Los Banos Rotary Club History
World Traveler Reports On His Observations

John Morley, renowned U.S. war correspondent just recently returned from his third world tour, gave members of the Los Banos Rotary Club and their wives a partially heartening, partially pessimistic picture of world conditions as he interprets them through interviews with government officials and common people with whom he talked.

Entitling his talk as the "1953 World Report, Uncensored," Morley said he returned from his third world tour with a heavy heart, particularly as regards the future outlook in Korea and other critical areas in Asia, with no peace in sight. "We in America think of peace as the thing we most want," he said, "but throughout the world 75 per cent of the people think first of their own hunger, and the need for clothing and other essentials. With them, peace is secondary. And it is with those people that Communism is today making the equally embittered Jugoslavians.

Emphasizing that the picture he unfolded in the words was as he saw it rather than as he would like to see it, he said the world's trouble spots are mostly more troublesome—in Italy, in Jugoslavia at Trieste, in India, and in Korea. Contributing largely to the increasing distrust and turning away from the United States and the western world he said, is the inefficient, blundering U.S. State Department. Pointing out that our ambassadors and diplomatic staffs are mostly made up of appointees chosen because of the amount of their financial contributions to the party in power instead of on the basis of their personal ability, Morley declared America's greatest need today is a new policy of building up and staffing a state department with men who are specially educated and trained for the job, "As of today," he said, "America takes a terrific beating at the conference table because of our inexperienced and incapable men in the State Department."

The explosive situation in Trieste today, he said, is directly the result of blunders by the U.S. diplomatic force, and its attempt to play both sides at the same time, while Russia "laughs up her sleeve." However, he predicted that some sort of settlement on the Trieste question would be concluded within a week or so, and that it would at least temporarily soothe and partially satisfy both the now-maddened Italian government and the equal-ly embittered Jugoslavians.

The heartening spot, Morley said, is Russia itself, primarly in the person of the Red Army General Gregory Zukhof is reportedly friendly to President Eisenhower and the western principles. Internal strife and world, and is also a Christian, with deeply-imbedded Christian possible revolution within Russia is possible soon, he said.

Special entertainment was provided by a local trio of Anthony Patricio, Jr., Henry Bove and Nick Torlano, with several musical selections, songs and stories.

December 11, 1953

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