Cold & Clear

Early on a frosty morning, Secretary of State George Marshall came back from London. Harry Truman and his entire Cabinet were at Washington's airport to give him a warming welcome. As Marshall stepped from the Sacred Cow, the President greeted him: "Good morning. You did a good job." Said Marshall: "I'm sorry that I couldn't bring back a profitable result."

That night on the radio, the Secretary did a schoolmasterly job of detailing for the U.S. people the reasons for the breakup of the Foreign Ministers' Conference (TIME, Dec. 22). He made it clear to the nation that there is little hope in the immediate future of reaching a settlement with Russia on peace terms in Europe. Coldly and cautiously, George Marshall warned of long and difficult months ahead. Said he:

"Until [there is a] restoration of a healthy European community, it does not appear possible that paper agreements can assure a lasting peace. Agreements between sovereign states are generally the reflection and not the cause of genuine settlements. . . .

"The Soviet Union has recognized the situation in its frank declaration of hostility and opposition to the European recovery program. . . . The issue is really clear cut, and I fear there can be no settlement until the coming months demonstrate whether or not the civilization of Western Europe will prove vigorous enough to rise . . . and restore a healthy society. Officials of the Soviet Union and leaders of the Communist Parties openly predict that this restoration will not take place. We . . . are confident in the rehabilitation of Western European civilization with its freedoms.

"Until the result of this struggle becomes clearly apparent, there will continue to be a very real difficulty to resolve . . . terms for a treaty of peace. The situation must be stabilized. Western nations at the very least must be firmly established on a basis of governments and freedoms that will preserve all that has been gained in the past . . . and all that their cooperation promises for the future."

In short, in George Marshall's opinion, peace depends on the success of U.S. efforts to help Europe help itself.

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