T H E T A B L E T , J a n u a r y 17th, 1993.

THE TABLET A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER AND REVIEW

PRO ECCLESIA DEI, PRO REGINA ET PATRIA

VOL. 201, No. 5878

LONDON, JANUARY 17th, 1953

NINEPENCE

FOUNDED IN 1840

PUBLISHED AS A NEWSPAPER

RELIGION AND SOCIALISM The Illustrative H is to ry o f the L a te Professor L a sk i

SATIRE AND REALITY A R etrospective Purge in M o s cow . B y V ic tor S . Frank MARSHAL TITO AND THE HOLY SEE

I V : The C a se A gain st the Archbishop SUPPORTING THE SCHOOLS

The W ork o f the C a tholic Education C ouncil. B y the Bishop o f Brentwood FROM THE WEST COUNTRY

ON SINGING IN CHURCH

B y John M . Todd “CHRISTUS DOMINUS” O n the Eucharistic F a s t and Evening M a s s

B y R osem ary Hughes TO THE CHRISTIANS OF INDIA

The M e s sa g e o f P op e P iu s X I I

AT THE CONSISTORY The Events in R om e During the P a s t W eek

THE DOLDRUMS OF E.D.C. M ACAULAY used to tell o f a H indu metaphysician .who taught th a t th e world was balanced on a tortoise, which was balanced on an e lephant ; but on what the elephant was balanced he did n o t know. I t is much the same with the European Defence Community and the European Political Authority. The French Centre insisted on a European Defence Community as the only fram ework within which Germ an rearm am ent was tolerable. The Gaullists said th a t a Defence Community was nonsense w ithout a Political Authority to which it could be responsible. Now the Council o f Europe a t Strasbourg is asked to consider a constitution for the Political Authority which is based upon the Constitu tion for the Defence Community which has not yet been ratified and which with every day looks less and less likely to be ratified. The new French Government promises th a t it will not subm it the Defence Community p lan for ratification until the Saar question is settled, and until there are guarantees that, even under the Community, F rance will have complete control o f her own forces, and w ith certain o ther u n specified amendments. But it was precisely in o rder th a t Germany should n o t have complete control o f her own forces th a t the idea o f a Defence Community was broached. I f the French so water down the supranational control of the Community, it will mean th a t in fact the Germ an contingent is a purely national G erm an Army—the one thing th a t it was their purpose to prevent.

The crux o f th a t plan, as Marshal Juin pointed out, is the rearm ament o f Western Germany. “ I f we give up Germany we shall never be able to cope with a danger certain to come sooner or la te r .” And he said th a t, since Britain had refused to jo in EDC, it forced F rance to face Germany practically alone. His implication was th a t while an agreement over German rearm am ent is indispensable, the much more difficult task o f getting the nations to relinquish sovereignty in military matters should be left severely alone.

This view undoubtedly expresses the a t titu de o f the leading French soldiers, and Field-M arshal Montgomery, from his headquarters a t Rocquencourt, can be in no doubt about it. Speaking as a SHAPE Commander he called la s t week fo r a British participation in the European Defence Community. L ieutenant-G eneral Sir Brian Horrocks had supported such a move in the Sunday Times, and there can be no doubt th a t its effect would immeasurably help the creation o f EDC. M . M ayer’s Precarious Position

The delays a n d uncertainties which th e project fo r European defence has suffered give all the more im portance to the speeches by M arshal Juin and Field Marshal Montgomery. I t was understandable th a t m ilitary leaders could no t be enthusiastic over a p lan which would revolutionize the trad itio nal form s o f military planning, and the practical workings o f which seem more promising from a political than from a military poin t o f view. However, the political conditions within which the EDC is to be born are unalterable, and so is th e th rea t o f the Soviet arm ed forces upon which Western military plans must be based. T h a t is why an alternative to th e EDC cannot now be seriously entertained.

A fter sixteen days o f manœuvres the N a tio nal Assembly managed to provide F rance with the th ird Adm in is tra tion of this second legislature. M. René Mayer received a comfortable “ investiture” vote o f 389 (the constitutional requirement being 314) and proceeded to form his Cabinet. As usual, the inner meaning o f the crisis only became apparent when the investiture vote was taken and the names o f the new Ministers were known. The Pinay Cabinet had been brought down by the MRP for its refusal to increase family allowances. M. Mayer’s ritual declaration o f policy adopted M. Pinay’s financial policy w ithout alteration—indeed, it would have been quite impossible to do otherwise—and M. Mayer also paid an eloquent trib u te to the work o f his predecessor. But the MRP voted for M. Mayer w ithout question. Family allowances were n o t an obstacle. The extension o f the majority to the R ig h t? The exit o f M. R obert Schuman ? Were these what the MRP sought three weeks ago, asked le Figaro ?

I f M. Mayer manages to get away to a p roper s ta rt (he