EUROPEAN AID PLAN

Chronicle (Levin), 20 June 1947, Page 5

EUROPEAN AID PLAN

Press Assn.

Will Russia Join Britain And France?

By Telegraph

-Copyright

Received Thursday, 7.0 p.m. LONDON, June 19. A British spokesman in Paris said it could be presumed that Britain and France would continue alone with their plans for joint European recovery if Russia's reply to the request for a tripartite meeting in the week beginning June 23 was a refusal or inconclusive. Reuter's correspondent said the Anglo-French communique on the meetings yesterday was withheld from publication for nine hours out of courtesy to the Soviet Union delegation. Press officiais placed an embargo on the announcement until it would have been received in the Kremlin. This was done so that the . Russian leaders would not re'ad it first in the newspapers. M. Bidali.lt last evening received the Russian Charge d'Affaires (Mr. Ivan Avalov), to inform him of the results of the Anglo-French talks. Reuter's diplomatic correspondent, t-abling from Paris, commenting on the short margin of timo Mr. Bcvin and M. Bidault have given the Russians to agroe to a tripartite meeting, said upart from the urgency of European eronoiiiie rehabilitatiori two causes have dictatcd the early date: Eirsllv, the ii'.evtiag on .July 13 at Geneva of the European Eeonomic Commission; secondly, the fact that the United States Congress, which inust cndor.se any plan that European countries mav subniit, adjouras in .lalv and does not re-con-vcae until December. Anglo-Fneneh sources in Paris emphasiscd strongiy that the. AngloFrench invitation to Russia was not in tendcd as an "ultimaturn" but was simply dictatcd by the urgent necessi- • ies of the European eeonomic situa tion. The Note to Russia indicated that Moscow would not be a suitable vemu* for ihe meeting and suggested London or Paris as a more convenient rendez vous. The correspondent added that Mr. Molotov mav lind it difficult to muster brief, and transport an ndequate delega tion for the trip to Paris or London in the timo placed at his disposal. Reuter's Moscow correspondent says the British Ambassador (Sir Maurice Peterson) said he had discussed the Marshall plan with AT/. Molotov and said he had been instructed to tell Mr Molotov that the whole jjrojeet was an eeonomic plan, not a pohtical plan.

"The hopeful feature of Mr. Mar shall's approach is that it is sensitive to the difficulties of European iieoples wlio naturally and rightlv feei unable to einbark on policies that might be susceptible of an anti-Russian interpre tation, " says The Tiiues in a leading article. " it is to be hoped that the initial reaetions of the Russian press to the American oll'er, which has, been sceptical and deeply suspicious, do not represent the Russian authorities' linal view.

"Mr. Marshall's statement marks a noteworthv and — especially from the Soviet point of view — a most encourag ing advance in American policy. 11 would, indeed, be paradoxical if the Soviet (iovemment were to talce the grave responsibility of returning a negative unswer. No country has greater ueed than the .Soviet Union of aid and sympathy in overcoming the destruetion wrought by a cruel invasion. " The Times' diplomatic. correspondent says that the U.N.O. Eeonomic Commission \s report is a preliniinary survey oi Enrope's eeonomic plight that might be drawn up in answer to Mr. Marshall's offer. The report looks beyond the period of eeonomic first aid to the possibility of closer European cooperation and a fuller sharing of resources. The report states: "The acute shortage of soflwood lumbcr has become one of the most sorious obstaeles to Ihe reconstruction of the devastated Euro pean areas. The supplies available in Europe during 1948 are likely to remain short of essenlial requirements by (i, 300,000 to 7,300,000 metric tons. The deficit not only hampers the building programmes but also holds up railway repairs, transport and the packing of goods for export. " The report added that the deficiency in alkaii supplies was affecting the glass, soap and textile industries in several European countries. The United Nations' Eeonomic Cornmission for Europe has prepared a broad stalement of Enrope's needs which ha« iinmediate value in the light of tlie Paris talks, savs The Times' diplomatic correspondent. The report says the acute sliortage of eleetric power forms a bottleneck almost as tight as the coal and food shortages. The report reeom-

mends internaticuaal action to plan generating transmission systems overlapping the national frontiers. The report similarly recommends united European action to increase the capacity of the manufacture of nitrogenous fertilisers and other basic requirements of industry. It concludes: "No general increase in production is possible on a national basis alone." The New York Times, in an editorial, after commenting that certain specnlations in London and Paris suggest the advisabihtv of a further clarification of the Marshall plan for Europe 's recovery, says that the plan is not in any sense a "retreat" from the Truuian doctrinc but rather a functional aspect of.it. Also, siuee the key to world recovery is production, American aid tnust. go "to those points and into those projects which hold out the best proroise of increasing European production."