FAMOUS LAST WORDS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP67B00446R000400100002-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 24
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 21, 2005
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: August 30, 1966
• Content Type: OPEN

20276 Approved ~~r(y#flgMgN5(9 /2lkE qf gNPR000400109R t 30, 1966
JO
think this is precisely the term that explains from Defense Secretary McNamara,
the problem. There has been neglect on the Gen. Maxwell Taylor, Ambassador
part of the city government, neglect on the Henry Cabot Lodge, and other adminis-
part, of the North Side merchants, neglect on tratiori officials.
the part of business generally, on the part of
labor, and neglect on my part, too. There In fact, Mr. President, a compilation
has been neglect on the part of everyone. of their predictions might well fill a
At this critical moment we do not need any small book which would be appropriately
recrimination. What we do need is construe- entitled "Famous Last Words." Here
tive cooperation that will provide, first, prop- are just a few statements by top admin-
er and adequate police protection, and I can
assure istration officials and military leaders.
the public that we will provide such
protection for property and for the life of Mr. President, the American people may
every individual citizen, judge for themselves the wisdom and
Second, wemust provide an effective attack validity of those statements.
on the conditions that breed social unrest, Here are some "Famous Last Words":
We are on our way now but we must not let Admiral Radford, 1953-"The French are
go. We must provide jobs for our young going to win."
people and we must provide decent homes for Admiral Radford, 1954-"The French are
everyone. We must make certain that there winning the war in Vietnam. The forces of
are decent recreational programs, and mean- General Clap are on the run." (Dienbien-
ingful opportunities not only for jobs, but phu surrendered May 1954-and France then
also for training and for counseling. withdrew its army of 240,000).
Let me emphasize a further point. There White House, 1963-"Seoretaay McNamara
is no intention on my part or on the part and General Taylor reported that the major
of the police department to condone or ex- part of the U.S. military task can be com-
cuse or forgive any kind of crime. All vio- pleted by the end of 1965, though there may
lations of the laaw will be punished. Viola- be a continuing requirement for a limited
tors will be apprehended and prosecuted number of U.S. training personnel. By the
with the full force of the law. But while end of this year, the U.S. program for train-
our police operations proceed, we are going ing Vietnamese should have progressed to the
to make certain that where there is distress, point where 1,000 U.S. military personnel as-
where there is unemployment, that we will signed to South Vietnam can be withdrawn."
Identify every family and every individual Assist. Defense Secretary Arthur Sylvester,
in need and we will make every genuine and 1963-"The corner definitely has been turned
sincere effort to help that family or individ- toward victory in South Vietnam; Defense
ual. This is our proper responsibility. Department officials are hopeful that the
I say candidly and directly that there will 12,000 man United States force there can be
be police protection, that we will apprehend reduced in 1 to 3 years."
and prosecute violators with full and due Defense Secretary McNamara, 1963-"We
process of the law and we will make a full are winning the war in Vietnam."
attack upon social conditions in our city General Westmoreland, Commanding in
that must be corrected. Vietnam, Oct. 1965-"Now I can say at last
I have great pride in Minneapolis as I we have stopped losing the war."
have said many times. I say again tonight, President Johnson, 1964-"We are not
we have within our power to make the City about to send American boys nine or ten
of Minneapolis the model city of America. thousand miles away from home to do what
We can develop a pattern of human rela- Asian boys should be doing for themselves."
tions in which every individual does have President Johnson, 1964-"There are those
equal opportunity in our economy and in who say I ought to go north and drop bombs
our society. We must recognize our poten- to wipe out the supply lines . But we
tial and we must be prepared to realize it. don't want to get tied down in a land war
There is much that we can learn from in Asia."
this disturbance. It can give us a new
awareness and a new alertness.
To those who have called my office com-
plaining that our policies are rewarding van-
dalism, I say, truthfully, plainly and directly,
that this is not the case. Our policies rec-
ognize the fact that conditions that breed
social unrest demand our attention.
We cannot afford to have Negroes fighting
whites and whites fighting Negroes. We are
all part of one large community and there
is room for all of us in our strong and pro-
ductive economy. We must share in the
growth and strength of our society. To do
this we must have constructive and tolerant
outlooks. That is what we are seeking and
that is what we must achieve.
"FAMOUS LAST WORDS"
Mr. YOUNG of Ohio. Mr. President,
the tragedy of Vietnam lies in our mas-
sive involvement virtually without allies.
What began as a little war is now a ma-
jor conflict. Our involvement In this
miserable civil war has continued to
grow-more men, more money, and more
weapons until today we have almost
500,000 men in Vietnam, Thailand, and
with our 7th Fleet off the coast of Viet-
nam in the Tonkin Gulf and the South
China Sea.
For several years we have listened to
fatuous predictions painting a rosy but
false picture of our position in Vietnam
Secretary of Defense McNamara, Feb.
1964-"I don't believe that we as a nation
should assume the primary responsibility for
the war in South Vietnam." Again May
1964-"This war must be won by the Viet-
namese themselves. If they're to win it they
just have to have a stable political structure
within which to operate. We can provide
advice; we can provide logistical support; we
can provide training assistance; but we can-
not fight the war itself."
Furthermore, Mr. President, the facts
are I have written the parents and
widows of 166 Ohio soldiers, airmen, and
marines who have been killed in combat
in Vietnam since last January first. Also,
more than 990 Ohio GI's have been
wounded in the same period.
Certainly, these statements and many
other statements I could cite indicate
that many administration leaders
have consistently underestimated the
strength and staying power of the Viet-
namese who consider that they are fight-
ing for national liberation. These
leaders have time and time again been
wrong regarding our involvement in the
Vietnam war.
Mr. HARTKE. Mr. President, we are
all the frequent recipients of resolu-
tions passed by various organizations
on a wide variety of topics, usually urging
us to support or to oppose proposed leg-
islation. But it is quite rare in my ex-
perience to receive an official resolution
not asking for something, but rather
thanking Government officials for an ac-
tion which has been accomplished.
I have recently received such a resolu-
tion, passed by the Journeymen Barbers'
Local No. 247 in Indianapolis, commend-
ing the Senate, House of Representatives,
Department of Labor, and the President
for the beneficial results of the on-the-
job training program in the barbering
industry, particularly the ."up-grading
training" to develop hairstyling compe-
tence. Reaction to the OJT program in
other fields has also been very good, but
it has remained for the Indianapolis
group to provide a formal resolution of
thanks.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous con-
sent that the text of this resolution may
appear in the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD.
There being no objection, the resolu-
tion was ordered to be printed in the
RECORD, as follows:
RESOLUTION
Whereas Local Union No. 247 of the Jour-
neymen Barbers International Union meet-
ing in regular meeting on July 14, 1966, at
Indianapolis, Indiana,
Whereas the members of the Local have
realized the need for up-grading training
in order to take advantage of the job op-
portunities of today in the men's hairstyling
field. Through the OJT Program the rate of
drop-outs from the barbering industry has
been discouraged, while at the same time has
created many related job opportunities in
the barber-Men's Hairstylist field.
Whereas the Government of the United
States of America has made this training
possible: Therefore be it
Resolved, That this Local Union wishes to
thank the Barbers International Union, the
United States Department of Labor, mem-
bers of the Senate and House of Representa-
tives, and the President of the United States
for this training program that was so badly
needed. We wish to see it extended for many
are yet to receive the training. We pledge
ourselves to its support and to utilize every
job opportunity related to it as we know it
has great future potentials.
EVERETT R. BRUMFIEL,
President.
C. 0. HUFF,
Secretary-Treasurer.
CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
Mr. DOMINICK. Mr. President, the
riots and civic disturbances in American
communities this summer have aroused
much interest and comment. An under-
standing of these disturbances and their
possible effect is certainly of great im-
portance, and I believe therefore that a
recent article by the Honorable Richard
M. Nixon in the August 15, 1966, edition
of U.S. News & World Report is timely
and pertinent. I ask unanimous consent
that the article be placed in the RECORD
at this point.
There being no objection, the article
was ordered to be printed in the RECORD,
as follows:
[From the U.S. News & World Report, Aug.
15, 1966]
IF MOB RULE TAKES HOLD IN UNITED STATES-
A WARNING FROM RICHARD NIKON
(NoTE.-A former Vice President declares
here that law and order are breaking down in
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 August 30, Ab'b oved For F~e/88~P~7BSRMff00400100002-5
Second, it is likely that we can and should
learn more than we have from such success-
ful cases as the Joint Commission on Rural
Reconstruction on Taiwan, the locally based
rural works program in East Pakistan, and
the credit unions and rural cooperatives in
Latin America. They can teach us how to
help rural communities organize and apply
their latent energy to their own problems
and thus achieve high rates of growth in
agricultural production and rural living
standards.
Third, we can do much more to establish
direct connections between private organiza-
tions and individuals in the advanced coun-
tries and the problems they can help to solve
in the developing countries-a6 A.I.D. has
done with considerable success in helping to
establish savings-and-loan systems in several
Latin American countries, primarily by sup-
porting the efforts of leaders in the United
States' savings-and-loan industry.
Fourth, we could do more to help estab-
lish and support private American Organiza-
tions designed for specialized tasks in the
developing countries: for example, the
American Institute for Free Labor Develop-
ment, established by the A.F.L.-C.I.O. to
work with labor unions in Latin America;
or the International Executive Service Corps,
established by a group of private business
leaders to provide American volunteers to
work with individual business firms in devel-
oping countries.
These are only illustrations-of which a
far longer list could easily be prepared-of
ways In which it should be possible to ad-
minister assistance in more imaginative and
more flexible ways so as to induce and sup-.
port private and local groups in developing
countries to deal with their own problems.
This is extremely important because these
measures can stimulate not only economic
and social progress, but also the development
of more democratic societies.
in
My last major point relates to reserach and
evaluation. It is my impression that the or-
ganizations which carry out aid programs do
not have a distinguished record of building
Into those programs strong elements of re-
search and evaluation. Certainly this is true
Of.A.I.D., the agency I know best.
This is unfortunate on at least two counts.
First, foreign assistance is a relatively new
activity and plainly we have an enormous
amount to learn about how to conduct it
effectively. We have lost much valuable
time and have failed to learn from much
valuable experience, because we have not had
adequate research and evaluation programs.
Second, the process of foreign assistance Is
inherently dependent on research. It is often
described as a method of transferring know-
how, but this is plainly wrong; it is instead
a process of developing know-how-a process
of finding out what will work In Nigeria,
not of transferring what has been found to
work in Nebraska. If we understood our
own business better, it might weld be that
the whole process of foreign aid would be
seen as a research process, aimed at learn-
ing how to move a particular society, with
its special and unique characteristics of his-
tory and culture and physical geography,
toward specified objectives.
However that may be, there can be no
doubt of the importance of incorporating
far stronger programs of research and evalu-
ation into our aid administration. We In the
Agency for International Development have
been trying to make some headway in this
direction. For example: (a) For the last
three years, we have organized special sum-
mer research projects on. the economic as-
pects of development, drawing together fac-
ulty members and graduate students from
a number of universities for a summer of
research work that benefits them and greatly
benefits us; (b) Over the last four years, we
have gradually built up a program of research
grants, financing such varied activities as
trying to increase production of high-protein
grain legumes in Asia, and developing a new
mathematics curriculum for elementary
schools in Africa. In this we have had the
guidance of a distinguished advisory com-
mittee of research scientists chaired by Dr.
Walsh McDermott of Cornell University; (c)
A year ago we persuaded Colonel George
Lincoln,- of the West Point social science
faculty, to spend his sabbatical examining
A.I.D.'s systems of evaluation, and recom-
mending improvements in them. Colonel
Lincoln's report, based on extensive field
work in Latin America, is a valuable guide
that is now being applied throughout the
Agency.
In these ways and others, A.I.D. is taking
steps to improve its own performance. We
still have far to go, particularly in finding
how we can build into every aspect of our
work the spirit of research on development
problems. We also have done far too little
in a systematic way to help create research
competence in the developing countries
themselves.
Whatever part of the aid business one
examines, wherever one looks in the develop-
ing countries, one sees large and challenging
opportunities for improving the administra-
tion of aid so as to achieve more rapid eco-
nomic, social and political progress. Our
mood. should be restless, inquiring, impa-
tient--for there is much to be done.
RACIAL VIOLENCE-STATEMENT BY
THE MAYOR OF MINNEAPOLIS
Mr. MONDALE. Mr. President, Amer-
ica's great cities are, as every Member of
this body knows, plagued by many prob-
lems, not the least of which are outbreaks
of racial violence. These outbreaks cause
substantial disruption in human rela-
tions, and in many cases worsen the phy-
sical condition under which people in
congested urban areas must live. It is
clear that new lines of communication
between people in our cities are as vital
to their renewal as expanded freeways
and modern buildings. I am pleased to
be able, as a Senator from Minnesota, to
bring to the attention of the U.S. Senate
the statement of the Honorable Arthur
Naftalin, mayor of the city of Minne-
apolis, in regard to the recent riots on
the North Side of Minneapolis. I am
proud of the manner in which this out-
break of violence was handled, and I ask
unanimous consent that it be brought to
the attention of the U.S. Senate.
