Editorials.

Few men are able to take a more objective view of the Soviet Union than Alexander Werth. He has never attacked the Soviet state because it was the fashion to do so, has never run with the hounds. At the same time, few analysts have been more critical of Soviet faults and, because hatred was not the spur to the writing, few have been more convincing. Werth's piece in the current issue is in that pattern. It is a pattern far from universal. For a time, the American press and officialdom took a moderate tone toward the Soviet Union but of late there has been a noticeable change. With U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson Administration under increasing pressure to stop bombing North Vietnam and to include the Vietcong in peace overtures, both officials and the press that follows their line have taken again to blaming their troubles on the Russians.