Evening star., 1950-10-13
Whot Next in Europe-V
By Blair Moody
North American Newspaper Alliance


PARIS, Oct. 13.-Western Eu-
rope, facing military juggernaut
that could obliterate its free life
and substitute a police-s state re-
gime virtually impossible to throw
off, is still letting its defense
program grind along in second
gear.
What has been undertaken in
the North Atlantic conferences in
London and New York is quite a
maximum effort. 'in view of the
social gains still to be accom-
plished," or considering how
politically impossible it is to tax
a peasant-voter"
But compared to the threat, in
both time and magnitude, the
effort falls far short. 1t is
greater but not great enough and
certainly is not producing fast
enough.
The fact that in war ministry
after war ministry a visiting re-
porter is told that the real bottle
neck is heavy equipment, and why
doesn't the United States furnish
it faster. please?-and have Amer
ica's industrial centers been
turned loose on production with
real war urgency?-does not alter
the fact that the countries whose
survival is most crucially at stake
are not leading the parade.
No Mood for Rationing.
Prime Minister Clement Attlee.
In recent discussion with Sena-
tor Smith, Republican, of New
Jersey, explained that the Brit
ish after five years are tired
of rationing and such, and 1t
would be politically unwise toI
press them further at this time,
The handful of able leaders at the
helm of France hold back moves
they know are vital because they
fear teetering Parliament might
overthrow the cabinet and bring
on something worse"
But here, as in Washington and
London, one gets the feeling that
the people are way ahead of their
politicians. And while the Brit
ish are UNDERSTANDABLE fed up with
austerity, there is no doubt that
they will shoulder whatever is
necessary, even though they might
take out their Irritation by sacking
a few oficeholders in the process.
Paul G. Hoffman said here a
few days ago that the problem in
Europe is to get guns and bread,
meaning that the struggle against
Communism in European coun-
tries is both external and internal.
If, in the race to arm, economies
were spun into a spiral of infla-
tion, the impact on the average
voters life would be so painful
as to open the way for Com
munism through the back door.
Mr.. Hoffman is especially keen
to that danger because it is the
danger he blocked by means OF the
Marshall Plan. He was asking
increased production, higher taxes
and international controls on criti-
cal metals needed for producing
weapons. He was pointing out
that while driving hard on the
preparedness front, loose manage !
ment can ruin free nations on the
economic and social fronts.
Imitation Is Danger.
But the real danger of imitation,
which can be met by courageous
political action, is now being wide
" used as a reason less than as
an excuse. Many Europeans are
self-hypnosis, similar to
the delusion that economic dis
aster is equivalent to military dis
aster and therefore the United
States did not dare spend enough
for an adequate defense which
clouded thinking for so many
in important sectors at
the White House and Pentagon.
The gaping hole in that, as has
since been amply proven, was that
building an adequate defense, not
rolling along three years late, had
no relation whatever to economic
disaster" The same thing applies
to France, Britain, Belgium
(Which is spending only quarter
as much on defense per capita as
the United States and the United
Kingdom) and other countries now
baking at the price of a force to
insure freedom.
Testimony from the brilliant
Robert Marjolin, secretary general