ADMISSION NOT LIKELY

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVIII, Issue 23318, 29 September 1945, Page 5

ADMISSION NOT LIKELY

Soviet Equality Demand By Telegraph-— N.Z Press Assn -Copyright (7.30 p.m.) LONDON, Sept. 27. It is not. believed in London that lhe Council of Foreign Ministers will agree and admit Australia or other “middle belligerent Powers” to the inner discussions, says the diplomatic correspondent of the “Evening News.” While Mr Ernest Bevin I British Foreign Secretary) is keenly sympathetic to Dr. H. V. Evatt’s demand that Australia should be fully consulted in lhe peacemaking, there are difficulties in the the way of extending the size of the Foreign Ministers’ Council or any oilier interim peace conference. It is pointed out that if Australia and other British Dominions are admitted, Moscow would claim equal rights for 16 associated Soviet Republics. If oilier “middle Powers” were added Io these, the conference would become unwieldly. “■lzvestia” says the spotlight of attention at the London meeting of Foreign Ministers has been focussed on the Governments of Rumania, Bulgaria and Hungary in an attempt to distract public attention from Greece, where the will of the majority is being trampled upon. It is not with securing rights for the supporters and accomplices of Fascism that democracy must concern herself. “The Dominions’ claims to a share in the peace-making have the British people’s sympathy and support,” says the "Daily Mail” in a leading article. “There can be no question either of the validity or justice of the demand. British nations have taken a foremost part in winning the war, and their great exertions entitle them to a vote in the settlement of the world, but it is doubtful if they will find places at the table now occupied by the so-called Big Five. It is too late to find places for them in the Foreign Ministers’ Council, whose deliberations at least for the time are drawing to a close.

Unwieldy Council “Even if it were possible, it seems certain that Russia would immediately seek the admittance of separate Soviet Republics. The United States could be compelled to follow suit probably by sponsoring some South American countries, and the result would not be a peace conference, but an unwieldy debating society. “It is absurd in British eyes to compare British Empire countries with the Russian Republics. The Dominions are separate States who fought with their own armies, navies and air forces. It is impossible to imagine the Ukraine or Byelo-Russia voting against the Central Moscow Government at any international conference, yet it has often happened that the Dominions have voted against Britain or against one another. “Here is the British Empire’s weakness as an entity. The Dominions are denied the status cf independent nations on occasions like this, yet they do not enjoy the advantages of federal solidarity. In our view the methods of consultation at present employed are not enough. There is absolute necessity for the Empire to speak and act in much closer integration than has been the case so far, if the interests of all. of us are to be well served in the post-war era. “British countries because they went to last year’s Chicago world air talks with no concerted plan, came away with less than their due. There has been no Empire policy at the Foreign Ministers’ Council nor evidence of such policy at the Washington financial talks, although the best policy there is not Britain’s but the Empire’s.” The “Manchester Guardian” in a leading article ’on the Australian and South African claim for a larger share in the task of peace-making says: “In the preliminary stages it is better to leave the Big Five to hammer out the treaties alone. There is wide sympathy in Britain for the Dominions’ request but, if Britain is to support their claims, Russia, America and France could counter by advancing the claims of other nations. A small committee is more likely to achieve results. “The Council of Foreign Ministers so far does not appear to have done very much, but can anyone seriously believe it would have been more successful if Australia and South Africa and, say, White Russia were represented?” The article adds that the treaties must certainly be submitted to a United Nations Conference for approval. Draft Treaties Only Canadian Announcement (8.50 p.m.) OTTAWA, Sept, 27. The Prime Minister (Mr W. L. Mackenzie King) told the House of Commons that the Canadian Government understood that any draft treaty emanating from the meeting of Foreign Ministers in

London would be of a preliminary character. The Canadian and other United Nations Governments would be given the opportunity to consider and discuss the treaties before they took final form. Mr Mackenzie King announced that he was departing next week at Mr O. R. Attlee's invitation for an extended visit to Britain and Western Europe. He added that the wartime arrangements under which Canada and other smaller countries accepted the decisions of the big States would not do for the peace settlements.