West Powers Draft Fresh Protest To Moscow

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22697, 23 July 1948, Page 5

West Powers Draft Fresh Protest To Moscow

(10 a.m.) WASHINGTON. July 22. A new note of protest against the continuance of the Soviet blockade of the British and American sectors ol Berlin has now been drafted by the British, French and United States officials and awaits the approval of the new French Cabinet before its dispatch to Moscow says Reuter's correspondent in Washington. The new Note is not expected to contain any spectacular threat, for example, of breaking through the Soviet blockade with armed convoys.

General L. Clay, the American Military Governor, arrived by plane from Frankfurt this evening. He refused to discuss his report on the crisis, saying as he stepped from the plane: ‘ 1 have returned for a quick trip at the request of the Secretary of the Army, Mr. Kenneth Royall, to report on the German situation. There is nothing else I can say at this time”.

Appeal For “Calmer” Treatment American officials have been appealing to the American press during the last 24 hours for a “calmer” treatment of the Berlin crisis story.

I n support of these appeals, the officials point out, first, that the threatened interference by “blind flying” Soviet planes with American and British transports carrying supplies to Berlin failed to materialise, and secondly, with two months’ good flying weather, officials of the Powers concerned have a good opportunity of reaching a settlement through diplomatic means while the air bridge feeds Berlin and there is no immediate need to force a showdown.

The New York Times correspondent in London reports that the next Note from the three western Allies to Moscow will agree to an extension of the four-Power talks from Berlin alone to Germany as a whole, provided the Allies’ right to remain in Berlin is fully recognised and that such talks

are not held tinder pressure of the Russian blockade of Berlin. The Note was first prepared by the British Foreign Office and accepted with slight changes for France by the Foreign Minister, M. Georges Bidault, before the French governmental crisis. The text is now being studied in Washington. Allies Rights in Berlin Emphasis is placed in London on the fact that all three western Powers are agreed on the fundamental issue of their right to be in Berlin—everything being subordinated to that — and the proposed Note will either disregard or pay little attention to the question of feeding Berlin which was such an important feature of the first group of Notes. According to the London Daily Express political correspondent the Note will express willingness to start talks about the whole German position. Russia will be asked to say what she thinks should be discussed. The correspondent says that the Note will insist on the three Powers’ right to stay in Berlin but will not insist on the lifting of the Berlin blockade as an absolute condition for further talks, although this demand will not be abandoned. The Daily Telegraph’s diplomatic correspondent says it is realised in all three western capitals that • the Note will be a document of the gravest importance and some delay in drafting it is regarded as inevitable in view of the seriousness of the problem.