THE CASE FOR SECURITY

Of all the proposals tossed around during the warmup period of the campaign, two touch directly on the fundamental issue of U.S. security. These are Adlai Stevenson's urgings that 1) the U.S. take the lead in ending H-bomb tests, and 2) the U.S. take steps to end the draft. Last week President Eisenhower replied in two prepared statements. Excerpts:

Ending H-Bomb Tests. I speak as President, charged under the Constitution with responsibility for the defense and security of our nation. I therefore must point out the following essentials in our national policy: 1) The testing of atomic weapons to date has been--and continues--an indispensable part of our defense program. 2) As part of a general disarmament program, the American Government, at the same time, has consistently affirmed and reaffirmed its readiness--indeed, its strong will--to restrict and control both the testing and the use of nuclear weapons under specific and supervised international disarmament agreement. 3) In terms of our national weapons policy, it is the responsibility of specific officials of the Government --notably the Atomic Energy Commission, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the President--to weigh, at all times, the proper emphasis on various types and sizes of weapons, their testing and development. Such emphasis is necessarily subject to constant review and reexamination. This specific matter is not a subject for detailed public discussion--for obvious security reasons.

The [Stevenson] proposals clearly take no account of what would be the result of stopping our tests. Tests of large weapons, by any nation, may be detected when they occur. But any such test follows many months of research and preparation. This means that elaborate tests could be prepared by another nation without our knowledge. By the time we had such knowledge, our present commanding lead could be reduced or even overtaken.

In the verbal confusion surrounding these proposals, an attempt has been made to cite, as having made "similar proposals," great world figures, even including His Holiness Pope Pius XII. All these men--like this Government, like all responsible and thoughtful leaders in the free world, statesmen or churchmen--are sincerely anxious for international agreement allowing effective control of all armaments.

The Pope, in his last Christmas message to the world, urged "a check on experiments in nuclear weapons by means of an international agreement." He stated that the matter involved "a question of three steps: renunciation of experimentation with atomic weapons, renunciation of the use of such, and general control of armaments." And he called for "the sum total of those three precautions."

Ending the Draft. For 20 years or more our Government alternated between costly peaks in years of military crisis and starving valleys in years of apparent calm. Twice in this generation relaxations of America's military strength have been followed by costly wars.

Today the U.S. has about 2.8 million men in uniform. For an armed force in excess of 1.5 million men, Selective Service is indispensable. The draft does more than fill up our armed strength by calling men into service. The very existence of the draft law so stimulates voluntary enlistment that, for some of the services, draft calls are reduced or nonexistent.

The free world looks to the U.S. for leadership in standing firm against the Communist push. We must not now betray that leadership by loose talk of soon ending the draft. The world can only construe that as letting down our guard. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the military Chiefs of the Services, our greatest experts in these matters, have specifically supported the need for continuing the draft law. This Administration is determined to continue that strength.

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