Double Attack

Standing in the sun in the White House rose garden, about 100 delegates to the 1957 National Council of the League of Women Voters waited to hear some customary words of greeting from the President of the U.S. But Ike, having read earlier the women's statement of principles, e.g., in favor of international economic development, suddenly decided that "this looks like a swell time" to say some things of weight.

Popping out of the French doors leading from his office to the garden, Ike radiated the good effects of his 13-day vacation in Augusta, Ga. He jovially accepted a leather-bound copy of the women's declaration, then, to everybody's astonishment, broke into a 15-minute extemporaneous foreign-policy address.

The nation's foreign problems, he said, color and overshadow the budget problem and other domestic factors; the United Nations, with all its shortcomings, can be ignored only "at our future peril."

Parable of the Plane. The President turned to the "terrific force" of emerging nationalism, something "stronger than the spirit of any Communism." His point: if underdeveloped and emerging nations are to remain independent, then the U.S. must help supply the economic base that would make such independence possible.

To dramatize his point, Ike fell back on a homely example. Riding in an airplane with some friends, he said, the conversation turned to economy: Why, somebody wanted to know, does the U.S. funnel money overseas when so much financial aid is needed at home? Said President Eisenhower: "I said, 'This is what I am going to try to explain . . . We are riding in this airplane . . . and we decide we are spending too much money on it . . . we have two stewards on this plane. We figure that one can do. All right, one steward fired.' " Then, in Ike's parable, the fuel capacity was cut, and so was the navigator, and the furniture and the carpets. Next, said the President, "one bright fellow speaks up and says, 'Well let's just cut out one of the engines; we won't use so much gas.' " This engine, Ike said firmly, is foreign aid, "one of the engines that keep this ship of ours afloat . . . So the rest of the passengers say, 'Well, baloney, you can take away that engine . .. and we are down. We are now in an emergency without the preparation to meet it.' " Ike wondered aloud if "this is getting to be a long speech." It was, but it was one of his most effective, and his conclusion impressed his audience: if only Americans understand, "then the sacrifice of money is not going to sound in their ears like the sacrifice of our sons on the battlefield. That is what we are trying to prevent . . . Let's not throw away the engines of this ship of state."

Guide to 1958. Later, the President attacked the second most important problem of his new Administration: the growing conservatism among Republicans and the seeming weakening of leadership in Modern Republicanism. Twice, in telephone talks to G.O.P. regional meetings in Omaha and Providence, Ike had taken the-Republican-that-is-big-enough-for-everybody tack. But for the Republicans of ten states gathered in Salt Lake City, he had tough words.

It was in the Western area, he reminded the meeting last week that the G.O.P. "fared least well in the 1956 elections," and he suggested that the Westerners look hard for the reasons. Without mentioning Modern Republicanism, Ike recommended a self-examination, using as a guide the Republican 1956 platform. "It is nothing less than a solemn pledge that all of us gave to the American people." Furthermore, "the party member that is giving his full strength to the support of the . . . platform is . . . practicing the kind of Republicanism that in this day represents the best interest of our party and of the people of our country."

In effect, Ike's warning was a sharp shot at the Old Guard: either get in, he was saying, or get out. It was a blunt appeal for rededication to his platform in terms of the 1958 elections. "I hope you join me," he added meaningfully.

With these parting shots, Ike quit Washington for a long weekend in Gettysburg, Pa. In those few short days in the capital, he had succeeded more forcibly than before in shaping the issues which affect him most.

Last week the President also: P:Conferred with the Secretary of State, prior to Dulles' departure to Bonn to attend the NATO Council meeting, directed him to tell the Europeans that the U.S. has no intention of weakening its land forces in the Atlantic alliance (see FOREIGN NEWS).

P:Nominated to be the first U.S. Ambassador to Ghana, North Carolina Career Diplomat Wilson C. Flake, 51, former embassy counselor in Pretoria, Union of South Africa, now embassy counselor in Rome.

P:Transmitted to Congress his first governmental reorganization plan of the year, finishing up the liquidation of the Reconstruction Finance Corp., and allotting to other agencies some of the RFC's functions.

P:Nominated to be U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Joseph Farland, 42, West Virginia coal operator, who once served in the FBI, was a consultant to the State Department's Mutual Security Affairs Division.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.