I have for long believed in some form of European
federa- tion. The very first article which I contributed to this weekly was in praise of Count Coudenhove-Kalergi's scheme of Pan-Europa. I could scarcely endure the prospect of this war did I not believe that our victory will in fact secure some surrender of sovereignty on the part of all European States and some pooling of resources and opportunities. Yet I am saddened when I reflect that this tremendous problem is regarded by so many people as in escape from difficulty, rather than as a confrontation of difficulties more vast than have ever yet been contemplated in the history of man. Consider the possibility of federation between ourselves and France. Here you have two countries whose interests are identical, whose territories are contiguous, whose economics are largely complementary, whose culture is not essentially dissimilar, whose standards of living and level of education are not extremely diverse. Will it be an easy thing, once the pressure of a common danger is relaxed, to pool our policies and resources? It will not be an easy thing. It will need for its achievement something more than an indolent hope that what we wish to happen is likely to occur.
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