Seventy-Third Year EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS Where Opinions Are Free STUDENT PUBLICATIONS BLDG., ANN ARBOR, MICH., PHONE NO 2-3241 Truth Will Prevail" Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 1962 NIGHT EDITOR: ELLEN SILVERMAN Should the US . Stay in the UN The Cuban Crisis: Two Views UNITED STATES is teetering at the edge of a severe international disaster where a mistake at one of several points could lead to nuclear war. It is a ti'e for patience, not for fear, hysteria or recriminations. Monday President John F. Kennedy an- nounced that the Soviets had pulled off the biggest coup in years, arming Cuba with short and medium range intercontinental ballistic missiles and jet bombers, both capable of carry- ing nuclear weapons. This marked a major change in American history. The threat of war now is more immediate and more personal than at any time in the past 70 years. In the past Americans have fought and died in wars on foreign soil. Civilians with soldiers or sons or with relatives in war zones were personally affected. But the battle and the threat of immediate death were absent. War was an abstraction. The men, women and children were dying "over there." Not even the realization that the Soviets had missiles that could wipe out the entire United States in one strike brought this im- mediacy close to home. After all, the missiles 5000 miles away in Russia. Now they are 90 miles away. The American people are living under the gun. MEANWHILE, Kennedy is trying to do the best he can to eliminate this immediate threat to American security. He has taken both aggressive and diplomatic action. On the diplomatic front, the United States has convened a meeting of the Organization of American States to rally the equally-exposed Latin American nations behind the United States. The OAS ministers have responded, giving United States military actions a less unilateral flavor.' Rightfully, the United States took its threat to the United Nations Security Council to demand that the missile bases be dismantled under UN supervision. This approach could lead to a more general lessening of tensions if the United States would agree to take sim- ilar steps with its missile bases that already ring the Soviet Union. As such a U.S. agree- ment is unlikely, nothing much can be ex- pected from the United Nations. Lastly, Kennedy offered the Soviets, the olive branch of continued disarmament talks, but in view of past proposals and current actions, this is merely a formal gesture. THE MAIN IMPETUS of Kennedy's response is military in nature and presents grave and immediate perils to world peace. The president ordered a "quarantine" of Cuba. In reality this is a stoppage of military weapons. There is no indication yet whether the Rus- sians will accept the "quarantine" or what the' response will be when one of their ships is stopped. As Prof. Joseph R. Julin of the Law School points out, there is little legal standing for a "quarantine." The Russians could claim that stoppage of their ships is an act of war and unleash the final atomic war. The Soviets could undertake lesser measures such as con- voying their ships and fighting tie United States on a limited basis or harassing this country at other cold war pressure points such as Berlin. The great danger facing the United States is as much internal hysteria and fear as it is the Soviet threat. The administration must not be pressured into aggressive action, as any rash move could be fatal. The United States will be treading a thin line of the abyss for many days, weeks or years until the Cuban situation stabilizes. Any misstep and a nuclear war may be unleached. A LONG-TERM disaster can result from in- ternal fear, hysteria and frustration. Americans are not used to living under the shadow of destruction. It is a more immediate and frightening experience which cannot be erased. A danger lies in the possible seeking of internal scapegoats to relieve their tensions. Under the strain of the Korean War, the American people went into a period of hysteric reaction, striking out at everything that did not conform to accepted political standards. Only in the recent years has the United States moved out of the McCarthy era which has expanded the range of unsanctioned opinion. This reaction could set in again if the United States panics. The leaders of both par- ties and of other significant opinion groups now have the task of maturing American opinion and teaching it how to live calmly under crisis. THE NEARNESS of enemy missiles may also accelerate the already strong tendency to- ward the garrison state. More demands than ever will be made for national defense. These must be weighed reasonably so that America does not lose its economic and political free- dom trying to defend freedom. Kennedy called upon the American people Monday to resolutely meet this latest and severe crisis. If Americans are concerned about the future of their country, they will respond with patience and courage. -PHILIP SUTIN IF WORLD WAR III is the end result of the present Cuban debacle the United States will have had the dubious