davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1953-01-07
New War Might Mean
Doom for Both Sides

For now we have entered the
atomic age and war has under
gone a chronological change
which makes it a very different
thing from what 1t used to, be.
War today between the Soviet
empire and the free nations
might dig the grave, not only
for our Stalinist opponents,
but of our own society, our
world as well as theirs.
This transformation has been
brought to pass in the seven
years from Alamogordo to
Eniwetok. It is only seven
years. but the new force of
atomic energy has turned the
world into a very different kind
of place.
Science and technology have
worked so fast that wars new
meaning may not yet be
grasped by all the peoples who
would be its victims; nor, per-
haps, by the rulers in the
Kremlin. But I know
what this development means
now. I know something Of
what it will come to mean in
the future.
We in this Government real
lied, even before the first sue
cessful atomic explosion. that
this new force spelled terrible
danger for all mankind unless
it were brought under inter-
national control. We prompt
ly advanced proposals in the
United Nations to take this
new source of energy out of
the arena Of national rivalries.
to make it impossible to use it
as a weapon of war. These
proposals. so pregnant with
benefit for all humanity, were
4 rebuffed by the rulers of the
Soviet Union.
We had no alternative, then,
but to press on. to probe the
secrets Of atomic power to the
uttermost of our capacity, to
maintain, if we could, our
initial superiority in the atomic
field
Evening star., 1953-01-07
u. N. Action Thworted
By Soviet Delegates

We were prepared. and so
were the other nations Of the
free world, to place our re-
lance on the machinery of the
United Nations to safeguard
peace. But before the United
Nations could give full express
sion to the concept of inter-
national security embodied in
the charter. it was essential
that the five permanent mem
bers of the Security Council
honor their solemn pledge to
cooperate to that end. This
the Soviet Union has not
done. -.
BY q series Of vigorous &C
tions. as varied as the nature
of the threat. the free nations
have successfully thwarted ag-
gression or the threat OF ag-
gression in many different
parts of the world.
Our country has led or sup
ported these collective meas
ures. The aid we have given
to people determined to act in
defense of their freedom has
often spelled the difference
between success and failure.
We all know what we have
done, and I shall not review in
detail the steps we have taken.
Each major step was q mile
post in the developing unity.
strength and resolute will OF
the free nations.
The supreme test, UP to this
point, of the will and deter
mination Of the free nations
came in Korea. when Com
munist forces invaded the Re-
public of Korea. a state that
was, in a special sense, under
the protection Of the United
Nations. The response was
immediate and resolute. Un-
der our military leadership
the free nations for the first
time took up arms. collectively,
to repel aggression.
Aggression was repelled,
driven back, punished. Since
that time Communist strategy
Evening star., 1953-01-07
Marshall Plan Helped
Europe Find New Hope

C4O40 409O W 40S0 b1k0
United States was sole possess
sor Of the atomic bomb. That
was a great deterrent and pro-
lection in itself.
But when the Soviets pro-
duced an atomic explosion-as
they were bound to do in time
we had to broaden the whole
basis of our strength. We had
to endeavor to keep our lead
In atomic weapons. We had
to strengthen our armed forces
generally and to enlarge our
productive capacity-our mo-
bllization base.
We have made great progress
in this task Of building strong
defenses. In the last 2ia years
we have more than doubled
our own defenses, and we have
helped to increase the protec-
ton Of nearly all the other
free nations.
In Europe, the grand design
of the Marshall plan permit
ted the people of Britain and
France and Italy and a half
dozen other countries, with
help from the United States,
to lift themselves from stagna-
ton and find again the path of
rising production, rising in
comes, rising standards of liv-
ing. Now the countries of
Europe are moving rapidly
toward political and economic
unity, changing the map of
Europe in more hopeful ways
than it has been changed for
500 years. The countries
OF Western Europe. including
the free republic of Germany,
are working together. and the
whole free world is the gamer.
In Asia and Africa, the eco
nomic and social problems are
different but no less urgent.
There hundreds of millions of
people are in ferment, explod-
ing into the Goth CEN
tury, thrusting toward equal
ity and independence and
Improvement in the hard con-
ditions of their lives.
In this situation we see the
meaning and the Importance of
the Point Four program,
through which we can share
our store of know-how and of
capital to help these people
develop their economies and
reShape their societies.
These are the measures we
must continue. This is the
path we must,follow. We must
go on. working with our free
associates, building an inter-
national structure for military
defense and for economic,
social and political progress.
We must be prepared for war,
because war may be thrust
upon us. But the stakes in our
search for peace are immensely
higher than they have ever
been before.
Evening star., 1953-01-07

