RUSSIA A LONG, HOT SUMMER FOR MONTHS, DOZENS OF SPEAKERS IN SCORES 
OF SOVIET CITIES HAD BEEN READYING THEIR PONDEROUS LECTURE TEXTS FOR 
THE MOST ANXIOUSLY AWAITED DATE ON THE KREMLIN'S SPRING CALENDAR OF 
EVENTS, MAY 28, WHEN A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY 
CENTRAL COMMITTEE PLENUM WOULD LAY DOWN THE IDEOLOGICAL LAW TO RESTLESS 
INTELLECTUALS . LAST WEEK THE LONG-SCHEDULED MEETING WAS PUT OFF UNTIL 
JUNE 18 . THE LAST-MINUTE BREAKDOWN IN THE KREMLIN'S USUALLY WELL 
OILED MACHINERY NATURALLY TOUCHED OFF A WAVE OF SPECULATION . COULD 
NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV BE HAVING SECOND THOUGHTS OVER UNLEASHING A WAVE OF 
NEO-STALINISM ? WAS THE DELAY CAUSED BY THE REPORTED HEART ATTACK 
OF THE PARTY'S SECOND SECRETARY, HARD-LINER FROL KOZLOV (TIME, MAY 10), 
WHOSE TOUGH HAND MIGHT BE NEEDED ON THE SPOT TO DRAFT 
THE ORDERS FOR A CULTURAL CRACKDOWN ? WAS IT ANOTHER PLOY 
AGAINST RED CHINA ? WHO KNEW ? WHATEVER WAS BEHIND POSTPONEMENT 
OF THE PLENUM, THE ABRUPT SWITCH SERVED TO DELAY MOSCOW'S COMING 
CONFRONTATION WITH ITS RIVALS IN PEKING . TWO WEEKS AGO, THE 
RED CHINESE FINALLY GOT AROUND TO ANSWERING THE SOVIET INVITATION TO 
DISCUSS THEIR NASTY IDEOLOGICAL QUARREL FACE TO FACE, SUGGESTED A MID-JUNE 
MEETING IN MOSCOW . BUT SINCE THE SOVIETS COULD SCARCELY CONDUCT 
TWO SHOWDOWNS AT THE SAME MOMENT, THEY SUGGESTED A NEW DATE, 
JULY 5 . FOR ONCE, PEKING SAID YES . 