Evening star., 1953-11-21
DeodIier and DeodIier

Although the General AsSembly's Political
Committee has just voted 81 to for an intensi-
fled effort to bride the arms race, nothing
could seem less likely than that the United
Nations will be able to make any near-future
progress toward an agreement on disarma-
ment. This Is so for the very simple reason that
the men of the Kremlin do not want such an
agreement unless it is watered down to point
where it could not possibly result in effective
international control of atomic weapons, the
hydrogen bomb and other instruments of mass
destruction.
In concert with Britain and France, and
backed by the overwhelming majority of. the
U. N, the United States has long since COM
mitted itself to disarmament plan with real
teeth in it. This plan, designed to reduce and
regulate armed forces and arms of every kind,
would do the following: ID Provide for ex-
haustive on-the-scene inventories of armies,
navies, air forces arsenals, etc., in every major
country; (2) establish control machinery un-
hampered by the Big Five veto, and 90 guar
antee the strictest kind of continuous inter-
national verif1cation and policing to guard
against violations and evasions by any nation
tempted to prepare in the dark for sudden,
surprise war of aggression.
Speaking before the Political Committee,
Henry Cabot Lodge, jr., our chief delegate to
the U. NJ, has affirmed that the United States
is as ready and anxious as ever to cooperate in
setting up a system of this sort. More than
that, recalling President Eisenhower'S offer Of
last April, he has emphasized that our country
will be prepared-when and if such system is
agreed upon-to devote disarmament savings
to the task of promoting economic and social
betterment in the worlds underdeveloped areas.
Unfortunately, however, Andrei Vishinsky has
replied with bitter and rather venomous
speeches indicating that the Kremlin continues
to be as adamant today as it was before Stalin'S
death in insisting on counterproposals that
would make genuine control impossible.
Thus, besides demanding an immediate ban
on mass substitution weapons ban that
would become effective prior to the formation
of working regulatory system-tnese counter
proposals would place supervisory operations
within the framework of the Security Council.
In other words the Russians would first have
the ban proclaimed by the U. N, and then on
some indefinite date in the future would conde-
scend to join in a control-and- policing arrange
ment that would permit them at any time to
veto control and policing AS Mr.. Lodge has said
this would be prohibition "by mere declaration
instead of as the result of an enforceable sys-
tenn OF international CONTROL" and quite obvi-
ously it would be a completely absurd and
fraudulent form of disarmament
Actually to quote Mr.. Lodge again, the
establishment of adequate safeguards for dis
armament by the free world and the Russians
"can only take place when the Iron Curtain
no longer exists, so that we will know what
they are doing as they can know what we are
do1ng"-a development that calls for basic
change OF mind and attitude" by the men of
the Krenlin. But such change as indicated
by their November 8 note to the West and by
the uncompromising and virulent tone of the
Vishinsky speeches, is hardly to be hoped for.
at the moment. Stalin's death, in short, has
not put an end to Stalinism, and that is why
the outlook for stopping the ornaments race
which is growing deadlier and deadlier with
each passing day-seems as bleak as ever.