Seventy-Third Year EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHAN UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS "Where Opiniond Are Free STUDENT PUBLICATIONS BLDG., ANN ARBOR, MTIC., 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 at; reprints. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Readers React to Kennedy Assassination rt ATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1963 NIGHT EDITOR: MARILYN KORALI I John Fitzgerald Kennedy: In Memioriam I THE DEATH of President John Fitz- gerald Kennedy is a crime against the human spirit. It strikes against the highest aspiration of the human race which is trying, using whatever meth- ods it can conceive of, to raise itself above the animal. President Kennedy was first of all a, human being. As such his death gives rise to the sorrow and despair that at- tend the death of any individual. But in addition to his membership in hu- manity the late President was a man raised up by his fellows to a position of providing leadership and inspira- tion. IT IS IRONIC that this act took place in our midst; in the country that Americans consider the most civilized in the world. Such an act should serve to remind us just how thin the veneer of civilization sometimes spreads itself over the United States. Commenting on the assassination various national political leaders point- ed to the fact that the American peo- ple are united in their expression of grief. This unity also extends to the condemnation of the act. Yet such feel- ings are above mention; they are the minimum. that should be expected in our society. But the act of one person brings all of us below that minimum. Our whole society has been found wanting. We may deny it, but the con- creteness of the assassination con- demns us. HE DEATH of this type of man is a personal loss to individuals all over the world. Men capable of providing leadership are all too rare today. In a world of three billion individuals and immensely complex problems, such men are the means by which individuals are made to feel a part of a greater whole. President Kennedy was such a man. This is true whether we agree or dis- agree with the way he ran the nation. He was a man respected 'by friends and enemies. During his term of office he demonstrated a sincere concern for the fate of humanity and the achieve- ment of world peace. Children of the future will, be indebted to him for his part in the achievement of a nuclear test ban. The death of the President is both a shock and a continuing, numbing blow. It is a shock because of its ex- plosive suddenness. Its numbing ef- fects will be felt in the days ahead, when his leadership will be sorely missed. For many Americans the late Presi- dent bore the burden of their partici- pation in the world with an ability and competence beyond the means of most. Going beyond our national boundaries, his efforts in behalf of mankind will be missed the world over. He was cut down in his prime before his potential was fully realized. It is this that we and the world will miss the most. RONALD WILTON Editor To the Editor: THE PRESIDENT is dead. He did not die of a bullet wound. He was raised by the American people to be a symbol for the truths and freedom that they be- lieve in. He was destroyed by the hate, prejudice and fear of the very people whose symbol he was . . . because .he was their symbol. You and I are the people who have shaped this society by the way we live our lives and have allowed this hate and prejudice to foster people who are capable of such an act. ' THIS LACK of understanding that we have let happen should not have been. If you continue to live your life as you did yesterday, it will happen again as this act has already been repeated in our country's history. You have an obligation to change a world cap- able of such an act by changing your own life first. -James La Palm, Grad Too Late . . . To the Editor: THEY'LL STAND on the street- corners and flood the churches, they'll praise and talk until their lips are dry-Poor Jack, he was so good. We all loved him. The tragedy is not in John F. Kennedy's death-the death of a man. He was only a man, he was shot, and like any other, he died. True, the life of a very fine,'very human, human being was stupidly ended. The murder was wasteful, but not tragic. The tragedy lies not about the man, but about the people that are crying the tears, mouthing the words. Us. The tragedy is ours. JOHN F. KENNEDY'S LIFE was a hell from his inauguration. It seemed he could please no one. Pressured on one side, harassed on' the other, oould he do any- thing right? He didn't have the courage to press for civil rights, we yelled. He didn't have the sense to see that it was none of his business, we drawled. People in other countries thought highly of him, but of course they didn't "know" him like us. We knew it was simply a facade. Our cries and sobs are not needed. Our support was, but when he could use it, when he was alive. He's dead now. He can't hear the words or' the praise and besides, it's toorlittle and too late. We wanted (like all Americans in this great big land of liberty and justice for me) too much and gave too little. The tears are not for that man, they're for our- selves. We've realized after being shocked from our sleep of self- concern, what that man "did" for his country; we didn't and in the days that follow, won't because there's a game tomorrow or a paper due or my girl.. That is the real tragedy, not that man's laying still in Wash- ington or his sad, shattered, lonely wife's. Hissdeath symbolizes our own because he was alive in the place that we weren't and never will be-inside.. -George A. White, '65 ISA .