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Grey River Argus, 12 March 1947, Page 5

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At Soviet Capital

LONDON, March 10. The Big Four Foreign Ministers’ Conference opened at Moscow this afternoon. Reuter’s • correspondent says: The Moscow people are completely in the dark about the matters to be discussed. Tire Russian press has given poor display to news about the conference. “Pravda” was the only Moscow morning newspaper published to-day. It printed photographs of the Ministers arriving but nothing more. General Marshall, speaking at a press conference before the Big Four conference began, reaffirmed that America would continue to press for the 40-year. Four Power treaty to keep Germany disarmed and demilitarised, which Mr Byrnes had proposed at the Paris conference in 1946. An important member of the French delegation said that France would advocate the administration of Germany by four Power agencies, instead of a central Government. France was opposed to any increase in German industry and favoured capital reparations. Strict control of the Ruhr and German agencies would enable the military occupation to end almost immediately. * Otherwise the occupation must last a long time. M. Molotov, opening the conference, welcomed the delegates with a short speech. He said: “The Foreign Ministers have not an easy task, but have a sound basis for common work. First and foremost, an historic decision on Germany was agreed to at the Crimea and Berlin conference. Our representatives in London and on the Control Council in Germany have done great and useful preparatory work on the German and Austrian questions and presented for our consideration the necessary materials and recommendations.” Mr Bevin thanked the Soviet Government for its welcome and asked M. Molotov to preside at the first meeting.

MOSCOW INTEREST NOWHERE EV I DENT

(Rec. 10.50). LONDON, March 11

Fewer than a hundred people were outside of Aviation House in North Moscow on Monday when the Big Three Foreign Ministers arrived for the first meeting of the conference, says The Times Moscow correspondent. They included small boys. The boys stopped their tobogganing to join in clapping for M. Molotov and M. Vyshinski. The Daily Express correspondent says: “There was no clapping for Mr Bevin or General Marshal, or M. Bidault. The Muscovites just stood watching glumly in driving snow as they entered. Except for flags of the four countries, which were bunched on each side of the door of a renovated building, which also is called an airmen’s club, thpre was little to show an international conference was opening”. The Times correspondent adds: The Ministers, with their advisers, sat around a large yellow covered table, Mr Bevin facing General Marshal, and M. Molotov facing M. Bidault.

BOLSHEVIK PAPER GIVES ACCOUNT OF STALIN’S LATEST VIEWS

LONDON, March 11

The Times Moscow correspondent says: An interesting and significant correspondence has recently taken place between M. Stalin and Colonel Pazin, military commentator for the newspaper "Bolshevik” and leading Soviet army historian. M. Stalin began by deprecating “extravagant adulation” of his own name, which, he said, made him most uncomfortable. He then said that even Lenin did not consider himself an expert upon military affairs. He gave a warning against “uncritical acceptance” of authorities, some of whose ideas - might have become obsolete with the passage of time. This applied not only to military authorities, but even to the classics of Marxism. He reminded his correspondent that Lenin called for dynamic Marxism and for Russians to work out his theories in their own way as England, France and Germany would do in theirs.

The same issue of the Bolshevik contains an article by M. Vyshinsky, in which the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister describes M. Stalin’s theory that Socialism and Communism can exist in the Soviet Union while the rest of the world retains a capitalistic nature as M. Stalin’s principal contribution to the Marxist-Leninist theory. M. Vyshinsky emphasised the importance of M. Stalin’s belief in the value of Anglo-Soviet-American cooperation in peace as in war,