"What I Believe"

President Eisenhower spent most of his working hours last week conferring with Administration officials and congressional leaders on the federal budget, the State of the Union message and the next session of Congress. But his mind, as it has for weeks, seemed to be preoccupied with the idea of peace.

Vivid Dream. Addressing the Association of Land-Grant Colleges and Universities at the Statler Hotel one day last week, Ike said: "There is no dream . . . so vivid as the dream of peace, lasting peace." One essential to the realization of the dream, he said, is "understanding of knowledge rather than mere knowledge." The President said that unless the U.S. makes an effort to understand the culture and history of its neighbors, it will never comprehend why it is so often misunderstood and mistrusted. There was strength in tanks and guns, he added, but there was no lasting peace in arms.

Said Ike: "The most they can do is protect you in what you have for the moment. But we want to progress. We want ... to raise the standards of the people, its spiritual standards, its intellectual standards, and its capacity for happiness . . . and in so doing, raise the standards of the world . . . Only as we do that, can we look toward permanent peace. You can achieve great progress, of course, by successful conferences addressed to particular things, as long as you are strong, know what you want, and don't deviate from what you know to be right. But over the long term . . . peace is in the hands of the family, the home, the church and the school ... I hope I have not sounded either visionary or pontifical. I have told you only what I believe."

In the interest of political coexistence on Pennsylvania Avenue, President Eisenhower one day played host to the men in charge on Capitol Hill. Top Republicans and Democrats from both the Senate and the House spent two hours at the White House, heard the President outline a principle and make a promise: he believes that a bipartisan policy on foreign and military affairs is "essential"; he will inform and consult congressional leaders, including Democrats, before major decisions are made. The Senators and Representatives went back to the hill anticipating a genuine effort toward cooperation and bipartisanship. Said Georgia's old (76) Democrat Walter George, who will head the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee: "We could not have asked for anything more."

Great Experiment. The President also sent to the Senate for ratification the Paris pacts to restore sovereignty to West Germany and bring her, rearmed, into the Western alliance. It was a great example of a successful international conference, conducted according to the formula of Ike's speech to the land-grant educators. In a message to the Senate, the President pointed out that the agreements (which restrict Germany to twelve divisions) will tighten NATO control over all West European nations and foster the dream of European cooperation. Said he: "The agreements endanger no nation. On the contrary, they represent one of history's first great practical experiments in the international control of armaments."

Ike also widened his agricultural horizons last week. A delegation from the National Turkey Federation and the Poultry and Egg National Board presented him with a 43-Ib. torn turkey named Kentucky Colonel. The President playfully stroked the bird, then remarked: "I don't dare pet him much. If we got too friendly, I couldn't stand to have him killed." Ike said that he would have to put a tom and a few hens on his Gettysburg farm and had better learn something about turkey farming. One of the association officials promptly gave him a laugh by whipping out and presenting a book entitled Turkey Management.

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