Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-09-01
Dulles Statement on Edo

The teri OF Secretary OF
State Dulles statement yester-
day on the edo crisis.
The French rejection of the
European Defense Community Is
Q saddening event. France thus
turns away from her own historic
proposal made nearly four years
ago. That proposal sought q uni
fication Of the military strength
Of continental Europe into q
single European army so as to
end the era Of recurrent Euro
pean wars. the last two of which
became world wars.
The French action does not
change certain basic and stub
born facts:
ta) The effective defense Of
continental Europe calls for q
substantial military contribution
from the Germans; yet all, in
Guiding the Germans themselves,
would avoid national rearma-
ment in form which could be
misused by resurgent militarism;
(b) Germany cannot be SUBJ
5ected indefinitely to neutrality
or otherwise be Disseminated
against in terms Of her sover-
eighty including the inherent
right Of individual and collective
Self-defense. Limitations on Ger
man sovereignty to be perma-
nently acceptable must be shared
by others as part Of a collective
international order;
(c) The prevention of war be-
tween neighboring nations which
have a long record Of fighting
cannot be dependably achieved
merely by national promises or
threats, but only by mering
certain functions of their gov
eminent into supranational In.
stitutions.
Cut on From Partners.
To deal with these facts was
the lofty purpose Of edo. Four
Of the six prospective members
Of EDO had ratified that treaty
- Belgium. Germany, Luxem-
bourg and The Netherlands. A
fifth. Italy. was on the point
Of ratifying it. The United
Kingdom and the United States
had made far-reaching commit
ments of association with EDO.
France thus disassociates herself
not only from her own proposal
but from her prospective part
ners who had stood united at
the recent Brussels conference.
The United States postwar
policies beginning in 1916 were
framed on the assumption that
Western Europe would at long
last develop a unity which would
make it immune from war as
between its members and defen-
sible against aggression from
without. The imperative need
for that unity was recognized by
the leading statesmen Of all the
free nations of Europe. The
United States Joined the North
Atlantic Treaty defensive alli-
ance with the Western European
countries. We assisted these
countries to recover from the
weakening of World War II.
Both on the economic and milf
tary side we made massive con-
tributions. We stationed the
equivalent of six divisions in
Europe. We furthermore made
our leading military figures
available to assume high posi-
tions in the military organiza-
ton designed to defend Western
Europe.
Must Reapparlse Policies.
The French negative action.
without the provision of any
alternative. obviously imposes on
the United States the obligation
to reappraise its foreign policies,
particularly those in relation to
Europe. The need for such a re-
view can scarcely be questioned
since the North Atlantic Council
OF Ministers has itself twice de-
clared with unanimity that the
EDO was Of paramount impor-
lance to the European defense 1t
planned. Furthermore, such re-
view is required by conditions
which the Congress attached this
year and last year to authorize
tions and appropriations for
military contributions to Europe.
The Western nations now owe
IL tn the Fadera1 Ranl1hlic of