MOSCOW AS VENUE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22201, 11 December 1946, Page 5

MOSCOW AS VENUE

BIG FOUR_MEETING GERMAN PEACE TERMS TALKS NEXT MARCH (10 a.m.) NEW YORK, Dec. 10. The Council of Foreign Ministers agreed to hold their next meeting in Moscow on March 10 to draft the German treaty with an understanding that the world press will be permitted to report the proceedings freely from'the Russian capital. M. Molotov reserved until to-day his answer to Mr. James Byrnes’ plan for drastically reducing the Allied occupation troops in Europe and for appointing deputies immediately to start the groundwork for the German treaty. Press Freedom Promised Mr Byrnes, in a preliminary talk with ’M. Molotov before the conference of the Big Four commenced, made it clear he would not go to Europe unless he was convinced that real progress could be made on a settlement for Germany and that there would be no repetition of press restrictions which applied when Mr. Byrnes. Mr. Bevin and M. Molotov met in Moscow in December, 1945,

It is understood that no objections have been voiced by other members of the Foreign Ministers’ Council to Mr. Bevin’s demand that British Dominions must have a voice in framing the German peace treaty. . The Ministers agreed in principle that the interested parties should be heard, but how. when and where thus far was not decided. Declaring that Mr. Byrnes’ proposal for the appointment now of special deputies to discuss Germany has the merit of tackling one of the main procedural difficulties, The Times, in a leader, says: “The experience with the five treaties now agreed on amply vindicated the thesis that the primary responsibility must rest with the great Powers. Yet the views of the other Allies must be heard and the hearing of them now could help to simplify the later procedure.” “Lessons Must be Applied.” The Times adds: “The lessons of the other treaties must be applied. One is that a general conference, attended by numerous States with equal voting powers, is an ineffective instrument for drafting a peace treaty. The second is that the appointment of special deputies can both simplify and speed up the work of the Foreign Ministers themselves. The third is that uninterrupted publicity compromises negotiations and hampers agreement. “The most hopeful lesson of all,” The Times says, “is that the will to agree is still common to the great Powers. It will be needed and tried as never before when the long negotiations on Germany begin.”