All Set to Talk -But No Place to Sit

During 71 hours of private talks in Paris last week, the U.S. and North Viet Nam settled all but two of the procedural problems that have delayed the beginning of an expanded peace conference. They agreed, for example, that the salon of the Hotel Majestic, where the talks on the Viet Nam war have been under way since May, is large enough, after all, to accommodate the expanded talks. They also decided that two doors should be used, one for the representatives of Hanoi and of the National Liberation Front, the other for delegates from Saigon and the U.S.

Unfortunately, the two issues left unresolved were probably the most important of all. One was a date for the first meeting involving all four sides (Secretary of State Dean Rusk predicted that it would be held some time this week). The other was the shape of the negotiating table. Hanoi wanted a square one, which would give the N.L.F. a side to itself. As the Communists see it, that arrangement would enhance the guerrillas' claim to independent status. The Allies apparently see it the same way. They want two rectangular tables, with the U.S. and South Viet Nam seated at one, and North Viet Nam and the N.L.F. at the other, to prevent the guerrillas from getting a whole side of a table to themselves. It might have seemed absurd, but in the past, conferences on grave issues have foundered over such trivial "modalities" (see box). And as Hanoi Spokesman Xuan Thuy noted, "Whether it is important or not, it must be resolved. You cannot sit down at a conference without a table."

Roaring Off. Saigon was having problems of a different sort. After the Sen ate met in secret session to approve South Viet Nam's delegation, the acutely sensitive lower house protested that approval should have come from a joint session. The Supreme Court agreed, and not until week's end did the lower house, its pride salved, give its approval. As soon as that obstacle was cleared, the delegation motorcade roared off for Tan Son Nhut airport to board an Air Viet Nam 727 for the flight to Paris.

Pham Dang Lam, Saigon's observer at the talks up to now and a former Foreign Minister (1964-65), will head the official group. The other members include: Nguyen Xuan Phong, like Lam a Southerner and former Minister With out Portfolio under Vice President Nguyen Cao Ky when Ky was Premier in 1966; Mrs. Nguyen Thi Vui, niece of a Trotskyite killed by other Communists in 1946 and a successful law yer with a long record of working for the poor; Vuong Van Bac, a Northerner, a lawyer and a Ky man; and Nguyen Ngoc Huy, a professor at Saigon's National Institute of Administration.