Evening star., 1950-05-14
Hoover U. N. Speech
Cleared the Air
Writer Sees the Russions
Influenced by Proposal
Rx Eronk Z. Kent

After two weeks. il is interesting TO
note that the reaction to Herbert
Hoover'S proposal that some way be
found TO reoreaniZe the United Nations
without the Communist states whose
clear purpose is to reduce ii to futility.
has settled into pattern. with Admin
istration officials feeling they must
deprecate the idea, though not violently.
while public sentiment strongly favors it.
Soon or late, the question Mr. Hoover
raised is again going TO become acute
and has got TO be answered.
The official contention still is that with
the SovietS excluded there would exist
no genuine world forum for debate or
contact. 1t would be. II is held. step
backward" which would intensity the
cold war and break down the only bridge
across the chasm between the two hostile
camps. On the other hand. according
to members of Congress. the popular re-
ception is Overwhelmingly favorable.
People. as whole are thoroughly fed
up with the Russians recalcitrance in
the United Nations and are convinced
that the unooubted Soviet strategy Is to
make US waste our time. energy and
money on an organization they are de-
termined TO see gets nowhere and does
nothing. For Ave years they have been
playing this game. 1t is long while TO
be sap. 1t is time TO do something
about It,
Certainly. that is the general feeling
throughout the country. AS matter
of fact most officials who criticized
the Hoover proposals feel he has per-
formed service by centering attention
upon a situation that grows more in
tolerable every year and for the better
ment of which there seems exceedingly
slim hope. The only violent opposition
came from few individual and incur
able Hoover haters" SUCH for example,
as Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt. Others in
clude some of our leading liberal" coll
umnists. Mrs. Roosevelt strainedly tried
to picture Mr.. Hoover as trying to plunge
us into war. an "odd thing" she thought,
for a Quaker to do"
Actually. the best-informed judgment
now is that the Hoover speech has been
the most helpful and wholesome made
in this country for a long time Instead
Of enfeebling bipartisan foreign policy.
1t is designed to invigorate it. Instead
Of weakening the United Nations. 1t
seems the only way to rescue 1t from
complete futility Certainly, 1t has
cleared the atmosphere of a great deal
Of false pretense and focused the light
on a situation that cannot be tolerated
indefinitely. 1t has shown up the Rus
sian scuttling plans and made 1t plain
that soon or late the United States
must clamp down. There is abundant
evidence that the Soviet leaders will not
voluntarily give up their United Nations
membership nor the veto which enables
them to strangle it. At this time, as Mr..
Hoover himself said. his proposal may
not be practical. but 1t easily may serve
a great purpose by convincing the Rus
slams that our patience is pretty well
exhausted and that we will not continue
longer to permit them to play us for
suckers.
Realization of this, 1t is held, is why
Mr.. Stain made possible the Moscow
visit Of Secretary General Trygve Lie.
who hopes to find q way to end the cold
war It is also q reason for believing
that at the September session Of the
United Nations the Soviet turbulence
will be diminished and their attitude less
impossible The truth is that exclusion
from the United Nations is the last thing
the Russians want 1t would lose them
a great propaganda advantage which
they have skillfully exercised for f1ve
years. The Hoover proposal and Its
popularity have put them on a spot.