ATLANTIC TREATY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27091, 27 May 1949, Page 5

ATLANTIC TREATY

A FIRST LINE OF DEFENCE FOR AMERICA BOUND TO FREE EUROPE NZPA—Copyright Rec. 9 p.m. NEW YORK, May 25. The North Atlantic Treaty was just as vital to United States security as it was to the smallest signatory Government, Mr Louis A. Johnson, the United States Secretary of Defence, said to-night “ It is for us a first line of our own defence. Naturg and the world being what they are, there can be no literal guarantee of peace to-day. Another generation to-morrow, as yesterday, may be called upon to fight an aggressor. The North Atlantic Treaty will go far toward strengthening the will to resist aggression. America's military assistance programme will further this determination. With the treaty we serve notice on the world that we have a great stake in the peace of Europe and that we are alert to the implications of aggressive acts that may dis turb that peace. -In signing the treaty we declare to the world that the security of our 1 land is inseparably bound to the freedom of the peoples of Western Europe. This treaty marshals to the cause of freedom over 300,000,000 people rooted in tradition against tyranny and oppression. Mr Johnson added that the United States must also give free peoples the “sinews of battle to help them resist the aggressor. That is why we propose to embark on a military aid programme—aid not only for the nations who joined the .Atlantic Treats', but also for Greece and Turkey, and other free nations too.”

Mr Johnson described the cost of the first year’s military aid “just short of 1,500,000.000 dollars,” as a premium well worth paying for the added security it would buy.