Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1961-09-07


and prosperous life shall be
maintained.
In these very concrete
terms Eisenhower sums up
the Vests obligation: We
must oppose what is morally
wrong in Communist actions
and we must be faithful to
our own moral obligations.
In the former Presidents
Judgment. President Kennedy
has handled well the recent
phases of the Berlin crisis.
He did well to send Vice
President johnson and 1,500
troops into Berlin as assur-
ance to all the inhabitants
of that haraSsed city.
Eisenhower. the soldier,
knows of course that in a
showdown these $500 addi-
tional troops would make no
practical difference in de-
Tending West Berlin. Actu-
ally. if the Allies had an
army Of 100000 men in Ber-
lin. they would first have to
fight their way out of Berlin
and back to their base of
supply before they could
turn and fight their way
back in.
y n
Eisenhower does not think
the United States should
seek negotiations with Khru-
shchev. After all, we are not
doing anything to disturb
the situation there; Khru-
shchev is. Therefore it is
Khrushchev who should seek.
negotiations if he has any,
thing constructive to propose.
However, with his in
grained sense of propriety,
Eisenhower has no desire to
interfere with President Ken
nedy's handling of the crisis.
The burden of responsibility
rests with Kennedy: the
American people must be
energetically united in facing
this crisis; they can find
unity only in loyal support
of the President. b, ,
Now. as never before, Ike
says with mounting empha-
sis, we must learn to put
first things first. That means
we must do everything which.
the President asks to meet
the crisis, including, If he.
finds it necessary. bigger
military expenditures. But,
for exactly that reason, Ell
senhower would like every
American to understand that.
he is utterly opposed to in
creased Government expend-
itureS on unessentials. First
things first! r..
And so at home. viewing
the Kennedy domestic pro-
gram, Eisenhower feels no
compulsion to treat his sue
cessor gently. ,
Eisenhower took from his
desk a long list Of new Gov
eminent expenditures, actual
and proposed, covering four
or five pages. He ran his eye
down the list. One item he
came to was water pollution.
His administration had been
spending $50 million a year
to attack this problem. The
Kennedy administration pro-
posed to double the outlay.
Water pollution, said the ex-
President. is a bad thing :
But with the essentials Of
our freedom at stake. we
must guard. against increas-
ing too much those eXpendi-
lures which do not directly
protect that freedom.
For another example, it Is
clearly not essential that we
should hurry to the moon.
To embark just now on a
moon program which might
ultimately cost $40 billion
seems to Eisenhower wholly
inappropriate.
4
What worries Eisenhower
is that massive Government
spending in all directions
will undermine the American
economy and thereby serve
the purpose and hope of our
enemy. The American people
are surely serious in their
determination on Berlin. The
way to show that they really
mean it is by practicing self
restraint and self -discipline
in their domestic economy.
Among the visitors who come
calling on him in Gettysburg
are many driven by compel
ling anxieties. The questions
most often asked him. he
said. are: Are we going to
WARP" and Are we going to
60 broke?"
One thing is certain:
Dwight D. Eisenhower will
never give a defeatist an
swer. The kind of faith ami
mating him refuses any
thought of inevitable doom
in any quarter. Free man
exists to cope with circum-
stances, not to be over
whelmed by them.
So, as to the American
economy, while he feels the
Kennedy administration ad-
vocates insupportable spend
ing programs, he would never
despair. An aroused public
opinion and vigorous polit-
ical opposition in and out of
Congress can halt excessive
spending. And a responsible
people, aware of how they
are challenged on the world
scene. will manage their own
affairs with prudence and
good sense. They will realize
that the health of the Ameri-
can economy must be main
tanned. not only for our own.
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