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Show EDITORIAL: The Ordeal Of Dean Acheson Russia's blunt rejection of the U. S. demand for compensation in connection with the Baltic plane loss and Secretary of State Dean Acheson's Soviet aggression ag-gression warning Saturday both indicate clearly that relations between the two countries are near the breaking point. As a whole, it is difficult to say now that the world picture is any darker than it 'was two years ago with the fall of Czechoslovakia, Czech-oslovakia, but until the plane incident it appeared the two sides, for the next few years, might continue to slide along with plenty of sharp words but a minimum of serious friction. The plane incident has certainly cer-tainly served to complicate matters, mat-ters, as evidenced by the tenor of Secretary Acheson's speech. The Secretary warned that Soviet So-viet communism is a "challenge and a threat to the very basis of our civilization and to the very safety of the free world." He outlined a six-fold program of action to combat foreign aggression, ag-gression, the foremost points of which are advocacy of universal freedom, an increase in American Ameri-can world-wide propaganda, -and adequate Western defense. In directing our foreign policy, pol-icy, Mr. Acheson and his chief, President Truman, have been under unceasing attack from the right in regard to alleged communism com-munism in the state department and the administration's China policy. But it is interesting to note that none of his critics, mostly conservative Republicans, have yet unearthed any Reds, nor have they offered any semblance sem-blance of a concrete program to cure China's ills.. Instead they t.tintmue to talk about thftse in visible state department communists, com-munists, and advocate that additional ad-ditional pillions be tossed down Chiang's rat-hole. Money for Chiang, okeh. But many members of Congress, in their haste to balance the budget bud-get by eliminating all "unnecessary" "unneces-sary" federal expenditures, have already assisted in cutting desperately des-perately needed ECA funds to the bone (they will undoubtedly vote, to end the aid in 1952), and have consistently tried to reduce re-duce federal expenditures for defense. Any success' in nullifying ECA and curtailing defense measures is likely to throw western Eu-ope Eu-ope to the Russians, and leave America open to attack if the Kremlin decides that capitalism and communism cannot exist in one world. Secretary Acheson's foreign policy can be condemned on one major point: that he has not tried to promote mutual cooperation co-operation between the U. S. and Russia in the interest of peace. But fear on both sides has driven driv-en the antagonists to depend on. arms for survival, "even though arms races have always meant war. Dean Acheson is really on the spot, with the tougnest assignment as-signment of his career., If he believes that cooperation with Russia is impossible and he has good reason for his belief what else can he do- but pursue pur-sue his present policy of patience pa-tience and preparedness? History His-tory will decide whether he is right or wTong. And the recent critical turn in the cold war has made his task doubly difficult. diffi-cult. GWH |