Existence

All over the world, from Moscow to Peking and on to Washington, the theme rose like a red-hot tune moving up in the Hit Parade. The title was a pleasant one: Peaceful Coexistence. In the notes and comment that passed between Washington and Moscow, the tone was more conciliatory than it had been at any time since the end of World War II. Said the Soviet magazine Kommunist: "The need for peaceful coexistence is especially imperative now, because the alternative would be bloody and destructive war." Said the President of the U.S., as he pleaded for greater international understanding: "Through every possible means we must strive to build an honorable peace."

The soft talk brought some hard thoughts to many a worried U.S. head. Senate Majority Leader William Knowland feared that the U.S. might be admitting a Communist "Trojan horse." General Mark Clark, former commander of United Nations forces in Korea, warned that a "tough" approach to Communism is the best way to prevent another war.

Despite the cries of alarm there was no indication that key official of the Western alliance were being fooled by coos from Moscow. In Britain, Sir Anthony Eden concluded that there has been some welcome relaxation of tension, but "there has so far been no modification whatever of Soviet policy." U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, joining Mendes-France in rejecting the Russian attempt to delay ratification of Western agreements on rearming Germany, said he had discovered no gentle conduct beneath the soft words. In his best Engine Charlie style, U.S. Secretary of Defense Charles E. Wilson had a down-to-earth formula: "coexistence," but not "cohabitation."

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