BIG POWER TALKS

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27614, 22 March 1955, Page 13

BIG POWER TALKS

Call By Democrat Spokesman (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 9 pan.) WASHINGTON, Mar. 20. The Democrats* chief foreign policy spokesman in Congress, Senator Walter George, suggested today that a conference of the heads of the major Powers—including the Soviet Union—be held this year. Such a conference, he added, held a “real hope of avoiding war.” “I think that we have reached the point where we should try,” he said. Senator George, chairman of the Seriate Foreign Relations Committee, made the suggestion on the television programme, “Meet the Press.” Britain had long urged a top-level meeting with the leaders of the Soviet Union in an effort to settle some of the critical issues of the cold war, he said. The Eisenhower Administration had been cool to such a meeting, but was said to have indicated that it might be willing to partake in one after the Paris treaties on German rearmament were ratified. Senator George told reporters that he thought the “real hope of avoiding war” rested in “some high-level conference among the leading Powers.” Asked if he referred to the heads of the British, French, Soviet, and United States governments, he replied: “The great nations who are vitally interested in world peace ought to be brought together as soon as practicable.” He added that he was aware of how frequently conferences with the Soviet Union had proved futile in post-war years. “Real Hope” “But we have reached the point where we can try, because I believe we have reached a point where there is real hope of making some adjustments,” he said. Senator George hoped such a conference would be held “as soon as practicable,” before the end of 1955. He said that the world “may have already passed the point where Russia could veto the People’s Republic of China.” He said the Soviet Union could “withhold bombs and ammunition” from the Chinese Communists if China started a war. “But whether they could safely veto any movement on their (the Chinese Communists’) part is an issue on which there must be doubt,” he added. Questioned by a reporter after the programme. Senator George said he meant to leave the door open to the inclusion of Communist China. He said that if the meeting were too big it “obviously” could not accomplish much. But, he added, the Powers “directly affected” in major world conflicts should be brought in. State Department officials said Senator George's proposal was “more or less” in line with the department’s thinking. They noted that the Eisenhower Administration had consistently maintained that the United States should commit itself to such a conference only when there were prospects that it would be more than a “propaganda exercise.” Specifically, the officials said, the United States Government wanted some advance assurance that a big Power meeting with the Soviet Union might lead to free all-German elections or agreement on the Austrian Peace Treaty.