DAVID LAWRENCE, WIDELY RESPECTED COLUMNISH, SPEAKS HIS MIND ON RETIRED OFFICERS AND CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00965R000400280005-2
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 27, 2003
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: April 4, 1960
• Content Type: OPEN

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A2951
A Liberal Party split gave the 1946 elec-
tion to the Conservatives. Many Liberals
urged Lleras to declare a state of siege,
nullify the elections, and stay In office.
"No," said Lleras. "Colombia is a consti-
tutional democracy. In a democracy, the
in-:n who gets the most votes gets the job."
He went happily back to newspapering,
this time by starting a lively new weekly
news magazine called Semana.
This happy period lasted less than a year.
Then Lleras was drafted as Director Gen-
eral of the Pan American Union. He ap-
preciated the honor, his telegram of ac-
ceptance noted, "* * * but I will not ven-
ture to comment on the judgment of those
who have chosen me."
Their judgment was all right. At the
Inter-American Conference in Bogota in
1948 the Organization of American States
evolved from the Pan American Union, which
remained its permanent secretariat, with the
OAS having all the increased powers pro-
posed by Lleras. Perhaps the most impor-
tant of these is the authority to arbitrate
international clashes within the Western
Hemisphere. This has been so effective that
several instances of what started out to be
wars were held down to-border skirmishes.
In each case the OAS went on to probe
Into the matter and to say publicly who
started the trouble. Because of this one
Lleras innovation, war between American
nations may well have become a thing of
the past.
Lleras is one of the few men I have ever
net who seem 'to be without personal am-
bition. Unlike most men who have known
real poverty, he appears to have no interest
in money. In 1954, after 7 years of direct-
Ing the OAS, he left the $20,000-per-year,
tax-free job (which also included a free
hokse, automobile, and chauffeur) to become
the unsalaried president of the then new
and unendowed University of the Andes in
Bogota. His only income was the small
pension drawn by every ex-President.
The university was an unlikely experi-
ment in higher education, completely free
of Government influence or support. It had
too few teachers, too little money, and in-
adequate equipment and buildings to han-
dle the students clamoring for admittance.
Its symbol of a goat teetering precariously
on an Andean peak was appropriate geo-
graphically, financially, and academically.
Its only certainty was hungry but resolute
independence, and this attracted Lleras.
Conscious of his academic shortcomings,
the new president devoted himself to rais-
ing money. He got grants and outright gifts
(one man sent $106,000). He wheedled
equipment, buildings, and even building ma-
terials. But most Important for Colombia,
the new post brought Lleras back to his
homeland.
Meanwhile, Colombia had become sub-
merged in an orgy of political violence.
Liberals and Conservatives traditionally
hated each other so single-mindedly that
no Colombian third party has ever attracted
more than a handful of voters. Political
reprisals that began soon after the 1948
Conservative victory exploded into wide-
spread guerilla warfare after the 1948 assas-
sination of Liberal Jorge Eliecer Gaitan in
Bogota. Until the end of his term in 1950,
President Mariano Ospina Perez ruled by
martial law. Leonine, Liberal-hating old
Laureano G6mez won a one-candidate Presi-
dential election and intensified the persecu=
tions. Political killings degenerated into
banditry, with rape, murder, and mutilation
at the fearful mortality rate 6f 20,000
Colombians per year.
After 3 chaotic years, G6mez was over-
thrown by General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla,
who promptly set up shop as a worse-and
more stupid-dictator. Families were dis-
possessed of their land, and those who were
not slaughtered fled to the cities-where free of tacks and broken glass, drove to the
there was no work for them. These quickly palace, where they walked sedately through
overwhelmed the social welfare agencies and the ranks of armed guards to confer with the
lived, perforce, on the streets. Children be- military junta.
came separated from their parents and lived Lleras, as always, knew just what he
in packs, begging and thieving. In Tolima, wanted-an end to armed oppression; a pleb-
where statewide violence was worse, an esti- iscite to ask the nation's permission for his
mated 320,000 persons, 42 percent of the proposed change in government; elections
state population, were forced from their. and return to constitutional government.
land. The junta, sick of bloodshed and chaos,
Agricultural production dropped sharply. agreed.
