Evening star., 1946-09-18

of Mr.. Wallace'S letter on Tor
eign policy to him--AP Photo.
are willing to negotiate on this basis,
1 believe the Russians will also ne
gotiate seriously with a view to
reaching an agreement.
There can be, of course. no abSo-
lutte assurance the Russians will
finally agree to a workable plan if
we adopt this view. They may pre-
fer to stall until they also have
bombs and can negotiate on a more
equal basis, not realizing the danger
to themselves as we'll as the rest of
the world in situation in which
several nations have atomic bombs.
But we must make the effort to
head off the atomic bomb race.
We have everything to gain by
doing SO, and do not give up any
thing by adopting this policy as the
fundamental basis for our negotia-
ton. During the transition period
toward full-scale international con-
troll, we retain our technical know
how, and the only existing produc-
ton plants for fashionable materials
and bombs remain within our bor-
ders.
Veto Issue Irrelevant.
The Russian counterproposal It.
self Is an indication that they may
be willing to negotiate seriously If
we are. In some respects their
counterproposal goes even further
than our plan and is in agreement
with the basic principles OF ouI
plan, which is to make violations OF
the proposed treaty national and
international crime for which indi-
viduals can be punished
1t will have been noted that in
the preceding discussion I have not
mentioned the question Of the So
called veto" I have not done sc
because the veto issue is completely
| irrelevant, because the proposal tc
abolish the veto," which means
something in the general activities
of the Security Council, has nc
meaning with respect to treaty
on atomic energy. If we sign a
treaty with other nations we will
all have agreed to do certain things
Until we arrive at such a treaty
we as we'll as the other ma ior
powers will have the power to veto
Once the treaty is ratified, however
the question of veto becomes mean
ingless. If any nation violates the
treaty provision, say Of permitting
inspection of suspected illegal
bomb making activities, what ac-
ton is there that can be vetoed
AS in the case of any other treaty
violations the remaining signatory
nations are free to take what ac-
ton they feel Is necessary. includ-
ing the ultimate step of declaring
war.
OTHER PROBLEMS OF AMER
ICAN-RUSSIAN RELATIONSHIPS
believe that for the United States
and Russia to live together in peace
is the most important single prob
lem facing the world today. Many
people, in view of the relatively
satisfactory outcome of the recent
Paris Conference, feel that good
progress is being made on the prob
lem Of working out relations between
the Anglo-Saxon powers and Russia
| This feeling seems to me to be
resting on superficial appearances
more productive of temporary
truce than of final peace. On the
whole, as we look beneath the sur
face in late July OF 1916, our actions
and those of the western powers in
general carry with them the ultimate
danger of a third world war-thiS
time an atomic world war. AS the
strongest single nation, and the
nation whose leadership Is followed
by the entire world with the excep-
ton of Russia and few weak neigh
boring countries in Eastern Europe,
I believe that we have the oppor-
tunity to lead the world to peace.
In general there are two overall
in approaching the problem OF the
United States Russian relations.
The first is that 1t Is not possible to
get along with the Russians and
therefore war is inevitable. The
second Is that war with Russia would
bring catastrophe to all mankind,
and therefore we must find a way
of living in peace. 1t is clear that
our own welfare as we'll as that OF
the entire world requires that we
maintain the latter point OF view.
am sure that this is also your
opinion. and the radio address OF
the Secretary of State on July IS
clearly indicates that he Is pre-
pared to negotiate as long as may be
necessary to work out solution on
this basis.
We should try to get an honest
answer to the question of what the
factors are which caused Russia to
distrust us, in addition to the ques-
ton of what factors lead us to dis
trust Russia. l am not sure that we
have as a Nation or an administration
found an adequate answer to either
question. Although we have recog-
nized that both questions are OF
critical Importance.
FACTORS IN AMERICAN DIS
TRUST OF RUSSIA.
Our basic distrust of the Russians
which has been greatly intensified
In recent months by the plying up
of conflict in the press. stems
fror, dtfFerepcAs In ro1itfcal and