Evening star., 1960-05-19
INTERPRETIVE REPORT

INTERPRETIVE REPORT
taliation-massive or other
wise-was almost noneXistent.
For Mr.. Hagerty, it must
have been a bitter experience.
The able and scrappy press
secretary had warned Ameri-
can newsmen that this was
one conference where they had
better stay on the ball. Obvi-
ously anticipating trouble, he
warned reporters to stick close
to their headquarters at the
PalaiS de Chaillot on opening
day. He might have to move
fast, Mr.. Hagerty said.
Gets Story From Reds
AS it turned out, he moved
at a pace that agonized every
non-Communist Journalist in
the house. At the opening meet
ing of the conference French
President de Gaulle as chair
man raped for order and
called for speakers. President
Eisenhower and Mr.. Khru-
shchev raised their hands. Gen
de Gaulle recognized Mr.. Eisen-
hover. Mr.. Khrushchev pro-
tested that his hand had been
raised first and promptly
launched into his famous
TRADE.
Before he was finished speak
ing, the essentials of his speech
had been leaked to the press
by reliable Communist sources
Forty-five minutes after the
meeting broke up. hundreds OF
reporters at press ! eadquarters
were listening to Mikhail A
! lKharlamov give a precise run
down of what his man had said
! Mimeographed copies Of the
speech in three languages were
waiting outside. AS usual, Mr.
Kharlamov had nothing what
ever on any of the other state
ments at the meeting.
| Meanwhile, Mr.. Hagerty was
nowhere to be found. When
he finally showed up, flankeo
by Assistant Secretary cf State
Andrew Berding and Russian
Expert Charles E. Bohlen, the
press and radio of the worlo
had been screaming about Mr.
Khrushchev's denunciations fol
nearly two hours.
Impartial but Mild
When it finally came, the
! American press conference
rated pretty high by American
standards of impartial jour-
nalism. But it was clear that
no real effort was being made
to refute the Russian case
beyond the mildly tempered
words of Mr.. Eisenhower him.
self.
On Tuesday. while harrassed
Western leaders held agitated
huddles and tried to decide
how best to retain contact
with the crotchety Khrushchev
the Soviet Premier was out on
the sidewalk in front of the
Russian Embassy drawin g
crowds and making more head
lines.
Then having repeated all
his arguments and demands
of the day before, he hoped
into his car with ubiquitous
Marshall Malinovsky for a rs.
mile drive through the bloom
ing French countryside.
FURRY of Phone Calls
On the way to Sezanne
where the marshall naturally
had fought shoulder to shoulder
with the French against the
, invading Germans in 1914, Mr.
Khrushchev stopped and helped
chop a fallen tree. 1t made
the best picture of the confer.
ence and experts judged hi.
ak work to be remarkably ef-
. fective.
After Mr.. Khrushchev hac
been overtaken by French po.
.. lice with an invitation to at.
tend another conference of the
, Big Four and had returned tt
: town, there followed a fantastic
episode of telephone calls
Western spokesmen make much
|, Of Mr.. Khrushchev's rudeness
, in demanding postponement
Of the Tuesday Afternoon
meeting by insisting he had tt
have lunch. They point tx
the absurdity of successive
, telephone calls that followed
, each other minute by minute
through the afternoon while
the Russian Embassy tried tt
l pin down whether the meeting
! was a summit meeting or not
, But at the same time there
| is something family ridiculous
! too IN the picture of the West.
: ern Big Three sitting at theil
/. round table waiting for thI