RETORT

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

It is extremely unfortunate that in your editorial of October 17th, endorsing Mr. Stevenson for President, you have to dwell at such length with what you consider Mr. Eisenhower's failures to have been, without examining his accomplishments, and without properly analyzing the candidate you are supporting.

Your main attack on President Eisenhower is based upon what you consider his lack of leadership. Obviously there are other forms of leadership besides the highly centralized and domineering type you seem to advocate. The President does not use the same methods as Franklin D. Roosevelt used to carry out his program. Mr. Eisenhower, for example, would never go down to Georgia, as Roosevelt did, and tell the people of that state that they should "dump" Senator George, because he refused to obey F.D.R. and pack the Supreme Court. Mr. Eisenhower believes in trying to convince Congressional leaders of the wisdom of his proposed legislation, but he refuses to pass that legislation either through intimidation, favor-giving, or any form of coercion. It is true that some very worthy pieces of legislation have been defeated in this last session of Congress, but that is the price we must pay for our Constitutional concept of separation of powers. . . .

If the President did not censure Senator McCarthy, it was because he believed (as is stated in the Constitution) that is up to the Senate, and the Senate alone, to discipline its members. . . .

You have also neglected to mention certain of the achievements of this Administration in domestic affairs, such as the reduced government expenditures, balanced budget, reduction of inflation, a $7.5 billion tax cut, and other things indirectly related to the Administration, such as record high employment, the increase of the workingman's share of the national income and the reduction by 42 per cent of strikes in 1956 as compared to 1952.

How can you claim that our President has not been a leader in foreign affairs in view of his role in the Geneva and Panama Conferences, his open-skies proposals, the "Atoms for Peace Program," his great efforts toward world disarmament, and the frequent good-will tours in which he has sent members of his Cabinet and of his family: You do not mention the achievements of the settlement of the Iran and Trieste disputes, the unification of Austria, the rearmament of Germany and its incorporation into NATO, and the reconstruction of Korea. . . .

The H-Bomb issue can lead the people of this country into hoping for too much. Even if we could detect hydrogen explosions within Soviet Russia, it is obvious that the preparation for such an explosion could be done in secret, and by the time the test was made we would be sadly trailing the U.S.S.R. in thermonuclear development. Further-more, both of these issues have a very unhealthy effect upon our allies, who are striving to build up their defenses with our help. A. Thomas Stelle '60.