Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-12-31


citizen land even the heavier "global
thinkers'D will not feel that the
price we paid for the restoration
of harmonious relations with Rus
STA and for the clearing of obstacles
from the path of the UNO was too
high. In fact, most clearheaded
men will be disposed to think that
the things we bought at Moscow
would nave been cheap at a far
higher price. Particularly is this
true as concerns the atomic bomb
accord.
Fog the three great powers to
take real step toward information
al control of atomic energy de-
velopments was supremely vital. For
them to have failed to move in that
direction would have been terrific
ally depressing. However faltering
it may appear, that step has now
been taken. The Russians, the
British and ourselves are in accord
on the necessity of atomic control
On the Right Road.
we ILL dA Oll tllC llSllt IOdu-
and that is the big thing-not how
we got there nor whether the de-
tails of the agreements still leave
much to be desired.
Also, it is gratifying to have
Secretary of State Byrnes return
fairly happy from Moscow instead
of terribly discouraged, as he was
after London. 1t will hearten him
greatly for dealing with the diff
culties of the first General Assem-
bly, of the UNO, which meets in
London three weeks from now, and
for coping with the next confer
ence of the three foreign ministers,
to be held in Washington in March.
The Moscow results have restored
Mr.. Byrnes' buoyancy, and buoy
ancy is what he badly needs. For
no previous Secretary of State has
had situations as big or as impor-
tant as those which confront Mr..
Byrnes. Health, strength and good
spirits are essential to him If he is
to meet them effectively and Success
fully.
Target or Critics.
In this connection it would seem
that neither he nor the situations
are greatly improved by the unco-
ordinated but earnest heckling to
which the State Department is Sc
constantly subjected these days and
the bales of conflicting advice
heaped upon. Mr.. ByrneS, person.
ally, by congressional, radio and
journalistic critics. Perhaps, be-
cause of the, sheer gravity of it's
problems, it seems to these that the
department should be "jacked up"
At any rate, it has become the ia
vorite target for the sharpshooters
in all these fields.
If the critics were united on
what is wrong in the department
and what Mr.. Byrnes ought to do
about it, then the whole business
would make more sense. But they
do not agree among themselves
about anything. Some of them de-
clare MIR. Byrnes' foreign policy is
fundamentally wrong and others
just tell him the trouble is that he
has no foreign policy at all, either
good or bad. Some want him to
'reorganize from top to bottom"
clear out the unnecessary employees
taken over from the defunct Owl
and otherwise accumulated through
the years. Others say the trouble
is not that the department is over
manned but that it is undermined.
Virulent Criticism.
One critic urges that the depart
ment has too many career diplo-
mats; another, that 1t has not
enough. One says all the DEPART
ment needs is to. be co-ordinated:
another says that what is needed
are new men of proven ability, and
goes so far as to provide a list from
which Mr.. Byrnes is supposed to
choose. The report is spread that
he has had a break" with Presi-
dent Truman; is thinking of resign
ing; that ambassadorships are being
filled by underlings with personal
friends; that politics has reared its
ugly head, etc, etc.
So far as can be recalled, there
has never been a time when criti-
clsm OF the department was more
virulent, voluminous and insistent.
There may be some basis for some
OF the points made. but obyiol1slv