The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1943-09-10
WNU Service, Union Trust Building
Washington, ID. C.

| Il
WNU Service, Union Trust Building
Washington, d. c.
Now that some Of the deep secrets
which surrounded the most impor-
tant conference SO far held by the
firm Of Roosevelt & Churchill, pur-
veyors of victory, are beginning to
be revealed in action, one can lean
back, gaze at this remarkable adj
venture in history in the making
and wonder
I cannot help recalling the eve
ming Of Sunday, August %, nearly
month after the actual prepare
tions for the conference began, the
purpose Of which was then I'M
guessed even by the people whose
job was to do the spade work. /
was sitting with Edgar Mowrer, the
well-known newspaper man, Mich
ael parkway, representative of the
British Broadcasting company, and
Wilson Woodside, commentator for
the Canadian Broadcasting system.
That morning the news had broken
that Ambassador Litvinov would not
return to Washington. It was
learned that a virtually unknown
member Of the Soviet diplomatic
corps, who had been their represent
alive in Ottawa, was to replace the
adroit Mr.. Maisky, Stalin's expert
| lieutenant In London.
Woodside had learned, quite by
accident, that a little while before
the representative of Tass, the Off
cial Russian news agency, who had
been an active participator in the
press conferences, had suddenly de-
parted from our midst-severing the
last shadowy link with the Kremlin.
A few days before, just as a rumor
was circulating that the conference
had agreed upon the division OF
Germany into separate states as one
of the postwar steps, the text of a
broadcast from Moscow was printed
in an American paper. 1t was made
by the so-called Free Germany COM
mittee, and Of course could not have
voiced any views contrary to the
will of Stain. It urged that the
German army be kept intact after
the war!
Stains Absence
OF course Stalin's absence from
the conference had been widely dis
cussed in Quebec. To say the least
we were four very confused MEM
bers of press and radio, and ! think
our feelings were typical-two of us
had covered international confer
ences before. Was Russia running
a competition show to the one staged
on the heights of Americas Gibral-
tar? The shudder we shuddered and
which spread out over the telegraph
lines and airwaves bounced back to
the walls of the Citadel where the
top-men were comforting. At an
eight o'clock conference that eve
evening presidential secretary Ste
phen Early announced that the re-
call of Litvinov had been known to
the conferees long before 1t hap
pened and had no influence or eff
IeCL on The conference
Meanwhile all sorts Of speculation
about the effect of the absence Of
the Russians, the ominous "empty
chair" had been pouring out of Que
bee, perhaps comforting If not aid
ing the enemy and probably making
no one happy, even Stain.
Could this and the other unfortu-
nate things which were written have
been avoided; were we, in spite Of
ourselves, evil muses.?
I said to one of the willing but
rather futile and frustrated men who
were supposed to provide us with
facts: If we could have just had a
little guidance wouldn't it have been
better?
He admitted that was true, but, he
added, when an information man
asks the higher ups for informa-
ton they are so afraid they will say
more than they ought to that we
get nothing"
More than 200 press, radio and
news photographers were here. We
filed to bursting the little old Clar-
endon hotel, with its narrow corri-
doris, its lobby turned into a tele-
graph office, and its modest bed
rooms made into press room and
broadcasting studios. Two blocks
away was the spacious Chateau
Frontenac, a Normandie palace with