Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1947-03-19
British Support U. 5.
lin View That Potsdam
Superseded YaIta Pact
BY the Associated Press

BY the Associated Press
LONDON, Mar. ia British
Foreign Office spokesman said
today that Britain shared the
United States view that the Big
Three Potsdam agreement SUI
perseded all other major power
agreements with regard to Ger
man reparations.
The spokesman made the state
ment following Soviet Foreign Min
lister Molotov's statement to the
Council of Foreign Ministers that
the Big Three had concluded an
agreement at Yalta, the text of
which had been secret heretofore,
under which German reparations
were to be collected from postwar
current production.
Tass, official Russian news agency,
in verbatim report of the Molotov
statement, said the Yalta agreement
was disclosed in pressing the Rus
sian claim for $4,000, 100000 repara-
tons from Germany, part of it from
current production. The United
States and Britain, opposing the
claim, hold the cost of feeding the
Germans should be the first charge
against current production.
Attitude Stated July Il.
The view that the Potsdam agree
ment superseded that at Yalta was
expressed yesterday at Moscow by
Secretary of State Marshall.
The British Foreign Office spokes-
man said Britain's attitude was
made clear July 81 of last year. when
notes were sent to Russia, France
and the United States emphasizing
that the British never accepted the
Soviet's $10,000,000 900 claim for rep
arationS" from Germany.
This note, the spokesman said,
expressed the view at that time that
Potsdam superseded all previous
agreements and discussions about
Preparations.
Asked why it took more than a
year to make the British attitude on
reparationS publicly clear, the
spokesman did not reply.
Food Needs First Charge.
He said in reply to another ques-
ton that Britain did not exclude
payment of reparations to Russia
out of current production, as a prin-
ciple. But, he added that British
policy demanded that the first
charge against current production
should be payment of the country's
food needs.
The spokesman said he knew of
no other still-undisclosed clauses in
the agreement reached at the Yalta
Conference, which was attended by
President Roosevelt, Prime Minis
ter Churchill and Prime Minister
Stain
Tass quoted Mr.. Molotov as say
ing it was necessary to consider
the Crimea Yalta) agreement be-
cause the British and American
delegates were claiming that the
Berlin (Potsdam agreements, which
made no mention of dollar repara-
tons, superseded the Yalta COM
mitments.
Cat Moscow Yesterday Secre-
tary OF State Marshall said the
position of the United States
Government regarding repara-
tons is that the agreements at
. Potsdam supersede the prelimi-
nary agreements viously
reached at Yalta. We will not
. follow the retreat of Mr.. Molotov
from Berlin to Yalta.')
lass Quotes MolOtov.
Tass quoted that part of Mr..
Molotov's statement backing up his
demand for reparations from cur
rent production as follows:
To make this utterly clear
shall have to make public the de-
cision of the Crimea conference,
which has not been published
hitherto. This decision follows:
Protocol on the talk between
the heads of the three governments
at the Crimea conference on the
question of German reparations in
kind, the heads of the three gov
ernmentS agreed as follows:
Il. Germany must pay in kind
for losses caused by her to the AL
lied nations in the course of the war.
Preparations are to be received in
the first instance by those countries
which have borne the main burden
of the war, have suffered the heavi-
est losses, and have organized vic
tory over the enemy.
SO. Preparations are to be eXacted
from Germany in the three follow
ing forms:
"a. Bulk removal within two
years from the surrender of Ger
many or the cessation of organized
resistance from the national wealth
OF Germany located on the territory
Of Germany.
"'b. Annual deliveries of goods
from current production after the
end of the war for a period to be
fixed.
&C. Use of German labor.
3. For working out on the basis
of the above principles detailed
plan for the exaction of reparations
from Germany. an Allied repara-
tons commission is to be set up in
Moscow consisting of representa-
tiVeS of the U. S. S. R, the U. S. A.
and the United Kingdom.
a Agreement on Total.
~. With regard to the fixing of
the total sum of reparations, as well
as the distribution of it among coun-
tries which suffered from German
aggression, the Soviet and American
delegations agree as follows:
The Moscow reparations COM
mission should take in the initial
stages as basis for discussion the
suggestion of the Soviet government
that the total sum of reparations,' in
accordance with points A and B of
paragraph 2, should be $4,000
100000 and that so per cent of it
should go to the u S. S. R.
1.-The British delegation was of
the opinion that pending considera-
ton of the reparations question by
the Moscow ReparationS Commits