MARGINAL COMMENT
El, I ; AROLD NICOLSON
MR. CORDELL HULL retained his office for so many years that some of us have forgotten the inauguration ceremonies which any incoming Secretary of State is expected to perform. They divide themselves into two parts. The new Secretary of State's first action must be to dismiss some of his predecessor's cronies and to replace them by cronies of his own. This process is called "cleansing the State Department," and is much appreciated by American public opinion. His second action is to seek for some exposed portion of the British lion's tail and to give it a sharp public twist. Having performed these two ceremonies, the new Secretary of State can settle down to work ; and we can be certain that in the case of Mr. Stettinius that work will be performed, not merely to further the unity of the United Nations, but for the benefit of the human race at large. Yet when we examine more closely the zest and precision which Mr. Stettinius has thrown into the first of his two ceremonies, we at once become aware that this time something really serious is intended. The new Under-Secretary and the five new Assistant Under-Secretaries are not put there merely for ceremonial purposes ; their number and their quality suggest that this time the machinery of the State Department is in fact drastically to be overhauled. There can be little doubt that Mr. Stettinius, with the support of the President,. is determined that there shall in future be such a thing as American foreign policy, co-ordinated, authoritative, well-informed and planned ; nor need any of us be alarmed that the new machine is being created in such -powerful proportions and placed in skilled hands. It is not from the precisions of United States policy that the world has suffered in the past ; it is from their imprecisions. If in future American foreign policy is to become more expert and more predictable, then indeed we can rejoice.
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