The arcane policy which Vichy calls "collaboration" with the Axis seemed last week to be taking definite form. According to reports from London, 14,000 French trucks had been shipped to Tunisia, oil tankers were sailing directly from Marseille to Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's Tripoli supply base, German ships were traversing French territorial waters on their way to the African front. In spite of official denials from Vichy, the rumors persisted.
Best barometer of the climate of collaboration is the state of relations between the U.S. and Vichy. Only so long as collaboration remains a...