THE COMMUNIST COMPUTER Communist spokesmen usually sound as if they
got their phrases out of slot machines. One visualises a vast electronic computer; when an official presses a button marked, say, `German rearmament,' he can be certain of obtaining a card bearing an appropriate (though not always a relevant) reply. Mr. Malenkov read out the statements on his cards, for some reason best known to himself, to one Mr. Edward Schott, of the American television newsreel company Telenews. Presum- ably Mr. Malenkov imagined that this would enable him to appeal direct to the beating heart of the Middle West, avoiding the normal hazard of sub-editorial scissors. If so, the policy is short-sighted. He should have reserved his guile for some occasion on which he would have something new or something important to say. The heart will beat no faster at his tired old stuff about Russia striving for peace while the wicked West works for war. The wonder is the Foreign Office should have felt obliged to answer it. Only one of Mr. Malenkov's New Year resolutions is worth keeping beside us :' his suggestion that 'all peoples should be particularly vigilant regarding attempts by aggressive circles.' We should, indeed.
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