Evening star., 1960-05-19
BY the European Correspondent Of
The Star

mediate post mortem period
the West is claiming a great
propaganda victory out of the
destruction of the summit con-
ference.
1t is a proposition that needs
examining. The West in fact.
has been claiming the same
thing from the very first and it
is claiming it even louder in the
wake of Soviet Premier Khru-
shchev's violent and colorful
press conference yesterday.
The claim could well be a
valid one. The immediate re-
action of the world press-com-
piled with enormous efficiency
by dozens of information
officers on duty here-seems to
bear it out.
1t is a rare editorialist at
this point who is not blaming
Mr.. Khrushchev for intemper-
ance and accusing him of de-
liberately throwing a monkey
wrench into the peace ma
chinery the ordinary world
citizen apparently put so much
faith in.
Performance "LudicrOus"
Still, for one who has lived
through these supercharged
three days. there is something
slightly comic about the claim
Public relations wise-to bor-
row a phrase from Madison
Avenue-the performance OF
the West at this conference has
been little less than ludicrous
The allies have the satisfac-
ton of feeling that the reaction
of the world is sympathetic and
they are right. But it is SYM
pathy for men who have gone
into the ring to do battle with
q gorilla and have suffered the
predictable consequences. 1t Is
the sort of admiration reserved
by the public for men whose
heads are bloody but unbowed
This is no accident. The
Western side in Paris includes
men of almost equal toughnesS
to Mr.. Khrushchev. There are
polemists who on occasion car
match epithet with epithet in
any language. What was said
by the allies in Paris-or rather
left unsaid-was admittedly
the result of a deliberate policy
Premier Shows Strength
Time alone will prove
whether the policy was right
For the time being, there il
only the impression that Mr.
Khrushchev has been left tt
dominate every phase Of the
conference. The Premier, who
claims his heart is pure, has
shown strength-perhaps moi
of 10-but rather more thar
three. He has had his way
completely at this meeting
And if he has failed to do what
he wanted to do, it is certainly
nobody's fault but his own.
Yesterdays Khrushchev press
conference was a case in point
For two and half hours Mr.
Khrushchev entertained anc
Mortified the press of the world
New attacks of unparalleled
violence on the United State!
and President Eisenhower made
the blackest headlines all ovel
the world. From the Western
side nothing whatever wa!
done publicly to counteract tn,
blast.
On the contrary. after sched,
uling an evening press confer.
ence. Presidential Press Sec
retary James C. Hagerty de-
cided at the last moment to cal
it off. Total reaction from tht
American side: There will b.
no official comment on tina
press conference"
British Change Plans
The rest of the Western dele,
cations did no more. The Brit,
ish. who had earlier expected
Prime Minister Macmillan II
hold a press conference of hi
own, hurriedly changed thei
plans. The Prime Minister, i
seemed. would be reporting tt
Parliament on Friday. In tn
meantime, he would have moth
ing to say.
For their part, the Frencl
were wrapped up tight. TIL,
glacial silence of the Elysel
Palace was enough to inhibi
the most enthusiastic spokes
man in the French government
Yesterdays press conference
however, was only the china,
of a pattern that set in befor,
the conference was scheduled
to begin. From the moment o
his arrival at Orly Airhelt
Saturday (the day before h,
was expected. Mr.. Khrushche
waged his battle at places ant
times of his own choosing ant
so far as the average news
lDaDerrnan WAS cnncHrned re-