The Evening Star (February 10, 1946)
Editorial: Mr. Byrnes’ hope
It has been said with considerable logic that one of the mistakes made after the First World War was that the victors moved too swiftly in drawing up a definitive peace treaty at Versailles. But, by the same token, as regards the war just ended, it may be said that they can go to the other extreme and move too slowly – a fact which helps explain why Secretary of State Byrnes has just voiced the earnest hope that final settlements will be negotiated with Germany and Japan within the next year or year and a half.
This is a good hope, and anything Mr. Byrnes may be able to do to promote its fulfillment will be commended by the world at large. The first step to that end, of course, must be the preparation of peace treaties with Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Finland. At the Moscow conference of the Big Three foreign ministers last December it was agreed that the settlements with these countries should be drafted by the victors who signed the armistice with them (with a special exception to include France in the case of Italy) and. that the drafts should then be submitted to a general conference of 21 members of the United Nations not later than next May 1. After this the drafting powers are to write the final texts of the pacts, giving due “consideration” to any recommendations made by the general conference – a provision which may mean much or little, depending on whether or not the recommendations are taken seriously by France, Britain, the United States and Russia.
In any event, however, as soon as this procedure is completed, Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Finland will be taken care of – so to speak – and there can then be a full concentration on the task of drafting final settlements for Germany and Japan. In a sense – because it involves such deadly serious problems as reconciling the rival interests of Britain and Russia in the Mediterranean – writing treaties for these lesser former enemies, particularly Italy, may be regarded as one of the most difficult parts of the entire peace-making process, so much so that some doubt has been expressed that the work will be finished in time for the general 21-nation conference scheduled for Paris in May. Nevertheless, Mr. Byrnes is hopeful, and to support his hope he has asked British Foreign Secretary Bevin and Soviet Foreign Commissar Molotov to abandon plans to meet with him here next month and meet at the Paris gathering instead.
If all this is done according to the schedule agreed upon at the December Moscow conference, it may well be that in another twelve or eighteen months the German and Japanese peace treaties will have been drawn up and perhaps even put in the process of ratification. In that case the world as a whole – now so weary of abnormality in the life of nations – will have ample reason to be encouraged, for the development will mean a long step forward toward achieving genuine order and stability in our international society. The hope expressed by Mr. Byrnes is thus one that can be shared heartily by peoples everywhere.