Show Marquis Childs Cold War Is Hard I to Plan WASHINGTON The 7 The ASHINGTON-The The figures tossed into the air in the eco cco economic report and the Presidents President's Presidents President's dents dent's budget message have an A Alice Alice- I ice inWon in- in Won Wonderland Wonder Wonder- d 1 land quality That is n not o t mer merely e I y because because because be be- cause of their fantastic size x to which we b have e become a all 11 too ac- ac Mr Childs The fhe element clement of unreality that looms like a yawning pit pitis pitis pitis is the fact that what President Truman requests w will ll have little little lit lit- tle tie or no relation to what Congress may u grant In one degree or another that thatis is almost always true with our system of divided powers But this this year it is more conspicuous conspicuous ous than ever with important elements of the Presidents President's party in open revolt and others indifferent to what the White WhiteHouse WhiteHouse House may want This is no secret to Mr Tru Tnt man It was in fact the chief subject of the last cabinet meeting in the old year held just before the Christmas holi holi- day That was one of the longest longest longest long long- est cabinet meetings in the Truman Truman Truman Tru Tru- man administration and it was certainly the gloomiest Crucial 90 Days The consensus of the discussion discussion discus discus- sion as led by Secretary of State Dean Acheson was that the first 90 days of 1952 would determine whether the Western Western Western West West- ern Alliance could be held to to- gether And a great deal would depend on the attitude of the returning Congress The fiscal dilemma faced bythe bythe by bythe the administration was perfectly perfect perfect- ly apparent to the men men seated around the cabinet table Atthe Atthe At Atthe the current rate of spending and taxes the deficit by the end of the government year inJune inJune in inJune June of 1953 is likely to be well above This will bring the national debt perilously perilously peril peril- close to if not actually up to the limit of fixed by law Deficit spending would therefore therefore therefore there there- fore be precluded unless the limit was raised And as the President and his advisers are well aware the members of Congress who make fiscal policy policy policy pol pol- icy both Democrats and Republicans Republicans Republicans have set themselves against any change In a presidential presidential presidential campaign year no tax increase is considered possible Economy The Answer There then is the squeeze and the obvious answer is economy Again in a presidential presidential presidential year economy must be applied without causing too much pain to any particular segment of voters The obvious ious cut which the President and his cabinet could forsee without without without with with- out recourse to even a small crystal ball was in foreign aid and particularly economic aid Some returning congressmen have been talking boldly about cutting out ell all funds for economic economic economic eco eco- assistance abroad It will take a last ditch fight to save part of what the President President President dent requests Assistance is vital to sustain the western de defense de- de effort and this helps to explain the significance of the day 90 period projected by the cabinet It is very difficult to plan a cold war with our form of government government government gov gov- in which competing powers a are arc r e balanced o 0 one n e against the tho other with the objective objective objective ob ob- ob- ob of limiting the central authority as much as possible One consequence is a rapid swing between extremes of hot and cold Just a Year Ago Just a year ago in the wake of the tragic reversal at the Yalu River in North Korea many in and out of government government government govern govern- ment were ere clamoring for all- all out mobilization demanding virtual wartime conversion of industry to armament production production production tion and the calling up of far more men under the draft and the reserve system Political now are almost certain to curtail the program to contain Communism Communism Com Corn represented by the flung far-flung effort of the United States in almost every corner of the globe outside the Iron Curtain That can hardly be a secret to the little group of men in Moscow 1 who have their own master plan They know something something something some some- thing of the ambiguities a and n d uncertainties of a campaign year They may be emboldened by that knowledge to make moves that would once again touch off a wave of alarm and start the pendulum back in theother theother the theother other direction |