Covenanter Witness Vol. 53 - Rparchives.org

coexistence"Current EventsBy Prof. William H. RussellNEW DEFENSE LINKSU. S. ships and planes are helping to evacuate thousandsof refugees from Communist-held northern Viet Nam. Thesouthern government wants to bringthousand as quickly as possible, for non-Communists in thenorth are already meetingout several hundredsevere treatment. It is hopedthat we can also evacuate some of the costly military supplies which we had stockpiled around Hanoi, but humanlives are more important. Meanwhile the U. S. works towardthe formation of a Southeast Asia defense group, likeNATO, to check any further Communist gains. A conference of foreign ministers will meet in the Philippines beginning September 6. Eight nations will be representedThailand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand,France, Great Britain, and the U. S. Ceylon may also attend, but India, Burma, and Indonesia have declined. Thisfirst conference will probably not produce any definitealliance. There is also talk of linking Japan, Korea, andNationalist China into a Northeast Asia alliance whichwould eventually be tied with the Southeast Asia group.TARGET FORMOSACommunist China is stepping up her threats to conquer Formosa, the island headquarters of Nationalist China.Apparently the Reds intend to make it appear a greatpopular crusade. Fighting between Nationalist and Communist gunboats continues in the Formosa strait. This straitis one hundred miles wide at the narrowest point, so theU. S. Navy could probably block any invasion if it broughtin sufficient strength. The Nationalists also talk of invadingthe mainland. Chiang-kai-shek is seeking a conferenceleading to a mutual defense pact with America and increased military aid.SOVD3T TRADEThe problem of East-West trade is emphasized by thevisit of Britain's former prime minister, Clement Atlee,and seven other Labor party leaders to Russia and RedChina. They were warmly welcomed during a two-day stopover in Moscow, then went on for a three-week tour ofCommunist China, including conferences with Mao Tze-Tung. One of their purposes was to increase Britain's tradewith Red China, and their visit fitted in beautifully withCommunist plans in this direction.Last year Russia concluded fourteen trade agreementswith non-Communist countries, and she expects to maketwenty more this year. She is now giving special attentionto the Near East, Japan, and Latin America. Meanwhilewe have done almost nothing to make it easier for othercountries to trade with us. President Eisenhower gave uphis effort to get authority from Congress to cut tariffs, andinstead recently gave in to the protectionists by raisingthe dutyon Swiss watch movements.Britain and other West European countries tend to feelthat our restrictions on trade with Communist countriesactually help the Reds. Russia is driven to make her industry more and more self-sufficient, and thus strongerfor war; and the satellite countries are more and moredependent on Russia since theycannot trade with theWest. On the other hand is the prospect of 600 millioncustomers in underdeveloped Communist countries. It is114no wonder that the Europeans who long for "peacefulMAN IN A HURRYare not attracted byour trade policies.Premier Mendes-France continues to move with a speedand decision unknown in recent French history. The National Assembly approved his program for economic andfinancial recovery, which he calls the French New Deal. Itinvolves freer trade and more internal and external competition. Marginal businesses will be helped to reconvert tomore profitable fields of production. The social securitysystem is to be overhauled, housing construction stimulated,and wages kept up to the level of prices.Besides peace in Indochina and economic reform, Mendes-France has promised a compromise settlement on the European Defense Community. He has drawn upa series ofmodifications to meet French objections to German rearmament, but these will not be adopted without vigorous debate. Three De Gaullists in his cabinet resigned rather thanaccept them, and the French National Assembly postponeddebate on the treaty until August 28 in order to considerthe proposed changes. The six foreign ministers of the EDCcountries are meeting in Brussels to discuss the matter, butthe four who have already ratified the treaty are likely tooppose any change.RAISING THE CEILINGWith considerable reluctance, Congress has finally actedon President Eisenhower's request to raise the nationaldebt limit. The ceiling set by law was $275 billion, andsome Congressmen seemed to feel that by refusing to raisethis theycould save the public money. The debt has beenright at the limit for nearly a year, however, and TreasuryDepartment officials had to use some tricky financing topay the government's bills. The House of Representativesagreed to a permanent increase of $15 billion last year. TheSenate has now voted to raise the limit by $6 billion untilnext June 30, and the House will probably accept this.Perhaps by next year, if war or depression do not intervene, the administration will have the budget balanced.CRISIS FOR STUDEBAKERStudebaker employees took an unusual step in voting, bya majority of over eight to one, to accept a cut of about14 per cent in their hourly wage rate. The South Bendcompany, employing over six thousand, threatened to closedown unless it could reduce wages to the level paid byother auto makers. Studebaker, a 102-year-old firm, lostalmost $9 million the first half of this year. Manyof theworkers have been on part-time schedules, and they werewilling to take the pay cut in the hope of steady work.Studebaker is about to combine with another old "independent,"Packard. This will be the third such merger inlittle more than a year. Packard has also been in financialdifficulties, and combining the two companies is expectedto improve their competitive position. Both Studebaker andPackard cars will still be produced, as they cover differentprice ranges, and it will be two or three years before themerger leads to similarities in styling and engineering. The"independents"are now in a precarious position, with less(Continued on page 115)THE COVENANTER WITNESS