The Paris Procrastinators
Mr. Ernest Davies, the British member of the Council of Deputies in Paris, indulged in a little unexpected candour when he told the Anglo-American Press Association in that city on Wednesday that the real reason why the futile talks are being spun out is to tide them over the French General Election— which takes place on Sunday. After the elections, said Mr. Davies, some means would have to be found of bringing the proceedings to a close. That should present no great difficulty. The obvious way to bring them to a close is to close them. Any one of the four deputies can do that by refusing to go on. At the moment it looks as though the break would come on the flimsiest of all pleas—that there is some radical difference between dis- cussing the North Atlantic Treaty in the course of a general debate and discussing it as a " disagreed " item—i.e. an item backed by Russia only—in a formal agenda. Nothing could be more unconvincing than Mr. Davies' attempt to defend that principle. Is a breakdown really to be courted on that basis ?
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