Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-01-24
Berlin Is Busting
On Eve of Farley
OF Biz 4 Ministers
continued From First Page.)

Will De ike tossing 3 lAm0 Cn0pa
to a pack of wolves"
Despite all the weeks Of in
tensive preparation, there is the
normal opening might confusion.
For correspondents the first
order of business Is to get q
special generalization to get into
the press headquarters and into
the briefing sessions. 1t involves
getting passport pictures taken,
filling out forms and riding
miles out to the American head
quarters building.
There you find Henry Suydam,
the State Department press
chief, leaving with q couple OF
reporters in tow. You ask him
where he can be reached.
1T seems that I have five
Offices" Mr.. Suydam replies
cheerfully. "As soon as I ind
out where they all are. I'll let
you know"
Now Take Them Back.
After the forms are filed out,
an official tells you to take them
back to press headquarters a
couple of miles away. The
official isn't sure that you can
get into the building without q
pass, but the applications have
to be left there anyway. After
a small amount Of arguing. you
do get in. A harraSsed official
assures you that your pass will
be ready tomorrow, maybe.
"They have to be signed by
all three Of the allied press off,
GERS" he explains. land so far
as we know the Frenchman
hasn't shown up yet.
I'm various restaurants, hotel
Hobbies and bars the press corps
gathers to compare notes. swap
gripes and try to sift out the
crumbs of information that turn
up. Gossip, rumor and third
hand information provide the
staple diet.
Out on the streets. the city
itself Is excited by the influx
from the outside world. The
meeting means a very welcome
boost in business. But more than
that, there is a revival Of ex-
pectation and even hope, which
Is something new.
The Berlin conference has
brought more relaxation of ten
sion here than has been known
for months. For the first time
since the blockade. East Zone
newspapers are being sold at the
newsstands. Reporters for West
Berlin dailies haunt the hotel
Hobbies interviewing visiting cor
respondents on their impressions
of the city and hopes for the
conference.
An American or a Western
European may be able to afford
q detached and skeptical view Of
what is happening here. But for
the people Of Berlin it Is virtu-
ally a matter Of life or death.
And yet in the end. everyone
comes up against the same hard
question: What can actually be
accomplished here in Berlin in
the next few weeks? What can
the Big Four ministers do around
a conference table that could
not be done in the course of five
bitter years since they last met?
Half of Answer Clear.
Half of the answer Is clear
enough. The allied attitude and
positions are known in general, If
not in detail. They have been
worked out carefully in weeks of
rehearsal. There is flexibility and
patience and determination to
make a good case. There are a
variety of possible concessions
and there is also a hard core Of
policy on which the allies are
agreed to make their stand.
Germany can be reunited. the
Austrian peace treaty can be
signed, the long military occupa-
ton can come to an end. But
If these things happen, they must
happen on the terms laid down
by the West and this could mean
for Russian a virtual evacuation
of her present position in Cen
trail Europe.
Whatever concessions may be
made in the way of security
guarantees, trade agreements or
minor political readjustments,
these basic requirements must
remain.
AS it appears now, the key to
the Western approach is the
conviction that the free world
holds most of the political as
sets in Central Europe. They
consist Of the development of
Western European military and
economic power and the decline
of Russian prestige among its
satellite states. These assets
will not be traded cheaply and
it is hard to see what they can
be traded for.
No one in the Western camp
today has any idea what the
Russian attitude will be or what
proposals the Russians may come
up with.
Sure To Seek Big 5 Talks.
The only sure thing Is that
they will press for another con-
ference, which will include their
Eastern ally. Red China, and
this one fact may be the tipof
for Berlin. It is one bit Of
solid evidence that the Kremlin
looks on at the present confer
ence. Not as an end in itself
but rather as the prelude to a
larger horse trading session on a
global scale. They may well be-
lieve that If they can balance
off their liabilities in Europe
with their assets in the Far East
they would stand . good chance
of coming OF the winner.
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