Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1946-08-29
Moves
Continued From First Page. }


various commissions, whether there
are any of them which the Big
-Four could agree in advance to
accept or reject on face value.
1t is pointed out by many that
a knowledge of how the Big Four
will stand with regard to certain
amendments offered might save con-
siderable time which would other
wise go into needless provocative
debate. For an amendment to which
the Big -Four agree is virtually as
sured OF eventual passage, regard
less OF what speeches are or are
not made by its jealous hackers or
opponents in the commissions.
Conversely, an amendment in OPP
position to which the Big Four stand
shoulder to shoulder has absolutely
no chance of receiving the two
thirds vote of the conference which
1t must receive if it is to be &C
corded anything like serious con-
sideration by the foreign ministers
when they sit down after the con-
terence to write the final treaties.
Translation Too Laborious.
These are not the kind of thoughts
which a quixotic champion of the
small power, like Australian For
eign Minister Herbert v. Evatt
likes to think. But they are, so far
as this conference is concerned. the
facts of life, and there is discern
able here a growing inclination to-
ward the belief that if the confer
ence is ever going to get out of the
woods the facts of life will have to
be taken into consideration.
Another common observation hav-
Ing to do with the question of
speeding things up is that it would
be a great thing if some method
could be worked out whereby the
laborious process of translation
might be streamlined.
When Mr.. Molotov talks for an
hour in Russian, that is bad enough.
1t Is even worse when they get
around to the English translation
When you have to sit there and
listen for a third hour to the same
speech in French, the experience
becomes practically unbearable.
There is only one ray of hope on
the horizon in this respect. AS in
dications increase that the Nuern-
berg trials may end in perhaps an
other month, official hands here are
already itching to get hold of some
of the fancy technical apparatus
which has enabled those in attend
ance at the war criminal sessions
to hear translations of proceedings
while the proceedings proceed.
Whether there would be enough of
such equipment to do the confer
ence job, however, is another ques-
ton.
Amendments Repeated.
1t seems likely that the gentlemen
who are to meet this afternoon will
devote some of their time to con-
sidering the proposition that in
cases where the same amendment
has been offered to all five treaties, |
things would move along faster if |
that amendment could be dealt with |
in the general commission rather
than in each of the five commits
sions which deal individually with
the treaties.
Australia, for example, has put
forward numerous amendments
which apply identically to all the
treaties. These are now becoming
the subject of long and heated de-
bate in each of the committees, as
the big guns" of the various dele
cations hop diligently from room to
room to repeat the same speeches
for or against.
There is only one hitch to the
otherwise unbeatable proposition
that here is a case in which the
general commission can perform a
real service to the conference:
namely, that Russia is dead set
against the idea. The sound reason
for her opposition is that all 81 ma
tons of the conference are repre-
sented in the general commission,
which means she controls, with her
satellites, a proportionately smaller
vote in the general commission than
she does in the specific treaty COM
missions with their more restricted
membership.
1t is reasonable to suppose. how
ever, that Secretary Byrnes will
tly once more this afternoon to
persuade Mr.. Molotov to let the
general commission take some of the
weight from the shoulders of the
staggering treaty commissions.
Finally, it is not unlikely that the
Ministers will talk over the pos
sibility that it might ease things
somewhat if the commissions were
allowed to sit from time to time in
executive session, that Is to say. In
the absence of the press. There is
some feeling here that even if the
press were excluded from occasional
sessions, the reporters would find out
what went on and that therefore
delegates would feel obliged to make
as many political speeches as they
make when the press is present.
But it is possible, many think, that
If the executive session device were
employed occasionally, delegates
might stick to the point for a while
and do their speechmaking at press
conferences afterwards.