STUDENTS STRIKE

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 236, 5 October 1945, Page 5

STUDENTS STRIKE

30,000 IN ARGENTINA

Police Attack With Clubs And

Tear G.as

Rec. 2. BUENOS AYRES, Oct. 4. Over 30,000 students in Argentina's six national universities have gone on strike, thus taking the lead in the struggle of the Argentine people to regain their freedom. Hundreds of students and professors barricaded _ themselves m buildings of the National University of Buenos Ayres. A iargegroupof policemen to-day besieged the buildfogs and cut off the light and water supply. The Associated Press reported that the police later withdrew in order to avoid possible violence. A later message says .that the students' strike flared up into fighting this afternoon when the police, armed with clubs and tearlas bombs, broke into the umverfitv building at La Plata in an effort to eject the students, who have been barricaded in since Tuesday.

Post-mortems are now being held on the causes of the breakdown and the views expressed by the American Secretary of State, Mr. James P. Byrnes, and the Soviet Foreign Commissar, M. Viacheslav Molotov, in their Press conferences. (It is understood that the Foreign Secretary, Mr. Ernest Bevin, declared that he was going to have two nights' sleep before he decided whether he would hold a Press conference or reserve his viewpoint until Parliament reassembles.) ...... Difficulties and Differences The Times, in a leading article, notes with satisfaction that Mr. Byrnes and M. Molotov were equally emphatic and careful to avoid anything calculated to make the resumption of conversations more difficult. It says it would be wrong to discuss the rather obscure procedural arguments as merely captious and insignificant. They conceal real difficulties and differences of opinion, which, if not faced and resolved, will prejudice relations in the future as in the past. . The Times continues: "Two essential principles have to be asserted, and no one appears to contest them. The first is that the three Powers, in spite of their admittedly predominant role, cannot and do not desire to establish a dictatorship or decide every issue of the peace settlement without full consultation with the smaller nations directly concerned in a particular case. The second is that no other country stands on the same footing as the 'Big Three,' either in virtue of its past contribution in the winning of the war or in virtue of its potential contribution to the maintenance of the future world order and that this exceptional position must be fully and frankly recoenised." Resolution Recalled A good deal of attention is focused on the Council's resolution on September 11, which M. Molotov insisted should be expunged frcm the record. This, it is pointed out, states: "All five members of the Council have the right to attend all meetings and take part in all discussions, but in matters concerning the peace settlements the members whose Governments have not been signatory to the relevant terms of surrender should not be entitled to vote."

When asked at a conference to confirm this decision as it appears in the minutes, M. Molotov replied: "I wonder how the author of this report could have found this decision, considering that no decision has been adopted by the Council or signed bv the Ministers." The Manchester Guardian's diplomatic correspondent points out that as matters stand to-day the minutes of the conference are not actually signed, and there are no protocols or signed records of any kind. The correspondent adds: "M. Molotov's answer, carried to its logical conclusion, would mean that there have been no decisions, and in that sense no conference has taken place at all."