Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-10-07

but the absence Of major overt acts
did not diSpel the pervasive tensions
still attending the Suez Canal issue.
The calm after the furious fur
ries Of the past few weeks seemed
to be a sort of time out" while
the contending sides went into
huddleS to evaluate past steps and
to plot new ones.
The status of the most serious
international problem since the
Korean war remained the same,
Egypt's determined President Canal
Abdel Nasser neither backed nor
filled. He had his canal and, to
the surprise and perhaps consterna-
ton Of his enemies, he was operating
it quite successfully without the
hundreds Of skilled pilots and tech
nicians who had abandoned him.
Britain and France, openly an
noyed and frustrated by the push
and-pull tactics Of the United
States, took their complaints on Mr..
Nasser's naturalization of the canal
to the United Nations Security
Council.
But here again the policies of Sec
rotary of State Dulles worked to pull
the British-French punch; the first
draft of the complaint resolution
failed to condemn the Egyptian
seizure of the Suez Canal Co. as a
threat to international peace and
security. And the United States was
reported pressing hard for a quick
suspension of the Security Council
arguments, right after the compile
ton of opening statements. in order
to permit private and closed-door
negotiations directly with the Egyp-
tians.
Foreign Ministers Gother
Seven foreign ministers have
gathered in New York for the Sc
curity Council sessions. Six of
them are busily trying to guess the
intentions of the seventh-Dmitri
Shepilov, the Soviet Unions taci-
turn but affable representative, who
is considered certain to be spokes-
man for Egypt.
An eighth foreign minister, and
key figure in the Suez crisis since
its beginning, is in Cairo for talks
with President Nasser. He is In
dia's v. K. Krishna- Menon, and he
took with him to the Egyptian cap
ital Prime Minister Nehru's latest
proposals for compromise settle
ment of the dispute. If the Cairo
talks with Col. Nasser are success
full, Mr.. Krishna- Menon will go on
to New York to offer the wreath of
mediation.
Meanwhile the role of peacemaker
in the Security Council proceed
ings will probably be assumed by
Belgian's much-respected Paul
Henri Spaak, who has already
talked with the Egyptian Foreign
Minister. DR.. Mahmoud Fawzi, and
with U. N. Secretary General Dag
HammarSkjold.
There is ample evidence that the
forces for peaceable compromise
will hold an unusually strong po-
sition in the Security Council de-
liberations, particularly since they
have at least the implied backing
of the United States. Mr.. Dulles
entire course of conduct in the
Suez dispute has made it clear that
the Eisenhower administration is
determined to protect that part of
the Republican campaign slogan
labeled peace"
A Natter Of Tense
A slip by Mr.. Dulles, at his Wash
ington press conference on Tuesday,
irritated London and Pari. to a
greater degree of bitterness than
they had already achieved. The
Secretary remarked that differences
of a fundamental nature between
the United States and our European
allies did exist. He made plain
that the reason for those differences
was to be found in the independent
position of the United States on
the colonial ISSUE"
A few hours after the meeting
with newSmen, Mr.. Dulles took the
unusual step of amending the text
of his talk to put his reference to
differences in the past tense, rather
than the present. But his second
thought came too late to undo the
damage. London and Paris were
furious. A wave of resentment was
Immediately apparent as sources
close to the Foreign Ministries of
the two nations commented sharply.
But Mr.. Dulles appears deter
mined co cast the United States in
the role OF powerful peacemaker,
apparently confident that the re-
wards Of such course will pay OFF
not only in the election campaign
but in the much larger forum of
world opinion.
The Stokes Are High
And in this he may we'll be right.
The stakes in the Suez dispute are
much larger than the mere issue Of
some sort of International control
OF a vital waterway. Almost GER
tainly, no single international issue
since the end of World War II mas
involved so complicated a series of
challenges to the strategists of the
Communist world. For ex-
ample:
. In the successful settlement of
the SueS dispute rests the future
Of the working unity of the West
against the insistent and ubiquitous
pressure Of Communist expansion
ism.
. The Middle East is the source OF
the major part of the Vests pc
troleum supplies and the critical
crossroads between the industri-
allied East and the teeming, still
undeveloped East.
. The behavior Of the West in the
Suez crisis may we'll mean success
or failure in the battle for the
control OF the vast neutral" areas
Of the world. The nations of the
Arab world are directly concernad