What the Girl Looks Like

Scowling over his glasses, Winston Churchill held his hands before him as if he were physically wheeling a big problem into the Council of Europe's Assembly at Strasbourg.

"A united Europe cannot live without the help and strength of Germany," he said. The French and others had suggested that the Assembly defer action on Germany until next year. But, growled Churchill, "that year is too precious to lose. If lost, it might be lost forever. It might not be a year--but the year."

Pate on the Terraces. .The-question of West Germany's admission had hung over the debates of the Consultative Assembly, had seeped into the delegates' conversations as they sat on Strasbourg's fine restaurant terraces, eating Strasbourg's fine pate. Churchill did not force the issue to a vote; he did suggest that the Council's Committee of Ministers convoke a special session in December or January, to receive a German delegation. He also reserved the right to reopen the Germany question at this Council session, if there were signs that it was going to be put on ice.

Advice from Napoleon. This week the delegates broke up into six committees, which would accomplish whatever concrete work the Council was capable of. The committees would have a chance to agree on recommendations for: Europe's economy, social security, common European nationality and passport, joint public works (possibly including the old Jules Vernean dream of a tunnel under the Channel), and changes in the political structure of Europe to achieve greater unity.

If the French were cautious about Germany, they were bold about the matter of unity. Said France's Georges Bidault: "A united Europe can only come about by giving up some sovereignty..." France's Pierre-Henri Teitgen, underground hero and a leader of M.R.P., naively proposed that the slogan, "My country, right or wrong," be outlawed.

Such well-intentioned enthusiasts as Teitgen tried to march too fast. This was just what the sponsors of the Strasbourg movement had feared might happen. Before he left for a breather at Nice, Churchill himself championed the go-slow view. "We must not attempt on our present electoral basis," he said, "to challenge the powers that belong to the duly constituted national parliaments founded directly upon universal suffrage. Such a course would be premature...I will not prejudge the work of the committee (drafting unification plans), but I hope they will remember Napoleon's saying 'A constitution must be short and obscure...' We may just as well see what a girl looks like before we marry her."

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