Tito Sees No Soviet Attack, Mather Says Following Visit

Marshal Tito of Yugoslavia does not foresee Russian aggression against his country, Kirtley F. Mather, professor of Geology, Kirtley F. Mather, professor of Geology, has reported after a visit this summer to Yugoslavia and its leader.

Mather lunched in Tito's summer villa on Brioni Island August 25, he told the CRIMSON this week. After the meal, Mather and other American visitors asked Tito this question:

"Does the Marshal expect that the war of words now being waged against him by the Cominform will be followed by a war of bullets, even as Hitler's barrage of invectives was the prelude for swift movement of panzer battalions?"

Tito answered: "No. The parallel is inaccurate."

"Invasion of Yugoslavia from the East is unlikely," the Marshal stated. "Continued economic pressure will be applied against us, but not military aggression."

But Mather said Tito made it clear that he will stand firm against Soviet attempts to impinge on Yugoslavia's sovereignity or on Yugoslavia's experiment with a planned economy of its own.

Insists on Autonomy

Tito believes in state socialism, Mather reported, and also is insistent on national auonomy. Tito is whole-heartedly a Communist, Mather added, but said he is a Communist who believes "Communist nations should have a large measure of independence in order that each may develop its own resources for the benefit of its own citizens, without becoming subservient to another."

During the course of a four-hour conversation with the university geologist, Tito traced his current "cold war" with Russia back to 1944 when he became boss of Yugoslavia.

"At the time of your meeting with Stalin in 1944," Tito was asked, "was everything harmonious and cordial between the two of you?"

The answer came in Serbian.

"It was not."

Mather reported that the Marshal's "quiet vehemence" made the meaning of this reply clear even before the interpreter had repeated it in English.

Monarchy Rejected

The cause of disharmony in 1944, Tito explained to his visitors, was Yugoslavia's refusal to restore a tentative monarchy.

Tito could not follow Stalin's orders, Mather reported, because he was aware of his countrymen's revolutionary temper, and because of the Marshal's own hatred for aristocracy in any form.

Mather said that in order to retain Yugoslavian independence at this time, Tito needs to insure the health of Yugoslavia's economy.

Time Tito is eager to stimulate trade with the West, offering Yugoslavia's mineral and timber resources in return for United States consumer goods and machinery.

Tito is also anxious, Mather said, for additional American loans from the Export-Import Bank and for loans from the International Bank.

"Incidentally," Mather explained, "I felt sure that was why he was so hospitable and gracious to me and my American companions."

Hands-Off Policy

Tito warned, however, that much as he needs Western financial aid, he will not allow Anglo-American interference in Yugoslavia's internal affairs any more than he will permit dictatorship from the Kremlin.

In spite of the conflict with the U.S.S.R., Tito is not trying to shut out news of Cominform countries, Mather stated. The professor said he saw Cominform newspapers on open sale in Belgrade and other large cities, "in spite of the fact that they are filled with invectiyes against Tito and bitter criticism of Yugoslav policies."

This fact, and the abundant display of Stalin's picture side by side with Tito's portrait in public buildings, convinces Mather that Tito "puts his trust in the intelligence and understanding of his people rather than in censorship," the professor told the CRIMSON.

And principally to this trust Mather credits the widespread loyalty that he says the Yugoslavs bear toward their boss. Mather said the people really believe Tito is trying to improve their welfare, and thus, he said, "slogans like 'We are Tito's, and Tito is Ours' really ring true."

During his tour of Yugoslavia, Mather said he talked with some of the many "men and women in prison because of their political beliefs and because they were critical of the government."

"But the political prisoners don't have the feeling of persecution that we Americans would have," Mather said. "Imprisonment is accepted as the normal consequence of 'being caught' at being crtical.

"There is freedom, however, to debate governmental policies and discuss programs-but within limits," Mather explained. "Anyone who proclaims that Tito is a knave or a nitwit is going to land in jail in 24 hours."