There being no objection, the state-
ment was ordered to be printed in the
RECORD, as follows:
STATEMENT OF MAYOR ARTHUR NAFTALIN,
MAYOR'S REPORT, WWTC RADIO, AUGUST 7,
1966
I welcome this opportunity to discuss last
week's disturbance on the North Side. I
am eager to clarify certain points and to
review the policies we have been following.
I should like to begin by noting that the
events of the week have had two quite dif-
ferent reactions from the community.
One response has been that of concern and
constructive cooperation. The police de-
partment, our settlement houses, our leading
business firms, our social welfare agencies
have all given truly magnificent support to
programs that were quickly undertaken.
Unfortunately, there has been a second re-
action that is most disturbing. Many in-
dividuals have called or written--in a few
cases they have sent telegrams-to express
opposition to a program aimed at providing
job opportunities for young men and women
20275
and boys and girls who have been without
jobs for a long period of time.
Many of these expressions have been
threatening and unusually personal. It
comes as a shock to discover that there are
many people who do not understand the need
for different programs to meet different types
of situations. They represent a blind refusal
to examine objectively the causes of the
problems before us.
Thus, at one level our community is strong
and responsive. It is prepared to face re-
sponsibly and humanely the serious ques-
tions raised by the disturbance. At another
level there is a critical need to awaken the
public to social conditions that desperately
.need attention.
When the disturbance occurred, followed
by reports of possible increased violence, we
had two choices before us. We could inten-
sify police action, calling in men from other
sections of the city, and, in effect, converting
the area into an armed camp. Or we could
recognize that underlying the disturbance
are deep-seated conditions that demand
prompt and effective attention.
Several days before the disturbance oc-
curred I spent a full day on the North Side
visiting with various groups. I stated at
that time that I was greatly concerned about
joblessness among North Side young people.
Later, after the disturbance had occurred and
In meeting with Governor Rolvaag and with
a large number of community leaders, this
fact was confirmed by group after group of
responsible citizens.
We arrived at a strong consensus that what
was needed was not vigorous and overwhelm-
ing action on the part of the police depart-
ment but rather prompt and effective and
sincere efforts to deal with the causes of the
unrest, and this is what we resolved to do.
We decided to begin with the problem of
unemployment. We appealed to leading
business firms. We said to them, "Please :look
at these young men and women and let's
develop immediately opportunities for them."
This program is under way and now we
must turn to housing and we must look at
parks and recreation and we must look at
the management of police problems Involving
members of minority groups.
At this point I should emphasize the fact
that the decisions we made-for example the
decision to maintain as normal police opera-
tion as possible-were arrived at co-opera-
tively and with the full participation of the
police department itself. I want to stress
this fact, which I think is very important,
that, in this process of continuous discussion,
we have achieved a most unusual degree of
communication-communication between
the police department and the non-white
community, communication between and
among many lawyers of white and Negro
leadership. I believe we have for the first
time reached in depth many, many people In
the Negro community whom we have not
previously been in contact with.
I must state this point very clearly: The
individuals who want trouble in the commu-
nity are so few they can be counted on two
hands, but these few people will exploit the
despair, the restlessness, the feeling of help-
lessness on the part of other Negroes, seizing
leadership from people within the commu-
nity who sincerely want to develop decent
standards of living for all of the people, black
and white.
What we have been able to do, as a result
of our intensive activity during this week, is
to establish excellent communication and to
develop the beginnings of a bulwark against
irresponsible and destructive leadership. It
is making it possible to take constructive
steps that are long overdue In developing
critically needed programs.
Thursday night I met with North Side
businessmen. One of the men made a brief
statement to the effect that the problem on
the North Side Is the product of neglect. I
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AN INVITATION TO VISIT
ALABAMA
Mr. SPARKMAN. Mr. President, as a
part of "seeing America first," I would
like to renew my invitation to my col-
leagues of the Senate and all the people
of our Nation to stop by and see us in
Alabama.
Alabama's natural wonders, such as its
cool lakes in the Tennessee River sys-
tem, its lengthy waterways, its warm
gulf coast, have always attracted much
attention and many visitors.
Today, however, I would like to draw
your attention to a treasure that lies be-
neath the surface of our State-the va-
riety of caves and caverns that have
brought spelunkers and archeologists to
explore their wonders.
Perhaps best known is Russell Cave,
near Bridgeport. Here in the mountains
above the Tennessee River is the oldest
known habitation in the southeastern
United States, with a record of occu-
pancy that goes back more than 8,000
years.
The National Park Service has devel-
oped the cave area, and there is a mu-
seum at the visitors center where the
tools and other artifacts of these fore-
runners of Alabamians can be seen and
studied.
Valuable archeological finds have been
made here in the excavations of the Na-
tional Geographic Society and Smith-
sonian Institution, which began about
10 years ago. These indicate connections
with inhabitants of other parts of the
continent, and tell the story of the suc-
cessive generations who lived in this
great cave.
Cathedral Caverns at Grant contain
the "Goliath," believed to be the world's
mightiest stalagmite. It is 60 feet tall
and 200 feet in girth.
Of great natural beauty are other, not
so widely publicized caves. Among these
is Kymulga Onyx Cave, located on Ala-
bama Highway 76, 5 miles east of Chil-
dersburg. Featured are thousands of
onyx formations, stalactites and sta-
lagmites. Also on display is a collection
of Indian relics, old maps, and other
historic documents.
Not far from Birmingham are the
Crystal Caverns and Rickwood Caverns.
An amazing feature of Crystal Caverns
at Clay is a perfect formation of the
Capitol dome. A petrified waterfall is
another. There are also camping facil-
ities for visitors. Rickwood Caverns at
Warrior have an abundance of glittering
stalagmites.
Sequoyah Cave, at Valley Head, has
been called a must for spelunkers. This
newly opened cave contains lacy forma-
tions with colorful shadings, a whisper-
ing waterfall and a mirror lake.
At Fort Payne is Manitou Cave and its
haystack, one of those fascinating for-
mations which reflect themselves in the
glassy stream flowing through this huge,
well-lighted cave.
And at the Guntersville Caverns there
is an enchanting underground world of
colorful formations and sea fossils.
Always remembered ark the "Whosa-
babies," formations resembling little
people.
So I would like to remind you again
that there's more to see in Alabama than
on the surface. Come visit us and find
out.
OMBUDSMAN
Mr. LONG of Missouri. Mr. President,
the Observer newspapers of Michigan
have recently instituted a new feature
entitled "Ombudsman." This is similar
to the "Action Line" column of the
Washington Evening Star. According to
the Observer newspapers:
We will do our best to be a go-between, a
red-tape cutter as the name indicates. When
you have exhausted all other measures on a
problem write to us, and we'll see if we can
help. Yes, John Q, you can fight city hall-
with your own Ombudsman!
Mr. President, I ask unanimous con-
sent to have printed at this point in the
RECORD, the text of this interesting col-
umn from the July 21, 1966, issue of the
Plymouth, Mich., Observer.
There being no objection, the column
was ordered to be printed in the RECORD,
as follows:
[From the Plymouth (Mich.) Observer,
July 21, 1966]
OMBUDSMAN
(NOTE.-A new feature in The Observer
Newspapers-we will do our best to be a go-
between, a red-tape cutter as the name indi-
cates. When you have exhausted all other
measures on a problem write to us (keep it
short, please) and we'll see if we can help.
Yes, John Q, you can fight city hall-with
your own Ombudsman!)
DEAR OMBUDSMAN: Please help us! How can
we get the County to post signs keeping these
semis off Merriman Road?
They have Farmington and Middlebelt
Roads to use-both of which are zoned com-
mercial. We on Merriman Road are very
much still a residential area, with small
children to worry about.
If they won't keep these semis off, they
should rezone us commercial and/or indus-
trial, then (and only then) could we afford
to move to a safer place to raise our families.
Also, now that our City Council has ap-
proved equipping two Livonia scout cars
with radar to catch our speeders; how long
will it be before the cars are equipped and
officers trained to operate them? We are
desperate. (If you don't believe how bad
it is, just park near our corner, near Six
Mile, and hear the noise when the semis pass,
and the speed they travel. Our houses
rattle and shake.) Also, the speed violaters
are running rampant from Eight' Mile down.
It's not safe for any of us to even turn into
our driveways.
Mr. and Mrs. R. A. CARPENTER.
LIVONIA.
DEAR CARPENTERS: Sorry, Merriman Road
is a class A road and everything on wheels
can travel the route.
Bids are in on the radar equipment for the
two Livonia Scout cars. As soon as they are
awarded by City Council they will be pur-
chased and installed. Should be about one
month from now. Policemen can be trained
in the use of radar equipment in about an
hour. Ombudsman observed three semis
breaking the speed laws for the area men-
tioned in 45 minutes time and alerted Livo-
nia's finest (police) to the speedtrack.
DEAR OMBUDSMAN: As one of the Livonia
nonteaching staff, I would like to know how
the figures of 225 for and eight against votes
were arrived at in the ratification vote for
the three year contract that was ratified the
15th of June.
According to the members attending the
30, 1966
ratification meeting, the union representa-
tive who took the count only counted to 40 of
the standees on the yes vote and only count-
ed to eight on the standees for the 'no' votes.
Everyone who attended this meeting knows
there was a roll call passed around and signed
by everyone. Some of these members did
not vote either way and some of them left
before the vote was taken. We also under-
stand there were only 233 members present
at that meeting. Please, how do you arrive
at these figures?
Why is there never a secret ballot at these
meetings? Quite a number of us know the
reasons for these actions but would like to
be informed officially.
Sincerely,
AN INTERESTED PARTY.
DEAR INTERESTED PARTY: According to Al
Ruckstahl, president of the non-teaching
staff Local 118 in Livonia School District, no
secret ballot is necessary for ratification vot-
ing, only for elections of officers. He quoted
the Taft-Hartley act that says he is only re-
quired to count the 'no' votes; and there can
be no such action as 'abstaining'. All such
votes are automatically counted 'yea.' His
source of informtaion is Council No. 23.
SCHOOL MILK EXTENSION SHOULD
BE TAKEN UP ON HOUSE FLOOR
THIS WEEK
Mr. PROXMIRE. Mr. President, I was
gratified to note late last week that the
House Rules Committee granted an open
rule with 2 hours of debate on H.R. 13361,
the Child Nutrition Act of 1966. A key
provision of this legislation extends the
special milk program for school children
through fiscal 1970 and increases the
program's level of funding.
This legislation had been snarled in
a jurisdictional dispute between the
House Education and Labor Committee
and the House Agriculture Committee.
I am delighted that the Rules Committee
was able to resolve this dispute and get
the bill to the floor of the House.
All indications are that the legislation
will be taken up by the full House either
this week or soon after the Labor Day
weekend. However the bill language will
then probably be substituted for the lan-
guage of the Senate child nutrition bill,
S. 3467, and the House passed version of
S. 3467 taken to a conference between
the two Houses. This means that no
final action will be taken on the legisla-
tion until after the Nation's schoolchil-
dren return to their classes this fall.
Mr. President, I hope that both the
House and the conferees will act with
dispatch so that the local and State ad-
ministrators who manage the school milk
program can plan ahead for the 1967
school year. Congress, by reiterating its
faith in the school milk program, will
make the task of the school food service
administrators much simpler. They can
akt with the certainty that the program
1 continue to advance and prosper
t year as well as this year.
RAPID AMERICAN MILITARY BUILD-
UP IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
Mr. FULBRIGHT. Mr. President, in
the last few days we have seen a rash of
press reports--of almost epidemic char-
acter-describing the rapid American
military buildup in Thailand. I gather
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the United States, and adds this warning: sties. But within those slums, political Historic advances in civil rights have
"From mob rule it is but a single step to phrases which are inflammatory are as wrong come through court decisions and federal
lynch law and the termination of the rights and dangerous as political promises which laws in the last dozen years.
of the minority." are irredeemable. Only the acceptance of those laws and
(Richard M. Nixon criticizes ROBERT KEN- In this contest, men of intellectual and the voluntary compliance of the people can
NEDY, HUBERT HUMPHREY, other top Ameri- moral eminence who encourage public dis- transfer those advances from the statute
cans for statements that nurture "seeds of obedience of the law are responsible for books into the fabric of community life.
civil anarchy." the acts of those who inevitably follow their If indifference to the rule of law perme-
(This article was prepared by Mr. Nixon for counsel: the poor, the ignorant and the im- ates the community, there will be no vol-
"U.S. News & World Report.") pressionable. untary acceptance. A law is only as good
(By Richard M. Nixon) Such leaders are most often men of good as the will of the people to obey it.
will who do not condone violence and, per- Not all the police in the nation could
Tht poriss still place of the living war in the major Vietnam has even now, see no relation between the enforce the public-accommodations section cost and the iss e of 1966. But, disobedience which they counsel and the of the 1964 Civil Rights Act if there were
pops across issues nation, , from that own riots and violence which have erupted. Yet, not a commitment on the part of the people
vate oross the nation, I can affirm that pri- once the decision is made that laws need to accept it as law. If Negroes must re-
in conversations and public concern
issues are not be obeyed-whatever the rationale-a peatedly haul restaurateurs into court
ncreasingly focusing upon the issues of contribution is made to a climate of law- before they can be served a meal, then the
disrespect for law and rcag turmoil. Cleveland, lessness. guarantee of equal accommodations is il-
Tk recent
have produced roin the pub- To the professor objecting to de facto seg- lusory.
