Evening star., 1951-06-30
u. 5. Officials Adopt
Anxious Waii-See
Attitude on Truce
Bx John A. Giles

oy JOnn n. 0lieS
Government officials adopted ar
anxious wait-and-see attitude
toward Gen. Matthew B. Ridg.
ways Korean armistice meeting
proposal today. None would pre-.
dict how and when. if ever. the
Communist leadership on the
battlefield would respond.
Deputy Secretary of Defense
Robert A. Lovett. who first dis
closed early yesterday that genera
instructions were being sent Gen
Ridgway, indicated this attitude
as he commented:
That's over the hill. can't
make any further comment now.
Diplomatic officials here saw
the ,Ridgway proposal as one
which would speedily disclose
whether the Reds seriously want
to end the war or whether Rus
sia simply has been making pro.
paganda.
Proposed by Russian.
The call to the Commu-
mist commander in Korea te
send word whether he wants a
meeting stems directly from q
suggestion by Soviet United Ma
tions Delegate Jacob Malik. who
said last Saturday that the Rus
sian people want peace and be-
lieve it can be arranged in Korea
Strict secrecy enshrouded the
terms for ending the fighting
the northward pressure of the
u. N. forces against the Reds
that Gen. Ridgway's representa-
tive aboard the Danish hospital
ship Jutlandia will be instructed
to lay down at any parley that
may ensue.
Gen. Ridgway's two-paragraph
message to the enemy commander
merely stated that he was "in-
formed that you may wish meet
ing to discuss an armiStice
with adequate guarantees for the
maintenance of such armistice. y
Similar to Macarthur Offer.
The proposal was very similar
to the one made early this year
by Gen. Macarthur, whom Presi-
dent Truman later fired as Far
East commander.
But there was no doubt that
Gen. Ridgway was taken into full
confidence by Washington. The
original message sent to him con-
tanned general instructions as
MIR. Lovett described IL. He was
asked for mis- comments. His reply
was received at the Pentagon
within a matter Of hours but
whether or not he suggested any
change in the plan as evolved
here was not made public.
Announcement OF Gen. Ridg-
ways move. synchronized with his
Tokyo broadcast, was made here
by the State and Defense Depart
ments and in New York by the
U. N. secretariat.
THE IT NJ orroynoaronnt nv,
phasized, as did both the opening
sentence Of Gen. Ridgway's mes
sage and its signature, that-so
far as the anti-aggression forces
in Korea are concerned-the Reds
are going to have to negotiate
with the u. N.
Approved by Truman.
The move had the approval OF
Mr.. Truman and the top Gov
ernment officials. 1t also had the
approval of the governments OF
the Is other countries with units
fighting in the Korean war
Britain, France. the Philippines
Turkey, Siam. Ethiopia. Greece,
Columbia, the Netherlands, Bel
gium. Luxembourg, South Africa
Australia, New Zealand and
Canada.
While diplomatic informants
here said they had no advance in
formation on whether the Com
munists in Korea would react IA
yorably or unfavorably, or re-
spond at all to Gen. Ridgway's
direct invitation to talk truce. 9
clue came out of the Chinese cap
ital Wednesday.
"TeSt of U. S. AggresS0rs."
The Peiping Daily Worker, Off
cial organ Of the Red regime. said
editorially that the Chinese people
fully agree" with Soviet U. N
Delegate Malik's proposal for the
peaceful settlement of the con-
fiict.
Going a step further, the
editorial challenged acceptance OF
the peace overtures. ''Malik's pro-
posal presents another serious test
to the United States aggressors,
it bleated.
U. N. terms for an armistice
either have not been finally de-
cided by the 16 allied nations
having forces in Korea or they
are a tightly guarded secret. Indi-
cations are that the former is the
case. Agreement of Is govern
ments on specific terms is not
something to be hammered out in
a day or two.
Gen. Ridgway's message was not
THIS NJND1 Y(