Thursday, Oct. 6, 1960 University Daily Kansan
Page 3
From the Magazine Rack一
Birth Control? Yes
"The population cannot go on increasing indefinitely; it must eventually reach a point of stability. While it is possible for the world to support a population a good deal larger than the present one, our fundamental choice is between achieving population stability by lowering the birth rate as opposed to achieving it by increasing the death rate.
"Let us assume that the marvels of science and technology do succeed in creating a world in which productivity rises at unprecedented rates. Those who talk blithely of algae out of the sea and rockets to Mars rarely pause to ask themselves whether we really want to live in a world where population pressure compels us to rely on such expedients. Even if other planets are habitable, astronomers doubt whether they would be very pleasant places to live. And even though a sardine-can world is a fantasy and a larger population can be supported comfortably, are utterly indifferent to considerations of space and density? Do we care nothing if the world resembles Levittown, New York as long as people get enough to eat? It is curious that those who oppose birth control should so often think of themselves as upholders of tradition, since the transformation of our way of life required to support a vastly larger population would be far greater than that resulting from worldwide adoption of birth control.
"We need have no difficulty in imagining what a world with universal birth control would be like. For birth control is already widely practiced in the major countries of Western civilization. Several sociological studies indicate it is practiced by a large majority of Americans and that the more effective methods are extensively used by members of all religious groups.
"Let those who object to birth control declare themselves in favor of higher mortality instead. The world's present population problems could be solved for a long time by a few mass famines, by a world-wide repetition of the Great Plagues or, for that matter, by a few well-placed H-bombs. Do we want to see them solved this way?...
"Thus the belief that mass use of birth control is an untried, new-fangled notion amounting to an unprecedented departure from the wisdom and restraint of the past is without any foundation. The West has already rejected the relatively uncontrolled fertility of the past, and its population growth is now firmly under control with birth rates flexibly adjusting themselves to changing economic trends. This is the goal the East must now achieve under far more difficult conditions.
"Those who do not approve of birth control would do better to base their opposition on religious or absolutist moral grounds alone. These are, of course, the real grounds for opposition in most cases, but their upholders invariably seek additional support by advancing questionable arguments about the purely secular problem of the relation between population growth and economic progress. Even those who do not share a truly religious position can respect the integrity of it. But such a position should be stated forthright — even when, as in the present case, it can only make the ancient demand, unacceptable to most of us, that justice be done though the world perish."
(Excerpted from "The Population Explosion" by Dennis H. Wrong in the Sept. 15, 1960, New Leader.)
"I've Finally Adjusted To College Life"
And part of the adjustment was learning that Fritz Co. is the best place to have my car serviced. They go "way out" to please you.
New Ruler Cure for Congo?
United Press International
United Press International A glimmer of hope has appeared that order might eventually emerge from chaos in the Congo.
From Leopoldville comes word of steadily mounting defections among the followers of deposed Premier Patrice Lumumba. Twenty-nine of the 44 senators and deputies from Lumumba's own eastern province have deserted him.
THEY DENOUNCED HIM as a Communist attempting to create dictatorship by terror.
der the Soviet claim that Lumumba remains the legal ruler of the Congo.
of Representatives, Lumumba received 74.
Last July 1, when the former Belgian Congo emerged as an independent state with Lumumba as premier, the former beer salesman held his office only by grace of a slim coalition majority. Of the 137 votes cast in the Congolese House
ON THE BASIS of that claim, the Russians attempted to by-pass the United Nations and send aid direct to Lumumba, who had proved to be their willing stooge.
The coalition has disappeared and the mounting opposition to Lumumba assures that he no longer could obtain the necessary majority.
THERE REMAINS another step, proposed by Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in his speech before the United Nations General Assembly. No leader should be imposed on the Congolese people, he said. Rather, he should be selected by the Congolese Parliament.
The United Nations should work toward a revival of parliament as quickly as possible, said Nehru.
It also formed the basis of their attack on Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold and their charge that he had supported colonialism by failing to use U.N. troops to keep Lumumba in office.
With a successor to Lumumba legally elected by parliament, the last ground would be cut from un-
But Hammarskjold's neutrality and determination not to interfere in the internal affairs of a state were so well known that the Russian charge received serious support only from the Communist bloc.
Wernher Von Braun's Life Told in Movie
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — (UPI) — A movie on the life of Dr. Wernher Von Braun, German-born missile expert now developing space vehicles in this country, has its southern premiere here tonight.
Von Braun, former "boy genius" of the Germans during World War II, was an important leader in the development of the V-2 rocket which Hitler's forces turned against England late in the war.
Kansan Want Ads Get Results
Bud Vaughn's PHOTON HI FI & ELECTRONICS
Lawrence's New Sound Center
COMPONENTS - CONSOLES - RECORDS
Enjoy The Games More With A Transistor Radio From 29.95
1107 Mass. — Across From Courthouse
AT YOUR FAVORITE GROCERS NOW
---