Evening star., 1950-06-11

we nave 10 90 In the IuLure 10
achieve our goals.
In looking at the current world
situation. it is plain that the pres
ent policies and activities of the
Soviet government are not con-
tributing to peace. The Soviet
government Is refusing to partici-
pate in the work of the United
Nations. Representatives OF the
free nations are being forced out
of the satellite countries. Soviet
leaders are turning the school
children of Eastern Germany into
the same kind of pitiful robots
that marched into hopeless battle
for Hitler.
Reds Keep Largest Army.
At home, the Soviet regime is
maintaining the largest peacetilne
armed force in history, far greater
than it needs for the defense of
it's own boundaries. The leaders
of the Soviet Union, instead of
using their resources to improve
the well-being of their people, are
devoting massive share Of those
resources to the acquisition of
further military strength.
We have tried to dissuade the
Soviet leaders from this militaris-
tic course, so unnecessary, so
costly to their people and to ours.
so antagonistic to the pursuit of
peace. After the war we de-
modified the bulk of our Army.
Navy and Air Force. In the United
Nations we put forward proposals
to share with the world the de-
velopment of atomic energy and
to prevent the use of the atomic
bomb. We urged general dis
armament and the creation of
United Nations forces. But de-
spite all those peaceful efforts,
Soviet armament has continued
to increase.
These ominous activities Of the
Soviet Union, however, are being
offset by the growing strength of
the free world. The free nations
are making steady progress in
creating more satisfactory condi-
tions of life for their people, and
stronger defenses against aggres-
sion.
Communism Feeds on Weakness.
The strength of the free world
is not to be calculated primarily in
military terms. Economic, political
and moral strength are equally es-
sential, because the challenge
which confronts the free nations
is far more than a military chal-
lenge. Communism feeds on weak
nesses of whatever kind. Wherever
the free nations fail to meet hu-
man needs and aspirations, they
are vulnerable. In this sense, the
Soviet-threat is a challenge to the
free world to live up to the prin-
ciples it processes.
The free nations are meeting
this challenge with vitality and
energy.
Over a great part of the world
the work of recovery and peaceful
development is quickening its pace.
Our faith in the recovery of
Western Europe. expressed in the
Marshall Plan, has been justified
many times over by the near mir
acle of production we have been
witnessing. We have seen dramatic
evidence there of the will to work.
We have also seen reso1ute express
sion of the. will to be free, and to
unite in common defense.
2 Facts Shown by Meeting.
Last month, the Secretary of
State went to Paris and London to
meet with representatives of our
tner-nations in the. North At
lantic Treaty. Those meetings
demonstrated two significant facts:
First, the nations of Western
Europe have grown much stronger
ana much more confident during
the past year. Second, the Nations
OF the North Atlantic Treaty are
rapidly forging an effective part
nership for great purpose-to
preserve their freedom and i'm
prove the lives of their citizens.
The recent proposal of the For
eign Minister of France, Mr.. Schu-
man, is evidence of the growing
community of purpose among the
free nations. He proposed that
the coal and steel resources of
Western Europe be pooled and
utilized jointly for the benefit of
all. This statesmanlike move, and
the warm German response to it.,
are among the most encouraging
developments in Europe since the
end OF the war. Meetings are being
held now on the Schuman pro-
posal and, If the details can be
worked out, this plan will help to
end the age-old rivalry between