"We Stand in Need"

Harry Truman is not an eloquent man. But he is a peace-loving, God-fearing man who can, on occasion, speak eloquently as the voice of a nation that is peace-loving and Godfearing, too. This week he did so when, as a fellow-Baptist, he addressed the ground-breaking ceremonies at the Baptists' new Wake Forest College (see EDUCATION) just outside of Winston-Salem, N.C.

Said the President of the U.S.: "I am afraid that some people here and abroad believe that the creation of armed defenses must inevitably lead to war. This is not the case. We do not think war is inevitable." He was willing to consider the difficult question of co-existing with Communism, but under conditions that would render world Communism powerless to threaten the security of the free world. "So long as one country has the power and forces to overwhelm others, and so long as that country has aggressive intentions, real peace is unattainable ... As our strength increases, we should be able to negotiate settlements that the Soviet Union will respect and live up to."

He kept the sharp, political edge from his voice even when he touched briefly, without naming it, on McCarthyism. "To the sowers of suspicion, and the peddlers of fear, to all those who seem bent on persuading us that our country is on the wrong track and that there is no honor or loyalty left in the land ... I would say one thing: 'Take off your blinders and look toward the future. The worst danger we face is the danger of being paralyzed by doubts and fears. This danger is brought on by those who abandon faith and sneer at hope . . .' Yet, at heart, I do not greatly fear such men, for they have always been with us, and in the long run they have always failed ...

"When the accounts of history are rendered, it is the going forward that will constitute the record--not the hesitations and the mistakes--not how you refrained from wrong, but how you did right . . . For six long years now we have contended, with all the weapons of mind and spirit, against the adherents of the false god of tyranny . . . These positive acts have not been easy to do. They have brought upon us the hatred and threats and curses of the enemies of freedom--and may bring upon us even worse troubles. Nevertheless, if this nation is justified by history, it is these things that will justify it, and not the negative virtue of meaning no harm.

"God forbid that I should claim for our country the mantle of perfect righteousness. We have committed sins of omission and sins of commission, for which we stand in need of the mercy of the Lord. But I dare maintain before the world that we have done much that was right."

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