◆ SpookStack

Strain on Intelligences. Beria Is Cpse in P ANYTHING the times in ich we live. No headline is fantastic.to gaint at. least momentary ace ceptance. The W“escape” of q Lavrentl Be- ria fs a case in ligenece au- thorities - in Washing ‘ton are" ex- tremely skep- tical about the reports that Ges Soviet: “Russia."and” is ‘now somewhere: in this hemi- .phere: The latest report puts him in Mexico prepared to of- ‘er through a contact man his vast storeof secrets in return \bis enemies in ited or “asylum. in the, States, OT Aa The’ officials © who ofyewhere south of the bore ier do not flatly say. the re-' sort is untrue for precisely the eason that despite the far- lung resources of the Central ntelligence- Agency and the allitary intelligence services t could be true. But they will ‘e surprised and embarrassed t Beria is produced by a Sen- te committee. The guess—it s only that— Is that he is still live in a Moscow prison de- pite the reports that he was silled during an armed revolt n the Kremlin following Sta- it present giving intelligence gencies throughout the West nuch more concern is the dis- sppearance of MacLeal Donal: rorn wife of NO ee oint , happen in “who disappeared more than aspect of. two years ago in the company of Guy Buurgess.. MacLean. the secrecy barrier 1a the fact that military plan- ning in “the North , Atlantic: was an erratic but-trusted + ficial of the British foreign of-,; Treaty, Organization cannot: be “fice. Burgess had been dis-; based on realistic: knowledge missed following his-éccentric; of the kind and -the number. ‘behavior while serving :in the‘ of atomic weapons available. British Embassy in Washing- A large empty space must be ‘ ton. Both men left England on ‘left on the tables of organiza- a channel boat for France and. tion which means that Euro- then vanished, the conjecture pean commanders cannot be; \ Beria eluded- should for snow about Beria’s presence * being that they went behind the Iron Curtain. wect ‘Lean has joined her husband.;, But coming just when it docs, « this second walkout is having serious repercussions.” ~ A long-standing ‘complaint - “from the American side is that British security regulations are’ too lax. As proof, Klaus‘ Fuc! worked at Britain's top secret” sight * atomic center until American : = authorities: provided proof of his‘ treachery. Bruno Ponte- © 4 corvo, another top atomic phys-. icist, walked out with his fam- iy and. is presumably worki the Soviets in Russia.: These dramatic episodes derstandably prejudiced Amer- . ican opinion against relaxation - of Jaws that now forbid the, exchange of atomic -informa- tion with the British, In Con- gress they stirred a strong. conviction that the present “barriers must be maintained. Yet policy-makers on both ; .Sides of the Atlantic are in- creasingly aware of how much ° this barrier of secrecy costs. sure whether too much or too little emphasis is being placed} It is assumed that Mrs. Mace, 0" ground forces and other | conventional defenses. Hape has ‘risen for changes in the present restrictions. And. then just as proposals were being worked out which the White House would take up with congressional leaders, Mrs. MacLean drops out, of American intelligence - au-, thorities long experienced. in the cloak and dagger trade are‘; inclined to be sympathetic with: their - opposite numbers in British intelligence. They point out ‘that Mrs. MacLean -was living in Switzerland. It is dif- ficult: particularly in a neutral country to keep a constant watch on an individual free to get into her own car and go anywhere she wants to. Current conjectures are these. Mrs. MacLean was per- suaded by a plausible Soviet agent that her husband was in the Soviet zone of Austria and he begged only for @ brief visit with her and the children, the e- <. ¥ NOT RECORDED 191 O¢i 16 953 ving her three chi,’ defense of western Burope, . iren, She‘ is the imerican: 36F The British will shortly con- Youngest of whom he had ee ee duct a new, series of atomic fever seen. Once in the zone, tests on the Woomera range 82€ was, of course, seized. A Cimes Herald in Australia. These will repeat , Second theory is much simpler . to some extent steps already —that in response to a direct |. ‘aken by the Atomic Energy 4nd verifiable appeal from her Wash, Post Commission. And it is obvious husband, she elected ta join * that if Britain could avoid fol-, hfm. in; exile. And the rest, " Jowing the same.costly road, shart of‘some wholly unexpect- ash. News there would be more money: ed upheaval, ds almost certain and materia) available for the 0 be the same sinister silence prope, 2.14 that hag closed in. around the Wash. Star —_— ae . se Oo others. yt SPT te © anor mare serious, ~ ‘Covrtihy, 1959. by paid rewue Ny Y, Times “— N.Y. Compass . gil % > Yo Date: VS. ib 2 [0 27!