The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1955-07-21
THE GREAT
GAME OF
POLITICS
BY FRANK II. KENT
The General At Geneva

With the President now actually
participating in the so-called sum
nit conference" politicians both
those who like him and those who
do not arc somewhat at a loss. The
potentialitieS are so vast and so
unpredictable that they dwarf all
ordinary political issues to micro
scopic size and make personal at
tacks such as have been emanating
from the rather ridiculous Senator
Kefauver and others seem particu-
larly stupid and absurd.
For it does seem that this is the
most mOmentous meeting of states
men or rulers ever held anywhere
at any time. 1t is, of course, pos
sible that through agreement and
good will, some step will be taken
by the Big Four" that will be
recognized as definitely in the
direction of peace and the tighten
ing of the crushing armament bur-
den which bears so heavily on us
all We have been clearly warned
not to expect too much But even a
small move in the right direction
will have tremendously bene-
fetal effect 1t would raise the
whole world morale. However little
the step, if it should be in the right
direction and not just propaganda,
it would have, throughout the
world, an extraordinary stimu-
lating and healthful response.
Certainly it is reasonable to as
sumo that every one of the four
principals in this extraordinary
conference Eisenhower for the
United States, Eden for Great
Britain, Bulganin for Russia and
Faure for France - personally
wants it to be a success, personally
lis anxious for it to fulfill the hopes
of the masses of the people in his
own country and in all countries. 1t
is almost inconceivable that any
one of the four is so cOngenitally
evil and unbalanced as to want to
plunge the world into the worst of
all wars from which no nation
could survive and as a result of
which the human race itself would
be destroyed. The fact of course,
is that for every one of these four
Representatives it will be of i'm
menSe personal advantage for this
conference to succeed. 1t will sta
billie the government of every one
of them, politically strengthen him
immensely, add vastly to his pres
tige and power.
Looking at it from the most
selfish and cynical point of view,
there is nothing for any of these
men in having this conference a
failure, everything in having it
succeed, no matter who is repson-
sible for its success. Because of
these practical facts, the Essen
hover optimism seems we'll
founded and the outlook brighter
than had been hoped. At any rate
the pcssimists in both parties,
while spreading a good deal of
gloom, do not at the moment dare
to 90 out on the limb to the point
of predicting an all-arOund failure
at Geneva. To be sure, there are
some complicated and extremely
difficult problems to be solved. To
be sure, there are some concessions
that must be made which seems
impossible to make and no one has
all the answers.
Also, it is more true than most
people realize that one of the
greatest blocks to the success of
this great conference is language.
So few EngliShmen, Americans and
Frenchmen speak Russian. So few
of those who do speak Russian
speak it we'll Likewise it is true
that not many Russians speak
either English or French well.
Language is on an occasion such
as this a great barrier. 1t makes
complete understanding very diff
ficult, indeed; it makes some mis-
understanding easy and almost in
evitable. The President is exceed
ingly fortunate in having as his in
terpreter and adviser Ambassador
Charles E. Bohlen, who has repre-
scented us in Russia for the past
three years. Probably Mr.. Bohlen
speaks, reads and understands
Russian better than any other man
in this country. He is able, expert
enped and truStwOrthV With his