FOLLOWING is a partial tert
OF President TrumGn's State
OF the Union message sent to
Congress today:
I have the honor to report
to the Congress on the state
of the Union.
This is the eighth such re-
port that, as President. have
been privileged to present to
you and to the country. On
previous occasions, it has been
my. custom to set forth pro-
posa1s for legislative action
in the coming year. But that
is not my purpose today. The
presentation of legislative
program falls properly to my
successor, not to me. and I
would not infringe upon his
responsibility to chart the for
ward course. Instead, I wish
to speak Of the course we have
been following the past eight
years and the position at
which we have arrived.
In just two weeks, Gen. Eli
senhower will be inaugurated
as President Of the United
States, and I will resume
mostly gladly-my place as q
private citizen of this repub-
lie. The presidency last
changed hands eight years
ago this coming April. That
was q tragic time: A time of
grieving for President Roose-
velt-the great and gallant
human being who had been
taken from us; a time of un-
relieved anxiety to his sue
cessor, thrust so suddenly into
the complexities and burdens
of the presidential Office.
Not so this time. This time
we see the normal transition
under our democratic system.
One President, at the con-
clusion of his term, steps back
to private life; his successor.
chosen by the people, begins
his tenure of the Office. And
the presidency of the United
States continues to function
without a moments break. -.
The President-elect is about
to take up the greatest bur-
dens. the most compelling re-
sponsibilities, given to any
man. And I, with you and all
Americans. wish for him all
possible success in undertake
ing the tasks that will so soon
be his.
Our times are not easy: they
are hard-aS hard and COM
plex, perhaps as any in our
history. Now, the President
not only has to carry on these
tasks in such a way that our
democracy may grow and
flourish and our people pros
per, but he also has to lead the
whole free world in overcom-
ing the Communist menace
and all this under the shadow
of the atomic bomb.
Evening star., 1953-01-07
Free World Accepts
American Leadership

We did not seek this strug-
gle, God forbid. We did our
utmost to avoid it. The
world is divided. not through
our fault or failure, but by
Soviet design. They, not we,
began the cold war. And be-
cause the free world saw this
happen-because men know
we made the effort and the
Soviet rulers spurned 1.-THE
free nations have accepted
leadership from our Republic,
in meeting and mastering the
Soviet offensive.
It seems to me especially i'm
portant that all Of us be clear.
in our own thinking. about the
nature of the threat we have
faced-and will face for a long
time to come. The measures
we have devised to meet it
take shape and pattern only
as we understand what we
were-and are-up against.
The Soviet Union occupies a
territory of 8 million square
miles. Beyond its borders,
east and west. are the nearly
S million square miles of the
satellite states-virtually in
corporated into the Soviet
Union-and Of China, now its
close partner. This vast land
mass contains an enormous
store Of natural resources suffi-
cient to support an economic
development comparable to
our own.
But it is also a world of
great man-made uniformities,
a world that bleeds its popu-
lation white to build huge mil
itary forces; o world in which
the police are everywhere and
Evening star., 1953-01-07
Silver Spring Firemen
Reflect Four Officers

-Four officers Of the Silver
Spring (Md.) Volunteer Fire De-
partment have been reelected
to serve during 1858. one man
for the 26th consecutive time.
He is Clay Davis. treasurer. Other
officers reelected were Page
Hopkins. president; John w.
Cole. chief, and James Wild.
mayer. secretary. Frank fBelair
was elected To lis first term %
financial secretary. 1.''s
Evening star., 1953-01-07
Atomic Bomb Progress
Exceeds Expectations

