CHURCHILL DID BRITAIN

Greymouth Evening Star, 21 September 1946, Page 5

CHURCHILL DID BRITAIN

A Foreign Office Disclaimer Mixed Reception lor European Plan (Rec. 11 a.m.) LONDON, Sept. 20. The Foreign Office issued a statement saying that the Government was not informed or consulted about Mr. Churchill’s speech at Zurich. MT. and Mrs. Churchill arrived in London by air to-day. Alluding to Mr. Churchill as undoubtedly an important but rather unstable person, Berlin’s Russiancontrolled newspaper, Night Express said his proposed United States of Europe was just another attempt at bloc building and strengthening his front for a third war. The paper added that close relationship between Germany and France was desil able but achievable within the framework of the United Nations. Churchill’s Plan “The first step towards the recreation of the European family must be a partnership between France and Germany,” said Mr. Churchill in a speech at Zurich University. “I want to speak to you about the tragedy of Europe. If Europe is united in sharing its .common inheritance there is no limit to the happiness and prosperity its people could enjoy. The catastrophe whichwould follow the use of the atomic bomb by warring nations would not c-nly bring an end to -civilisation but might possibly disintegrate the globe itself. The bomb is still only in the hands of a nation we know would never use it except in the cause of right and freedom. Bewildered Humans.

“Some of the smaller nations, indeed, made a good Recovery from the war, but quivering, tormented, hungry, careworn, and bewildered humans wait at the ruins of their cities and homes scanning the dark horizon for the approach of some new tyranny or terror. There is a babel of voices among the victors, a solemn silence of despair among the vanquished. That is’ all the Germanic races got from tearing each other to pieces, and spreading havoc far and wide.

“If America had not at last realised that the ruin or enslavement of Europe would involve her own fate and stretched out her hands in succour and guidance the Dark Ages would be returned with all their cruelty and squalor. “Yet there is a remedy which, if generously and spontaneously adopted by the great majority of the people of many lands, would as if by a miracle transform the whole scene and make Europe as free and happy as Switzerland is to-day. What is that sovereign remedy? It is to create the European fabric and provide it with a structure whereunder people may live in peace, safety, and freedom. We must build a kind of United States of Europe. Thus only will hundreds of millions be able to regain the simple joys and hones which make life worth living

Failure of League of Nations.

“The League of Nations did not fail because of its principles and conceptions, but because those principles were deserted by the States which brought it into being and because the Governments of those States feared to face facts and act,” continued Mr. Churchill. “While time remains this disaster must not be repeated. There is no reason why the regional organisation of Europe should in any way conflict with the world organisation of the United Nations. On the contrary, I believe the larger synthesis will survive if founded on inherent national groupings There are already natural groupings in the Western Hemisphere We British have our own Commonwealth of Nations. These do not weaken—on the contrary, they strengthen—world organisation. They are In fact, its main support. Is there need for further floods of agony? Is history’s only lesson to be that mankind is unteachable? Let there be justice, mercy, and freed°“The guilty must be punished. Germany must be deprived of the power to rearm and make another a tfff ressiv° war, but when all this is done there must be an end to retribution. “Time May be Short.

“I am now going on to say something that will astonish you,” said Mr "Churchill, urging a French and German partnership. “Thus only can France recover the moral and cultural leadership of Europe The structure of the United States of Europe would make the material strength of a single State less important, but I warn you that time may be short. There is now a breathiiw snac* Fighting has stopped, but the dangers have not stopped The first practical step will be to form a Council of Europe. In all this ur-

cent work France and Germany must jointly take the lead. Great Britain, the British Commonwealth of Nations, mighty America, and, I trust, Russia, must be friends and sponsors for the new Europe. .The Daily Mail says that it would not be a bad thing if Russia regarded such a united Europe as Mr. Churchill proposed as a move against her and declined to join in. This would give Europe a chance to renew her ideals and ethics and to find her soul apart from the distracting influences of the semi-Oriental landmass in the East. Reuter’s Paris correspondent says that French officials reserved their comment, but privately expressed scepticism about the feasibility of Mr. Churchill’s plan. Frenchmen generally were amazed and shocked that Mr. Churchill should propose that France should bury the hatchet with Germany. The Communist newspaper Ce Soir fiercely rebutted Mr. Churchill’s suggestions. Not Well Received in Paris. Russian controlled radios in Germany have not mentioned the speech and Belgrade has not reported the speech. Warsaw summarised the main points. “Mr. Churchill’s speech was not well received in conference quarters,” says the diplomatic correspondent of the Manchester Guardian in a dispatch from Paris. “It is unfortunate that he did not take into account the common misconception abroad that the Opposition leader expresses the Government’s views which members, for diplomatic reasons, are unwilling to express.”. “Britain is expected to talk about Europe’s future, but it is not thought that this is Mr. Churchill’s job. Mr. Bevin himself should have made a statement outlining England’s European general aims, as only the foreign Secretary can responsibly voice the Government’s ideas.”