THE GREAT WHITE FLEET - A STEP FORWARD TOWARD WORLD PEACE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP61-00357R000100220016-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 20, 2013
• Sequence Number: 16
• Publication Date: June 28, 1960
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/08/20: CIA-RDP61-00357R000100220016-0
1960 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD ? APPENDIX
tablishing justice and freedom. It is not too
much to say that, while freedom from inva-
sion could be established by repelling in-
vaders, freedom and justice for the individ-
ual could not possibly be secured withOut
the enactment of law defining individual
rights and obligations. Since the time of
Hammurabi and since the bringing of the
Ten Commandments down from Mount Si-
nai, civilization has realized that there must
be law in order to protect the rights of in-
dividuals, the family, and the community.
Certain basic principles have developed. One
of them is that we shall secure justice more
completely under a rule of law than under
a rule of men. Another is that individuals
shall be equal before the law. Most import-
ant of all, the law in its gradual develop-
ment has always expressed an ethical pur-
pose.
All of this has been a slow growth through
the centuries but, as historians counted the
gain, they rightly felt that tremendous ad-
vances had been made. And then, all at
once, freedom and justice were destroyed be-
fore our eyes, first by Hitler and the Nazis
and then by communism. We saw the hor-
rors not only of war, but also of the gas
chambers, of slaughter of groups like the
Polish officers at Katyn. Not only has life
been ruthlessly destroyed but human rights
have been utterly disregarded through the
concentration camp and the hideous system
of forced labor. Countless millions through-
out the world live in terror because of
"thought control" imposed by despotic gov-
ernments. The little Chinese tailor who cas-
ually rembzked that "the cloth was not so
good as formerly" is subject to a charge of
wrong thinking, of being deviationist and
antirevolutionary. And this is a charge car-
rying a sentence of forced labor or even
death. We know now the cruelties of the
denunciation process in which men and wo-
men supplied with printed forms for the
purpose are urged, under heavy penalty of
refusal, to accuse their friends, their neigh-
bors, their fathers, their mothers, their wives,
their husbands, their children. Through
vast areas of the world freedom and justice
have been destroyed, and why? Because
Stalin spoke, the Polabor? spoke, and
Mao Tse-tung speaks, and that is the law.
Today in vast and powerful countries we
have the rule of men, not of law, and so in
these countries freedom and justice are
abolished.
In Soviet Russia, Vyshinsky and Undrev-
ich, in their book on Soviet law attack the
idea of penologists who "hold the view that
the purpose of a court is to apply the law
and to apply it uniformly to all classes of
society." They thus ring the death knell
for equality before the law. To hold such
a view, according to Vyshinsky, is to "ignore
the task of stamping out our class enemies"
and "to emasculate the class content of
judicial practice." As Vyshinsky states:
"The law of the Soviet regime is a political
directive and a judge's work is not to apply
the law according to the requirements of
burgeois legal logic, but to execute the law
unwaveringly as an expression of the policy
of the party and the government." In a
later passage it is explained that "the Soviet
State openly repudiates the 'political inde-
pendence of judges * * *. We openly re-
quire our judges to carry out the policy of
the proletarian dictatorship ? ? s." Thus
openly is abandoned the principle of justice
applicable to all persons, even against the
state itself. Written constitutions purport
to establish freedom of speech, of public
meeting, of the press, of association, etc.:
but the laws as interpreted set aside these
constitutional declarations. This is in ac-
cord with Soviet law, for, as declared by the
Law Institute of the Academy of Science in
Moscow, a party directive has the force of
law. This explains why in Russia, the gov-
ernment is so willing to ratify treaties. It is
bound only by the directive of the party. If
the directive conflicts with the constitution,
or with the treaty, or with any express law,
the directive of the party controls.
I am aware that in certain directions Rus-
sia has relaxed the rule of terror and the
abuses of the secret police. But eminent po-
litical scientists recognize that this rule
as to judges still is in force.
In these days then, when we see the ethical
basis of law attacked, when we see govern-
ment of men, not of laws, government which
openly repudiates the equality of men before
the law, their right to personal freedom,
their right to work at whatever calling they
choose, when, in a word, the principles of
justice are discarded in powerful countries,
*e as lawyers, face a specific challenge. It
is not enough for us to enjoy employment
in a luctrative, learned, and honorable pro-
fession. It is not enough to practice law
ethically. We have to help teach the coming
race the ethical basis of law. We have to
fight as lawyers against the movement to
abolish the conception of right and justice
which lie at the basis of civilization.
