"Brooding Animals"

After consulting their home governments, the delegates of six nations met again in Paris last week to move the Schuman Plan a step nearer reality. West Germany and Italy were ready to accept the supranational coal-steel authority which France's Jean Monnet had proposed as "the first foundation of a European community." The Benelux group still had doubts.

Monnet listened to the objections with the tactful, judicial air of an architect aware that he can still learn something from other builders. The Dutch, the principal objectors, wanted the governments to have more of a check on the new body. Said they: "If you try to push governments into the corner and ignore them, you will find that they turn into a group of brooding animals." But even the Dutch wanted to avoid a one-power veto. A likely solution: only a two-thirds vote of the member nations could override Monnet's supranational authority.

Meanwhile, some British Socialists were still sniping away at the Schuman Plan (TIME, June 26).

Speaking at Colchester, Britain's Secretary for War John Strachey called the Schuman Plan "this plot," and attacked the coal-steel authority as "an irresponsible international body free from all democratic control." In the House of Commons, Winston Churchill demanded an explanation of this inflammatory speech. Harassed Prime Minister Attlee tried to defend Strachey, ended by saying himself that it was "perfectly fair" to say the Schuman Plan would put very wide powers "into the hands of an irresponsible authority."

The week ended on a more cheerful note: the 17 European countries in the Marshall Plan unanimously agreed to set up a European Payments Union (TIME, June 12). When operating, EPU will make their currencies--even sterling--almost fully interchangeable for the first time since World War II. Said a pleased Dutch delegate: "The whole Schuman Plan could not function without EPU. It is the basis for our work."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.