Evening star., 1955-07-14
By WILLIAM l.. RYAN
LR stan Writer

UP, stan Writer
Whatever its ultimate aims,
the Kremlin at Geneva unques-
tionably seeks a relaxation Of
world tensions.
The most suspicious regime
in the world-one that still de-
fines pacifism as "an imperial
istic trick"-goes to the Big Four
conference seeking trust among
nations.
President Eisenhower has
pinned down the Geneva di-
lemma: There can be no trust
without disarmament, but there
can be no disarmament without
trust.
The Soviet hierarchy is not
likely to renounce the aims Of
world communism. Probably the
Kremlin has decided the only
safe course is a waiting course.
Yet the longer the Kremlin
waits, the more time there is for
evolutionary forces in the U. S.
S. r. to take their toll.
Ten, or even five, years of
world political peace would have
"a profound effect on Soviet de-
yelopment. The Kremlin lead
ers who dreamed with Lenin and
Stain of dominating the world
with their ideas are well along
in years now. In the natural
order of things, many of them
will give way to younger men
with no memory Of violent revo-
luton. They will be at the helm
of a state vastly changed from
the one Bolshevism snatched
from the womb of a capitalist
revolution.
The Vital Question
The question before Western
statesmen at Geneva will be not
whether Soviet leaders have re-
formed, but whether the Soviet
people will reform the leaders.
Despite the relaxation and air
of friendliness recently in Mos
COW, the leaders still feed the
people a diet mixed with hope
and fear.
Soviet leaders attended the
United States Embassay Fourth
of July party and were amiable.
But just the day before, Soviet
Aviation Day, Moscow radios
home service was telling the peo-
pie "reactionary imperialist cir
cles" still want tension to fan
an arms race in preparation for
"a new war against the Soviet
Union and the peoples democ-
racies."
Under these conditions. the
Communist Party and Soviet
government are taking all essen
tial measures to insure reliable
security for our motherland and
to strengthen its armed forces"
the broadcast said.
At the Fourth of July party,
Communist boss Nikita s. Khru-
shchev praised Mr.. Eisenhower's
remarks on the Big -Four meet
ing. That was for foreign con-
sumption. For the home folk,
Pravda said, the day before:
"We cannot forget the aggres-
sive circles of capitalist coun-
tries, above all the United States
of America, are setting up mill
tary blocs, encircling states of
the Socialist camp with military
bases and threatening to launch
a new world war"
Once again, the emphasis was
on building heavy industry to
shore up the defense might" of
the Soviet motherland.
Dangerous Truth
One possible conclusion is this:
No matter how anxious the
hierarchy might be to settle
tensions. it cannot go so far as
to tell its people the danger of
aggression against them is abat-
ing That would remove a prime
excuse for the all-out heavy in
dustry program and give impetus
to the Soviet public's demand
for more and better consumer
goods.
This sort of program also
raises the question whether the
United States Is the Soviet Un-
ions only worry. Undoubtedly
the Kremlin has been casting
some speculative glances to the
east and south-first because
there is latent danger of war
in Asia, and second because
China promises one day to be-
come a nightly powerful neigh
Dor nation sharing a long from
tier with the U. S. S. r.
The role played by Red China
in Moscow's developing attitude
on world tensions can easily be
underestimated. I recall that
when I was in Moscow, months
after the post-Stalin collective
government was established, the
Soviet censor was extremely