Evening star., 1954-10-11
Decision Time in France

1OUlOITOW Will NC d Ody VI oASlli4lSoAAo
decision in the French National Assembly
Ia day that will merit the anxious atten-
tion of the entire free world as the deputies
stage an initial test vote on the London
accord to rearm the West Germans as equal
partners in the Brussels pact and the over
all North Atlantic Treaty Organization,
Premier Mendes-France has called for
this vote-a crucial vote of confidence
with admirable dispatch and fortnight
ness Refusing to accept any proposal tnat
would attach qualifications or reservations
to the work done at London, he has de-
manded that the Assembly give clean-cut
endorsement, without "ifs," "buts' or "may-
bes," to the nine-power accord. And. ne
has staked the life of his government on
the outcome, which means that he and ms
cabinet will be through, and the French
plunged in a new political crisis, II the
deputies fail to support him with a SOLID
majority.
Far more important still, such failure
even though 1t would not directly involve
the issue of ratifying the detailed agree
ments that have yet to be negotiated TO
effectuate the London accord-Would be
universally interpreted as kind OF pre-
liminary Reputation of that accord. In
other words, it would be regarded as an
ominous sign that the French parliament
tary majority, having killed off the Euro
pean Defense Community, intended to do
the same thing to the nine-poWer Edo
substitutes situation that could lead to
the gravest and most dismal sort OF de-
terioration in relations between France and
its allies.
This would be particularly true of the
United States. Certainly, if the National
Assembly in Paris were finally to reject
what Mr.. Mendes- France has agreed to,
then Secretary of State Dulles oft-men-'
toned "agonizing reappraisaI' would have
to take place in way that could drast1-
cally change or reduce our role in the At
lantic community. Indeed, as Prime Min
lister Churchill has just warned with great
eloquence-a warning addressed to the
French as we'll as to Britons and others
wrong action or lack of action by allied
lands abroad might even drive our country
into an isolationist withdrawal Gnto For
tress America') that would condemn all Of
free Europe to Communist Subjugation.
In effect, as if having this immense
danger in mind, Mr.. Mendes-France has
asked the National Assembly to give him
the same sort of ratification support on
his London commitments as the West Ger
man Bundestag has accorded Chancellor
Adenauer At the moment there still seems
to be a better -than-even chance as to that,
but French parliamentary conduct has been
so capricious and unpredictable for years
past that no one can be sure. Much WILL
depend, apparently, on whether or not the
Popular Republicans Qronically the most
ardent advocates of the EDC) retreat from
their insistence on qualifying the nine
power accord.
So the free world will have reason to
hold it's breath tomorrow and keep its
fingers crossed. A reSounding victory for
Mr. Mendes- France will inject an additional
measure of hope in Western affairs, but
if he loses, the outlook will seem bleak
indeed. AS never before, therefore, the
French deputies should feel impelled now
to vote as statesmen and patriots, not as
narrow -visioned politicians divided by mean
clashes of selfish interest.