Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-04-06
By Crosby S. Moves
Foreion Correspondent Of The StoF

Foreign Correspondent Of The StoF
PARIS.-For several days now,
Europe has been looking forward
to some official explanation of
what DR.. James B. Conant was
talking about.
What the United States High
Commissioner for Germany said
was simple enough as far as it
went. Speaking before a group
of American lawyers, DR.. Conant
observed that Britain, France
and the United States were
agreed that Germany should be-
come a sovereign state again.
He hoped that this would be
accomplished by the ratification
of the European Defense Treaty.
But if the treaty didn't come
into force soon, said DR.. Conant.
then he felt sure the three oc-
cupying powers would see that
1t was to the interest of all con-
cerned to have the equivalent
of the Bonn Convention put into
force, thus ending the occupa-
ton of the Bonn Republic.
Implication Of Rearmament.
The implications Of the state
ment, on the other hand, were
anything but simple, and open
to number Of interpretations.
The simplest of these: The
United States was proposing the
independent rearmament of Ger
many, unless France speedily
ratified the treaty creating a
unified European Army.
It takes no elaborate reason
ing to arrive at this conclusion.
The Bonn Convention" to
which DIR. Conant referred Is a
thick bundle Of contracts spelling
out the status and privileges of
o new West German state. It
was written as a companion
piece to the so-called Paris
Agreements which set up the
EDO.
All Of the controls for Ger
man rearmament - including
limitation on the number Of
troops and rationing of arma-
ment industry-are part of the
Paris agreements and would
function as a part of the pro-
posed defense community. The
only specific limitations on Ger
man sovereignty spelled out in
the Bonn Convention is the con-
tinued right Of the occupying
powers to station troops in Ger
many and to negotiate for Ger
many with Russia in connection
with a German peace treaty.
Under the agreement, the oc-
cupation would end, not in the
sense that allied troops would
leave the country, but rather
because the occupation govern
ment would be abolished. So
far as internal matters were
concerned, the German govern
ment would be free to make its
own policy. The veto now re-
served by the allied commission
would no longer apply.
Drop the EDO Controls?
DR.. Conant seems to be sug-
costing that the Bonn Conven-
ton might be put into effect
without the controls and re-
strictions contained in the EDO.
The simplest way to do this
would be to scratch out all ref
erences to the defense commu-
nifty and sign the document. But
from then on, any thought that
the rearmament of Germany
could be controlled from the OUT
side could be dismissed.
Perhaps this is not what DR.
Conant means at all. Certainly,
he could not seriously expect
agreement to any such scheme
between the allied governments.
The first reaction of the British
Foreign Office and the Quai
d'Orsay was a surprised repudia-
ton Of DR.. Commits words.
More Questions Than Answers.
The statement raises many
more questions than it answers.
Assuming that France would re-
Ject the idea of uncontrolled
German rearmament, how could
the Bonn Convention be put into
force? Would the United States
try to enforce the convention in
its own zone, regardless of what
the French did? Or would 1t
agree to new controls. to be
written into the conventions
themselves?
Either course would present
serious complications. The first
would mean the reputation of
our agreements with the French
and, perhaps, still another di-
vision of Germany. The second
would reopen the whole question
of German rearmament and pre-
sent a clear field for those who
hope to keep Germany perma-
nently neutralized.
Viewed as Trial Balloon.
Whether or not DR.. Conant
spoke with the advice and con-