Evening star., 1951-10-01
Revising the Italian Treaty

Hindsight and the postwar facts Of life
account for the joint Anglo-French- American
decision to revise the Italian peace treaty. The
men of the Kremlin have been asked to join in
the revision, but whether they do or not-and
in all probability they will not, even though
their refusal can hardly fail to hurt the Com
munist Party in 1taly-it will be put into effect
by the Western Big Three and the free nations
in general.
The chief objective of the revision, of course,
is to strengthen the Vests defensive position by
eliminating the treaty's limitations on the size
of Italy'S armed forces. The Soviet Union-as
signatory-can be expected to object vigorously,
but it will be on extremely weak legal and moral
grounds in any such opposition. This is so for
the simple reason that it has flagrantly violated
the peace settlements with Hungary, Romania
and Bulgaria by helping to rearm those three
Red satellites-Htler's vanquished allies-far
beyond the restrictions spelled out in the settle
mentS
But 1t Is not simply because of this Soviet
violation or because Of the general warlike policy
of the world behind the Iron Curtain, that the
Italian peace treaty is to be revised. Actually,
as co-belligerent in the war against Nazi
Germany after the downfall of Mussolini and as
loyal ally of the free countries since We Day,
Italy deserves much better terms than it has
received from the victors. It deserves, in short,
to enjoy the status of full sovereignty-a sover-
eighty undiluted by the treatys present "restric-
tions and disabilities" which now make the
country something less than its own master or
true equal in the family of democratic nations.
Moreover, wholly apart from such consider
ations of principle and equity the practical reali-
ties, the down -to-earth facts of the balance Of
power in war-threatened Europe speak pretty
much for themselves in justification of the
Western three-power Observation-Disclosures in
dorSed at the recent Ottawa Conference of the
12-nation North Atlantic Treaty Organization
to revise the Italian terms. Italy, after ALL with
its strategic location in the Mediterranean, is a
full-hedged member of the NATO alliance. AS
such, it is pledged with the other members to
system of common defense against Red aggres-
sion and to program of mutual assistance in
case any one of those members Is attacked. In
the circumstances If it is to contribute its full
share in that respect, 1t must be released from
restrictions sharply limiting the size of its armed
forces. Common sense plainly demands as much.
The revision program, however, involves
action affecting considerably more than armed
forces. Among other things, it calls for a re-
newed effort to persuade the Kremlin to abide
by the will of the overwhelming majority and
not veto Italy's admission into the United
Nations. Beyond that, as far as the United States
of his visit here this week, has received assur-
ances that our Government will ID continue to
support Italian claims on the Free Territory of
Trieste, though leaving the issue up to Rome
Belgrade negotiations; (2) help the country to
increase its output of electric power and steel;
80 cooperate in dealing with the problem Of
overpopulation; and (4 see what can be done
about reducing unemployment by channeling
NATO military production into italian factories.
All this, as President Truman has said, is
designed to make Italy ian equal partner in the
great constructive tasks Of the free world" In
an immediate sense, its prime purpose is to
utilize the countrys potential to the fullest pos
sible extent in order to bolster the security Of
both the Italian people and the Atlantic COM
munity as whole. AS for the longer future,
the objective is to inject enduring health into
Italy's economic, social and political system as
an integral part of strong and prospering
group of democratic nations. Regardless of the
Kremlin, this is an objective that should be
pursued with the utmost vigor.