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Show Friendly Russian Element : Holds Out Hope for Peace j i By BAUKHAGE News Analyst and Commentator. WNU Service, 1616 Eye Street, N.W., Washington, D. C. WASHINGTON, D. C "America has no foreign policy"! That is one of the bromides which has always been popular among critics of govern- ment. I don't J J know on what the ; f v , remark is based. p If we haven't any t ? foreign policy to- L day, then many y W A 1 hundreds of thou- , T I sands of words :; I & (.: have been ex- . J I pended in com- 4 i rf J ment on nothing, k , t While the re- L cent Byrnes-Wal- 1 lace controversy it " was raging I k&&iL$Ma spent many hours Baukhage 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 identifiable, identifi-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 people, peo-ple, 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 about us. For example, they devour de-vour the big, propaganda, picture magazine "Amerika" printed in their language and distributed by our embassy. Formerly we distrib-. distrib-. uted 35,000 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 io 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 il does not seem real; it appears tc be prompted by a policy, rathei than a normal, human, emotiona' reaction. If either of these two elements existed alone it would be simplei to establish a line of procedure. But my informant points out, each ele ment requires a separate and different dif-ferent approach, since the two con tradict each other. Because the only visible hope foi an understanding with Russia de pends on the semi-friendly group nothing must be said or done in oui relations with the other (now u power) which would make it seen that we are building a wall agnins Russia. That impression would al ienate any potential sympathy thi semi-friendly ones migh'. feci for us This dual approach was exempli ficd by the Byrnes speech callini for the unification of Germany, un der a single government, with a four occupying countries acting tc gether as co-directors 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 the plan but it would not slam the door on Russia. We are to be friendly but we must I be firm. That is what makes negotiations nego-tiations so difficult. To convince the j "haters" we mean what we say, the United States must state its de- ' cisions firmly and emphatically, out- ! line exactly what we will do and j will not do; what we will permit Russia to do and not do. Our firmness has to depend on our j words. We cannot use force, be- cause we have not the force avail- j able to use. j This, however, does not mean we ' cannot succeed, because I am 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 benefit Russia, not hurt her, internally and exter-1 exter-1 nally, then either the haters will j change their policy, or the other I 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 j to enforce loyalty js too great. But it means that American statesmen ' feel they can hold back the non- j co-operators without risk of war un- I 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 (believe-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, re- gardless of what language was be- ing spoken. Of course human beings be-ings lightning translators are i 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 be-. be-. ing perfected into which you talk and which obligingly types the words you : speak with no manual effort on your part. How, I wonder, would this recording typewriter spell: If you r spell the word "house" on the ordi-i ordi-i nary keyboard it comes out that i way, h-o-u-s-e. But if the machine t operated by sound, "house", depending de-pending on where the speaker was b born, might come out "ha-ows"; "idea" might appear as "idear"; For my part I should be very hnp-g hnp-g py if a gadget were invented which :- would spell better than my type-!1 type-!1 writer can or even if the gadget ' would produce a synonym now and i. then after I had repeated the same ;. shopworn word three times. BARBS . . . by Baukhage Animal lovers were glad to learn that the blooded horses held aboard strike-bound ships finally agreed to disregard the picket lines something some-thing a well-trained army horse would hesitate to do. Anna belle tells me that every youri'i man in a sn.ippy suit of I v. cds rwi'l ri''',csi-;iri!y a v."; If in S p S lit"! i! In the midst of the maritime and trucking strikes. Manhattan's barber's bar-ber's helpers and manicurists walked out. It made little di (Terence (Ter-ence New Yorkers had already bitten bit-ten their nails shot, over previous troubles. Some dofjs and husbands won't stay h mie, no matter huw wUI yui; feed them. |