HUNGARY " HUMANIZING " COMMUNISM AFTER THE REVOLUTIONS OF 1848 SWEPT THE 
CONTINENT, HUNGARIAN PATRIOT LAJOS KOSSUTH SAID THAT HIS COUNTRYMEN WERE THE 
" REDDEST REPUBLICANS IN EUROPE . " TODAY, SEVEN YEARS AFTER 
RUSSIAN TANKS CRUSHED THE HUNGARIAN REVOLT, HUNGARY'S 14 MILLION PEOPLE ARE 
FAST BECOMING EUROPE'S MOST REPUBLICAN REDS . WESTERN INFLUENCES POP UP 
EVERYWHERE THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY . DESPITE A SCARCITY OF EGGS AND 
MEAT, STORE WINDOWS DISPLAY ELIZABETH ARDEN COSMETICS, NAPOLEON BRANDY AND A 
SELECTION OF SCOTCH . MODERN ART HANGS ON GALLERY WALLS, AND 
NEWSPAPER CENSORSHIP HAS BEEN RELAXED ; WHEN PRESIDENT KENNEDY'S SISTERS, PAT 
LAWFORD AND JEAN SMITH, VISITED BUDAPEST, TELEVISION AND RADIO CREWS DOGGED 
THEIR FOOTSTEPS . RESTRICTIONS AGAINST TRAVEL TO THE WEST HAVE BEEN 
EASED ; LONG LINES OF VISA APPLICANTS DAILY QUEUE UP OUTSIDE 
WESTERN EMBASSIES IN BUDAPEST, AND IT IS NOW CHIC FOR VACATIONING 
HUNGARIAN COUPLES TO AGREE TO MEET IN VENICE . HUNGARY'S NEW 
LOOK IS LARGELY THE RESULT OF EFFORTS BY PREMIER JANOS KADAR 
TO WIPE OUT THE STAIN OF HAVING PERSONALLY CALLED IN RUSSIAN 
TROOPS AND TANKS TO SUPPRESS THE 1956 REVOLUTION . HAVING FOUND 
THAT A LIGHTER YOKE YIELDS GREATER ECONOMIC PROSPERITY AND LESS POLITICAL 
UNREST, KADAR HAS MADE HUNGARY NEXT TO POLAND THE MOST LIBERAL 
OF THE SATELLITE REGIMES . THAT, OF COURSE, IS STILL VERY 
MUCH A RELATIVE MATTER, BUT HUNGARIANS ARE GRATEFUL FOR SMALL FAVORS 
. " TIMES CAN NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN, " SAYS 
ONE . " THE REVOLT WAS NOT IN VAIN . " 
SUBTLE REVISION.KADAR'S NEW STANCE HAS HAD A FAVORABLE EFFECT AT THE 
U.N., WHICH SINCE 1956 HAS REFUSED TO APPROVE OR DISAPPROVE THE 
CREDENTIALS OF KADAR'S U.N . DELEGATES (THOUGH THEY ACTUALLY TAKE PART 
IN DEBATES AND VOTE) . THE FINAL TRACE OF U.N . 
DISAPPROVAL DISAPPEARED RECENTLY WHEN SECRETARY-GENERAL U THANT SPENT THREE DAYS IN 
HUNGARY AND SEVEN HOURS WITH KADAR HIMSELF . EVEN THE U.S., 
UNABLE TO ROUND UP CONTINUED SUPPORT TO BLOCK HUNGARIAN ACCREDITATION, WILL 
NOT OPPOSE THE OFFICIAL SEATING OF HUNGARY'S DELEGATION AT THE NEXT 
GENERAL ASSEMBLY SESSION . AIMING TO " HUMANIZE COMMUNISM, " KADAR 
HAS SACKED STALINIST POLITICAL HACKS, APPOINTED NON-COMMUNISTS TO CABINET POSTS, AND 
ALLOWED NONPARTY MEMBERS TO SERVE IN THE PARLIAMENT . HE HAS 
GRANTED AMNESTY TO THOUSANDS OF POLITICAL PRISONERS AND ENCOURAGED REFUGEES WHO 
FLED IN 1956 TO RETURN WITH FREE PARDONS ; TODAY THE 
GOVERNMENT CLAIMS THAT MORE THAN ONE-THIRD OF 1956'S 200,000 REFUGEES HAVE 
COME BACK HOME . WORKER MEMBERSHIP IN THE COMMUNIST PARTY IS 
NOT A SURE GUARANTEE OF SUCCESS . " WE ARE NOT 
GOING TO GIVE RED BLOODS THE SAME PRIVILEGE ONCE ENJOYED BY 
BLUEBLOODS, " SAYS KADAR . TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS ON U.S . DIPLOMATS 
