Evening star., 1946-10-19

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| Paris Peace Conterence.:
IT. is now is months since the
decision was reached at Potsdam to
set up the Council of Foreign Min
listers to start the preparatory work
on the peace treaties with Italy,
Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and
/ Finland. ssa
Those months have been hard,
difficult months.
At the Council of Foreign Min
listers andsat the Paris Peace Con-
ference, your representatives were a
united and harmonious delegation
acting under the guidance and In
structions of the President OF the
United States. The difficult tasks
were immeasurably lightened by the
splendid work and cooperation OF
my associates, Senator Connally,
Democratic Chairman of the For
eign Relations Committee, and Sena-
tor Vandenberg, spokesman for the
Republican Party in foreign af1alrs'
In the conference, we have repre-
sented no political parties. We have
been united in representing the
United States.
Differences Pointed Up.
After every great war the VIC
torious Allies have found 1t difficult
to adjust their differences In the
making of peace. Even before the
fighting stopped, President Roosevelt
warned us that:
THE nearer we come to van
gushing our enemies the more we
ferences among the Allies"
That was why President Roosevelt
was SO insistent that the United
Nations should be established before
the peace settlements were made.
1t was inevitable that in the max
ing of concrete peace settlements
the Allies should discuss and debate
the issues on which they disagree
and not those on which they agree
It was also inevitable that such
discussions should emphasize our
differences.
/ That is one reason I have con-
tinuously pressed to bring about
agreements upon the peace settle
ments as rapidly as possible.
Leaving unsettled issues which
should be settled, only serves to
increase tension among the Allies
and unrest among the peoples
affected.
We cannot think constructively
on what will or will not contribute
to the building OF lasting peace
and rising standards of life until
we Iquidate the war and give the
peoples of this world chance to
live again under conditions Of peace
! 1t is difficult to deal with the
problems of a convalescing world
until we get the patient of the
operating table.
These treaties are not written
as we would write them if we had
free hand They are not written
as other governments would write
them if they had a free hand
But they are as good as We can
hope to get py general agreement
nor or within any reasonable
length Of time.
Reparations Heavy.
! Our views on reparations are
different from the views of coun-
tries whose territories were laid
waste by military operations and
whose peoples were brought under
the yoke Of alien armies and alien
gestapos.
The reparation payments are
hesvy-excessively heavy in some
cases. But their burdens should
not be unbearable if the peoples
on which they are laid are freed
from the burdens of sustaining
occupying armies and are given a
chance to rebuild their shattered
economic lives.
For Europe with her mingled ma
tibnal economies. there are no idea
boundary settlements.
The proposed settlement for the
Trieste area was long and warmly
debated. The conference approved
the proposal of the Council o1
Foreignn Ministers that this area
should become a free territory under
the protection of the United Nations
The conference also, by two-thirds
vote, made recommendations for ar
international statute defining the
RESPONSIBILITIES of the United Ma.
tions in relation to the free territory
Such Communications are an ex-
preston Of world opinion and cannot
be arbitrarily disregarded.
Those recommendations OF the
conference provide that the governor
appointed by the Security Council
should have sufficient authority te
maintain public order and security
to preserve the independence and in
tegrity of the territory, and to pro-
tect the basic human rights ant
fundamental freedoms Of all the in.
habitants.
Hopes for Concession.
The minority proposal which was
supported by the Soviet Union
Yugoslavia and other Slav countries
would have made hgurehead OF the
United Nations governor and woule
have given Yugoslavia virtual con.
troll of the customs, currency anc
forerign affairs of the territory
Certainly we could rot agree to that
1t would make the territory a pro-
tectorate of Yugoslavia and leave
the United Nations powerless te
prevent it becoming a battle-ground
between warning groups. There must
be no seizure of power in Trieste
after this war as there was in Fiume
after the last war.
The Yugoslav delegation advised
the conference it would not sign the
treaty recommended. My hope, how
ever, is that after consideration
Yugoslavia will realize that, just as
other states have made concessions
she must make concessions to bring
about the peace.
Although the Council of Foreign
Ministers were unable to agree te
any change in the Austrian-Italiar
frontier, the representatives OF Aus
tria and italy at Paris were en-
couraged by the American delega.
ton to reach an agreement which
should help to make the South Tyro
L.