Evening star., 1954-01-01
Enter 1854

As the past fades into history and new
year dawns, it Is customary to think and to
speak hopefully Of better things to come.
This was the mood Of John Foster Dulles
when in his recent talk to the National Press
Club, he said:
The coming year will be year for great
decision There lie ahead European unity,
possible recession Of the horror Of atomic
warfare and beginning of an ending of the
unnatural division Of Europe.
In Korea we look forward to the first year
of peace since 1949.
The problems are many and grievous.
but our hopes are high. We can. therefore.
in all honesty look forward to the happier New
Year, which wish you all
In all honesty, we should also recognize
that there is another side None of these good
things envisioned by the Secretary Of State may
come to pass Instead, 1854 may prove to be
merely another year Of Illustration and disap-
pointment, another year in which men will
prove even less competent than in the past to
arrange their own destiny
But this is not the day to dwell upon the
prospect Of Illustration and disappointed hopes
For there are powerful forces at work in this
world Of ourS-forces which may compel us to
move forward in spite of ourselves, and we
should give them full opportunity to come into
play.
The greatest Of these, perhaps, is the
spreading realization that the passage of mere
decade in the whole Of time has severely mar
rowed our range of choice. Ten, twenty thirty
years ago, the human race was not faced on
January with what might truly be called "a
year for great decision" But on this first day
scf 1854 we are close to- If not on, the threshold
Of a literally decisive year.
. It Is not wise to be too dogmatic about this
question. Perhaps we, meaning the human
race, can temporize little longer. But IL any
thing is certain, it is that the time is fast
approaching when mankind must either reverse
the tide which has been running so strongly
IN the direction Of atomic war, or accept the
utter ruin of those things which we think Of
as constituting the very essence of civilization.
There are reasons-perhaps not very tangi-
BILE reasons, but still reasons-to think that
1854 will bring definite turning of this tide.
One of these is the halting, II not the de-
feat, of aggression in Korea. Another is the
Presidents proposal for talks aimed at the
peaceful utilization Of atomic energy, and the
response of the Soviet Union to that proposal.
Still another is the mounting frightfulness Of
the weapons of mass deStructicn-a frightful-
ness which is understood as well by the
Russians as by us.
There is nothing final or conclusive about
any Of these things. All Of the hopes which
they suggest may be wiped out In the bursting
of single bomb. But as long as hope remains
alive, 1854 will be year of opportunity for all
of us. It will be year in which we can strive
to maintain our own unity. 1t will be year
in which we can resist the temptation to do
the things which will shatter the Western
alliance It will be year in which, without
putting our own security in jeopardy, we can
try to convince all other nations that we are
not threatening their security. These are some
of the opportunities which, IL wisely acted upon,
may make 1854 year for great decision. Our
highest duty to ourselves is to neglect none OF
them.