POTSDAM TALKS

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVIII, Issue 23258, 20 July 1945, Page 5

POTSDAM TALKS

AIR OF SECRECY PREVAILS Second Formal Meeting By Telerraph—N.Z Press Assn. - Copyright '7.30 I > LONDON. July 18. The Big Th ree are deculmg only big questions of policy, leaving the task of working out details to the various experts, says the correspondent of the “Evening Standard” Berlin. In connection with a common policy for governing Germany they are indicating only the line on which various disrupted points ought to be settled, leaving the rest to the experts. It is believed th? - 'he three leaders are coi ring for short sessions only The Moscow radio said that Mr Churchill <nd Mr Stalin had invited President Truman to preside over the meetings. The British and American delegates have been getting together and President Truman ha lunch with. Mr Churchill. The American Secretary of State iMr James F. Byrnes) lunched with Mr Anthony Eden.'Afterwards the President and the Prime Minister went to Mi- Eden's house and the four statesmen talked for a while oi “ ide. It is understood that ti. President and Mr Byrnes were to see Generalissimo Stalin in the afternoon. A News Agency message from Berlin to-night says that the three Allied leaders held a second formal meeting at Potsdam this afternoon. The radio revealed that Mr Stalin and Mr Molotov arrived in Berlin on Monday. The British Broadcasting Corporation correspondent in Potsdam says that the second formal meeting of the Big Three is expected to take place late to-day. The meeting yesterday is said to have been extremely cheerful and happy. Press Excluded The Potsdam correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph” complains that the Press is entire!'- excluded from even such public occasions as the arrival at the airport of the Allied delegations, although a dozen Russian photographers were permitted to take pictures. The correspondent adds: “It does mt seem unreasonable to expect that the assembled Press, representing an anxious and inquiring world, should be given a preliminary briefing on the general outline oi the meeting. “The Press departments, although releasing no serious hews, are producing' numerous 'hand-outs’ describing

the luxury in which the delegates are living. These announce that at an American shop delegates can buy such scarce items as alarm clocks, fountain pens, electric razors. jewellery, watches and perfumes. Thirteen separate dining halls cater for the visiting American dignitaries.” Illustrating the correspondents’ inability to obtain news from the conference the correspondent of the Associated Press devoted part of his dispatch to describing 'birds twittering outside the delightful scene of the meeting place.’’ “All day mysterious explosions continued to rock the Bernn and Potsdam sectors," he added. "The blasts which presumably were from Russian demolitions, occurred hourly, but they were still unexplained to-night. They added a darkly foreboding touch to a day already made dismal by storm clouds. “Preposterous Lengths ’

“The air of secrecy surrounding the Three-Power talks has already gone to preposterous lengths.” says the “Daily Mail” in a leading article. “The principals are lodged inside a huge building which is guarded as though an attack was expected from a couple of mechanised armies. “Even figures like Field-Marsha! Sir Bernard Montgomery and Marshal Zhukov have beer, refused admission, because the sentries are not satisfied that their passports are real. “The complaint is not so much tbai people cannot get in. but that the news is not coming out. The conference has been called the biggest black-out in history, and there is warrant for the description. Such ‘secrecy’ measures where security is not involved may be well enough for Russia, but they will not do for the Western democracies.” _________