IN BUDAPEST HAVE BEEN LIFTED, ENABLING THEM TO GO ANYWHERE IN 
THE COUNTRY EXCEPT TO MILITARY ZONES . DELICATE NEGOTIATIONS ARE BEING 
CARRIED ON WITH THE VATICAN OVER THE FUTURE OF JOSEF CARDINAL 
MINDSZENTY, WHO IS STILL IN ASYLUM AT THE U.S . LEGATION 
AND WHOM THE GOVERNMENT WANTS TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY . FIRST 
SIGNS OF A RAPPORT WITH ROME APPEARED WHEN THE GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCED 
THAT IT WOULD APPROVE POPE PAUL'S ASSIGNMENT OF SIX NEW CATHOLIC 
BISHOPS TO VACANT HUNGARIAN SEES . BUT THE GOVERNMENT STILL REFUSES 
TO LET OTHER BISHOPS AND SOME 1,000 PRIESTS PERFORM THEIR DUTIES 
. OFF TO BELGRADE . MORE THAN 90 PER CENT OF 
HUNGARIAN AGRICULTURE HAS BEEN COLLECTIVIZED, BUT FARMERS CAN USE STATE MACHINERY 
TO CULTIVATE THEIR OWN TINY PLOTS . INCREASINGLY, THE GOVERNMENT IS 
TRYING TO CHANNEL A LARGER PART OF THE ECONOMY INTO THE 
PRODUCTION OF CONSUMER GOODS . TODAY SOME HUNGARIAN GYPSIES ACTUALLY HAVE 
TV SETS THOUGH THEY OFTEN GO AROUND BAREFOOT . HUNGARY, OF 
COURSE, IS STILL A TOTALITARIAN STATE . WATCHTOWERS, MINEFIELDS AND BARBED-WIRE 
SEAL OFF THE COUNTRY FROM THE WEST . THOUGH THE MIDNIGHT 
KNOCK BY THE SECRET POLICE IS ALMOST A THING OF THE 
PAST, MORE THAN 40,000 RUSSIAN TROOPS AND THE HIDEOUS MEMORY OF 
1956 STILL REMAIN . KADAR STEADFASTLY FOLLOWS EVERY NEW TWIST OF 
KREMLIN POLICY . NO SOONER HAD NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV LEFT YUGOSLAVIA AFTER 
MAKING HIS PEACE WITH MARSHAL TITO THAN KADAR MADE PLANS TO 
VISIT BELGRADE THIS WEEK, SEEKING TO STRENGTHEN HUNGARY'S ECONOMIC, DIPLOMATIC AND 
CULTURAL TIES WITH THE ONETIME " REVISIONIST " BAD BOY OF 
THE SATELLITES . NEVER IN HUNGARY . BUT KADAR'S LIBERALIZATION DOES 
PERMIT HUNGARIANS TO LAUGH AT THEMSELVES AND AT THEIR REGIME AS 
LONG AS COMMUNIST IDEOLOGY ITSELF IS NOT ATTACKED . IN THE 
LATEST ISSUE OF THE HUNGARIAN SATIRICAL WEEKLY LUDAS MATYI, THE EDITORS 
REFLECT ON BRITAIN'S RECENT $7,000,000 MAIL TRAIN ROBBERY AND CONCLUDE THAT 
IT COULD NEVER HAVE HAPPENED IN HUNGARY . " WE LACK 
ALL THE REQUIREMENTS FOR IT, " SAID THE MAGAZINE . " 
FIRST, OF THE 30 MEN IN THE GANG, AT LEAST FOUR 
WOULD HAVE BEEN OUT SICK, EIGHT WOULD HAVE GONE BY MISTAKE 
TO ANOTHER RAILWAY EMBANKMENT, AND THREE WOULD HAVE TELEGRAPHED FROM LAKE 
BALATON THAT THEY COULD NOT COME FOR TWO DAYS . IT 
WOULD ALSO NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE TO COVER THE GREEN TRACK 
SIGNAL BECAUSE WE STILL HAVE A COVER SHORTAGE . IN ADDITION, 
A MAIL TRAIN HERE WOULD HAVE BEEN TWO HOURS LATE . 
THE BANDITS LOADED THE MONEY THEY STOLE IN A TRUCK . 
THEY COULD DO THAT IN ENGLAND, BUT HERE, WHERE THE TRUCK 
SERVICE STATIONS ARE THREE MONTHS BEHIND IN THEIR WORK, WHAT COULD 
THEY HAVE LOADED THE BAGS ON ? / 