The progress Of scientific
experiment has outrun our
expectations. Atomic science
is in the full tide of Develop
ment;; the unfolding Of the
innermost secrets Of matter is
uninterrupted and irresistible.
Since Alamogordo we have de-
veloped atomic weapons with
many times the explosive force
OF the early models. and we
have produced them in sub
stantial quantities. And recent
ly. in the thermonuclear tests
at Eniwetok, we have entered
another stage in the world
shaking development of atomic
energy. From now on, man
moves into a new era of de-
structive power, capable Of
creating explosions Of q new
order Of magnitude, dwarf1ng
Evening star., 1953-01-07

the mushroom clouds Of Hiro.
shima and Nagasaki.
We have no reason to think
that the stage we have now
reached in the release of
atomic energy will be the last.
Indeed. the speed of our scien-
tif1c and technical progress
over the last seven years
shows no signs Of abating. We
are being hurried forward, in
our mastery Of the atom, from
one discovery to another, to-
ward yet unforeseeable peaks
Of destructive power.
The war of the future would
be one in which man could
extinguish millions of lives at
one blow. demolish the great
cities Of the world, wipe out
the cultural achievements Of
the past-and destroy the very
structure Of civilization that
has been slowly and painfully
built up through hundreds Of
generations.
It Is no wonder that some
people wish that we had never
succeeded in splitting the
atom. But atomic power, like
any other force of nature, is
not evil in itself. Properly
used, it is an instrumentality
for human betterment. AS a
source Of power, as a tool Of
scientific inquiry. it has un.
told possibilities. We are al.
ready making good progress
in the constructive use Of
atomic power. We could do
much more. if we were free to.
concentrate on it's peaceful
uses exclusively.
There is ahead of us a long
hard test of strength and
stamina, between the free
world and the Communist
domain-our politics and our
economy. our science and tech.
nology against the best they
can do-our liberty against
their slavery-our voluntary
concert of free nations against
their forced amalgam Of
peoples republics'-our stra.
tegy against their strategy
our nerve against their nerve.
Above all, this is a test of the
will and the steadiness of the
people of the United States.
There has been no challenge
like this in the history of our
republic. We are called upon
to rise to the occasion, as no
people before us.
Evening star., 1953-01-07

financing had ended, we have
held quite closely to the sound
standard that In times Of high
employment and high national
income, the Federal budget
should be balanced and the
debt reduced.
In July of 1850, we began
our rapid rearmament. and for
two years held very close to a
pay-as-we-go policy. But in
the current fiscal year and the
next, rising expenditures for
defense will substantially out
run receipts. This will pose
an immediate and serious
problem for the new Congress.
Now let me turn to another
question we faced at the wars
end. Would we take up again.
and carry forward, the great
projects Of social welfare-so
badly needed. so long over
due-that the New Deal had
introduced into our national
life? ..
This question, too, we have
answered.
We have demonstrated, up
to now. that our democracy
has not forgotten how to use
the Government to promote
the peoples welfare and secu-
rity.
We have had to fight hard
against those who would use
our resources for private
greed; we have met setbacks;
we have had to delay work
because of defense priorities,
but on the whole we can be
proud of our record in pro-
tecting our natural heritage,
and in using our resources for
the public good.
Here is another question we
Ildu W 4dCC dO VIC WdA . NAOoC.
Would we continue, in peace
as we'll as war, to promote
equality of opportunity for all
our citizens, seeking ways and
means to guarantee for all OF
them the full enjoyment Of
their civil rights? =.
We answered these questions
in q series of forward steps
at every level Of government
and In many spheres Of pri-
vate life. In our armed
forces, our civil service, our
universities, our railway trains.
the residential districts of our
cities-in stores and factories
all across the Nation-in the
polling booths as well-the
barriers are coming down.
Evening star., 1953-01-07
Economic Collapse
Averted After War