distinction of start- ing it, no matter who starts flinging the bombs first. This may not be obvious to those who let their patriotic sunglasses act as filters against facts. But if one removes the glasses for a while the instituting of the Cuba arms block- ade by the United States appears not only il- legal under international law but also reeks of hypocrisy and a "my country right or wrong is always right," attitude which is not only out of place in today's world but makes us as bad if not worse, than we purport our enemies to be. From the first our policy towards Castro has been characterized by aloofness and re- jection. Batista's use of American arms to kill his men did not exactly leave a good taste in Castro's mouth. Soon after coming to power Castro visited the United States where he was snubbed by the Eisenhower administration Our hostility grew when he began to think in terms of nationalizing American owned in- dustries and we asserted our displeasure with such steps by eventually cutting off our im- ports of Cuban sugar and finally breaking off diplomatic relations with Castro's regime. When Castro turned to the East for friends the Russians welcomed him with open arms. This friendship has lead to the apparent building of Russian nuclear missile bases in Cuba, the immediate cause of the arms blockade. I say apparent because while there is little doubt that there are missiles in Cuba, we have reconnaissance plane pictures indicating such, but there is a very definite doubt as to whether there are atomic warheads stationed there, since this cannot be determined from pictures. This is not to say that any kind of missiles in Cuba are a good thing; there are too many missiles stationed in too many countries now for the world's comfort. But to assume that there are warheads in Cuba requires informa- tion from other sources. The most obvious one that comes to mind is the Central In- telligence Agency, an organization whose past record of achievements contains some highly glaring mistakes and interventions. BUT ASSUMING that there are missiles for offensive purposes in Cuba-does that jus- tify the blockade? Anyone familiar with the American defense posture is aware that we have military bases in allied countries rimming the Russian border from Europe and the Far East. In three of these countries we have intermediate range ballistic missiles topped with hydrogen war- heads. We have 60 Thor missiles in England, 30 Jupiter missiles in Italy and 15 Jupiter missiles in Turkey, closer to the Russian bor- der than Cuba is to Florida. TIDE PENTAGON has an answer for this par- adox however. Viewing the Western Euro- pean nations as "under the threat of Soviet attack" an official Defense Department spokes- man said that "there is no similarity between the arming of nations under that threat, on the one hand, versus the arming of Cuba on the other-which obviously was not under the threat of nuclear attack from this country.' Thus the Pentagon would have us believe that our missiles are in those countries solely to protect them from Russian attack. Yet under the "shield and sword" concept which NATO is supposed to, operate under an attack on Western Europe would be regarded as an attack on the United States and would call for retaliation by the nuclear armed bombers of the Strategic Air Command. As a matter of fact the fact that our intermediate range missiles in those countries require 15 minutes before they are ready for firing and those countries are at the most ten minutes away from Russia (which has the location of the bases pinpointed) there is an excellent chance that those missiles will be destroyed on the ground. IT IS TRUE that Cuba was not under the threat of a nuclear attack from this country. It is equally true that Cubans were living an- der the possibility of a conventional invasion from this country, either by United States troops or by Cuban refugees backed up by U.S. supplies. Cuba simply does not have the strength to deter a conventional attack from this country, and if you don't think one could occur remem- ber the Bay of Pigs invasion in April, 1961. Thus the only thing that will deter another U.S. invasion would be nuclear weapons in Castro's hands which willmake the U.S. think twice before attacking him. So actually as a peace preserving measure the missiles in Cuba are more positive than negative. OK you say, but these missiles can be used for offensive purposes and Cuba is only 90 miles from the U.S. Furthermore President Kennedy pointed out all the vulnerable places in his speech last night and its pretty scary. But this situation is not markedly different from what it was before, because ever since 1960 the Russians have had us zeroed in with intercontinental range ballistic missiles based in Russia proper. , ;t t " ' r rf -.l 7 : f 1 f4: , x - : i" .: t 1 i 11 A in l . ( itir~yfai:" 4 ; r t .'- }.. ttY . d F~y - tt z ,trl1 ,. -;,"t "j' tt ll r x".tf L, f~ t,..' 17 ,'~ 5 I~ tt " !:,'f' ,"r .' YML2"t S: .f ti I f1 ,, # , f . a x E~xl> 4'!1. r. t f t 7 i ; **T"f ili i C } C ti t= . I Yes . 