Omaha In
York and Omaha have
and in very little e regation, it may be crystal clear where civil "DISORDERS ARE BUILDING WALL OF HATE"
lie dialogue too much c he floor disobedience may begin and where it must
held the floor this nation today, civil disobedience
light. The extremists have and
for too long. end. But the boundaries have become fluid and racial disorders are building up a wall of
One extreme sees a simply remedy for to his students. And today they are all but hate between the races, which, while less vis-
rioting in a ruthless application of the invisible In the urban slums. ible, is no less real than the wall that divides
truncheon and an earlier call to the National In this nation we raise our young to re- freedom and slavery in the city of Berlin.
Guard. spect the law and public authority. What Newton's law of action and reaction has
The other extremists are more articulate, becomes of those lessons when teachers and application to the social as well as the physi-
but their position is equally simplistic. To leaders of the young themselves deliberately cal world.
them, riots are to be excused upon the and publicly violate the laws? Continued racial violence and disorders in
grounds that the participants have legiti- As Chaucer put it, "If gold rust? what the cities of the nation will produce growing
mate social grievances or seek justifiable shall iron do?" disenchantment with the cause of cavil
social goals. There is a crucial difference between lawful rights-even among its stanchest supporters.
I believe it would be a grave mistake to demonstrations and protests an the one It will encourage a disregard for civil-
charge off the recent riots to unredressed hand-and illegal demonstrations and "civil rights laws and resistance to the legitimate
Negro grievances alone. disobedience" on the other. demands of the Negro people.
To do soIs to ignore a prime reason and a I think it is time the doctrine of civil dis- Does anyone think that progress will be
major national problem: the deterioration obedience was analyzed and rejected as not made in the hearts of men by riots and diso-
of respect for the rule of law all across only wrong but potentially disastrous. bedience which trample upon the rights of
America. RULE OF MOB VERSUS RULE OF LAW those same men? But then it is not enough
That deterioration can be traced directly If all have a right to engage in public dis- to simply demand that all laws be obeyed?
to the spread of the corrosive doctrine that obedience to protest real or imagined wrongs, ? Edmund Burke once wrote concerning loy-
every citizen possesses an inherent right to then the example set by the minority today alty to a nation that "to make us love our
decide for himself which laws to disobey will be followed by the majority tomorrow. country, our country ought to be lovely."
and when to disobey them. Issues then will no longer be decided upon There is an analogy in a commitment to the
The doctrine has become a contagious na- merit by an impartial judge. Victory will rule of law. For a law to be respected, it
tional disease, and its symptoms are man- go to the side which can muster the greater ought to be worthy of respect. It must be
ifest in more than just racial violence. We number of demonstrators in the ,streets. fair and it must be fairly enforced.
see them in the contempt among many of The rule of law will be replaced by the rule It certainly did nothing to prevent a riot
the young for the agents of the law-the po- of the mob. And one may be sure that the when Negroes in Chicago learned that while
lice. We see them in the public burning of majority's mob will prevail. water hydrants in their own area were being
draft cards and the blocking of troop trains. From mob rule it is but a single step to shut down, they were running freely in white
We saw those symptoms when citizens in lynch law and the termination of the rights neighborhoods just blocks away.
Chicago took to the streets to block public of the minority. This is why it is so para- Respect for the dignity of every individual
commerce to force the firing of a city official. doxical today to see minority groups en- is absolutely essential if there is to be respect
We saw them on a campus of the University gaging in civil disobedience; their greatest for law most common and justifiable com-
of California, where students brought a great defense is the rule of law. members of ol;he-
university to its knees in protest of the pol- Throughout history men concerned over Plaint of Negroes and
that their of ol,tr
icies of its administration. the right of an unpopular minority have minority a groups is not
Who is responsible for the breakdown of painstakingly sought to establish the rule tional rights have been denied, but that their
law and order in this country? I think it of law. personal dignity is repeatedly insulted.
both an injustice and an oversimplification The American Fathers who wrote the Con- As an American citizen, the American Ne-
to lay the blame at the feet of the sidewalk stitution insisted that the rights designed gro is entitled to equality of rights, under
demagogues alone. to protect minority protest--speech, the the Constitution and the law, with every
For such a deterioration of respect for press and assembly-be written down in a other citizen in the land. But, as important
law to occur In so brief a time In so great Bill of Rights. . as this, the Negro has the right to be treated
a nation, we must look for more important They did not believe that the rights of with the basic dignity and respect that be-
collaborators and auxiliaries. a minority could be maintained for any long to him as a human being.
It is my belief that the seeds of civil time against a predatory majority without Advocates of civil disobedience contend
anarchy would never have taken root in this the sanction of law. As Jefferson stated, that a man.'s conscience should determine
nation had they not been nurtured by scores "In questions of power, let no more be which law is to be obeyed and when a law
of respected Americans: public officials, edu- heard of confidence in man, but bind him can be ignored. But, to many men, con-
cators, clergymen and civil-rights leaders as down from mischief by the chains of the sciense is no more than the enshrinement of
well. Constitution." their own prejudices.
In the gray areas of social and economic
When the junior Senator from New York The results of a decline respect for legislation, there are hundreds of laws. Hon-
publicly declares that "there is no point in the law are predictable. Prof. . Sidney Hook, est men can and do disagree on the wisdom
telling. Negroes to obey the law," because an eloquent advocate of human rights, has and justice of these laws.
to the Negro "the law is the enemy," then clearly foreseen one of them. He has But if every man is to decide for himself
he has provided a rationale and justification warned that those who object to social
for every Negro intent upon taking the law progress and oppose equal rights for every which to obey and which to ignore, the end
into his own hands. citizen may themselves "adopt the strategies result is anarchy.
When the Vice President of the United `and techniques of the civil-disobedience The way to make good laws is not to break
States publicly declares that if he lived in movement." bad laws, but to change bad laws through le-
the conditions of the slums he would "lead Civil disobedience creates a climate of gitimate means of protest within the ambit
a mighty good revolt," then he Is giving aid disrespect for law. In such a climate the of constitutional process.
and comfort to those who revolt violently first laws to be ignored will be social legis- In the last analysis, the nation simply can
in Chicago and New York. lation that lacks universal public support. no longer tolerate men who axe above the
The agonies and indignities of urban slums In short, if the rule of law goes, the civil- law. For, as Lincoln said, "There is no griev-
are hard facts of life. Their elimination is rights laws of recent vintage will be the ance that is a fit object of redress by mob
properly among our highest national prior- first casualties. law."
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 August 30, 1966 Approve8(TOEMaLQl905/MM#?A-Rb446R000400100002-5 20279
from these ,articles that about 25,000
Americans servicemen are now in that
country, more American soldiers than
were in Vietnam on January 1, 1965, and
according to one article, this number
will increase to 32,000 by the end of the
year. We are told that more than 1,500
bombing and reconnaissance missions
are made each week from these bases in
Thailand into North Vietnam and the
Communist-controlled corridor in Laos.
No precise cost figures are given in these
articles, but one of these bases alone will
reportedly cost of $500 million alone.
,One reporter's judgment that "Thai-
land is now the site of a multibillion-
dollar U.S. buildup" certainly would
seem to be reasonable, although a high
State Department official told the com-
mittee in open session on August 23 that
he felt that this estimate was high.
The press reports which appeared
earlier this week and last week noted the
unclear legal situation regarding these
bases. One reporter wrote that "juridi-
cally, there are no foreign bases in Thai-
land because no specific agreement for
their establishment was ever signed with
the United States." The airbases in
Thailand from which American planes
fly more than half the U.S. bombing at-
tacks against North Vietnam were built
and are used almost exclusively by the
United States. Yet, the bases are juridi-
cally That Air Force bases, and the Thai
Government does not admit that they
are, in fact, American bases used by
American planes for missions in Viet-
nam. Perhaps the bases rest on shaky
political, as well as legal, foundations.
Other than the fact that Thailand is
close to Laos and North Vietnam, an-
other factor has affected our interest in
this southeast Asian country-that is,
the Communist insurgent movements in
the northeast and the south. These
counterinsurgent movements, according
to the press reports I have read, feed
partly on the fact that the That Govern-
ment is hardly a parliamentary democ-
racy. There have been no national elec-
tions since 1957, when Parliament was
dissolved. There is a constituent assem-
bly, whose members have been appointed,
not elected. It has been drafting a Con-
stitution, but, in the words of one re-
porter, the end of this task is not in sight.
The Thai Government has apparently
responded to the Communist insurgents
in a rather inept fashion. One article
quoted an American adviser as saying:
The Communists are trapping the Govern-
ment into making mistakes that work in
their favor.
The same article commented that
"the people tend to fear the Government
more than they do the Communists,"
the nature of the Thai Government
"makes it more important for a Provin-
cial Governor to please Bangkok than to
satisfy his own population," and the
question of "how much ground can be
held against the Communists may re-
quire a change away from the conserva-
tive, paternalistic outlook of the Bang-
kok military oligarchy."
These are ominous remarks which in-
evitably raise important questions.
What is the precise nature of our "com-
mitment" to Thailand? On what legal
basis are we there? Are we identifying
ourselves too closely with an unpopular
and unrepresentative military regime?
Will a massive foreign military presence
in Thailand engender hostility among
a people who have never been colonized?
Will Thailand's involvement in the war
in Vietnam shorten the war or enlarge
it?
These questions have been raised ei-
ther explicitly or implicitly by American
journalists. I believe we have a respon-
sibility to raise them here and to have
the administration's replies.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous con-
sent to have printed in the RECORD an
article entitled "U.S. Power Machinery
Turns Thailand Into a Bristling Bastion
of the East," written by Stanley Karnow,
and published in the August 19 Washing-
ton Post; an article entitled "Ineptness
Frustrates Thai Efforts To Counter Red
Drive in Province," written by Stanley
Karnow and published in the August 22
Washington Post; an article entitled "In-
scrutable Thailand Appears Stable," pub-
lished in the August 23 Washington
Post; an article entitled "A Silent Part-
ner for the United States in Asia," pub-
lished in the New York Times of August
21; an article entitled "Thai Hinterland
Worried by Reds," written by Peter
Braestrup, published in the New York
Times of August 22; an article entitled
"Apathy on Coming Vote Found in South
Vietnam," written by R. W. Apple, Jr.,
and publishd in the New York Times of
August 15, 1966; and an article entitled
"Saigon Hears Constitution Will Be De-
layed," written by Ward Just, and pub-
lished in the Washington Post of August
20, 1966.
There being no objection, the articles
were ordered to be printed in the RECORD,
as follows:
[From the Washington Post, Aug. 19, 19661
U.S. POWER MACHINERY TURNS THAILAND INTO
A BRISTLING BASTION OF TIE EAST
(By Stanley Karnow, Washington Post
foreign service)
BANGKOK.-The burly American engineer
squinted in the tropical sunlight as he
scanned the construction site at Nam Phong
on the plains of central Thailand nearly 400
miles northeast of here.
Like huge mechanical insects, bulldozers,
graders, tractors and trucks were moving
earth for a new United States airbase whose
first runway, more than 11,000 feet long, will
be in operation next February.
"That runway is only the beginning of this
job," the engineer explained. "There'll be
other runways, roads, fuel depots, hangars
and the lot. We're expanding so fast that
we don't know today what new project they'll
throw at us tomorrow."
Indeed, except for secretive contingency
planners in the Pentagon, nobody quite
knows where the current U.S. military ex-
pansion in Thailand is headed.
How far it goes, some American officials
here suggest, will depend on the course of
events in Vietnam and elsewhere in Asia.
Others submit that this multi-billion-dollar
U.S. base-building scheme could significantly
shape those events, perhaps into a wider
conflict.
Whatever the future holds, the United
States with crash-program rapidity and a
minimum of fanfare, has already turned this
Southeast Asian kingdom into a bristling
bastion, altering the dimensions of military
power in the Far East.
From the That bases of Takhli, Udorn,
Ubon, and Korat, V.S. Air Force RF-lOls,
F-105s and F-40s fly more than 1,500 bomb-
ing and reconnaissance missions each week
against North Vietnam and the Communist-
controlled Laos corridor.
At present, there are more than 200 of
these aircraft in Thailand, grouped into 12
squadrons. Four other squadrons are ex-
pected to arrive before the end of the year.
Accordingly, the number of U.S. servicemen
in the country, 65 percent of them Air Force
personnel, will increase to more than 32,000-
almost three times as many as were stationed
here last January.
In addition, the United States is accelerat-
ing a variety of other operations inside Thai-
land, or using the country for covert activi-
ties nearby.