his is a nuge cnallenge 10
the human being who occupies
the presidential Office. But it
is not a challenge to him alone.
for in reality he cannot meet
it alone. The challenge runs
not Just to him but to his
whole administration, to the
Congress, to the country.
There have been misunder-
standings and controversies
these past eight years, but
through it all the President OF
the United States has had that
measure Of support and under
standing without which no
man could sustain the burdens
of the presidential Office, or
hope to discharge its RESPONSE
bilities.
Let me remind you of some
Of the things we have done
since I first assumed my duties
as President of the United
States.
I took the oath of Office on
April II, 1945. In May of that
same year the Nazis surren-
dered. Then. in July, that
great white flash of light,
man made at Alamogordo,
heralded swift and final vic
tory in World War II-and
opened the doorway to the
atomic age.
Consider some of the great
questions that were posed for
us by sudden. total victory in
World War II. Consider also
how well we as Nation have
responded.
Would the American econ
omy collapse. after the war?
That was one question. Would
there be another depression
here-a repetition of 1921 or
1929? The free world feared
and dreaded it. The Com
munists hoped for it and built
their policies upon that hope.
We answered that question
answered it with a re-
sounding mo-"
Our economy has grown tre-
mendouSly. Free enterprise
has hourished as never before.
Sixty-two million people are
now gainfully employed, COM
pared with 81 million seven
years ago. Private business
men and farmers have in
vested more than 5000 billion
in new plants and equipment
since the end of World War
II. Prices have risen further
than they should have done
but incomes. by and large,
have risen even more, so that
real living standards are now
considerably higher than seven
years ago.
Aided by sound Government
policies. our expanding econ
on1y has shown the strength
and flexibility for swift and
almost painless reconversion
from war to peace, in 1945 and
1946; for quick reaction and
recovery-well before Korea
from the beginning Of recess
sion in 1949. Above all, this
live and vital economy of ours
has now shown the remarkable
capacity to sustain a great
mobilization program for de-
tense. a vast outpouring of
aid to friends and allies sll
around the world-and still
to produce more goods and
services for peaceful use at
home THAN we have ever
known before.
Evening star., 1953-01-07
World Peace Remains
The Biggest Question

I come now to the most vital
question of all, the greatest Of
our concerns: Gould there be
built in the world a durable
structure of security. a lasting
peace for all the nations, or
would we drift, as after World
War I, toward another ter
rible disaster "a disaster
which this time might be the
holocaust Of atomic war?
That is still the overriding
question of our time. We can
not know The answer yet; per-
haps we will not know it
finally for a long time to come.
But day and night, these past
eight years, we have been
building for peace, searching
out the way that leads most
surely to security and freedom
and justice in the world for
us and all mankind.
This, above all else, has been
the task of our republic since
the end of World War II, and
our accomplishment so far
should give real pride to all
Americans. At the very least,
a total war has been averted.
each day up to this hour. And
at the most, we may already
have succeeded in establish
ing conditions which can keep
that kind of war from hap
pening. for as far ahead as
man can see.
The United States has sought
to use its pre-eminent posi-
tion Of power to help other
nations recover from the dam
age and dislocation of the war.
We held out a helping hand
to enable them to restore their
national lives and to regain
their positions as independent.
self-supporting members Of
the great family of nations.
This help was given without
any attempt on our part to
dominate or control any ma
ton. We did not want satel-
lites but partners.
The Soviet Union, however.
took exactly the opposite
course. The dominant idea
Of the Soviet regime is the
terrible conception that men
do not have rights, but live at
the mercy Of the state.
Inevitably this idea of theirs
and all the consequences
flowing from it-collided with
the efforts of free nations to
build a just and peaceful
W0rld
Evening star., 1953-01-07
Defense Cost Upset
Budget BoIoncinq

Financing World War II left
us with a tremendous public
debt, which reached $279 bill
lion at its peak in February,
1916.
Beginning In July. 1946,
when war and reconversion
Evening star., 1953-01-07
New President Needs
Support of Every One

