Evening star., 1946-05-21
The Byrnes Report


at this stage is that Russia is fight
ing a delaying action against the
establishment of sound world
peace. There is no other interpreta-
ton to be placed on the substance
of Secretary Byrnes' excellent report
last night on the Paris meeting of
the Council of Foreign Minister'S
The meeting itself, which is to be
resumed on June Is, was by no
means total failure, but its results,
in terms of restoring normal life
and order to our international So
ciety, were "disappointingly small"
primarily because the Soviet dele
cation, unbending in its approach
to basic issues, seemed in no mood
to help make them large.
In his carefully measured words,
Mr.. Byrnes made clear that although
they did not see eye to eye on a
number of things, he and the British
and French Foreign Ministers were
able to reconcile their differences
over key problems. All that was
needed to prevent the conference
from recessing in a stalemate was
some give" as we'll as take" on
the part Of the Russian Foreign
Minister, but this was not forthcom-
ing. Instead, on every matter that
counted, Mr.. Molotov held fast to
the Soviet line despite agreement
among the three others. Thus, he
insisted that Italian reparations be
paid the Soviet Union out of Italy's
current production even though that
production is financed by American
money. Thus, too, he was adamant
in backing Yugoslavia's claim to the
whole of Venezia Giulia, including
Trieste, although to grant that would
be as demonstrably wrong as when
the same region was given to Italy
after the First World War. AS for
peace treaties covering Romania,
Hungary and Bulgaria, there was no
agreement because he stood out
against provisions opening that part
OF the world to the commerce of all
nations.
Similarly, on two other funda-
mental proposals, both designed to
hasten a normal order by getting
foreign troops out of occupied coun-
tries, Russia's refusal to agree was
unyielding, although Mr.. Byrnes
and Foreign Ministers Bevin and
Bidault were agreed. The first of
these was the American plan for q
nty-five-year four-power treaty
to keep Germany disarmed, and the
second was an effort to draft peace
treaty for Austria. Mr.. Molotov.
however, held out against consider
Ing either, with the result that the
conference, though it accomplished
such things as a revision of the
Italian armiStice and though it had
the virtue Of clarifying the opposing
viewpoints, went into recess without
achieving any notable progress in
establishing peace.
In effect, as Mr.. Byrnes suggested
last night, the Russians thus exer-
cised kind of veto over the effort
to get the world back to a normal
status. s,JuSt why they did this Is
a matter of speculation, but there
is no conjecture whatever in the
proposition that If they keep on
doing 1t, the future will be bleak
indeed. Accordingly, one must hope
with Mr.. Byrnes that they will have
a different attitude when the Big
Four Foreign Ministers meet again
next month and that they will agree
then to hold general peace con-
ference in July.
Failing that, there would seem to
be no better course to follow than
to turn over the whole situation
to the General Assembly of the
United Nations. That would at least
have the value of demonstrating to
the Soviet Union how its present
policies are serving only to make it
seem lone wolf in the world.