THE TAB L E T , January 19lh, 1962
THE TABLET A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER AND REVIEW
PRO ECCLESIA DEI, PRO REGE ET PATRIA
VOL. 199, No. 5826
FOUNDED IN 1840
LONDON, JANUARY 19th, 1952
NINEPENCE
PUBLISHED AS A NEWSPAPER
AN AMERICAN PARADOX The Failure to Export the American Tradition CATHOLICS AND ANTI-CATHOLICS IN THE U.S.A.
New Manifestations o f an Old Conflict SOUTH AFRICAN SURVEY II: The Position of the Catholic Church. By Peter Railing THE CARE OF CHILDREN THE IRISH AT WESTMINSTER
By Dorothy Sarmiento
By Christopher Hollis, M .P .
RETURN TO CHESTERTON HI: Friend and Counsellor. By Maisie Ward
MR. EDEN ON EUROPE B OTH M r. Churchill and Mr. Eden have dealt with the European issue before an American public which is under-inform ed about the am ount o f solid work done by Britain fo r European recovery, using the functional approach, taking up one subject a t a time. With a natural tendency to see things in black and white, th e Americans tend to th ink th a t European unity can only be achieved by political federation, parallel to th a t which created the United States. There have been parts o f Mr. Churchill’s European eloquence, like the call for “ one spasm o f resolve,” which have fostered that idea, to the poin t where British policy needs more elaborate exposition th an the ra th e r cavalier references made so far. -
East, ju s t before General Templer’s appointm ent was a n nounced in term s which suggest th a t one o f the reasons why so little headway has been made in the pacification o f Malaya is bureaucratic and interdepartm ental. General Templer’s powers are lim ited to military command over troops and police, and, even so, it is explained th a t no previous com mander has had as much au thority . He and Mr. Malcolm M acD onald will represent to the local population an uneasy partnership, which means th a t the real authority will repose, the real decisions will continue to be taken, in London.
We are sorry M r. Eden did no t devote more o f his speech in New Y o rk to showing th a t in his mind there is no antithesis between Britain as a world Power, with interests everywhere, and B rita in as a leading member o f the European community, for the simple reason th a t Europe itself is a continent with world-wide interests, and th a t ou r immediate neighbours, particularly the F rench, also have world-wide interests. I t is precisely because the countries w ithout colonies, like Germany and Italy, have all the greater need o f a world-wide trad e th a t th e re can be no progress for Britain, whatever Lord Beaverbrook may choose to imagine, th rough a policy o f indifference to the fu tu re o f the overseas trad e o f all European countries.
I f there is little difference o f opinion in Britain about the impossibility o f entering a Federal Parliam ent, there is a great difference in the way functional unity is envisaged, and how far it is to go. Over the two essentials— military unity and the creation o f a common trading area—there is still great fluidity.
Mr. Churchill, speaking in favour o f a European Army, and no t disavowing his large responsibility for propagating the idea, nevertheless drew a very marked distinction between the British Army, which is to retain its identity while cooperating with a European Army, and “ a German elem ent” —for such was his term . There is in this a danger o f com promising a t the s ta r t the whole notion o f a European Army, when what is wanted is th a t each nation should have its own Army, bu t th a t both the high command and the supply shall be jo in tly organized, as the invasion o f Europe was with Shaef as an integrated command. I f we do no t take more p a r t th an seems to be envisaged, we are providing no answer to the French dilemma th a t the German participation will either n o t be forthcom ing a t all o r will rapidly become preponderant.
Mr. Eden reaffirmed the Government’s intention to mainta in British treaty and legal rights th ro ughout the Middle
When it is explained by Mr. Oliver Lyttelton th a t Mr. M acD onald’s functions are essentially diplom atic, th a t answer provides no clue to what is to happen when the local politicians, who find him personally easy and sympathetic, disagree with the various measures which General Templer may find it necessary to take. N o G eneral can conduct military and police operations in a country w ithout in fact continually inconveniencing the civilian population ; and few things are worse psychologically than to build up a new General as the strong man and overall commander, when in fact his powers prove in the result n o t much less circumscribed th an were those o f his predecessors. The French in Indo-China
The death o f General—posthum ously Marshal—de Lattre de Tassigny is a severe loss fo r th e French cause in In doc h in a , where it was due to his leadership since December, 1950, th a t the front line became consolidated and the Vietminh rebels suffered their first reverses. H is great contribu tio n in the East, as during the war as commander o f the French Forces in N o rth Africa, and after the war as Inspector General, was to restore a much-needed sense o f self-confidence to the Frenchmen under his command. I t was following his visit to Washington last year th a t American material aid to the French forces was substantially increased. This aid as yet surpasses the steady flow to the enemy o f infantry weapons and ammunition from Communist China, but the Vietminh forces have been promised, though they have n o t yet received, artillery and planes. But the long campaign, with heavy losses—over 28,000 since 1945—the General’s own son among them, now seems to leave French public opinion apathetic, and there is widespread uncertainty about who, for the future, is to bear th e burden o f the struggle.
The communiqué o f the South-East Asia military conference, and the more strongly worded warning by Mr. Eden th a t Communist aggression would be as firmly met in South East Asia as in Korea, will need to be substantiated in plans which regard the struggle in Malaya, Indo-C hina and Burma
