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(Li-22-99) a - =Presto—Burgess and Maclean —~ Episode Designed to Split U.S. and Britain + May Produce Just Opposite Result ‘The real story of what is back of the public appearance in Moscow of Messrs. Maciean and Burgess, the British diplo- mats who turned traitor, has yet to come. Bringing them out after a concealment of nearly five years is not ex- plained by rationalizing that at this time is to drive | a wedge between America and Britain. ‘The episode may turn out in the end to have been a big blunder by the Soviets. For, instead of producing a rift in Angio-American reia~ tions, it will assure the oppo- site—namely, the strengthening of the security measures which oth London and Washington ill take hereafter against those engaged in spying or in infiltrating government offices. It will also increase distrust of Khrushehey and the other members of the Kremlin who have denied repeatedly that Maclean and Burgess were in ‘the Br British Prime Minister, lost no time in emphasizing this very point to the House of Commons. What probably brought about the sudden appearance last Saturday of the two diplomats was the publication of a well~ documented book by the ed: tors of the London Daily Ex- _ press. Copies had undoubtedly reached Mos cow, The curity system are fully exp in that book-—-to which, by an odd coincidence, U.S. News & World Report had obtained from the London Daily Express exclusive rights for publication wm its euirent issue and for release t> the press of the United States this very week. Talking on the telephone today with Lord Beaverbrook, publisher of the London Daily Express, this correspondent was told that, if Maclean and Burgess thought they were doing anything that could strain relations between Brit- ain and the United States. they were yery much mistaken, be- cause the incident would bring => the two countries closer to- gether in a common front against any such contingen- cies in the future. He sai “Tt warns us of what's up. We get a good warning of what we have to avoid—a warning to us to beware — beware!" pers frot the start have pressed for closer surveillance and criticized the British Se- enrity Service for not main- taining a watch on Mrs. Mac- Yean before she, too, disap- peared behind the Iron Cur- tain, Weak spots in the recent British White Paper are also pointed up with the criticism that Maclean and Burgess could have been stopped from leaving England if the author- ities had been on their toes. There were plenty of red tape obstacles of a legal nature that could have been placed in the way of their escape. The extent of the damage done by Messts. Maclean and Burgess cannot as yet be as- sessed, Perhaps the biggest injury to America, however, came during the Korean War. Maciean took charge of the American desk in the British Foreign Office on November 5, 1950. He was in a position to read all confidential mes- sages and to know the British reaction thereto. The van- guard of the Red Chinese armies had already come into Korea from Manchuria a few days before, and Gen. Mac- Arthur requested authority to bomb the bases in Manchuria so as to isolate any Chinese troops juready in Korea and ions from coming in. The United States Joint Chiefs of Staff formally re- quested the permission, on be- half of Gen. MacArthur, about November 13, 1950, in a mes~ sage which was relayed to 12 allied governments. The re- Guest was rejected in the next few days, and the Red Chinese naturally stepped up their offensive -on November 25. Here is what Gen. MacArthur DELETED Copy s BY LET oniy iast week was saying in a statement apropos his con- troversy on this point with former President Truman: “Only if he were certain that we could continue to protect his bases and supply lines would a commander have dared to throw the full weight of the Chinese army into Korea . . , The Maclean- Burgess defection has shown how he could have known « . . exposure of the British spies, Burgess and Maclean, that the true facts began to unfold] ‘These men with access to se: cret files were undoubtedl; links in the chain:to our enemy in Korea through Pei- ping by way of Moscow.” Why did the Soviet govern- ment fail to produce Maclean and Burgess before? They may could have believed that they conceal the two indefinitely. Express book showed circum- stantially that this was no Jonger possible. In fact, the London Daily Mail corregpond~ ent in Geneva, Frederick Sands, telegraphed in November, 1955, to his newspaper saying he had been told by a Russian diplo- mat that Maclean, having been brought to East Berlin, had been analyzing all the plans put forward by the West and was being consulted af every stage of the big Genevs Conferences of 1955. Sand said: “The Russian told me: ‘Yes, I he e met Maclean. Isaw him the summer of 1954. Messrs. Maclean and Burgess probabiy will soon jose their propaganda value inside Mos- cow and will want to come out from behind the Iron Curtah Perhaps their adv y * now may be suspect. Some day the Soviets might even decide to liguidate them. ‘They cer- tainly didn’t act like persons free from duress when they were produced for fust five minutes at a press conference last Saturday attended only by | two British and two Soviet re- | porters. The revelatiéns add more mysteries than they solve. 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