Evening star., 1953-04-26
Hope in the u. N.

Although it has accomplished little in q
concrete sense, the United Nations General
Assembly has completed the business of its
seventh session in an atmosphere of cautious
hope. This stems chiefly from two develop
mentS. The first Of these is the improved out
look for Korean truce, and the other is the
changed behavior of the Kremlin and all its
representatives ever since the death of Josef
Stain. The latest encouraging sign in that
respect is the Pravda statement welcoming
President Eisenhower's recent peace proposals
to work out friendly settlement of difficult
world issues both through direct talks and
within the framework of the U. N.
AS chief of the Soviet delegation to the
U. NJ, Andrei Vishinsky has dramatized in his
own person the transformation that has taken
place under the new Malenkov- -Beria- -Molotov
regime few months ago, like the Kremlin
itself, he was man of violent, uncompromising
and hate-inciting words. But for some weeks
past, from the time of Stalin's passing, and in
keeping with Moscow's numerous olive-branch
gestures, he has been generally moderate in his
language and almost SuffuSed with friendly
warmth and geniality of manner.
True enough in the closing hours of the
Assembly's session, Mr.. VishinSky led the Soviet
bloc in voting against resolution-which was
supported by the overwhelming majority-for
an impartial investigation of the phony Com
muniSt charges of U. N. germ warfare against
the North Korean and Chinese Reds. AS a
result, it is practically certain that no such
inquiry will take place, but Mr.. Vishinsky, in
opposing it, spoke and acted temperatey
enough to suggest that he himself realized the
emptiness of the accusations and wished only
to bury the whole subject with as little loss of
Soviet face as possible.
In most other respects, Mr. ViShinsky in
recent weeks has displayed marked desire to
vote on the side of the majority-just as in
the case of the compromise resolution (approved
by vote of SO to o. calling upon Chinese Ma
tionaltst troops in Burma to lay down their
arms and submit either to internment or to
evacuation to FormoSa. In times past, together
with the satellite bloc, the Soviet delegation
would have exploited this issue to fare-thee-
well, making the rafters of the U. N. ring with
poisonous propaganda designed to blacken the
reputation Of the United States by accusing
"imperialistic American warmongers" of direct
and calculated involvement in the Burmese
situation. vE
It is because of this transformation in Mr.
Vishinsky'S conduct together with the Krem-
Inns conciliatory moves and evidence that a
Korean armistice may be not far of, that the
before the death of Stain. AS Sir Gladwyn
Jebb of Britain has said, the work of the
AsSembly-Since reconvening last February "a
has been satisfactory ION the whole" because
it has been carried on in an unusual "atmos-
phere of objectivity and good temper" Accord
ingly, if a truce is agreed upon at Panmunjom,
I'VE shall then indeed have to hail Guspicium
meltoriS GeDi"-the signs Of better times.
In winding up the agenda of its seventh
session, the Assembly has acted in accord with
this changed outlook Instead of formally ad-
journing, 1t has provided that it may be
reconvened on short notice to deal with either
of two situations: Cd An armistice agreement
requiring organization of a subsequent Far
Eastern political conference or (2) a collapse
of the resumed Panmunjom talks-a possibility
that would call for new military decisions.
Although they have their fingers crossed most
u N members share Sir Gladwyn's hope that
when they meet again peace prospects will con-
tinue to warrant some measure of optimism.
That may prove to be wishful view, but at
the moment it does not seem altogether un-
reasonable