At the present session of the United Nations in Paris, we, together with the British and the French, offered a plan to reduce and control all armaments under a foolproof inspection system.  This is a concrete, practical proposal for disarmament.

But what happened?  Vishinsky laughed at it.  Listen to what he said:  “I could hardly sleep at all last night ....  I could not sleep because I kept laughing.”  The world will be a long time forgetting the spectacle of that fellow laughing at disarmament.

Disarmament is not a joke.  Vishinsky’s laughter met with shock and anger from the people all over the world.  And, as a result, Mr. Stalin’s representative received orders to stop laughing and start talking.

If the Soviet leaders were to accept this proposal, it would lighten the burden of armaments, and permit the resources of the earth to be devoted to the good of mankind.  But until the Soviet Union accepts a sound disarmament proposal, and joins in peaceful settlements, we have no choice except to build up our defenses.

During this past year we added more than a million men and women to our Armed Forces.  The total is now nearly 3 1/2 million.  We have made rapid progress in the field of atomic weapons.  We have turned out billion worth of military supplies and equipment, three times as much as the year before.

Economic conditions in the country are good.  There are 61 million people on the job; wages, farm incomes, and business profits are at high levels.  Total production of goods and services in our country has increased 8 percent over last year—­about twice the normal rate of growth.

Perhaps the most amazing thing about our economic progress is the way we are increasing our basic capacity to produce.  For example, we are now in the second year of a 3-year program which will double our output of aluminum, increase our electric power supply by 40 percent, and increase our steelmaking capacity by 15 percent.  We can then produce 120 million tons of steel a year, as much as all the rest of the world put together.

This expansion will mean more jobs and higher standards of living for all of us in the years ahead.  At the present time it means greater strength for us and for the rest of the free world in the fight for peace.

Now, I must turn to the debit side of the ledger for the past year.

The outstanding fact to note on the debit side of the ledger is that the Soviet Union, in 1951, continued to expand its military production and increase its already excessive military power.

It is true that the Soviets have run into increasing difficulties.  Their hostile policies have awakened stern resistance among free men throughout the world.  And behind the Iron Curtain the Soviet rule of force has created growing political and economic stresses in the satellite nations.

Nevertheless, the grim fact remains that the Soviet Union is increasing its armed might.  It is still producing more war planes than the free nations.  It has set off two more atomic explosions.  The world still walks in the shadow of another world war.