Commerce went down in proportion. Peo- The plebiscite, held December 1, 1957, pro-
ple quit building homes and factories. The duced the biggest vote in Colombian his-
peso, at 1.75 to the U.S. dollar in 1946 when tory-4,250,000 voted "aye" for the change,
Lleras left the government, skidded to 8.10 to only 250,000 against.
the dollar under Rojas. Each year's na- .Lleras had no wish to be President, but
tional budget carried less for education, the Conservatives could not agree on a can-
more for the armed forces. didate. Also, Laureano G6mez, back from
This was the demoralized and outraged Spain, Insisted that his ex-enemy was the
nation for which Alberto Lleras was trying only man for the job. Reluctantly Lleras
to build a nonpolitical university. But gov- agreed to run. Elections were scheduled, but
ernment brutalities continued to increase. the danger was not over. Some of the dis-
Armed police fired on demonstrating uni- gruntled military officers had secretly
versity students. Only a few months later planned a counterrevolution to return Rojas
they attacked with guns and clubs thou- to power.
sands of defenseless bogotanos attending a At 4 a.m., 2 days before the election, Lleras
Sunday afternoon bullfight. The' crowd's was awakened quietly by his night watch-
sin was booing the dictator's daughter, man. "Military police are everywhere,"
"Afterward bodies were stacked like cord- whispered the terrified man. Reconnoiter-
wood in the arena," a witness told me. ing from the windows, Lleras saw more than
Lleras could remain on the sidelines no long- 50 military police surrounding the block.
er. He attacked the dictatorship in a pub- The telephone rang.
lie speech in the capital city. On February "There's been a revolution," said an urgent
24, 1956, he resigned from the university. voice. "They've captured all the junta ex-
Working with the Conervative firebrand cept Admiral Piedrahita. They're coming to
Guillermo Le6n Valencia, Lleras spent near- get you."
ly 2 years organizing the resistance on a "I believe you," Lleras replied. Calmly he
nationwide basis. Meanwhle, eluding police bathed, shaved, and dressed with his usual
and narrowly escaping assassination, he and meticulous care. As he adjusted his neck-
his colleagues worked out a unique system tie the front door shook under a heavy knock,
of government. This called for automatic 4- Lleras opened the door.
year alternation of the Liberals and Con- "Good morning, gentlemen," he said fol'-
servatives in the presidency. Moreover, all' mally to the two armed lieutenants blocking
government jobs, from cabinet ministers to the entrance. "Shall we go?"
janitors, and including representatives and He was taken under guard to join the four
senators, were to be split 50-50 between the captive members of the junta. Word of the
two parties. coup flashed through Bogota. Loyal army
Laureano G6mez, discredited and In exile units had gone on the alert. As the jeep
in Spain, still retained the fanatic loyalty sped past the presidential palace a loyal army
of many Conservatives. Lleras decided that officer stopped it.
his support was necessary to peace in Co- "Which one do you have there?"
lombia. He made two trips to Spain to "Lleras," replied the driver. "We're taking
talk to G6mez. Finally the old warrior urged him to the prison."
all Colombian Conservatives to unite with The army man pretended to be a con-
the Liberals to overthrow Rojas. spirator. "No, no," he said, "Lleras is to be
Now Lleras was ready. On May 6, 1957, he brought here."
passed the word for a meticulously planned The confused military police saw their
general strike in Bogota. The next morning prisoner escorted into the palace. Lleras
it was as if the city had died. No business headed for the radio and told the nation
opened its doors. No buses or streetcars ran, what was going on. Admiral Piedrahita
Radios were silent and no newspapers came eluded his would-be captors and joined him.
from the presses. Bakeries offered no bread For hours they took turns at the micro-
for sale and no one came to buy. Laborers phone, Under the intense public scrutiny re-
stayed in their homes. Even the churches sulting from the Lleras-Piedrahita barrage
were closed. the revolution evaporated. No blood was
The raging dictator sent his tanks and shed, and captive junta members were freed,
armored cars rumbling through'the streets. and Lleras won the election by a landslide.
The armored cars bumped to a stop, tires After his inauguration in August 1958,
shredded by the thousands of carpet tacks one of his first acts was to lift the almost
and broken bottles with which hard-working continuous 10-year state of siege. He kept
children had sown the streets. Thirty thou- emergency controls only in the five states
sand troops patrolled the city, but there was where violence was concentrated. Even
no one to jail, no one to shoot, no meetings there he abolished press censorship, restored
to break up. civilian government and most civil liberties,
The strange paralysis continued for 3 days. The Cabinet meetings of those first
Rojas' anger. turned to fear. At 5 a.m. on months lasted from 12 to 16 hours. "It was
May 10 telephones all over Bogota began to a rare meeting that broke up before dawn,"
ring. one of his Ministers told me.
