Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1943-12-10
WNU Service, Union Trust Building
Washington, D. C.

washington, ID. u.
Some weeks before Secretary Hull
left for his Mission to Moscow, I
interviewed him in his office in the
state department. Shortly after he
returned, he received number of
us in that same office and gave us
an informal talk about his trip.
One of the things which impressed
me greatly as heard the secretary
in the course of the hour-long meet
ing, telling us sidelights on his re-
markable experience, was the way
one word which he had used in his
talk with me kept cropping up again
and again. 1t was the word "under-
standing" He applied it to personal
relationships and exchanges be-
tween the members of the tripartite
meeting and to the whole discussion
and the decisions which grew out
of it.
1t seemed to be a case of progress
sive understanding.
In our first conversation, the Sec
rotary, indicating the papers which
covered his great desk, said they
all dealt with Russia. did not know
then that there was to be Moscow
meeting. And he made the point
with considerable emphasis, that
there was so much suspicion on the
part of persons discussing the Rus
sian situation that it was exceeding
ly hard to work toward an agree
ment.
Open Discussion
Then, in his talk on his return,
he repeated this thought, saying that
many people, because of their deep
prejudices, had made it hard to
bring about an understanding be-
tween the three nations. He said
that when he left for Moscow, he
felt that much of the misunderstood
ing was due to misinformation which
all the parties shared concerning the
others. In order to correct that,
every effort was made at frank and
open discussion and, as result,
questions which had been consid-
cred most difficult to solve auto
matically disappeared.
And the secretary pointed out that
as the conference progressed many
points Immediately developed where
what might be called the selfish in
terests" of each nation were dis
covered to be common interests.
He explained how military coop
Grafton had been achieved as the
need for it grew and how, with this
development, it became clear that
similar cooperation must be estab-
lished along political and economic
lines, especially regarding an in
ternational organization to preserve
peace.
The secretary set off for Moscow
under hail of attack from one Sec
ton of the press which labeled him
"anti-Russian." If there ever was
Justice in such a charge, which Mr..
Hull emphatically denied, he came
back with no such feeling. In fact,
he made it clear that he was now
convinced that few countries had
more in common and less in con-
flict, especially in the economic field.
UnconUinced
Although all of the official state
ments issued in Moscow and in Lon
don and Washington after the dele
gates had returned to their respec-
tive homes, stressed the accomplish
ments of the conference, their i'm
portance and the probability of their
effect on future negotiations, still
there were those who chose to see
great gaps yawning and unbridged
between the three nations.
OF course, only time can tell how
thorough the common understanding
really is and how far the respective
nations will be able to go to hold to
a unity of purpose through the
stormy times ahead. But there have
already been evidences that spirit
of compromise was achieved which
did bear actual fruit.
This was true in the case of italy,
Some time ago, magazine article
appeared which purported to out
line the plan by which the countries
liberated from Axis domin alton
would be governed by the successful
Allies. The plan was pretty rigid
one, with the AMG (Allied Military
Government) seeming to be rooted
deeply into the governmental fabric
of the liberated nations. There was
criticism here to the effect that the
United States was taking on the re-
sponsibility of running the world and
it was predicted that there could
never be an agreement between
three victors, one with hereditary