Phillips to India

To a sensitive nerve end in U.S.-Asiatic relations--the absence of American diplomats whose prestige matches the importance of Asia in the 1942 world--Franklin Roosevelt applied some balm last week. To serve as his "personal representative" in India he appointed suave, gracious William Phillips, a top-flight career diplomat who has held many an important post since he left Harvard Law School for the State Department in 1903.

William Phillips, whose family has been distinguished in New England since the founding of Massachusetts Bay Colony, has no State Department rival save Under Secretary Sumner Welles for tall, aristocratic elegance. He was once Assistant Secretary of State, twice Under Secretary, served as Ambassador to Belgium and Italy, has been one of State Secretary Cordell Hull's croquet-playing cronies.

But Ambassador Phillips' new mission* does not mean that the U.S. intends to abandon its hands-off policy in the bitter struggle over India's political status. At 64, Ambassador Phillips is a patient, conservative diplomat who has never ruffled feathers nor interfered with history. And to clear up any possible doubt, Franklin Roosevelt said plainly: his representative carries no plans and no formulas.

* Despite the "personal" nature of his new post, Mr. Phillips will hold the rank of Ambassador in deference to his standing in the State Department.

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