HERRIOT’S SPEECH

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27443, 1 September 1954, Page 11

HERRIOT’S SPEECH

“End Of France” Threat

PARIS, August 30. Mr Edouard Herriot, an ailing old man, now 82, who said he was speaking “very solemnly at the end of my life" told the French Assembly today: “The European Defence Community would mean the end of France.” Applause and protests greeted the emotional speech of the veteran Radical statesman, when he declared that the E.D.C. would throw Germany Into the arms of the Soviet Union. Mr Herrfat 'Mr Mendes-France, and Mr Daniel Mayer, the Socialist chairman of the Foreign Affairs Commission, all called for a quick “Yes" or “No” to the E.D.C. in the third day of the debate. Mr Herriot, his voice booming, said that one reason he was absolutely opposed to the E.D.C. was that Britain did not share fa it on the same terms —“a dangerous innovation in French foreign policy which I do not accept.” He said: “We do not want a Europe of six nations. We do not want a solution through rearmament. We want a Europe united by pacifism and disarmament." Mr Herriot, who took his deputy’s seat for the first time since the war to attend the debate, spoke through a microphone fixed to his bench. He has been ailing for many years and had difficulty in walking. Amidst tremendous applause he said: “The time has come to vote." U.S. and British Share He said the British and American declarations attached to the E.D.C. Treaty were “encouraging, friendly, and flattering,” but nobody could pretend that they represented the close association with France which he considered essential. Mr Herriot said that the E.D.C. would precipitate Germany into the arms of the Soviet Union—a remark which drew both applause and protests. It was monstrous that France had not the same right to withdraw from the E.D.C. as Germany. Speaking with great emotion, and interrupted from time to time by fits of coughing, Mr Herriot said: “I am opposed to another Brussels Conference. The conflict between us is not a question of paragraphs and clauses, but of substance. , , “I am speaking very solemnly at the end of my life. At my age, believe me, a man thinks only of the good of his country. I say to you, the European Defence Community would mean the end of France. I say to you in great affection, beware of the irrevocable act.”