Evening star., 1962-02-22

onStrations in Washington.
There are, however, several
things that disturb me about
Mary McGrory's piece on the
Young Americans for Free
dom's counterdemonstration
Student political action is
good wherever it appears as
long as it is positive and well
thought out. To this end it
seems strange to me that a
group like YAF in attacking
the student demonstration as
negative would carry signs
like Peace Shall Not Survive,
End the Cold War with the
Sword" Has peace become a
negative objective in Ameri-
can society and has war be-
come entrenched as our only
solution? Surely few true
American patriots would like
to see an atomic war, and
hasn't America always been
opposed to building the kind
of police state that would be
required if the arms race
were to continue on to it's
natural conclusion? Thus it
seems that if YAF really be-
lieves in freedom of the in
dividual and survival of
America as a national entity
then their program and liter
ature certainly are more
negative than the rather
we'll = thought out program
created by students and fac
ulty from colleges and uni
verSities all over this country.
We may not all agree as to
how the United States must
effect peace in this world of
tensions but most of us agree
that if America is to survive
there must be serious nego-
tiationS through agencies like
the Arms Control and Dis
armament Agency, to make it
safe for the individual to live
on the surface. Perhaps if
YAF considers the ends of it's
proposals it will discover that
it is indeed in the wrong
picket line.
Robert Charlick.
X X Il n
The several thousand
bearded and leotarded stu
dent Ban the Bomb-ers"
who marched, picketed, and
kissed on the streetcorners
of Washington last weekend
have been reported as sincere,
peaceful, and we'll organized.
1t is appalling that the public
should be led to believe that
such demonstrations are
honest representations of
American public opinion. I
saw the Ban the Bomb-ers,"
and followed them on parts
OF their march. They averaged
about 10 years of age; they
were, for the most part, un-
enthusiastic and disinter-
ested; and their appearance
was such that they might
have stepped right out of
comic books. Their grand
march was supposedly cli-
NAKED by a peace meeting on
the grounds of the Washing
ton Monument. At this meet
ing, the general attitude of
the few who attended was
that of a college party, with
some couples sprawled on the
lawn, some visiting the monu-
ment, and others wandering
aimleSsly in the vicinity.
When I asked a bearded, be-
Spectacled student who was
speaking and what it was all
about, he had no idea and
couldn't have cared less. am
confident that any Washing
tonian who saw this group
as I did would agree that
they were not representative
of any responsible segment of
American opinion.
Barbara DenisOn.
The recent demonstration
OF serious students from
some 40 States, who were
sincerely requesting the
United States to take the
initiative in a turn toward
peace, contrasted with a
small group of Washington
area students" carrying
cute" signs openly advocat-
ing that the United States
take the initiative in accel-
Grating the arms race. These
sufficiently financed and
consequently Immediately
attired members of Young
Americans for Freedom
(YAF), who made no parallel