19 OCTOBER 1945, Page 4

Now that General Eisenhower is being publicly mentioned as a

possibility for the Secretary-Generalship of the United Nations, the zhances of so admirable an appointment being actually made are worth weighing. No one living, probahly, could do as much for the new Organisation as the late Commander-in-Chief, who, over and above the immense prestige which his leadership of the Allies to victory has conferred, possesses. an ideal combination of qualifications for the leadership of the world in peace. One of those qualifications is an unhesitating willingness to serve his day and generation as and where he is most needed. That trait might lead him to accept an invitation which no country would extend to him with more en-

thusiasm than Great Britain. But there are two other strong tempta- tions. General Eisenhower is freely mentioned both as successor to General Marshall as Chief of the General Staff in the Unite States, and as Republican candidate for the Presidency in 1948 Unfortunately a rival for the latter distinction is Cornmander Harol Stassen, who, in the view of many judges, would be almost as go a choice as Eisenhower for the United Nations post. Both of them cannot get the Republican nomination, but if both of them go for it the United Nations will get neither, for it cannot postpone eh appointment for more than a few weeks. One further consideratio may affect the question. To plant the United Nations' headquarter on American soil and at the same time appoint an American Secre tary-General would give one nation too great a preponderance One or the other must be non-American.

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