Barometer Drops

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 matter of words can Washington exert its influence to prevent collaboration from edging over into active alliance. Moving on diplomatic tiptoe, the State Department explored the apparent change in the weather, asked Vichy whether rumors of aid to Rommel were true. Though Vichy's answer was not released to the press, the State Department called it "definitely unsatisfactory." It looked as though the bottom had dropped out of the barometer and collaborating Vichy would soon be swallowed by the Axis.

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