Evening star., 1951-01-21
|Mo|enkov.Moy Hold Edqe as Stain Successor
By WiIIiom l. ,Ryon
Press Foreign staff)


Western officials are closely
examining wisps of evidence to
support a growing hunch that the
three top men on the Politbuyo
have been sharpening their con-
| test for Joseph Stalin's mantle
as they eye his faltering health
A number of developments are
being vieWed-as signs and por-
tents of things to come-and some
observers lean heavily to the be-
lief that in the contest, First
Deputy Prime Minister V. M
Molotov will come out on the
short end. .
There are indications, such as
the omission of their names in
Soviet press accounts of Moscow
doings, that the power twins OF
the Politburo-Georgi MaXmilia-
novitch Malenkov and Lavrenty
IPavlovitch Beria-have been away
from the capital on important
business.
This twosome apparently have
been getting the masters ear at
his Sukhumi Vilwa on the Black
Sea, where the Soviet leader ha-
bitually hibernates for long win
ter periods. Stain, not noted in
the past for paying much atten-
ton to his subordinates' ideas,
may be listening intently now and
thinking of his own place in his
tory.
Health Is Taboo Subject.
Stalin's health is a taboo sub
ject for the Soviet press. but it
reported, just about a year ago,
Stains own statement that his
doctors would not allow him to
undertake a long trip-that is, to
go outside the Soviet orbit to
meet President Truman.
At II. Stain apparently is aware
he cannot long sustain the iron
grip which he has held on his
subordinates-that he, like Lenin
before him, has become a legend
that will be manipulated by him
who wields sufficient power.
Malenkov and Beria are a for
midable combination controlling
the police system and the Com
munist Party apparatus. They
were missing from the important
anniversary celebration of the
Bolshevik revolution November 7.
1t is a safe bet they were with
Stain.
Fretful thoughts may have oc-
Cured to Molotov as he attended
the celebration at the Bolshoi
Theater. It may have occurred to
him that despite the pre-eminent
position he held so long, the
mantle of Stain might we'll go to
the younger and more vigorous
Malenkov.
Malenkov is Cautious Realist.
Molotov is the man credited by
most diplomatic observers with
being the architect of the present
Soviet policy-constant, belliger-
ent pressure against the West;
bold. aggressive action.
Malenkov, for all his ruthless
ness, is realist and an apostle Of
caution. Like Stain, under whose
personal guidance he grew to
power in the U. S. S. r., Malenkov
is a strong believer in the con-
solidated position. the careful ad-
vance. This would be present
day parallel Of the, Stain slogan
of Socialism in one country" 1t
has in it the seeds of a possible
new internal upheaval.
Many Foreign Office people
abroad long have clung to the
belief that when Stain died. the
pattern of the Trotzky-Stalin
struggle for power which followed
Lenin's death would be repeated.
Behind the new speculation of
a developing struggle inside the
Soviet Union are these events:
l. The return of Georgi Zhukov,
the Soviet Unions hero of Berlin.
After World War II and a period
as Berlin commandant Marshal
Zhukov sank into obscurity. Many
thought he was in disgrace. His
ideas conf1icted with Molotov's