From an airstrip at Nakorn Phanom, on
the Mekong River bordering Laos, U.S. heli-
copters swing out on risky flights to rescue
American pilots shot down over North Viet-
nam. In Lopburi Province, 100 miles, north
of Bangkok, and near the Mekong River town
of Mukdahan, green-bereted U.S. Special
Forces instructors are setting up camps to
train That guerrillas, possibly for harass-
ment of the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos.
At the same time, U.S. military men are
increasingly becoming involved in civic ac-
tion efforts to counter a smoldering Commu-
nist insurgency in northeastern Thailand.
Teams of American Army medics have been
roaming rural regions, treating peasants for
everything from pregnancy to dysentery.
Equipped with 15 helicopters, U.S. "Air Com-
mandos" based at Nakorn Phanom are
launching a program to distribute medicine
to remote areas.
Against the possibility that American
ground troops might be needed in Thailand,
the U.S. Army's Ninth Logistical Command
has stockpiled its warehouses at Korat with
enough vehicles, weapons and ammunition
to equip a 17,000-man infantry division.
Meanwhile U.S. military engineers and
civilian technicians of the Philco Corp. are
stringing Thailand together in a network of
radio communications and radar screens.
Academic experts on U.S. Government con-
tracts are covering the country assessing so-
cial conditions, and Central Intelligence
Agency operatives are training hill tribesmen
long neglected by the Bangkok authorities.
But the biggest and most dramatic part
of the U.S. military buildup in Thailand are
two giant bases yet to go into full operations.
They are Nam Phong, scheduled for final
completion in three years, and the enormous
air-sea complex at Sattahip on the Gulf of
Siam, whose first runaway was inaugurated
last week.
BASES TO BE LINKED
About 500 miles apart, these bases will be
linked to each other and to other U.S. air-
fields by highways and pipelines now under
construction. Both will have KC-135 tanker
aircraft, which refuel the jets that strike at
North Vietnam and Laos. Both will be ca-
pable of handling B-52 bombers, which now
fly 5,000-mile round trips from Guam to ful-
fill their missions over South Vietnam.
With its 11,500 foot runway already open,
the Sattahip base-whose airfield is officially
called U-Tapao-will soon receive 30 KC-135
tankers as well as units of troop carrier and
cargo aircraft.
When its second, 10,500-foot runway is fin-
ished, U-Tapao will also have the capacity
for three squadrons of fighter-bombers.
Being built by the American firms of Dil-
lingham, Zachry and Kaiser at a cost of more
than $500 million, the whole U-Tapao setup
will be the largest complex of its kind in
Southeast Asia. It may well become, after
Bangkok, the second largest city in Thailand.
According to current estimates, its mainte-
nance should require at least 15,000 Ameri-
cans.
When completed, the ' Sattahip naval sta-
tion, six miles from the airfield, will have,
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 20280 Approved For Relea( JQ(M MN,% A TM04 f AW0100002-5 August 30, 1966
rock breakwaters, deep-water piers and 70
bunkers for storing ammunition. It will also
be connected to a neighboring oil refiners.
Inaugurating the runway last week, U.S.
Ambassador Graham Martin said, that "this
field could be made fully operational within
a matter of weeks, or even within a matter of
days, depending upon the urgency of need."
At the same ceremony, Thai Premier Tha-
hom Kittikaehorn stated that the Thais had
cooperated with the United States in con-
structing the base "because we realize that
our Intentions are the same."
In a curious way, however, the sensitive
Thai, the only Southeast Asians to avoid
colonial domination, are extremely reluctant
to give public recognition to the enlarging
U.S. presence in their country.
Though built by Americans to U.S. specifi-
cations-and with American funds-the air-
bases are technically That. They fly Thai
flags and are guarded by Thai soldiers. The
U.S. Air Force must advise the Thai govern-
ment of each mission flown from the fields.
Nor is formal mention ever made of the
fact that more than half the U.S, bombing
attacks against North Vietnam originate at
Thai bases. As one That official put it:
"Hanoi doesn't admit to sending troops into
South Vietnam, so why should we concede
to the role we play in the Vietnam war?"
NO SPECIFIC AGREEMENT
Foreign Minister Thanat Khoman likes to
point out that, juridically, there are no for-
eign bases in Thailand because no specific
agreement for their establishment was ever
signed with the United States. "We are
partners in collective defense," he has ex-
plained.
The basis of this collective defense is the
Southeast Asia treaty of 1954, signed. by eight
nations, including the United Stites and
Thailand. The treaty was reinforced in May,
1962, by a U.S. pledge to defend Thailand
against Communism.
Despite these documents It was no easy
matter for the United States to persuade the
That to agree to the bases. Ambassador
Martin's success in winning accord for the
fields, in the words of one American official
here, was "nothing short of a diplomatic
miracle."
Even so, the That like to display their
independence from time to time. Early this
year, for example, they stalled on a U.S. re-
quest for permission to put more airc raft into
the country.
Pointing to the Thais' refusal to ;>ublicize
the bases, some Americans familiar with the
country stress that Thailand has ret tined its
sovereignty through history becaw e of Its
ability to accommodate itself to shifting
power balances. During World War II, for
example, the Thais sided with Jap tn, then
leaned to the West when an Alliec victory
approached.
SOME DOUBTS CAST
Past performances of that sort, t Ierefore,
have cast doubts on Thailand's reliability
as the keystone of an American deft nse sys-
tem in Southeast Asia,
But it has been argued, in contrast, that
the Thais have even more reason to luestion
the reliability of the United States. Ill par-
ticular, the Thais are chronically cc ncerned
that a negotiated settlement of the Vietnam
war would give the Communists an c dge.
For that reason, perhaps, they are anxious
to keep their options by maintair Ing the
legal fiction that they are not h trboring
American bases. Understanding tide out-
look, a local editor here said: "The Ameri-
cans can always go home, but we have to
live very close to Communist China."
At the moment, however, there is no sign
that the Americans are going home. On the
contrary, the bases are building up, and the
bars and night clubs are proliferating Bang-
kok already has nearly 130 brothels disguised
as "massage parlors," and Udorn features
such spot's as the "Friendship Club," where
the girls do a topless twist,
In areas near the bases, old traditions are
crumbling and business is booming-or as a
Korat hotel owner put it: "The Americans
are good for our economy but bad for our
culture."
]From the Washington Post, Aug. 22, 1966]
INEPTNESS FRUSTRATED THAI EFFORTS TO
COUNTER RED DRivE IN PROVINCE
(By Stanley Karnow, Washington Post
foreign service)
NAKORAN PHANOM, THAILAND: -Seated at a
makeshift bamboo table in his jungle head-
quarters near this Northeast province town,
the Thai Army major admitted his bewilder-
ment.
He commands an array of troops and po-
lice deployed to uproot the bands of Com-
munist insurgents and their sympathizers
scattered through this hinterland of rice
fields, teak forest and remote villages.
"But our trouble," the major said, "is that
we don't know who is_ Communist and who
is not."
That complaint is familiar to any Vietnam
veteran. And in several ways, this smolder-
ing Communist insurrection seems a repeti-
tion of the Vietnam war at its outset six or
seven years ago. As they did in Vietnam at
that time, the Communists here are cur-
rently killing officials, organizing cadres and
promising prosperity to peasants.
Yet the most significant similarity be-
tween the two situations may he less in the
Communist challenge than In the Thai gov-
ernment's often awkward response.
BANGKOK ENTRAPPED
Indeed, there are seasoned American ad-
visors here who submit that present Com-
munist tactics are mainly a snare. As one
of them put it, "The Communists are trap-
ping the government into making mistakes
that work in their favor."
Some of the government errors are so
'blatant as to be Incredible in this era of
counter-insurgency publicity. Like the Thai
Army major who cannot identify a real Com-
munist, military and police officers through-
out this region regularly round up villagers,
considering them suspect unless their in-
nocence can be proved.
Near Nakae, a critical sector about 25 miles
from here, peasants may not leave their vil-
lages without a special permit that fre-
quently takes hours, bribes or both to ob-
tain. In the area of Mukdahan, on the Me-
kong River south of here, they are prohibited
from carrying food to their fields lest they
nourish the Communists. As a result, many
must trudge home long distances for lunch.
From all accounts, the most egregious
blunders are committed by the provincial po-
lice. Operating on low wages and no ex-
pense money, they range through villages
squeezing the local populace for food, lodg-
ing and girls. Uncooperative peasants may
have a bone broken-or worse, find them-
selves detained as Communists.
PLANTING DISRUPTED
A few months ago, during the tricky rice
transplating period, a police unit barged
Into a village near here, ordered the peasants
in from the fields and forced them to build
a stockade. The peasants had no choice but
to abandon their paddies.
"With this kind of nonsense," explains an
American who has spent years here," people
tend to fear the government more than they
do the Communists. Of course, the Commu-
nists kill officials and informers, but they
are selective. The cops are indiscriminate,
and so they scare everybody."
More widespread, though subtle, are gov-
ernment short-comings that seem to arise
from the inability of officials to understand
and sympathize with ordinary citizens.
Ironically, the gap between the Establish-
ment and the people has persisted despite
well intentioned government efforts at eco-
nomic and social development in this region.
Under rural programs being accelerated to
meet the growing insurgency, the U.S. and
Thai governments have currently committed
some $20 million to an assortment of projects
for. this Northeast area.
RURAL TEAMS HELP
Engineering teams are constructing irri-
gation networks, wells, roads and school-
houses. Medical teams composed of Thai
doctors and American Army corpsraen roam
the countryside, dispensing medicines and
treating the sick. There are Peace Corps
volunteers breeding chickens and nurturing
silkworms, and instructors holding seminars
for villagers on such elementary subjects as
how to erect fences and collect garbage.
But the key to all this activity, experts
point out, is less what is being done than how
it is done. The development schemes, they
argue, can be politically fruitless if they fail
to bring citizens closer to their government.
In this region at least there is still a good deal
of distance between officials and the people.
Part of the problem stems from the highly-
centralized nature of the Thai government,
which makes it more important for a pro-
vincial governor to please Bangkok than to
.satisfy his own population. Also, Thailand
is a military dictatorship in which offlicals
need not worry about oonstitutents' votes.
At the same time, this society rests on the
ancient tradition, prevalent elsewhere in
Asia as well, that the authorities command
and the people obey. The despotism may be
benign, as it largely is here. Even so, it is
still a despotism in which decisions are im-
posed from the top.
PEASANTS IGNORED
Consequently, specialists here say, the pro-
jects being built in this region are based
more often on official flat than on villagers
needs, agreement or comprehension. In
several villages near here, for example, peas-
ants have had their meager parcels of land
confiscated without due compensation. In
some cases, community development work-
ers have seen their recommendations blocked
by superiors unreceptive to ideas from un-
derlings.
But for many Thais and their American
advisers, the focus on the Northeast is in
itself a remarkable bit of progress. It is a
sector, neglected for years, that was surely
headed into dissidence.
Far from the capital, the Northeast served
as a Siberia for unwanted officials. More-
over, it is principally populated by an in-
between people who are ethically Laotian
and politically Thai, and are not :fully ac-
cepted by either nationality. As a Buddhist
monk here explained it: "In Laos we're con-
sidered Thal, and in Bangkok we're consid-
ered Laotian".
The regions biggest handicap, however,
has been economic. Lacking adequate water
and fertile soil, its rice yields are about 40
per cent below the national average, Its per
capita income, only $45 per year, is less than
half that of the rest of the country, and it is
inequitably distributed. According to recent
study, the upper 2 per cent of the Northeast
peasants receive ten times more cash Income
than the lowest 78 per cent.
Perhaps nothing dramatizes the area's
poverty so much as its road. On a map, the
highway from Udorn through Sakorn Na-
korn here to Nakorn Phanom Is a bright red
ribbon. In fact it is a potholed, corrugated
dirt strip that, theserainy afternoons, turns
to mire.
RADICALS FROM HERE
Thai political figures from here were
mostly of a radical bent. Many of them
supported Pridi Phanomyong the liberal
former Premier who now lives in Communist
China. The Northeast was also the center
of resistance against the Japanese, with
whom the Bangkok government allied dur-
ing World War II.
When military dictators assumed power
in Bangkok after the war, they systematic-
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August 30, 1966 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE 20281
ally cracked down on Northeast politicians,
charging them with advocating separatism,
communism or both.
The massive military sweeps through here
in the early 1960s Instilled in the local pop-
ulation a fear of the Bangkok regime that
still remains. The arrests and summary
execution of several local leaders, many of
them popular in the region, may have given
the present Insurgents a measure of backing
in their opposition to the government.
The more generous, attention now being
accorded the Northeast by the government
has prompted some commentators to remark
that the insurrection has been a "blessing
in disguise."
But how much ground here can be held
against the Communists could depend on
more than money and materiel. It may re-
quire a change away from the conservative,
paternalistic outlook of the Bangkok mili-
tary oligarchy.
[Prom the Washington Post, Aug. 23, 19661
INSCRUTABLE THAILAND APPEARS STABLE
BANGKOK.-"I wish they would stop their
damn smiling," ' snapped an American lady
who has lived here for several years. And
her impetuous remark reflects an attitude
toward the Thais shared by many foreigners
familiar with this country.
