T H E T A B L E T , M a y 3rd, 1952

THE TABLET

A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER AND REVIEW

VOL. 199, No. 5841

FOUNDED IN 1840

PRO ECCLESIA DEI, PRO REGINA ET PATRIA

LONDON, MAY 3rd, 1952

NINEPENCE

PUBLISHED AS A NEWSPAPER

PURCHASE TAX AND TEXTILES The Importance o f Quality in the Home Market BRITAIN AND THE EUROPEAN ARMY The Role o f the B .A .O .R . By Lt.-General H . G. Martin

THE CONTROL OF “THE TIMES”

I : The Imperialism o f Geoffrey Dawson CHANCELLOR FIGL MUSIC IN CHURCH

By Kees van Hoek

By Anthony Milner

SPRING BOOKS SUPPLEMENT Reviews by Frank MacDermot, Ivo Thomas, Hilary Carpenter, Christopher Devlin, J. J. Dwyer, A. H. Armstrong, Lancelot C. Sheppard, Peter Watts, Colm Brogan, Neville Braybrooke, M. Bellasis, R. E. Havard, B. C. L. Keelan, John Boorman, George Scott-Moncrieff, and Lance Wright.

THE OLD TEMPTATION M R. H U G H DALTON’S recent visit to Paris, and his meeting last weekend with th e German Socialists, had the object o f strengthening the Socialist opposition to the Western Foreign Ministers. T h a t opposition, in so far as it has any coherent foreign policy, supports nationalism . I t seems doubtful whether the French Socialists, who favoured European unity from the beginning, will draw much inspiratio n from their friends across the Channel, bu t the Germ an Socialists are no t looking to Europe. K arl Marx, i t is true, was a Rhinelander, bu t G erm an Socialism always derived its main strength from East o f the Elbe, from Saxony and the East. T hat is why the recent Russian notes have encouraged them even more, and no doubt were intended to do so, to pu t reunion before defence. Mr. D a lto n is doing something the consequences o f which he cannot have realized when he seeks to foster these delusive hopes which may cost Germany and the free world more th an th e sacrifice o f D r. A denauer’s faith in Europe.

speech make to appear more violent and self-centred th an it really is.

A lthough the Communist parties on the Continent have all the marks o f an in te rnational conspiracy, they can also, and more often today, appear as the defenders o f nationalist traditions. They opposed the Marshall and Schuman Plans as contrary to national sovereignty, and they were assisted in this a t titu de by the fact th a t the United States in Europe is a “ visible” Power, whereas th e Soviet Union can sail under many different flags. The com parison is n o t unsuitable with the accordion which when playing a Russian tune is contracted, and expands when playing the o ther respective national melodies, fo r the national them e has always meant an increase in Communist membership. The French and Italian Experiences

Indeed, th e G erm an Chancellor, in his broadcast interview . la s t week, gave the impression abroad o f having made some o f the Socialist demands his own, when he said th a t a reunited Germany would not necessarily be bound by the treaties now to be signed with the Western nations. H e also declared him self prepared to work fo r a F o u r Power Conference. These statem ents have caused consternation in France, where nothing is dreaded more th an another Rapallo. D r. Adenauer may be overplaying his Socialist opposition, he may be looking to the general elections due in Western Germany next year, but what his foreign critics, especially in F rance, have neglected is his firm opinion, repeatedly stated, and again last week th a t the re-union o f Germany must no t be trea ted as an isolated problem , bu t stands o r falls with the measures for European integration.

These events in Germany, in what will be looked back upon as the decisive and critical years, the parting o f the ways, have their counterpart everywhere else in Europe, in p roportio n as there is recovery—a recovery fostered by in te rnational arrangem ents led by American policy. The revival o f confidence in th e fu tu re is immediately accompanied by a resurgence o f nationalist feeling. In the forthcom ing Italian elections there are the parties whose common principle is a return to a nationalism , which Italian habits o f rhetorical

The French Communist Party, founded, like the Italian, between 1920 and 1921, lost many votes by separating from the Socialists. I t regained strength only in th e struggle against Fascism o f the Popular F ro n t days. But the nadir o f the F rench Communist movement, a round 1929, served also as the training period for the m ilitan t cadres o f the future, which proved so valuable to it in the tim e o f the resistance and after the war. But by 1947, and especially with the conduct o f the F rench Communists after their departure from the coalition Government, i t was once again obvious th a t they were no more th an an instrum ent o f Soviet imperialism.

In Italy, too, the trad itio nal nationalist element in th e Com munist movement proved a source o f strength. The Com munist Party there began as a neutralist force in the conflict between the Fascists and the democratic parties, bu t it was their illegal activities after 1934— Togliatti and Longo excepted, most Italian Communist leaders spent years in prison— which consolidated their striking power and made them so effective in the strikes and a ttacks on the Government after 1947. The Italian Communists benefited above all from the disintegration o f Italian Socialism : and the fact th a t during the past thirty years in F rance and Italy men like Thorez, Cachin, Duclos and Togliatti have remained continuously in leading positions has given th em th a t prestige o f an established trad itio n which they can combine with their actions in the services o f th e Kremlin.