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University Daily, Kansan Tuesday. Feb. 18. 1960
Hurrah for France?
Saturday's atomic explosion in the Sahara has given France apprentice membership in the "nuclear club."
Of course one atom bomb does not make France a full-fledged member—it simply allows De Gaulle to enter the armament race if he so desires. But what De Gaulle does with his newly-constructed atomic gadget is another question.
Many diplomats who are critical of France's striving to enter the "nuclear club" look upon Saturday's explosion as a crime against humanity. Firing the bomb in the Sahara obviously increases the danger of atomic fallout. Communists, Africans and "neutralists" have protested the atomic explosion because it complicates a solution to total disarmament. U.S. officials have extended few congratulations to the French.
It is not impossible for France to build a striking force similar to that of the three powers in the big terror club. The cost of such an effort, however, would mean a tremendous sacrifice of
capital which is now being used to strengthen France's economic position in the world.
The possibility of a limited striking force—as advocated by the defense ministry—is not to be ruled out either. But the effectiveness of a few bombs and the planes to carry them would certainly be limited.
A third hypothesis is that the purpose of building a few atomic bombs is political, not military. If De Gaulle would announce, spectacularly, that further tests and production is being stopped, France would be in a position to exert moral pressure on other nations. Opening her atomic "arsenal" to international inspection would give France new stature in the eyes of the world as well as raising the morale of the French people.
It is questionable whether De Gaulle can bypass the power of military pressure groups. Yet it would be a mistake to underestimate the power of a man who held France together during the recent Algerian rebellion. — Doug Yocom
What About Justice?
Civil rights in the United States received a setback in the case of the Apalachin "crime convention."
Twenty men, known as gangsters and linked with the Mafia, international crime syndicate, were convicted in December of conspiracy against the law. They were among 63 persons who gathered at the Apalachin, N. Y., home of Joseph Barbara Sr. in November of 1957 for the so-called Mafia convention.
The court ruled that the men were guilty of a conspiracy to thwart and obstruct justice. The prosecution proved that there was a conspiracy—a conspiracy during the trial to keep secret the happenings and purposes of the convention. But as to the conspiracy with which the meeting was concerned, nothing could be proved.
The group of gangsters was convicted of having a meeting, the purpose of which was not known.
It seems we have two standards of justice—one for recognized gangsters and one for everybody else. But the trouble with presuming that certain persons are gangsters is that this presumption is likely to be wrong. Individual rights are held in great enough esteem in the U.S. that the average person would never be convicted of conspiracy unless the nature of the conspiracy were known.
It is fine to crack down on organized crime, but not through a weakening of individual rights. If the precedent of this case is followed, we will be sending men to prison for being "bad guys" without benefit of a conviction for any particular crime. — Jack Harrison
A Protest
One knows that to err is human, but when things go too far a protest becomes necessary and through the courtesy of your columns, I would like to protest against the behavior of a group of foreign students who tried to disturb the proceedings of the William Allen White lecture last week. We human beings are in the habit of scrutinizing each other's actions and judging them by our own standards.
Whatever the arguments in support of freedom of expression, and the "right to oppose," I find the actions of the Latin American students in extremely bad taste. Freedom of expression is not to be taken as license for rabble-rousing and crying "fire" in a crowded cinema. I do not know what good purpose the actions of our friends from Latin America have served, and what motivated them to heckle Mr. Dubois, I can only assume that either they were anxious to be bemedaled by their "hero" Fidel Castro, or it was sheer hunger for publicity. Certainly they were not thinking of improving relations between Mr. Castro's Cuba and the United States. Friendships are not won that way.
I have no personal prejudices, one way or the other, but should I wish to criticize Fidel Castro's programs as communistic, as apparently Mr. Dubois does, I would not like to be booed and cursed while expressing my opinion. Latin American nationalism is understandable, but the students from that region ought to be more reasonable and tolerant, while hearing opinions contrary to their aspirations—whether they be legitimate or otherwise. I would like to urge them to realize that one thing that we cannot afford to lose is our temper. We must keep it to ourselves at all times, because no one else wants it. I wonder what would happen to a group of American students who tried to interrupt a speaker in Havana whose remarks might be construed to be unfriendly to the United States.
I might add that the foreign students on the campus are guests of the American people and to take undue advantage of their position is undesirable and unwise to say the least. I feel strongly about it because I think that American hospitality has been unjustifiably exploited by the Latin American students. Should this letter succeed in removing some of the misunderstandings caused by the fortunate and uncalled for incident of last week, it will have accomplished its purpose.
Rab N. Malik
Rab N. Malik Karachi, Pakistan, senior * * *
Lost Colony
Editor:
I also think, however, that it would be most unfair and unfortunate to let this incident pass without attempting to determine whether the opinions expressed by the Latin American students are justifiable.
