MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT PROGRESS AT MOSCOW

Greymouth Evening Star, 22 March 1947, Page 6

MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT PROGRESS AT MOSCOW

LONDON, March 21. According to the reports of correspondents covering the Moscow Conference there are mixed feelings in conference circles about its progress. It is felt that the preliminaries are still largely being dealt with, and that standpoints are still being stated. The Daily Telegraph’s correspondent in Moscow says that the outstanding features of the Moscow Conference to date have been the appearance of General Marshall in place of Mr Byrnes —and his blunt rejection in the name of America of Russia's enormous reparations claim. Until this intervention General Marshall had wisely taken the line that he was a new boy at school and had not been saying much. A question this correspondent asks is whether the Soviet is engaged in a delaying action designed to defer the establishment of a German peace treaty and, especially, consideration of the Austrian treaty, which must involve the withdrawal of Russian troops. Tactical Mistakes “Mr Molotov’s handling of the conference to date,” he continues, “has been curiously muddled, and he has made several tactical mistakes. He seems unable to realise that the British are prepared with the fullest documents in reply to even the most childish attacks, yet the Soviet is not prepared to reply or is unwilling to give nformation obviously available able. The raising of the question of China at the start of the conference is an example of this apparent clumsiness, for what seemed to be the reluctance or even refusal of Britain to discuss China, has deterred Mr Molotov from raising the question of Japan also. Was China brought up because the position of the Communist Party there is increasingly difficult or as a counter-blast to the United Nations demand for consideration of the withdrawal of Allied troops from occupied Europe, or both? . “Mr Molotov s demilitarisation, charges against Britain forced him to admit the Soviet’s readiness to de-, stroy enemy ships under the Potsdam Agreement. He was also reluctantly

compelled to issue figures of German prisoners outside Germany, and has been pressed to reveal how much has been taken by the Soviet from the Russian zone of Germany. “Uncertain Ground”

“Mr Molotov seems to be standing on uncertain ground and to appear bewildered by the moral strength and dialectical efficiency of the United States and Britain. “More will be heard of Mr Bevin’s assertion that Britain must not again be landed in severe economic difficulties by failure to treat Germany as an economic unit. “On the whole it appears that Russia 'is being forced to toe the line, and the effect of President Truman’s speech on the Soviet attitude cannot be disregarded. It is fair to say that the Ministers have learned a lot since the first council of Foreign Ministers in London in 1945, and Russia by no means dominates the council here in her capital.” The correspondent also says tnat no reference was made in the conference to President Truman’s speech, and editorials in the Soviet have on the whole been surprisingly moderate.