Over 150 Sign Petition Asking Ike To Send Red China Surplus Food

More than 150 people have signed the pacifist petition to President Eisenhower asking that surplus food be sent to the needy, especially the Communist Chinese, John R. Butcher '57, chairman of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, said last night.

"We are interested in the needy wherever they are and whatever they believe," Butcher said. "Right now the Chinese are severely affected by a famine, and we feel our decision to help them has been fairly well substantiated by the number of subscribers," he added.

The pacifists are concerned about the amount of surplus food that is annually wasted and hope that even if their plans for China fail, more people will realize that this food should be distributed, he continued.

While agreeing with the pacifists' motives, David G. Taylor '57 declined to circulate the petition in Adams House because he felt that the Chinese people would never get the food, and that the Communist government would trade it for industrial supplies. "During an earlier famine, the reds exported food to obtain industrial supplies," he pointed out. Taylor said there would have to be plans for a reliable committee to supervise the distribution of the food before the petition would have any real value.

Butcher, however, stated that the purpose of the petition is simply to inform Eisenhower that many people support the idea of giving food to China, and that the specifics of the petition, should it be adopted, would have to be worked out practically.