Test Ban: Fears and Hopes

HOPEFUL BEGINNING—The limited test ban treaty initialed in Moscow could be a cautious step in the right direction, an expression of the yearnings of millions throughout the world, and a glimmer of hope for the future.… Whether or not the treaty will lead to further reduction of East-West tension will not be known for some time. Meanwhile the hairtrigger military face-off between the United States and the Soviet Union continues.—San Francisco Examiner.

TAKING A CHANCE—There is only a very small chance that the Communists will honor the treaty. But we, as Christians, should take that chance in the interest of reducing fallout and the possibility of a nuclear war. At the same time, we must be aware of the potential danger. The Communists may be using it to weaken us and to place us in a state of unreadiness with the objective of upsetting the balance of power and gaining an ultimate victory.—LT. GEN. WILLIAM K. HARRISON (ret.), senior United Nations delegate at Panmunjom, Korea.

OF MEN AND BEASTS—There must be convincing reassurance that the U. S. can detect violation and is kept continuously prepared to test on short notice.… The familiar lines of Rudyard Kipling … still have validity …: “There is no truce with Adam-Zad, the bear that walks like a man.”—New York World-Telegram.

STOCKING THE ‘PEACE’ ARSENAL—Both the treaty and the “nonaggression pact” Russia wants may become weapons in the Soviet “peace” arsenal—to line up Asia and Africa against the “war-mongering” Chinese Communists and to soften up the West.…—The New York Times.

NOBODY IS FOOLED—The average citizen of the Communist-dominated countries sees in this treaty-making a political maneuvering that doesn’t change the ultimate objectives of either side.—ANDREW HARSANYI, editor, Magyar Egyhaz (Hungarian).

ESTABLISHING THE TYRANTS—Whereas the dominated peoples behind the Iron Curtain welcome a treaty with the West as reducing the chance of a nuclear war—because it would destroy their countries—nevertheless they recognize that for the West to negotiate a treaty with the leaders of Communism has the effect of establishing those leaders in power and strengthening their hold upon the dominated countries.—WLADIMIR BOROWSKY, executive secretary, Ukrainian Evangelical Alliance of North America.

PREDICTION OF DISASTER—This is my third major prediction of disastrous plunges by U.S. leadership into Soviet Communist traps.… The other two predictions were the Soviet betrayal of the first test ban, a prediction made five months in advance, and Soviet conversion of Cuba into an offensive base against the U. S., made 14 months in advance.… The so-called “limited” test ban deal … will freeze the U. S. in second-place to Russia in the technology of strategic nuclear weapons. U. S. nuclear strike capability will be reduced so fast relative to the Soviets’ mushrooming superweapon strength, that within 18 months we will have lost our power to deter a Soviet surprise attack, or to retaliate effectively.…—REAR ADMIRAL CHESTER WARD, USN (ret.).

SILENCE ON A FREE WORLD—Nikita Khrushchev … at yesterday’s signing ceremony … observed that the Communists are committed to avoid nuclear war, but this does not mean they will halt their struggle for a Communist world.… We can make a similar point. “Peaceful coexistence” and the test-ban treaty do not mean we will relax our efforts to secure a free world. It is regrettable that, in the flow of champagne toasts and fancy words, neither Dean Rusk nor Lord Home made this point in replying to Mr. Khrushchev.—New York Herald Tribune.

BANS USEFUL TESTS ALSO—What is wrong with the test ban is that it bans useful tests of nuclear devices that probably diminish the chances of war and would make war, if it occurred, less horrible.—Boston Sunday Herald.

IN BRIEF—PRESIDENT KENNEDY: not the millennium … but an important first step—a step toward peace; PRIME MINISTER NEHRU: a turning point in our present-day history; East German Communist leader WALTER ULBRICHT: a significant step towards the lessening of tensions in the world; OSWALD KOHUT, foreign policy expert of West Germany’s Free Democratic Party: I have little use for treaties when the parties lack mutual confidence.

A COMMUNIST CHEER—Let us hail those heroic men and women who braved the scoffing, the pessimism, and the redbaiting to petition, picket and march for a ban on H-bomb testing.… But the victory … is not completely won.… All the trickery and cunning of the ultra-Rights, the Democratic white supremacists, the reactionary Republicans, the self-seeking middle-of-the-roader will be employed to sabotage the H-ban pact’s approval.—The Worker.

IMPORTANT FOR SECURITY—Recognizing the balance of risks, the limited nature of this treaty, and the need for caution, ratification is important for security, political, economic and also moral reasons.—J. IRWIN MILLER, president, National Council of Churches.

A GODLESS ALLY—A nation which professes to believe in God and which must depend upon God for His help violates the law of God when it makes an agreement with a godless power which has vowed to destroy us.—CARL MCINTIRE, president, International Council of Christian Churches.

CHRIST THE SOURCE OF PEACE—Every evangelical longs for peace because our Lord put a special blessing on peacemakers. But we seriously doubt the value of a treaty with Russia, which has violated 50 out of its last 53 treaties. Our hope for peace is in the Lord Jesus Christ and in the ultimate setting up of His kingdom.—CLYDE W. TAYLOR, public affairs secretary, National Association of Evangelicals.

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