U.S. AID AGAINST AGGRESSION

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25735, 22 February 1949, Page 5

U.S. AID AGAINST AGGRESSION

Senator Taft Seeks Strong Pact POLL TAKEN BY NEWSPAPER (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 11.30 p.m.) WASHINGTON, February 20 Senator Robert Taft (Republican) to-day supported a strong Nortn Atlantic security pact that would pledge United States aid to Western Europe in case of attack. Senator Taft, who has frequently opposed the Government’s foreign policy said that he favoured a treaty similar to the Western * Hemisphere Defence Pact signed in 1947 at Rio de Janiero. The Rio pact is based on the principle that an attack on any American nation is an attack on all. According to the Washington “Post,” most Senators would vote to declare war if Russia invaded one of the North Atlantic Pact countries. The newspaper put the following question to 88 of the 96 Senators who could be reached last week: “If Soviet Russia to-morrow launched an armed invasion of one of the North Atlantic Pact countries, would you vote for a resolution declaring war upon Soviet Russia?” Twenty-seven Senators (16 Democrats and 11 Republicans) replied “Yes,” without any reservations. Twenty-three others (16 Democrats and seven Republicans) said they would vote for war, but they made reservations of which the following are typical: “I would be inclined to vote ‘Yes.’ ” “I would be inclined to move first rather than last as we did in the other two wars.” “If the pact were concluded and there was an unprovoked attack, I would be inclined to say, ‘Yes.’ ” “If an attack were made on a country that would fight to the limit I would say ‘Yes.’ ’’ Only one of the Senators interviewed said he would vote "No.” Of 37 Senators (19 Republicans and 18 Democrats) who said that they preferred not to answer at present, many said that they objected to being questioned and that the question was “dangerous.”