Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-10-16

NN0Na
winter. It seems a long time
ago. Our men were fighting
their way up a valley whose
name none Of you will remem-
ber-unless you happen to be one
Of them. The Liri Valley, it was
called. 1t was a place Of mud
and blood.
/ served through the war as
personal assistant to the Secre-
tary Of the Navy. Frank Knox
And what I saw and experienced
there in the Liri Valley at that
time was nothing very out Of
the ordinary-as war goes and
as / saw it in the Pacific and
Europe. ! mention it now only
because ] think it was there
decided that after the war
would do what I could to help
In rnankind's eternal search for
peace.
For it was painfully clear,
there In the Liri Valley, that
civilization could not survive an
other world war. And that fact
became even more clear on the
day the first atomic bomb ex-
ploded over Hiroshima.
So after the war, served for
several years with the American
delegation in the early days of
the United Nations, both here
and abroad. And that, in turn,
led me into politics.
And now, IS years after that
decision in Italy. / come before
you tonight to talk a little about
the cause which means more to
all Of us than anything else the
cause of peace.
World in Arms Race
We are caught up today along
with the rest of the world, in an
arms race which threatens man.
kind with stark, merciless. bleak
catastrophe.
1t is not accident that the
instinct of survival which is
common to all men and all ma
tons is slowly but surely COM
pelling the most practical and
hard-headed statesmen to give
increasing heed to the preven-
ton and abolition of war In
this nuclear age, peace is no
longer merely a visionary ideal:
it has become an urgent and
practical necessity.
Yet we dare not tear down
and abandon armed deterrents
to war before we devise and Sc
cure other and more effective
guarantees of peace. Great and
law-abiding nations cannot
leave their security at the mercy
Of others.
We have learned that uni
lateral disarmament invites
rather than deters aggression.
So until there is worldwide
agreement on an effective system
Of balanced arms reductions with
adequate safeguards, we must
maintain our national defense
and the defenses of the free
world.
Wants Flexibility
I am not only opposed to uni
lateral disarmament, but / have
felt that we should not put too
many of our eggs in the atomic
and hydrogen basket. have felt
that we should try to maintain
sufficient balance, fiexibility and
mobility in our armed strength
that we will not be forced to
choose between appeasement and
massive retaliation, between too
little and too much, between
submission and holocaust.
Effective disarmament means
universal disarmament--an open
world, with no secret armies, no
secret weapons, and, in effect.
no military secrets. Responsible
statesmen do not risk the Sc
curity of their countries for
hopes which may prove illusory
or promises that are worthless.
But nations have become so
accustomed to living in the dark
that 1t is not easy for them to
learn to live in the light. And
all our efforts to work out any
safe, reliable. effective system
OF inspection to prevent evasion
Of arms agreements have been
blocked by the Soviet rulers.
They will not agree to let us
inspect them: We cannot agree
to disarm unless we can inspect
them. And the matter has been
deadlocked there for eleven
years.
Yet, If we are going to make
any progress, we must find
means of breaking out of this
deadly deadlock. We must come
forward with proposals which
viii bear witness to our desire
to move toward ana cot away
from disarmament.
Recalls H-Bomb Proposal
1t was with this hard, urgent
need in mind that I proposed last
spring that all countries cor
cerned halt further tests Of
large-size nuclear weapons -
what we usually call the H
bombs. And I proposed that the
United States take the lead in
establishing this world policy.
deliberately choose to make
this proposal as far removed as
possible from the political arena
II was made almost foui months
before the party conventions Il
was made before the American
society Of Newspaper Editors. It
was made without criticism Of
the present administrations
policy for H-bomb development
Others - and not - have
chosen TO make this proposal for
peace a political issue. But I
think this Is good. After all, the
issue is mankind's survival, ana
man should debate it, fully.
openly, and in democracy's
established processes