Nation: NIXON'S CONTRACT FOR PEACE

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THE plan yielded little drama and few new answers, but it made nearly all the old questions negotiable. It provided a cautious one-year timetable for ending the Viet Nam war, but assured Americans that no one expected their "unlimited patience" in bringing an end to the longest war in U.S. history. Almost every careful statement became a suit for good faith from two wary audiences: the Communist leadership in Viet Nam and the U.S. public. Between them—and under intense pressure from both—stood Richard Nixon. Last week he addressed those two groups in his first comprehensive statement on the war since taking office. The speech may well prove a turning point in the tortuous quest for a settlement; it showed how far the U.S.—and the Administration—had moved toward a willingness to compromise. In a sense, Johnson's war had now formally become Nixon's war. But if the President's plan ultimately succeeds, the peace will also be Nixon's peace.

Businesslike Candor. Like all opening bidders, the President offered only part of what he may eventually find necessary to put up. Even so, given its conciliatory tone and highly flexible sub stance, the Nixon plan had an almost immediate effect on the Paris peace talks. After formally presenting the message to Communist negotiators at week's end, Henry Cabot Lodge could make the optimistic announcement that, despite initial criticism, the other side gave "every indication" of willingness to bargain on Washington's proposals. In a still more heartening move, North Vietnamese negotiators agreed to meet secretly with the U.S. prior to this week's session. At the very least, when faced off against the Hanoi-National Liberation Front's ten-point plan presented the week before, Nixon's proposals define a workable middle ground and provide both sides with their first solid basis for negotiations.

The effect at home was also encouraging to the Administration. Nixon realized that, sooner or later, the onus of his predecessor's war would have to become his burden. He is determined to avoid the loss of confidence that brought Lyndon Johnson down, and which, if duplicated now, would turn the U.S. bargaining position into dust. His tone of businesslike candor, as well as what he said, bought him at least some time.

Congress, where the quiescent antiwar forces had begun to attack again, was impressed with Nixon's flexibility. Senator Jacob Javits, who the week before had angrily dismissed Nixon's earlier policy as "sterile," called the new statement "a real step on the road to peace." Even Senate Foreign Relations Chairman William Fulbright called it "conciliatory on the whole," though he quickly added that "I would go further." A few unappeasable doves, of course, zeroed in on Nixon's failure to "limit the level of violence" in Viet Nam by unilaterally withdrawing troops. Said Senator George McGovern: "We continue to speak the rhetoric of peace while executing the actions of war."