Evening star., 1955-07-24

tween these painful alternatives:
Either they can gradually change
their society in a fundamental way.
submit to a genuine disarmament
system, and open the way to a real
relaxation of world tension
Or they can go on with the in
creasingly expensive effort to match
the United States in the arms race,
which gets them nowhere as long as
the United States does not relax.
Whichever alternative the Soviet
Union selects-and, of course, it
has months and perhaps years to
decide-President Eisenhower has
repeated the United States assur-
ances, in the strongest terms, that
Moscow need have no fear that
this country will start World War
III. It was quite in keeping
with Geneva's cordial atmosphere
that Soviet Premier Nikolai Bull
ganin said he took Mr.. Eisenhower's
word for it.
It is the Western estimate that,
the United States can better af-'
ford a continuation of the arms
race than the Soviet Union, which
has ignored its vast internal eco
nomic problems since Lenin's time.
With this in mind, President
Eisenhower warned the Kremlin of
f1cials in his dramatic Thursday
statement that:
"The American people are de-
termined to maintain and it nee
eSsary increase =. (their) Z.
armed strength for as long a
period as is necessary to safeguard
peace and to maintain our security"
Emphasis supplied.)
There was also the danger, of
course. that the rest of the world
would look on Mr.. Eisenhower's
proposal as n'ill-conceived, unreal
istic attempt to stampede the
Kremlin dictators. or q cynical
propaganda move.
Aftermath in Washington
Actually. whether the Geneva
conference does indeed become the
beginning of a long drive to end
the cold war on free world terms.
without World War III, depends
not only on the reaction of the
Soviet leaders to Mr.. Eisenhower's
proposals, but also on the Presi-
dents own follow-through when he
returns to Washington.
Maintaining or increasing Amer
ica's armed strength, as the Presi-
Gent has promised to do if neces-
sary, involves some budget expen-
ditures which neither his tradition
ally tight listed Republicans nor the
slightly more liberal Democrats are
anxious to tackle, especially with
the 1856 election year so close at
hand.
There are some things, of course,
which the President can do without
new congressional help. Yesterday
the Air Force announced it was
stepping up production Of a new
jet fighter which travels twice the
speed Of sound. Earlier a IS per
cent increase had been ordered in
output of B-52 hydrogen bombers.
Red Cool Remoins
Soviet Premier Bulganin, Com
munist Party Boss Nikita S. Khrush-
chev, Defense Minister Georgi Zhu-
kov and the rest of the Kremlin
leaders came to Geneva to slow
down the arms race until they are
better able to resume their pro-
gram Of expansion. No one in the
West credited them with abandon
ing the long-range goal Of COM
munizing the world.
But the West did take Marshal
Bulganin at his word when he said
in Moscow just before the Geneva
conference: I'VE wish that the
enormous funds now being spent for
war preparations could be spent for
housing, for schools, for science. for
culture and peaceful development" !"
The key to Soviet success at
Geneva will be the American reac-
tion--in Congress and in the vot-
ing precincts across the land-to
their sweet talk. If we relax, or
If the Kremlin can somehow ease
the Illustration they now appar-
emily feel, the vision of genuine
peace could dip below the horizon
again. It is in preventing re-
Taxation of effort In the United
States that President Eisenhower,
with his deep reservoir of prestige
among the American rank and file.
can be most effective.