THE TABLET, May 22nd, 1954 VOL. 203, No. 5948

Published as a Newspaper

THE TABLET A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER &

REVIEW

Pro Ecclesia Dei, Pro Regina et Patria

FOUNDED IN 1840

MAY 22nd, 1954

NINEPENCE

The Petrov D isclosures : The Realities o f “Co-existence”

Ages o f Change : A New Study of the European Inheritance. By Christopher Dawson

D em osthenes and Europe : Lessons for the Strasbourg Assembly. By Claude Harrison

H ow Catholic is Luxembourg ? : Europe and the Faith

Narrow I S the ^Vay : Observations on Recruitment to the Civil Service. By Philip Moore

Language and Philosophy : Reflections on a Recent Discussion. By D. J. B. Hawkins B o o k s R e v i e w e d : Politics and Opinion in the Nineteenth Century, by John Bowie ; William

Roscoe o f Liverpool, by George Chandler ; Jonathan Swift, by John Middleton Murry ; Two Studies in Integrity, by Ethel Mannin ; Thérèse o f Lisieux, by Hans Urs von Balthasar ; Bernadette o f Lourdes, by Frances Parkinson Keyes ; Don Quixote o f La Mancha, translated by Walter Starkie ; Only Fade Away, by Bruce Marshall; The Hoffmann Episode, by Jeffrey Dell ; The Thistle and the Grail, by Robin Jenkins ; Gael the Sailor, by Anne de Tourville ; Invitation from Minerva, by March Cost ; Stephania, by Ilona Karmel ; Sweet Fanny Adams, by C. K. Jaeger ; Madeline's Rescue, by Ludwig Bemelmans ; and Heidi, by Johanna Spyri. Reviewed by Michael Derrick, Colin Clark, Derek Stanford, Pamela Hinkson, A. Gregory Murray, O.S.B.,

Edward Sarmiento, Ultud Evans, O.P., and John Biggs-Davison.

suggests elections in both South and North Korea, after which a common National Assembly and a common Government might be elected. But both proposals have been rejected by the Communists, as similar proposals were rejected a t the Berlin Conference, because no solution is acceptable to the other side, short of giving it unconditional control. The common resistance of the Allies in the Korean W ar has, however, forged a unity which does not exist on the problem o f Indo-China.

THE GENEVA SMOKE-SCREEN A T the Quai Wilson in Geneva a young student of .philosophy from Indo-China, Vo-Song-Thiet, has put up a tent and embarked on a hunger strike. He told reporters: “Whether our death deserves pity or blame, it will deliver us from prolonged anxiety, while a t the same time absolving us from being helpless and useless spectators of the great sufferings of our country and families.” It is doubtful whether his action will have much effect on the Geneva Conference, now a t the beginning of its fifth week. The discussions which began in open session have now been relegated to restricted meetings in which only the leaders o f the various delegations participate—that is, the Foreign Ministers with three of their most im portant advisers, and with interpreters. This procedure was used a t the Berlin Conference, and it is in such a forum, rather than in the glaring publicity and amid the propaganda speeches for which the large sessions are being used, th a t negotiations can only be conducted. This does not mean that the Western Powers will emerge from such negotiations better off than when the Conference started, and before they plodded wearily to a stalemate on Korea, and on the most im portant issue, which is Indo-China.

The Western Powers made two proposals on Korea. The United States and South Korea recommend the procedure laid down in the United Nations resolution of October 7th, 1950, which envisaged elections in North Korea under international supervision to supplement elections th a t have already been held in the South. A Parliam ent thus produced would elect a Government for the whole o f Korea, which could arrange for the unification o f the country. The other proposal, from Australia, is more of a compromise, in that it

M. Bidault has gained a certain respite by the vote of confidence which the Laniel Government obtained last week, even if it was only by a majority of two votes, and the urgency to negotiate which he must have felt throughout the siege o f Dien Bien Phu has now somewhat eased his position. On the other hand, neither France nor Vietnam has much of a hand left to play a t Geneva. The great strength o f the Western case in Korea was the internationalization o f their resistance to Communist aggression. I t was Mr. Foster Dulles’ aim in the first week o f the Conference to bring about a sim ilar united front on Indo-China. He was not supported, and his failure has increased the burden on the Western Foreign Ministers since his departure a t the beginning of the month. Mr. Eden made a courageous attem pt last week to restore a measure of orderly discussion. The Western leadership rests now with him, and with the Canadian and Australian Foreign Ministers, who were the first to lighten the despair which the tragedy of Dien Bien Phu had spread. Both Mr. Casey and Mr. Pearson gave some encouragement to the Western delegates by their clear formulation of the alternative to “Asia for the Cominform” which the slogan “Asia for the