Covenanter Witness Vol. 54 - Rparchives.org

welfare"
Current Events
By Prof. William H. Russell, Ph.D.
TAKING A STAND
Crucial decisions are now being made on our involve
ment in the defense of the Nationalist government of China.
The Communist campaign against the Nationalist-held is
lands off the coast has been stepped up sharply, and the
northernmost island has already been captured. The Tachen
group is under immediate threat of invasion. These islands
have been heavily bombarded and U. S. observers have been
withdrawn, but the Nationalists refuse to surrender. Presi
dent Eisenhower has replied to the Communist campaign by
asking Congress for authority to defend Formosa and its
nearby islands. He has also bolstered the Seventh Fleet
which patrols the waters between Formosa and the main
land. U. S. warships may be used to evacuate civilians from
the Tachen islands. If our ships should also undertake the
transportation of Nationalist troops, the Communists would
be likely to open fire, and another war might be started. We
hope the outlook will be more encouraging later.
CEASE FIRE
President Eisenhower and Secretary of State Dulles
have stated that they will not make any concessions to Red
China, but they would be willing for the U. N. Security
Council to arrange a settlement. Anthony Eden of Great
Britain has also been trying for a cease-fire, perhaps based
on the idea that the Nationalists would give up the Tachen
islands in return for recognition of their right to Formosa
and the Pescadores. However, Peiping
claims that all this
territory is rightfully hers, and objects to any U. N. action
as interference with her "domestic" affairs. The Tachens
are hardly essential to the defense of Formosa, as the Reds
already have mainland bases closer to the Nationalist head
quarters. The Communist conquest must be stopped some
where, though, and the question is whether we can keep
them out of the Tachen islands without a major war. Red
China's policy seems just like a man trying to see how far he
can lean over a cliff without falling.
BILLIONS TO SPEND
The budget President Eisenhower has submitted to Con
gress calls for an outlay of $62.4 billion in the next fiscal
year. With revenues expected to reach $60 billion, there will
be a deficit of $2.4 billion. This will be the smallest deficit
in several years, but the Administration will again have to
ask Congress to raise the debt ceiling from its present level
of $275 billion. Our progress toward a balanced budget is
certainly slow. One hopeful sign is that in recent years the
national debt has not increased as fast as the population or
the national wealth. For example, in 1945 the national debt
was over one and a quarter times the gross national product,
but in 1954 it was only about three-quarters as great as our
total production.
$34 billion, or over half of the new budget, is earmarked
for defense. The Air Force leads with $15.6 billion, represent
ing an increase, while the Navy and Army
Foreign aid is scheduled for $4.7 billion if Congress ap
are cut somewhat.
proves, and atomic energy for $2 billion. The total for na
tional security will thus reach about 65 per cent of the bud
get. Other fixed charges such as benefits veterans'
and in
terest on the debt amount to another 24 per cent. This leaves
a rather small margin for the "general
February 2, 1955
services
which have been the usual target of those who advocate
retrenchment.
BUSINESS BACKS THE COLLEGES
About half the private colleges and universities of this
country run at a deficit, and nearly all are falling behind
in plant construction. But their acute financial problems
have led to an impressive movement of support from big
business. President Harlow H. Curtice of General Motors
recently announced a very broad and generous program..
His company already spends about $2.5 million a year on
various forms of educational aid, but is now adding $2
million more. Much of this will consist of four-year scholar
ships. Each scholarship will carry an additional grant of
$500 to $800 to the institution, in recognition of the fact that
tuition does not meet the full costs of education. There will
also be gifts to regional foundations representing small
colleges. A total of 306 campuses will benefit from the Gen
eral Motors plan.
President Curtice called the program a practical ven
ture, since industry benefits by the improved training of its
workers. Several other large companies, such as Ford, Du
Pont, General Electric, U. S. Steel, and Standard Oil, also
give very large amounts to educational institutions every
year. They prefer to support higher education themselves
rather than see it fall entirely into the hands of the govern
ment
in which case they would still support it, by taxation.
The business grants tend to favor scientific studies, but
they free institutional resources for other fields, so that
with wise direction a balanced program can still be main
tained.
POLIO FUND
The annual March of Dimes again calls attention to
the cost of care and research in infantile paralysis. The
National Foundation is spending $7.5 million on an ex
haustive evaluation of the Salk polio vaccine given last year.
Twenty-seven laboratories are now performing delicate tests
on blood samples from 40,000 children to determine the
vaccine's effects. The health records of a million and a half
children must also be compared to determine whether those
receiving the vaccine had a significantly lower polio rate.
The evaluation will not be complete until late spring, but the
National Foundation has taken the chance of ordering $9,
million worth of the vaccine for use next season.
PRISON BREAK
Most Americans prefer not to worry about the treat
ment given the men in our prisons; but the issue is raised
again by four desperate convicts who withstood a
three-day
siege before surrendering at the Massachusetts State Prison
at Charlestown. A seven-man committee chosen by the
prisoners finally persuaded them to surrender. They thus
faced the certainty of heavy additional sentences in order to
call attention to their plight. The prison is 150 years old and
fantastically over-crowded. The long sentences given in
Massachusetts also made their situation more hopeless.
Americans need to do some serious
thinking about the pur
pose of our penal institutions. Prison terms should not be
based on a desire for vengeance, and the prisoners should
be guaranteed some human rights. Most states do not
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