MEMORANDUM FOR THE DIRECTOR FROM STANLEY J. GROGAN

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 02155889
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 35
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2022
• Document Release Date: April 5, 2018
• Case Number: F-2016-01964
• Publication Date: April 11, 1960

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11 April 1960
MEMORANDUM FOR THE DIRECTOR
1. This memorandum is for information only.
2. By separate memorandum today, I forwarded excerpts from your
public addresses on the subject of education and evolution in the Soviet
Union, which I understand you are going to send to Bill Nichols of THIS
WEEK Magazine.
3. The attached letter from Stewart Beach, Executive Editor of
THIS WEEK, is, as he states, pressure on his part to get you to furnish
comments from your speeches on "what should be our present attitude toward
the Russian people." This is not the side of the street that you cover.
I would recommend you not agree to the question and answer "filling-in"
of gaps which Stewart Beach is using in the hope of getting what will be
an interview.
4. For your information, when Stewart Beach vas in the War Dept.,
he was one of my assistants and was the best speech writer we had.
btanrey J. Gran ---
Assistant to the Director
Attach.
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XMOOATION AND ET
IMORPTS FROM A
DIRTOTat OP
I at Celuebia %%iv ers#7
he system
&filet lidUCAti
nical educational standards on the ozwi hand while insisting on Goramunist pbUoee
ophy and discipline on the other, ultimate human seeult, the Soviet graduate,
suet be in the phrase given as by one of the beetseduested of oar resent
defector, a men divided.'
In time with the meth of echei
inevitably come to have mere and more
*In the pest, me have sometimes had
vithin the Soviet and In other totalitarian system.
been so much misguided as they, have teen premature. If is take a longer look .as
can foresee the possibility of great changes in the SOViet 1011440.. .re the
educational advances will ger a aajam' Pert*
0.. .When Wendell Winkle visited the Soviet Union in 1.912, ho had a look
at their school slates. In aLeonvereation at the Itellim he remarkedt 1,..lf
you continue to educate the Imeeien people, Pb'. 8taltn the first thing you
know you'll educate yourself out of a job.' This seemed toamuse the Soviet
dictator mightily. Maybe it will prove to be anything but a joke for the Soviet
ruler, of the future.
�...Todey, the Soviet have gone much further than before
into their apt= the leaven of education, which makes a return
Agog" far more difficult than in the pest. ...in intredseieg mass education
the troubled Soviet leaders have loosed forges dangerous to themselves. /t
will be very difficult for them henceforth to oleos off their own people from
gee to the realities of the outside world."
on
int
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of c_ 'matt Ara, 21 956
...My guess Is that
teas, inquestionaly are asking the Sevist Wen into a inn powerful nation
lades*, as in the long run prove to be *loam that gradually tracommutos
Soviet society into s now form ubiehi will not tolerate tha present typo of
ttotatorship.
*Star sines Adman* Eve tasted the apple fron the ferbidden tree ef
knowledge, men have had to PUY tho Primly of romoonehle restraint and telsrsp.
tion of one another's differensee in return far the fruits of sivilisation.
The Russians will not be immune to this tendency. Let we hope that industrial
strength, toehnology and *dilution ulll eventuallY p tho R000loos to
politisal and sesta lihortirs
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peivere*Y December 12.
"...Some 18 month, 410 in en address
t Col
speoelating about the dilemma id1ioh the Soviet les bejinnth
moult of the broadening of their educational systems and I
this predictions le introducing mess education the troubled So leaders
have loosed fares dangerous to themeelves. It will be very difficult for then
homeeforth to close off their own people from ammo to the realitiee if the
ctside verldss These fire's are now beginning to plague the Xremlin.
"There is growing mpSn Ramie Utley met only in industry bet in all
of life, a Twee of homes beings vbe are booming inquisitive about the
Ml
a
abases of Stal
in the bulbs
s that mum it possible for mea to live together is poll-
pertiseler, %here aremill. substantiated reports that the
restive, inquisitive amd sutepokee in their demands for
of the infallibility efamontemidsishprodassed the
. The leaven of *demotion has begun its wastj the mem
berd task ahead to hold this promo in shook. ..."
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1...It is tree that in their Lithe Sovieged las
scientifie and teohnical fields mach more than social sciences and the humanities.
Set knouledge is not an inert subetenee. It hes aver ef seeping serves lime
end into adjacent compartments of learning, The Soviet leaders, I firmly believes
cannot illuminate their soleetifie looters hells and laboratories without also
letting the light of truth into their history sad eoememlos elesereems Students
eannot be conditioned to turning off their *militias' processes ellen the
iestruster changes a *pie.
if education which Soviet and Chinese
is a dangerous commodity for a dictators Its Gose
gating a grosim bedy of highly educated heolegisalii
women in the field of indentrial menagenent and prodectiem. it my prove
imPessibla far thus to etre the growing um of intellectual wrest in the
Soviet Seism. Khreshobeveemnet turn bask education or at toshmological
development and beep the USSR &great power.
efhe people *flimsies, it given the time to saltinestbSir .,beimtj.n to
freedom ant of the narrow bounds of Communist dictatorship thousand' help
to find a peaceful enamor.
