U.S. ATTITUDE TO TALKS

Press, Volume XCII, Issue 27709, 13 July 1955, Page 8

U.S. ATTITUDE TO TALKS

President’s Lead Praised [Specially written for the N.Z.P.A. by FRANK OLIVER} WASHINGTON, July 10. America has been making great efforts to create a friendly atmosphere for the Geneva talks, but not all the politicians have been helping in this respect. The President has been assuring Americans and the Russian leaders that at no time did he think the Russians at Geneva would be negotiating from weakness. Then, to the surprise of many Americans, this Government accepts the Russian offer to pay only half the cost of the aeroplane they recently shot down over the Bering Sea when it was obvious, by any reasonable judgment, that they were entitled to full compensation. All this in a calculated effort to : l achieve a comfortable, relaxed atmo-I sphere for a meeting at the summit to take place, suitably among the Alps. Then, like a minor bombshell is released the secret testimony given al Congressional committee a month agoi by Mr Dulles that he saw Russia's! economic system on the point of collapse, and ascribed their change of tactics and policies to economic neces- I sity and not a change of heart. In other words, Mr Dulles believesthe Russians are being forced to nego-' tiate from weakness, and is telling! them so. Not surprisingly, this leaves a num-1 ber of people puzzled. It would seem logical that if their economy is ne/r collapse, and they are negotiating from weakness, the Russians will be forced to make some notable concessions. bqt Mr Dulles has been in the forefront of those warning America not to expect too much from this meeting in the political stratosphere. Mr Dulles may be eminently correct in his appraisal, but a number of well-informed observers are doubting the wisdom of his expressing it at this time. “A Quid for Every Quo” Even before the latest outburst he was being scolded by Walter Lippmann, who said it would be better fcr our cause if Mr Dulles resisted the temptation to boast about America’s superior strength and. instead, acted upon the assumption that there ex is:a balance of power between Russia an: the United States so that negotiation can proceed on the principle that the’must be two equal sides of every bar gain, and that for every quid ther must be a quo. As far as this correspondent can see more Americans are looking to MEisenhower for leadership than to Mr Dulles. Indeed, the President is bein? praised on all sides for the attitude that he says will be his when he travels to Europe. He is praised privately and in the newspapers for saying that he goes honestly to present America’s case m a conciliatory, friendly attitude, intending to reject nothing from mere I prejudice or truculence, or a lesser mo- I tive of that kind. American diplomacy has long been notable for a general stiffness that leaves so little room for manoeuvre, and there seems general satisfaction that the President is not following this practice.