"The tyrant has fled." The Inaccurate "He never cut a discussion short," said
message flashed through the city. Men, another. This thorough talking-out pro-
women, and children poured into the streets, duced a large percentage of unanimous deci-
shouting, weeping with joy, singing the na sions.
tional anthem. Instead of firing on the The President listened calmly through
celebrants, thousands of the soldiers and the lengthy sessions. When Liberal and
police dropped their guns and joined the Conservative tempers rose he restored peace,
celebration, usually with a gentle witticism. Slumped
At 10 a.m. Rojas did indeed flee, leaving like a teenager in the huge presidential
four generals an admiral In charge of the chair, listening, considering, improvising,
Government. Word soon reached Lleras and Lleras had one rule against which all sugges-
Valencia, who, following the only route left tions were measured: "We have to do' what
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we can with what we have." His mere pres-
ence in the government sent the anemic
peso up 70 points during the first 25 days
of his regime.
The supposed irreducible minimum of
$40 million per month of imports was
slashed to $25 million by forbidding the'
import of luxury and nonessential items.
Desperate Colombians began manufacturing
their own nylons, kitchen utensils, type-
writer ribbons, wool textiles, glassware, cos-
metics, and the like.
Gradually, some of the estimated $350 mil-
lion that prudent Colombians and resident
foreigners had cached in U.S. and Swiss
banks began trickling back-people wanted
to get in on the ground floor of what was to
be the country's biggest building boom.
Rojas had left many half-finished public
works. Now these contracts were dissected
and scaled down to what the country could
afford. Then Lleras ordered the pace of
construction stepped up, so that investments
might begin paying off. He established a
department of rehabilitation and drafted
Jose Gomez Pinzdn, a millionaire construc-
tion contractor, to run it. Gomez Pinzdn
and Lleras worked out a widespread pro-
gram of building simple roads, bridges, small
airports, and telegraph stations in the wild-
est areas. These projects offered employ-
ment to anyone who would work. -
As roads penetrated the wilderness, modest
rural schools-and vocational training centers
were built. Polivalente (multifunctional)
teams of -doctors, nurses, engineers, agron-
omists and social workers went into devas-
tated areas to begin the long job of rehabili-
tation. At first regarded with suspicion, they
refused to talk politics, crime, or punish-
ment, and gradually won the confidence of
the wary hill people.
Homeless thousands in the cities were re-
All-night Cabinet sessions are no more.
Lleras now sees his ministers and other dig-
nitaries during the day. About 5 p.m. he
gets down to - writing his message to con-
gress and his lucid public speeches.
"I worked on morning newspapers too long
to get much dole in the daytime," he
quipped. Often ti.e rattle of his typewriter
echoes in the pal ice until 3 a.m. .
Lleras' appearance in public is greeted by
applause and the spontaneous waving of
handkerchiefs. Tl.e reverent people press
close and he make no effort to keep them at
a distance. He will not have a bodyguard,
and drives his own car except on state oc~
casions.
A few months a?o Lleras showed up sud-
denly on the campus of the University of
the Andes. A g,brdener, recognizing his
former boss, greeted him cordially.
"How are you a Ioing in your new busi-
ness?" he inquired..
"Frankly, Jorge, I'm not doing too well at
it," replied Lleras. "Sometimes I think I
should have stayed here."
He could get an. argument on that point.
Recently a consee vative leader was asked
privately to sugge.:t the best man his party
could name to f( Blow Lleras. After some
thought, he replies, ruefully:
"Alberto Lleras."
and the bureaus in the Pentagon that award
contracts. The House of Representatives
will vote Wednesday on a measure that would
-prohibit any officer for 2 years after his re-
tirement from making any sales contacts
with the Pentagon. - -
House Members generally are agreed that
the practice should be discouraged, but some
of them want merely to limit the penalty
to a loss of the retired pay. Other Members
say that it would mean nothing for a retired
officer to give up 2 years of a pension at
$10,000 a year when he is being paid a salary
of $50,000 or more by a defense contractor
during each of those same 2 years. -
Instead, Representative HEsEaT, Democrat,
of Louisiana, who has been leading- the fight
against the so-called munitions lobby, is
sponsoring an amendment to the pending
turned to lands from which they had fled.
Men came back to work the. coffee planta-
tions, the fields of rice and cane. With
agonizing slowness the curve of production
turned upward. For refugees in the cities
who had no land to go back to, low-cost
housing projects were started. By the end
of 1959 more than a hundred million pesos
had been invested in rehabilitation. More
than 8,000 families had been returned to an
orderly life, and the simple mountain roads
had opened new areas for many thousands
more. This year a colonization program
will begin for those who, for whatever- rea-
son, cannot return to their native regions.