�
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�
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the
yew rola
though in the short run this has tm
nmehime.
wIdeciaties,
offestive27 to 'onsets in the power
It has asompliabed this Saila purpose
%rest scientists are greet thinkers and thought has no rrow ntlitsxy
limitation*. It mould seen incredible if the herisons of Soviet scientists
and educators de not become greatXy videned over the years ant their talents
devoted mere direet4 to meeting the needle of the Soviet peolle for afore
satisfying fore of life.*
in
in
it had engaged itself.
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'MEMORANDUM FOR: DCI
Here are the excerpts from past addresses
bearing on education and evolution in the Soviet
Union, which could be sent to Mr. Nichols of
THIS WEEK magazine.
The initial public statement was on June 1,
1955, at Columbia University.
.STANLEY J. GRO4AN
Assistant to the Director
11 April 1960
(DATE)
FORM NO. 101 REPLACES FORM 10.101
1 AUG 54 WHICH MAY BE USED.
(47)
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.48 5 LEXINGTON _AV EN TSE , NEW "YORK 17, N. Y. � 0.X.ford. 7- 5 500
S T E WART Ei EAC ET
Executive Editor
April 5, 1960
Dear Allen:
Bill Nichols is away from the office for a week,
so this is just an acknowledgement of your March 29
letter, which he will see as soon as he returns.
From my own tour of duty in the War Department,
I know the pressures you must be under for articles.
But the subject Bill proposed to you is such an im-
portant one that I hope some way can be found to bring
it to life. So do have someone gather together the
comments in speeches which bear on what should be our
present attitude toward the Russian people. With these
in hand, perhaps we will see a way to work out a piece
with some question and answer filling-in by you of gaps
which would probably exist.
I honestly think this could be done without em-
barrassing you by the "You-did-it-for-THIS-WEEK-so-you-
ought-to-do-it-for-us" kind of pressure. And it is a
subject on which I can testify, as Bill's letter says,
that there is a great deal of contradiction in the
public mind. Because of your job, you are in a position
to speak with an objectivity which almost no one else
can claim.
Now I guess I am pressuring you, but I only mean
to point out that I think such a piece could perform an
APR 7 k"
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,
This Week
PAAGAZINE
important service which a speech, however widely reported,
can never do, since it would, in most cases, be quoted
only in part by the press. In THIS WEEK the entire text
would reach 13,000,000 reader-families. And that's a lot
of people.
It was good to see you up here just before Christmas.
I wish we met more often.
With every good wish,
Sincerely,
Stewart Beach
Mr. Allen W. Dulles
Director
Central Intelligence Agency
Washington 25, D.C.
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CIRCULATIONS
Leading National Publications
THIS WEEK Magazine 13,186,045
Reader's Digest 12,134,253
American Weekly 9,968,416
Parade 9,620,334
Life 6,500,000
Saturday Evening Post 6,004,630
Look 6,000,000
Ladies' Home Journal 5,755,317
McCall's 5,700,000
Everywoman's Family Circle 5,121,124
Better Homes & Gardens 4,850,000
Good Housekeeping 4,437,978
Woman's Day 4,350,000
American Home 3,600,000
Time 2,450,000
Newsweek 1,325,000
Source: Latest available figures
REACH MORE PEOPLE REAP MORE PROFIT
BUY THE BIG ONE ... THIS WEEK MAGAZINE
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RATES & COSTTER M
Leading National Publications.
4-Color
Page
Cost
Per M
B&W
1 Col.
Cost
Per M
THIS WEEK
$50,150
$3.80
$ 7,860
$ .60
R. D.
40,260
3.32
19,760*
1.63*
Am. W'kly.
38,760
3.89
6,436
.65
Parade
37,736
3.92
6,140
.64
Life
44,400
6.83
8,260
1.27
S. E. P.
38,975
6.49
7,206
1.20
Look
38,720
6.46
7,276
1.21
L. H. J.
31,676
6.60
6,060
1.06
McCall's
27,560
4.84
5,450
.96
Fam. Circle
23,250
4.64
6,300
1.23
B. H. & G.
28,630
5.88
6,375
1.11
Good House.
