Evening star., 1946-10-27

determine the sincerity OF his WORDS
pronounced on Monday in New York:
"The delegation of the Soviet Union will
contribute to insuring that the work
of the United Nations General Assembly
and the Council of Foreign Ministers Is
successful in accomplishing the interests
of strengthening peace and well-being
of peoples. great and small"
So far there has been a great diver
gence of opinion between East and West
as to the meaning of the words well
being of peoples" The Russian concept
is that nations which live in the areas
behind the iron curtain are happy with
their totalitarian form of government
and enjoy the new kind of liberty OF the
particular Russian brand. Whether the
Soviet Foreign Minister had in,mind
Russian peace" and the Russian con-
cept of well-being is a matter which
will be revealed to the world during the
Forthcoming discussions at New York.
While a number of vastly important
problems will be taken up by The
Assembly and the Council of Foreign
Ministers, responsible quarters in Wash
ington hope that the paramount ques-
ton on which the peace of the world
actually hinges will receive full atten-
ton. That is the question of drastic
reduction of ornaments of all the ma
tions, accompanied by the necessary
freedom of travel and information with
out which no real disarmament Is
possible.
The words Of Prince Talleyrand, the
wise Foreign Minister of France at the
Vienna Conference 131 years ago, apply
even more today The French diplomat
said that you can do anything with
bayonets except sit on them"
In spite of the imposing figures on
military expenditures, the military
strength of the western countries is
negligible. For instance, the United
States today can put into action not
more than 600 planes. The combined
air strength Of Great Britain and France
does not reach that figure. Russia has
in Europe alone more than three times
that number of fighters and bombers.
The United States and Great Britain
have in Europe a maximum of six COM
bat divisions while Russia has in Europe
about Is times that number.
1t is true that at sea we are far
superior to the Slavs, but warships
under the present conditions have only
a limited Importance. In the event of
an armed clash, Russia and her satellites
would care little about the freedom OF
the seas. They are self-contained inso-
far as raw materials are concerned and
could not expect to purchase manufac-
tured products from the west in case
of war.
Our military weakness is only tempo
rary. This country was never prepared
for war. It. got ready after war broke
out Our industrial potential is as great
as ever and should the Russians be so
ill-advised as to attempt to take by force
what they do not yet possess in Europe
and Asia, they will find themselves in as
bad a plight as the other nations which
have challenged democracies.
No One Desires War Here.
There>is not single sensible person
in this country who desires another
international confagration. Our Ma
ton is too rich and too anxious to get
back to it's normal endeavors to allow
itself the luxury of being jingoistic.
But if challenged there is no question
that it would fight again.
So long as the Russians keep their
huge armies and so long as our indus
trial potential remains the same, the
danger of an armed clash will persist.
The Russians believe that the American
peoples desire for peace will prove a
deterrent to oppose their expansionist
plans throughout the world.
All these dangers to the worlds sur
vival could be removed if the question
of a genuine and drastic limitation Of
armies and of particular kind of arm
ament were settled before it was too
late.
Many clear minds inside and outside
the Government would like to see our
Secretary of State bring forcefully before
the world forum in New York the
matter of drastic reduction of arma-
ments and the necessary freedom of
inspection. The great majority of men,
bers of the U. N. would welcome such
a suggestion. 1t is possible that the
Russians themselves might ultimately
consider this proposal favorably, if it
is made clear to them that if they
reject it this country would embark
Immediately on a vast program of re-
armament. And if it is pointed out to
them that no other nation-totalitarian
or otherwise-could possibly keep pace
with us.