0 . ( "'SOMEDM l A.s.. tN &wi te " ¢I rP sa vs 1 SvS, YOU'LL TIAANK NMb FOR LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Protest Kennedy Action To the Editor: HIS AFTERNOON a group of University people and Ann Ar- bor residents will demonstrate in opposition to unilateral action by the United States in the Cuban crisis. The purpose of this demonstra- tion is to express our conviction that the only rational course of action for the United States is an attempt to resolve the crisis with- out further use of force. We sup- port the following proposals: 1) that a United Nations com- mission be empowered to in- vestigate United States charges concerning the nature of Soviet military shipments to Cuba. 2) that if a threat to the peace exists in Cuba, an attempt be made to end this threat through negotation and the peace-keeping mechanisms of the United Na- tions. * s * WE ARE DISTURBED that the administration has decided to con- front the Soviets militarily, with- out any prior diplomatic confron- tation. We believe that the installation of Soviet missiles in Cuba and the imposition of an American block- ade are actions which put the great powers on a collision course which may end only in mutual suicide. Though only a few moments, perhaps, remain before the final crash,-sane voices must be heard, urging that the truly courageous action would be to stop playing "chicken" and start living as re- sponsible men --responsible to mankind, to principle, to life. We hope those who feel such responsibility will join us. We will gather at the Diag at 4:00, and meet a group of Ann Arbor resi- dents at the City-County Building at 4:30. -Tom Hayden, Grad -Dick Flacks, Grad -Jean Converse, Grad -Harold Orbach -Dick Magidoff, '63 Dissent ".s. To the editor: MONDAY NIGH T, President Kennedy announced that the U.S. would impose a "quarantine" on certain cargoes to Cuba and enforce it by any means. Several of us entered into a discussion of the situation and in a nice ideal- istic way we decided that we would protest what we believed to be a decision by our President that could only lead to the destruction of all humanity. Everything was fine until a local TV station showed spokesmen of both political parties and labor and business, calling on the Amer- ican people to, in effect, give up a consideration of the real issues at stake, and instead, to support men's agreement somewhere and without any war Cuba will get traded for Berlin or vice versa. * * * BUT WE still choose to dissent; not just because of sympathy for the Cuban people and their revolu- tion, but because there is so little time left. Someday and soon, it will come to a point where neither side can afford to back down, and they will come to blows. Only it will notbbe with sticks and stones. It will be with weapons that will destroy all men, the "right" ones, the "wrong" ones, the "neutral" ones.-I Sure, maybe we do back down on Cuba, and maybe the Soviets do on West Berlin, but what about the next "cold war" crisis in Tai- wan, in South Viet Nam, or in Iran? What will happen when neither, side can afford to back down? The U.S. with its policies is beginning the military escala- tion that can only culminate in nuclear holocaust. We all can prevent that day from ever com- ing if we act now. We were silent in 1945, when atom bombs were dropped on Japan; we were silent when the U.S. began building ui a nuclear arsenal; we were silent when a passive nation allowed corporate interests to ally with the military and then to dominate our policy making institutions; and most tragic of all we were silent when the few voices of pro- test were stifled and ignored. AND MONDAY these voices were again labeled traitorous be- cause they questioned the sanity of a policy that can only lead to the annihilation of all peoples. The right to dissent is being de- stroyed in the U.S. and with it goes the last opportunity we have to save humanity, our people, our families, or ourselves. Certainly, all those who believe that the existence of a critical and constructive body of dissent is necessary to the survival of democracy (whether he agrees with the Cuban revolution or not) must rise up in protest over the policy that is being dictated for Cuba. It should have happened long ago, but Americans were told that dissent is a not so necessary lux- ury that can be sacrificed. But it cannot. We have too little time, and we have missed too many op- portunities. We need positive policy, not one that can only lead to the destruction of all humanity. We must dissent, and it must be now. --Michael Brown, '63 Peter A. Signorelli, '63 Elephants . . To the Editor: A "FREEDOM in the Air" rec- ord is worth more than an elephant's tail. --Michael Kass, '65 By MICHAEL ZWEIG THE PRIME responsibility of the United Nations is the study and mediation of international dis- putes. An affirmation of the Unit- ed Nations is the affirmation of the principle of international me- diation. It is very tempting, however, to list the weaknesses of the UN and conclude that the organization cannot do practically what it is supposed to do in theory. It is still more tempting to conclude that the organization is not worth continuing because of its high