Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-01-11
BRAND EUROPEAN UNION
ACTION NOW is DOUBTFUL
Meeting at Geneva This Week to. Study
Plan Expected to Make Limited
Decisions.

Europe as that Of today a union is
obviously impossible. To this M.
Brands supporters reply that the
fundamental truth that Europe must
either get together or perish together
Is now palmer than ever.
BRAND Is COnciliatOry.
M. BRAND has no desire, he init
mates, to impose ways and means on
any one. His proposal, he says, was
made in the common interest and he
is delighted that suggestions should
come from other states He has grace
fully accepted for example, the con-
senSuS that the union should be framed
within the League of Nations and that
economic should precede political dis
cuSSions.
He seems to believe that a good point
of departure in the present circum-
stances would be discussion of methods
for meeting the present business crisis.
What he wants is to keep his project
alive and develop it gradually from
whatever small beginnings.
The general feeling of close students
of the situation Is that everything
depends upon France and Germany. If
these two most powerful states on the
continent could agree, most of the
other continental states would more or
less be obliged to follow. In a recent
memorandum, Germany has reiterated
its desire that Russia and Turkey be
admitted to the committee and that
whatever the committee now does be
regarded as strictly preliminary. Ger
many'S intention, the London Daily
Telegraph thinks, is to state plainly at
this time that there can be no union
without treaty revision.
Confers With Germans.
M BRAND seems to have discussed
the question with the German Ambas-
sador to London, Won Hoesch. Deem
Der 81. The Germans are believed to
have limited that they are favorable to
the union and would work on 1t with
the French If the French would sup
port them In the questions of revision
and disarmament. M. BRAND Is be-
lieved to have replied that this is i'm
possible in the present agitated condi-
ton Of Europe in general and Of
Germany in particular.
Such being the circumstances, indi-
cations are that the committee will not
make much progress, merely poStponing
the main issues to a later time. Mr..
Benes, whose far-seeing views on Euro
pean affairs have won him widespread
respect in the last 10 years, has Just
set forth four reasons why he thinks q
European union now is premature:
/. The lack of economic balance,
while theoretically tending toward q
union, practically acts merely to in
crease rivalries and struggles.
Great Britain.
2. A union viii be difI1cult until Great
Britain finally makes UP its mind IS to
its relations toward the Continent and
this in turn is impossible as long as
Great Britain's relations with its own
dominionS continue obscure.
8. A union without Russia is con-
ceivable, but it would be crippled; yet,
economically to include Communist
Russia in a non-Communist Europe
would be incongruouS.
4. Finally, union will be blocked so
long as certain countries insist upon
making treaty revision q prior condi-
ton.
AS already mentioned. 1945 is the
time set by M. Benes as being more
propitious for European understanding
than the present.
1t is even possible that the commit
tees deliberations next week will be
limited to q series Of memoranda on
minor questions of transit. economics,
finance and hygiene which have Just
been submitted to it by the Secretariat
Of the League Of Nations.
(Copyright. 1917