22,995
5.18
6,625
1.27
Woman's Day
21,360
4.91
6,676
1.28
Am. Home
19,620
6.45
3,720
1.03
Time
19,840
8.10
4,830
1.97
Newsweek
11,165
8.42
2,585
1.96
"Vs Pg. Source: Latest available figures
REACH MORE PEOPLE REAP MORE PROFIT
BUY THE BIG ONE . . . THIS WEEK MAGAZINE
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�i
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This Week
MAGAZINE
5s$
4.65 LEXINGTON- AA?' ENTJ , NEW '52" ORR 17, N. Y. � 02Cford. 7- 5 50 0
WILLIAM I. NICHOLS
EDITOR AND PUBLISHER
Dear Allen:
March 3, 1960
For many years now (too many for my own pleasure) I have been/
leaving you alone out of a very deep respect for (a) the Busy-
ness and (b) the Silence which very naturally go with your job.
But now I am writing on a matter where you may very well want
to speak up because it bears on the job, and national security.
Briefly the subject is: what should the American public really
think or feel about their opposite numbers, the Russian people?
At the present time I run into two contradictory attitudes:
(1) That the Russian people are like all people everywhere
and that -- human nature being what it is -- they are gradually
being seduced over to our way of seeing things, thanks to
Moscow Fairs, Mr. Khrushchev's 7-Year Consumer Goods program,
etc. Or --
(2) That the Russian people are separated from the West by
a thousand years in cultural time and a dozen major forces,
historical, geographical, political.
The first, or hopeful, view was well stated by Eric Hofer and
is regurgitated by Roscoe Drummond in a recent column, copy at-
tached.
The second, more wary view, has been classically stated by
de Custine and more recently endorsed by Beedle Smith, and you
will find that I have regurgitated them both in the marked
sections of a recent talk "A Hard Look At the Russian People"
copy of which is also attached. (You will quickly see that I
am in this camp).
It seems to me that this is an area where we need guidance.
If wrong, attitude (1) can lead to dangerous complacency; atti-
tude (2) can produce needless suspicion, truculence and fear.
Probably the truth is somewhere in between. But where is it?
Can you tell us -- and will you?
4AR 7 RECT
pi-urw7;'77.:
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1
This Week
MAGAZINE
perhaps even better, an interview with THIS WEEK which
would be published in your own words -- in Q & A format --
opportunity to check the manuscript for accuracy and
on job to work with you.
If yes, my thought would be either a piece by you, or
so that your views and your personality would get across
in all their fullness. Needless to say, you'd have an
security. And we would put a good and qualified writer
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-2-
think there is something
me very happy to have you
grown a lot since those
that some words from you
Always cordially,
the
Will you let me know if you
here. If so, it would make
back in THIS WEEK. We have
good old days and I believe
could do a lot of good.
William I. Nichols
Mr. Allen W. Dulles
Director
Central Intelligence Agency
Washington, D.C.
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ThisNtie&
6.4 0.1V114
485 Lexington Avenue, New York 17, N. Y.
WILLIAM I. NICHOLS, Editor & Publisher
Circulation
Summary
42 Distributing
Newspapers
City
Baltimore
Birmingham
Boston
Buffalo
Charlotte, N. C.
Chicago
Cincinnati
Cleveland
Dallas
Denver
Des Moines
Detroit
*Grand Rapids
Houston
Indianapolis
Jacksonville
Kansas City
Los Angeles
Memphis
Miami
Milwaukee
Minneapolis
New Orleans
New York
Norfolk
Omaha
Philadelphia
Phoenix
Pittsburgh
Portland
Providence
Richmond
Rochester, N.Y.
St. Louis
Salt Lake City
San Antonio
San Francisco
Spokane
Syracuse
*Tampa
Washington
Wichita
Paper
Circulation
The Sunday Sun
319,488
The Birmingham News
225,989
Boston Sunday Herald
299,415
Buffalo Evening News
296,583
The Charlotte Observer
171,924
Chicago Daily News
557,674
The Cincinnati Enquirer.
282,634
�
Cleveland Plain Dealer .
513,527
The Dallas Morning News
216,927
The Denver Post
369,905
Des Moines Sunday Register
515,599
The Detroit News
588,989
The Grand Rapids Press .
86,000
The Houston Post
225,374
�
The Indianapolis Star .
322,530
�
The Florida Times-Union
162,046
Kansas City Star
358,583
Los Angeles Times
878,219
The Commercial Appeal .
255,182
Miami Sunday News
117,384
The Milwaukee Journal .
501,907
Minneapolis Sunday Tribune
630,035
The Times-Picayune
292,286
New York Herald Tribune
567,265
The Virginian-Pilot
143,215
Omaha World-Herald
261,195
The Sunday Bulletin
743,971
The Arizona Republic
172,444
The Pittsburgh Press
526,991
Sunday Journal
202,214
The Providence Sunday Journal
187,408
Richmond Times-Dispatch . � .
187,903
Democrat & Chronicle . � � .
180,768
St. Louis Globe-Democrat �
376,238
The Salt Lake Tribune .
