75 educators cable Prime Minister

‘Act now to save peace’
professors urge Pearson

As the Commonwealth Prime Minister's conference was shaken by dekate
this week over what to do about the crisis in Vietnam Prime Minister Lester
Pearson received an urgent cable in London from seventy-five Canadian uni-
versity professors urging him to act for peace. The cable asked him to take
the initiative to bring about negotiations with the National Liberation Front in
South Vietnam and to declare a firm independent Canadian peace policy.

50k dunivewary Year

The plea from leading Can-
adian educators originated at the
Learned Societies Conferences
at the University of B.C, which
ended their sessions last week-
end, Although there have been
previous appeals from Canadian
universities this was the first
Canada-wide appeal from Uni-
versity professors,

eee, 7, eg

FRIDAY, JUNE 25, 1965
VOL. 26, NO. 25

The appeal to Pearson was
initiated by nine UBC pro-

HO CHI MINH
INTERVIEW

4-noint plan
for peace
In Vietnam

Tn an exclusive interview this
Week President Ho Chi Minh of
rth Vietnam declared that the
Sition of the Vietnamese people
ay government of the Demo-
«, © Republic of Vietnam was
2 reasonable position and in

©onformity with the 1954 Geneva
&Teements,”

tag Was giving an interview to
© Soviet Communist Party
cent Pravda, .He said that the
tlement of the Vietnamese sit-
®n in accordance with the

|
EXCLUSIVE

1954 Geneva Agreements are “in
cordance with the interests of
2 American people and the

hor of the United States and
“lso With the interests of the
“alse of peace,”

Ho Chi Minh said the four
points put forward by North
€tnam as a basis for negotia-
are in line with the terms
the Geneva Agreement, The

four Points, he said, are:

tions

*Withdrawal of U.S, troops
al South Vietnam and dis-
antling of U.S, bases;

“Adherence to the Geneva
&Teements;:

ins south Vietnam to settle its
ternal problems without outside
2 €rvention, and;

re North and South Vietnam to
“alize their peaceful unification
SO Without outside intervention,

See INTERVIEW, pg. 3

nam today. Every day
women and children are
by foreign invaders. Last week the

fessors. They were W,E, Will-
mott, anthropology — professor;
Dr, Barnett Savery, head of the
philosophy department; Michael
Ames, anthropology, Margaret
Prang and James Winter, history;
Dr. Gideon Rosenbluth, econom-
ics: Reg Robson, sociology and
Walter Young and Jean Laponce,
political science,

The cable to Prime Minister

Pearson was followed by a letter

Stop the killing and torture in Vietnam!

iet- i i i i est bombers: This mad-
. i; icture tells the tragedy of Viet obliteration raids with their largést :
fab Mahe ha Fundheds of Vietnamese men, ness must stop! You can add your protest by supporting
being killed in their own country the Peace Congress petition campaign for peace in Viet-
U.S. launched massive nam. (See story on page 12).

signed by the educators which
said: “We are gravely con-
cerned about the war in Viet-
nam, Not only is it causing
great hardship to the people of
that sad country, but it poses
an. ever growing threat to world
peace,”

“In our opinion, the events of
the past four months suggest
that the present American policy
of escalation is not bringing peace
nearer in Vietnam, On the con-
trary, there are ominous signs
that this policy may be bringing
the world toward the outbreak
of a general nuclear war,

“More realistic efforts should
be made to achieve an immediate
cease-fire and negotiations be-
tween the belligerent parties: the
National Liberation Front (Viet
Cong) and the government in
Saigon supported by the Amer-
ican forces,

“We strongly support the) in-
itiatives you have taken in this
regard, and we urge you to re-
double your efforts to bring about
a peaceful ‘solution to the war
by issuing a public statement of
Canada’s independent policy and
bringing to bear all the diplo-
matic pressure you can on the
two parties concerned.

“Our position on the Inter-
national Control Commission for
Indochina not only gives us the
opportunity, but imposes upon us
the duty to take such initiatives,”
concludes the letter,

The spokesman for the group
sponsoring the plea, UBC Pro-
fessor. Willmott, said “a tre-
mendous number of people
believe the war is a complete
farce, It never will be settled
by military conquest. The only

-thing to do is sit down around a

conference table, I’m concerned

' that American policy is self

defeating and seriously endan-
gering world peace,”

- Meanwhile, the debate is con-
tinuing at the Commonwealth
meeting in London on the value
of a Commonwealth peace mis-
sion, Undermined from the be-
ginning by Prime Minister Wil-
son’s open and complete support
of U.S, policy -in Vietnam, the
Prime Ministers are reported
split on whether Wilson can play
any positive role,

On Monday North Vietnam and
China denounced Wilson’s Com-
monwealth mission on Vietnam
aS a maneuver to help the U,S,,
with the British Prime Minister
acting as President Johnson’s
errand boy, The denunciations
came in leading articles in the
See COMMONWEALTH, pg. 3