Evening star., 1947-09-21


under their free system.
The Russians, however, are violent
in their attacks on this country. Be-
sides their broadcasting system
which blares out 24-hour-a-day At.
tacks in all known languages, they
spend vast sums on newspapers In
many countries. These papers are
used to offet any attempt on the
part Of America to help the strug-
Cling western governments.
Ever since the end OF the war tn.
American Government has sndeav.
ored to maintain peace by buying
friendships. as If friendship could be
purchased. To prove our good will
we have spent close to Is billion dol.
lars since WI day. All we have
harvested from those billions--which
represent not gold but the substance
of the country-has been bitter criti-
cism that we do not do enough.
Hatred Is more easily propagated
than love. Our wartime associates
have been accustomed to look fo1
support as duty on our part. The
Belgrade and Warsaw governments
follow Moscow's tane. They call III
shylock because we have ceased
pouring hundreds Of millions Of dol
lars into their countries.
| y. s. Loses Respect
So long as we were not members
of the European Club we were re-
spected. Since we began to partici-
pate actively in all the worlds prob
lens we have lost the respect OF most
countries. One reason for this
change is that we do not back oul
desires with force, the only thing
that seems to compel respect from
other nations.
We have timidly decided to stor
Soviet expansionism in the Balkans
President Truman made a strong
statement outlining American policy
last March and subsequently the
Truman doctrine was implemented
with loans totaling $400 100000. II
that doctrine had been implemented
with positive evidence to Moscow
and the Balkans that we possess ar
air force capable of tackling any
aggressor, Mr.. Truman's words
would have won some respect and
peace would have been maintained
Moral arguments have proven te
be OF no avail in the present state OF
the world, for Moscow is convinced
that the nation with the most tanks
and planes can do anything II
pleases. At Yalta, when President
Roosevelt brought up the question OF
admitting the Vatican as temporal
power into the U. NJ, Prime Minister
Stain asked humorously: How
many divisions has the Pope got?"
The Language of Power
Secretary of State Marshall's pro.
posal last June at Harvard that
America help the economic recon.
struction of Europe was hailed as 9
great statesmanlike address. But il
was derided by the Kremlin leader.
and is being 'sabotaged by them a
this moment, when the labor union!
under their influence are ordering
strikes in order to complete the de.
struction of what Is left of tie econ
cmy of Western Europe.
Reluctantly our government is be-
ginning to realize that we canno
solve the European problem simpl.
by pouring out 20 billion dollar
worth of food and consumers goods
So long as Russia is determined t,
enslave the rest of the world ant
there is no military power left t.
oppose her plans, Americas role il
Europe will remain fruitless. Un
armed nations have never survived
side by side with those which ar,
armed to the teeth.
Optimistic observers say that tn,
U. S. S. r. will never dare tackle tn
United States because during tn
war it learned what q determined
nation is capable of doing. Thes
officials roll out statistics showing
that, although we were at the bot
tom of the list as military power il
1941, we were the strongest powe
in the world when the war ended
Unlike our other wartime associates
we were waging costly war on twt
fronts and were at the same tim,
supplying all of our Allies with tn
means to fight.
Our Failing Strength
This is all true. but Russia Il
aware that our military strength
today is lower than that of Yugo
slavia and that under the best cir
cumstances it would take us between
Is and Is months before our air
craft factories can start rolling war
planes from their plants. Moreover
the Kremlin believes that b,
adopting strong stand agains
America not many nations in Eu
rope will stand by us and thereb,
risk destruction by Russia's militar,
machine.
The end Of the General Assembl
meetings in New York may compe
us to look at the situation realisti
cally. If most of the other nation
rally behind us and prepare to &C
cept all consequences we shall b
compelled to arm ourselves for an
emergency. We shall once more b
compelled to make ourselves tn
arsenal of democracy and buckl
down to the distasteful task O
fighting another war.
If Russian brute force prevail