Evening star., 1951-11-08

In Paris. This great town meet
ing of the world has assembled
for its annual session. What Is
done there. viii be of vital i'm
portance to us in the United
I States and to all the people Of
the earth.
! A few hours ago, the United
States, Great Britain and France
announced that they would
present to the General Assembly
a joint proposal of great sig
nif1cance. This is a proposal
! for lessening the burden of
armaments which now bears so
heavily upon the world. It Is
a common-sense way Of getting
started toward the regulation
and balanced reduction of all
armed forces and all implements
Of war. including atomic weap-
ons. We hope the General As
sembly will consider this pro-
posal as an urgent and impor-
tant matter. ~
Tonight, I want to tell you
something about this proposal,
! and why we are making 1t.
Let's begin by talking about
the nature of the disarmament
| problem.
! All of us know how dificult
the world situation is today.
Fighting is going on in Korea,
and the threat of Communist
aggression hangs over many
other parts of the world.
To meet this situation. the
United States is now rapidly
building up its armed forces.
So are other free countries.
We are doing this because we
must. The Soviet Union and
its satellites have very large
military forces ready for action.
The Soviet Union has a growing
stock Of atomic bombs. The ag-
greSSion in Korea has shown
that Communist Imperialism
will resort to open warfare to
gain its ends.
In these circumstances, we
must have strong military de-
lenses and We are building them.
Gen. Eisenhower has Just
given me an encouraging report
OF the progress that is being
made under his command in Eu-
rope. Serious difficulties still re-
main, and they will require
vigorous effort from us and from
our allies. But the free nations
OF Europe are creating effective
defenses. AS a result of Gen.
Eisenhower's visit, arrangements
are being made to speed up the
training and equipment of the
combined defense forces in Eu-
rope.
We shall continue to build
strong defenses in Europe and in
other parts of the world-just
as long as that is necessary.
, Our own armed forces and
those Of our allies are essential
to the protection of freedom.
They are an essential part of
our efforts to prevent another
war. As they increase in size and
effectiveness. they make it plain
to an aggressor that he can have
no hope of quick and easy con-
quest. AS the Kremlin comes to
see that its aggressive policies
cannot pay off, it may abandon
them and join in reasonable
settlements of world problems.
This build-up of the defenses
OF the free world is one way to
security and peace. AS things
now stand, it is the only way
open to us.
But there is another way to
security and peace-a way we
would much prefer to take. We
would prefer to see the nations
cut down their armed forces on
a balanced basis that would be
fair to all. That is the way we
hoped the world would follow
six years ago. when we helped to
set up the United Nations. And
it is what we are still working
for-an internationl order with
out the burden Of tremendous
ornaments.
Way of Security and Peace.
1t may seem strange to talk
about reducing armed forces and
armamentS when We are working
SO hard to build up our military
strength. But there is nothing
inconsistent about these two
things. Both have the same aim
the aim of security and peace.
If We can't get security and
peace one way, We must get it
the other way.
The way of reducing arma-
mentS-the way we prefer-can
be undertaken only if there is
a workable international system
which makes reduction possible
without endangering the secu-
rlty of any nation. No country
can afford to reduce it's defenses
unless it is sure the other fellow
is reducing his at the same time.
To reduce armaments, therefore,
We must have. first of all, safe
and fair procedure.
Three weeks ago, in a speech
in North Carolina, said that
we are willing, as we have al
ways been, to sit down IN the
United Nations with the Soviet
Union, and all the other coun-
tries concerned, and work to-
gether for lessening the burden
of armaments. The proposal
we have announced today, along
with France and Great Britain,
offers a practical way to do just
that
This proposal is in the nature
of a fresh approach. 1t has
been very carefully prepared,
and we believe it is an improve
ment over previous approaches.
If it is accepted, it will open a
way to reduce ornaments anG