Photos by Halina Pawl
Rally draws 500
Special to the Kansan
TOPEKA—An estimated 500 persons, singing, chanting and carrying placards, marched Saturday to the Kansas capitol to protest the Vietnam war.
The marchers started at 2 p.m. from Second and Van Buren Street and walked seven blocks to the south steps of the Statehouse.
THE MARCH WAS orderly except for an incident involving militants who carried Viet Cong and black flags and chanted "Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh, NFL is going to win." The militants dispersed at the Statehouse after their chants were drowned out by the singing of the National Anthem.
At the Statehouse, the marchers heard several speeches and sang songs. Tom Ashton, Lawrence law student, spoke for the Student Mobilization Committee.
He said the silent majority was being aroused by the Committee and the greatest danger today was the people who were not committed either for or against the
war. Ashton called for immediate withdrawal from Vietnam to "end this politician's war here and in Vietnam."
Photo by John Brown
HARRY SHAFFER, professor of economics, explained his protest of the war in economic terms.
He said the government was spending $1,000 a second or $30 billion a year and the money was being used to destroy rather than build.
"Build a better America at home and leave that unfortunate land," Shaffer said. "A cruel hoax is being planted upon the people of America that the prestige of America is at stake."
"Billions of dollars have been poured into Vietnam,' he said, "that could have been used to improve the slums and the underdeveloped rural areas of our own country."
I J. STONEBACK, a member of the National Farmers Organization from Topeka, called the war immoral and said an end to the war would stop runaway inflation in America.
Mrs. Wes Santee, a Lawrence housewife, pleaded with the marchers to write their congressmen and ask them to vote for a halt to the war and bring the troops home.
Nearly 100 persons gathered in the KU X-Zone parking lot at noon for a caravan to Topeka. Most of the marchers were from KU and 25 came from Baker University in Baldwin. The marchers arrived in Topeka by car at 1 p.m.
Five persons chose to walk to Topeka. The walkers left Lawrence at 6 a.m. and arrived at the Statehouse at 2 p.m.
United Press International reported a Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent was on hand to snap pictures of the marchers. Several persons in the antiwar group retaliated by snapping pictures of the KBI agent, the wire service said.
Bruce Molholt, assistant professor of microbiology, called the long walk a demonstration of the group's sincerity in its protest of the war. He said the walk was a local effort comparable to a drive to Washington, D.C.
THE ENTIRE MARCH was peaceful but there was one battle waged by cameras.
Police arrest KU students
Special to the Kansan
WASHINGTON- Two University of Kansas photojournalism students were arrested here late Friday night while taking pictures of the Vietnam moratorium march near DuPont circle.
Tom Jones, Hampton Va., junior, and Ray DiTirro, Prairie Village junior, spent over an hour in a Washington jail on disorderly conduct charges before being released on $10 bail.
THE PHOTOGRAPHERS SAID they were "merely taking pictures and not participating" at the time of the arrest.
Jones said trouble began Friday night around 8 p.m. when a militant group of nearly 5,000 began matching toward the South Vietnamese embassy building.
"About 500 policemen formed a line in front of the embassy and then began using tear gas and clubs to break up the march," Jones said. "Everyone then returned to DuPont Circle and the policemen used tear gas and clubs to break the group up.
"He grabbed me by the seat of the pants and told me I was under arrest," Jones said. "I told him I was a member of the press and I was leaving but he just shoved me in to the naddy wagon."
JONES SAID HIS arrest occurred shortly after the return to the circle. He said a policeman walked up to him, pushed him down a side street.
DlTirro said a policeman grabbed him by the arm and said, "let's go."
After arriving at the jail, DiTirro said the policemen told them if they had $10 they would be released.
DITIIRRO SAID they then called the National Mobilization Committee who sent lawyers over and borrowed the money from some friends.
"The mobilization committee had everything unbelievably organized, including legal aid." said DiTirro.
DtTirro said he and Jones were harrassed by policemen while in their cell.
"One policeman walked by and said to another 'what did you do, empty the trash cans on Pennsylvania Avenue.'"
AT THE TIME of his arrest, Jones' camera was confiscated and he was unable to get it back before he left.
"A policeman told me I could come back and get it next week, but I don't know when I'll be able to get it back," Jones said.