Evening star., 1943-11-20

~ At one time
\ Ayl(ss6'sSsl77SgzE he believed
Constantine Brown. hat by
breaking down tariff barriers We
could help the world toward the
path of peace. This failed. In
the years preceding the war he
attempted to bring about uni
versal peace by reciprocal trade
agreements. This scheme also
failed.
Now the Secretary believes
that the Moscow protocols are
the answer to world peace. Being
a man who thinks that deceit
and old-fashioned" diplomacy
no longer have a place in q
world which has suffered from
the ills of the war, Mr.. Hull
naturally is convinced that world
diplomacy now is patterned after
his own thoughts-honest and
upright. and that a given word
is a solemn bond which cannot
be broken.
Trouble Brews.
So convinced is the Secretary
that strife ridden Europe has
turned a new page and for the
first time in its hundreds Of
years o, hi tory will become an
element of peace and order in
the world that he CLOSES over
the ominous indications which
already have begun to pour into
Washington from across the
Atlantic.
To his mind the pacts signed
in Moscow have more than a
moral value. They are, in his
opinion. as binding as decision
of the Supreme Court.
Yet, hardly was the ink on
these documents dry that
uncomfortable" reports began
reaching the Capital.
For instance, Izvestia, the Mos
COW newspaper which is the
sounding board OF the Soviet
government, says that a confed-
Grafton OF smaller European
states would be totally un-
acceptable to Moscow because 1t
might assume the form OF q
Gordon sanitaire" against Rus
sia and be an important tool in
the hands OF the Nazis. This. OF
course, could not be contra
dicted if the Nazis were allowed
to remain strong military
power.
1t was greed in Moscow, how
ever. that the Allies would hght
until the Germans surrender un-
conditionally, and steps have been
devised to pull all fhe teeth out
of the mouth of the Nazi tiger.
Consequently, there is little rea-
son to fear that the small nations
which have suffered so heavily at
the hands of the Germans would
become the dupes OF the Reich.
It is recalled that confedera-
ton Of the smaller states, par
ticularly by those In Central and
Southeastern Europe, had been
advocated by Prime Minister
Churchill in one Of his important
speeches early this year in the
House OF Commons. When he
talked about the future peace
conference, he suggested that the
smaller states should be repre-
sented by one member speaking
in the name of one or more
groups of these nations. The
suggestion was welcomed In ON
cial Washington circles and At
that time there was no criticism
from Moscow.
While william c. Bullitt was
Ambassador in Paris, he gave an
address urging the formation OF
such a confederation. At that
time Russia could have inter.
preeed this move as an attempt
to establish a Gordon sanitaire, y
She was then on the suspect list"
in Washington, London and even
in Paris.
Russia Il Savior.
Today the Europeans look TO
Russia as their savior. Hence,
Moscow's opposition to the forma-
ton of a confederation is inter-
preted in many quarters as an
indication that she intends to
gobble up territories which should
remain independent under the
demands of international justice.
for which Mr.. Hull has been
fighting with such a vigor.
There appear to be other Incl
dents which are creating an
uneasy feeling among Washing-
ton observers. For instance, Mr..
Hull declared at his first press
conference that the Free Ger
many Committee, which had
given Washington and London q
severe headache, had been dis
banded. 1t appears that its end
had been only an ofihand prom
ise not incorporated in written
agreement.
According to those who are
privileged to read translations Of
the Russian broadcasts distrib-
uted for Russian consumption.
the committee will remain as ac-
tive as heretofore.
Every one agrees that Mr.. Hull's
mission to Moscow has been q
spectacular success. But-and
there always seem to be butts" in