Congress renewed the rehabilitation act for
2 more years. -
Colombia today is well started on the road
back. Thanks to hard work and austerity,
gold reserves have risen from $85 million to
more than $210 million.- The $498 million
commercial debt is down to $60 million, and
payments are made on time. -
The last year Rojas was in office his Edu-
cation Ministry received only 72 million
pesos. For 1960 the congress has earmarked
195 million for education.
Some violence persists, as a hangover from
10 years of indiscriminate slaughter. Most
of this is committed by youngsters in their
late teens and early twenties. Lleras con-
siders these two or three thousand young
savages Colombia's worst problem. "They
graw up knowing nothing but robbery and
murder," he points out. "As the rehabilita-
tion program spreads we shall be able to
salvage some of them."
:Lleras considers Communist agitation a
potential danger. "They concentrate their
efforts among the university students and
the labor unions," he said. "Time will prove
that they do not deliver what they promise,
and improving conditions willgive them less
to talk about. But meantime they try to
convert any incident into a -national dis-
aster."
David Lawrence, Widely Respected Col-
umnist, Speaks His Mind on Retired
Officers and C )nflicts of Interest
EXTENSICN OF REMARKS
OF
HON. F. EDWARD HBBERT
OF LOUISIANA
IN THE HOUSE- OF REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, April 4,1960
Mr. HEBERT. Mr. Speaker, David
Lawrence, the nationally known and
highly respected syndicated columnist,
has written a very knowledgeable and
penetrating piece on the current discus-
sion of retired officers and their relation-
ship to the Defense Department after
they leave the P lntagon. -
His article i,pproaches the subject
from a very analytical and objective
position. -
As with ever'thing he writes, David
Lawrence has attain made a fine contri-
bution to the problem which the House
will have to decide when pending legis-
lation comes .1p for disposition on
Wednesday.
Here is Mr. -Lawrence's article, to
which I fully subscribe:
DEFENSE CONFLICTS OF INTEREST-BILL TO
CURB PENTAGOD SALES CONTRACTS BY RE-
TIRED OFFICERS ?JP FOR HOUSE VOTE
(By ravid Lawrence)
In these days of payola and accusations
of conflict of interest with respect to mem-
bers of Federal commissions or agencies, it
seems strange, th it a big question mark isn't
getting much atiention generally.
This is in the Department of Defense, and
it concerns some of the many generals and
admirals who have retired from the armed
services but who draw big salaries from de-
fense contractors and nevertheless maintain
their own sales c>ntacts at the Pentagon.
A House committee has held hearings and
uncovered an unl.ealthy and questionable re-
lationship betwe en former military officers
bill so that it would be a violation of law,
subject to criminal penalties, if a retired of-
ficer during the 2 years following his retire-
ment engaged in any form of selling at the
Pentagon.
This is in line with other existing law
which forbids any attorney employed in the
Internal Revenue Service from practicing be-
fore the Treasury Department for 2 years
after he has left the Government. There is
a similar statute which forbids attorneys
from pressing monetary claims for - clients
before the Government within -2 years after -
being employed in the Department of Jus-
tice. Many of the military officers, while on ac-1-
tive duty, have a voice in recommending the
appointment of their own successors tit
charge of important defense projects. Nat.L
urally, it is inferred that there might be an
obligation of some kind felt by the in-
cumbent if his predecessor appeared before
him later as a sales representative of a-de-
fense contractor.
Conflicts of interest are difficult - to legis-
late upon, and there is no way to instill
honesty where it is absent, but the Govern-
ment can take some steps to discourage con-
flicts of interest. One method embodied in
the pending bill in the House calls for pub-
licity of the names of all former officers who
are employed by defense contractors. Such -
an enrollment would be posted and distrib-
uted inside the bureaus at the Pentagon and
kept up to date.
There have been provisions from time to
time in appropriation laws, ever since 1896,
aimed at those who retire from the armed
services and take jobs with defense con-
tractors, but these statutes do not remain in
permanent form In the law. The present ef-
fort is to enact a broad statute that will
stay in effect continuously and bar retired
officers from becoming salesmen at the
Pentagon for- at least 2 years after their re-
tirement. -
The House committee, which recently car-
ried on an investigation of the whole subject
for more than 2 months, found that there
are 2,000 former officers now employed by
defense contractors, and that of this num-
ber 260 are engaged in some form of selling at
the Pentagon. -
There is no objection, of course, to the
employment of former officers by defense
contractors. The knowledge these service-
men have is valuable and can be of great
help in developing the proper weapons and
improving the Nation's armament. But
there is a difference between duties that are
confined to consultations held inside the de- -
fense contractor's own offices where-advice is
given to associates, and a direct contact by
such a retired officer on visits tothe Penta-
gon.
