Evening star., 1951-07-25
The Task Before Us


The Presidents Midyear Economic Report to
Congress is a clear and forceful document that
re-emphasizes in timely fashion-and in a non
partisan Spirit-the things that must be done
by the United States and the rest of the free
world ito deter aggression or, if aggression
comes to defeat it."
In broad outline, as the report declares, the
task before us falls into three main categories:
ID Building our defenses (2 Strengthening the
other free nations, and 90 expanding and sta
bilizing our economy. No matter what happens
In Xorea-and at the moment the news indi-
Gates that the cease-fire talks at Kaesong are
in a touchand-go stage-this task must be
carried through to completion. 1t must be carried
through for the simple reason that it is abso-
lutely indispensable to the security of our own
country as well as to the security of our allies
abroad. No one can effectively dispute the
President on that score
For it is plain fact the central reality of
our time, that we and like-minded nations are
threatened as never before in our history and
that we will continue to be threatened unless
and until we arm ourselves sufficiently to offset
the Kremlin's present advantages in the inter-
national balance of power. We dare not let
ourselves be hoodwinked by possible olive
branches from Moscow What we must keep
constantly in mind, as the President has warned
is that the Soviet imperialists are implacaby
pursuing long-range plan to win mastery of
the globe. Their tactics are subject to zig
tagging change, but the plan itself remains clear
and persistent. Besides having proved their
willingness to use aggression to gain their ends
they have been steadily building up their mill
tary strength on gigantic scale for no other
purpose than to blackmal the countries of the
frA inf0
ination or, failing that, to oyerwhelm them one
by one by force of arms That is the main
danger to the peace of mankind today AS long
as it exists, We and our allies-for the sake of
our common survival-must act accordingly.
To cope with the menace, the United States
and the whole Atlantic community have under
taken a program of partial mobilization In
terms Of our own American defense establish
ment, we have almost reached our first goal Of
placing $500 900 individuals on active duty In
our armed forces, and we have sharply increased
our military production. In the Presidents
words, we may be able to level of on this effort
within two or three years If there is no further
aggression, but it is also possibe-depending on
eventS-that our sights will have to be raised
AS for our allies, Congress now has before 1t q
request to appropriate $85 billion for aid to them
-$6.3 billion in the form of weapons, and the
paIance In economic nelp TO enable them to step
up their own arms output without dangerously
straining their already-taut economies In citing
the need for such assistance, Mr.. Truman's re-
port rightly emphasizes how vitaly dependent
we are on strategic imports from overseas and
how disastrous it would be If Western Europe,
with all its skilled manpower and great indus
trial resources, fell to the Reds.
All this adds up to a large program. Yet,
in relation to the dangers around us, it is the
minimum required for reasonable safety, and
it is well within our capacity If we do what we
are capable Of doing to expand our productive
power and check infiationary pressures. Those
pressures are potentially very dangerous They
stem from the fact that within the coming year
the annual rate of our defense expenditures is
scheduled to increase by $50 billion. That means
that there will be lot of additional purchasing
power competing for limited supply of civilian
goods-a prospect that calls not only for to-the-
bone cuts in non-eSsential Federal spending, but
also, in Mr.. Truman's opinion, for tougher action
than Congress has taken thus far to guard
against runaway economy with such things
as credit restrictions wage and price controls
and new taxes of "at least" $40 billion
In matters OF detail and degree-such as
the question of how tough anti-inflation meas
ures should be-the Presidents report undoubt-
edly is open to considerable debate. But the
substance of the program set forth in it is be-
yond challenge as task that must certainly
be undertaken II we are to deal adequately with
the menace of communism on the march.