For this land of the Siamese cat, these
foreigners contend, Is peopled by a nation of
Cheshire oats whose perennial grins conceal
an elusive, almost evanescent character. In-
deed, it is argued, the Thais owe their cen-
turies of independence to their charming,
good-humored ambiguity.
A center of American defenses in the Far
East since the Eisenhower Administration,
Thailand is now the site of a multi-billion-
dollar U.S. military buildup focused on giant
air and naval bases. But if there is little
substance behind the That smile, as some
critics submit, the United States could be
constructing a major anti-Communist bas-
tion on shaky pillars.
Yet in contrast to other states in balkan-
ized Southeast Asia, Thailand has a surface
appearance of remarkable stability.
NATIONAL IDENTITY
Except, for a Moslem minority in their
southernmost provinces and Northeasterners
of Laotian leanings, the Thais feel a rela-
tively high degree of national identity.
Moreover, King Bhumipol Adulyadej, 38,
and his beautiful queen, Sirkit, the country's
leading pin-up, are authentic symbols of
unity, event in areas that feel remote and
forgotten by the Bangkok government.
That unity is reinforced, too, by a wide-
spread, active devotion to Theravadic Bud-
dhim. Just as youths in other countries do
military service, nearly all young Thais,
royalty, included, shave their heads, don
saffron robes, and spend periods of contem-
plation in Buddhist temples.
As a further indication of attachment to
their native land, almost every That who
studies abroad returns home. And with no
"brain drain," the administration is staffed
with dozens of Harvard, Columbia and Ox-
ford graduates.
ECONOMY GROWING
At the same time, Thailand's economy is
growing by a healthy 6 per cent a year. Bul-
warked by $640 million in foreign reserves,
its currency is firm. Its rice production,
mines and timber industries are thriving, and
the number of its factories has increased
ten-fold within recent years.
Once a pleasantly lazy town of canals and
shaded lanes, Bangkok has boomed into a
city of skyscrapers, broad avenues and traffic
jams. Even in rural regions there are hints
of prosperity in the Buffalo Boys carrying
transistor radios, and bare-breasted peasant
girls wearing hair-curlers.
But in several respects, this picture of a
steady, progressive Thailand is deceptive.
While performing well at present, the coun-
try's economy faces future problems. These
could undermine a political regime that Is
scarcely as solid as it seems.
As Thai economists point out there is vir-
tually no cohesion between industrial and
agricultural development. Most That fac-
tories are assembly or packing plants that
rely on imported components and raw ma-
terials. Agricultural output, mainly rice, Is
exported in order to pay for the Industrial
imports.
A peculiar feature of the Thai rice trade is
a government premium imposed on the ex-
port to raise revenue consequently, peasants
receive only about 45 per cent of the world
market price for their rice. As a Bangkok
economist explained recently, "This amounts
to a very high rate of taxation on the poorest
sector of the country."
'UNEVEN INCOME PATTERN
As in other underdeveloped countries peas-
ants are Inching along while city bankers,
merchants and contractors are reaping for-
tunes, and this uneven income pattern is
bound to be compounded by population
growth.
Increasing at 3 per cent or more a year,
Thailand's population is expanding faster
than its national per capita income. A gen-
eration from now, moreover, about half of
the total population will be under the age
of 15, meaning that the burden of support-
ing the country will rest on a small labor
force. Coupled with the uncertainties of
the Thai economy is the questionable equi-
librium of the country's political structure in
the years ahead. It is top-heavy and may
prove to be balanced on too narrow a base.
King Bhumipol, one of the few solemn
Thais, works hard as a national emblem, and
shares the hawkish views of Thailand's real
rulers, the military oligarchy that calls itself
the "revolutionary government."
Actually, the "revolutionary government"
is dedicated to the preservation of the status
quo. Its key figures are Marshal Thanom
Kittikachorn, the Premier, and Gen. Praphas
Charusathien, Deputy Premier, army com-
mander in chief and minister of Interior.
The two men, whose children are married
to each other, make a singular pair.
WILL DO GOOD
Thanom is handsome, amiable, honest,
magnanimous and determined, he has said,
to "do good." Praphas is porcine, authori-
tarian and allegedly immersed in a vast
variety of money-making ventures. His un-
savory reputation probably prevents Praphas
from making an open bid for power. But he
exerts a significant amount of weight in the
regime.
Corruption is a built-in feature of Thai
governments. When he died in late 1963,
Premier Sarit Thanarat was found to have
amassed an estimated $140 million through
devious means. Though Thanom is con-
sidered clean, his associates are reportedly
making fortunes from assorted business
deals. Much of this money is used to pur-
chase the loyalty of subordinates.
Graft at the top may not visibly irritate
the public. But it sets an example for lesser
officials, with the result that virtually no
government service here, from getting a tele-
phone to a driver's license, is possible with-
out a payoff.
Supporters of the regime insist that the
Thais tolerate corruption as part of the sys-
tem. But when the local press, closely su-
pervised by the government, was free to
comment on Sarit's peculations, the tone of
indignation ran high.
For over seven years, a constituent assem-
bly has been drafting a constitution without
the end in sight. After seeing parts of the
draft recently, Praphas called it "too glar-
ingly democratic," adding that elections
would make Thailand "a colony of Commu-
nist China."
The likelihood of representative govern-
ment evolving here seems remote at the
moment. In the view of some observers, con-
tinued dictatorship in Thailand suits the
United States, since it assures a continuation
of American bases In the country and that,
as a U.S. official put it bluntly, "is our real
interest in this place."
How much pressure exists in Thailand for
more liberal government is hard to measure,
since the vehicles for free expression are
limited. But people can talk as they please,
and among Westernized students, editors and
officials there seems to be rather haphazard
longing for something other than this re-
gime.
As it has elsewhere, this kind of talk may
gradually proliferate. And it could reveal
substance beneath the inscrutable Thai
smile-unless it becomes a frown.
[From the New York Times, Aug. 21, 19661
A SILENT PARTNER FOR UNITED STATES IN ASIA
(By Peter Braestrup)
BANGKOK, THAMAND, August 20.-Thai-
land's role as a partner of the United States,
Ambassador Graham A. Martin suggested re-
cently, "is not sufficiently understood back in
America."
Thus, as Prime Minister Thanom Kittaka-
chorn listened, came a rare public hint at
Thailand's silent but vital role as host to
25,000 American servicemen, most of them
supporting the unsung "aerial second front"
against North Vietnam and the Ho Chi Minh
trail, Hanoi's main infiltration route to
South Vietnam.
Thailand cooperated with the Americans,
Field Marshall Thanom declared, "because
our intentions are the same." The smiling
55-year-old leader of Thailand's military-
civilian regime and the American envoy
spoke at the opening last week of the biggest
air base constructed by the United States
here to date--at Satthip, on the Gulf of
Siam.
Official statements on the future use of the
new 11,500-foot runway were vague, but in-
formants said privately that it could handle
any U.S. military aircraft now flying-in-
cluding the big B-52 bombers based at far-
away Guam and used to hit targets in South
Vietnam. But KC-135 jet tankers likely will
be the base's first major tenants. They will
refuel in flight the U.S. fighter-bombers
bound for targets across the Mekong River
from five bases already built in Thailand's
upcountry.
OLD SUSPICIONS
"We've brought in a lot of gear," observed
a high-ranking American officer, "and we
want to bring in more."
A sixth combat airfield is being built; oth-
ers are being expanded to accommodate new
squadrons of F-105
and F-4
-C jets. In
short, the U. S. Air
Force's h
ammering at
North Vietnam from
Thailand
has yet to
reach its peak.
Despite traditional That
suspicion of
"fareng" (foreigners), the
Kittakachorn
regime has bet on Washington's continued
willingness to help meet the human and
political costs of containing Communism in
Southeast Asia. But never colonized, enjoy-
ing the blessings of a rice-rich kingdom the
size of France, neither the 30-million Thais
nor their self-appointed political leaders
rejoice over being militarily dependent on
distant America.
"So far," Thai Foreign Minister Thanat
Khoman said with regret in his voice re-
cently, "we have relied on outside power to
save us from being submerged."
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE August 30, 1966
No intimate of Lyndon Johnson's gets
more irritated by the U.S. Senate's "doves"
than do Mr. Thanat's associates who scorn
what they term "liberal naivete" about Asians
and Asian Communists. Yet, even as they
publicly condemn Hanoi and Peking, the
Thai Cabinet officials, in an Oriental fashion
that baffles many Westerners here, ignore or
deny the fact that American aircraft attack
North Vietnam from what are juridically
Royal Thai Air Force bases. Why?
GOVERNMENT MOVES IN
"Hanoi has never admitted violating the
Geneva accords by sending thousands of
troops into Laos and South Vietnam since
1962, suggested a European diplomat. "Per-
haps the Thais see no gain and some loss of
diplomatic maneuverability if they publicly
admit their own role In the Vietnam war."
Already assailed by Peking Radio as an
"Imperialist lackey," the Kittakachorn regime
may also find its role and the bombing dif-
ficult to explain to remote Thai villagers
whose contact with the Government, let
alone foreign policy, is limited. "They
would not understand," said Interior Minis-
ter Prapatls Charusathlan.
While It counts on American help in ward-
ing off any overt aggression from the north,
the Bangkok Government is slowly coming
to grips with the spreading but still low-
level Communist subversion in parts of six
provinces of the long-neglected northeast.
To American aid advisers, it is the Vietnam
of 1958-59 all over again. They note the
lack of Government "presence" at village
level, the northeasterners' resentment of pet-
ty extortion and high-handedness by local
police, and the "don't bother me" attitude of
distant Bangkok bureaucrats.
But, to their credit, both the Bangkok
officials and American aid planners have be-
gun to focus on the grass roots, even if
Thai spokesmen tend to emphasize the
sporadic Communist terrorism.
In the Government's favor, as Americans
see it, are certain economic and social fac-
tors. Unlike Vietnam, there is no pressing
need for land reform since most villagers
already till their own rice paddies. The weak
oft-suppressed Thai Communist party, un-
like the Vietcong, has never been popularly
identified with a nationalist struggle against
foreign rule.
If Prime Minister Thanon is nominally
head of a standard military "junta," he in
fact heads a conservative, Army-backed coali-
tion of generals and civilian technicians, rul-
ing a bureaucracy that, may be corrupt and
self-serving, but is less than intolerable.
How quickly this regime's able, more dedi-
cated men can shake-off bad old Thai politi-
cal habits and provide a response to the
Communists, may well decide Thailand's
long-run future. There is new talk of. the
long-promised constitution and of elections?
But as the young American pilots head north
daily in their camouflaged jets, it is down
in the rice paddies, the teak forests and the
peasant shacks on stilts that the United
States' silent ally faces its most immediate
struggle with the Communists.
[From the New York Times, Aug. 22, 19661
THAI HINTERLAND WORRIED BY REDS---OFFI-
CIALS IN SOUTH WANT HELP To THWART
ANY DRIVE
(By Peter Braestrup)
SONGKHLA, THAILAND, August 17.-A high
Thai official complained here today that the
Government needs "to pay more attention to
American-aided build-up in the long ne-
glected Northeast, where pro-Peking Thai
Communists have begun to ambush the po-
lice and assassinate minor officials, no such
build-up has come in the 14 provinces of
the south. .
The Communists down here are still or-
ganizing and recruiting," said an. Americana
specialist. "But the potential for trouble ex-
ists."
Relatively little is known about the That
Communists in this region. Their activity-
recruiting, food gathering, propaganda and
jungle training-appears to be centered in
the traditional bandit refuges along south-
ern Thailand's jungle-covered mountains
below the Kra Isthmus.
Parts of five provinces most affected-
Sorngkhla, Suratthant, Trang, Phatthalung
and Nakhon Sithammarat.
The five cover a ridge-studded area, rough-
ly the size of New Hampshire. of small rub-
ber plantations, occasional lowland rice pad-
dies, livestock farms and coconut groves.
More prosperous than Thais in the dry
northeast, most of this area's 2 million in-
habitants, including sizable Malay and
Chinese minorities, live in about 3,200 vil-
lages, many of which are unreachable by
automobile.
According to one estimate, there are no
more than 200 armed Communist-led guer-
rillas, as distinct from the region's active
bandit population, in the five-province area.
Perhaps a thousand active sympathizers, in-
cluding some middle-class Thais and North
Vietnamese expatriates, are believed to be
helping with propaganda, recruiting, supplies
and cell organizing.
Early last month, led by Special Col. Pin
Thamasri, commander of the Fifth Regimen-
tal Combat Team, the first major operation
against southern Thai Communists swept
through the area along Route 5 between the
towns of Trang and Phattalung. The Gov-
ernment reported 18 guerrillas killed and 140
suspects arrested. The security forces lost 3
wounded and 1 missing.
"We have doused the flames of terrorism
in that part of the country," Pote Bekkanan,
commander of the Thal Criminal. Investiga-
tion Bureau, announced July 5.
SOME ARE LESS SATISFIED
But in eyes of regional That officials, the
success was limited. News of the impending
operation appeared four days beforehand in
the Bangkok press. The massing of police-
men and troops in Trang scared off the Com-
munist jungle-dwellers and little serious con-
tact occurred.
