Evening star., 1955-07-16
President Talks to Nation
On Eve of Big 4 Session


Following Is the tert OF the
address to the Nation b. Pres
ident Eisenhower just before
his departure for the Big -Four
Conference at Genera last
night:
Good evening, friends. With
lin q matter Of minutes. I shall
leave the United States on q trip
that, in some respects, Is unprec-
ledented for q President OF the
United States.
other Presidents have. left the
continental limits Of our country
for the purpose Of discharging
their duties as Commander in
Chief In time Of war or to par
lticipate In conferences at the
lend Of the war and to provide
flor the measures that would
bring about q peace.
But now. for the first time. q
president goes to engage in a
conference with heads Of other
governments In order to pre-
vent warm order to see wheth-
ler in this time Of stress and
strain, we cannot devise meas
lures that will keep from us this
terrible scourge that afflicts
mankind.
Now, manifestly. there are
many difficulties In the way Of
q President going abroad for a
period, particularly while Con-
gress is In session. He has many
constitutional duties. He must
perform them. / am able to 60
on this trip only because Of the
generous cooperation Of the
political leaders In Congress
LOT both parties who have ar
ranged their work so that my
absence for q period win not in
lterfere with the business Of the
Government.
Due Back July "a
On my part, I promised them
that by q week from Sunday, on
July "a, I shall be back here
ready to carry on my accustomed
duties.
Now. it is manifest that in a
period such as this-the time
II am able to spend abroad-we
can not settle the details Of the
many problems that affiict the
world. But, Of course, / go for
la very serious purpose. This
purpose is to attempt. with my
colleagues. to change the spirit
that has characterized the inter-
governmental relationships Of
the world during the past 10
years.
Now let us think for a moment
about this purpose. Let us just
enumerate a few of the problems
that plague the world: The
problem of ornaments and the
burdens that the people are
forced to carry because Of the
necessity for these armaments.
The problem Of the captive
states, once proud people. that
are not allowed their own form
of government to be freely chosen
by themselves and under indi-
divuals freely elected by them
selves.
The problem Of divided coun-
tries. people who are related to
each other by blood kinship and
divided by force of arms into two
camps that are indeed expected
to be hostile to each other. Then
we have the problem of inter-
national interference in the in
lternal affairs Of free govern
Iments. bringing about a situation
that leads to subversion, difii-
Iculties and recriminations with
in a country, sometimes even
revolution.
Problems Compounded
These problems are made all
the more serious by complica-
Itions between governments. These
problems Of which ] speak have
often arisen as the aftermath
Of wars and conflicts. But gov
ernments are divided also by
differing ambitions, by differing
ideologies, by mutual distrust
and the alarms that these create.
And because Of the alarms, they
build up ornaments and place
their trust for peace and pro-
lection in those ornaments, and
these ornaments create greater
alarm, and so we have q spiral
of growing uneasiness. suspicion
and distrust.
That is the kind of thing that
the world faces today.
Now, for these things there is
no easy settlement. In the brief
time that this conference can