I have lived a long time and
seen much happen in our
country. And I know out Of
my own experience, that we
can do what must be done. :.
The Nations business is
never finished. The basic
questions we have been deal
ing with, these eight years
past. present themselves anew.
That is the way Of our society.
Circumstances change and
current questions take on diff.
ferent forms. new complica.
tions, year by year. But un-
derneath, the great issues re.
main the same-prosperity,
welfare, human rights, effec-
tive democracy and, above all,
peace.
Now we turn to the inaugu-
raj of our new President. And
in the great work he is called
upon to do he will have need
for the support of a united
people, a confident people. with
firm faith in one another and
in our common cause. I pledge
him my support as a citizen of
our republic, and I ask you to
give him yours.
To him, to you, to all my fell
low citizens. I say. GodSpeed.
May God bless our country
and our cause.
Evening star., 1953-01-07

has seen fit to prolong the con-
flict. in spite Of honest efforts
by the United Nations to reach
an honorable truce.
It has been a bitter struggle
and it has cost us much in
brave lives and human suffer-
ing. but 1t has made it plain
that the free nations will fight
side by side, that they will not
succumb to aggression or in
timidation, one by one. This.
in the final analysis, is the
only way to halt the Com
munist drive to world power.
At the heart Of the free
worlds defense is the military
strength of the United States.
Evening star., 1953-01-07
Fear, Not Communism
Is Greatest Enemy

If we value our freedom and
our way of life and want to
see them safe. we must meet
the callenge and accept its
implications, stick to our guns
and carry out our policies.
Our resources are equal to
the task. We have the in
dustry, the skills, the basic
economic strength. Above all,
we have the vigor of free men
in a free society. We have
our liberties. And while we
keep them, while we retain
our democratic faith, the ulti-
mate advantage in this hard
competition lies with us, not
with the Communists.
But there are some thines
that could shift the advan-
tage to their side. One of the
things that could defeat us is
fear-fear of the task we face,
fear of adjusting to it, fear
that breeds more fear, sapping
our faith, corroding our l.b-
critics, turning citizen against
citizen, ally against ally. Fear
could snatch away the very
values we are striving to de-
fend.
Already the danger signals
have gone up. Already the
corrosive process has begun.
And every diminution of our
tolerance, each new act Of en-
forced conformity, each idle
accusation. each demonstra-
ton of hysteria-each new re-
strlctive LAWS one more sign
that we can lose the battle
against fear.
The Communists cannot de-
prive us Of our liberties-fear
can. The Communists cam
not stamp out our faith in hu-
man dignity-fear can. Fear
Is an enemy within ourselves,
and if we do not root it out,
1t may destroy the very way
OF life we are so anxious to
protect.
To beat back fear, we must
hold fast to our heritage as
freemen. We must renew our
confidence in one another, our
tolerance, our sense of being
neighbors. fellow citizens. We
must take our stand on the
Bill of Rights. The inquisi-
ton, the star chamber. have
no place in a free society.
Evening star., 1953-01-07
National Policy Seeks
Security and Proqress

It has been and must be
the free worlds purpose not
only to organize defenses
against aggression and sub
version, not only to build a
structure Of resistance and
salvation for the community
of nations outside the Iron
Curtain, but in addition to
give expression and oppor-
tunity to the forces Of growth
and progress in the free world;
to so organize and unity the
cooperative community Of
free men that we will not
crumble, but grow stronger over
the years, and the Soviet en-
pire, not the free world. will
eventually have to change its
ways or fall.
Our whole program Of ac-
ton to carry out this purpose
has been directed to meet two
requirements.
The first of these had to do
with security. Like the pio-
neers who settled this great
continent Of ours, we have had
to carry q musket while we
went about our peaceful busi-
ness. We realized that, If we
and our allies did not have
military strength to meet the
growing Soviet military threat.
we would never have the op-
portunity to carry forward our
efforts to build a peaceful
world of law and order-the
only environment in which our
free institutions could survive
and flourish. @
Did this mean we had to
drop everything else and
concentrate on armies and
weapons? OF course 1t did
not; side-by-side with this
urgent military requirement.
we had to continue to help
create conditions of economic
and social progress in the
world. This work had to be
carried forward alongside the
first, not only in order to meet
the non-military aspects Of
the Communist drive for
power, but also because this
creative effort toward human
progress is essential to bring
about the kind of world we as
free men want to live in.
These two requirements
military security and human
progreSs-are more closely
related in action than we
sometimes recognize. Mill
tary security depends upon a
strong economic underpinning
and a stable and hopeful po-
litical order; conversely, the
confidence that makes for
economic and political prog
ress does not thrive in areas
that are vulnerable to military
communist