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[MR. COCKS.] nations of the East who have not our democratic traditions behind them, but what student of history can deny that in the future that experiment may develop a great and wonderful civilisation of its kind, different from ours just as much as the Taj Mahal differs from Westminster Abbey or as much as oriental music differs from Beethoven, but having a life and suitability of its own. In Heaven, it is said, are many mansions, and there is room on this earth for two civilisations and two economic systems living side by side in peace.

Many people have the idea that in the Kremlin there are two contending schools of thought; that they may not differ in deep principle but that they differ on matters of application, on methods and on timing. But these differences are important. For example, there are fanatical Marxists who believe that war between Communism and capitalism, between Russia and what they call the bourgeois States, is inevitable and, therefore, that the Communist State in Russia will never be safe until capital- ism everywhere is destroyed. That view was held by Trotsky, and was developed by him in many of his books and writ- ings. At that time Generalissimo Stalin took the opposite point of view. At that time he supported the school which be- lieves, or professes to believe--because we must never forget the possibility of duplicity in this matter-that it is possible for Communism to live side by side with capitalism and that if Russia could be sure that she would not be attacked she would prefer to devote the next 50 years to building up her own economy and developing her own vast resources.

In the great controversy some years ago Stalin defeated Trotsky, and drove him into banishment and to ultimate death. When the war came to an end those two schools of thought, which were still contending, may have been almost equally balanced. I may be wrong about that, because it is impossible for any one to know. But it is certain that Russia at that time was suffering, and is suffer- ing, from the terrible losses of the war. She was in no position to wage another war. In a note to Jugoslavia, written on 14th May to Marshal Tito, she stated that very fact, that at the end of the war she was not in a position to wage another war, and that it was very tactless of Marsha! Tito to try to get her into war

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over Trieste because she could not fight at that time. She needed a long period of peace to restore her war-shattered economy. In order to protect her wounded body—and we should consider what we would have done had we been in her place, as huge slices of her territory had been invaded and devastated and the enemy almost reached Moscow itself- she guarded her Western side with a broad buckler of satellite States. In order to make sure that those States should remain her Allies she insisted that they should have Communist Governments.

Any interference with that security belt of hers causes her the greatest possible anxiety and fear. Britain and America countries. For two years after the war continually interfered with all those

a stream of notes was issued to those countries

various complaining about matters their political trials, methods of election, etc. Our agents were suspected, and perhaps rightly, of encouraging Right spire against the Communist regimes that Wing elements in those countries to con-

had been established by the Soviet. That was absolute folly; it was disastrous. It could never have accomplished anything, it did no good whatever and it created the maximum amount of irritation and fear. It also strengthened the extreme Marxists in the Kremlin. It may even have put them in the saddle if they were not there previously.

After October, 1945, when the London conference broke down, nominally on a question of procedure, but really on the question of interference in the Balkans, Russia began to be unco-operative in every sphere. Scenes in the Security Council, as the right hon. and learned Gentleman the Member for Montgomery mentioned this afternoon, degenerated into open wrangling and vulgar abuse in which every issue was burked and every discussion ended in deadlock. Then the inevitable happened. A definite decision was taken in September, 1947. The Cominform was formed, the extreme Marxists assumed full control, and an- agressive uncompromising Marxist policy was pursued.

It was quite clear that Moscow was openly determined to do everything she could to smash the Marshall Plan and prevent the economic

of recovery Western Europe. After all, although her

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cold realists of the Kremlin are ready to throw away all that enthusiasm, sym- pathy and admiration as carelessly as a man throws into the fire the butt end of a burnt out cigarette.

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security belt was good, she would be still more secure, the extremists urged, if the whole of Western Europe went bankrupt, if a wave of Communism swept to the Pyrenees or to the Atlantic. Czechoslovakia was the first prize of that new policy. Tito was ostracised for being too independent and not taking the Moscow line. Communist Party dis- cipline everywhere has been tightened up -in Poland, Roumania, Bulgaria, Hun- gary and Eastern Germany. The prestige of the Western Allies has been chal- lenged by the blockade of Berlin, Although I do not think that Moscow is bent upon an immediate war, I think she is calculating, as has been stated today, that the West may be forced to divert to armaments the finance, material and the energy which we need for recon- struction and that, therefore, will make our economic recovery more uncertain.

I must say that all this seems to me to make real friendship with the present Soviet régime almost impossible, be- cause the men in the Kremlin do not seem to care whether their policy is popular or not with the British working people. The case of the Russian brides showed that. It lost the Soviet tens of thousands of supporters in this country. The reason which they are giving today why Russian wives were not allowed to come here--because the women in this country have a status inferior to that of their husbands and have to obey their husbands in everything---will cause them to be still more unpopular. People argue that if Mr. Molotov cannot oblige us on such a small matter as this, it would be useless to expect him to come to an agreement on larger issues. Some people even think that if that is the best we can do about these few unfortunate women, what is the use of keeping an Embassy at Moscow at all?

Without going into all the prolonged negotiations which are taking place over Berlin, nobody can read the account of them without realising that the Soviet leaders are quite indifferent to the effect of their proceedings on the minds of the ordinary British people. The workers of England welcomed enthusiastically the revolution of 1917. They rejoiced in the fall of the Czars and the Russian aris- tocracy and they were inspired by the great achievements of the Soviet "State and by the victories of the Red Army in the last war. It seems to me that the

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It is quite right that the West should build up its economic and military struc- ture and increase its power of resistance. I welcome the North Atlantic Pact and the close unity with America, her help and friendship and support. Personally, I am very grateful, and I feel much more secure now that I know that units of the American Air Force are in Lincolnshire -especially after hearing the speech of the Minister of Defence. There are two issues to be solved. One is the question of Berlin and the other the permanent settlement, if it can be obtained, with Russia. The Allies have stated, and quite rightly, that they do not intend to be forced out of Berlin. After the result of the elections which have taken place in Berlin recently, it is clear that we could not abandon those people now.

But the position is bound to get worse. The city is split in half, and the Russians will take further steps to make the ad- ministration of Berlin very difficult and almost impossible. Nobody believes that Four-Power control can ever be re- established. The spirit of co-operation is no longer there. What can be done about that? I put forward this suggestion very diffidently indeed. It has occurred to me that the suggestion could be put to Russia that the Four Powers withdraw from Berlin simultaneously, and that Berlin should be made temporarily a free city under the protection of U.N.O. with a governor appointed from some neutral State.

The municipal life of Berlin would be continued under its present elected Assembly and all Four Powers could withdraw without loss of prestige. We could tell the Soviet Government that if they would agree to that we would agree to having a conference on the whole of Germany and perhaps on the whole of our relations with Russia. I do not know whether that is practicable, but it is clear that the present position.cannot last for ever. It is very important--if it is pos- sible to achieve it-to bring about a per- manent settlement between East and West. I suggested this two years ago or more. It seems to me that the re-election of President Truman might afford a