From 1902 . . . to the collapse of Batista's regime . . . for all practical purposes Cuba was a colony of the United States. In 1958 American corporations controlled 40 per cent of Cuba's sugar production (with an annual value of $600 million), the product which represents nearly two-thirds of Cuba's national income.. Other figures: public utilities—80 per cent American-owned; mineral wealth and cattle ranches—90 per cent American-owned; oil—entirely British—or American-owned.
I think we must agree with Chancellor Murphy that the interruptions of Mr. Jules Dubois' speech Wednesday were out of place and rude.
The consequences which the Cuban people have had to pay for this incredible maldistribution of wealth and flight of capital from the country have (been) . . . the most wretched poverty, hunger and ill-literacy.
To assert that the Castro government has received an unfair press in this country is a gross understatement. The image painted of Fidel Castro has ranged from a fanatic communist to an egoistic
beatnik. Who is brainwashing whom?
The American press was somehow unaware of the tortures and mass murders which characterized the Bataista dictatorship, When Castro began to seriously threaten American investments in Cuba we suddenly discovered the importance of Cuba, and rejuvenated our capacity for moral indignation when the first of Batista's infamous henchmen went to the firing squad. The American Government and the press have been conscientiously ignoring the intimidations of Dominicans in the United States, the oppression and slaughtering perpetrated by Trujillo in the Dominican Republic, and the process by which he has literally turned that country into his personal fortune—all in the name of "non-intervention."
The American Government was supplying arms to Batista until March 1958, ostensibly for purposes of defense. It is well known, and it was known then, that these arms were being used against the fidelistas in the Sierra Maestra. Can we seriously blame Latin Americans for their anger when we support dictators who are congenial to our politics and protect American investments, but equate social reform with communism?
Let me repeat that the outbursts of the protesting students at Mr. Dubois' speech were out of place. They could have expressed themselves in other ways which would not have cast a poor reflection on their manners and the hospitality of the University. But before condemning their beliefs as well as their behavior we should consider the remark of Ramon Mayor, the Cuban student who said "Tell the truth, Dubois! Say the Cuban people are hungry, not communistic. We are not with Russia. We are with Cuba!" I wish the young man had not shouted out so rudely. But at the same time I confess that I cannot help but admire his courage and eloquence.
Natalie Jarmon Assistant Instructor of Western Civilization
Dubois on Castro
(Editor's note: the following excerpts are taken from the book, "Fidel Castro," by Jules Dubois, published by the Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc., in March 1959.)
"Now he is no longer a guerrilla, and he has the enormous responsibility of winning the peace. As the euphoria that followed victory begins to wear off and the people examine the deeds of the revolutionary government with a more critical eye, there is bound to be more outspoken criticism. One danger lies in the possibility that those who wish to force Castro into excesses might try to inflame him against any criticism, even though that criticism might be intended as constructive. Critics then might be smeared as making 'anti-Cuban and anti-patriotic' statements; fear and intimidation, weapons of dictators, their adulators and of the communists, would then replace the subsidies which most of the press had enjoyed under Batista and which the revolutionary government abolished in the third decree it issued.
"In his defense of the Moncada attack Castro outlined five basic laws that he intended to enact for the welfare of the people of Cuba, and those are incorporated in his program of government. He has never varied from them just as he has not varied from his desire to see Latin America rid of dictators, especially Trujillo. He has lent the moral support of revolutionary Cuba to exiles from the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Nicaragua. The air waves of the Caribbean are filled nightly with psychological warfare broadcasts against those three countries by exiles in Havana. Castro has offered to grant recognition to any insurrectionist group that gets a foothold in the hills of any of those countries, though his domestic problems and diplomatic complications might prevent him from furnishing active armed aid to those expeditionaries.
"On the other hand, Trujillo and the Somozas can be expected to take every countermeasure within their capabilities to try to frustrate the planned revolutions. The same is true of Duvalier in Haiti. As Castro himself has often forecast, his victory has sounded the death knell for dictators in Latin America. Can a man who is so imbued with such a missionary zeal to see others free degenerate into a dictator himself?
"On August 21, 1958, he said from the Sierra Maestra;
"There is a revolution because there is tyranny. There is a revolution because there is injustice. There is and there will be a revolution as long as there is a shadow of a threat against our rights and our freedom."
"If he succeeds in ensuring the consolidation and preservation of those cherished rights to freedom for which millions of Cubans rallied to his cause; if he succeeds in translating into reality and practices the tolerance, justice and the respect for the Constitution and the law which he advocated in his brilliant defense after the Moncada attack and reiterated during his exile in Mexico and throughout the epic of the Sierra Maestra, then history surely will absolve him."
Dailu Hansan
University of Kansas student newspaper
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NEWS DEPARTMENT
Managing Editor
EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT Douglas Yocom and Jack Harrison
Douglas Yocom and Jack Harrison Co-Editorial Editors
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