Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-08-02

tCtcVtoAVt uuufcoo w VICE
delivered today IN Moscow:
I first want to express my
appreciation to the government
of the USSR for giving me an
opportunity to speak to the
people of this country by radio
and television, just as Mr..
Kozlov and Mr.. Mikoyan spoke
TO the American people on their
visits to my country.
I realize that nine days is
much too brief q time for a
visitor to spend in this great
country. But in that period /
have had the opportunity of
having extended and frank dis
cussions with Mr.. Khrushchev
and other leaders Of your gov
eminent. I have visited Lenin-
grad, Siberia and the Urals,
and I have had the privilege
of meeting thousands Of people
In all walks of life.
What I would like to do to-
night is to answer for the mil
lions of people who are listen
ing to this program some of the
questions which were asked me
over and over again on this trip
so that you may get a true
picture of the policies of the
American Government and
people.
y Praises Country
I should like to begin by
answering a question which I
often heard:
What are my impressions of
this country and its people?
While my visit was brief, ]
did have a chance in addition
to visiting the great capital of
Moscow to see the beauty and
culture of Leningrad. whose
people won the admiration of
the world for their heroic de-
Tense of their city during the
war; to SAVIOR the inspiring pio-
neer spirit of Novosibirisk, to
witness first hand the thriving
productivity of the factory
complex of the Urals. I was
greatly impressed by the eff
cent, modern equipment of
your factories, the magnificent
ballets in Leningrad and Novo-
sibirsk. by the competitive drive
for progress which is evident on
every side.
But most of all I was imp
ressed by your people: After all,
the greatest asset of a country
is not It's forests. its factories
or its farms, but its people.
These are some of the char
acteristics of Soviet people
which I particularly noticed on
this trip:
First, their capacity for hard
work, their vitality: Their in
tense desire to improve their
lot, to get ahead is evident
everywhere.
"YOu Are Like Us"
There was another feature
about the Soviet people which
/ noticed that may surprise you
and that is in how many res
pects you are like us Americans.
We are similar in our love of
humor-we laugh at the same
Jokes. The people of your from
tier East have much the same
spirit of what was our frontier
West. We have a common love
Of sport: the name of Vastly
Kuznetsov, your great decath-
lon champion. is known in the
United States as well as it is
in the Soviet Union. We are
both a hospitable, friendly peo-
pie. When we meet each other
we tend to like each other
personally, as so many of our
soldiers who met during the last
great war can attest.
Above all, the American peo-
pie and the Soviet people are as
one in their desire for peace.
And our desire for peace is not
because either of us is weak.
On the contrary each of us is
strong and respects the
strength the other possesses.
This means that if we are
to have peace it must be a just
peace basesd on mutual res
3pect rather than the peace Of
Surrender or dictation by either
-side. Putting it bluntly, both Of
Jour peoples want peace but
nboth of us also possess great
strength and much as we want
peace neither of us can or will
tolerate being pushed around.
Tells of Surprise
That is why I was so sur
prised at a question that was
asked me by a worker in the
new scientific center outside of
Novosibirski. My heart went out
to him as he told me that he
had been wounded in World
War II and that his mother and
father had been killed by
bombs. But than he said, II
don't believe you when you say
America is for peace"
Nothing he could have said
could have astonished or sad
dened me more.
And so to the millions of So
Wet people who suffered or lost
their loved ones in war, and to
all of those in this great coun-
try who want peace, / say to-
night, if you doubt that the
American Government end the
American people are as dedi-
Gated to peace as you are, look
at our record, examine our pol
icies, and you can reach only
one conclusion-only aggressor
nations have anything to fear
from the United States OF
America.
We have fought in two world
wars and have demanded and
received not an acre of territory
or a cent in reparations. We
1.ainvy thu 1,ir1oart cfoNIorI +