Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-04-04


too soon. Like Stain. Khru-
shchev wants world power FIRST. |
He leaves no doubt how he /
wants to use that power.
Whether they like it or
not" he once blurted out. 1.-THE
capitalists must die. Wen
contribute what We can"
This is a clear challenge for
the West to ponder in advance
of a summit meeting.
Does all this mean many
years of ceaseless cold war?
That may depend upon how
long Khrushchev lasts at his
dizzy height.
Communists know the job
of being a Red nations party
boss is gigantic. The premier's
job is almost equally taxing.
Khrushchev himself once de-
creed it was impossible for one
man to do both well, and sep
arated the posts in the satellite
countries. He does seem to-
have enormous energy. but he
may lack the bounce Of two
years ago, when he snorted to
correspondents trying to keep
up with one Of his rocket-like
tours:
Life is short. Live it =. !
tired? OF course not. I'm a.
strong man" y
Khrushchev will be SIS in two
weeks. Doctors have warned
him to ease up on liquor and
watch his diet. AS a result
the two-flsted drinker is pretty
much on the wagon, and sud-
denly is intent in making the
whole population lay off the
stuff.
He lives in luxury in Mos
COW. clucked over by his stout,
motherly wife, admired by his
grandchildren. If Khrushchev
has a soft side, it is his de-
votion to his daughter, wife
of a Moscow editor, and his
son Sergei, an electrical engi-
neer. Another son died in
World War II.
When the pace gets rough,
Khrushchev rests at a 30-room
white villa, showplace of a
Black Sea resort. The grand
son of peasant slaves has come
a long way since he joined the
Bolsheviks 40 years ago.
So Khrushchev may live for
years. But his generation of
militant Bolshevik veterans is
dying out. Khrushchev has
neither the power nor the per-
Sonality to be a Stain. Oppo-
sition, both from diehard Boil
sheviks and the rising genera
ton, is easily detachable. Still,
Khrushchev seems intent upon
producing a robot population.
He is revising Marxism and
creating new dogma to prepare
the country for his version of
communism.
He may be miscalculating.
Changing Generation
The new Soviet generation is
not the frightened mass Stain
dominated. Social development,
a sense of pride in industrial
and scientific achievement, a
hint of apology for the back
ward state of the consumer
economy, all are preSSures on
Khrushchev. Thousands of
/ technocrats, engineers, scien-
fists, professional people and
even many party members will
likely resist being transformed
/ into robots.
Party leaders worry about
signs of doubt among Soviet
youth.
More than anything else, edu-
Gated Russians, feeling them
selves on the verge of an era
of unlimited promise, fear the
Specter of war. This, too. must
affect KhruShchev's drive to
impose communism elsewhere.
With Khrushchev as top man,
there may be little relaxation
of the tensions communism uses
to advance its doctrine. Time
can change that, and when the
West negotiates. it buys time.
Some day Soviet people may
have an abundance of food
, clothing. housing and security
Some day RusSia's population
may be mature enough to force
its leaders to abandon the goal
of world domination. If that
, time comes, the world can hope
, for lasting peace.
But it's unlikely Nikita Khru-
| shchev will live to see the day,