Evening star., 1947-05-19

his view that the press was q
handicap at the Moscow Confer
ence, he does not say who in the
Government here believes as he
does. He certainly cannot mean
Secretary of State Marshall, who
has indicated frequently that he
understands the value OF an in
formed public opinion.
Mr.. Bevin knows very little about
the United States or else he has a
short memory He must have over
looked the fact that miracle has
happened in America-both poll
ticaI parties are joined in policies
of international cooperation as
never beforehand dollars are flow
ing to bolster weak countries in
Europe. If Mr.. Bevin thinks BIZ
partisan cooperation can thrive on
secrecy or that American interest,
for example, in the economic plight
of Great Britain can be furthered
by a policy Of secrecy in govern
mental affairs, he is 100 per cent
wrong.
Secrecy Breeds Suspicion.
Where there is secrecy, there is
suspicion. The policy which Presi-
dent Truman recently asked Con-
gress to approve for helping Greece
and Turkey was jeopardized for a
while because the administration did
not really think through its manner
of handling the proposal and did
not inform congressional leaders
sufficiently in advance about the
background
The most important factor in
helping Congress to see the wisdom
of passing the Greek Turkish bill
was the comprehensive reporting of
what went on in Moscow. It would
have been easy for the old-fashioned
type of diplomacy to prevail-for
sugar coated or ambiguously worded
communicates, which hid the truth,
TO be issued. But this would not have
kept America informed.
There are lots of people, even in
democratic countries, who do not
understand free press or its ira
ditions. Mr.. Bevin apparently favors
the secrecy method because it per-
lnits of deals and shifts behind the
scenes. That is precisely what the
American people have been led to
believe is British imperialism. 1t
is that kind of maneuvering which
has done so much in the past to
make Americans unduly suspicious
of the British Foreign Office.
Now there are no members of the
press who ever suggested that diplo-
matte meetings be held in the open
with reporters present. 1t always
has been assumed that diplomats
would keep their own counsel on
matters of great delicacy. But in
these days, when governments use
propaganda to create impressions
that fit in with their diplomatic
maneuvers, reporters in foreign posts
work harder than ever to separate
opinion propaganda from the facts.
Preparatory Work Needed.
Many a public official grows i'm
patient with or is annoyed by pub
licity when he is in the midst of
negotiating an agreement but the
real problem nevertheless is to deal
with such happenings temperately
and tactfully. Certainly reporters
do not have access to what goes
on day-by-day between foreign Of
fees and their ambassadors. One
might ask what is the use of paying
for embassies and legations If the
men occupying these important posts
cannot pave the way in advance
for agreements?
The fact is that when big inter-
national conference is called it at
tracts the press, and conferences
should not be held until there is
a certainty in advance that agree
ment on basic points can be
reached. To leave to large-scale
conference the settlement in i'm
promptu fashion of points that
might as we'll have been threshed
out long before the conference, is to
reveal an ineptitude which even
old-fashioned diplomacy usually
avoided.
Mr.. Bevin and Russia, in par
ticular. ought to be thankful that
the Moscow Conference and back
ground was as thoroughly reported
as it was Nothing that the press
wrote and evidently nothing that
Mr.. Bevin could contribute by way
of argument in secret altered the
Soviet determination not to agree
at this time with the democracies
on the all-important question of
reparationS. But it is safe to say
that no agreement would be pos
sible in November-and an agree
ment now is confidently expected
If the Moscow Conference had not
been SO thoroughly reported to the
American people The United States
Government has united public
pinion behind it in it's policies
ward Europe and not the least
eneficiary of that unity is Great
ritain.
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