Last-Minute Revision

Canada and the U.S. reached agreement last week on the all-important issue of how the Canadian forces are to obtain U.S. arms under the Military Assistance Pact. Canada got special treatment for a special reason: of all MAP countries she is the only one ready to pay cash. But the arms deal was no simple buy & sell transaction. Until U.S. concessions opened the way for a settlement, it had seemed that one of the most bitter disputes in years might develop between the two neighbors.

The original U.S. terms were almost completely unacceptable to Canada. She was asked to 1) promise to provide whatever military assistance the U.S. and its allies should require, 2) pay cash in advance, 3) promise that no equipment of which any part was U.S.-made would be shipped out of Canada without Washington's permission.

The requested blank check for military assistance could make all Canada's military resources completely subject to Washington's orders. The cash-in-advance proposal would tie up Canada's scarce supply of U.S. dollars. The rule asking U.S. approval of arms exports was plainly impractical; almost every bit of arms and equipment that Canada manufactures has some U.S.-produced part.

For more than a fortnight neither side gave an inch. The break came last week just as Hume Wrong, Canada's ambassador to the U.S., was getting ready to take the problem to Secretary of State Dean Acheson. The U.S. State Department asked Wrong to delay his visit for one day, and submitted informally a surprising new set of U.S. terms. The request for a blank check for military aid was dropped. The demand for cash in advance was changed; Canada could use letters of credit. The third stipulation--that Canada export no U.S.-made arms without permission--was watered down, giving Washington control only of equipment containing more than half U.S. parts.

The new terms were essentially satisfactory to Canada. She was ready to join with eight European Atlantic pact nations (see INTERNATIONAL) in arming herself with the most modern U.S. weapons.

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