• U.S.

FOREIGN RELATIONS: Mr. Truman to Mr. Prochazka

3 minute read
TIME

In the 20 weeks since Associated Press Reporter William Oatis was jailed by Czechoslovakia’s Communist rulers on a trumped-up charge of espionage, the U.S. has contented itself with a few murmurs of protest through diplomatic channels. Last week Harry Truman got his first chance since the Oatis arrest to meet a ranking official of the Czech government face to face. Vladimir Prochazka, recently appointed Czech ambassador, arrived at the White House to present his credentials.

Outside in the rain, a picket line of antiCommunist Czechs marched—as they had marched when Prochazka arrived in New York (TIME, Aug. 20)—carrying such signs as, “How dare you come to a free country with blood dripping from your hands?” Prochazka, a tough, doctrinaire Communist behind his mild, owl-eyed front, was with the President five minutes. The dialogue was described later by White House Press Chief Joe Short (who got it from the President).

The Word Was “Murder.” The ambassador mumbled the traditional diplomatic hope that he would be able to help make relations between the two countries more cordial. The President sharply replied that the best way to do that was to release Reporter Oatis. “The President said further that relations between our two countries had deteriorated ever since Jan Masaryk [Czech Foreign Minister at the time of the Communist coup] was murdered.” (No other government has ever before officially challenged the Communist story that Masaryk committed suicide. Short, in his account, stressed the word “murdered.”) It looked as if U.S.-Czech relations would not be what they once had been, the President continued, unless Czechoslovakia changed its policy. “The ambassador made no response to these remarks.”

Later, correspondents crowded about Prochazka in the lobby. Did he and the President discuss the Oatis case? Said Prochazka: “No comment.” Did they shake hands? “Yes, of course,” said Prochazka. “What do you mean?”

“What do you mean?” demanded a reporter. “It’s a simple question.” In a stampede of reporters and photographers, the pale, bespectacled Prochazka climbed into a limousine and escaped.

Repeat Performance. Next day he answered a summons to the office of Secretary Acheson. He was there 29 minutes. That conversation was also reported at second hand. Secretary and ambassador discussed the Oatis case; Acheson made it emphatically clear that he did not understand the attitude of the Czech government. Once again, outside the office, Prochazka was confronted by belligerent reporters. One of his aides shouted: “Is the ambassador going to be restrained by force?” To questions about Oatis, Ambassador Prochazka said angrily: “From the juridical point of view [the case] is closed. We will not be influenced by any kind of pressure, economic, political or propaganda.”

By week’s end it appeared, however, that the Administration was going to apply some real pressure at last. From the White House came word that the President was “determined to take whatever measures are necessary” to get Oatis released. If Mr. Truman really meant his tough talk, at least two measures are immediately available. One is to bar Czech airlines from flying over Western Germany, which would effectually cripple Czechoslovakia’s small but flourishing aviation business. Another is to end all U.S.-Czech trade, in which the Czechs now enjoy a favorable balance with the U.S.—an action urged on the President by a congressional resolution two weeks ago.

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