Evening star., 1945-07-10
Report From Belgrade
By NelCbold Noyes, L.
star War Correspondent.

All these things are In the picture,
and In sizing up the new Yugoslavia we
would do well not to forget them.
But 1t is also incontestable that to a
good many people Inside Yugoslavia as
well as outside-Tito and his men and
their campaign personified the promise
that, in this land sick of violence, there
might be new lease on political life.
Tito recognized this hope. Again and
again he stated that he was out to i'm
pose no political regime on the nation;
that the people must freely make the
political decisions for themselves. He
said 1t in the dark, brave days of 1912;
he said 1t again at the time OF his
agreement with Subasic and his govern
ment in exile he is still saying it today.
The fact that many took him at his
word undoubtedly had a great deal to
do with the strength of his support,
both in Yugoslavia and abroad.
Members of the Yugoslav government
insist that 1t is unfair to assume that
the present difference between Tito's
stated aims and the actions of his gov
ernment indicate an insincere or wolf
in-sheep's-clothing approach. And neu-
tral observers in Belgrade are receptive
to the plea that it is too early to Judge.
Things are too unsettled
I gathered they would take more
seriously the governments claim as to
what 1t is going to do, however, If the
government were more candid in sizing
up what 1t is doing now. In other words,
1t would be easier to believe that mod
Grafton is just around the corner If there
were less talk to the effect that Yugo-
slavia Is already "the most progressive
democracy in the world" that there is
now freedom of speech and of the press
and so on.
In evaluating events, foreign OBJ
servers in the country hesitate to ac-
cept the principle that everything the
government does must automatically be
justified on grounds of expediency. Ad-
mittlng that the present-day standard
of civil liberty as we know it does not
provide fair measuring rod for assess
ing political progress in Yugoslavia at
this stage, they are inclined to believe
that fundamental principles of Justice
and human rights should be respected,
however hard-pressed the government
may be by the problems confronting it.
They take the view that the formula
Tito can do no wrong" is an inadequate
basis for intelligent appraisal of what
is happening
The Yugoslav government is quick to
point out that it has never been claimed
that Tito can do no wrong. It's mem
bers admit that mistakes have been
made and boast of their willingness
to recognize errors and to remedy them.
But the disturbing truth is that the
discovering and pointing out of mis-
takes is prerogative Of the govern
ment, and still more specifically of the
dominant Communist group in the gov
ernment. 1t is unsafe for any one else
to disagree publicly. Not only is the
man who does disagree regarded as an
enemy of the governmental the group
in power-but that group further as
sumes the right to brand him an enemy
of the people.
The official demand now is solely for
what they call discipline" You hear
lot about discipline these days in
Yugoslavia. You also hear lot about
'fascism" For there is an odd tendency
to describe as "fascism' any lack of the
discipline of which the government
thinks so highly.