After the Democrat Victory

New Zealand Listener, Volume 31, Issue 801, 26 November 1954, Page 25

After the Democrat Victory

HAT the effect of this Democrat victory lin America] will be it is hard to say. One problem which was once thought to hang on the result of the elections has been partially settled already. Many observers thought that while the balance of power in Conegress was so delicate, Mr. Eisenhower did not dare’ to grasp the nettle of McCarthyism for fear of losing the seats which McCarthy could swing. But in the last few months there has been a remarkable decline in McCarthy’s power and prestige. Public opinion has steadily turned against him. The death of Senator McCarran deprived him of one of his strongest supporters, and the sixman select committee of the Senate has recommended that he be censured. . . He had apparently little influence in the recent campaign. . . So much for McCarthy. But what of McCarthyism? It has also declined, but it is by no means dead. In the latter stages of the recent campaign, when temperatures were rising a little, Mr. Nixon called Mr. Adlai Stevenson "a Communist propagandist"-still a term of real abuse in America. Mr. Stevenson was also described as being "hysterical, scurrilous and vicious," and weak in his attitude to Communists in Government offices. The Democrats retorted by describing Mr. Nixon as "a McCarthy in a white collar." Apart from such references to the Communist menace, reports have not indicated that foreign affairs played much part in the United States elections. . . The remarkable diplomatic achievements of Sir Anthony Eden and the manner in which he has taken the initiative in world politics of late cannot alter the fact that the United States is still the richest and most powerful of the

Western nations. What she decides to do can affect all our lives. . . The Republicans are said to have inherited their foreign policy from the Democrats, but the Republicans have certainly been most conspicuous for the inflexibility of their attitude to the Communists. Mr. Dulles and Mr, Eisenhower have not been able to make any concessions without raising cries of "appeaser" or "fellow traveller" from the Right Wing Republicans. The result has been that Communist China has been driven farther into the arms of Russia. It seems unlikely that there will now be any sudden or drastic change in the United States foreign policy. The cession of Formosa to Red China, the withdrawal of support for Chiang Kai-shek or the recognition of Communist China are all still most unlikely, but the victory of the Democrats may give President Eisenhower and Mr. Dullesgreat freedom of diplomatic manoeuvre without the constant need to study Republican reactions, Mr. Eisenhower seems to have a due sense of America’s responsible role in the preservation of peace. In a recent speech he deplored the aggressive designs of Moscow and Peking, but he also spoke of the need for "advancement of peace through a realistic comprehension of the world and its challenging problems." The Democrats are also expected to support the new programme for Western Europe agreed on at the London and Paris conferences-so that once again the Democratic victory should not upset American foreign policy. The expert diplomacy and quiet commonsense of Sir Anthony Eden found a_ solution which has proved acceptable to the Western Powers. The West German Government, judging by tonight’s reports, is not yet satisfied with the Saar agreement and would like to reopen negotiations with France. Much patience and goodwill may yet be needed before this last stumbling block is removed and the London-Paris agreement ratified. President Eisenhower and Mr. Dulles may have indulged in some mutual backslapping over the proposed new settlement, but they have given generous praise to Sir Anthony Eden as the chief architect of the new Western European Union. Further evidence of the current AngloAmerican accord has been the warm welcome given to the Queen Mother during her visit to America. . . Her reception is undoubtedly a tribute to her personal qualities, but it\ reflects also the improvement in Anglo-American relations since the strained days of the Geneva conference. The Democrat victory can be expected to aid this improvement. If world peace is to be secured, the co-operation of Great Britain and America is essential. Fortunately, the United States now appears to realise that even the strongest Power cannot ensure for itself freedom and peace in isolation. As E. A. Benians once said, "There can be no New World apart from the Old World, nor any new world at all that is not the whole world."

MARGOT

ROSS

November 6, 1954. |

Extracts from a recent commentary on the international news broadcast from the main National Stations of the NZBS