War, Peace & Change
President Eisenhower journeyed to Philadelphia last week on a mission: to reassert his belief that the Big Four conference at Geneva was merely a first step toward peace, offering little more than a friendlier international climate in which diplomats can begin work on the actual problems of the cold war. It was the President's intent to warn the U.S. and its allies against premature relaxation of the posture of strength that made the "Spirit of Geneva" possible in the first place.
Speaking to the American Bar Association, the President said: "We must not think of peace as a static condition in world affairs. That is not true peace, nor in fact can any kind of peace be preserved that way. .Change is a law of life, and unless there is peaceful change, there is bound to be violent change . . .* The Spirit of Geneva, if it is to provide a healthy atmosphere for the pursuit of peace, if it is to be genuine and not spurious, must inspire all to a correction of injustices, an observance of human rights, and an end to subversion . .
"The division of Germany cannot be supported by any argument based on boundaries or language or racial origin.
The domination of captive countries cannot longer be justified by any claim that this is needed for purposes of security. An international political machine, operating within the borders of sovereign nations for their political and ideological subversion, cannot be explained away as a cultural movement.
"Very probably, the reason for these and other violations of the rights of men and of nations is a compound of suspicions and fear. That explains. It cannot excuse. In justice to others, and to ourselves, we can never accept these wrongs as a part of the peace that we desire and seek."
* The President's emphasis on peaceful change was borrowed from a close associate: Secretary United Press of State John Foster Dulles, who developed it in his 1939 book, War, Peace and Change.
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