T H E T A B L E T , M a y 31st, 1952

THE TABLET

A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER AND REVIEW

VOL. 199, No. 5845

FOUNDED IN 1840

PRO ECCLESIA DEI, PRO REGINA ET PATRIA

LONDON, MAY 31st, 1952

NINEPENCE

PUBLISHED AS A NEWSPAPER

UNAM, SANCTAM, APOSTOLICAM Whitsun, the Birthday o f the Visible Church THE OLD FABIANS AND THE NEW

The Abandonment o f a Bad Daydream THE PEASANT AND POWER POLITICS Why the Countryman is Undervalued. By Jorian Jenks

THE NEXT MILLION YEARS Sir Charles Darwin’s Anticipations. By Christopher Hollis PORTUGUESE IMPRESSIONS THE SAYINGS OF HISTORY II. The Church Recharging Her Batteries Some More Corrections

By Douglas Woodruff

By J . J . Dwyer

THE AGREEMENTS SIGNED I F it is t ru e th a t nothing lasts so well as the provisional, bo th th e G erm an and European treaties signed la s t week should be assured o f success. The provisional is th e p re dom inant note. Allowances have been made in both treaties for changes in th e political situation, such as the unification o f Germany, the creation o f a European federation o r—most curious o f a ll— “ o f any o th e r event which all o f the signatory States recognize to be o f sim ilar fundam ental character.” The door is left open for negotiations with th e Soviet Union, however discouraging the prospect appears after th e latest Soviet N o te which maintains silence on th e decisive po in t o f free elections th roughout Germany. W hat Mr. Eden described in th e H ouse th e o th e r day as “ the novel doctrine th a t signature o f a trea ty does n o t constitute commitm ent,” is being relied upon by the opposition parties in Germany, F rance and Britain, as holding ou t prospects o f fundam ental changes by the tim e these treaties are due to be ratified. And by then, they hope, ratification will have become unnecessary.

and th e façade o f sovereignty th a t is going to be created there is now being protected by a three-m ile wide no-m an’s land, which seals off completely the eastern zone. The Communist pressure on the West, and especially on Berlin, will make itself felt directly in Germany, b u t only indirectly across the Channel o r the Atlantic. T h a t is the great hope for Communism and the recent rio ts in Essen will n o t have been the last. In tegration with Western Europe has as yet no political reality fo r a large majority o f th e Germ an people, and it is th rough fear and th a t uncertainty th a t the Russians can hope to a tta in their final aim o f undoing th e work now concluded a t Bonn and Paris. I f Britain is forced to reduce her troops in Western Germany, th a t Soviet aim will have been greatly furthered. Ambiguity o f British Policy

A t the moment, th e Soviet Union finds indeed sufficient support fo r its Germ an and European aims in the a t titu d e o f the G erm an Socialists who, in their absurd opposition to the treaties and in their th irst for power in Germany, have com pletely lo st sight o f the realities o f the G erm an situation, and constitute today the best allies whom th e East and West German Communists could possibly find. The Potsdam agreement was n o t rejected last week a t Bonn and Paris ; it was rejected by the Soviet Union in the days o f th e Berlin blockade, and in subsequent event. The German nationalist argum ent used by the Social democrats today is th a t th e new treaties perpetuate German inequality and th a t, as D r. Schumacher p u t it, “ seventy million Germans will have a different consciousness o f their value and different practical possibilities o f making their weight felt th an a partitio ned Germany.” But th e reservations concerning G erm an in equality are themselves the result o f a divided Germany and n o t o f a policy o f discrim ination. D r. Schumacher can still write th a t “ i t is a generally recognized historical achievement o f social democracy to have checked the Bolshevist political a t tack on Germany and on the West.” I t is obviously convenient for th e Soviet Government to leave him in th a t illusion. W ith such an alliance Eastern Germany can now be more effectively transform ed into a real “people’s democracy”

In all this m a tte r the policy o f th e British Government is a little difficult to understand. The whole virtue o f the idea o f a European Army, as first pu t forw ard by Mr. Churchill, was th a t it offered an escape from th e dilemma how we could have rearm ed Germans w ithout having the dangers o f a German Army and a German General Staff. The solution was n o t certain, bu t i t was ingenious, and it was worth trying, no r was there any hint, so long as th e Conservatives were in Opposition, th a t G reat Britain did n o t intend under Conservative rule to accept full membership o f th a t army. One can see, even if one disagrees with it, the isolationist objection to any commitments on the Continent, and, if th a t had been the Government’s policy, it would a t any ra te have been intelligible. What is difficult to understand is a policy which undertakes Continental commitments every bit as ample as could arise ou t o f a full membership o f the Army, b u t boggles a t the phrase o f “jo in ing it.” The only possible result o f this has been to strengthen the elements in F rance which ^re opposed to German rearm am ent on any term s, and to strengthen the elements in Germany which hope to dom inate a force from which Britain excludes herself. This is, in fact, to diminish the chances o f F rance accepting the European Defence Community and to dim inish the chances o f D r. Adenauer being able to maintain himself against nationalist forces in Germany.

I f we supposed th a t the British Government were merely to le rant o f th e negotiations fo r EDC out o f diplom atic courtesy bu t neither believed no r greatly wished th a t they