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The most important news out of London this week was that a six-power conference had at last made up its mind about Germany.

For six weeks, representatives of the U.S., Britain, France and the Benelux countries have been meeting in London's drafty, sepulchral India House. Their problem sounded simple. Western Germany, with its coal and iron resources, is Europe's industrial heart, on whose soundness the Marshall Plan, and Europe's future, depend. Since the Russians have consistently sabotaged every four-power action that would give Western Germany (or any part of Germany) the political organization and the economic incentive to go to work for Europe's benefit, the Western powers had to see what they could do by themselves. This week, the conference announced agreement on "recommendations" to its governments. The gist: convoke a constituent assembly to set up a democratic Western German government. If the Russians want to bring their zone in, fine--otherwise nichevo.

"If Russia Wants War ..." For weeks, the French had doggedly held out against the plan. For one thing, they were afraid of a too powerful Germany. The U.S. and Britain had made concessions: 1) the Ruhr was to be administered by an international board which would see that France and the rest of Europe would get a fair share of Ruhr products; 2) the new Western German government would not be centralized but loosely federalized to prevent it from becoming too strong; 3) military occupation would not end "until the peace in Europe is secured."

But along with its old fear of a resurgent Germany, France has a newer and more immediate fear of Russia. A French official summed it up this way: "For the Soviet Union, the strategic situation has changed radically this year. Three things have happened: ERP was voted during a U.S. election year, Western Union began to take shape, the U.S. embarked on a rearmament policy. And one thing has not happened--the U.S. economic crisis, on which the Russians counted. So Russia can no longer figure that time is on her side. If Russia wants at any time to go to war, or if Russia thinks the U.S. at any time wants to go to war, the most favorable time for Russia to strike is now."

The Chips Are Down. Such Frenchmen feared that, in the end, it came down to trusting in the still remote and uncertain U.S. power, and events like Congressman John Taber's hatchet work on ERP (see NATIONAL AFFAIRS) did nothing to increase that trust. Premier Schuman's government might be gambling its existence (see FOREIGN NEWS) when the French Assembly debates the six-power recommendations soon.

In Germany itself last week the Communists, too, knew that the chips were down. They had launched a full-blast propaganda campaign against the plan for Western Germany, crying "Einheit" (unity), a slogan that had long made deep and stirring music to German ears. In the Russian zone they had launched a drive for twelve million German signatures on a petition for an "all-German unity" government. A huge sign in Berlin set forth the Communist case (see cut). It read: "Attention! You are now entering the American sector. American democracy rules there. They want to forbid the will of the people. But no power in the world can forbid you to sign. Don't be robbed of your fundamental democratic rights. Sign up here."

The Communists were getting plenty of signatures; in the Soviet zone it was often expedient to sign what one was asked to sign. It was more significant that the men in London's India House had at last found something to sign, too.

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