There are other evils which have not yet
been remedied but are under study by House
Members. These concern the activities of
civilians who resign from active posts in the
Department of Defense and immediately be-
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come highly placed executives in companies
that are engaged in many billions of dollars
of defense work. No bills have as yet been
pressed on this issue, but steps to deal with
it are in the making.
There are upward of $50 billion of defense
contracts each year, and the existence of a
"munitions lobby" has been mentioned by
President Eisenhower himself at one of his
press conferences. Much of the missile gap
propaganda is believed to have had its origin
among officers of defense contractor com-
,panies. - - -
It would be a tragic thing if Nikita Khru-
shchev were able to get any support for his
constant cry that disarmament is being
blocked in America and armament is being
increased largely as a result of a "munitions
lobby," It is essential for the sound develop-
ment of an effective defense program that
America be rid of any practice that could
cast doubt on the integrity of the Depart-
ment of Defense and thus weaken the con-
fidence of the Ame;ican people in the judg-
ment of the men who disburse the public
funds for the armed services.
Storing Insanity
EXTENSION OF REMARKS
OF
HON. EDGAR W. HIESTAND
OF CALIFORNIA - ,
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Tuesday, March 8, 1960
Mr. HIESTAND. Mr. Speaker, there
is an increasing concern among those of
us representing predominantly urban
districts that the farm programs are
claiming far too big a share of the city
dweller's pocketbook.
But one of the most depressing aspects
of the whole cumbersome, outmoded but
burdensome business of farm subsidies
is that even the long-time advocates of
price fixing and production control pro-
grams admit the framer is not benefit-
ing very much.
This is pointed up by an editorial ap-
pearing in the Wall Street Journal. The
editorial, very appropriately entitled
"Storing Insanity," points up the break-
down of storage costs per day for the
various commodities supported by the
Federal Government. - Farmers get lit-
tle if anything of these dollars.
I am more than ever convinced that
worn-out political answers to the eco-
nomic problems facing agriculture must
be replaced by a sound program that in-
creasingly gets the Government out of
the farm business and gets it off the
backs of farmers and consumers alike.
I include the editorial as a part of my
remarks in the RECORD:
[From the Wall Street Journal]
STORING INSANITY
Would you care to know how much it
costs the taxpayers every day for storage of
commodities Uncle Sam has on hand be-
cause of the farm program's high price sup-
ports?
Let's ease into this with two low ones:
honey and tobacco. Uncle Sam pays out
only $131 a day for honey and only $238 a
day for tobacco, which, if it indicates any-
thing at all, suggests that people smoke
nearly all the tobacco that's grown here and
that the bees aren't nearlyas busy as the
peanut farmers.
The peanut storage costs come to $6,000
a day; flaxseed and rye costs come to $7,000
each a day. Oats cost the taxpayer $15,000
a day for storage; rice, $17,000 a day; soy-
beans, $23,000; milk and butter fact, $29,000;
barley, $64,000 a day and cotton $76,000 a
day.
But even - these are peanuts compared to
the big boys. Have a good look:
Grain sorghums cost $262,000 a day for
storage.
Corn costs $444,000 a day for storage.
And wheat costs $579,000 a day for storage.
That's every day. None of these costs
include what was paid by the taxpayers,
through their agent, Uncle Sam, for the
stuff. It's just storage costs.
Total cost of storage for all these - com-
modities conies to $1,547,000 a day or better
than $550 million a year-and that, in any-
body's book, is a lot to pay for storing up
our harvests of insanity.
Can United States Buy Respect?
EXTENSION OF REMARKS
OF
HON. H. R. GROSS
OF IOWA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, April 4, 1960
Mr. GROSS. Mr. Speaker, another of
the Nation's leading businessmen, Mr.
Sterling Morton, chairman of the board,
Morton Salt Co., warns that many of
our foreign policies are leading us into
trouble.
The following are Mr. Morton's views
on this subject as presented to the di-
rectors - of the Illinois Manufacturers'
Association:
A QUICK Loom AROUND
(By Sterling Morton) -
This short talk will cover merely the high-
lights of certain important matters as they
appear to an ordinary citizen-but one who
has been around a long time and who has
done much traveling abroad. So, hold your
hats for a roller-skate trip to a few European
countries-then we'll settle down for some
comments on home affairs.
