Evening star., 1948-05-07
British Approaching
Hour Of Decision on
European Aid Policy
BY the Associated Press


LONDON, May britain is fast
approaching the crossroads of its
foreign-economic future with its
backseat drivers still wrangling over
which is the safest route to re-
covery.
In other capitals of Western
Europe, troubled diplomats await a
British decision to help measure the
chances of successful economic, po-
litical and military cooperation
against encroaching communism.
= The decision probably will fall
somewhere between these two ex-
tremes:
l. Full scale British participation
In a European partnership on a
long-range basis, with paper pledges
Of cooperation translated into
working machinery for making them
effective and with wholesale re-
vision Of trade agreements with the
British commonwealth.
2. Full preservation of Mother
England's special family ties with
the commonwealth, a course which
would require Britain to adopt
major reservations in it's European
commitments.
Compromise Possible.
A compromise is possible, but its
degree will depend, in part, on how
far ERP Administrator Paul Hoff-
man goes in insisting on elimination
of European economic barriers in
return for dollar aid.
Britain's decision takes on special
Importance, partly because it took
the leadership in drawing the Euro
pean nations together for collective
economic action, partly because
Britain in the past has pursued an
independent course in Europe's
economic affairs.
Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin
has kept one cautious foot on the
brake while making up his mind
which way to steer. In public at
least, he has Endorsed the need for
corporation between Britain and
the Western European countries. He
has seen that begin to materialize
in the l6-country program for
Europen recovery and in the newly
formed mutual aid alliance of Brit
ain, France, Belgium, the Neither
lands and Luxembourg.
In private, however, Mr.. Bevin's
course is not SO clear. United States
and French diplomats, in close con-
tact with talks in developing both
organizations, report British Of
f1cialS as reluctant to furnish either
group with authority to act on its
own. From closed conferences have
come reports that the British dele
cations have held out against any
surrender of sovereignty to make
more efficient the ERP group or the
f1ve-country alliance.
Foreign Office Cautious.
The foreign Office itself has been
chary of comment on the apparent
variance between BritainS publsc
pleading for Western European CO.
operation and its reluctance, thus
far, to commit itself on concrete
steps for achieving it.
While advocating cooperation,
Mr. Bevin never has met the chal-
lenge of the backseat drivers-thel
governments opposition in Com
mons and the Conservative press
to spell out what it will mean in
long-range terms of British eco
nomic planning.
The problems themselves are diff
flcult; any attempt to measure thei
irnDact Of p0SSihle solutions ntSl
Britain's future. world position Isl
even more so. They involve not only
the issue of surrendering sov-
ereignty, but those of creation of al
customs union in an evolution to-
ward economic unity, disciplined
distribution of production and mar
keting and elimination Of currency
differences.
From military standpoint they
include such issues as joint planning
for quick action in event of attack,
creation of a Western European
high command, Standardization of
arms and development of a military
force directly answerable to the al
lance
If achieved, those objectives would
furnish firm basis for an ex-
panding United States of Europe
But, just as Americas 13 colonies
proved reluctant to submerge indi-
vidual rights for collective security,
so has Western Europe's new al
lance produced differences and
doubts.