The Fabric of Peace

President Truman stepped grimly before a bouquet of microphones and the broiler heat of television lights in the White House last week to explain the meaning of Korea in terms of dollars, of national sacrifice, and of world peace.

His speech to the nation was almost a repeat of the studied, sober-sided message he had delivered to the U.S. Congress a few hours earlier. For days, White House advisers and ghostwriters had turned out draft after draft--five in all. Clark Clifford and Judge Sam Rosenman, a couple of presidential phrase-turners from the old days, had dropped in during the week to help rub on some gloss.

They failed. The President's speech was carefully detailed, carefully delivered--but without the inspiration that the occasion called for. It was a plan for defense, and a competent one, but it was no compelling call to arms. It was deliberately a low-keyed speech--with none of the ringing phrases of a Churchillian or Rooseveltian performance.

No longer did the President speak of "police action" in Korea, but nowhere in his speech did he call it war. (Of course, technically it wasn't, since Congress has not declared war.) When he referred to Russia he did not mention its name, but spoke of "the international communist movement."

"Raw Aggression." The Communist march on South Korea, said the President, marked a new era in East-West relations. "This attack has made it clear, beyond all doubt," he said in a dry, controlled voice, "that the international communist movement is willing to use armed invasion to conquer independent nations ... It was an act of raw aggression ... I repeat: It was an act of raw aggression."

Korea, declared Mr. Truman, was only a hint of trouble ahead. "There may be similar acts of aggression in other parts of the world," he said. ". . . The free nations face a worldwide threat. It must be met with a worldwide defense." The job of defense would press on the nation's shoulders and sap its high standard of living "for a number of years."

The Needs. To begin the job, the President asked Congress to: P: Remove all ceilings on the size of the armed forces, now set by law at 2,006,000 men. (He had, he said, already told Defense Secretary Louis Johnson to call up all the men he needed--from draft boards, the National Guard, the reserves.) P: Revive wartime priority and allocation controls for essential materials, put restrictions on consumer credit and housing construction.

P: Increase taxes--by an amount to be suggested later by the President, but at least enough to pay part of the costs and ease some of the inflationary pressures.

The 1950-51 price tag for defenses: $10 billion above and beyond the $13.5 billion budgeted for the armed services this fiscal year.

There might have to be more restrictions, said the President. It depended, in part, on the U.S. itself. "If prices should rise unduly because of excessive buying or speculation," he said sternly, "I will not hesitate to recommend rationing and price controls." But, above all, what the U.S. had to do from now on would depend largely on what the Soviet Union did. "I shall not attempt to predict the course of events," said Harry Truman. "But I am sure that those who have it in their power to unleash or withhold acts of armed aggression must realize that new recourse to aggression in the world today might well strain to the breaking point the fabric of world peace."

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