Foreign News: The Hard Bargainer

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Price Paid. After a few hours' sleep, Der Alte faced his assembled coalition leaders in his headquarters in the Bristol Hotel, told them the price he had had to pay for sovereignty. In the political field, he had been forced far beyond the limits they had set for him. The settlement puts the Saar under the Western European Union. Adenauer agreed to a plebiscite within three months on the agreement, in which German parties will be free to campaign for or against it—but for nothing else. Once the agreement is approved by plebiscite, anyone assailing it will be liable to punishment. At the time of the peace treaty, another plebiscite will decide whether the Saarlanders want to keep their "European" status. Erich Ollenhauer, leader of the Socialist opposition, flatly opposed the terms. Adenauer's own coalition leaders argued bitterly for an hour, but finally swallowed the pill. Mendès-France had won his concessions.

The Deadline. All morning long negotiators haggled over details, reached agreement only one hour before the signing ceremonies were scheduled. With only 15 minutes to go, Mendès rushed over to the Quai d'Orsay to get his Cabinet's approval, then met Konrad Adenauer in his private office. They signed. Then the Premier hustled the Chancellor down the hallway to the state dining room where Eden, Dulles and the other WEU ministers were waiting.

There, sitting on ornate chairs so high that little (5 ft. 6 in.) Mendès-France could not touch the floor with his toes, the ministers signed the documents restoring Germany's sovereignty and establishing WEU. Then they all hurried across the Seine to the Palais de Chaillot, where the 14 NATO powers signed Germany in as a member. Early in the alphabetical order, Mendès-France signed for France, then busied himself with the afternoon newspapers, taking no further interest in the proceedings. He did not have to. He had gotten what he wanted.