Evening star., 1949-01-19
Mrs. Pmcb0t Hits
'Negative Policy
On Greek Reds
Bv Ruth Dean

The United States must face the
fact it is pursuing a negative policy
with regard to communism in
Greece and that this is hampering
a solution of the Greek problem,
Mrs. Clifford Pinchot told a lunch
con meeting of the Women's Action
Committee for Lasting Peace at the
Willard Hotel yesterday.
At the same time, Marquis Childs,
newspaper columnist, told the group
that the first objective of American
policy under a new Secretary of
State must be to try to build back
faith and confidence in the proce-
dulres of the United Nations"
"Basically, I suppose our attempt
to deal with communism Tin Greece
on a purely negative basis
is responsible for many of our
troubles" declared Mrs. Pinchot. a
member of the Women's Action
Committee. who recently returned
from a six-week trip to Greece.
LAS a result of this negative con-
cept," she continued, I'VE have al
lowed ourselves to support the
powers in Greece that identify all
forces advocating fundamental So
cial and economic reforms as pro-
Communist. That has led us into
the fatal blunder of adopting as
our friends all those opposed to
change on the basis that we are all
anti Communists together"
The mistakes the United States
has made in Greece have been
mainly political. not economic "as
the Communists would have us be-
lieve," Mrs. Pinchot said.
Our first mistake was setting ul
so-called coalition government
that was neither coalition nor gov
ernment," she declared. I'm fact we
set up a government which was little
more than a debating society.
But what is desperately serious,
now she continued, "is that the
Greeks are beginning to doubt the
permanency of American help and
are questioning If 1t can or will see
them through"
Thanks to United States aid, bread
is cheap in Greece, Mrs. Pinchot
declared. To the indigents and ref
ugees, wheat shipments from the
United States, if they have accom-
plished nothing else, have kept the
Greeks alive. "At least they are
not dying from empty stomachs,' 81
she said. But they are dying-and
this in some ways may be almost as
serious-they are dying without
hope Above all, with little cause for
hope"
Mrs. Pinchot expressed the opin-
ion, however, that given the right
attitude and the willingness to deal
with fundamentals we will be
able to pull the country out of its
present straits and set 1t on its feet
again"
The speaker asserted 1t seems OBJ
vious that a permanent solution OF
Greece's economic future cannot be
achieved without the removal of ex-
ternal pressures and that there is
little hope of civil war ending until
an effective government is estab-
lished. A government. "organized to
bring about what might be called
Roosevelt New Deal for Greece,
was suggested by the speaker as
the most feasible means Of ap-
preaching a solution.
Commenting on United States aid
to Greece and Turkey, Mr.. Childs
expressed the opinion the program
could have better been implemented
through the U. N. Though conced-
ing that the United States acted
with the best of intentions in by
passing the United Nations to bring
immediate aid to Greece, the COL
umnist said he considered the ac-
ton needless"
Mr.. Childs also declared that Rus
sia and the veto are not entirely
to blame for the present "enfeebled
state" of the United Nations.
Mrs. Richard Harkness, chairman
of the committee, presided at the
luncheon and introduced the guests
who included two women members
of Congress, Representative Reva
Beck Bcsone of Utah, and Repre-
sentative Chase Going Woodhouse
of Connecticut