- To the Editor: THE INTERNATIONAL Students Association on behalf of the international student community of the University wishes to ex- press its deepest sympathy to Mrs. Kennedy and the people of the United States. The loss of President Kennedy at this moment in the history of this great nation is regarded by all of us as an irreparable loss to the world. His devotion to world peace, and his interest in the furtherance of the brotherhood and equality of man have endear- ed him to our hearts and singled him out as a statesman of vision and courage. His death is regarded by peoples all over the world as a sacrifice for the cause of humanity. -Isaac Adalemo '65 International Students Assn. Superiority ., To the Editor- HAVE THREE apologies to make and beg forgiveness for my er- rors. First, I must apologize for the inaccuracy of my figures stating that a child dies of starvation every 13 minutes. In countries where malnutrition is the rule, starvation is rarely listed as the cause of death. It might even be closer to the truth to claim that a child dies of starvation not once in 13 minutes but once in 13 sec- onds. That so high a rate has not included my own child is a fact for which I am ,thankful but not a fact which is attributable to the moral or ethical superiority of Western civilization, of Christian- ity, of America or of the Cauca- sian race. She was born into for- tunate circumstances. But I do apologize for my error. Second, I must apologize to Prof. Clark for not sending him a copy of my letter as he has, done for me. I am truly embarrassed at my negligence of this common cour- tesy. readers, speak for itself. My reply to his letter is intended, there- fore, only for those few readers who, like Prof. Clark, do consider their current good fortune to be the product of the moral or ethi- cal superiority of their own reli- gion, of their race, or of their country of origin. ., * * LET ME TAKE seriously Prof. Clark's request to correlate condi- tions of poverty, or of excellence and abundance, with the exist- ence of political and religious sub- divisions of mankind. As Prof. Clark expects, white, Christian, Western, Republics fare rather well, but certain problems arise: 1) Shall I attribute Western eminence in mechanical engineer- ing to the West or to a liberal borrowing from such non-Chris- tians as Archimedes and the Chi- nese pioneers in geomagnetics? 2) How shall I credit the ex- termination of six million Jews and three million Poles by a white Western nation of avowed Chris- tians when I draw up my list of the assets and liabilities of the Western half of the world? 3) If I am to attribute the bless- ings of bounty to political sys- tems as Prof. Clark suggests, am I then forced to attribute the dif- ference in living standards be- tween North and South Koreans to the benefits of Communism? 4) Shall I consider such success- ful socialist states as Norway, Den- mark, and New Zealand part of the same political subdivision as the United States or does the Christianity in these countries bring on the benefits without the help of conservatism? 5) Since I find the Negro share- croppers of Mississippi and Ala- bama and the miners of West Vir- ginia to be both Christian and American, to what do I attribute their poverty?' (Is it the political conservatism of .their state gov- ernments or should I infer other deficiencies?) 6) Shall I consider the affluence of white Christian South Africans to be attributable to their ethical superiority or to their enslave- ment of South African Negroes? 7) Shall I include poverty- stricken Latin America in my list of Western nations or should I separate the many Catholic coun- tries with low standards of liv- ing from my list of nations who are reaping fruits of Christian su- periority? Are Catholics less wor- thy than other Christians? * * * TO USE the criterion of past success as the criterion of worth is certainly to deny the rightness of University President Harlan Hatcher's appeal to take into ac- count the Negro's deprived back- ground in order to evaluate him fairly and avoid prejudging educa- I -Daily-Kenneth Winter tional deficiencies as a sign of in- competence. It seems perfectly clear that the success of one's successors, be they Christian, Buddhist, Caucasian or Baboon,,is not an adequate measure of a man's worth. In ideals which are certainly shared by Christianity, that worth must be assumed from the moment of birth. I do not think that allowing human chil- dren to starve in India, in Peru or in Ghana while we overpro- duce and store our surpluses, is evidence of the superiority Prof. Clark believes we possess. Prof. Clark's list of the com- parative advantages of the right- eous Christian, Caucasian, private- enterprise west and the sinful, pagan, colored, Communistic east will provide a wonderful tran- Unfinished Business quilizer for those who must believe that the world is clearly divided into black and white, good and evil. But the truth is less simple. I BELIEVE that the real ob- stacle to human dignity arises not from any demon such as atheism or Communism. A lack of broth- erhood arises rather from those individuals who define their own stock, or political system, or creeds as a sign of their superiority over others and a justification for their own privileges. This sin was sim- ilar for the Nazis and the Stalin- ists of the '30's and exists in South African "apartheid" today. We find it at home in Ross Barnett and in the Americans who ex- terminated the Plains Indian. It is the anti-Christian crime of Dos- toievski's Raskolnikov, the hubris of Greek tragedy and it is no less ugly when