Schlesinger Asks Continued Aid to Western Europe

Only by underwriting the military strength of Europe and by maintaining the vitality of ERP can the real recovery of Europe be assured, Associate Professor Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. '38 told an HLU and Radcliffe SDA audience in Emerson D last night.

Schlesinger, who spent last summer in Europe as a special assistant to roving ambassador W. Averill Harriman, reported that although ECA is "an extraordinary undertaking in its desire to revitalize European economy," and although it has met with a "heartening degree of response" from the European people, America must make definite commitments to Western Union.

This will be necessary, Schlesinger said, because to achieve the real goal of Western Union in Europe, each participating nation would have to sacrifice its own defenses to the common cause, and they dare not do this without assurance of U.S. support.

"The choices have narrowed" for Europeans, he added, "and people once more feel a stake in world affairs." Anti-Communist governments are strong in every country except France and Italy.

In an organizational meeting after Schlesinger's speech, the HLU voted 22 to 15 to endorse Truman for President. John Kennedy, running from Congress from this district, also got the HLU nod.