179,301
Sunday Express & News .
106,475
San Francisco Chronicle.
266,682
The Spokesman-Review
143,042
The Post-Standard
106,410
The Tampa Tribune
155,262
The Sunday Star
298,067
The Wichita Sunday Eagle
121,584
Total Circulation
13,114,640
*Begins distribution September 13, 1959
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New York Herald Tribune February 28, 1960
WASHINGTON
By ROSCOE DRUMMOND
Why People Revolt
WASHINGTON.
The central conviction of the young Soviet
defector, Alexander Kaznacheyev�a conviction
which runs counter to most Western opinion,
is that the Khrushchev regime faces a con-
tinuing crisis at home, that Mr. Khrushchev's
successor will be forced . �
to "liberalize" the re-
gime still further and
that this trend cannot
be reversed.
This column has re-
cently quoted Mr.,Kaz-
nacheyev at length, not
because we uncritically
accept his view of the
shape of events to come,
but because we felt he
had Credentials to ex-
pound an opinion worth
examining and because
he has had first-hand
contact with what is
going on inside the Soviet Union.
As a result of this interview with Mr. Kaz-
nacheyev, I have been inundated with letters
warning against being misled by an over-rosy
expectation of a continuous softening of `the
Soviet dictatorship. Some of the letters ques-
tioned the validity of Mr. Kaznacheyev's main
point, but most were fearful of American com-
placency and of thinking that there is some
easy way of winning the contest against com-
munism.
I agree. Even If the internal trend is con-
tinuously toward "liberalization," there is no
evidence that it is altering Soviet world ob-
jectives. The process might itself have to go
on fifty to a hundred years. If the Soviet sys-
tem changes from within, that will be a
marvelous dividend, but we mustn't count on
It or base Western policy on its expectation.
� � .
But the wisdom of not basing our awn pol-
icies on What may happen inside the Soviet
Union does not prove that Mr. Kaynacheyev
is wrong. What seems to me the most arrest-
ing observation he made is that the Khru-
shchev regime is weaker than its predecessors
.because it has made concessions to popular
'demand for a less oppressive regime, and that
as It permits a better standard of living for
more of the Russian people, the demand for
further concessions will grow, not abate.
2
Drummond
Mr. Kaznacheyev seemed to me to be speak-
ing from observation, not as a philosopher of
revolutions. But the students of the psychology
of revolutions bear him out. For example, Eric
Hoffer in "The True Believer," published by
Harper in 1951, points out that, historically,
abject misery has not been the seed-bed of
revolution but that only 83 misery is appre-
ciably relieved do)n it demand change. Mr.
Hoffer puts it this way:
"Discontent is likely to be highest when
misery is bearable: when conditions have so
improved that an ideal state seems almost
within reach. A grievance is most poignant
when almost redressed."
� � �
The Wench revolution is a perfect case in
point as de Toequeville has shown. In his re-
searches into the state of society in France
before the revolution, de Tocqueville was struck
by the discovery that "in no one of the periods
which have followed the revolution of 1789
has the national prosperity of France aug-
mented more rapidly than it did in the twenty
years preceding that event. . . . The French
found their position the more intolerable the
better it became."
Mr. Hoffer looks at both the French and
Soviet revolutions and draws -this interesting
corichision:
"In both France and Russia the land-hungry
peasants owned almost exactly one-third of
the agricultural land at the outbreak of the
revolution, and most of that land was acquired
during the generation or two preceding the
revolution. . . . It is not actual suffering but
the taste of better things which excites people
to revolt. . . . The most dangerous moment
for the regime of the Politburo will be when
a considerable improvement in the economic
conditions of the Russian masses has been
achieved and the iron totalitarian rule some-
what relaxed."
� � �
This is exactly what Mr. Kaznacheyev is
talking about. He held that with the begin-
ning of the process of some relaxation and
some relieving of the misery of the Russian
people, the demand for further concessions
grows, there is no turning back the clock. It
inay take decades; we can't count on it--just
watch and continue to help the free world
build a bitter peace.
0 1960, New York Herald Tribune Inc.
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TlAisNiea�
MACIAZVNE
OXford 7-5500 485 LEXINGTON AVENUE, NEW YORK 17, N.Y.
A HARD LOOK AT THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE
Transcript of
a talk by
William I. Nichols
Editor & Publisher
THIS WEEK Magazine
The Rotary Club of Pittsburgh, Pa.
September 9, 1959
Penn-Sheraton Hotel
MR. NICHOLS: Last April at our Publisher's Meeting in New York
when Frank Morrison asked me to come here, I said, "Yes." And I did
so for three reasons:
One - I love Frank and Wally and the Pittsburgh Press and Pittsburgh.