The Constitution of the United States, a
landmark in organized law, was not only
written by lawyers but its purpose and mean-
ing were explained by lawyers. Never before
in history had such a pamphlet been issued
to the world as the Federalist. Never before
has such a legal classic been written at the
founding of a government. The very ?reason
it was written was that lawyers recognized
their obligation in this crisis to teach and
lead the people. Hamilton, Madison, and
John Jay in eloquence as simple as it was
profound, explained the various proposals of
the Constitution and their significance in
the building of that Union so essential to
the maintenance of peace and freedom. In
these distinguished essays they won the
support, not only of Washington and Jeffer-
son but of the man in the street. It is not
too much to say that, if the Federalist had
not been written, if Hamilton had not ex-
plained the Constitution to New York, and if
Madison had not performed a similar serv-
ice in Virginia, the Constitution would not
have been adopted.
Exactly the same public service is de-
manded of lawyers and of laymen today.
Unless we inspire the coming race with a
conception of the ethical basis of law, the
precious freedom built up through the cen-
turies will inevitably be destroyed. The
ethical basis of law implemented in the free
countries is the real defense against com-
munism. And to the protection of this
ethical system of law every member of the
bar, and every true American, is called. This
Is today at once our challenge and our
mi ht o ortunit
The Great White Fleet?A Step Forward
Toward World Peace
EXTENSION OF REMARKS
OF
HON. KENNETH B. KEATING
OF NEW YORK
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
Tuesday, June 28, 1960
Mr. KEATING. Mr. President, the re-
cent tragic disasters in Chile and other
manifestations of nature's wrath around
the world have served to focus atten-
tion once more on the proposal to estab-
lish a Great White Fleet. A vehicle for
the creation of this great humanitarian
armada is Senate Concurrent Resolution
66, which I am proud to be one of the
cosponsors.
STAT
A5573
In my view, this mercy fleet could
carry to the corners of the world a mes-
sage of America as it really is today?
dedicated to helping people everywhere
to build healthier, happier lives. It is
my hope that the recent tragedies in
Chile and elsewhere, regrettable as they
are, will help speed progress on this pro-
posal which can mean so much in the
cause of world peace and understanding.
The man who first suggested the Great
White Fleet, Comdr, Frank A. Manson,
recently delivered an interesting address
on this subject. I ask unanimous con-
sent that it be printed in the Appendix
of the RECORD.
There being no objection, the address
was ordered to be printed in the RECORD,
as follows:
THE WHITE FLEET
(By Comdr. Frank A. Manson, U.S. Navy,
before the London International Chapter
of the National Defense Transportation
Association, London, England, May 17,
1960)
I am fully conscious of the honor it is to
address this distinguished group of Anglo-,
American executives and their guests. It is
with pleasure and humility that I discuss the
White Fleet, a topic close to my conscience,
and the one which you chose for me.
This being my first public statement on
the White Fleet since Life published the
original proposal last July, I feel particularly
rewarded to exchange views with a group of
transportation authorities. Economic trans-
portation is one of the keys to the success
of the White Fleet, the economic transporta-
tion of one nation's strength to another na-
tion's weakness.
Undoubtedly many of you have not heard
of the White Fleet until this moment.
Therefore, I think I should begin by briefly
clescribing what it is. Since this is an Anglo-
American audience I should also say at the
outset that the White Fleet idea was first
presented to the people of the United States.
Some people have asked why I did not take
the original proposition to something like
NATO. SEATO, or to the United Nations and
call for the creation of a worldwide White
Fleet. / did not have sufficient data from
countries, other than my own, to conclude
that this would be a feasible proposition.
I had no inkling how such a thing would be
received and furthermore, I felt it was pru-
dent to see what my fellow citizens thought
of it before I presented it elsewhere. Al-
though I felt in my heart that American
reaction would be favorable I had no way of
knowing for sure. Nor did I know what the
reaction would be in newly developing coun-
tries. So much currently is facing humanity.
Essentially the White Fleet is a new instru-
ment for harnessing America's strength po-
tential into her mothball fleets to help make
the benefit of civilization available to the
newly developing countries.
In view of such programs as the Marshall
plan and point 4, which to my mind sym-
bolize the real care of U.S. thinking, I did
not consider that the White Fleet represented
a radical departure from past U.S. efforts.
A White Fleet of mercy ships is something
tangible. It is something that people, re-
gardless of their education or station in life,
can see and comprehend. Its only motives
are humanitarian and these motives are easy
to understand. They are difficult to distort,
and this, I feel, will be of increasing impor-
tance as we move into the sixties.
