Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-03-21
Mr.. Stussen and the Arms Race

Mr.. Stossen and the Arms Race
In the unprecedented new assignment
he has handed to Harold Stassen, President
Eisenhower has strikingly re-emphasized
his profoundly earnest desire-which Is
shared by the Nation as a whole-to make
this far safer and much happier world
through general disarmament and great in
ternational cooperative projects like his
atoms-for-peace plan.
Mr.. StaSSen, who now will begin winding
up his duties as Director of the Foreign
Operations Administration, will henceforth
have full cabinet rank as the Presidents
Special Assistant charged with the "reSponS-
Utility of developing . the broad studies,
Investigations and conclusions which will
become basic policy toward the question of
disarmament" In that capacity, retaining
his present membership in the National Sc
curity Council he will occupy the first post
of its kind in the history of our own or any
other country-a post dedicated exclusively
to the task of trying to figure out ways and
means, If such ways and means are really
possible. of ending what has shaped up into
incomparably the costlieSt and deadlieSt
arms race of all time.
AS made clear in his statement on the
matter, the President has been moved to
create the new post because of his long
standing deep concern" over the terrible
actualitieS and potentialities of this race.
He has been moved to do so, too, because of
the fact that Soviet intranSigence-Which
apparently is being displayed once again at
the current secret" f1ve-power diSarma-
ment talks in London-has rendered i'm
possible genuinely effective agreement on
the reduction and control of arms and
armed forces Of every kind, including prin-
cipally acknowledgement weapons and other
instruments of mass destruction. In Mr..
EiSenhower's words, there has been mo
progress and no clear cryStalliZation of
thinking on this subject" and so it will be
Mr. StaSSenS JOHN cooperation with
other agencies of our Government-to see
what can be done, assuming that anything
can be DONE to promote peace by breaking
the present deadlock.
Speaking for himself, Mr. Stassen has
accepted his potentially history making re-
sponsibility with a pledge to conduct "a
more thorough and penetrating study of dis
armament than has ever been made" In
effect, he has thus suggested-as has the
President himself-that the time has come
Ao1 d COluplctc dlSdl VI dill OUR pdSG
and present positions on the problem And
such reappraisal would seem to be very
much in order not merely because the
Kremlin appears to be adamant in its totally
unacceptable views on the subject, but also
because our own American views may need
to be modified and recaSt in terms of the
following fact: That there is now at least
a little reason to doubt, from the standpoint
of the mechanics of control, that there is
actually any possibility of establishing
fool-proof check against clandestine manu-
facture or surprise use of mass-destruction
weapons.
Here, probably, is the most important
problem that Mr.. Stassen will have to deal
with on his new assignment and obviously
there are no easy solutions But the PreSi-
dent, simply by the act of drafting him for
the job, has demonstrated before the whole
world that the United States is determined
to do everything possible to prevent the uni
versal cataclysm inherent in the current
uncontrolled situation.