.As elsewhere in Thailand outside Bangkok,
the Government presence is thin. In the
five-province area troubled by Communist
Thais, the only army troops are two bat-
talions of the Fifth Regimental Combat Team
stationed at Hat Yai, 15 miles southwest of
here, and at Nakhon Sithnammarat. For the
whole 14-province Thai south, embracing 3.2
million people, there are fewer than 5,000
poorly paid provincial policemen. The vil-
lages have no police of their own.
Last June, after a tour of the south, Saard
Tansubhapol, director of the Public Welfare
College in Bangkok, caused a minor scandal
on his return by reporting that the situation
was "Chaotic" in many districts. He said
"neglect of villagers and their harassment by
terrorist-suppression officers is turning the
people of the south to banditry, which is one
step from conversion to Communism."
the provinces."
[From the New York Times
Aug
15
1966]
The complaint, heard often in the Thai
hinterland, has become more pronounced
,
.
APATHY ON COMING VOTE FOUND
,
IN
SOUTH
here in the rubber-growing, tin-mining
south. Budding Communist agitation and
economic stagnation have begun to worry
Thai officials and American advisers.
Although Premier Thanom Kittikachorn's
military-civilian regime has begun a modest,
VIETNAM
(By it. W. Apple, Jr.)
SAIGON, SOUTH VIETNAM, August 19:.--"This
election," a Western diplomat said the other
day, "is more a diplomatic exercise than a
political event."
The comment seemed just. With elec-
tion day, Sept. 11, only four weeks away, and
with the campaign to open officially Aug. 26,
less than two weeks hence, the election of a
constituent assembly for South Vietnam is
clearly arousing far greater interest in
Washington than in Saigon.
In fact, the South Vietnamese appear to
be bored by the whole thing.
People in such places as Saigon, Nhatrang,
Danang, and Mytho are preoccupied with the
cost of pork and rice and charcoal.. Despite
the devaluation of the Vietnamese piaster,
members of the middle class are still pinched
by inflation, and the election offers them no
remedy.
AMMUNITION FOR WASHINGTON
The greatest significance of the voting,
most observers here believe, is that it will
afford the Johnson Administration a rejoin-
der to critics who frown on its support of
an "illegitimate" military Government.
Domestically, the election Is meaningful
chiefly as a first tentative step toward repre-
sentative government.
It is important to realize what the elec-
tion is not.
It is not a test between the Vietcong and
the non-Communist nationalists for the
Vietcong have been excluded, as far as pos-
sible, from the candidate and voter lists. It
is not a referendum on the American pres-
ence here, even by implication. It Is not
an election for a national legislature.
The sole purpose of the voting, under the
electoral law promulgated by the junta, is to
choose a 117-member constituent assembly
charged with writing a new national consti-
tution. Once that is done, a legislature is
to be elected sometime next year.
Although many cynical South Vietnamese
civilian politicians have searched diligently,
they have uncovered no evidence of fraud
on the part of the regime of Premier Nguyen
Cao Ky. Neither have foreign correspondents
or the political specialists of Western embas-
sies in Saigon.
LARGE TURNOUT BOUGHT
The Government's interest appears to lie
elsewhere. Premier Ky has made it clear
to his confidants that he understands the
symbolic nature of the voting, and has told
them he is eager to have a large voter turn-
out.
Under one plan that has powerful support
within the junta, a large turnout would not
be left to chance. Citizens whose voting
cards had not been punched at the polls
would be denied certain privileges, possibly
including the right to government rice doles.
Few Vietnamese would fail to cast their
ballots under that threat.
Of the total population of 15.5 million in
South Vietnam, the potential electorate is
slightly more than 5 million. Most Govern-
ment officials, as well as the United States
Embassy, would be pleased with a turnout
between 3.5 and 4 million.
The civilian politicians do not expect the
figure to be that high, if there is no tinker-
ing. One prominent nationalist has been
quoted as having predicted that as much as
a third of the Saigon electorate would stay
away because of suspicions of possible gov-
ernment manipulation and from sheer in-
difference.
Such attitudes have become typical over
the years. The French made little effort
to instill in the Vietnamese an understand-
ing of the processes of self-government, and
their successors have habitually resorted to
fraud.
The politicians have done little to breathe
life into the election. They have formed
no meaningful coalitions, and many have
denounced the electoral law at every turn.
The Vietnamese Nationalist party has re-
fused to align itself with any other party.
Many of its leading, figures, including Dr.
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August 30, 1966 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD -SENATE
Phan. Huy Quat, a former Premier, have
chosen not to run.
"We don't think it is necessary to waste
money," a spokesman for the party said
recently.
BODY HELD POWERLESS
Much of the bitterness of the professionals
centers on Article 20 of the electoral law,
which was added by the junta to the draft
prepared by a special commission. It gives
the generals the right to change any part of
the new constitution unless two-thirds of
the constituent assembly objects.
That would mean that the junta could
control the assembly with a third of the
votes plus one, or 40 votes.
"Under this system the assembly has no
power," a prominent anti-Government law-
yer said. "It is an antidemocratic system,
and it robs the whole process of meaning."
Although Premier Ky has been behaving
like a politician in recent weeks-defense of
the idea of invading North Vietnam was
widely interpreted as an effort to prove that
he could be independent of the United
States-there is no clear evidence that he has
succeeded in forming a large bloc of candi-
dates loyal to him and the other generals.
Of 554 candidates certified, fewer than 50
are soldiers. That would not appear to pro-
vide a sufficiently broad base for the "khaki
party" that some of the members of the
junta have discussed.
Most Communist candidates apparently
decided not to run or were weeded out by
screening boards at lower levels. Only about
10 were excluded by the national review
committee under the stringent anti-Commu-
nist, antineutralist provisions of the law.
Among other groups, one of the strongest
is likely to be composed of members of the
provincial councils, who have already begun
to coalesce into a working unit.
The militant Buddhists, whose anti-
Government agitation prompted the junta to
schedule the election, do not appear to be
making a major effort to elect representa-
tives to the assembly. The faction's leading
monks are still talking of a boycott as pro-
posed in May by their leader, Thich Tri
Quang.
Even before the campaign begins, two
things seem certain: that the constitution
drafters will decide upon a presidential
rather than a parliamentary form of govern-
ment, a preference shared by the junta and
its harshest critics, and that no single politi-
cal group will be able to dominate the
,assembly.
[Prom the Washington Post, Aug. 20, 1986]
SAIGON HEARS CONsv rrr?ION WILL BE DELAYED
(By Ward Just, Washington Post foreign
service)
SAIGON, August 19.-Vietnamese officials
here now are talking of a hiatus of one year
between the Sept. 11 election of a constitu-
ent assembly and the drafting of a
constitution.
It is expected that It will take another six
months to put the national election machin-
ery in motion, which would mean Prime Min-
ister Nguyen Cao Ky and his military Direc-
tory, or Junta would remain in office until
early in 1968.
Observers here had expected that the con-
stituent assembly would finish its work by
January or February next year and Prime
Minister Ky himself has talked of a presiden-
tial election by next summer.
But today an Informed Vietnamese official
said that the assembly was bound to be
"slow" and unlikely to finish its work before
next summer. The official said there were
bound to be several "readings" of the consti-
tution and time-consuming public dis-
cuas~pn>
It all added up, he said, to a possible 18
months before the Vietnamese have an elect-
ed government.
In the interim, the official said, the Ky
regime would soldier on.
The latest estimate is that 5 million Viet-
namese are eligible to go to 5,283 polling
places Sept. 11. There are 104 Vietnamese
seats, four seats allotted to areas laregsly in-
habited by Cambodians, and nine seats to be
elected by what are called "customary tribal
processes" of the Montagnards, who live in
the Vietnamese central highlands.
There are 55 members of the Vietnamese
armed forces running for seats, but authori-
tative sources here believe they will win
fewer than 10 per cent of the seats. There
are 572 candidates in all.
Attention here has centered on the so-
called military candidates, since there has
been suspicion that the 10-general junta
would attempt to steamroller the election.
Speculation has been further heightened by
the presence of the 600,000 Vietnamese
under arms. The presumption has been that
the military men as voters would follow the
lead of their superiors.
Interest grew with the promulgation of the
decree determining the frame of reference of
the constituent assembly. It appeared that
the junta could overturn any decision of the
assembly by affirmation of one-third plus
- one of the 117 delegates. Put another way,
it would take a two-thirds majority to over-
ride any suggestions of the junta.
But authoritative sources said that there
was every expectation that the assembly
would be a fragmented body. The sources
said it was not in any- degree plausible that
military candidates could win one-third of
the seats: They doubted, even, that all the
military candidates agreed with one another.
The seats are allotted according to the vote
in the provincial elections of May, 1965. In
that election, there were 4.7 million eligibles
and 3.4 million voters. There are approxi-
mately 14.5 million people in South Viet-
nam, of whom an estimated 10 million are
under government control.
The Prime Minister Is said to view the size
of the vote as an expression of confidence in
his regime. This has led to lively specula-
tion as to what is a satisfactory turnout,
with cautious United States officials suggest-
ing 50 per cent of the eligibles. Bolder and
presumably more realistic Vietnamese sug-
gest anything less than 70 per cent must be
considered unsatisfactory.
In this connection, there were warnings of
Vietcong attempts to disrupt polling. The
Vietcong, diplomatic sources here said, view
the election "with considerable seriousness
as a dangerous enterprise" Officials cited
threats to candidates, and intelligence re-
ports which indicated the Communists might
try to march off "whole village populations"
into the jungle before the vote.
Considerable suspicion among Vietnamese,
has surrounded the campaign, which will
formally begin Aug. 26. There have been
dark hints and innumerable rumors that
the regime has sought to rig the vote, but
independent observers have yet to surface
any firm evidence of chicanery, fraud or
intimidation.
There has been lively controversy here on
precisely what the government would like to
see emerge. The Prime Minister is on record
as supporting a strong presidential type con-
stitution, a view which is supported by many
of the "heavyweight" candidates, ("There
aren't many George Washingtons in this
crowd," said one experienced observer of
Vietnamese politics, referring to the bulk of
the candidates).
What the government would surely not
want to see is an assembly which would vote
no-confidence resolution In the junta and
transform itself into a legislature, an act
Which was much discussed by Buddhist mili-
tants during the political upheaval last
spring.
The election Is an analyst's nightmare.
20283
Only the Hoa Hao, the religious-cum-po-
litical sect of the Mekong Delta, Is contesting
the election as a Party. In central Vietnam,
the Vietnam Quoc Dan Dang (VNQDD), a
nationalist party constructed along the lines
of the Chinese Kuomingtang, is tilting for
a dozen seats-but there are several VNQDD
factions tilting and there is no assurance
that the winners will stick together in the
assembly. Similarly, observers doubt if either
the Dia Viet Party or the Cao Dal religionists
Will emerge as cohesive units.
It is for this reason that observers here
show great Interest in the military candi-
dates. In the assembly likely to result from
these elections, a bloc of 10 could be a po-
litical powerhouse. The military candi-
dates, presumably loyal to the regime, could
be the single united force.
There are as yet no reliable estimates of
the mischief potential of the militant Bud-
dhists and the dissident amalgam known as
the Front of Citizens of All Faiths. Inde-
pendent observers tend to discount the in-
fluence of both, but today the front issued
another communique and in the strongest
terms to date called for the boycotting of the
election of what it called "the puppet as-
sembly."
There is now, among reliable observers of
Vietnamese affairs, skepticism of too elabo-
rate and Intricate an analysis of the events
about to unfold. There has scarcely been
enough time for either the government or its
opponents to mount effective campaigns,
even if there were general agreement on de-
sirI le goals which there apparently Is not.
BRIBERY IN SAIGON
Mr. GRUENING. Mr. President, on
August 24, 1966, CBS-TV broadcast an
account by Morley Safer in Saigon of the
widespread corruption and theft of U.S.
aid commodities he found at the port of
Saigon and elsewhere in Vietnam. Much
of what Mr. Safer reported had been
known previously. The chairman of the
Foreign Relations Committee has, in re-
cept weeks, inserted a number of ac-
counts of the extent of the pilferage and
graft prevailing in Vietnam. There are,
however, two new points in the August 24
telecast.
Mr. Safer reports that an investigation
is currently underway of the incidents
in which the South Vietnamese Navy has
given escort and safe conduct to sampans
carrying food and supplies to Vietcong
units in the Mekong Delta, This may
well explain the reports we have been
getting lately that the United States
plans on sending its combat forces into
the delta area for the first time. If the
South Vietnamese forces are working
hand in glove with the Vietcong, the ad-
ministration may have despaired of
achieving any results in the delta area
unless it came under the complete con-
trol of U.S. forces. Since the South
Vietnamese will not fight the Vietcong,
our boys will do the fighting for them.
These are the people for whom we are
sacrificing untold blood and treasure
allegedly for their freedom.
The second point is the admission by
Mr. Rutherford Poats, an Assistant Ad-
ministrator of AID, that there is little
that AID can do about the corruption
and theft of economic assistance com-
modities. This is the first time I have
seen such an admission which is indica-
tive of how large and deep rooted the
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20284 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE
black market organization has become.
