CARRY A BIG STICK

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

Now that the wraps have fallen from the "first 100 days," it should be evident that the new administration of J.F. Kennedy has not brought us any closer to regaining our position of years past as the world leader. Perhaps a good part of this can be attributed to the President's advisors, and of course, this means to a large extent the Harvard faculty...

I personally can think of no group of men which I would less want to run the government of this country than a group of Harvard professors. One has to look long and hard to find an exception to the stereotype of impractical idealism which seems so evident within the Harvard faculty.

A friend of mine commented recently that he thought the Irish cleaning lady at home was better qualified than most of the professors he knew, especially in the Government Department, to hold an active part in the Federal Government. His reasons were based primarily on the fact that this woman was able to look at a problem objectively, and go about finding a solution without the philosophizing and moralizing which seems to hamper many government efforts these days. This is, I think, what our national government needs--more practical solutions and loss philosophizing about them.

To a large extent, the problem is characterized by the present situation in Cuba and our relationship to it....We are very close to having a full-fledged satellite nation only 90 miles off our eastern coast....

One wonders, however, how much farther the Cuban government would lean toward the Communists if we were to send a representative to Cuba to talk directly with Fidel Castro, not to negotiate but rather to deliver an ultimatum: "The Cuban government has 24 hours in which to renounce all connection with the Soviet government and return to a position in keeping with the principles expressed and implied in the Monroe Doctrine." An extra 10,000 Marines on Guantanamo and the Atlantic fleet on "maneuvers" in the Caribbean should leave no doubt that we meant business....

Let us get out of this lassitude and if necessary, swing our big stick a few times. But let us do it now, while there is still time to swing it. Lionel Kraft   Dunster House

(Editor's Note: There is no "Lionel Kraft" registered at the University.)