Political Debt

One of President Eisenhower's most publicized assets, stressed by Republicans and generally conceded by Democrats during the late campaign, was his ability to surround himself with an able team of assistants. Some of this faith was shaken by the President's choices in the first 100 days. But the biggest shock came early this month with the appointment of Governor James F. Byrnes of South Carolina as one of this country's delegates to the UN General Assembly.

Normally it would be outdated to comment on the appointment now, since it was made several weeks ago. But because most papers, in line with their "Ike can do no wrong" policy, made no issue of it, it badly deserves mention.

Granted, Eisenhower had an obligation to Byrnes for the Governor's efforts in his behalf during the campaign. Political debts are inescapable, and to succeed in the game one must repay them. But this was not the way to pay this one. An appointment as Mutual Security Administrator or even a cabinet post might have been in order, but picking him for the UN job was not unlike choosing Colonel Robert M. McCormick as Ambassador to Britain.

In the UN today we are dealing with nations such as India, Korea, South Africa and Iran, in which the major part of the population is not white. We must work with these people; we need them as allies. A UN delegate certainly should be sympathetic to their aspirations. Whatever qualifications Byrnes has in the field of foreign relations, and they are many, all of them are nullified with regard to this post by his stand on a domestic issue which is fast becoming an international one. The Governor has made some of the most blatantly bigoted statements of any public figure in the country today. It was he who said that if the Supreme Court should rule that schools could not be separate and equal at the same time South Carolina would close its school system. Perhaps it is true that Byrne's attitude is representative of the state he governs, and that as governor of this state he has to proclaim such views. But if this is true, then President Eisenhower should have realized that being governor of such a state disqualifies Byrnes for the position of a UN delegate.

We are not of the school which believes in always formulating policy in line with what our allies think, instead of by the public opinion in our own country. But since there has been no great public demand for Byrnes in this post to balance the adverse sentiments expressed abroad, and since there are many other men with just as many qualifications as Byrnes, it becomes clear that his appointment was an abominable one, dictated purely by the need to pay off a political debt. It is not too late to rectify the error, however, and relations with many nations in the Asian-Arab block would be greatly improved if the Governor were sent back to South Carolina.