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University Daily Kansan
Friday, Dec. 13, 1963
Pacifism Operates In a Saintly Society
Errol E. Harris, professor of philosophy, said last night that pacifism can save the world from war only if and when the great majority of men have reached the level of saints.
Prof. Harris made these remarks in the last lecture of the semester in his series on the "Philsophy of War and Peace."
A SOCIETY of saints is to be hoped for, Prof. Harris said. "But if and when it is achieved the kingdom of God would have been established on earth, and this, surely, short of miracles, is not something we can anticipate in the near future."
Pacifism is the abandonment of political methods. Prof. Harris said
A saint who believes in and practices consistent pacifism does not act on the political level but on the level of higher morality, he said. A saint tries to convert the corrupt and prejudiced rather than to bring about political triumph for himself.
POLITICAL METHODS, however, require the use of force because of the corruptibility of men, he continued. The law must be enforced because, if it isn't law and order will break down and in the ensuing chaos the conditions of morality and freedom will collapse. Professor Harris said unilateral disarmament is recommended as a way of dissipating suspicion and fear and reversing the vicious circle of the arms race. However it is not a feasible policy, he said.
Prof. Harris said there are two possible results if the United States unilaterally disarmed.
- Some other western nuclear power, France or Britain, would take the place of the US and the international confrontation between the east and west would continue.
- Or no western nation would take over and the west would be deprived of its power against the Communist world.
IN THE FIRST instance, Prof. Harris said, the US would become a satellite which would be used for the purposes of the western nation which took over.
"Unilateral disarmament simply removes the nation from international politics by abolishing the main source of its influence."
In the second instance, he said, the Russians and the Chinese might start a cold war of their own and leave the west to develop its own system and work out its own destiny.
THIS IS HARDLY probable. Prof. Harris said, "Much more probable would be the advance of Communism unchecked, with the support of Russian and Chinese power, across the western world.
"Unilateral disarmament by the United States would thus be tantamount to a surrender to Communist revolution engineered by the power of Russia and China. We would be Red but not dead."
Only multilateral disarmament could work, he said, but that must depend on a treaty, with its many
Senate Approves Peace Corps Fund
WASHINGTON — (UPI) — The Senate has approved and sent to the White House legislation authorizing $102 million for operations this fiscal year of the Peace Corps—one of the most successful projects initiated by President Kennedy.
The bill was passed by unanimous consent at a Senate session that started two hours earlier than normal.
Adoption of the measure was a necessary forerunner to final Congressional action on money for the foreign aid program.
The Peace Corps figure represented a scaled-down request by the organization itself. Director R. Sargent Shriver told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week that he was asking for less money than originally planned for the current fiscal year.
difficulties and obstacles, or else on a world-wide conversion to pacifism.
"THIS IS HARDLY to be anticipated within the next century." Prof. Harris said pacifists argue that even if the Communists do take over non-violent resistance will prove their force unavailing.
"The whole argument depends for it cogency on faith in the efficiency of non-violent campaigns of civil disobedience. There is some historical reason for this faith, but it rests on certain conditions which may not be fulfilled."
Next semester, Prof. Harris will turn to the solution of the problem of war. The lectures will be a study of the theoretical and practical implications of the internationalization of sovereign power.
OSLO, Norway — (UPI) — Nobel peace prize winner Dr. Linus C. Pauling urged yesterday that the world's nuclear powers place their nuclear weapons under control of the United Nations.
Nobel Prize Winner Urges Nuclear Control
This year Benjamin is sharing the stage with a rookie, 23-year-old Ben McMakin. McMakin kind of stumbled into the job. He came in looking for a floor supervisor's job and ended up a Santa Claus.
"I love kids. I've got five grandchildren and one great-granddaughter of my own," he said. "And you know something, they all know I'm Santa Claus."
AFTER PLAYING Santa Claus, McMakin plans to enter graduate school in business administration.
He said the United States, the Soviet Union, and smaller nuclear powers should agree to a system under which they could use nuclear weapons only with the approval of the United Nations.
"Why not? Better pay, better hours," he said.
"Even a small step in the direction of this proposal, national-international control, such as the acceptance of U.N. observers in the control stations of the nuclear powers, might decrease significantly the probability of nuclear war," he said.
NoDemandForRookieSanta
SAN FRANCISCO — (UPI) — To crack the Santa Claus ranks, a rookie must either be lucky or early. Department stores like seasoned Santa Clauses.
One Santa Claus, 71-year-old William Scharinghausen, had been the store's display director for 25 years, a job which entailed hiring a Santa Claus.
For example, take Chesley Benjamin, a 71-year-old retired chiropractor and engineer. Benjamin, like many Santa Clauses, has been serving the same department store for more than 10 years. To Chesley, there's no time like Christmas.
Pauling, who campaigned for an end to nuclear testing, described the test ban treaty as the first great step toward peace and said it could not have been "formulated and ratified except for the conviction, determination, and political skill of President Kennedy."
Scharinghausen speaks reverently of his job. "You've got to like kids," he said. "You get to understand them and sympathize with them. You also learn a lot."
But another personnel director disagrees. She claims the wrinkled skin of an elderly Santa scares the child. "Besides," she said, "We like to hire theatrical types or college students because our Santa has to perform in the store window where his voice is amplified outside. The young Santas have more imagination."
Scharinghausen, now retired, preferred to hire older Santa Clauses. He said, "They're more patient and understanding."
MOST DEPARTMENT stores agree that a fat Santa doesn't always make the best Santa. Personnel directors are more concerned with personality, humor and Clausian ability than appearance.
The stores find their hiring techniques usually produce a solid Santa although one personnel director confessed, "I think all Santas have one major weakness and I don't have to tell you what that is." Which explains the posted notice, "Santa Claus wanted. Must be sober, jolly and no record."
Law Hall of Fame To Exhibit Portraits
A gift to the School of Law has prompted Dean James K. Logan to start a "legal hall of fame."
The gift, photographic portraits of four law school professors of 50 years ago, was sent to the law school by William A. Allen of Portland, Oregon, a member of the class of 1913.
Dean Logan said he planned to place in one of the classrooms in Green Hall, all of the portraits of former teachers who had been assistant professors or above that he could collect.
THE PORTRAITS are of former faculty members, Dr. William L. Burdick, 1898 to 1943; W. E. Higgins, 1903-1919; H. W. Humble, 1908-1921; and James W. (Uncle Jimmy) Green, 1903-1919. Allen had sent a portrait of Prof. Henry Hill, a member of the faculty from 1910 to 1913, to the school earlier.
"I feel an important part of law training is a sense of appreciation of tradition," Dean Logan said, "not only of law but of the law school."
He said he had discovered graduates of the law school who had distinguished themselves, yet he was not aware they were KU graduates. He mentioned that the late Sen. William Borah of Idaho was an 1884 graduate of the law school.
THE DEAN said he would like to add portraits of graduates who have been senators, congressmen, governors, and judges.
Dean Logan said that some of the pictures may be impossible to get, but that he was appealing to alumni for help in establishing the Hall of Fame.
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