I was eager to come here and renew associations with you all. Two, way
back there in April, September seemed an awfully long way off. And third,
having this Russian trip in mind) it seemed as though it would be very
easy to come back and simply tell you about the things I had seen.
But since then, a couple of things have happened. First, Richard
Nixon decided to go to Russia. Second, a man named N. Khrushchev
decided to come here to the United States. As a result, it seems as
though practically everybody who owns a toothbrush and a typewriter
has been to Russia--has gone--has seen--has written, and never, as
far as I know, have there been so many Russian experts living in the
world as there are today.
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2.
Mindful of all this, I am going to try to focus my remArks today.
The one thing I want to do is to give you some image, some impression,
scme understanding about the Russian people.
I leave the other subjects to the other experts. Admiral Rickover
can talk about atomic vessels. Billy Graham can talk about Russian
churches. Helena Rubenstein can talk about Russian beauty. Your own
fellow member, Steve Bell, has already talked and written authoritatively
on the situation as to Russian machine tools and metallurgy. But my
interest is people. For almost 20 years that is the one thing I've been
thinking about in terms of "THIS WEEK" and the 13 million families that
read it. My constant concern is what interests people. What makes
people tick? Why are people the way they are? It's a little bit like
the Tammany lawyer, you remember, who "didn't know any law, but he knew
the judges." And so that's somewhat the definition of an editor, too.
He may not know much about any single subject, but he is supposed to
know a lot about people.
When it comes to people, I simply want to tell you this in terms
of the Russian people--that many Americans are slipping into a very,
very dangerous illusion, because we make a rather quick, easy and, if
I may say so, superficial assumption.
Since the Russians have two eyes, a nose, and a mouth, we are
apt to say they are just like us - or, at worst, that they are Americans
gone wrong. We assume that if only we could get through to them with
our broadcasts--if only we could write them letters--if only we could
talk to them--if we could only exchange enough students and enough
exhibitions--that immediately we'd all become friends, that the world
would settle down to a period of peace and harmony for everybody
forever.
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3
And I simply want to say that as of the moment, and unless and
until a great many things happen, that just simply is not so. I say
that the Russians are different. That they have always been different.
That under Communism they are becoming more different. And that if
we ignore those facts, we do so at our own peril.
I base all those rather absolute statements on my own observations
supplemented by talks with other people, and buttressed in my case by
a wife who happens to be a Slav and who speaks Russian. But beyond
that, if you go back and read carefully the history of Russia you see
these facts confirmed again and again.
Among such testimony I want to bring forth first--a remarkable
book that America is just discovering, because it has just been
translated. It is called "A Journey for Our Times," and is the memoirs
of the Marquis de Custine, a brilliant Frenchman who visited Russia in
1839. His analysis or critique of Russia is as brilliant as that of his
fellow Frenchman, Alexis de Tocqueville, who was visiting America and
describing our character in 1831. Those two books are companion pieces.
They are probably the most brilliant and penetrating pieces of political
analysis I know.
All that I can say is that since my return I found page after
page after page of description written by de Custine in 1839 about
the Russian people, the Russian character, which might have been
taken out of my diary, if only I could write that well. As a sample, I
quote you only this one passage from the Marquis de Custine, who
says:
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"Russia today is scarcely four hundred years removed from
the invasion of the barbarians, whereas the West was sub-
jected to the same crisis fourteen centuries ago. A civi-
lization a thousand years older puts an immeasurable distance
between the morals of nations."
Now you can say that this was written long ago. Things have
changed. Maybe it's all different now. But let me read you now two
paragraphs from the Preface of this same book written in 1959 by
General Walter Bedell Smith, who was, as you know, Eisenhower's Chief
of Staff, and then our Ambassador in Moscow. It develops that in
Moscow this book of de Custine was constantly at his hand as a hand-
book, a key, a guide. And in introducing it, he says,
"It is not enough and basically it is not true to say,
as so many have said to me, that the Russian people are
like people everywhere and only the Government is different.
"The people, too, are different. They are different because
wholly different social and political conditions have retarded
and perverted their development and set them apart from other
civilizations."
What I want to say is that this process of perversion is still
going on. People are not less but more different. Under Communism, I
find that process definable under three words: People are becoming or
have become more: (1) IGNORANT, (2) ARROGANT and (3) GREEDY -- and the
sum total of those traits or characteristics conspires to make a fourth
word: DANGEROUS.
Now let me explain -- at least let me try to explain, because I
am describing subjective things, and that is always hard to do. It is
easy to cam back with a traveler's tale, with films and descriptions
of physical things. But I am trying to describe a mood. And believe
me, it is not an easy thing to do. There are certain things -- with
all the wonders of communication, in print or movies, or television --
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certain things that you have to experience in order to understand.
But let me try to justify these three words: ignorant, arrogant/ and
greedy.
I.
