Evening star., 1949-05-20
Mr.. Acheson's Mission

As he heads out over the Atlantic today
for the Foreign Ministers meeting in Paris.
Secretary of State Acheson will carry with
him not merely the best wishes but also
the hopes and prayers of every American
anxious TO see narrowing OF the dark gull
between Russia and the West.
In that sense, Mr.. AcheSon's mission Is
a fateful one. II it ends in another Big
Four stalemate, the cold war will become
potentially more explosive than ever. But
if there is a measure of success, II he and
the French British and Soviet Foreign
Ministers make at least little concrete
progress toward a new understanding, the
world at large will have reason TO renew
its faith in the proposition that states
manship will yet be able to find formula
for a good and enduring peace.
It would be a mistake, of course, to expect
miracles at this stage The Paris meeting
which opens on Monday-can at best lay
only the groundwork for settlement
determining Germany's future, and pos
sbly Austria's A defnitive peace treaty.
or an over all European solution salts
factory to both East and West, still seems
a very long way off. Under the most
favorable circumstances, the impending
conference will be able to arrive at little
more than preliminary agreements for
modus vivendi lessening the tensions OF
the cold war and creating an atmosphere
in which the contending powers will find
it easier to work together for mutually
acceptable final understanding.
Moreover, as Mr.. Acheson has plainly
I'D fal in
Conference will not achieve even this
limited success unless the Russians are
prepared to retreat substantially from their
past proposals regarding Germany-pro-
poSals calling for an early peace treaty,
the withdrawal Of all occupation troops, a
Soviet voice and veto in connection with
the Ruhrs production, and unification OF
the country under strong centralized
government. The United States-WhoSe
views are essentially the same as those OF
France and Britain-has already made
clear that it will not consent to such
measures because, in most respects, they
would open the way to conditions that
would either % enable the Kremlin TO
achieve eventual dominance over the Ger
mans or (2) place the two in league with
With this danger in mind, Mr.. Acheson,
speaking for the United States, has long
since served notice that the American
Government, in concert with France,
Britain and the Germans who have
drafted the Bonn Constitution, is deter
mined to go ahead with the formation Of
the Federal Republic of Western Germany.
At the same time-again speaking for the
United States-he has emphasized that
Soviet-occupied Eastern Germany will be
welcome to join the republic land thus
unite the country whenever the Kremlin
is ready to permit such step, presumably
on the basis of genuinely free and care
fully observed elections.
In sum, as Mr. Acheson has just declared
in a special statement before leaving for
Paris, there will be no American yielding
on the Bonn principles. Those principles
are designed to create truly democratic,
nonmiltaristic Germany so governed as to
prevent it's becoming either partner or
satellite of the Kremlin. If there is any
yielding to be done on that score, the
Russians will have to do it. Otherwise the
hopes and prayers attending Mr.. Acheson
on his mission will be of little avail.