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THIS WEEK AND NEXT by Ray Argyle In The Coming Year Crystal ball gazing is always a chancy business. With the world as it is today, it might seem foolhardy to predict what's ahead. But the mind thrives on speculation, and as is my custom at each New Year, here's what I see ahead for the coming year! VIETNAM. After two years of bewildering diplomatic twists and turns, the U.S. now seems committed to what its military strategists have always warned against--a land war on the con- tinent of Asia. U.S. troop involvement con- tinues to mount in Vietnam. Before the year is out, there will likely be 400,000 American soldiers there--a greater num- ber than saw action in Korea 15 years ago. Despite "peace feelers" from each side, U.S. continues to fol- low the Eisenhower "dominoe dictum"--the theory that if South Vietnam goes Commu- nist, other Asian states will fol- low. From a strictly military view- point, it is hard to challenge this logic. The weakness of it, as some U.S. politicians have point- ed out, is that economic and so- cial progress in these lands would create a far more effec- tive anti-Communist stance than can by achieved by even the full force of U.S. military might. The U.S. could end the con- flict in Vietnam tomorrow by unleashing total war against this unhappy jungle land. This is what the right-wingers want. But the risks are so great--the risk of China's involvement, the risk of a' wave of world-wide anti-Americanism--that Presi- dent Johnson has wisely over- ruled the war hawks who rail against his "no-win" policy. So the dilemma remains. The question to be settled in 1966 seems to be no longer whether Communists will take over South Vietnam, but how and under what conditions. In the long run, the best the West can hope for is a quasi-independent Communist regime in Saigon which -- like Yugoslavia in Europe--could resist the power pull of Moscow and Peking. RUSSIA VS. CHINA. These two goliaths of Communism will draw further apart in 1966 un- less the tinderbox of Vietnam forces them into a common anti- Western stance. Settlement of the Vietnam conflict will take the pressure off the Soviet Un- ion to compete with China in bellicosity and belligerance. Power shifts in the Kremlin can be expected to accelerate following the resignation of president Anastas Mikoyan. Pre- mier Kosygin and _ Secretary Brezhnev have managed to re- tain the collective leadership imposed following Nikita Khrushchev's ouster. But the Russian system has not yet dem- onstrated that it can adjust to anything other than supreme leadership of one man. That one man may not emerge in 1966, but he is waiting in the wings for the inevitable break-up of the present team. RHODESIA. Prime Minister Ian Smith's breakaway regime faces a bleak outlook as 1966 be- gins. Britain's delayed but dras- tic move in a total oil embargo can bring the regime to its knees. But I predict that Smith will survive, if only at the price § of guaranteeing eventual partic- ipation by the Negro majority in the government of the coun- try. CANADA. Two big questions loom on the horizon as 1966 be- gins. Will prosperity--and the Liberal Government -- survive the coming year? Spurred by U.S. economic ex- pansion, Canada's economy is now entering its fifth year of unbroken industrial growth--a modern record. Money and cred- it will be tighter in 1966 than in the past year, mainly to dampen signs of inflation which have shown up recently. But no one around seriously expects any- thing but good business condi- tions in 1966. The outlook is op- timistic. The Liberal Government will be on trial in 1966. The pre. Christmas cabinet shake-up will have time to show its effects. Politically, the country should be stable in the coming year. Given another year of minority government, however--and pos- sible changes in party leader- ship -- it will take a lot of skillful manoeuvring to avoid an election in the Centennial Year of 1967. Toronto Telegram News Service ONCE-A-YEAR TAILORED TO MEASURE CLEARANCE YOU SAVE MANY DOLLARS ON A Pal fad CUSTOM TAILORED S$ UIT, g7 (H AFTER THIS EVENT.... THE PRICE RETURNS TO §95. TIP TOP TAILORS Don't miss this splendid opportunity to get a tailored-to-measure suit at a saving---This sale ends January 29th. Our ready-made suits may be purchased at reasonable prices. Visit us soon! Spadoni Bros. Ltd. The annual meeting and election of officers will be held Thursday, Jan. 6th at 8.00 p.m. in the Adult Study Lounge. Come out and help plan a pro- gramme for '66. Refreshments will be served. Schreiber, Ontario. Phone 12-W Billy Little, a former Terrace Bay boy who has done very well in hockey since leaving his home town, is shown below with his hockey team, the Oshawa Generals. Billy is third from the right in the back row. Game schedules prevented him from enjoying the holidays here, but he sends best wishes to everyone.