Evening star., 1954-11-18
First Things First

In its own way, President Eisenhower's
message to the Senate on the Paris accords
serves as good and timely rejoinder to the
Kremlin's latest note calling upon no fewer
than 25 countrieS to meet at the end Of this
month in conference aimed at working
out an all-European system OF mutual Sc
curity.
The Soviet bid, which has been made
before, is obvious and almost frank in its
objective, What it seeks to achieve, through
the convening Of a grandiose and befud-
ding international parley, is not only to
delay but also to defeat impending moves
for early ratification of what has been
agreed upon at Paris as substitute for the
French-rejected European Defense Com
munity. Fortunately, however, all signs in
dictate that the signatory powers-not ex-
cepting France will politely but firmly re-
fuse to take this Russian bait.
In any event, as the President has made
clear in his message, the first order Of busi-
ness for the Western world at the present
juncture is to effectuate the Paris agree
nents at the earliest possible date. And to
that end, as far as our own country is con-
cerned, he has urged that the new Senate,
when 1t meets in January, vote for their
prompt ratification as matter Of Every
great Importance" to American security and
the cause Of peace and freedom everywhere.
Encouragingly enough, a similar frame Of
mind appears to be predominant among the
other signatory powers-again not except
ing France-and the outlook is therefore
bright for all-around parliamentary ap-
proval in the weeks Immediately ahead.
4o1I
siderably short Of the supranational ideal
envisioned in the now-dead EDO treaty.
But they add up to an impressive second
best substitute in the way that they promise
to strengthen the defenses of free Europe
by granting sovereignty to the West Ger
mans and rearming them as equal partners
in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
More than that, as the President has told
the Senate, they provide safeguards against
the revival Of a militariStic Germany and
lay the groundwork for new era in which
the Western Europeans, instead Of engaging
In fratricidal strife, should be able to make
great additional advances toward economic
and political unity.
OF course, although none of this en-
dangers any nation, the Kremlin can be
counted upon to keep on railing against 1t
as a threat to itself and its satellites. But
such propaganda becomes glaring in It's
phoniness when set against the background
Of the Soviet empires massive military
might vis-a-vis free European inbalance
that can be corrected only by West Ger
many's participation In the common de-
tense, an imbalance that the, Malenkov re-
gime would like to perpetuate by defeating
the Paris accords and setting up fraudu-
lent security" system under MoscoW's dom
ination.
Accordingly placing first things first,
as the President has suggested-the West
ern powers must give top priority to the
business Of ratifying and bringing into ac-
tive force what they have signed at Paris.
Not until then. not until the balance Of
power Is thus rectif1ed, will there be any
point to meeting with the Russians in an
effort to unity Germany and establish q
sense OF mutual security in Europe and the
world at large.