Refugees

Around the shores of blue Lake Leman, dividing France and Switzerland, lie historic international conference cities, Geneva, Lausanne, Montreux, Nyon. Last week, the gay French resort of Evian-les-Bains was added to the list as delegates from 32 nations, including three world powers (U. S., France, Britain), four British Dominions (Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Eire), most of the Latin American nations and several smaller European powers, there set up headquarters in the luxurious Hotel Royal. They came in answer to President Roosevelt's invitation, issued soon after Germany annexed Austria, to see what could be done to provide new homes for racial and political refugees. Germany was not invited; Italy, out of sympathy for the Reich, declined to attend.

Evian is the home of a famous spring of still and unexciting table water. After a week of many warm words of idealism, few practical suggestions, the Intergovernmental Committee on Political Refugees took on some of the same characteristics. Two days of stalling went on before a president was elected. No delegate wanted the post, each fearing that his nation would then be responsible for the conference's all-too-probable failure. Finally stocky, publicity-hating Myron C. Taylor, onetime Chairman of U. S. Steel Corp. and chief U. S. delegate, agreed to accept.

All nations present expressed sympathy for the refugees but few offered to allow them within their boundaries. Britain, France, Belgium pleaded that they had already absorbed their capacity, Australia turned in a flat "No" to Jews, and the U. S. announced that she would combine her former annual Austrian immigration quota with her German to admit 27,370 persons (who can support themselves) from Greater Germany next year. Almost sole note of encouragement came from eight Latin American nations: Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Uruguay, Peru, Venezuela, Mexico and the Dominican Republic (which nine months ago massacred 1,000 neighboring Haitians because they moved into her territory), offered to accept a limited number of refugees if they came as agricultural workers.

As each nation presented its views, it became clear that there were two funda mental splits to be bridged before a plan could be put into effect:

1) Britain and France want any plan for transplanting refugees to be carried out by existing League of Nations bodies. The U. S., backed by nonLeague Latin American nations, feels that since the conference's first move will have to be negotiation with League-hating Germany for removal of her Jewish and anti-Nazi population, a body completely removed from League influence would have more chance of success.

2) Britain and France want to limit proposals to the handling of. refugees from Germany alone. The U. S. insists that the conference constitute a permanent body to handle not only the German problem but any other refugee question that may arise, from such potential refugee producers as Italy, Poland and Rumania.

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