Show t I a a B iw President T Talks Everyone Talks Everyone Wants to Get in on the Act Ad AdBy Dy By Analyst anti anil Commentator The WASHINGTON The colonel was talking to the general It was teas obvious that the general was as bored as his secretary looked her interrupted dictation on her crossed knees which she uncrossed as the generals general's eyes wandered The colonel was the army's No 1 I specialist on the super-gadget super which was about to revolutionize warfare as the colonel could and amI would if he got a chance tell you The colonel clonel knew the history of the R A gadgets gadget's development development development develop develop- ment fro from m its crude semi semi gismo gismo gismo gis- gis mo stage when primitive as it was it c caused a use d the entire reorganization reorganization re or of the thet t tactics act i c s of the k knights n I g h t sunder under Otto the g great rea t. t first King of the G Germans e r man s. s He lie liec HeI I I c could o 0 U l 1 d trace its evolution d down o 0 w n through the days of delicate interplay interplay inter inter- play when it broke up the Empire of Charlemagne and on down to the fall of Stalingrad The colonel had brought the general general general gen gen- eral about up to the third Punic war and the secretary was wig wig- gling The general himself had begun to fumble with form The colonel realized that he was rapidly losing his audience So he raised his voice so that file clerks in the next office stopped tiling filing their fingernails and looked up tip By the way General he remarked confidentially Did you know that Im I'm writing the Presidents President's next speech The one he delivers to the Inter Plane InterPlanetary InterPlanetary tary Plane association The generals general's secretary perked up the general raised an eyebrow eyebrow eyebrow eye eye- brow the colonel smiled At about the same hour over in the Metropolitan club a very dapper young man from the division division division divi divi- sion of the Far Near and Middle East and expert in ethic economic pathology was sipping a thin soda scotch which his chief had just ordered Isis His chief was bored By the way Chief he said ina in ina ina a whisper so loud that even the waiters stopped looking respectful and listened Im writing the Presidents President's next speech at the InterPlanetary Inter- Inter P Planetary l I a n net e t a 8 r y associations association's confer confer- ence In four other places four other young experts were telling their bosses the same thing All were perfectly honest all were believed believed- and in 20 minutes or so stenographers stenographers stenographers raphers clerks messengers waiters waiters wait wait- ers and cab drivers were pointing out the guy who writes the Presidents President's Presidents President's Presidents President's dents dent's speeches All this tills has bas been going on I l suppose in world capitals since before somebody else thought he bad had codified the code of Slam lIam What really happens Is this The President calls in one of his more literary secretaries all of them are literate but not all literary literary literary liter liter- ary some those some those whose duties are conversing with politicians dont don't have to be too literate The President President President dent says to the literary one Bill in this speech I have to write for the Planetary Inter-Planetary conference conference conference con con- ference Im I'm going to mention the super-gadget super and I want to touch on the current economic and social situation in also there are some erosion statistics I need and some data on the problems which arose as a result of the Whiskey Rebellion Okeh Chief says the literary literary literary liter liter- ary secretary and on his way back to his office he begins classifying according to departments depart depart- departments ments the people he thinks may have the facts or the people who will know who knows somebody who has the facts lIe He either phones or dictates a brief memo to these people requesting not more than one page from each eachon on the subjects indicated pleased Highly young and old men on receipt of the memo or phone call begin leafing through their research libraries and dictating dictating dictating dic dic- tating to their secretaries In two days a number of lar large e packages are delivered to the White House via yia special messengers The literary literary liter liter- ary secretary curses and sets to work boiling down a page 24 thesis on the progression of tau-mute tau from from the Sanskrit et elia ella to a sentence sentence sentence sen sen- tence and a half hail which he has his stenographer type into the rou rough h draft of the speech which the President has dictated and sent sert to him for the purpose Franklin Roosevelt became angered angered angered an an- because columnists persisted in revealing which confidential adviser wrote the last speech he delivered whatever it was that he once showed us the actual draft