When I say IGNORANT, right away perhaps you feel that I am
stating a paradox, because we have all been filled with talk about
the improvement in Russia as to literacy...that a country once 50 to
70 per cent illiterate now has no illiteracy...that everyone goes to
school.. .that they turn out a high level of technicians. All those
facts are true. But remember this: if you learn to read and then all
you read is propaganda, somewhere along the line you forget to think,
and then it might almost be better if you had never learned to read in
the first place. That, as I say, is a thing you have to experience to
understand. I found that even in one week of living in a vacuumed-cell
world where all you hear and all you see is controlled and dominated
from a single source, you feel your brain slipping. The food for thought
begins to disappear. You find your brain gradually becoming atrophied,
and soon you are ready to absorb and believe any kind of dangerous
nonsense.
Let me just give one example. A student--very able, very clever,
I am sure he would outpoint many of our college students in many areas
of knowledge--was taking us through the museum. On the wall was a
large painting by a 19th Century painter by the name of Ivaaof. But
the boy was a little troubled as he showed it to us, because the
painting was of a religious subject. It showed John the Baptist
standing in the River Jordan surrounded with disciples. Across the
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hills was appearing the figure of Christ and John the Baptist was
raising his hand in recognition. And now listen to our young man:
"This is a painting by Ivanof. It is a painting of a religious
subject, but is an unfinished painting because the artist lost his
religious faith while he was working on it."
Now in my whole life I have never seen a painting which is more
finished than that. Every figure was in it. Every tree was in it.
Every leaf, every blade of grass, every grain of sand, every hair on
every head. When I said to the young man, "Where is it unfinished?"
He said, "I don't know. I can't tell you. But we were told it was
unfinished."
Now that one little story could be multiplied again and again. It
could be taken from the field of art into the field of politics. If
you followed the debates between Nixon and Kozlof, you saw again and
again that observation, reasoning, logic, facts, simply evaporate.
If at one point you say "What about your troops in East Germany, or
in Hungary or in Bulgaria?" you are met with an absolutely open stare
and the answer "We have no troops in those countries."
Or if, at some point you bring up the behavior of the Communist
regime in Korea or in Indochina, or in Hungary, you are met with a
comment: "But past events have no bearing an present problems."
Or if you ask some similar question, which proves embarrassing,
you are told that it is an "improper" question. And so I simply now
lay on the table that one word "ignorance", or stupidity. I believe
it is very dangerous, because we assume that people, being people,
know how to think. In Russia, it is a false assumption.
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Now the second word, ARRCGANT. That seems to be a second paradox,
because it is true the population is miserable. It is oppressed. It
is poorly clothed. It has been persecuted and so on. But at the same
time, collectively as a total people, it is also arrogant.
Let me try to explain that. It is because the people as a whole,
under the current system have in effect been enthroned and enshrined.
The o21 Gods have been toppled. The Czar is gone. The church and the
patriarchs are gone. The saints are gone too. But now in their place
are the images of worship in the form of the embalmed and deified bodies
of Stalin and Lenin. But more important than that is the fact that the
people are deified themselves. Just as in the old days of the Roman
Empire the Emperors had statues made of themselves and placed in the
temples, something similar is happening in Russia now.
What I have just said may be a clue which will help you understand
Russian art, which is so much ridiculed by our modern artists. They
say, "How dowdy. How corny. How old-fashioned. There has been no
progress. The paintings all look alike." But they miss the point.
The pictures and the statues are not intended to be art. They are
intended to be objects of worship. These people, one by one, may be
shabby and cold and badly housed. But then they go into a subway
station or they go into a Park of Culture and rest and see these
glorified, heroic, many-times-human-sized, golden and silver statues
of the happy worker with his hammer in hand, of the happy peasant woman
with shears of wheat in her arms, of the partisan with his machine gun
held before him - and suddenly each Russian sees himself and out of
that self-worship comes a kind of collective arrogance.
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Wherever you go you see it reflected in the signs. "Onward
to the victory of the Communist party." "Onward to world victory."
And of course, the famous line of Khrushchev, "We will bury you."
And now we come to the final word, GREEDY. But first this
much must be said: until recently there was at least one redeeming
feature in the Communist tyranny. The people may have been
ignorant and arrogant, but at least there was kind of a perverse
idealism about them too. They were suffering, they were sacrificing,
for the sake of the future. They were building dams for their
children and their grandchildren. They were opening up a territory
for the future.
But now, Khrushchev has made what I regard as a tragic blunder.
A fatal blunder in terms of himself and perhaps in terms of the
world, because he has now in announcing his current Seven Year
Plan, indicated to the people that the big payoff is at hand, here
and now. All the previous plans had to do with basic-production
with power plants, with steel mills, with railroads or with coal
mines, and all the other basic things. But this one is concerned
with consumer goods and although there may be some fine type in
there, which protects him if you get into an argument, at least in
the minds of the people they believe that by 1965 they are going
to surpass us in standards of living. And Khrushchev himself has
contributed to that in many ways. I have here the text of the
speech he made at the opening of the American Exhibition. Here
are just a few of the sentences that appear in it!
