Potsdam Gleanings

Because Potsdam secrecy remained inviolate last week, the work of 150 diplomatic reporters in Berlin had the fragmentary quality of a country newspaper column.

P: The British were delighted with President Truman. They said that he came well prepared, spoke with candor and force, did not take a back seat to his more experienced confreres.

P: Six Poles came to discuss the western boundary of their country. Some said that all six wanted it deep in old Germany on the Oder-Neisse line, including Stettin; others that three of the Poles, led by Deputy Vice-Premier Stanislaw Mikolajczyk, were more modest. Between Poland's old western boundary and the Oder-Neisse line live some seven million people, the vast majority of whom are German.

This was just one of the boundary headaches pressing for solution before the big peace conference takes place.

P: At Mr. Churchill's state dinner both host and guests seemed notably cheerful. As he left Stalin shook Churchill's hand warmly, said: "We'll see you back here soon." Next day Churchill flew to England, heard the news. Stalin was the lone survivor of the original Big Three.

P: President Truman entertained Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal at dinner.

P: Mr. Clement R. Attlee and Mr. Ernest Bevin arrived on planes six minutes apart. Mr. Bevin is Mr. Attlee's heir presumptive as leader of the Labor Party and Prime Minister, and it was deemed unwise to risk both leaders on the same plane. (Harry Truman and his next-in-succession Jimmy Byrnes had established the practice.)

P: Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson left Potsdam for home and told reporters at Frankfurt that the conference was working on "discrepancies."

P: Lord Louis Mountbatten (ne Battenberg) arrived from the East and apparently found Stalin prepared to talk about the Pacific war. Mountbatten's Hohenzollern cousins used to enjoy Potsdam.

P: Some said that agreements on the important conference points had been reached and that only work on details and interpretation remained. That was considered important, especially by President Truman, who believed that misunderstanding over Yalta arose from vague phrasing of agreements. He thought something more specific than heartfelt cooperation should emerge.

On Sunday Mr. Truman attended church services again and heard Staff Sergeant Francis K. Marshall, of Northumberland, Pa., sing: If With all Your Hearts.

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