Evening star., 1945-09-02

BY following the present trends in the
White House and the State Department
it appears to any unprejudiced observer
that President Truman and his new
Secretary of State, James F. Byrnes,
intend to take full advantage of this
interchangeable position of the United
States and for the first time in many
years adopt positive" foreign policy.
Since 1912 our policy in Europe was
adopted for reasons of expediency The
policy-framers in Washington who
started so well in the fall of 1941 when
they raised the postwar hopes of the
European nations by producing the At
lantic Charter sacrificed most of the
pledges to a policy of expediency dictated
by military considerations
The consensus of the political men
here and of the majority of the military
men was that we could not bring the war
to successful conclusion unless Russia
stayed on our side. The Moscow govern
ment, fully aware of this frame of mind,
pushed the advantage for all it was
worth in order to obtain political conces-
sions which under normal conditions she
would never have obtained
Russia Complains Bitterly.
Russia bitterly complained that the
Western Allies were marking time while
she was being bled white in her fight
against the Hitler hordes and made it
very clear on at least three important
occasions that she could reach an under
standing with the Germans and end the
war with profit to herself
Every time this kind of information
reached Washington-generally on the
eve of important gatherings among the
Big Three-our policy-framers became
disturbed and arrived either at Moscow
or at Yalta "primed" for further political
concessions to the U. S. S. r. In this
manner the Russians obtained. complete
free hand all over Europe from the
Baltic to the Eastern Mediterranean
The pledges to all the Allied countries
within that area and to the nationals
of the Axis states about their postwar
future were thrown overheard.
When President Truman went to
Potsdam there was nothing much he
could do unless he went back on the
pledges given by the American and
British governments to Premier Stain
But he and Mr.. Byrnes found loop
hole in the previous agreements which
provided for free elections in accordance
with the provisions of the Atlantic
Charter which we're embodied in the
Yalta agreements. Nobody had paid
much attention to these clauses since it
was believed that they were mere words
The Russians had large armies occupy
ing Poland and the Balkans and events
such as those of 1910 in the Baltic states
showed that wherever there was Rus
sian force the elections or the plebiscites
went 9S per cent in accordance with
Moscows wishes.
Free Elections Demanded.
President Truman and his Secretary
Of State decided, however, that free
elections" must not be empty words.
Their strict enforcement was the only
saving device for a people who did not
want to submit to a new police state
even if such a state was headed by a
nominal national of their own such as
Yugoslavia's Marshal Tito or Poland s
Premier Beirut. Both these men were
members of the Third Internationale
and both at one time or other were
either actual citizens of the J. S. S. r.
or closely connected with the powerful
Moscow Politbureau,
The American Government decided
that the provisions of free elections
must be enforced literally in all the
liberated countries. In order to bring
about such enforcement there was no
need for any military threat. A simple
policy, backed by the British govern
ment, has been evolved. The govern
ments of the nations concerned, regard
less of whether they are puppets. are
being informed that free elections must
be held and that observers from the
Allied nations must be permitted to wit
ness these elections unhampered by the
local authorities.
can be only one penalty-the refusal
of the American Government to recog-
nize these states. The result of such an
action means that they can obtain
neither supplies nor loans from this
country which alone can help their
people to get back on their feet.
Results Are Obtained.
This policy has already produced re-
suits. The Bulgarian puppet govern
ment, which had ordered elections for
Sunday. August 26, decided to postpone
them indefinitely. Premier Georgiev
is awaiting word from Moscow whether
he must comply with the American
British request fully before ordering
another date set for the election.
In Romania, King Michael went over
the head of "his" Prime Minister,
Groza-a man handpicked by the Rus
sian military command in Bucharest
and appealed to Washington and Lon
don for a similar unofficial control in
Romania A few months ago young
Michael would not have dared approach
Washington and London. Such a step
would certainly have cost him his throne
and possibly his life. But after he
learned through his informants that
conditions have changed-he decided
to ask personally, as the nominal head
of state, for American and British in
tervention at elections, which If held
freely will certainly not favor the pres
ent Groza regime.
When the time comes a similar re-
quest will be made to Poland and Yugo-
slavia for free elections observed by