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Through such friends as these, and through their friends, rather than by a direct approach, the Ambassador has managed to get a sympathetic hearing for his point of view in places where it does plenty of good. U. S. citizens in a position to influence U. S. public opinion have become familiar with the Vichy thesis:
France did not collapse; France was beaten after a hopeless fight. Under the terms of the Armistice France may do nothing to help Britain—but France will do nothing to help Germany. France must collaborate with Germany until Germany loses the war, but France hopes Germany will lose. Meanwhile France must be fed, because starvation will drive France into Germany's arms.
This thesis appeals to U. S. citizens on humanitarian grounds, if not on logical ones. By last week no less than 15 organizations working for French relief were able to unite into a body called The Coordinating Council for French Relief, with headquarters in Manhattan's French Chamber of Commerce, of which Pierre Carder is president. Most of this relief is distributed through The American Friends Service Committee, which is the only organization with representatives in France. The Quaker Committee has been distributing about $50,000 worth of food, clothing and medical supplies a month in Occupied and Unoccupied France.
And in Washington last week the American Red Cross announced that it had chartered a second "mercy ship," the S.S. Exmouth, to carry $1,250,000 worth of relief supplies to Unoccupied France. The first ship, the S.S. Cold Harbor, is expected at Marseille next week. When it arrives the people of Unoccupied France will stage a three-day celebration.
Pressure for more relief will undoubtedly increase. With it will increase pressure for relaxation of the British blockade. This is what the Ambassador wants. But many Frenchmen in the U. S. are convinced that, whatever the consequences, to win the war Britain must maintain an airtight blockade. This, they say, is the real reason why U. S. citizens should distrust Ambassador Henry-Haye.
France Forever. Gaston Henry-Haye's opposite in almost every respect, physical, social and intellectual, is the founder of France Forever (France Quand-Même), Engineer Eugene Jules Houdry of Philadelphia. Engineer Houdry is rich from his oil-cracking patents, hard-boiled by nature. "The French people are not going to kiss the bottom of Mr. Hitler," says he.
France Forever was founded last June 29, eight days after the Franco-German Armistice, in the Manhattan apartment of Dr. Albert C. J. Simard, fashionable gland specialist and then president of the French War Veterans in the U. S. Other founders were General de Gaulle's representative, Jacques de Sieyes, who is president of Patou (perfume); Maurice Garreau-Dombasle, longtime French commercial attaché in Washington; Captain Roger Etienne Brunschwig, founder of the French "Broken Faces"; Frédéric G. Hoffherr, Barnard and Columbia professor, who became France Forever's publicity director. France Forever is General de Gaulle's agency in the U. S., expects to attain Embassy status if Unoccupied France is ever taken over by Germany.