DECISION UNACCEPTABLE

Greymouth Evening Star, 18 October 1946, Page 7

DECISION UNACCEPTABLE

JUGOSLAVIA AND THE TRIESTE ■ ISSUE UNITED STATES CRITICISED LONDON, October 17. According to a Belgrade message, the question of Trieste could not be considered to have been solved at Paris, said Marshal Broz-Tito, answering a series of questions from the New York Times. “As the Paris decision stands, we cannot accept it,” he said. “We don’t exclude further discussions.” Asked about relations between Jugoslavia and America. Marshal Broz-Tito said: ‘-There is on our part a desire for good relations with all countries, but there has been a series of incidents and problems to show that this desire is not shared by the United States. We have clone everything to improve relations, but the recent attitude of the United States on Trieste and Danube shipping shows a contrary standpoint.” “A Modest Beginning.” Declaring that the Paris Peace Conference cannot be said to have made more than “a modest beginning” in the work of peace-making, The Times in a leading article, emphasises that before a final peace conference can be usefully summoned, important procedural decisions will have to be taken by .the major powers and in so doing it is reasonable to suppose that full weight will be given to the lessons of the Paris Conference. First, the precise role of the minor countries must be reconsidered, for while their legitimate claims deserve and must receive the fullest recognition, both precedent and common sense speak strongly. against a diplomatic conference whose proceedings are rendered unmanageable by the continuous participation of a score or more delegations. Second, the voting proved both a snare and an illusion. It has merely tended to embitter discussion, and has created a wholly false impression of the realities behind the conference. Public Scrutiny Issue. Finally it must be insisted that while open covenants remain the order of the day, the processes by which they are arrived at cannot any more than other delicate negotiations between governments, be exposed at every step to the scrutiny of the press and ptiblic. However desirable it may be that every nation and every interest should have the fullest opportunity to state its case to the world, it is essential to provide every facility for these frank discussions between statesmen without which agreement on controversial issues is rarely or never attained. If these considerations are borne in' mind, The Times adds, the disappointments attending the Paris Conference may be avoided by its more momentous successor.