IT'S LATER THAN WE THINK

Abstract

OUR TRAVEL SCHEDULE brought us to Chicago, Feb, 17 to 19, for the Fourth Military-Industrial Conference, and we thus avoided the storm-swept East Coast—specifically, 17 inches of snow in the nation's capital, which all but immobilized it. The almost-free-from-snow comfort of Chicago was short-lived. Despite the 70° F. of the Conrad Hilton ballroom, we felt chills go up and down our spine as we listened to speaker after speaker telling us it is much later than we think. Two present factors did not exist at the previous conferences: 1. The American public at long last is aware of, and terribly disturbed by, the sudden dramatic evidence of U.S.S.R's vast scientific and technological resources. Some of those at previous conferences raised storm warnings, pointing out the great strides of the Soviets in science and technology, but they were ignored. The Free World chose to continue living in a fool's paradise. 2. The U. S. is now ...