“MAY EMBARRASS ADMINISTRATION”

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26039, 16 February 1950, Page 5

“MAY EMBARRASS ADMINISTRATION”

The . correspondent adds: “Mr Churchill’s proposals, in view of these circumstances, may well embarrass the Administration, since it will revive Congressional pleas for a settlement with, or even appeasement of, the Soviet Union. Mr Truman’s and Mr Acheson’s statements last week obviously were intended to prevent popular and political support of any proposal to end the armament race.

“Such a development would force the hand of the Administration, which is at present reviewing the whole field of the United States policy, particularly in Asia. “in spite of Mr Acheson’s call for calm nerves, there have been many signs of uneasiness in the last few

days. They stem from three basic fears: —

“(1) The fear that the Soviet-Ameri-can armaments race must end, as all other armament races have ended, in war.

“(2) The fear that Russia, largely as a result of the work of spies, soon will have the hydrogen bomb itself.

“(3) The fear that the United States is exceptionally vulnerable to such an attack because of its present unpreparedness and concentration of big cities.

“In these circumstances almost any proposal to end the armaments race is assured of sensational front-page treatment in the press, whether it comes from Mr Churchill, Professor Einstein, or any other widely known world figure.”