Covenanter Witness Vol. 55 - Rparchives.org

car,"'Current EventsSUDDEN CHANGEPresident Eisenhower's heart attack came as a shock tothe whole nation. He had been in good health all duringhis administration, and was in the midst of a long vacationin Colorado. Even if he recovers completely, which seemspossible at the time we write,he will have to restrict hisactivities for the next two or three months. This may haveserious effects on the direction of foreign affairs, and alsoon the preparation of the next annual budget,be completed by January.which shouldEisenhower's illness makes it almost certain that he willnot run for a second term. Thus the Republican leaderswho counted on him to carry the party to victory againare suddenly left with no candidate. Vice President Nixonis considered the next most popular Republican, but heis only42 and has some determined enemies within theparty. The Republicans may regret having set their 1956convention for late August, for this will give them tooshort a campaign if they have to introduce a new candidate. The improved Democratic prospects will put new lifeinto the struggle for that party's nomination.RACIAL TRIALWorld attention recently has focused on a Mississippicourtroom where two men were tried for the murder ofEmmett Till, a 14-year-old Chicago Negro. Till allegedlywas killed for whistling and making improper remarks tothe wife of a white storekeeper. Two white men admittedkidnapping him but denied the murder, and the jury foundthem not guilty. The entry of the NAACP into the case,and the display of Till's bodyon Chicago's South Side aspart of a fund-raising campaign, helped to inflame Southern racial feeling. There was general praise for the conductof the judge and the prosecutor, but the trial showedveryserious weaknesses in the local law-enforcementmachinery. The defendants now will face trial on a kidnapping charge, but liberal spokesmen everywhere call thedecision a setback for American justice.DICTATOR'S FALLAfter ten years in power, Argentina's President JuanPeron had a sudden downfall. His regime collapsed afterfour days of civil warfare, in which about 4,000 personswere killed. The revolt was better organized than that oflast June, with a simultaneous uprising by the navy andby army units in the provinces. The leader, and president ofthe new provisional government, is General Eduardo Lonardi,a 59-year-old professional soldier who had opposedthe Peron regime since 1951. The new government promptly dissolved the Peronist National Congress and freed allpolitical prisoners. A call for new national electionspromised within a month. General Lonardi has promisedto restore civil liberties and democracy to Argentina, anddisavowed any ambition for a new militaryisregime. Tenyears of dictatorship are not easily erased, however. Peronalso left behind serious economic problems of inflation anddisrupted foreign trade.KREMLIN MANEUVERSRussia has signed a treaty giving full sovereignty toEast Germany. The agreement allows East Germany to210control its borders and the approaches to Allied West Berlin. Premier Otto Grotewohl's government can also maintain its own army. This move seems intended to help detach West Germany from its alliances with the free world.Once East and West Germany become equal in sovereignty,Russia will insist that a merger of the two regimes is theonly means of unification. Already there are indicationsthat the East German government may begin its ownblockade of Berlin, to bring pressure for diplomatic recognition from Bonn. But Chancellor Adenauer of West Germany is standing firm. He won unanimous approval fromthe Bundestag for the resumption of diplomatic relationswith Russia, and has warned other powers that he willconsider recognition of East German sovereignty an unfriendly act.WORLD FORUMThe tenth annual session of the U.N. General Assemblyis now under way in New York City. At the opening meeting, Jose Maza of Chile was elected President by unanimous vote. On a resolution introduced by the UnitedStates, the question of admitting Communist China waspostponed for another year. The steering committee rejected a proposal by Greece for debate on self-determination for Cyprus. Last year the U.S. abstained from votingon a similar resolution, but this time we joined Turkeyand Great Britain in opposing the Greek move. This mayproduce an anti-American reaction in Greece, which iseven considering pulling out of NATO. A move by a groupof Asian and African countries to bring the status of Algeria before the Assembly also was defeated. This shelvesthe two greatest colonial issues, though it does not solvethe questions at issue.FOREIGN COMPETITIONVolkswagen, the German "people's has bought aStudebaker-Packard plant in New Jersey and will beginassembling cars in this country. The little German autohas become our most popular imported make, with 1955sales estimated at 25,000. The standard two-door sedan,which sells for about $1500 on the East coast, carries fourpassengers and a small amount of baggage. It has a fourcylinderair-cooled engine, mounted behind the rear axle.With top speed of nearly seventy, it will give better thanthirty miles to the gallon while cruising at sixty. Anotheradvantage of the Volkswagen is that it is three to fourfeet shorter than the ordinary American sedan. Its mainappeal is for the economy-minded smallfamily, or as asecond car for those who can afford one.Volkswagenspent about $4 million for the New Jersey plant. Someparts will be made in this country and others will be shipped in from West Germany.PLANETARY LIFEAstronomers have long puzzled over the possibility oflife on the planet Mars. Long lines of "canals" have beencompared with strips of vegetation, and there are largeareas that undergo seasonal changes in color. Last summera group of American astronomers, making photographsfrom South Africa, found a new green area on Mars,al-(Continued on next page)COVENANTER WITNESS