A statement issued by DR. REINHOLD NIEBUHR, Yale's DEAN LISTON POPE (see RELIGION) and 60 other members of Christian Action, a national organization of Protestants:
PRESIDENT EISENHOWER has often stood for patience and moderation as well as firmness in the Far East, even without the support of some of his chief advisers and against the pressures of those who hold that the United States could and should recapture the China mainland for the Chinese Nationalist Government. But [we] are deeply troubled by Mr. Dulles' speech in which he warned that under certain circumstances the U.S. would employ military force to defend Quemoy and Matsu.
We are deeply sympathetic with the concern that the free world not withdraw and acquiesce in the face of Communist show of strength in the Far East. Yet the position implied by Mr. Dulles' threats is highly questionable. Such a moral justification is seriously lacking in the case of the off-shore islands. We hold that the assumption [that the islands must be kept as possible steppingstones to the reconquest of the China mainland] is an illusion which has only explosive potentialities. The more reasonable place to draw the line of the defense perimeter of the free world is around Formosa and the Pescadores.
We recognize that there may be an intentional ambiguity in U.S. policy with respect to these islands. The argument is that it is politically advantageous to keep Peiping guessing and politically necessary to maintain the morale of the Chinese Nationalists and to placate their extreme American supporters. We believe, nevertheless, that keeping our allies and worldwide public opinion guessing and fearful of our intentions is too great a price to pay for this doubtful political advantage. The strength of the free world is based upon genuine cooperation and mutual trust among the free nations, not upon our ability to confuse and frighten the Communist bloc or to bolster the illusions of the Chinese Nationalist Government.
U.S. MUST OPEN MARKETS TO JAPAN
J. D. ZELLERBACH, president of Crown Zellerbach Corp., before a meeting of the American Paper and Pulp Association in New York:
As a former protectionist, I want to explain why I have become convinced that the United States urgently needs to liberalize its foreign trade policy. We cannot hope to survive as free men—much less operate prosperous businesses —unless the Communist drive for world domination is checked. We cannot check Communist imperialism without strong allies. And we cannot have strong allies over the long haul unless the free world is liberated from crippling and divisive trade restrictions.
I have seen our trade restrictions undercut our foreign policy many times while representing the United States abroad. In Italy I had the task of stimulating production and foreign trade so that the Italians could earn their way in the world, so that they could keep a democratic government, so that they could contribute troops and weapons and bases to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Then I have seen us raise tariffs to prevent the Italians from selling us some of the very products we had urged them to make and export to us, so they could earn dollars to buy needed American products from us.