Evening star., 1946-01-06

Wide World Photo.
After week in which Washington OBJ
servers have mulled over and digested
the terms of agreement reached by the
Big Three foreign ministers in Moscow,
the general reaction is that whatever
pragmatic gains may result for the
| United States, this country has de-
parted far from some of it's original
principles. That is true in at least
three separate spheres of policy.
Such a statement can be justified
only by looking back along the diplo-
matte road we have traveled-back to
our starting point and then at the po-
sition where we have arrived today.
American concessions are particularly
marked in the Balkans. That area,
it will be recalled, was occupied by the
Red Armies as the Germans were driven
out, and at the time of the Crimea
Conference in February of last year
Romania and Bulgaria were under
Soviet military control. Although the
United States had been party to the
armiStices with these countries, they
were closed territory to American
observers and Washington feared that
Russia was attempting to set up Com
munist governments in them.
Meanwhile, in Yugoslavia, Marshal
Tito, who had received his political
education in Moscow, was gradually
bringing that country under what ap-
| peared to be Red-tinged military die
tatorship. 1t was under these circum-
stances that President Roosevelt, Prime
Minister Churchill and Generalissimo
Stain assembled at Yalta.
Communist Regimes Set Up.
The document drafted there appeared
| to mark a great victory for democratic
| principles. The Big Three agreed, with
| respect to these Balkan states, ''to form
| interim governmental authorities broad
| ly representative of all democratic ele-
ments in the population and pledged
to the earliest possible establishment
| through free elections Of governments
responsive to the will of the people"
In the same section of the agreement,
the Big Three reafirmed their faith in
the principles of the Atlantic Charter
and expressed their determination to
build in cooperation with other peace
loving nations world order under law,
dedicated to peace, security, freedom
and the general well-being of mankind"
What actually happened, shortly after
Yalta, was the establishment in Ro-
mania, Bulgaria and YugoSlavia OF
Communist dominated regimes which
ran roughshod over the rights of all
other political elements, democratic as
well as Fascist and Royalist. All the
paraphernalia of sdictatorial regimes
terroristic secret police and suppression
of the press and the right of free speech
appeared in these countries.
So-called elections already have been
held in Yugoslavia and Bulgaria, re-
Sulting in overwhelming victories" for
the Communists and the suppression of
other parties.
Both journalistic and diplomatic re-
ports agree that the elections" in Tito's
domain were farce.
United States Declined Part.
1t was so obvious in advance that the
Bulgarian elections were being 'rigged"
in behalf of the Communist rulers of
that country that the State Department
refused to share in their supervision, as
planned at Yalta.
Yet during the Moscow conference,
and rather obviously as a result of a
deal made there, the State Department
unexpectedly recognized Tito's regime
in Yugoslavia. The statement made in
this connection was one of the oldest in
diplomatic history. While extending
one hand in friendship to the Com
munist-inspired dictator in Belgrade,
the State Department simultaneously
made public letter to American Am
bassador Richard G. Patterson which
constituted vigorous slap at Tito with
the other.
I'm the circumstances" Mr. Patterson
was told, 'the United States Govern
ment desires that it be understood that
the establishment of diplomatic rela-
tions with the present regime in Yugo-
slavia should not be interpreted as i'm
plying approval of the policies of the
regime, its methods of assuming control
or it's failure to implement the guaran-
tees of personal freedom, promised its
people"
Students would be hard put to find
in American annals another such ex-
ample of bare-faced pragmatism.
Those sections of the Moscow agree
ment dealing with Romania and Bull
garia impress many observers here as an
American and British effort to meet
Russian demands on the basis of very
dubious face-saving formula.
Democrats Soon Out.
America and Great Britain agreed to
recognize the government of the Com
munist-dominated fatherland front in
Bulgaria - where elections" already
have been held-provided that two rep
resentatives of truly democratic par
ties are admitted to the cabinet. In
this connection, it is recalled here that
Marshal Tito, as result of Anglo.
American insistance, originally included
several democratic statesmen in his
cabinet, but they were soon dispensed
with. There Is nothing in the Moscow