“BUILDING PEACE”

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXVI, Issue 26, 29 December 1945, Page 5

“BUILDING PEACE”

START MADE AT MOSCOW MR BEVIN HOPEFUL

(N.Z. Press Association—Cppyright.) ;(Pec. 10.30 a.m.) LONDON, Dec. 28. Proposals for the outlawing of atomic weapons, for,the peacetime control of atomic energy, together with the agreements reached in regard to the preparation of peace treaties and the setting up of an Allied Control Council for Japan, are set out in the communique released simultaneously in Washington, London and Moscow following the meeting of the “Big Three” Foreign Ministers in Moscow. The British Foreign Secretary '(Mr Ernest Bevin) at a Press conference before leavin g Moscow declared that if the decisions arrived at were implemented, they would be of great help in tackling the bigger and more vital problems left behind by the war. Mr Bevin stressed that the task of building peace was a very difficult one, and warned that all problems could not be solved at one conference. Patience, tolerance, understanding and, above all, confidence in each other’s integrity, would be required. . The Exchange Telegraph Agency’s correspondent says that he learned authoritatively that the conference did not examine the question of Spain’, Turkey, Greece or Tripolitania. Sober opinion in Moscow regards the conference merely as a stage in the long process of building peace, and believes that nrnre meetings will be required to es tablish a firm foundation for the post-war world.

“THE BEST NEWS.” The Daily Mail in-a leader says the best news of the Moscow communique to the ordinary citizen was that the three Great Powers had reached some agreement on the future of atomic energy. The appointment of an Atomic Commission was a wise step. The new agreement would go far to revive hope in the world. “The conference has been a striking success, which, has gone far to redeem the breakdown at the preceding conference in London,” says the Times in an editoral. “M. Stalin’s guiding hand, after his return from his hqliday, undoubtedly contributed in a large measure to the success of the conference.” It is thought highly probable that an Australian will be invited to take the seat allocated jointly to Britain, India, Australia and New Zealand in the Allied Council for Japan, says the Times ‘ diplomatic correspondent, reviewing the agreement. The correspondent expresses the opinion that the agreements make complicated reading and show plenty of evidence of intensive negotiation, many adjustments and concessions, with the result that some of the proposed machinery is intricate in structure, but it is thought in London that such compromises, make for strength and durability. The procedure for dealing with atomic energy is. admittedly complex, but anything simpler would have led to future .difficulties. The Western Allies in more than one instance moved nearer to the (Soviet standpoint and the Western delegations are the first to acknowledge it. •• : * . • COMMON INTEREST IN PEACE. “It is a fair conclusion to draw that, in the relations between the three major Powers, things are never quite so tad as they'seem at some moments or quite so good as they seem at others,” says the Times in a leader on the Foreign Ministers’ Conference. “Differences of interest and approach, due chiefly to lack of mutual understanding and of common traditions and habits or thought, divide them and continue to intrude on the international scene. .. “The three major Powers realise, however, that they have a common interest in worldwide peace and stability, which hold them together in a .lasting alliance and imposes an ultimate limit on the airing of differences and dis“The creation of a Four-Power Council for dealing with Japanese affairs marks a new phase in ia, Eastern history and gives full opportunity for fruitful collaboration between all the Powers with major interests in the Pacific. The lively and the growing interest of Russia m the vast Asiatic territories and the influence ■which Russian power inevitably exerts, on the neighbouring Asiatic nations, makes her place in the. settlement of Asiatic affairs .ncontestable. Her interest in the peace of Asia 13 as great as that of any Great Power Regretting that no conclusions were recorded for the conversations known to have been held on Middle Eastern questions, notably those concerning Turkey and Persia, the Times says they are cases in which the Russian Government has shown a disposition to resort on its own account to that kind of unilateral action which it criticised the American Government for taking elsewhere It is clear that solution of the problems could only take the form of agreement to tripartite consultation as a prelude to action. cedent of Rumania, for which Power commission is being established, might well be applied to Persia. The leading article adds that the conference, noteworthy though its success has been, left much undone, including discussion on Germany and particularly ways and means of overriding French objections to carrying out the Potsdam decision on the establishment of central administrative authorities. The destiny of Europe could not be settled till the problem "There 'fs' a prospect of . further JK £t„ee£ the three , Jo re.gn Ministers at a not too distant date, probably in Washington.