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Show Friendly Russian Element Holds Out Hope for Peace By BAUKIIAGE Veu'i Analyst and Commentator. WNU Service, 1616 Eye Street. N.W., Washington, D. C. WASHINGTON. D. C.-"Amerlca has no foreign policy"! That is one of the bromides which has always been popular among critics of govern- ment. I don't T 1 know on what the I f remark is based, j? J j If we haven't any , ,. &J i foreign policy to- 1 fJ day, then many jt'Tjfcli hundreds of tliou- ftw1 I sands of words r I I 1 have been ex- Lvf I pended In com- 7 - ; 11 ment on nothing, fn L G VI I While the re- jjffifr cent Byrnes-Wal- ffifej: Jjjfc. lace controversy . was raging I In n PWEJ spent many hours Baukna8B trying to find out what our foreign policy toward Russia Rus-sia was supposed to be, and if so, why. I shall report as nearly as I can what I have heard. The report will not be In the formal language of diplomacy, In which, we have been told, words are used to conceal con-ceal thoughts. I report it, compressed, com-pressed, of course, but as nearly as possible in the phraseology used by gentlemen who ought to know what they are talking about. We start with the not-too-startling revelation that American negotiations negotia-tions with Russia are complicated and difficult. They are complicated because It appears the approach must be made along two separate paths, each leading lead-ing to a separate Russian group. They are difficult because there are unusual obstacles put in the way of the diplomat, especially our representatives in Moscow; obstacles ob-stacles which, I am assured, must be encountered at close quarters to be appreciated. The two groups, since neither Is homogeneous nor closely Identifl-able, Identifl-able, might better be referred to as two elements. One comprises that great indefinable and Inarticulate body, roughly classified as "the Russian people." Americans who have spent some time in Russia and who have enjoyed such contact as is permitted with the Russian pro-pie, pro-pie, say they are devoted to their country with a Spartan loyalty, sensitive sen-sitive to its shortcomings, proud of its achievements. Many in this group, especially those who have met Americans, like us. All want to know more bout us. For example, they devour de-vour the big, propaganda, picture magazine "Amcrika" printed in their language and distributed by our embassy. Formerly we distributed distrib-uted 33,000 copies. Later we were permitted to increase the printing to 50,000 copies. It Is estimated that a hundred Russians read each copy of Amerika; it is black-marketed at a high price and read to tatters. tat-ters. This group admires and respects mechanical know-how, our industries, indus-tries, our technical skills. Officially there has been no propaganda to cry down American achievement in the production fields, but rather exhortations ex-hortations to emulate and surpass us. Soviet Officials Hate America The other Russian element which we have to consider and with which we deal directly is composed of the leaders, the party bureaucrats, the secret police. They hate America with an almost Incredible hatred. Their attitude Is so extreme that it does not seem real; it appears to be prompted by a policy, rather than a normal, human, emotional reaction. If either of these two elements existed alone it would be simpler to establish a line of procedure. Dut, my informant points out, each element ele-ment requires a separate and dif-ferent dif-ferent approach, since the two contradict con-tradict each other. Decause the only visible hope for an understanding with Russia depends de-pends on the semi-friendly group, nothing must be said or done in our relations with the other (now in power) which would make it seem '.hat we are building a wall against Rusala. That Impression would alienate al-ienate any potential sympathy the semi-friendly ones might feel for us. This dual approach was exemplified exempli-fied by the Byrnes speech calling for the unification of Germany, under un-der a single government, with all four occupying countries acting together to-gether as co-directori of the whole. Byrnes made the proposal Inclusive. Russia would participate equally with the rest. The intention of the United States was firmly stated. There would be union of British and Americans, presumably the French, and the Russians too, if they consented. con-sented. If the Russians refused, the United States would go ahead with i the plan but it would not slam the door on Russia. ' We are to be friendly but we must ; be firm. That is what makes nego- j tiations so difficult. To convince the ' "haters" we mean what we say, : the United States must state its de- , cisions firmly and emphatically, outline out-line exactly what we will do and will not do; what we will permit , Russia to do and not do. Our j firmness has to depend on our j words. We cannot use force, be- : cause we have not the force avail- I able to use. i This, however, does not mean we 1 cannot succeed, because I am optimistically op-timistically assured the Russians are weaker than we are. Although their military forces on the continent con-tinent of Europe are stronger than those of the Allies, It is believed that the Russians lack the economic, econom-ic, physical or moral strength to engage en-gage In a major war and they know that In the long run the rest of the world can develop a greater power. Politically they have not the influence, in-fluence, either, to risk withdrawal from the United Nations. They know they could not take a sufficient suffi-cient number of other nations out with them and thus, withdrawal would mean ostracism and threats from the rest of the world. This the Russians know as well as we do. Leave Door Open For Co-Operation Is there hope? My Informants answer an-swer yes, but it will be a long haul. This is why: Russia cannot fight a major war for five or ten years. She might seize all of Europe temporarily, tem-porarily, but she realizes she could not hold it, that she would be defeated defeat-ed in the end. It would take five to ten years for Russia to build a force strong enough to risk a war. Meanwhile. America hopes and believes that If the door of co-operation is left open, and if by example, the haters see that co-operation will beneilt Russia, not hurt her, Internally and externally, exter-nally, then cither the haters will change their policy, or the other friendlier element will force them to do so. This does not mean there will be a revolution In Russia. The loyalty to the present system or the power to enforce loyalty is too great. But it means that American statesmen feel they can hold back the non-co-operators without risk of war until un-til Russia is convinced that she can benefit more through co-operative methods than by force of arms. Mechanical Typewriter Latest Invention If there had been a word-counting device on my typewriter, I would not be writing this end-piece now. But it is Just as well authors haven't adopted these wordometers or they might find their thoughts being be-ing regimented. The typewriter has already advanced ad-vanced far in its evolution. There Is now a typewriter for the Chinese (with their 5,400 (believc-it-or-not) characters. It is a product of the miracle working International Business Busi-ness Machines corporation. But it is no miracle for IBM which built a gadget used at the Nuernberg trials tri-als whose dial we could twist to produce with equal fluency, English, French, Russian or German, regardless re-gardless of what language was being be-ing spoK.i. Of course human beings be-ings lightning translators are cogs In its works. The Nuernberg ' trials lasted too long as it was but they would have lasted four times as long, if it hadn't been for IBM. I understand a typewriter is being be-ing perfected Into which you talk and which obligingly types the words you speak with no manual elTurt on your part. How, I wonder, would this recording typewriter spell: If you spell the word "house" on the ordinary ordi-nary keyboard it comes out that way, h-o-u s-e. But If the machine operated by sound, "house", depending de-pending on where the speaker was born, might come out "hn-ows"; "Idea" might appear as "idear"; For my part I should be very happy hap-py If a gadget were Invcnled which would spell better than my typewriter type-writer can or even If the gadget would produce a synonym now and then after I had repeated the same shopworn word three times. |