WHEN President Dwight D. Eisenhower talked to the Republican Women's National Conference about Government and the economy last week, he picked a pretty somber subject for an audience bent on gaiety. But the ladies, in their new spring hats, gave him solemn attention. Ike suggested right off that it was not going to be easy.

"The American citizen in these times." he began, "has a staggering job in keeping up with the facts and issues of a fast-moving world.

"He is seemingly expected to understand everything from the effects of a change in the Federal Reserve discount rate to a boundary dispute in mid-Africa to the impact of our stockpiling policy in the zinc industry."

Ike paused while some nodded in agreement, then continued: "Presumably to help him gain this understanding, every day millions of words pour out of our presses and loudspeakers to tell him about the day's news and controversies.

"Out of such a welter of words and widely diverging counsel, how can the thoughtful citizen develop for himself sensible decisions on current issues?"

Ike's question has troubled a lot of folks since modern communications first brought on the flood of words. In its original prospectus, TIME said: "This is not the fault of the daily newspapers; they print all the news. People are uninformed because no publication has adapted itself to the time which busy men are able to spend on simply keeping informed."

Since then, week after week, TIME has reported the facts and the meaning of events of lasting importance in politics, science, economics, religion and the arts. In the arts this week, TIME focuses on the worldwide works of Architect Edward D. Stone (see COVER), whose U.S. Pavilion will be the showcase for the U.S. at the Brussels World's Fair.

And in this issue, Ike's thoughtful citizens can gain some understanding of the effects of the latest Federal Reserve change in required bank reserves, and discover some early harbingers of spring in our economic climate, see BUSINESS, On the Rise?

This week the aftermath of the African border incident, when France bombed Sakiet-Sidi-Youssef in Tunisia (TIME, Feb. 17), has the French government teetering, see FOREIGN NEWS, Explosive Olive Branch. And for an unusual closeup of Soviet Russia's ruler, who would be embarrassed by a well-informed citizenry, see FOREIGN NEWS, Host with the Most.

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