Fish Story

By all indications from last week's news, the Western Nations should be able to take several long sighs of relief. There's no world crisis after all; the Russians are a law-abiding people--just as they've been shouting for years. On Saturday the U. S. S. R. took preliminary steps to annul its World War II friendship treaties with Britain and France. London and Paris had clearly acted in bad faith by signing agreements to rearm West Germany. Hadn't they promised Russia in 1942 and 1944 respectively to take joint action to prevent renewal of German aggression? They had also agreed then to abstain from any coalition directed against one of the parties to the treaties. Wasn't German rearmament clearly directed against the peace-loving Soviets?

This move wasn't the only indication that Russia pays meticulous attention to agreements and treaties. Moscow has also called for speedy completion of the Austrian peace treaty. It may be a few years late, but after all, the Russians have been busy promoting peace elsewhere.

The best sign that Russia is concerned with law and order came last Thursday. It seems Norway and some British Commonwealth countries were brazen enough to charge that the U. S. S. R. was catching whales in the Antarctic out of season. Moscow, of course, outrageously denied that it would be involved in any poaching. The Soviet Union, its officials quickly pointed out, had taken the whales under Article VIII of the International Agreement on Whaling. This clause enables a certain number of baleen whales to be caught for scientific purposes before or after the season starts. Rumors from sources close to the Presidium also note that whales are just little off-short islands anyway, and naturally belong to the U. S. S. R.

To solve the whaling problem and set at rest Western, fears about Russian honesty, the International Whaling Commission has called for a conference at the summit--of whaling commissioners--for next July. All participants may be sure justice will be done, for the discussions will take place in Moscow, the home-land of law, order, and scientific whaling.