United Europe
There has never been any doubt about the splendour of the ideal of a Europe united by the creed of Western civilisation, and if there had been any it would have been dispelled by Mr. Churchill's speech at the Albert Hall on Wednesday. There are, of course, many doubts about the practicability of the ideal in the foreseeable future but these are perfectly clear to the sponsors of the present movement and were adequately expressed after Mr. Churchill's speech of last September at Zurich. In the long run they cannot be allowed to stand in the way. But it is inevitable and also right that in the present state of the world a major share of attention should be given to the pressing problems of the short run. For that reason the sup- port which is given to the United Europe Movement must be tempered by the need to conserve energy. There is, for instance, little point in starting yet another movement for economic integra- tion at a time when a European Economic Commission has already been brought into being, when trade discussions are proceeding between Russia and a number of other countries, including Britain, and when the International Trade Conference at Geneva is rightly placing all the emphasis on a world view. Moreover there is no point in ignoring the fact that this movement will be regarded by the Soviet Government as hostile to itself, and there is enough trouble already in that direction. European unity is a noble aim, but such are the divisions of the continent that it remains hard to decide whether it will be more difficult or less difficult to achieve if it is` given priority of attention over the search for world unity.., There is, as Mr. Churchill rightly stressed, no antagonism between United Europe and United Nations. But either singly is enough to monopo- lise the attention of a harassed world.
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