This should not be surprising however.
The United States has been pouring hun-
dreds of millions of dollars of commodi-
ties of all descriptions into a backward
country. This uncontrolled flow of goods
represents a golden opportunity for the
profiteers and for Vietnamese Govern-
ment officials to make a "quick buck" by
dealing with the Vietcong. The scale
of our aid program in Vietnam becomes
the main factor reinforcing the graft and
corruption which Morley Safer points out
exists at the very highest level.of the
Ky government. An aid program de-
signed to alleviate the misery and poverty
brought on by the ravages of war ends
up by becoming a major cause for in-
creasing the misery and poverty of the
masses of people in Vietnam.
I ask unanimous consent for the in--
elusion of the CBS--TV transcript in the
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD.
There being no objection, the tran-
script was ordered to be printed in the
RECORD, as follows:
SAYER. This is a town that makes the mind
boggle. What started out as a routine in-
quiry into the increasing incidence of pilfer-
age here at the Port of Saigon has produced
a series of almost frightening facts. Here
are some of them: an investigation is cur-
rently under way to incidents in which the
South Vietnamese Navy has given escort and
safe conduct to sampans carrying food and
supplies to Viet Cong units in the Mekong
Delta. These supplies include U.S. AID ma-
terials, stolen or purchased on the black
market. This is not an isolated incident; it
is a regular practice. It appears that run-
ning parallel with the war is a national sym-
phony of theft, corruption and bribery.
Much of it begins right here in the Port of
Saigon. No one in Vietnam is able to specify
how much is lost or stolen at the port of
entry. The estimates vary from four percent
to twenty, Patrol boats keep a constant
watch on the river for mines and smugglers,
but American security is limited to the mili-
tary side of the port. There is no U.S. con-
trol of commercial docking facilities and here
in the Saigon River, piracy and theft is a way
of life. Tight control is almost impossible.
The river teems with barges and sampans,
some of them chartered to transport com-
panies, some simply in the business of theft
. some doing both. Military does what
it can-military warehouses are kept under
constant watch but huge caches of Items like
beer manage to disappear, and it's not indi-
vidual pilfering, it's a gigantic controlled
racket. Beer, C-rations, luxury goods con-
signed to the commissaries and post ex-
changes. Army Captain Robert Moran works
for the management of the Saigon Port:
There must be some kind of organization
behind this stuff, it's not just taken on an
individual basis, would you say so?
MORAN. I agree, very much. The indi-
vidual amount of pilfering wouldn't add up
to the amount of black market activity.
We do frisk everyone who comes in and out
of these port facilities so this would elimi-
nate individual thievery. Some speculation
has been that there is, uh, organized groups
of people who attempt to take these goods
and sell them on the open market.
SAFER. Whole consignments of PX goods-
blankets, C-rations, end up in Vietnam's open
black markets. There are three in Saigon and
they handle cameras, radios, whiskey, all
clearly labelled for use of U.S. Military
forces. The market is so free of the fear of
arrest that no one even bothers to remove
the labels. The U.S. AID emblem, the
clasped hands of friendship, is liberally dis-
played for all to see, including the national
police. They saunter among the stalls,
never making a seizure or an arrest. This
is the lowest level of bribery. American in-
vestigators have traced it upwards to middle
level of government, police and army. But
they rely on Vietnamese agencies, Viet-
namese police, to make arrests. The story
is always the same: a man of influence is
involved. He has been fined but we can go
no further. What does happen, awarding
to U.S. sources, is that police then shake
down this person of influence, blackmail him
with the threat of turning him over to the
Americans. He always pays up. The black
market is the smallest and the most overt
example of how funds, food and goods are
diverted from the Vietnamese economy di-
rectly into the hands of private speculators,
and from there into the hands of the Viet
Cong. This is one of the most lucrative
rackets of all-the traffic in milk. At any
Saigon corner you can buy for a dollar a box,
give-away U.S. AID powdered milk. There
Is >do attempt to conceal the fact. The box
is marked with the clasped hands and the
stars and stripes and emblazoned with the
motto: Not to be sold or exchanged. Amer-
ican economic warfare personnel advises the
Vietnamese government that one way of
controlling the movement and distribution
of material was to check every vehicle leav-
ing Saigon for the provinces. The road-
blocks were duly set up, but their establish-
ment was an invitation for the national
police to shake down both the guilty and the
innocent truckers and distributors. AID
material is not affected by this unofficial tax
but all other goods leaving Saigon are taxed.
Not pt the roadblocks themselves but in the
privacy of an office or police station. Honest
officials do turn up but they are soon trans-
ferred by their superiors.
These practices can never be eradicated
simply because the United States does not
control the internal affairs of this country.
Even in this appropriation of AID money
and food is something that we have learned
to live with in Vietnam and a lot of other
countries. But there is evidence now that
the Viet Cong political and economic intra-
structure is directly tied to the blackmarket.
The blackmarket is directly tied to impor-
tant elements in Premier Ky's government.
One American official whose job is to deprive
the Viet Cong of resources told CBS News:
The enemy's procurement program is ex-
tremely sophisticated. It is meshed into
the national economic program and relies
heavily on the blackmarket.
Another American source who Is in close
contact with the harassed officers in Saigon
and Washington says: It is our biggest
problem in fighting this war.
Morley Safer, CBS News, Saigon.
CRONKrrE. In Washington, Marvin Kalb
asked for reaction to the Safer report from
Rutherford Poats, Assistant Foreign Aid
Administrator for the Far East.
POATS. It's a very tough problem.. As you
know, the Viet Cong are everywhere. They
are in the life blood of the economy. We
have never had that problem before like this,
we've never fought a war like this. There
are no lines. Business is done from one
Vietnamese to another. They're all in simi-
lar clothing, look alike, live in the same
areas, and yet unless we can check the flow
of supplies to the Viet Cong, they will obvi-
ously be able to carry on the war that much
longer. If we cannot hurt them in their
area-,., they'll be able to continue to struggle.
But we do consider it a major problem and
it's a very tough one to solve.
KALB. Mr. Poats, are we capable of cutting
off this flow of supplies to the Viet Gong?
PoATS. No. I think we should face
squarely that we are not fully capable of
doing it. In the first place, V.C. areas are
pockmarked throughout the country. You
may find a village which is in government
control and immediately around it are peo-
August 30, 1966
ple who are friendly to the V.C., whose sons
or father are out with the V.C. part time or
full time. These villagers must be supplied.
Commercial trucks bring them supplies, both
imported goods and domestic goods. We
cannot break this entirely. Now if we
erected-the Vietnamese Government
erects-a wall of policemen around each
port, around each area of production of in-
dustrial goods or rice, and attempt to stop
the flow of traffic between these areas, they
will starve large areas of the country that
we hope to win over, where we hope to grad-
ually push back the tide of Viet Cong con-
trol. So we also have problems of corrup-
tion, as Mr. Safer pointed out. It's impos-
sible to run a large-scale police check point
system as is being attempted now without
some police seeing an opportunity to get a
small bribe for letting something go through.
This does happen, but we don't think it hap-
pens nearly as much as some of the rumors
around Saigon suggest.
PRAYER IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Mr. BAYH. Mr. President, I ask
unanimous consent to include in the
RECORD the fifth of a series of insertions
regarding school prayer. Previous in-
sertions were made on August 23:, 24, 25,
26, and 29 and can be found on pages
19427, 19594, 19706, and 20205, respec-
tively.
There being no objection, the series
was ordered to be printed in the RECORD,
as follows:
STATEMENT OF DANIEL J. O'CONNOR, CHAIR-
MAN, NATIONAL AMERICANISM COMMISSION,
THE AMERICAN LEGION, BEFORE THE SUB-
COMMITTEE ON CONSTITUTIONAL AMEND-
MENTS, SENATE COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY,
ON SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 148, .AUGUST
8, 1966
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Sub-
committee:
I wish to express our sincere appreciation
for the opportunity you have afforded The
American Legion and The American Legion
Auxiliary In presenting our position In sup-
port of S.J. Res. 148 with respect to a pro-
posed constitutional amendment, which
provides that nothing contained in the con-
stitution of the United States shall prohibit
the authority administering any school,
school system, educational institution or
other public building supported in whole or
in part through the expenditure of public
funds from providing for or permitting the
voluntary participation by students or others
in prayer. We fully support the prohibition
against any public authority prescribing the
form or content of any prayer but heartily
endorse the right of any person under the
First Amendment to participate in prayer.
Mr. Chairman, our statement is that of
The American Legion and Its Auxiliary and
we are not allied with any other organiza-
tion. We stand completely on our own as
a Congressionally chartered organization
dedicated to service for God and country.
We will endeavor to avoid repetitious argu-
ments and give you our reasons in favor of
such constitutional amendment, but there
are a few poignant remarks which we believe
are necessary in the light of statements
which have appeared through the communi-
cation media concerning the motives of those
who favor the United States Supreme Court
decisions, and of the Court itself. We assure
you, Mr. Chairman and Members of the Com-
mittee, that we strongly support all three
branches of the Government-the Executive,
the Legislative, and the Judiciary. We be-
lieve in the system of checks and balances.
However, we may differ, at times, on how
those functions are carried out, and more
particularly whether on occasion the Judi-
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August 30, 1966 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE
Is a committee meeting downstairs that
I would like to attend.
Mr. MORSE. Mr. President, I ask for
a live quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk called
the roll, and the following Senators an-
swered to their names:
[No. 234 Leg.]
Aiken Kennedy, N.Y. Nelson
Allott Kuchel Proxmire
Bass Long, Mo. Ribicoff
Burdick Long, La. Robertson
Byrd, Va. Magnuson Russell, Ga.
Cannon McCarthy Smith
Dirksen McGovern Talmadge
Ellender Mondale Williams, N.J.
Fulbright Monroney Williams, Del.
Gruening Montoya Yarborough
Holland Morse Young, Ohio
Jordan, N.C. Morton
Kennedy, Mass. Moss
The PRESIDING OFFICER. A quo-
rum is not present.
Mr. LONG of Missouri. Mr. President,
I move that the Sergeant at Arms be di-
rected to request the attendance of ab-
sent Senators.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
question is on agreeing to the motion of
the Senator from Missouri.
The motion was agreed to.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
Sergeant at Arms will execute the order
of the Senate.
After a little delay, the following Sen-
ators entered the Chamber and an-
swered to their names:
Anderson Ervin Miller
Bayh Fannin Mundt
Bible Griffin Neuberger
Brewster Harris Pastore
Byrd, W. Va. Hart Pell
Carlson Hartke Prouty
Clark Hickenlooper Randolph
Cooper Hill Smathers
Cotton Hruska Sparkman
Curtis Jackson Stennis
Dodd Javits Symington
Dominick Mansfield Thurmond
Eastland McGee Young, N. Dak.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr.
MONDALE in the chair). A quorum is
present.
TREASURY CONCEDES JOB, WON BY
McCLOSKEY, FOR MINT COULD
COST TAXPAYERS $4 MILLION
Mr. WILLIAMS of Delaware. Mr.
President, last week I called the atten-
tion of the Senate to the highly irregular
procedure followed by the GSA In award-
ing to McCloskey & Co. the contract to
build the Philadelphia Mint. Following
that statement, the various agencies
stampeded each other In an attempt to
justify their action.
In today's Wall Street Journal there
appears an article entitled "Treasury
Concedes Job, Won by McCloskey, for
Mint Could Cost Taxpayers $4 Million."
I ask unanimous consent that this article
be printed in the RECORD.
There being no objection, the article
was ordered to be printed in the RECORD,
as follows:
TREASURY CONCEDES JOB, WON BY MCCLOSKEY,
rOR MINT Conan COST TAXPAYERS $4 MIL-
LION ,
(By Jerry Landauer)
WAsmmueTom.-Government officials con-
cede that the award of a $12.8 million con-
tract to build the Philadelphia mint could
cost the taxpayers at least $4 million. The
contract was won by Democratic fund-raiser
Matthew H. McCloskey.
In further reply to Republican accusations
of favoritism to the construction company
Mr. McCloskey founded, embarrassed Treas-
ury officials also are retracting in part earlier
claims to Congress that getting the new mint
built fast would save scads of money.
Thus does the Government explain the
paradox of how Mr. McCloskey's concern
benefited both from a clamorous urgency to
build and from a subsequent decision to
stretch out the construction. "This time
Matt's people were lucky, that's all," one
official asserted. Another said Big Govern-
ment's cumbersome decision-making proc-
esses compounded the luck.
Meantime the General Services Admin-
istration, the Government's contracting
agency, has accepted the company's con-
tention that strikes and snowstorms were
responsible for failure to meet an April 3
deadline imposed by a separate $2.7 million
contract for the mint's substructure. The
GSA decision relieved the company of per-
haps $300,000 in potential penalties,
BYPASSING SEALED BIDS
On the bigger contract for the superstruc-
ture, the company's streak of luck began in
May when the GSA, pressed by the Treasury,
bypassed normal sealed competitive bidding
for urgency's sake. Officials decided that
selecting the contractor through the as-
sertedly faster method of negotiated procure-
ment was necessary to help lick the coin
shortage.
