Evening star., 1946-08-01
A-14 THURSDAY, August /, 1874
The Peace Proposals

AS oIle IedQS tIle CeIulS Ol Tie pro-
posed peace treaties which have
been put before the delegates to the
Paris Conference it becomes more
than ever clear that the real prob
lem there is not the working out of
a settlement between the victorious
powers and Italy, Romania, Hun
gary, Bulgaria and Finland. The ne
gotiation of this settlement is i'm
portant, of course. But it is wholly
overshadoWed by the larger problem
Of finding a formula to accommo-
date the competing interests in Eu-
rope of the Soviet Union and the
western democracies.
The drafts of the treaties should
erase the last doubt that Russia is
the dominant power on the CONT
nent, and it is hardly conceivable
that the Soviet position can be sub
stantially altered by any moral pres
sures which may develop during the
peace conference.
In the tentative treaties, the United
States, Britain and France have
agreed to significant concessions to
Russia, and with these countries
supporting the proposals at the
peace conference it is a foregone
conclusion that they will be ap-
proved. Included are the payment
to Russia of $90O,00O,00O in repara-
tions, substantial cessions of terri
tory including Bessarabia and the
ice-free Finnish port of Petsamo,
and concessions which will assure
Russian political domination in
Eastern Europe. OF more than pass
ing interest is the stipulation Of
the Big Four that the former Axis
satellites must guarantee to bar
Fascist activity" Since the Rus
slams and their puppets interpret
any form of opposition as Fascist
activity this proviso can easily spell
out the liquidation of all opposing
elements, be they Fascist, demo-
cratic or otherwise.
Still unsettled are questions vitally
affecting the economy of the de-
feated nations. Will the Danube
River be opened to trade on a basis
Of equality for all? Are western
commercial interests to be pushed
out of the Balkans and other regions
where Soviet power is dominant?
Will there be enough left in the de-
feated countries to permit of any
kind of economic recovery, or will
they be condemned by the final
treaties to an indefinite period of
economic vassalage?
Since the conference, happily, is
to be opened to the press of the
world, there will be opportunity to
weigh the arguments, pro and con,
on these and other points. But there
is limit to what one can hope to
accomplish through argument, how
ever persuasive. The basic fact re-
mains that Soviet power is prepon-
derant in that part of the world,
@AtA SAAN ASdoclC1lo give CFCly SflQellCp
of an unrelenting purpose to use
their power to further their own
ends. In that situation it would be
unwise to expect that much can be
done to moderate the Soviet posi-
ton or to give effect to our own
views of how the peace treaties
should be drafted. The conference
at Paris is only beginning, a small
beginning, in the task of closing up
the war in Europe, for the mich
more formidable problems of writ
ing peace treaties for Germany and
Austria remain to be undertaken.
But what we can see happening now
Is dependable guide to what may
be expected in the future-a future
that will bring continuing growth
in Russian power and a correspond
ing rise in the urgency of the need
for the Big Four to come to an un-
derstandirg if there is to be peace
in this world.