cost, especially to the United States, in the light of its ineffectualality. No one can honestly deny that the United Nations as a political power is weak. But it would be dangerously narrow to conclude that it must be scrapped. THE REAL POWER of the United Nations is determined by its prestige and consequent au- thority with the member states. The United Nations is a world power to the degree that indivi- dual nations recognize it to be. Now this is an enlightening realization. It means that the poli- tical weakness of the United Na- tions is not due to any inherent flaw in the organization, but re- sults directly from national politi- cal jealousies which refuse to sub- mit to a higher authority. The United Nations operates politically as an advisory body. Where all parties have abided by the advice, as in the Suez crisis of 1956 and the subsequent UN pa- trol in Gaza, there has been peace. Where one or both parties have refused to acknowledge -the au- thority of the UN, as in negotia- tions concerning the Arab refugee problem, tension has remained dangerous. The power of the United Na- tions, unlike that of China, exists when governments believe it exists, and disappears when recognition is withheld. * * * THE UNITED STATES is a member of the United Nations, yet it has deliberately withheld its recognition of UN powers as a mediator on many occasions. The same must be said of the Soviet Union, France, and many other leading nations. "President Kennedy announced to the world that Cuba, with its mis- sile bases, constitutes a threat to peace. Somehow this threat must be diminished. The United States can try through unilateral action, or it can bring its appeal to the United Nations for study and me- diation. The former increases ten- sion, the latter does not. The President h s chosen to act unilaterally and establish a block- ade, an act of war In itself. He has, however, injected a protest to the UN asking for censure of Cuba. Nonetheless, Kennedy has acted outside the framework of the United Nations in the most sub- stantive part of his action to re- duce the tension over Cuba, ap- pealing to the UN only as an after- thought. In so doing, he has in fact heightened the tension and sub- verted the power of the United Nations to deal adequately with the situation. The refusal to rec- ognize the United Nations as an organ of mediation, at least as a discrete first step, is a great failure in the President's action, and per- fectly exemplifies the source of the weakness of the UN. -* * * THE SOONER the nations of the world bring their disputes to the UN as a prime source of action instead of as an afterthought, the sooner the UN will be able effec- tively to deal with areas of tension. If the United States is to be a responsible leader in the world, it must set responsible precedents in solving, or attempting to solve, international crises. The esp6n- sible thing to do is to strengthen the United Nations, not only by praising its principles, but by us- ing its channels for substantive action. This no nation has yet done consistently, and it is to the discredit of the United States that it too has declined to establish responsible precedent. * * * THOSE VOICES which cal, for U.S. withdrawal from the United Nations call for the end of the only existing organization which can act as a substitute for war and unilateral national political action which heightens world ten- sion. The call to destroy the United Nations must be replaced by an effort to strengthen it. The de- mand for national absolute sov- ereignty and international chaos must be swept away by the de- mand for law and order on the International level, administered by an international authority. The United Nations is one such author- ity, with extreme potential if only governments will recognize it and abide by it. Efforts to dismember the United Nations, if successful, would result in the negation of the bravest step forward in this century by human- No . . By MICHAEL HARRAH City Editor R EGRETABLY, United States membership in the United Na- tions is becoming more and more ludicrous every day, and the cur- rent developments make it vir- tually necessary that the United States withdraw from the world organization. Americans cannot continue to be placed in the awkward position of having to support financially the anti-democratic and anti-Ameri- can actions both of the member nations and of the UN organiza- tion itself. The dichotomies within the UN are now bordering on ridiculous. India is suffering heavy casulties in the Himalayan highlands before the guns of the Red Chinese. Yet this same India is the sponsor of Red China's application for UN membership. * * *i THE UNITED Nations is bound, by its charter, to peaceful arbitra- tion of disputes between its mem- bers. Yet it allowed, without lift- ing a finger, India to overrun Portuguese Goa by force-a situa- tion which was clearly unsatis- factory to everyone but the In- dians. It virtually ignored the bellicose threats of Indonesian President 'Sukarno against the Dutch ter- ritory of West New Guinea, and only when the Dutch were faced with physically defending