Evening star., 1946-06-17
Big 4 Resumes Work
On Treaty for Italy,;
Trieste Major Issue
By the Assoeioied Press

PARIS, June 1.-THE Big Four
Foreign Ministers resumed today
the task of writing an Italian
peace treaty, and an American
source said the success or failure
of the conference might we'll
hinge on the Russian attitude
toward Trieste.
A close associate of Secretary of
State Byrnes said the head of the
American delegation considered
Trieste question of principle" and
the Secretary never compromises
with questions of principle"
Thus, since the United States ap-
parently will not bulge from the
stand that Trieste must remain
Italian, diplomatic observers anx-
iously awaited indications as to
whether Russia would be willing to
compromise on her demands that
the Adriatic port be ceded to Yugo-
slavia.
Much of Optimism Dispelled.
A wave of optimism swept over
the conference Saturday after Rus
sia, in surprise conciliatory ges-
ture, agreed to the discussion of the
Austrian problem. Some observers
even went so far as to interpret
this as softening in the Soviet
policy.
Much of this optimism was dis
pelled, however, when the Moscow
press and radio yesterday launched
a new offensive against what they
termed Western "reactionaries and
enemies of peace"
The Soviet news agency Tass i'm
piled in Paris dispatch that Brit
ain and the United States, rather
than Russia, would have to break
the deadlock which forced the ad-
journment of the last conference.
Wide circles of the international
public are expecting from the dele
gates of both these countries con-
structive steps toward the solution
of disputed problems" the agency
said.
Priority List Being Written.
The deputy foreign ministers,
meanwhile, buckled down to the job
of writing a priority list of disputed
points of the Italian treaty for sub
mission to their chiefs.
An American informant expressed
belief that if satisfactory solution
could be found for Trieste, the
Council would encounter little diff
Guilty in writing the remainder of
the treaty. Other disputed points
on the Italian question are:
/. The .Italian-Yugosiav frontier.
This is tied up with the Trieste
issue.
2. Reparations. Russia, in opposi-
ton to Britain and the United
States holds that reparations
should be partly paid from current
Italian production and that the al
loting of Italian warships should not
count as reparations.
3. Colonies. The United States
has favored turning the problem
over to the United Nations if the
ministers themselves can reach no
solution. Russia and France want
1edAy W ICIdlli u uStccSillp UfeI IlcI
own colonies. under the United Ma
tions. Britain wants the trustee
ship of Cierenaica.
Other Questions Slated.
After the Italian treaty is con-
sidered, the Ministers are scheduled
to take UP Balkan treaties, the Ger
man situation, Austria and the pres
ent political situation in Italy The
italian political status, which Rus
sia has described as verging on civil
war, will be studied at Soviet in
sistence.
American informants said a skele-
ton proposal of a treaty with Ro-
mania was ready for submission to
the Ministers. The treaty was un-
derstood to include recognition of
the transfer of Bessarabia to the
Soviet Union.
The Ministers were reported at
the last conference to have agreed
on restoring Pennsylvania to Ro-
mania, as provided in the terms of
the Hungarian surrender to the
A11;1e