Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-03-22

w AVgAAeAt w aAo~too VuA hC8o
ing position In public In
lance" Mr.. Hagerty also
noted that on most Of the
things discussed at Camp David
today other allies must be con-
suited before firm Western
agreements are made.
1t was In the talk about dis
armament proposals that Mr.,
Macmillan threw In his sugges-
ton for a freeze" on armies
and arms on both sides Of the
Iron Curtain-in O limited area
open to negotiation.
The only American reaction
to the freeze" idea reported
was that "we'll take q look at
It,"
It was easy for reporters to
get the impression that Mr.
Macmillan himself isn't pushing
his freeze" idea too seriously
that II was brought into the
open today mainly as a device
to get him "oif the disengage-
ment hook"
The communiqpe issued at
the end Of the Prime Minister'S
recent Reconnaissance" visit to
Premier Khrushchev in Moscow
caused widespread concern In
the Western world about how
far Mr.. Macmillan had gone In
proposing some kind Of "disen-
gagement" Of forces facing each
other across the Iron Curtain
as a means Of easing tension
in Europe.
No Need for Discussion
Mr.. Hope and Mr.. Hagerty
made 1t clear there was no need
for discussion at Camp David
to knock down the idea of dis
engagement" or thinning Out"
Of forces.
Mr.. Hope said that the Brit
ish would like to see some ar
rangement for a ceiling on
forces which would carry with
1t effective control and inspec-
ton, and we believe this exc
pertinent in disarmament in
Europe would be valuable and
would help to lower tension :. :"
In explaining this freeze"
idea he emphasized that "this
is not disbursement" He
added: "What ! mean by dis
engagement is a pulling apart
and leaving a vacuum in the
middle and we are opposed to
that.
And we are also opposed to
any idea Of a radical thinning
out Of forces. since NATO is
already thin enough on the
ground"
Mr.. Hagerty chimed In that
the United States also opposes
disengagement and lis against
radical thinning out"
Mr.. Hagerty refused to an
swer a question asking the
American position about the
Macmillan freeze" idea. He
said ut was Just a suggestion
made" and was not discussed
as SUCH"
When a reporter pressed Mr..
Hagerty by asking, Are you in
a position where you can't even
express any sort Of opinion on
the British SUGGESTION" Mr..
Hope came to his rescue.
Gould I just say this" said
the British spokesman. that
this was only a British idea and
we simply fioated it for consid-
Grafton. II people like it. well,
we may advance on it: II they
don't like it. well. they don't
like 1t.
One Small Thing
And it was one small thing
that was brought up in the
course Of the day. The only
reason why ! make mention of
it is because ! wanted to make
1t clear that we are not inter.
ested in disbursement. thin
ming out associated areas. This
is why ] tried to set out in some
detail what we were after. I
wanted there to be no misun-
derstanding about the scheme
Under further questioning.
Mr.. Hope explained that what
Mr.. Macmillan has in mind is
proposing to limit armed forces
and weapons in a Central
European area to be specified
in agreement to their existing
levels at an agreed time-with
self-enforcing inspection and
control arrangements.
He said the British related