WEST GERMANY MAKING REAL PROGRESS
We shall look first at Germany, that mira-
cle of recovery from a terrific punishment.
But, like genius, this miracle is based mainly
on hard work. The Germans have always
been hard workers. Immediately after the
war they seemed almost frenzied in their
efforts to regain their premier position In
Europe. In my opinion, they have attained
it, financially and industrially, but that ex-
cellent habit of hard work persists. German
factories, modern, efficient, well managed,
are capable of competing with the very best
we have. Their export figures are eloquent.
Perhaps they now realize that their chal-
lenge to the world must be on the battle-
fields of peaceful trade, not -those of war.
They are a determined as well as an indus-
trious people, so we should be well content
to have some German divisions and some
Luftwaffe planes taking their places in the
defense pattern for Europe. Germans are
intelligent and resourceful fighters. The
West Germans know communism all too
well; are divided by it from their eastern
provinces, so are, undoubtedly, less tainted
than any major Western nation, including
our own. Probably less than 5 percent are
possible Communists. I'm glad the Ger-
mans are now on our side.
FRANCE AT CRITICAL STAGE
France: Now under the benevolent dicta-
torship of a great, if difficult, man-a French-
man to the core, a statesman who has abated
the hatred, hundreds of years old, between
France and Germany. Perhaps his dreams of
"glory" are unrealistic, but they appeal to
the French temperament and give the people
a rallying point. France is a great country, a
rich country, the most nearly self-sufficient
in all Europe-and growing more so. For
over 20 years it has suffered under Gov-
ernments which had no respect, no leader-
ship, no confidence. Now, De Gaulle gives
the French all three. He is the most realistic
of all Western heads of state in dealing with
the Moscow gangsters. Granted _a solution to
the Algerian question, the country should
continue prosperous-if it can stop that can-
cer of "social benefits" which is also draining
its lifeblood and, parenthetically, erodes the
economies of most Western nations. The
Communists, an official political party, have,
roughly, a third of the votes. I should esti-
mate that at least another quarter or third of
the population is so infiltrated with extreme
socialism that it could easily cross the faint
line between these two "isms" to cooperate
with a Communist takeover. France is at a
critical stage. We should, most fervently,
hope for the "big fellow's" continued good
health.
Let us deal with France on the basis of mu-
tual benefits and mutual obligations., forget-
ting sentimentalism. Lafayette has, long
since, been paid off=with compound interest.
ITALY AND COMMUNISM
Italy is hard to appraise, as conditions dif-
fer so from north to south with Sicily as a
third factor. There is prosperity in the
north and things are better than they were in
Sicily and the south. Italy is full of Com-
munists, but, perhaps, not too many are of
the Moscow type. True, those of the north
are "factory proletarians." But, southern
Communists are, I feel, mostly poor devils try-
ing desperately to wrest a living from a semi-
barren country. They would welcome any
change, feeling it could hardly be for the
worse. The Italian "right wing" parties hold
power only through uneasy coalitions. But,
so far, so good. At an estimate, perhaps over
60 percent of the Italians could be expected
to go along with a Communist regime; that
is, until they find out what it really means-
then, it's too late to change.
- BRITAIN HAS FIRM POLICIES -
And now to the United Kingdom, consid-
ered our firmest ally. I wonder. We speak
the same language (within limits), we share
a common heritage of freedom, literature,
and law, but we look at many things quite
differently. They are a small island; depend-
ent on trade for the very food they eat,
we have vast food surpluses. They are old as
nations go, we are approaching middle age.
Their population is extremely homogeneous,
ours perhaps the most heterogeneous in his-
tory. No British political party has to "bal-
ance" its local tickets with names denoting
various racial stocks. There are no "hyphen-
ated Englishmen." The royal house provides
a banner around which they rally, we lack
such a "standard." As peoples, we are quite
different one from the other as well as quite
similar. All in all, I feel we should make a
mistake to count on their complete support
in every emergency. Korea was a case in
point for us--Suez a great shock to them.
It is axiomatic that, Britain has no perma-
nent allies and no permanent enemies. Brit-
ain has firm policies and tailors its alliances
and its wars to further these policies. Right
now, there are strong efforts to carry to suc-
cess one old and steadfast policy-to again
be the "third force" in Europe. A cynic once
said, "The strongest continental power is
always Britain's enemy, the second strongest
is always Britain's friend."
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So, it is not surprising to see Britain flirt-
Ing with the Soviets, not only for the fan-
cied, glittering opportunities for trade, not
only as a check on us, but to insure her own
survival should war between the two giants
come. Remember, our bombers cannot take
off from our bases there unless cleared by
the Prime Minister.