sandwiched between protestations of Biblical sanctity by an American university pro- fessor. Prof. Clark has cordially invited me to discuss our respective views more fully. If we will first visit the International Center and con- vince one of his own Indian, Chi- nese, African, or even American Negro students that the poverty of his background reflects a basic inferiority of his religion or of his native country, then I will not only meet with Prof. Clark, but I will take notes. What is more, I will even eat my hat. -Prof. Marc Pilisuk Mental Health Research Institute TODAY AND TOMORROW: On the Nature of, Western Politics EUROPEAN COMMENTARY: Anti-Anericanism BASEL--Most Americans don't realize how much harsh anti-American bias lurks in Western Europe. Anti-American- ism exists in all countries, Communist or not; but one would expect more under- standing and sympathy from the Euro- pean allied countries and their popula- tion. When then Vice-President Lyndon Johnson gave out ball point pens and lighters as he walked through Dutch crowds in his recent trip to the Benelux countries, a Dutch newspaper, "De Vaolkskrant," soon had some criticism ready: "Are we a recently discovered country? Did Johnson think he had to give pearl necklaces and pocket mirrors to the natives?" Another newspaper, "Het Vaderland," found the same thing quite amusing: "Maybe Johnson thought we were an underdeveloped country when he gave out 5000 pens and lighters." This example may be unimportant, but it is highly relevant to the whole problem. Johnson gave out these little trinkets to prove the cordial feelings of Americans toward the Dutch. In his simple, open- hearted American intention, he did not in the least think he would hurt Dutch feelings. But Dutch feelings are very vul- nerable as are all other European people's feelings. THESE PEOPLE live under two main misconceptions about Americans. The first is the supposedly great wealth of every American. This impression comes from the many American tourists abroad who take along their comparatively large cars and tend to spend large sums of monev. THE SECOND ASPECT is more of a per- sonal nature for the individual Euro- pean. As an Englishman once explained to me, "When Americans go travelling abroad, they behave as if they own the place." Again, it is very easy to misinterpret American tourists, because they are some- what less restrained in their actions and use a language which sounds very dis- agreeable to almost any European. All of this, combined with the sometimes quite unfavorable picture which GI's provoke abroad, constitutes personal reasons for anti-American bias in Western Europe. A third force at work combines the two preceding reasons. European nationalism, which exists in practically all countries, works against good American intentions. WITH THESE FACTS in mind, Washing- ton now is reconsidering its basic po- sition abroad. Cutbacks in the foreign aid program as well as reduction of govern- ment spending on armed forces are prob-" ably better justified than is generally acclaimed here. But "giving Uncle Sam the economiz- ing look" will not help to solve the prob- lem at its root. More understanding for the American way of life must be fostered in Western Europe through the public media. German television has, for instance, done much in this direction. It has broad- casted many good documentary programs about the United States which give a clear and fair picture of the American scene. More such relevant programs must be broadcast in Europe about the United .Zsc Ri, +nkn in +he TTnitpa t3 gtnt (EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the third of a three-part column. in which Walter Lippmann reveiws his recent six-week European trip.) By WALTER LIPPMANN TALKED ABOUT Eastern Eu- rope in the two preceding ar- ticles. My main point was that the change of generations coin- cides with the realization that thermonuclear war has to be and probably will be avoided and that this is weakening the discipline which binds Eastern Europe to- gether under the authority of the Soviet Union. In the West I visited Rome, Par- is and London-omitting Bonn, where it seemed to me too early to get any clear view of what is to come after Adenauer. There is no doubt, I soon realiz- ed, that in Western Europe today President Charles de Gaulle is the pivotal figure. The initiative is in his hands. There is little reason to think that the initiative will pass to London or Bonn. This is not because General de Gaulle is universally loved, or even admired. It is, so I venture to think, because he has seen more of the future than most of his contemporaries, and so much that happens seems to bear him out. LET US BEGIN with domestic policies in'-the western continent. Nobody whom I saw in Paris pre- tended to believe that General de Gaulle has set up a government which could be made to work without General de Gaulle. France today is a free country in which representative democrat- ic government has in fact been suspended. Yet no one who has visited Eastern Europe would think of France as a totalitarian dicta- torship. It is rather an enlighten- ed monarchy, and there is in France little of the fear which would make the general's oppon-_ ents, of whom there are plenty, drop their voices and talk in a kind of code language for fear of being overheard. So far as I could make out, the general's chief instrument to re- tain his power, apart from his enormous personal prestige, is that he has seized for himself a mon- resentative government with its parties did not work in postwar France. It has not worked in post- war Italy. Probably it will not work in post-Adenauer Germany. What