Evening star., 1953-02-07
Dulles and Stassen
Arrive in Belgium
On Defense Survey
By the Associated Press

BRUSSELS, John Foster Dull
les arrived in Belgium today to
continue his survey of European
defense planning-buoyed by
finding that West Europe's lead
ers generally believe a common
army offers the most effective
guarantee Of peace and security.
President Eisenhower's four
motored plane brought the
American Secretary of State and
Foreign Air Chief Harold Stas-
sen here after a brief flight from
f1ood-devasted Holland.
The two American leaders
were welcomed by Belgian For
eign Minister Paul Van iceland,
United States Ambas 1ador My
ron T. Cowen and other Belgian
and American officials.
Voices Encouragement.
Before he left Holland, Dulles
told newsmen that he and Mr..
Stassen "have been encouraged
to find that here, as well as in
the other capitals we have Wis
tied, the concept of a European
defense community within the
framework of the Atlantic COM
munity is regarded by your lead
erS and your people, as it is by
ours, as the most effective way
to insure peace and security for
us ALL"
The Secretary's seven-nation
tour of key West European cap
itals was planned to spur action
on the tagging European Army
plan. He thus far has visited
Rene, Paris. London, Bonn and
The Hague and plans to continue
tomorrow to Luxembourg before
returning to Washington.
En- route to the Belgian cap
ital, Mr.. Dulles flew over some
of the inundated areas of The
Netherlands to complete his sur
vey Of damage caused by the
past weeks flood and tidal dis
aSter. He plans personal re-
port to Gen. Eisenhower and
Congress on what the United
States can do to relieve suffering
and enable Holland to pull it's
weight in the continental de-
fenSe scheme.
Yet to Be Ratified.
Mr.. Dulles wants definite
progress toward ratification Of
the six-nation army plan by
April l. Thus far, none of the
participating countrieS-France,
Italy, West Germany, Belgium,
The Netherlands and Luxem-
bourg-has ratified the project.
One of the Secretary's chief
concerns both here and in Hol-
land obviously is the impact of
the North Sea flood on the de-
fense plan. The economies of
both countries have been seri-
ously damaged by the disaster.
President Eisenhower cabinet
in Washington Yesterday named
both Mr.. Dulles and Mr.. Stassen
members of a special cabinet
committee to survey damage in
Holland, Belgium and Britain,
and make recommendations for
assistance to the three countries.
Resumption of Aid Mentioned.
Both Mr.. Dulles and Dutch Of
flcials refused to disclose the
course of their discussions yes
terday, but the usually well-in-
formed Amsterdam newspaper
Trouw reported that Holland is
considering asking the United
States to resume direct economic
aid.
Only two weeks ago the Dutch
had announced the recovery of
sufficient economic strength that
they could renounce further di-
rect American economic help this
year.
The storm striking from the
North Sea drastically altered that
forecast, however. Losses to
property and crops and the i'm
mense cost of rebuilding the
country's torn dixie system are
estimated by some authorities
at 81 billion.
TrouW also reported that Dutch
officials told Mr.. Dulles they were
unwilling to- use Marshall aid
counterpart funds for recon-
struction of the devastated area.
They argued. the paper added,
that to do so would be inflation-
ary.
Some Earmarked for Debt.
The United States holds about
$500 million in unspent counter
part guilders left over from the
Marshall plan. Some of this
has been earmarked for Hol-
1dnQ ndC1Onal debt.
The Dutch also are believed
to have stressed the need for
American offshore purchases of
Dutch-made arms and military
equipment as further stimulus
to the nations badly-shaken
economy.
Dutch Foreign Minister j. w.
Beyen told newsmen shortly
after Mr.. Dulles departure that
the Netherlands government
cannot gauge yet whether the
flood damage and it's aftermath
will interfere with it's defense
commitments"
Mr.. Beyen strongly denied re-
ports that government officials
had told Mr.. Dulles and Mr..