Evening star., 1962-09-14

clear, particularly in last weeks
statement. when we talked
about the presence of offensive
military missile capacity or
development of military base
and other indications which I
gave last week. all those would,
of course, indicate a change
in the nature of the threat.
q. Well, Mr.. President. in
this same line, have you set for
yourself any rule or set Of con-
ditions at which you viii de-
termine that the existence Of
an offensive rather than a de-
fensive force in Cuba. and in
that same connection in your
reading of the Monroe Doctrine.
how do you define Intervention?
viii it require force to contra
vene the Monroe Doctrine or
does the presence Of a foreign
power in any force. but not
using that force in this hemis-
phere. amount to contravention
of the doctrine?
A. Well, I have indicated that
liz Cuba should possess a ca
lpacity to carry out offensive
action against the United
States, the United States would
act. I have also indicated that
the United States would not per-
NIT Cuba to export its power by
force in the hemisphere. The
United States viii make appro-
PIRATE military judgments after
consultation with the Joint
Chiefs of Staff and others, after
carefully analyzing whatever
new information comes in, as
to whether that point has been
reached where an offensive
threat does exist. At that time
the country and the Congress
viii be so notified.
q. Mr.. President, Martin Lu-
ther King has telegraphed you
asking for Federal action
against anti-Negro terrorism in
the South. and at least one Ne
gro organization has threat
ened to picket you with the
allegation that the Federal
Government has not done
enough. Could you tell us
whether you have answered DR..
King. and give US the thought
that you gave him, and wheth-
er you can say that or not, can
you give us a comment on the
problem?
A. We are in contact with
DR.. King and others who have
communicated to us about it.
I don't know any more outrage
Gus action which I have seen
occur in this country for a good
many months or years than the
burning Of a church, two
churches. because Of the effort
made by the Negroes to be
registered to vote. The United
States Constitution provides for
freedom to vote, and this coun-
try must permit every man and
woman to exercise their fran
chise. To shoot. as we saw in
the case Of Mississippi, two
young people who were in
Volved in an effort to register
people, to burn churches as a
reprisal, with all Of the provi-
sions Of the United States Con-
stitution at least the basic
provision of the Constitution
guaranteeing freedom Of wor-
ship, I consider both cowardly
as we'll as outrageous. The
United States now has a num-
Der Of FBI agents in there,
and as soon as we are able to
find out who did it, we will
arrest them and we will bring
them before a jury, and I am
sure that they will be appropri-
ately dealt with.
But let me say I am sure
this is the view of the people of
the States, the right to vote is
very basic. If we are going to
neglect that right, then all of
our talk about freedom is hol-
low. and therefore we shall give
every protection that we can to
anybody who is seeking to vote.
and I hope everybody will re-
gister in this country, and 1
hope they will vote. I commend
those who are making the ef-
fort to register every citizen.
They deserve the protection of
the United States Government
and the protection of the State
and the protection Of the local
communities, and we shall do
everything we possibly can to
make sure that protection is
assured and if it requires extra
legislation and extra force, we
shall do that.
@. Mr.. President, can you tell
us whether you discussed the
Cuban situation with Gen.
Eisenhower on Monday, and,
if you did. whether there was
any agreement between United
States party leaders that it
shouldn't be an issue in this
falls campaign?
Such Agreement