Besides, as Assistant Treasury Secretary
Robert A. Wallace told a House Appropria-
tions subcommittee on March 3, "the funds
you approved for the construction of the new
mint in Philadelphia will enable us to save
the taxpayers approximately $1 million a
month when we put these new, fully inte-
grated facilities into operation in 1967."
Moving at full tilt in disregard of a Cabinet
meeting April 1 at which President Johnson
directed a slowdown in Government con-
struction to douse inflationary fires, the GSA
on May 27 invited contractors to submit pro-
posals that would serve as a starting paint for
20295
ity would be $125,000 a month more efficient
than the old. In addition, the new mint
would save from $750,000 to $1,181,000 every
month (depending on the rate of coin pro-
duction) by melting, rolling and casting coin
strip; the old mint buys strip from contrac-
tors at higher cost. Even at the lower rate.
the six-month saving comes to $4.5 million,
or $4.1 million net if the total is reduced by
the higher cost of compressing construction.
Yet when decision day for awarding the
contract arrived on June 29 the Treasury
ignored the claims Miss Adams had pressed
on Congress to help extract construction
appropriations. Treasury Under Secretary
Joseph Barr declined the McCloskey 12-
month bargain, in part, the Treasury says,
"because he didn't believe previous estimates
of savings given by the mint were correct."
Instead, Mr. Barr recommended and the GSA
awarded McCloskey & Co. an 18-month con-
tract for $12,682,565, just $97,000 below the
losing quote submitted by Bateson & Co.
One reason given for the change was the
rapid disappearance of the coin shortage,
which reduced projected estimates of coin
production. And, as an aide explains, "she
(Miss Adams) got carried away. She's a
promoter, you understand. Her heart and
soul is in this new mint."
President Johnson's April request to
stretch out Government construction was
another factor prompting Mr. Barr to rein in
the GSA's pell-mell rush to get the mint
built, though that rush was still deemed
sufficient in May to justify the negotiated
procurement by which McCloskey & Co. won
the construction contract.
Mr. WILLIAMS of Delaware. I say
that it Is time that the GSA revised its
bidding procedures. There is no excuse
for the manner in which this particular
contract was handled. Why' was Mr.
McCloskey excused from the $300,000
penalty for delayed completion of the
substructure contract on this same
building?
This type of favoritism is costing our
taxpayers millions.
negotiations. In response on June 24, they~ ((
GSA received two quotes from McCloskey &U
Co.: $13,227,565 to complete the job in 18 V HOWARD K. SMITH TELLS WHY
months and $17,195,834 if the work had to UNITED STATES MUST NOT LOSE
be compressed Into 12 months. These quotes VIETNAM
ti
l
4
5
were, respec
ve
y, $
47,
65 and $3,384,384
higher than those submitted by a competitor,
J. W. Batteson & Co., of Arlington, Va.
Despite the presumed necessity for speed,
the GSA didn't start negotiations with the
contractors. Instead, It waited until June
29 for Mr. McCloskey's son, Thomas, the
company president, to drop by with revised
proposals that undercut Bateson's. McClos-
key & Co.'s new quotes lopped $545,000 from
its original 18-month price. And for the
12-month period, McCloskey proposed a far
bigger bargain, $4,102,269 below the first
quote.
SEEMING GIANT BARGAIN
At first glance, McCloskey 8L. Co.'s ability
to chop more than $4 million from its 12-
month construction proposal seemed to offer
a giant bargain indeed. Completing the
mint in a year would cost the Government
just $411,000 more than if 18 months were
allowed, the revised McCloskey proposals
stated. Matched against Assistant Secre-
tary Wallace's $1-million-a-month estimate
of savings, the somewhat higher cost of
compressing the construction timetable
seemed trivial; by getting the mint In opera-
tion quickly, taxpayers could save $5.6 mil-
lion-if the estimate given Congress was
accurate.
Mr. Wallace's testimony, Treasury officials
say, was based on presumably careful calcu-
lations compiled under the direction of Eva
Adams, director of the Mint. By her esti-
mate, operating the new Philadelphia facil-
Mr. PROXMIRE. Mr. President, too
little has been said about why we simply
cannot afford to lose in Vietnam. And
too little has been said about what a
long, tough, grueling, and painful war
this is likely to be before It ends.
This Vietnam war is going to last for
years. It will cost the lives of thousands
of Americans and billions of dollars, and
that cannot be said often enough. The
sooner the American people fully recog-
nize the painful cost of this war, and the
sooner the North Vietnamese know that
they recognize it, and the necessity for
this heavy sacrifice the more likely it will
be that North Vietnam will agree to con-
sider the beginning of negotiation.
It is also necessary that the American
people realize that we are not going to
win any smashing American victory. In-
deed the majority leader spoke wisely
yesterday in insisting that the admin-
istration is not seeking any total military
victory or unconditional surrender.
At best, we will win an opportunity
for the South Vietnamese to determine
what kind of government they want,
without alinement with this country,
without an American base in Vietnam,
and without any assurance that South
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD -SENATE
Vietnam will not choose communism if
they desire it.
Why, in view of the heavy sacrifice we
will have to make and the apparently
feeble benefit to this country, must we
continue?
The answer, Mr. President, was bril-
liantly expressed in last night's Wash-
ington Star by Howard K. Smith.
Mr. Smith argues that America must
not lose this war for two reasons:
First. If we should lose or withdraw,
wars of liberation would become a cer-
tainty throughout the world, not only in
Asia, but also in Africa and South Amer-
ica. The collapse of American power at
the hands of a guerrilla band, supplied
primarily by a relatively primitive coun-
try of 16 million people, would signal it
feeble and l}elpless United States.
Second. The result of such a fiasco
would be-as Mr. Smith points out-a
super response to the next serious en-
gagement, with a million American
troops and an all-out reduce-the-enemy-
to-the-stone-ages type bombing.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous con-
sent that the article by Mr. Smith be
printed at this point in the REcorD.
There being no objection, the article
was ordered to be printed in the RECORD,
as follows:
PRICE OF U.S. DEFEAT 3W VIET NAZI TOO COSTLY
(By Howard K. Smith)
We shall win the war in Viet Nam-that is,
attain our oftstated objectives. We shall do
so for the simple reason that there is no
alternative.
If we should lose and withdraw, or nego-
tiate an empty agreement, every little band
of politicians unable to win by consent in
Latin America would acquire itself a Cuban
adviser and have a go at a "War of Libera-
tion." In half the countries of the world,
the topical amusement would be going
downtown to wreck the American embassy.
That nearly happened in the period before
we began seriously resisting in Viet Nam.
After we began resisting, Ben Bella, Nkru-
mah and Sukarno lost power in succession
and our embassies became their prosaic
selves once again.
Nothing as epic as a decline or collapse of
American power in the world would result
frdm failure in Viet Nam. Instead, in the
next serious engagement--say. in Thailand-
an overwrought American opinion would in-
slat on victory at any price. We would put
not 300,000 but 3 million troops into combat.
Gen. Westmoreland's promising career would
end with a desk in the Pentagon, and the
most uncompromising hawk would be called
In to "bomb them back into the atone Age."
Our politics would once again be poisoned as
at the time of McCarthy.
These things simply cannot be allowed to
happen. So we shall have to straighten out
the real facts about guerrilla war and win,
Guerrilla wars are won by one thing, and
that is attrition. Two tough entities grate
against one another until the tougher rubs
the other to pieces.
The idea that the side closest to the com-
mon people wins is a romantic notion. in
fact, the side that wins is almost always the
side that gets the most abundant help from
a nearby foreign power. In the Napoleonic
wars, only a British invasion enabled the
Spanish guerrillas to be successful. In
World War II, no guerrilla movement had
much chance until abundant Allied aid and
an Allied invasion of Europe became real
prospects. After that war, the Greek Com-
muntst guerrillas flowered while Tito pro-
vided a flood of support and a ready refuge.
But when he shut the border, they withered.
Ho Chi Minh would never have won in
North Viet Nam had not China. gone Com-
munist next to him. He could not fight now
but for a flood of help from outside: all his
oil, all his trucks, all his aircraft and anti-
aircraft defense, and almost all his arms and
ammunition come from other Communist
nations. Though the fighting in South Viet
Nam is not a simple invasion from the North,
it could not last 12 months on a serious scale
if North Viet Nam stopped sending men and
material.
Well, the foreign country with power to
make up for lack of proximity is the U.S.
With our impressive native talent for im-
provisation-trying and failing until even-
tually we find the right way-we are making
that power increasingly effective.
But it will take time and patience, which
are not usually American virtues. We are
adjusted to short-term results, to annual
sessions of Congress, annual budgets and
annual company reports. For this effort we
have to adjust to the long, long haul.
We must learn to shrug off setbacks and
disappointments, and even occasional dis-
asters. The Communists have a 20-year head
start in singing their "infracture" Into South
Viet Nam, and we have only been seriously
learning to root It out for about a year.
We shall have to keep in mind that our
saturation reporting of our own problems,
compared with a near blackout on informa-
tion from the enemy, creates the false im-
pression that only we have problems. in
fact, what evidence there is suggests that the
Communists' problems are much worse and
are growing more so each month.
We need to keep clear the fact that this
is really a job of nation-building disguised as
a weir. Despite the subtlety and difficulty of
the mission the prospects are good. The peo-
ple with whom we work are clever. Their
country is rich and can grow anything in
abundance. Both the Buddhist demonstra-
tions of last summer, and the firmness with
which order was restored, are tokens of a
crystallizing nation.
The raw materials are right and so are
we. We could possibly talk ourselves into
defeat, and a fraction of our intellectuals are
giving it a hard try. But probably they shall
not succeed. The easiest path is success, and
in our usual halting way, we are moving
along that path.
EIGHT PERCENT RISE IN MORT-
GAGE INTEREST RATES DRIVES
HOUSING COSTS UP SHARPLY IN
PAST 6 MONTHS
Mr. PROXMIRE, Mr. President, too
little attention has been paid to the full
August 30, 1966
consequences of restrictive monetary pol-
icy and high interest rates on the cost
of living.
The classical argument is that tight
credit and high interest rates will dis-
courage prospective home buyers, busi-
nessmen planning expansion, auto buy-
ers, and others who want to spend
money, from borrowing to spend. The
tight credit is supposed to cut down on
spending. And, of course, to some extent
it does. It has, in fact, sharply depressed
the homebuilding industry. It has
probably discouraged some small busi-
nessmen from borrowing to meet big bus-
iness competition, and it has persuaded
municipalities contemplating school
building, for example, to postpone their
plans.
In this sense, tight money may have
contributed to reducing demand and
kept this kind of pressure off prices. On
the other hand, it has contributed direct-
ly to a high cost of living.
I have just received from the Bureau
of Labor Statistics an analysis which,
for the first time, to my knowledge, sep-
arates out the rise in interest rates in
determining the big cost of housing ele-
ment, in the cost of living.
Since the big cost of living rise began
last February 1 until the latest available
report on the cost of living-for last
month-housing costs rose by 1.9 per-
cent-2.1 points. During this same
period, however, mortgage interest rates
by themselves rose a whopping 8 percent.
The Bureau of Labor statisticians tell
me that their analysis shows that if' one
takes the soaring 8-percent rise of mort-
gage interest rates out of the increase
in housing, one subtracts more than one-
third of the full housing rise. In fact, of
the 1.9-percent rise, 0.7 percent was the
result of higher mortgage interest rates.
Without the rise in interest rates, the
rise in housing costs would have been
not 1.9 percent but 1.2 percent.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous con-
sent that a table showing the rise in the
cost of living since January by percent-
age be printed in the RECORD at this
point.
There being no objection, the table was
ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as
follows:
Percent
change
All items------------------------------------------------
111.0
113.3
+2.3
2.1
Food---. ------------------------------------------------
111.4
114.3
+2.9
2.6
Housing 1------------------------------------------------
109.2
111.3
+2.1
1.9
Apparel_ ' -------------------------
107.3
109.2
+1.9
1.8
Transportation - -
111.2
113.5
F2.3
2.1
Ilealth and recreation-----------------------------------
116.9
119.1
2.2
1.9
Medical -------------------------------------------------
(124.2)
(127.7)
(+3.5)
All items, less food ______________________________.________
111.1
113.2
+2.1
1.9
All commodities________________________________.._______
107.4
109.3
+1.9
1.8
All services ----------------------------------------------
119.5
122.6
+3.1
2.6
Home ownership--------------------------------
113.1
116.2
+3.1
2.7
1 See the following table: Percent
Mortgage interest rate index itself up------- _-------------------------------------------------------------- as
Of the housing component ------------------------------------------------------------------- -- 1.9
Mortgage interest rise accounts for--------- ???-_---_-_-?__---??___________________________----------
_ _7
Without rise housing would have increased ------------------------------------------------------------ 1.2
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Approved For Release 2005/06/29 : CIA-RDP67B00446R000400100002-5
 20410
Approved Fef)U1 SfWH/ &1 P?f #,46R0004001 5 30, 1966
Public Law 89-258: Expansion of loan abroad in such cases as umim a uovar.