Evening star., 1948-05-30

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laid aside all the rules of diplom,
defensive in the worldwide polite
The U. S. s. r. has scored heav1
Far East and here at home, where
Russian "open diplomacy has been
taken at face value by the rank and
file of the people. This victory has
resulted from Ambassador Walter
Bedell Smiths May statement. the
=pecial Interpretation put on it by
:. oreign Minister Molotov and Prime
finister Stalin's answer to Henry
A. Wallace's repeatedly Moscow
concocted open letter.
Procedure Backfred
The points we gained in France
and Italy at heavy cost to the
American taxpayer appear now to
be vanishing into thin air. More
over, the policy-framers in the ex-
ecutive and legislative branches OF
the Government have shown a COM
plete lack of understanding Of Rus
sian aims.
While admitting that economic
assistance given to nations outside
the Iron Curtain is aimed at the
defeat of any new Communist in
cursions, these officials fear that fol
us to help those nations rearm fol
self-defense might give the Kremlir
chiefs an excuse for starting theil
military offensive toward the Eng
lish Channel. Because of this feal
repeated appeals by the Western
European countries for credits te
purchase arms for self defense have
been shelved in Washington.
Mr.. Molotov was able to turn the
ncte given him by Gen. Smith into
an effective, disruptive diplomatic
weapon by putting it on the Soviet
propaganda radio. He was able to
use it in the way he did mainly be-
cause the State Department chose
to keep it secret from the other
principal western powers until the
Russian reply was received in WASH
ington. Those powers were to be
told about the demarche by the
State Department after the Rus
sian reply had been carefully
analyzed.
Second Bomb Exploded
This procedure boomeranged. The
Kremlin's disclosure of Gen. Smith S
statement gave the western gov
ernments the impression that we
were planning to sell them out to
the U. S. S. R. and they considered
the American demarche in Moscow
as preparation for another Munich
but on a much larger scale.
French Foreign Minister Bidault
minced no words when w. Averell
Hartman, our special ERP ambas-
sador,. visited him in Paris the day
after Moscow's "undiplomatic"
broadcast. He told Mr.. Hartman
that the American Governments S
action looked like a sellout and an
attempt to divide up the world be-
tween the United States and the
U. S. S. r.
The British we're equally angered
at our closed door diplomacy, par
ticularly since there is gentle
mans agreement between the
United States and the other western
powers not to make any diplomatic
moves with respect to Russia and
her satellites without informing
the other members Of the western
bloc.
Official statements from Presi-
dent Truman and Secretary OF
State Marshall soon quieted the
fears Of the other governments, but
then a second bombshell exploded
This was Mr.. Stalin's reply to Mr.
Wallace's open letter. Soviet pro-
pagandists in Western Europe in
the last two months have made Mn
Wallace appear to be an important
figure in American politics and a
serious contender for the presi-
dency.
Mr.. Stain liked the outline OF
Mr.. Wallace's letter which, accord
ing to reliable reports from inside
liberal quarters, had been suggested
by the Kremlin itself. Thus, in fact
the Soviet dictator gave the world
a favorable answer to his own ideas
for an end of friction between
America and Russia.
Propagandists Active
The masses in Western Europe
and, to lesser extent, in this coun-
try took Mr.. Stalin's reply at face
value. They are more fearful of war
than are the oppressed masses be-
hind the iron curtain and would do
anything short of giving up their
individual freedom to avoid a repe-
tition of the 1889 catastrophe.
Soviet propaganda-elaborate and
skillful-has exploited our reluctance
to fall into Moscow's trap, painting
our coldness to the Soviet proposals
as vindication of the Russian con-
tention that America is warmonger-
ing. The Red propagandists have
placed on the American Govern
ment the blame for present dis
turbed world conditions. AS a result
the enthusiasm and dynamic effort
which were going into ERP and
organization of the Western Euro
pean Union have been somewhat
debated.
The word peace has far stronger
appeal in the free western world
than in Russia and her satellite
The masses and many
of their political leaders behind the
iron curtain have short memories.