Present Danger Group Asks Army for Europe

The Committee on the Present Danger, which includes President Conant, yesterday called for immediate creation of great U.S. military power and for an indication that there will be an adequate share for Europe.

American forces should move onto the continent, the non-partisan Committee of educators, scientists, and leading professional men said, "at such time as General Dwight D. Eisenhower may decide that a proper effort will be made by Europe in its own defense and that the total forces . . . can be effective."

In a statement issued in Washington by Traey S. Voorhees, former undersecretary of war, the 32-member group said that even Korea does not prove that Russia will launch a major war, much less that it is ready to do so at this time. But, the statement said, Europe is the "next great prize that Russia seeks."

Must Defend Europe

The Committee added, "We learned belatedly in the first World War and again in the second, that successful defense of the United States must be made in Europe." Russian control of the continent, the group argued, would end England's role as an "unsinkable aircraft carrier," divert the Middle East's oil to the Soviet Union, and turn over to Russia the world's richest uranium source in the Belgian Congo.

"Many Americans are troubled today." the statement continued, "by the thought that we will send large additional forces to Europe before we can be certain that other free countries will make their full effort necessary for success in the joint plan."

But General Eisenhower will have had the opportunity to determine whether "the people of Europe who love freedom as we do have the will and the stamina to make real defense possible," the Committee said. Thus, it contended, the real question of the moment does not involve the risks feared by backers of former President Herbert Hoover and Senator Robert A. Taft (R.-Ohio).