The Tranquil Time

THE NATION From Maryland's Sparrows Point west to California's Torrance, the steel mills lay smokeless and still. But with 650,000 steelworkers on strike and the key industry of the nation's economy shut down, neither labor nor management seemed to be particularly bothered or bitter. Strikers waved their signs only when news photographers whooped them on, spent most of their tours on the picket line playing ball, shooting craps, or gazing at television sets plugged into management's power outlets. In Gary, Ind., pickets used an air-conditioned, seven-seat mobile toilet lent them by U.S. Steel. An Inland Steel official called the situation "a comic opera." Said a U.S. Steel executive: "It's just as if they'd all been let out of school."

All across the U.S., in the summer of 1956, the people seemed to feel let out of school. Never before had the nation been so prosperous; never before had wages been so high and jobs so plentiful. The sense of security was strong (see BUSINESS). Even at the inevitable soft spots there was an easy air. In Detroit, where auto industry employment is down, the A.A.A. travel bureau's Mrs. John Dalzell reported: "We've had a number of workers come in to book trips who say they think they'd better get their vacation while they're off, because they might be called back to work and miss out."

No one wanted to miss out. In Manhattan, liners packed to the last berth with tourists edged daily from their docks into the Hudson's high slack water. In Miami, 200 hotels once open only during the winter season were lobby deep in summer guests; despite two spectacular summertime crashes, airline flights were booked solid.

The school-is-out mood permeated even election-year politics. Most U.S. voters seemed sure that Ike would run again and win again. Republicans were so sure that they could enjoy politico-medical jokes ("Have you heard that the Democrats are demanding equal time on the stethoscope?"). Last week there were increasing signs that the accepted view of the President's intentions was well founded, that Ike would indeed be a candidate. Even the working organization Democrats, consciously or not, were enveloped in the mood, were acting quite unlike Democrats (see below).

Even beyond the shores of the U.S. the picture was brighter. There were clear indications that Communism is in deep trouble. But while the U.S. basked under a warm sun and enjoyed its moratorium on nagging worry, there were reminders that summer and its mood are never eternal. Neutralism continued on the upswing among nervous nations. As a result, the unity and strength of the Western world, and particularly of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, were in danger. In the Middle East, the quiet was temporary and could easily be shattered.

Enjoying the soft warmth of the tranquil summer, the U.S. had still to remember that a cold winter could lie ahead.

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