Evening star., 1954-06-30
GeneroIities, but

President Eisenhower and Prime Min
lister Sir Winston Churchill have concluded
their talks with declaration of principles
that may be belittled in some quarters
notably the Kremlin-aS nothing but set
of glittering generalities designed to cover
up a continuing and fundamental Anglo
American disagreement on how best to cope
with problems like the Communist menace
in Southeast Asia. Be that as 1t may, how
ever, the fact remains that the principles
themselves are eminently sound and that
their implementation can do much to
strengthen the position of the free world
vis-a-vis the Red totalitarian empire.
Thus, to begin with, the President and
Sir Winston have stressed their resolve to
keep on following joint policies calculated
to perpetuate the intimate comradeShip"
that has for so many years tied the United
States and Britain together in way that is
without parallel among nations on this side
of the Iron Curtain. Certainly, II aff1rma-
ton means anything, they have headed OH
the danger of a serious break in that COM
radeShip. They have done so by pledging
themselves to see to it that our Anglo
American alliance-the chief security bull
wark of our two countries and all like
minded landS-continueS to carry on unit
edly, in good and effective working order,
"to secure world peace based upon the pr1r-
ciples of the Atlantic Charter"
To that end, holding out "the hand OF
friendship to all powers genuinely deSirouS
of participating in such peace, the EiSen-
hover Churchill declaration has placed Spe-
cial emphasis on the following major points,
among others: (D The United States and
Britain will strive to promote Self-govern-
ment in every country whose people want
and can sustain independence; (2) they
will not be party to arrangements or trea-
ties that would confirm or prolong the sub
iugation of nce-Sovereign states now In
bondage within the Communist empire; (3)
in the case of partitioned lands like Ger
many or Korea, they will continue to DO
everything possible to achieve unif1catlon
through free and fair elections supervised
by the United Nations; az they will per-
severe in their efforts for general ana
drastic disarmament and for conditions IN
which atomic power "can be used to enrlcn
and not destroy mankind" and (5) they Will
maintain their support OF the u N, ana
they urge, and are prepared to help, the
formation of regional defense associations
like the North Atlantic Treaty Organlza-
tion-wherever there is reason for coun-
tries to join in area groupings for the pur-
pose Of preserving their liberty and security.
All these points, it is true, are quite
generalized, but if they really mean what
they seem to mean, they promise concrete
action of sort likely to arrest, II not elm
mate entirely, the recent deterioration In
Anglo American relations, particularly as
regards creation of NATO-like defensive
setup for Southeast Asia. In any event.
although it is improbable that the United
States and Britain now see eye to eye on
every major international issue, it must be
hoped that their intimate partnership
has been bolstered by the Eisenhower
Churchill talks. For if that is the case, then
London's future decisions on the great
essentials of mutual security should be
sufnciently in line with Washington's to de-