THE TABLET, May 1st, 1954 VOL. 203, No. 5945

THE TABLET

Published as a^Newspaper

A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER & REVIEW

Pro Ecclesia Dei, Pro Regina et Patria

FOUNDED IN 1840

MAY 1st, 1954

N IN E PENCE

The Rising Price o f Hatred : The Shadow over Geneva Defeat in Victory: Sir Winston Churchill’s Final Volume. By D.W. R o n i g S w i n t e r 1 9 5 4 : Conversations on the Rhine. By D.W. The Russian Opposition: The Errand of Nikolai Khokhlov How Catholic is Switzerland ? : 11: Facts and Figures Blue Blood for Sale: The Phase of Vanities. By Gunnar D. Kumlien Metaphysics and Language: Reflections on a Controversy. By Patrick Laver At the Royal Academy: The Summer Exhibition. By Robert Sencourt B o o k s R e v i e w e d : The Answers o f Ernst von Salomon, translated by Constantine Fitzgibbon ;

The Splendid Century, by W. H. Lewis ; A Concise History o f Music, by William Lovelock ; Mendelssohn, by Philip Radcliffe ; The Crofting Problem, by Adam Collier ; Royal Chef, by Gabriel Tschumi ; Half a Life, by Count Constantine Benckendorff ; Lord Vanity, by Samuel Shellabarger ; The Rogue from Padua, by Jay Williams ; The Long Ships, by Frans Bengtsson ; and A Hundred Years o f War, by Cyril Falls. Reviewed by Roland Hill, J. J. Dwyer, Rosemary Hughes, J. L. Campbell, Godfrey Scheele, J. C. Marsh-

Edwards, M. Bellasis and Paul Foster, O.P.

THE GREAT DEBATE IN FRANCE M OST days in le Monde there is a feature called Libres Opinions, and for weeks the overwhelming majority of contributions have dealt with the arguments about EDC. The fundamental positions of the opposing camps are still largely what they were when first General Weygand analysed the defects of the military protocols to the Treaty and M. Robert Schuman pointed to the overwhelming political arguments in favour o f ratifying the Treaty, contending that many of the military aspects could be dealt with later, given good-will by all the contracting Parties, such as had already te en seen in the working o f the international Coal and Steel Authority.

to take the debate in its own time ; meanwhile, the Press controversy gives the public a chance to clarify its notions of what is involved—and the stubborn defence of Dien-BienPhu reminds impatient foreigners that French assent freely arrived at, is worth waiting for.

But as the ratification debate comes closer, even allowing for the talent for procrastination displayed by the Government and the Assembly, the politicians are becoming more acutely aware o f the responsibilities which they alone must face. As M. Jules Moch stated, this will be the most acute cas de conscience confronting any National Assembly since that which voted full powers to Marshal Pétain a t Bordeaux in 1940. This time, however, there is no enemy Army advancing with giant steps to precipitate the decision. The angoisse which is felt by the Deputies is very real as they face a decision which appears to many of them to compromise national sovereignty. Occasional commentators refer to expressions of impatience in British or American newspapers a t the delay in approaching the formal debate ; but, apart from Mr. Dulles’ enigmatic remark about a possible “agonizing reappraisal” o f American policy, official Allied comment has been forbearing and understanding. The Assembly is going

In one way it could be no bad thing that the EDC debate should cut across the normal party alignments, for the political situation has been becoming perilously ossified since the General Elections for 1951 for the good domestic government of France. If the Treaty were voted by a coalition o f parties (which will have to be the case, since the Cabinet itself is deeply divided) there might be some hope of a new majority appearing in the Assembly and an agreed policy found to replace the present sequence of improvisations and postponements of decisions. But this would only be possible if the adherents of whatever thesis is defeated in the EDC debate were prepared to accept la régle du jeu and combine thereafter to work for the best possible application o f the decision. General de Gaulle, in his recent Press Conference about the Treaty and the affaire Juin, answered a question about possible American reactions to any rejection of the Treaty by saying that he thought the Americans would make the best of that decision without going so far as a “rupture” with France. That was a very shrewd estimate of the probabilities ; but it was much more to the credit of the Americans—and of France’s other Allies, who would certainly adopt the same attitude—than to the credit o f French adversaries o f the Treaty, who do not seem to be ready to adopt that attitude to those o f their own countrymen who support it.