Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12, 1947 FOREIGN MINISTERS ASSEMBLE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 4, 12 March 1947, Page 4

Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12, 1947 FOREIGN MINISTERS ASSEMBLE

LET us deal frankly with the meeting of Foreign Ministers now taking place at Moscow, and upon which the world has pinned such great hopes. There is no disguising the fact that • the meeting is a sequel to a series of forerunners which to say the least have been anything but advertisements for international goodwill. In fact they can only be described as blatant demonstrations of bad taste, suspicion and personal spleen. The delegates (on both sides) made personalities the rule and the demands of peace were forgotten. In the shadow of the Kremlin itself the Foreign Ministers of ' England, France, United States and Russia have assembled to once more attempt the seemingly impossible—the reestablishment of universal goodwill. The first step will be to reconcile the widely differing viewpoints of the two main figures, M. Molotov and Mr Ernest Bevin, who ha've clashed bitterly on previoiis occasions. If this can be attained the major questions of the conference, the status of Hungary; the Federation of Germany; the future of Franco’s Spain will be merely a matter of procedure. However it has been shown in the past that the comparatively simple matter of finding initial harmony is the greatest obstacle to overcome. It seems a pity that this personal bottleneck of prejudice must be negotiated before world affairs, can be amicably settled. j