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"In another seven years, we will be on the same level as
America." ..."We are confident that the day is not far off when
our country will overtake our American partner in ,the peaceful
economic competition, and then will at some station come alongside
America, salute her by a signal and move on." ..."This Exhibition
is useful to us because we can learn something here. We see the
American Exhibition as an exhibition of our own achievements of the
near future, as evidence of the progress which our country will
make in production and technology when our plans have been fulfilled."
All this, suddenly, has given a new meaning to the old slogan,
"Victory for Communism." It is no longer victory for an ideal.
It is no longer victory for their grandchildren. It is a quick
victory now. And it is expressed to the Russians as "Ni-Vas-Peregonim."
In English it is "We will surpass you." And wherever you go you find
people looking at you, looking at our exhibition, not in any spirit
of friendliness or admiration, or sporting rivalry. They are looking
at you appraisingly. They are stripping your clothes; they are taking
your wristwatch. They are lifting your fountain pen. They are
looking at your shoes, because they are saying to themselves, "This
has been promised to us. This is what we are going to have by 1965."
IV
And that is where, of course, the DANGER comes in. Because
the new Seven Year Plan is bound to fail. In this short time, I
can't spell that out too much. But it should be obvious to you
why the failure will come in. Although, here too, we can be
confused by what is still a third Russian paradox.
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We say to ourselves, "Perhaps they can win. After all, they
can build these beautiful subways. They can build a terrific sputnik.
Why can't they give the people a U.S.-style standard of living too?"
Well just take my word for it, they can't. I'm not an engineer. But
from college physics I remember one rule that I think still holds.
It's Boyle's Law, which is that a hundred pounds of pressure on one
square inch equals one pound of pressure on a hundred square inches.
And these Russian miracles which have impressed the world so much
represent that rule of concentrating all the energy on a few things
with which they want to impress the world. If they want to throw
into the breach all their resources, regardless of any form of economics,
of course they can build subways, they can build sputniks, they can open
up gold mines and mine the gold at a cost of $166 an ounce. But that
approach breaks down when you try to spread your production over the
entire hundred square inches. If you try to give everybody a house,
if you try to give everybody a car, if you try to give everybody a
television, it just won't work. The people are too incompetent.
The system is too inefficient.
But now Khrushchev has promised it to the people. They think
it's their right and that's where the danger comes in. Because the
people believe. Ted Dealey, the Editor of the Dallas News and a
friend of Wally and mine, is back with a most interesting observation.
He tells of two students that he met in the street who told him
with all confidence that in five years they could go into any
store, get any kind of consumer goods, including automobiles, and
it would be free. Another young student whom we talked with
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assured us that by 1965, Russia would have surpassed us in terms
of standard of living and when we questioned that, he said, "It
has to be so. If I didn't believe that that was going to be so,
I couldn't go on living."
And so, friends, I want you to have that image of people who
are not very clever, people who are full of conceit who have
suddenly focused and fastened their mind on the fact that they are
going to surpass us in consumer goods.
V.
And now in the light of what I have said, where does that
leave us? It leaves us in a situation which has seeds of danger
as well as opportunity. It is possible that when they are disillusioned,
the people will rise against Khrushchev and throw him out. It is
possible that they will rise against the Government and overthrow
Communism. But if we study history and human nature, it is more
probable to believe that Khrushchev himself might be thrown out,
that the Communist system would survive, but that the Iron Curtain
would come dropping down with a resounding clang, and that when you
would find the Communist masters, as in the case of China, setting
up various external diversions. In the Far East we are seeing that
now with Red China's diversions in Laos and in Tibet and on the
Indian Frontier. Who knows what kind of diversion we might expect
in the future when the Russian people wake up to realize that they
have been fooled?
So now I come to the end. I leave you this picture, and I do
it reluctantly, because I like to have stories and speeches have
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happy endings. But at the same time, I believe that I should tell
you the truth, and I want to leave you with this picture of thousands
and thousands of people walking up and down the streets of Moscow
and all the other cities of Russia, people who are thinking of one
thing -- which is things.
Of course, the picture isn't entirely black. There are
exceptions. There are seeds of change and sparks of hope. We
know about Pasternak, and somewhere there might be another writer
who will come forward aad express true ideals of humanity. There
may be some priest somewhere wha will start a spiritual revival.
There may be a Commissar who will bring beck to economic sanity.
For the long run, we are right to hope for a peaceful evolution.
