Covenanter Witness Vol. 54 - Rparchives.org

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SUN
Current Events
By Prof. William H. Russell, Ph.D.
ON THE FENCE
Will President Eisenhower run again in 1956 Republi
can leaders seem to have growing doubts. Continued oppo
sition from right-wing Republicans is making Eisenhower's
position less attractive, and removing any feeling of obli
gation to the party. Mrs. Eisenhower is not in vigorous
health and she and the President are increasingly attached
to their country home near Gettysburg, Pa. Some are al
ready referring to their choice as the "Battle of Gettys
burg."
The biggest worry of Republican leaders is that they
have no other good candidate in sight. Public opinion polls
indicate that Adlai Stevenson can win over any Republican
except Eisenhower. Even if the President has made his
decision, he is not likely to announce it before the adjourn
ment of Congress, since the prevailing doubt increases his
political leverage.
SERVICE RECORDS
One of the biggest headaches of the armed services has
been the handling of the records of discharged servicemen.
A tremendous storehouse now is being built near St. Louis
to bring all these records together in good order. The build
ing will contain the files of over 25 million persons who
have seen service in the last fifty years. The six-story
structure will have thirty-five acres of floor space, making
it one of the largest filing centers in the world. Anyone's
record will be available within ten minutes. Many organiza
tional documents, such as morning reports and sick books,
will be preserved on microfilm. The new center will cost
about $15 million and will begin operations with a staff of
2,500, mostly civilians.
POLIO BUNGLING
Regardless of the final outcome, there is no denying
that the polio vaccine program has been seriously mis
handled. The U. S. Public Health Service apparently was
unprepared to deal with the matter and took no action
until the Francis report was released. It then acted as if
there were no doubt whatever of the safety
and effective
ness of the vaccine, until polio cases began to appear among
the vaccinated children. None of the subsequent shifts in
policy have been adequately explained, and the whole pic
ture is very confused. Parents are torn between the desire
to protect their children from polio and the fear that the
vaccine is not safe. Apparently this year's vaccine has not
been as thoroughly tested as that used in last year's ex
periments. Unfortunately, the whole matter has now become
a political issue, in recent years the Public Health Service
has suffered from economy cuts, and Mrs. Hobby, the Sec
retary of Health, Education and Welfare, is now under fire.
The Administration still opposes federal control over vaccine
distribution.
STATE VS. CHURCH
Dictator President Juan Peron of Argentina has
turned his campaign against the Roman Catholic Church
into an all-out war. Many priests have been arrested and re
ligious organizations disbanded, and the teaching of the
Catholic religion in the public schools has been stopped.
June 1, 1955
Peron has secured legislation legalizing divorce, prostitution,
and illegitimacy, in defiance of the standards of the Church.
Now both houses of the Argentine Congress have voted for
complete separation of church and state, ending the official
status which the Catholic Church has always had in Ar
gentina. It will be interesting to see whether Peron's attack
on the Church strengthens or weakens his hold on the peo
ple. Ninety-three per cent of the Argentine people are
Catholic, but many of these, especially in the cities, have
only a nominal faith.
POWER
A scientist in Israel has made discoveries which may
lead to the world's first practical power plant using solar
heat. He has found a way to treat black metal plates so
that they will retain nearly all the heat they receive from
the sun. Water pipes will be placed under the plates to
produce steam for power. It is estimated that sixteen per
cent of the sun's energy could thus be converted into pow
er,
and that the process would be no more expensive than
conventional sources of power. Solar power has been tried
before, but always proved inefficient. The idea is a good one
because our conventional fuels will not last more than one
more century at the present rate of consumption. Israel will
start a pilot plant this summer to test the process.
AT THE SUMMIT
It seems that a Big Four conference definitely
will be
held this summer, though the time and place are not yet
decided. The invitation came from the Western powers as
they met at Paris to receive West Germany into NATO
membership. Soviet Russia promptly accepted, but continues
to charge us with obstructing the peace. Before the chiefs
of state gather there will be a preliminary meeting of for
eign ministers. It is doubtful, however, whether there can
be any advance agreement on an agenda. The problem of
Germany surely will be discussed, but there is no good
prospect of an agreement on unification. Disarmament and
atomic controls also are likely to be considered. Both sides
are maneuvering to strengthen their positions before the
talks begin. The last few months have brought great im
provements in the unity and defense of western Europe, and
President Eisenhower has promised that he will not follow
any policy of appeasement.
ATOMIC CONTROLS
After twelve weeks, the U. N. subcommittee on dis
armament has suspended a five-power meeting in London,
without any definite achievement. The Russians helped to
sabotage the conference by breaking the rule of secrecy on
the negotiations. But Jacob Malik, the Soviet delegate,
made proposals which indicated some change in the Russian
position. He suggested a complete ban on the manufacture
and use of atomic weapons. First all countries would pool
information on their armaments and agree not to increase
them. The U. S., Russia, and Red China would be allowed
one and a half million men each. Then in 1957, the produc
tion of atomic weapons would be stopped and existing bombs
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