Evening star., 1945-05-06

tine Broyn
area in Europe extending from the
Baltic to the Adriatic seas. Her repre-
sentatives repeat this theme every time
the question of Poland or the Baltic
States or of her unilateral actions in
Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Poland
and now in Austria come to the fore.
Germany No Longer Threatens.
Yet 1t Is obvious to every one that
Germany is so definitely crushed that
it is doubtful if she will ever again
become military or economic power.
Because the old Reich has caused three
major wars since 1870 there is not q
single nation in Europe or in the West
ern Hemisphere which does not wish to
see it broken up into a number of small
sovereign states which will have about
as much possibility of becoming agrees
sors as Portugal or Denmark or any
OF the Scandinavian states. Nobody
will ever oppose the permanent dis
memberment of the old German empire
And once Germany is eliminated as
a military nation in Central Europe,
there can be no danger to Russia's
borders from the exhausted nations
which she intends to rule with an iron
rod.
Surely nation of 1SO,OOo,0Oo, regard
less Of how much she has lost in this
war, cannot suspect a nation such as
Poland, for instance, of harboring ag-
gressive intentions. Moreover, even if
the fantastic idea that the bordering
nations" might make coalition with the
intention of jumping on the U. S. S. R..
the creation of a world security or
ganization as envisaged by the peace
loving people at San Francisco would
be able to crush such an attempt in
short order. This entire group from
the Baltic to the Adriatic is so de-
pendent on the industrial nations for
their livelihood that mere economic
sanctions would put an end to any
such foolish plan.
1t was only after he gave a good
deal Of thought to the consequences Of
America yielding to the strict demands
of the Soviet government regarding the
Polish government that President Tru-
man decided two weeks ago to stick
to the letter of the Yalta agreements.
Situation Presented to Truman.
The situation presented to him was as
follows:
Russia insisted on its own interpreta-
ton OF the agreement regarding the
formation of new Polish government.
| Some of his advisers advised him to
yield to the Moscow pressure in order
to save the San Francisco Conference
and at. the same time clinch Russias
cooperation in the Far East.
Others, however, pointed out that
while we could do nothing constructive
to oppose the Russian plans in Poland
the American Government had to adopt
an attitude as adamant as that of the
Soviets lest all other agreements and
pledges become scraps of paper. They
suggested to the President that by
merely refusing to indorse Russia's de-
cisions the influence of the United States
in the concert of world powers would be
greatly enhanced.
This country is emerging out of this
war as the strongest world state, mill
tarily and economically. But this
strength woud be of no avail and would
help neither this country nor the world
at large if it did not remain adamant
in insisting on the fuldllment of inter-
| national agreements adopted in open
discussions. The question of Poland is
of greater Importance than appears on
the surface.
If the United States Government re-
nounced all its previous pledges con-
tained in the Atlantic Charter and
those disclosed to the public after the
Yalta meetings, what faith could the
world place in this countrys integrity
concerning other agreements?
And while Poland is thousands Of
miles away from the Western Hemi-
sphere, our weakening under the pres
sure of one nation alone might seriously
affect the vital agreements reached with
the other American republics a few
weeks ago at Chapultepec.
Fear the Worst.
Nobody knows as yet what the San
Francisco Conference is going to produce.
Everybody hopes for the best and fears
the worst. But at Chapultepec we did
reach definite and formal agreement
with our sister republics in the south
which in itself gives us an unexpected
measure of security for this hemisphere.
If the United States, under the pres
sure of somewhat doubtful necessity
Of getting military assistance in the
Far East were to abandon its position
of international honesty-the most i'm
portant baggage we have in interna-
tional affairs-the Chapultepec treaty
might become a dead letter. We would
not have the moral prestige with our
neighbors in the south when territorial
arguments might cause dissensions and
rows among the Latin American repub-
lies. They might be inclined to adopt
a policy that might is right instead Of
relying on international pledges. Once
the United States shows that it can be
persuaded to yield on principles for
selfish reasons they might believe that
similar considerations could influence us
to adopt partisan attitude in regard to
the Americas as well
Our strength in the past has laid in
the scrupulous observation Of our en-
gagements more than the welding Of
the big stick. Once this moral back
ground disappears we shall be consid-
cred no better than the powers which
have used their might to obtain purely
selfish advantages and gains.