We are right to exchange visits, right to hold fairs. Something
good will surely rub off. But look out for wishful thinking. Dory
Shary, the movie producer, once said that "America is a happy-
ending country," and I am afraid that we are doing a lot of happy-
ending thinking now. We are somehow hoping that Eisenhower is
going to charm Khrushchev. We are hoping the Chinese and the
Russians will destroy each other. But don't hope too much. We
have to see things as they are. And in my opinion, it would take
at least 30 years of absolute free interchange between countries
and between continents before we would establish any basis of
true friendship and true understanding between our people and
the Russian people. Meanwhile, so what? Where does that leave
us? I can sum it up only by saying this: Let's see the facts as
they are. Let's not make the mistake of assuming that the Russian
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people are like us. Let's not assume that because our standard of
living is higher than theirs, that they are automatically going to
love and admire us. And finally let's not forget history.
In the light of everything that's been said now, we mustn't do
or say anything inflammatory. We must try to maintain public order
when Khrushchev comes, but at the same time, among ourselves as
responsible people, let's just remember the past. It was George
Santayana who said that "People who forget the past are compelled
to re-live it." Khrushchev is going to come and he is going to come
talking about peaceful co-existence. He is going to talk about
peace and friendship. He will have many references to the "war-
mongering" capitalist states and the "peace-loving" communist
states. But let's remember that since 1933, 50 out of 52 Russian
treaties have been broken - by Russia. Let's remember that
September 17, the day that Khrushchev will be speaking to the Citizens
Group in New York, is the exact 20th anniversary of the day in 1939
when the Russian armies suddenly and treacherously marched across
the Polish frontier, notwithstanding a year long non-aggression
pact, meeting the Germans at Brest-Litovsk - and that within two
months thereafter, two million Poles had been sent off into
captivity. Let's remember it too, when anybody talks about "peaceful
co-existence." We need more assurance than words.
And now one last point: that is to stay strong. When I say
"strong," I mean strong in the military sense, of course. I also
mean strong in the economic sense, and that is a matter which I am
sure all of you in Pittsburgh are viewing with great concern now!
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The need to keep our economy in such shape that we avoid the evils of
inflation and that we can compete successfully in foreign markets.
But the final source of strength, and the one that interests me,
and I think it concerns you too - if it didn't, you wouldn't be here,
you wouldn't have this motto on your wall, you wouldn't have started
your meeting with the songs you did - is to maintain the moral and
intellectual and spiritual strength of the country. Believe me,
that's the testimony I bring. When you come back from a country
where people no longer believe in the individual, where they no longer
recognize the divine spark, where they no longer have any faith in God,
then you suddenly realize what our strength is. Those are our quali-
ties, and it is our job to maintain and defend them, because out of
that comes the strength which keeps our society going.
All this is summed up in four words that we run each week on
Page Two of THIS WEEK Magazine - "For a Better America." They are
put there deliberately, every week, week after week, everlasting as
a reminder that there isn't any wishful thinking; there isn't any
shortcut; there isn't any happy ending that goes beyond the responsi.,
bility of each one of us as an individual, as a member of a family,
of a community, as a member of an organization, and finally, as citizens
in this great country to keep alive those inner resources of spiritual,
moral and intellectual strength, which have made us great and which are
the only things which are going to enable us to survive the counter-
vailing forces in the world today.
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ER 60-1588/a
March 29, 1960
Mr. William I. Nichols
Editor and Publisher
This Week Magazine
485 Lexington Avenue
New York 17, New York
Dear Bill:
I apologise for the delay in answering your good letter of
March 3, 1960. These have been busy weeks for us here.
First. I want to give you all. my congratulations on the
splendid growth of "This *wok." I follow it currently and only
wish I could see more of its editor.
With one or two minor exceptions, and these were several
years ago, I have refrained from writing articles or publishing
interviews. If I start this it is hard to know where to stop. As
you can imagine, I have had a good many requests over the years,
and if one does it once, it is hard to refuse others.
From time to time when I feel I have anything to say. I do
make a speech, and I have tried to cover subjects such as those
mentioned in your letter, although I have not really dealt with the
precise and very intriguing issue you present.
I shall try to get together some quotes from my speeches and
send them to you. though I realise that this is not what you now want.
The idea of evolution in Russia, particularly as the result of
education, was a theme I stressed as long ago as 1955.
(EXECUTIVE n 1717
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In any event, it is good to be in touch with you and I shell
be writing you farther when I get together some of these quotes.
and possibly we can get together sometime when I am in New York,
or if you ever visit this place. Now that Spring is here, I recommend
it.
Sincerely,
SIGNED
Allen W. Dulles
Director
0/13Cl/SJGrogairabi (8Mar60)
Rewritten: AWD:at
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1 cc - ER w/basic
2 cc - S.IGrogan
Note: Basic and enclosures forwarded to Col. Grogan
w/his cy this letter, and to be returned to ER
when he has finished with them.
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