21 SEPTEMBER 1945, Page 4

Mr. Bevin's post is the most difficult of the departmental

offices, not excluding that of the Minister of Labour. Among his other pre- occupations the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs is now en- gaged—without the direct help of any other Minister of equal stand- ing—in a peace conference. I do not think that the public has yet realised the implications of the fact that the present meeting of Foreign Secretaries is a peace conference under another name, and that the extraordinary circumstances under which it is meeting carry with them one important corollary.

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