a terri- tory they did not particularly want did the United Nations make any intervention whatsoever. In the Congo, again in violation of their charter, they are still seeking, after more than two years of conflict, to interfere in, the internal affairs of the Congolese nation! by, rightly or wrongly, at- tempting to suppress the national- ism of President Moise Tshombe's Katanga Province. In this quest, they have actively slaughtered Ka- tanga citizens on the streets of Elizabethville-hardly a proper ac- tivity for an organization dedicat- ed to peace. THE LIST of indignities and injustices goes on and on. The United States is constantly being slapped around in the United Na- tions chambers, and stabbed in the back outside its borders. The result of course is that the little nations of the world-those who hope to be dedicated to free- dom-can only look for leadership to a nation which compromises its rights and those of its citizens in order to kowtow to every two-bit sword-rattler that comes along. NO OTHER NATION in the world would be this tolerant. America has permitted a band of international brigands to run wild within her borders, in the name of a cause which has long been ignored-peace. But the time has come when the United States must assert it- self in the name of the respect it deserves as a sovereign power. Americans should no longer suffer any indignity and insecurity to further the international con- spiracy against them. And since the activities of the United Na- tions have degenerated to include these, then it is no longer worthy of American financial support or political participation. Former President Herbert Hoo- ver has suggested an organization of nations, dedicated to the ideal of peace and freedom, and his suggestion comes far closer to ful- filling the. original intent of the United Nations than does the existing UN. With the presence of the Communist bloc in the UN, there is no longer any hope that the organization can work to ful- fill the ideals of its zharter, for the Communists are far too in- terested in international intrigue to cooperate and compromise. Now, especially in 'he light of President Kennedy's action against Cuba, the United States is kidding herself if she continues to believe that the UN will aid her. Better it will be if she would pull out of the UN and apply her finanzial and political efforts to an organ- ization which is truly dedicated to the international policies to which the United States can subscribe. * * * EVER SINCE the end of World War II, the United States has been kidding herself into believing that friendship of lesser nations can be bought somehow. But the events of the last few weeks, which have seen Britain and France politely ignore an American request for cooperation on the Cuban problem, should clearly demonstrate that even the closest allies aren't too loyal. America must be prepared to look out for herself and protect herself and her people wherever possible. United Nations member- ship is compromising this respon- sibility, and the longer the mock- ery continues the harder its ef- fects will be to erase. * * * CERTAINLY it should be ap- parent by ,now that many UN me ber nations feel they should co oerate with the Communist IN DETROIT: 'Pen go' Charming, Lightly Funny' I "LORD PENGO" is a rare ex- perience f o r theatre-goers accustomed to the bawdy, gaudy entertainment vehicles of Broad- way. Adapted by S. N. Behrman from his "New Yorker" series, "The Days of Duveen," "Lord Pengo" (now at the Fisher The- atre in Detroit for a three-week pre-Broadway tryout) gently rec- ords the last five years in the life of an art dealer who is a "visionary with the gift of real- ity." The play does not overwhelm the audience with intense emo- tional rants and raves; it quietly charms with consistent under- statement.I For example, the play is billed as a comedy, which may be mis- leading to theatre-goers who us- ually see this label only on spicy Broadway confections. This is a comedy only because it is not a tragedy. "Lord Pengo" is never funnier than when a character observes that "the English are in- corruptible; you can't give them money-only a check." The one problem in Mr. Boyer's character is principally the fault of the author. Lord Peligo goes through an involved opening scene in which he rehearses a used-car- salesman kind of speech to sell a valuable painting. This is permis- sible because it is the manner in which Lord Pengo sells his paint- ings, but it gives the false im- pression that he has a crass re- lationship to art-an impression which takes nearly two acts to diminish. Agnes Moorehead plays the minute role of Lord Pengo's sec- retary. Not even appearing in the first act, she has about 25 lines. It is curious that, first, Miss Moorehead would take a minor role and that, second, the pro- ducers would allow an inadequate performer play a larger role which would fit Miss Moorehead's talents perfectly. * * * RUTH WHITE plays a nuevo riche art enthusiast who has an incurable romantic streak which leads her from lover to lover. Unfortunately, Miss White cannot del1iver a, hiiyvrnim ine wirt tr~h anvz