THE TABLET A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER AND REVIEW

PRO ECCLESIA D E I , PRO REGINA ET PATRIA

VOL. 2 0 1 , N o . 5 8 8 1

L O N D O N , FEBRUARY 7th, 1953

N IN EPENCE

FOUNDED IN 1840

PUBLISHED AS A NEWSPAPER

AN UNREASONABLE OUTCRY British Reactions to the Formosa Move FORMOSA JOINS THE FIGHT A Short-Term Gain. By Wilfred Ryder A MONUMENT OF SCHOLARSHIP The Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. By Mgr. R. A. Knox A PARIS LETTER ILL OMENS IN POLAND M . Mayer Settling Down By Julius Lada .

MACAULAY THE MASTER Mr. G. M . Young’s Anthology, discussed by Christopher Hollis

AMERICAN PRODDING

M R. FOSTER DULLES did n o t have to come to Europe to discover the present state of European unity, o r in o rder to determ ine a revision o f American foreign policy by the experiences he would gain on his visit. But it would be a grave mistake to under-estim ate the consequences here and in the United States of the slackened pace in the creation o f the European Army. That Army remains the immediate necessity for Europe.

Some sort o f European federation may conceivably come into being by 1954 out o f the economic unity now being cemented by the European Coal and Steel Community. But the failure to realize European Defence now harbours two dangers, the magnitude of which is no t sufficiently appreciated. The danger tu rns on Germany in the first place. Whether Europe is to be defended on the Rhine or on the Elbe depends on Germany, and there is no one in Europe today, even among those most hostile to the EDC, who does no t agree th a t some form o f G erm an rearm am ent is necessary.

Community in its present form if everybody is agreed th a t Germany must be included, th a t German divisions must remain in their country, and also form part o f SHAPE ? The breakdown o f EDC would no doubt mean Germany’s direct membership of NATO. German contingents would then be associated with NATO, as are at present the British o r French units. This in itself would limit the dreaded “ to ta l” autonom y o f a restored Wehrmacht, but the idea is hardly entertained by the French, and contains none of the safeguards which they desire.

The o ther alternative is an amended EDC treaty. All the objections raised against its present form can be reduced to two : the technical arguments pu t forward by soldiers in France and Germany who do not believe in the efficacy o f a military organism in which national contingents are under multi-national leadership. These arguments are, moreover, mixed up with other problem s o f the federal or confederal character o f the High Authority.

But it is in the nature of the German political and geographical situation th a t the Germans will look eastwards. The voice o f th a t Danzig citizen, Hermann Rauschning, rem inding his present German students o f the old German claim to act as a mediator between East and West, is not an isolated opinion. Count von Schulenburg, the former German Ambassador to Moscow, may have expressed no more than a p la titu de when he said th a t Stalin was a realist. The point is th a t Stalin’s prophecy o f last autum n , th a t the imperialist Powers would bring about their destruction by conflicts among themselves, was certainly made with an eye on Germany. As yet those German politicians who want to see a modern Rapallo are in the minority, but, as tim e passes, the price o f German co-operation will be increased, and it may be Soviet Russia which in the end will pay th a t price a t the expense o f her own satellites, Poland and Czechoslovakia.

The second danger for Europe arising from the present defence crisis is one to which D r. Adenauer himself referred last week, when he expressed his fear that the delays in Europe are grist to the mills o f American isolationism , or, what is more likely today, o f a political concept which gives priority to A sia .' “ I f you want to take ou t an insurance policy,” said Dr. Adenauer, “you must be willing to pay the premium. It is a fatal mistake to believe that Europe is insured in the United States free o f any prem ium .”

What, then, a re the alternatives to the European Defence

But all these questions are not o f immediate importance. M. Raymond A aron was justified in asking in the Figaro, last Saturday, whether it would not be logical in these circum stances to p u t off any transfer o f sovereignties until the moment when Europe could dispense with a Supreme Commander from across the Atlantic. Italy and Egypt

With full American encouragement, the I talian Government is to see what it can do with the A rab countries, to serve as a bridge and link them with the defensive plans of the A tlantic Community. The Italian Minister o f War, Signor Pacciardi, is leaving for Cairo immediately. The visit was arranged before Mr. Foster Dulles’ visit to Rome took place, but it derives an enhanced im portance by coming immediately after that. It is only possible because Italy has ceased to be a Colonial Power in Africa.

The Italians still have great interests in Africa, large settlem ents o f past immigrants ; Italy is a great reservoir o f technical ability which can be hired a t modest rates, and those who take the development o f Africa seriously must count the potential Italian contribution at least as seriously as in the days when Mussolini—too late in the day, as it proved—was seeking to place Italy in the same position, with political authority over African areas, that Britain and France had achieved in the easy conditions o f the last century. The period when the Egyptians showed themselves most