of ofa a speech he had dictated and written written writ writ- ten and written re-written as was his custom In fact the minute last-minute revising of Roosevelt's interlined manuscripts often went on while growled in the outer office and end stood by to handle the okayed finally sheets jn n q r President Truman got a little peeved recently over the same line of columnar chatter and began began be be- gan to let It be known that he could write himself Of 01 course all presidents get advice counsel assistance and inspiration from many men of many minds Of course there are humanitarians and grammarians stylists and Carlyle lexicographers and geographers economists a and n d agronomists Russians Prussians and Persians upon whom he can call if the need arises And somehow or other each and andall andall andall all if they but contribute one jot or tittle to the sacred paper think they hey wrote the whole or at least the he stenographer who had to take takedown takedown down lown all the stuff hopefully offered for or possible presidential use thinks so and tells her friends about it confidentially The p pro problem r c b l 1 e m of presidential speeches is much to the fore these days for this reason President Truman and his advisers despite the he rebel yells the wails of the defeatists the triumphant roar roar of the he elephant and the ominous hoof- hoof beats of the polls as they Gallup downhill still believe he has a fighting chance to return in November November Novem- Novem ber er to the White House and he intends to fight for tor it it The President is going on a speaking tour of the West Vest of course it isn't a campaign that would be undignified and immodest before the convention has asked He will speak under ho no political sponsorship But he will speak and he is going to ad lib as we say in n the trade Even if we hadn't had our ears conditioned for 12 long years rears by the golden voice that breathed wreathed over the firesides the un- un oratorical oratory of Harry Truman when he reads a speech be it ever everso everso everso so humble never would be mistaken mistaken mis- mis taken aken for the vox humana humans or the angels' angels chorus But when Harry Truman gets up and talks hes he's very human very sensible and not altogether un- un persuasive So from now on hes he's going to speak extemporaneously no matter how much preparation it takes He showed what he could do without without without with with- out notes or manuscript and without without without with with- out learning by rote when he addressed the newspaper publishers publish publish- ers and the Gridiron club in April and again in May when he talked the off to the national conference conference conference confer confer- ence on oh family life in Washington And since such speeches arent aren't written nobody can say he wrote them for him Will to Peace Finds Expression Next month a a. a national conference conference confer confer- ence for the prevention of World War III will be held on the campus campus campus cam cam- pus of Grinnell college in Iowa The purpose is to present a definite concrete working plan to prevent a third world war methods which can be presented to the two national political conventions at Philadelphia The roster of speakers will include include in in- clude representatives of many of the organizations now working for fora a single sovereign world tion Meanwhile Winston Churchill is hammering steadily at his purpose of building a United States of Europe Although the Attlee government government government gov gov- has not approved the idea the prime minister himself has spoken words of encouragement encouragement encouragement encourage encourage- ment regarding the formation of ofa ofa ofa a real federalization of the western western western west west- ern union Attlee even went so far as to say that Britain was willing to sacrifice her sovereignty in ih part to bring it about although he qualified the promise by saying the time was not yet ripe for such a 8 step But Dut Churchill wants to strike now He received considerable support from the unofficial gathering gathering gath gath- ering in the Hague a forum they called it composed it-composed of representatives tives of the Mar Marshall hall plan countries countries coun tries plus exiled leaders Churchill's proposals and the Grinnell conference are both part oJ of the tremendous will to peace that currently Is finding expression Perhaps eventually we will learn that UIt great lesson of history to yield the sovereignty that causes wars to the kind of sovereignty that allows not only the her oher freedoms freedoms free free- doms to the Individual but which also will vive give him freedom from the FEAR of war Just as the federalization of the separate colonies colonies col col- col onies onles made the citizen of the state of New York tree free from the fear oi of war with the state of 01 Pennsylvania a 8 a situation possible because both recognize a higher sovereignty E the United States ve |