Churchill has lived to see most of that
"liquidation of the Empire" he decried so elo-
quently. Kipling was a true prophet when
he wrote:
"Lo! All our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!"
But, the British are smart, able, and expe-
rienced, so we can learnmuch from them-
about a Socialist government, for instance.
And about shipping "and banking, about di-
plomacy, intelligence, and education, and,
above all, about high standards of public
service. While we hope they will always
be on our side, we should never be too sure.
They will be with us when it is to their
advantage-period.
And this observation on self-interest ap-
plies to all countries. It would be, indeed,
most dangerous to assume that any other
nation would come to our defense. NATO is
today giving way to nationalism. We must
be prepared to defend ourselves and, if nec-
essary, by ourselves. It is sheer folly to ex-
pect to bribe alien. governments to help us or
to hire alien soldiers to defend us. Have
we forgotten those Hessians?
CAN UNITED STATES BUY RESPECT AND
FRIENDSHIP?
Now, for a look at our own country. The
world, in general, seems to hold us in less and
less respect. This is distressing but quite true.
And perhaps with just cause. Respect comes
to those who deserve it. Have we deserved
it? Our airplanes are shot down, our 'sol-
diers are imprisoned, our citizens are killed
and their property confiscated, while our Vice
President is insulted and spat upon. Yet,
we confine ourselves to mild "diplomatic
representations." A bearded Communist
murders and, pillages a hundred miles from
our coast. We gave him support which we
denied to his predecessor, who, whatever his
faults, was on our side. How can such ac-
tions create respect for a nation? Some of
us still remember Teddy Roosevelt and hang
our heads in shame when we contrast his
militant protection of our rights with the
shilly-shallying doubletalk of today. Pan-
ama threatens the canal, our lifeline, even
after successive generations of Panamanian
politicians have extorted millions from us.
Weshould say, in unmistakable language
(and with a few marines), that the canal is
ours, that we intend to keep it and that any
who challenge, our rights there are likely to
get hurt. From time immemorial, men have
been willing to go into battle for their coun-
try's good, yet our President says that literally
nothing (except direct, armed attack) now
would take us to war, big or small. No won-
der that other nations take us at our word
and feel safe in harassing- us-that dime-
a-dozen despots dictate to-us. We try to buy
respect and friendship. But we get neither-
nor will we unless and -until we take firm
stands-yes, even risk war or wage war.
Greece, Turkey, Quemoy-all proved that a
firm stand brings results. War may be "un-
thinkable. " but a United States of America
on its knees is "inconceivable."
SOVIET PROPAGANDA AND PROGRESS
The visit of the head gangster gave him
an outstanding propaganda triumph which,
undoubtedly, strengthened him- at home and
brought dismay to freedom-fighters every-
where. But, he's a smart fellow, and it
stands to reason that he learned a lot. The
cool treatment at the start, climaxed by the
wonderful going-over he got from the mayor
of Los Angeles, made him show his true
J&BW 91_0(R$$5FRM0280005-2
colors to millions of our people. The warm-
ing up afterward could not erase that pic-
ture of a cruel, II tolerant despot. I am sure
his sharp, little pig-eyes saw much to give
him sober thought. The trip won't make
him a good India.. r, but it should make him a
more cautious ore.
On the other hand, let's not fool ourselves
over the extent to which communism and
socialism have pc netrated this country. Am
I wrong in my es,imate that a quarter of our
people- would welcome one or the other?
There must ha,, a been large numbers of
spectators who w shed to cheer Khrushchev-
but felt it healthier not to. Even though
the voices of mo;.t who actively fought com-
munism here have been muffled, if not stilled,
by official action, the reaction of the (literal)
"man in the str let" might have been very
violent.
It is hard to understand the reports on
Russia we get from our own returning travel-
ers, except on .,he premise that they' are
usually uninformed as to the state and rate
of industrial de'?elopment at home. When
they praise the gs eat progress of recent years,
many do not realize that in czarist days Rus-
sia had excellent engineers and technical
people as well at; many skilled workers and
artisans. There were many, many Russians
who were neither exploiting nobles nor ox-
like peasants. The Bolsheviks killed off most
of - these, so they had to grow an entirely
new crop of gooe! brains. Now, that crop is
ripening and, I surmise, giving the bosses In
the Kremlin plenty to worry about.
UNITED STATH" 'TERSUS SOVIET EDUCATIONAL
SYSTEM
We have heart much recently about Rus-
sian education. Many say it gets better
results than out system. If so, the reason
lies in three -words-hard study-discipline.