will come next the Gaullists do not profess to know. But they insist that' it must be something which overrides parties and fac- tions and establishes a continuous national authority. * * * THE CENTRAL political ten- dency in Italy constitutes a tacit acceptance of the Gaullist find- ing. The parliamentary system with two-party government, as it comes down to us from the nine- teenth century, is, say the Gaul- lists, now workable. It led to Mus- solini and to Hitler and might then have led to Stalin. The Italians are trying to work out what is in reality a suspension of the two-party system. They are trying to form a coalition of all the parties and factions which be- lieve in demorcacy, or more ac- curately in personal freedom. This in the inwardness of the so-called "opening to the left." The Italian center-left coalition is intended t'o comprise the Cath- olic Party insofar as it is progres- sive and liberal and the Socialists insofar as they are not Commu- nists and totalitarian. I do not know whether such an Italian coalition can be formed success- fully. But I have yet to talk to an Italian who had any plausi- ble idea of an acceptable and workable alternative. In the field of theory and doc- trine, moreover, the Italian at- tempt anticipates correctly, I venture to think, the main tenden- cy among the masses of the peo- ple on the Western European con- tinent. The Democratic Socialists are abandoning their Marxist ideology, particularly of the class struggle, and the Christian Demo- crats are moving away from their former close collaboration with the feudal remnants and the pluto- cratic lobbies. TURNING NOW to internation- al affairs, the main fact is that General de Gaulle got the jump on all his partners and alliesabe- cause.he was the first to realize If we are to understand the real calculation behind the general's insistence on creating a French nuclear striking force, we must begin with the Gaullist conviction that, because of American power, the Soviet Union cannot launch a successful aggressive surprise at- tack. No Frenchman pretends to be- lieve that France can afford to match Soviet or American nuclear power. The candid Gaullists with whom I have talked regard their small striking force as "independ- ent" in a special and peculiar sense. Shocking though it may sound to Americans, they expect this small force to give France the ability, on its own initiative, to press the trigger that would com- pel the United States to go into an all-out war. ** * STRICTLY SPEAKING, what France is seeking to create is not an independent French nuclear force, but an independent detona- tor of the American nuclear force. In these matters of the life and death of nations and of civilization itself, we can allow no such dan- gerous illusion to persist. How- ever, I am not sure how seriously the whole business is to be taken. Thus, when I pressed the matter, pointing out that the United States would not surrender its independ- ence to Paris and that we have many ways of asserting our inde- pendence, a Gaullist official with whom I was talking admitted quickly enough that France had no intention of pressing the trigger. The French are just as much afraid of a nuclear holocaust as are the rest of us. The purpose of creating the trigger, he assured me, is not to pull it-ever-but to negotiate with the United States and the Soviet Union on the basis that France possesses such a trig- ger and has a finger on it. I don't think this is going to de- ceive anybody very much, and there is no need, I conclude, to be too much excited in Washington over the French nuclear deter- rent, or over the British. They are note military instruments. They are political instruments. Their main purpose is to give weight to French and British dinlnmacy in all the the alliance between Western Eu- rope and the United States-in the commitment to go to war to- gether if war breaks out-and he insists that he proved it in the Cuban crisis. But he does not be- lieve in the NATO establishment which General Eisenhower once commanded. He regards it as ob- solete and as an undesirable pro- longation of American hegemony in Western Europe. He does not believe in the ideol- ogy of the Common Market and in the political aspirations toward European unions which accompan- ied its birth. And so he may break up the Common Market .if Chan- cellor Erhard does not sacrifice the German farm bloc to the French farm bloc. He does not believe in negotiat- ing with the Soviet Union now, because he does not think any- thing will be lost if we do not ne- gotiate. * * * MOREOVER, there is a profound difference between his views of West Germany and the current American view. We tend to think of Germany as purged and recov- ered and as the leading power of Western Europe. The real Gaul- list view, so I have come to real- ize, is that West Germany, after the criminal orgy of Nazism, after the shock of defeat and with the open wounds of partition, is a big, deeply-perturbed invalid who must be nursed, guarded and tranquil- ized lest he relapse into his old illusions. That is why the general thinks that our attitude toward West Germany is simple-minded and dangerous. So one may say that he dislikes practically everything that Tru- man and Acheson, Eisenhower and Dulles constructed when Western Europeewas poornprostrate and defenseless. And now that West- ern Europe is prosperous and feels itself secure, the general rejects entirely the American assump- tion that it is the leader and protector of the Western society. BUT HOWEVER lacerated our feelings, the evidence is, I think, unmistakable that the Europeans have turned a corner and that the