THE TABLET, August 7th, 1954 VOL. 204, No. 5959
THE TABLET A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER & REVIEW
Published as a Newspaper
Pro Ecclesia Dei, Pro Regina et Patria
FOUNDED IN 1840
AUGUST 7th, 1954
NINEPENCE
Sovereignty and C iv iliza tion : The Counter-balancing of Local Political Power
Indian Nationalism and th e M issions : Anxieties and Reassurances. By S. M. Shaw
A Polish Anniversary A lso : The Warsaw Rising and the Campaign in the West
Palestine in P ictures : Remembering the Holy Land. By Christopher Hollis
A M ed ieval M onum ent : The Holkham Bible Picture Book. By Michael Derrick
The State and th e Community: The Pope’s Letter to the French Semaine Sociale
B o o k s R e v i e w e d : The Historian's Craft, by Marc Bloch ; The Cantos, by Ezra Pound ; The
Nature o f Sympathy, by Max Scheler ; Bread in the Wilderness, by Thomas Merton ; One o f Our Submarines, by Edward Young ; The Governor's Wife, by David Unwin ; The English Flotilla, by Hugh Hickling ; According to the Evidence, by Henry Cecil ; The Second Tree from the Corner, by E. B. White ; Chateaux o f the Loire, by Vivian Rowe ; and Useful and Instructive Poetry, by Lewis Carroll. Reviewed by René Hague, Roger Sharrock, J. M. Cameron, Bruno S. James, Peter Bethell, Anthony Lejeune,
M. Bellasis and David Herbert.
THE NEXT TASK FOR M. MENDES-FRANCE I F M. Mendes-France was justified in negotiating with M. Chou-en Lai, and if he was justified in seeking an agreement with the Tunisian nationalist leaders, it is surely more than ever incumbent upon him now to resume negotiations with the West German Federal Republic. These have been practically a t a standstill since Dr. Adenauer made his declaration, early in July, which was given great publicity in a distorted version in France, that “ the so-called alternative to the European Defence Community is a German national Army.”
But there are other and less rational factors. There is the consideration that to pronounce himself for EDC is to sanction the policy initiated and built up by M. Robert Schuman, M. Bidault and the MRP. There is also the fact that M. Mendes-France knows himself to be the object of popular favour, and that he could, if he wished, override his parliament. That ratification will be his final aim no longer appears to be in doubt. The question is what method he will use to get it. Two members of his Cabinet, General Koenig and M. Bourges-Maunoury, have been engaged for some time on “ the great confrontation of opinion,” but no compromise has emerged from their efforts.
The consequence was that the intended visit to Bonn of M. Guerin de Beaumont was cancelled, and M. de Beaumont, it should be remembered, is the man whom M. MendesFrance has made Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, largely on account of the compromise solution which he proposes to substitute for EDC in its present form. According to this compromise EDC is not to become a “supra-national” entity for five years, and should have a duration not of fifty but of ten years only. In effect this means a further delay, though this time with legal guarantees, of the great French plan to unify the European Armies and their command.
M. Mendes-France may bring up these points at the meeting of the six partners of the European Defence Community in the coming week, and the result of these talks will no doubt have a decisive influence on the position which he will adopt when the whole matter comes to be discussed in the National Assembly, later this month. There is considerable doubt about what the French Premier’s attitude will be. He has said nothing in recent months either for or against EDC. He is, in fact, not very interested in the scheme, but he knows that a common European defence is a vital necessity. He also knows that the European Army as envisaged by EDC is the least unfavourable solution for France.
The tru th is that not one of the possible alternative solutions could marshal such a large majority as the existing present text of the treaty, which, after all, has been signed by six and ratified by four nations, while Italy has carried it successfully through all the parliamentary commissions.
The Germans would like to help M. Mendes-France to overcome his own doubts in proposing ratification in the National Assembly. But in their view and in the view of the Benelux countries any alteration o f this or that provision of the treaty should be preceded by ratification. Any other decision would mean fresh and indefinite delay, and, in view of the Soviet pressure for a new Allied conference on Germany, the West cannot afford such another delay.
What is needed is to clear the air of the confusion that has been allowed to surround the issues involved. Those in France who are opposed to EDC in principle have had the floor too much to themselves, and have utilized for their own ends the arguments of the much larger number of those who are merely against certain aspects of the treaty and who are a t one with Dr. Adenauer in the view “ that without a FrancoGerman understanding we shall not attain the unification of
