WESTERN EUROPE: Putting on the Roof

In Paris this week, the builders of the West's defenses gathered about the scaffolding, rolled up their sleeves and hurried to put the roof on the achievement of the London conference before it is struck by icy gales from Moscow or by damp rot from within.

The signal to start work in earnest was given by the French National Assembly, which agreed by a surprising 3 to 1 to the principle of rearming West Germany. Though not France's final fiat, the Assembly vote gave the West fair hope that by next spring the first West German soldiers will march into the NATO defense line.

A formidable array of problems, demands and contradictory claims would still have to be resolved before the new structure could really come into being. This week, the allied statesmen would come to grips with them.

First, France and Germany had to settle their dispute over the Saar, the rich nugget of coal and steel which both have coveted for centuries. Second, Dulles of the U.S., Eden of Great Britain, Adenauer of West Germany, and Mendes-France of France had to meet and nail down the formula for giving West Germany its sovereignty. Third, the four foreign ministers and representatives of the other five governments of the London conference must work out controls on the German armaments industry. And at week's end the 14 powers must meet to admit West Germany to NATO.

In all corners there were awkward architectural problems to be overcome. The builders, however, seemed reasonably confident.