Foreign Relations: A Cool Hot Line

During October's Cuban crisis, messages moved with nerve-tugging sluggishness between the Kremlin and the White House. Some exchanges took as long as seven hours. Last week, at disarmament talks in Geneva, the Russians agreed to Kennedy's proposal to hook up a direct line of communication between Premier Khrushchev and the President. But it will probably be a Teletype, not a telephone—Kennedy feels that a few heated words over a hotline phone might lead to war.