The exact composition of the White Fleet
Will vary depending on the mission. Its over-
all capability will include ships designed to
render assistance in such fields as elementary
education, agriculture, nutrition, medicine,
various types of engineering specialties, elec-
trical power and research and these are by
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/08/20: CIA-RDP61-00357R000100220016-0
A5574 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD ? APPENDIX
no means all. The ships will be combat
loaded to fight the many human problems
which beset newly developing countries. The
, long-range missions is to help people who
want to help themselves and become self-
supporting.
The real purpose of the White Fleet is to
render technical assistance in areas of con-
tinuing need. Additionally the White Fleet
should prove helpful in times of disaster and
? crisis such as those brought about by floods,
earthquakes, and storms. While dramatic, I
do not envision that the disaster capability
of the While Fleet will provide its most im-
portant function. In the first place, the
V.S. Navy, which is now deployed world-
wide, has demonstrated time and again that
it can render emergency assistance within a
matter of hours to virtually any spot in the
world. This type of emergency service is al-
ready in being and would hardly provide the
best utilization of the White Fleet. In some
instances, such as Agadir, the Navy might
call for the assistance of the White Fleet
after it has handled the most urgent part
of the situation.
Many people have asked me whether a
White Fleet would have been useful at Ag-
adir in view of the tremendous emergency
support rendered by the military and ci-
vilian personnel of many Western countries.
I went to Agadir in connection with my
official Navy duties and frankly I don't see
? how the rescue operations during those first
few hours or first few days could have been
greatly improved. The French Navy, with
a base at Agadir, began rescue operations
within a matter of hours as did the U.S.
Navy and U.S. Air Force. Soon the military
and civilian forces of other nations were
sending various types of assistance. We
sent out a call for clothing and food from
our Naval headquarters in London and the
response was so overwhelming and the ton-
nage so great that a ship had to be sent
from Norfolk to make the final delivery.
But the military forces could only stay
in Agadir during the most agonizing part
of the emergency. They all had their jobs
to do and they had to return to their as-
signed military duties. A French doctor at
Agadir who knew of the concept said the
White Fleet would have proved most useful
after the military forces had completed the
dramatic rescue operations.
The situation today in Agadir appears
most appropriate for a White Fleet opera-
tion. The city is in shambles, about 90
percent destroyed; it is without electric
power or a water system. Most of the sur-
vivors are living in tents-24 canvas cots to
a tent. Many of the people still walk half
dazed about the countryside. There are no
schools. The medical clinics and maternity
wards are nothing more than canvas cots
on the bare earth. The people are in need
of a continuing supply of the basic neces-
sities until they can get themselves organ-
ized once again. The city of Agadir is in
need of technical assistance?and this will
be so for some time to come. In fact there
is virtually no White Fleet capability en-
visaged which could not be utilized in Aga-
dir because virtually everything was lost.
But Agadir is only one part of Morocco
where the White Fleet could serve a worth-
while purpose.
I use Agadir as an example because pub-
lic attention has been recently directed
there. There are literally hundreds of situ-
ations in Africa, Asia, and South America
that lend themselves to a White Fleet
solution.
Now, a few words about the future of the
White Fleet. The idea continues to grow in
the United States and throughout the West-
ern World. Only recently I received a letter
from a friend in Africa enclosing a clipping
of a ship recently acquired by the Indonesi-
an Government to light against yaws. It is
a floating dispensary and its only mission is
to examine the population for yaws and
treat all the cases which it finds. This is
very heartening to know that such a ship is
now in existence. A few weeks ago a poultry
processing group in the United Kingdom
contacted me regarding the feasibility of
in:stalling some sort of a poultry processing
unit in the White Fleet. They said they
thought it would be possible and effective.
Then only a few days ago I received a letter
from a manufacturer here in London and I
quote from his letter. "I have reread the
Life article on the White Fleet and am more
than ever assured of the importance of this
concept of aid to stricken areas. I can
say on behalf of my company that we pledge
what support we can give to you and the
American organizers of this effort. * * *
While the material support we can give will
necessarily be small compared to the vast-
ness of the enterprise?it could be im-
portant. Our Dexion material is a funda-
mental basis for building almost anything."
I had never heard of Dexion material until
I received this letter. I have subsequently
investigated the material and discovered
they can build anything from a school desk
to a medical clinic. Actually it is what I
call a man-sized erector set and it is such a
marvelous idea that I am surprised it was
not thought of years ago. In any event, I
am delighted with this generous offer and
am forwarding it to the White Fleet sponsors
in the United States.
