Evening star., 1959-06-15

ClalnllIlS Lklcu uCtOtiOAA w eAAS
Soviet Union. peace, their sum-
fner camp and football.
& Seldom, I am tolo. since the
establishment Of Soviet-Ameri-
can relations rs years ago. has
an American been more warmly
welcomed. To those young Rus
SLAMS, as well as to their elders
who train them. Yalta repre-
kents the Russian-American
wartime alliance. The security
from war which all of them
crave depends. they are con-
WINGED, on the restoration OF
that wartime relationship.
As I walked through the pal
ace my thoughts turned to the
problems facing us at that
critical meeting and to the les
sons we might learn from IT.,
particularly If another summit
conference is held.
Where Yalta Pact Was Signed
Inside the palace ! saw again
the great white conference hall
where the Yalta pact was ne.
gotiated and signed. President
Rooselevt's oak-paneled study
and living quarters, the offices
where Gen. George C. Marshall.
Admiral William D. Leahy,
Secretary of State Edward Stet-
tiniuS and the other members
Of sne American delegation
sweated over the clauses of that
northumberland treaty.
Today the palace with its
appendages houses about 900
working people on rest cures
from all over the Soviet Union.
The old conference hall is now
their dining room. The Cars
bedroom is a dormitory for 10
women vacationers.
President Roosevelt's dining
room is a nurses rest hall and
the chair he occupied during
the conference sessions is care
fully preserved in the directors
Office.
In my old bedroom I found
four coal miners from the
Donbas enjoying a holiday on
the Black Sea. I was told that
they paid only about $50 for a
24-day rest cure while their
trade union paid the balance
Of the total cost Of $3.50.
In recent years the Soviet
government has spent large
sums, not only converting the
palaces Of the former aristoc-
racy, but also building dozens
of rest homes and sanatoriums
in Soviet neo-classic style with
stucco staircases and statue
studded terraces stretching
down to the shore.
Each year 100000 of the So
Wet, Unions 200 million popu-
lation spend their holidays here
relaxing or recuperating from
illnesses.
An even larger resort for
workers has been developed
down the coast at Sochi where
I once visited Stain in 1945
and where Premier Khrushchev
now goes for his vacation.
AS I left Livadia, a crowd of
vacationerS Swarmed about me,
many Of them shouting
Friendship! friendship" The
obvious sincerity Of their pleas
recalled to me the hopes, not
unmixed with misgivings. with
which I left that palace IL
years ago.
Although Yalta has since
been much maligned, it was
here that President Roosevelt
and Prime Minister Churchill
persuaded Premier Stain to
subscribe to joint policy for
the liberated areas Of Eastern
Europe and to the establish
ment Of freely elected govern
ments in these areas overrun
by the Red army.
Took Stain at His Word
When the American Pres!-
dent and British Prime Min
lister took Stain at his word. II
should be recalled that the year
before at Teheran Stain had
agreed to launch an offensive
on the eastern front to coincide
with the Anglo-American cross
channel operation and thus pin
down scores Of German divi-
sions which could otherwise
have been diverted to oppose
the western advance after the
landings.
And he had kept his word
At Yalta Stain had specif-
ically agreed to "the earliest
possible establishment through
free elections Of government:
responsive to the will of the
people" and to collaborate with
the Western powers to "solvt
by democratic means the press.
ing political and economic
problems" o. Eastern Europe
Without Yalta, the United
States would have no legal basi.
to question-let alone to pro.
test on behalf of the satellite
populations-the Soviet viola.
tion Of its pledge to let then
choose their own form Of gov.
ernment or to develop theil
national economies as they saw
fit. In fact our legal right Il
defend the freedom Of the Wes
Berliners stems directly from
the Yalta Pact.
II one recalls that at the timt
Of the conference, the Western
armies were just recovering
from the Battle Of the Bulgt
while the Red army was rapidly
approaching Berlin, 1t is no
surprising that Mr.. Roosevelt
and Mr.. Churchill were graft
fed by the results achieved IL
the Crimea.
Historians will argue TO
many years why Stain failed Il