Our educators ei periment, desperately seek-
ing some system which will educate our
youth by a sort of osmosis, letting them soak
up learning without study or application.
Life adjustment looms larger than arithme-
tic, social graces are more to be desired than
ability to read r.;adlly, and athletic prowess
seems worth more than ability to construct a
simple sentence. Our professors come back
starry-eyed from junkets (usually at the tax-
payer's expense) to the Soviet Union and
bubble over wit .1 enthusiastic envy at the
high status of ;ducators there. But, how
many of them would accept the iron dis-
cipline, the absolute conformity, the com-
plete lack of aca iemic freedom which is the
other side of the coin? Would they enforce
those long hours on students, would they
flunk a student lhowing it meant immediate
transfer to the labor or Armed Forces and an
inferior status fo, life, would they spy on and
denounce their colleagues, sending them,
possibly, to the urecution cellars? Let's get
a little commonsense into these discussions
of education in ISUssia. Our educators can't
have their cake Rnd eat it too.
UNITED STACES CAN WIDEN GAP-IF
No well-informed person can believe that
the Russians will soon catch up with us
economically. la many departments, they
will have to increase their pace even to keep
the present gal from widening. We can
leave them farther and farther behind if we
have the will, c.etermination and strength
of character. To continue to progress, we
must change of r taxation so it does not
stifle initiative, I nust bring the labor barons
under control before they destroy the real
gains labor has made. We must recreate the
spirit of loyalty :end careful workmanship at
all levels-blue =,ollar-white collar. . Above
all, we must quite soberly decide whether ex-
pense-account-paid conferences at fine re-
sorts (in reality golf outings), cocktail par-
ties, customer er tertainment, and, above all,
complacency-breading pension plans are
slowing down ol.r business leadership. The
Aprr4
ship of business has picked up a lot of bar-
nacles, too. We can keep well ahead, but -
only by 'real work, not talk. We must have
decent, honest, economical -government at
all levels. Now, the waste is appalling.
Above all, we must rekindle our traditional
dedication to equal opportunity, to free,
competitive enterprise and to a patriotism
which is as critical of our country's faults
as it is proudof its greatness.
Yet, there are those in our country who
are so muddle minded that they see only
our faults, only our weaknesses. They skim
over the-real-facts of our national life-the
world's highest standard of living, the world's
most tolerant and liberal legislatures and
courts, they forget that emigration to the
United States is still the heart's desire of
millions. How many wish to move to a Com-
munist state? -
IS LESS GOVERNMENT AND MORE FREEDOM OUR
ANSWER?
What, of late, has brought about the de-
plorable letdown In our national spirit-yes,
even in that primary urge for self-preserva-
tion which is the first law of nations as well
as of individuals?
What has come over this -great country
that we should be so terrified by our enemy?
Should the odds be against us, which any
reasonable person must doubt, they are
small, indeed, compared to the odds'against
the Colonies in 1775 or the infant Republic
in 1812. Have we gone soft that we should
constantly retreat before a foreign enemy,
that we should accept shameful compro-
mises such as that in Korea, that we should
appeasesa bloodstained murderer and treat
him as an honored guest-even while he re-
fuses to deliver up or account for our miss-
ing flyers?
Why are we so frantically seeking high-
level meetings with the Soviet? Agreements
resulting from such meetings in the past
have been broken contemptuously by the
Soviets in practically every instance. Why
even talk with such untrustworthy scum?
Do our representatives feel we are inferior to
our enemy? We most decidedly are not.
Yet, our enemy- does lack our hesitations,
our confusions, our temporizings, our will-
ingness to concede. We seem to have lost
the drive which inspired our forefathers and
built our Nation. Are we drifting, prema-
turely and leaderless, into that lethargy of
age which foretells the doom of a Nation?
Has not our Government already too much
power-the kind of power which Jefferson
feared, the power which throttles a country,
the power to "lay taxes which eat out our
substance." If so, should not all of us strive
for less government and more freedom-ex-
cept for Communists.
Health Insurance for the Aged
EXTENSION OF REMARKS
OF
HON. BYRON L. JOHNSON
OF COLORADO
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
. Thursday, March 17, 1960
Mr. JOHNSON of Colorado. Mr.
Speaker, health insurance is especially
important in meeting the high cost of
medical care for older persons living on
restricted and limited incomes. The -
future possibilities are discussed by
James R. Williams, vice president of the
Health Insurance Institute.
This is the fifth in a series of columns
written for Ray Henry which appeared
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