure which it may be hoped he has derived from it himself. In a series of speeches he has made many unexceptionable observations which were sure of general acceptance in advance, some foolish observa- tions (e.g., regarding the potentiality of irrigation in the Jordan Valley) and many observations vehemently critical of his own coun- try. There is a tradition here that Englishmen do not go abroad to emit partisan criticisms of their country, or its government of the moment, and those who do rarely fail to come home with diminished reputations. Americans perhaps do not observe that canon ; or perhaps it is only Mr. Wallace who does not observe it. It is not surprising in any case that a man who commands so much general respect as Senator Vandenberg should lead a growing volume of protest against the way prominent or once prominent American (for British audiences have in fact been cheering a politician whose stock in the United States has sunk extremely low) has been talking about America outside America. Mr. Wallace is patently sincere, with a sincerity which seems incompatible with reticence ; it was the public attack he made as a Cabinet Minister on the policy of
his colleague, the Secretary of State, last September which led the President to ask for his resignation. There are matters of taste and ethics which Americans are quite capable of settling among them- selves. Meanwhile it seems clear that Mr. Wallace's speeches in England have distinctly strengthened President Truman's position in America. That provides considerable justification for the invita- tion extended to Mr. Wallace from this side.
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