Evening star., 1950-02-10

! SOVIET aims ana policies nave,
since the war, become plain for
all to see-expansion through Su-
perimposing the Communist sys-
tenn. Mr.. Stevens writes. But the
foremost question today is this:
Do the Soviet leaders, who have an
atom bomb now, want war?
The answer, the correspondent
says, is "no-and yes" For the
immediate future, he said, the
answer it no. But In the long
view, with the shifting of world
power in the Kremlin's favor, the
answer is yes. The Communist
leaders always have predicted the
inevitable bloody clash of capital
Ism and communism.
Chance of Peace Seen.
MIR. Stevens says the Kremlin
leaders want to avoid war now
while preparing militarily and eco
nomically and while running cal
eulated war risks such as the
Berlin blockade. But he adds that
there Is q margin of hope! for
peace In the realization by the
Kremlin that 1t would be difficult
to sell the Soviet people on war
of aggression.
To beat Soviet propaganda, Mr..
Stevens writes, the West. must
put It's own economic house ini
order. While avoiding outright
appeasement, it must explore every |
possibility for genuine agreement.
The West. he says. should miss
no opportunity to 60 over the
heads of the Soviet leaders,
directly to the Russian people. The
voice Of America has made "a
splendid beginning" on these lines,
rs indicated by the frantic Rus
sian jamming Of the broadcasts,
he says, adding:
Even today, what filters
through the wall of interference
is O. far more powerful weapon
than the atom bomb-a weapon
for peace that reaches mems |
minds and creates. instead of
destroying"
Leaders Could Change Views.
AS matters stood in 1949. Mr.. |
Stevens calculated that the event.
ual armed clash Of the two sys-
TENS would come in the long run.
But the West must remember, he |
adds, that despite doctrine aims
and outlook, the Soviet leaders
are fully capable of changing their
minds" He recalls that Stain
himself once proclaimed that "the 1
logic of things is the strongest OF
all logic"
: Who are these leaders who
boldly balance the pros and cons
Of world holocaust? The most
powerful today, under Stain, Mr..
Stevens says, is man who knows
nothing Of the West from first |
hand experience, man who is
young enough to have grown upI
Intellectually under Stalin's COM
plete domination.
He is Georgi Malenkov, whose
recent rise at Stalin's right hand
has been meteoric. Lacking mass
appeal, he dislikes the limelightI
and perfers to pull wires behind
scenes. But he occupies today |
the same strategic post which
Stain held in relation to the de-
clining Lenin.
Malenkov Plays it Carefully.
( Malenkov has used this posi-
ton to carry out a quiet purge of |
possible opponents, always care
fully consolidating himself beforeI
making new advance. At home
his policy meant Tightening upI
against reliables, including re-
newed discrimination against
Jews. Abroad it meant tightening
control of Cominform countries, |
ruthless elimination of Titoisn,
arbitrary imposition of the Soviet
economic and police pattern on
the satellite states.
But his caution, Mr.. Stevens
says, is reflected in the lifting Of
the Berlin blockade when he
thought 1t had gone as far as It'll
safely could, and in the fact that
the campaign against Yugoslavia' s
Tito stopped short of armed In
vasion.
For time Malenkov apparently
ranked about even with Lavrenty
p. Beria. the power behind thel
secret police, but Beria did notl
appear to Mr.. Stevens to be as-l
pirfng any higher. Vice Premier
". M. Molotov appears to be inI
partial eclipse, the writer says,
and more in decline than ever In
Stains increasing retirement.
Nevertheless, the best indicat-
tions filtering through Moscow
censorship are that Molotov still
is the No. man, Stalin's right
hand. at least for the public's
benefit.)
Kaganovich Holding Own.
In passing, Mr.. Stevens men,
tions Lazar Kaganovich, the only
Jew on the Politburo. reputed toI
be a party trouble shooter inl
matters concerning agriculture
and heavy industry. Kaganovich
manages to hold his own. but then,
he is reputed TO be the brother
of Stalin's third wife.
These leaders are apart from
the Soviet people, who know
little of what goes on in the
Kremlin. MFR. Stevens writes
that the great Soviet blood purge
Of the thirties. among other
things. disclosed "the utter
physical dependence of the all
powerful Kremlin rulers on their
NKVD (secret police, now the
MVD) bodyguard. Stain and his |
retinue. no longer appeared in |
public unless all within gunshotl
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