Reactions To Decision To Lift The Blockade

Wanganui Chronicle, 6 May 1949, Page 5

Reactions To Decision To Lift The Blockade

NEW YORK, May 4 (Recd. 6pm).— The New York “Times,” in a leader, hails the announcement of the decision to lift the Benin blockade as a dramatic vindication of the policy pursued by the Western Powers. “An end is at last in sight for the most reckless and explosive adventure 1 of Soviet imperialism—an adventure in which a lalse step by either side held the danger of war. ’ says the paper. “It is only too evident that the end of the Benin blockade does not mean the end of the ‘cold war,’ and events in China raise, in some minds at least, the question of who, on balance, is winning it; but there can be no question of Western success in Berlin as in all Western Europe, if there is one compensation for the i dangers and sacrifices involved, it is that in Berlin the Soviets met their first, and for Europe, possibly a de- • cisive defeat, and that the staged ; there has demonstrated again that, however reckless they may be in the! face of weakness, they will'hesitate In I the face of determined resistance. That lesson must never again be lost in the trying days to come.”

The “Herald Tribune.” in a leader, says: “The Berlin agreement itself, quite obviously, is little more than a declaration of a truce on the front of | the ‘cold war,’ but it is a truce based so squarely upon .he mutual needs of | the contending parties—rather than on any expectation by one of overreaching the other—as to give rise to' very great hopes that further negotia-: tions in broader fields will not prove | barren. It is true that even though • the problem of Berlin is settled, the . problem of Germany will remain, and will remain as a very difficult, delicate ! and dangerous problem for all who. must deal with it.”

LONDON, May 5 (Recd. 8 pm).— It is emphasised in London that the Four-Power agreement for lifting the

Berlin blockade and holding a Council of Foreign Ministers is in complete accordance with the principles which the Western Governments laid down j last summer, namely, that there could ! be no negotiation while the blockade 1 remained, but that once it was raised there could be full Four-Power discussion of all German questions.

At the same time, as the “Daily Herald’s” diplomatic correspondent points out, it is fully realised that this is only a first step. The Foreign Minister’s meeting will be the crucial phase. Only there will it be possible to judge tne real purpose of the change m Soviet policy. As news of the blockade lifting leached Berlin last night, airlift planes were roaring into the city as they have done for more than 10 months, says the “Daily Mail’s” Berlin correspondent. The zonal barriers remained as firmly down as ever. “When we see traffic moving freely in and out, and the shops filled once again with goods, we will believe the blockade has been lifted,” was the mood of the average resident of Berlin. Brigadier-General Frank Howley, United States commandant, thought the airlift would now be considerably reduced.

“It will mean that the airmen—of whom 22 British and 27 American have lost their lives—will no longer risk their necks in all sorts of weather,” he added.

The “Times,” in a leader, describes the agreement for lifting the blockade as a “vindication of Western determination.” “It is the reward of steady nerves and an insistence on established rights,” the paper says, adding: “A new test now begins, no less exacting, and, in its own way, no less dangerous than the tense battle of wills which is now ending.”