The first ship to sail from the United
States will be the SS Hope, as the sponsors
of the White Fleet and those responsible
for Project Hope have joined forces. I am
confident that this ship, whose first call is
Indonesia, will emphasize the urgency of the
White Fleet. I personally hope that the next
White Fleet ship will be an LST, a landing
ship tank. It is inexpensive to activate and
operate and can gain access to most any
coastal area. It can be multipurpose, carry-
ing an assortment of capabilities and be most
useful in numerous situations. Other types
of amphibious ships and merchant hulls
should be considered for the White Fleet.
Some people have suggested that the nu-
clear-powered merchant ship Savannah
would make an excellent White Fleet flagship.
I do not know of the plans for Savannah
but feel that this suggestion is worth con-
sideration.
A few people have thought that I advo-
cated Defense Department sponsorship of
the White Fleet and budgetary support from
the U.S. Navy. I have never entertained
this thought nor would I recommend it. In
fact I feel that such a policy might prove
self-defeating. To organize and operate a
White Fleet at the expense of military and
naval preparedness would be foolhardy. Our
defense funds are needed to meet the very
real military challenge confronting the
Western World. Financial support should
come from civilian sources.
As to the long-range implications of the
White Fleet, I am ? reminded of the recent
talk with one of England's most gracious
and talented people. As we walked about
his estate looking at the beautiful gardenS
and trees he said that the White Fleet had
brought to mind three people he knew who
had planted gardens. One man had planted
his garden studiously, with the careful
planning of an industrious banker. He
walked the grounds many times before he
spotted the first plant. When he had fin-
ished his planting his garden was beautiful,
it was professional, but it had required a
rather long period to complete the project.
The second man had planted his garden
with a reckless abandon of a Johnny Apple-
seed. While there was no particular de-
sign or discernible pattern to his work he
had utterly blanketed his estate in beauti-
ful flowers. The third man that he knew
lived near the Scottish border. He had
planted no flowers at all. Instead he had
torn down the old buildings and replaced
June 28
them with beautiful stone structures. My
friend told this man that these structures
should last for a generation and the man
replied, "I intend for them to last for at
least three generations." "But where are
your flowers?" my friend asked. The man
replied that he had no flowers and he point-
ed to a group of small trees and. stated "I
planted trees instead. There is something
about trees which reflect a man's faith in
future generations. There iS something
about trees that is indestructible."
Gentlemen, I would like to close with the
suggestion that what my friend said about
trees also applies to the White Fleet. There
is something about this plan that suggests
faith in future generations and the inde-
structibility of ships. I have said many
times that I have no illusions that the
White Fleet will bring peace in one sweep-
ing movement. Peace can only come a bit
at a time, but one step forward is worth-
while and I am confident that the White
Fleet is a step forward.
Africa on the Move
EXTENSION OF REMARKS
OF
HON. EDMUND S. MUSKIE
OF MAINE
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
Tuesday, June 28, 1960
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, on
March 28, 29, and 30, Mrs. May Craig
published three columns which were
printed in various Maine newspapers.
In the first, Mrs. Craig tells of Ethi-
opia's rich products and customs.
In the second, she recounts an un-
precedented conference with his Im-
perial Majesty, Haile Selassie, Emperor
of Ethiopia.
In the third, she describes the Repub-
lic of Sudan as a "benevolent dictator-
ship."
Mr. President, I ask unanimous con-
sent to have these three articles printed
in the Appendix of the RECORD.
There being no abjection, the articles
were ordered to be printed in the RECORD,
as follows:
AFRICA ON THE MOVE?COFFEE WAS ONE OF
ETHIOPIA'S FAMOUS SPICES
(By May Craig)
ADDIS ABABA.?If you drink the best mix-
tures of U.S. coffee, you get Ethiopian coffee
blended into it because this is the home of
coffee, originating in the province of Kaff a,
and was one of the famous "spices" for
which ancient Ethiopia was famous. The
country is rich in rivers, forests, minerals.
There is power in the Blue Nile as it drops
5,500 feet through gorges sometimes 4,000
feet deep before it gets to the plain of Sudan
where it meets the White Nile at Khartoum.
She has fertile soil, abundant seasonal rain-
fall, year-round growing season. It is no
wonder Mussolini tried to take Ethiopia to
feed the Italians as he set up collective
farms in the green hills that rim the North-
ern Mediterranean opposite Italy. Since his-
tory began, there have been struggles for
land, food, cattle?now for minerals and oil.
The language here resembles Hebrew,
Arabic, and other semitic languages, since
the origin of the people is Hamitic and Se-
mitic. The language is called Amharic, and
English is the second language. When we
asked our Ambassador, Don C. Bliss (Ver-
mont, Dartmouth), whether any of his staff
spoke the language, he said his wife did,
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