JOHNSON'S MOON DOCTRINE
The proposal | made by. Johnson May. 2 for a United Nations _ treaty on the moon and “other celestial bodies". ought to fire the. imagination of all those who have been agonizing over recent events. in this vale of blood, toil, tears and sweat.
The- president of the United States put it. exactly. right when he said, "The moon and other celestial bodies should be.free for ...... exploration and use by all countries. -No country | should: be permitted to advance: a claim of: sovereignty. " : ; oe
If only that principle could be applied on this earth and ‘in our time! And especially in Vietnam where Johnson is even now violating the sovereignty of the Vietnamese: ‘Peop! er in: the most brutal. ‘and unconscionable: way: : : Lorn:
It was! ‘Likewise most laudable of Johnson to. say , tenn snegia
be freedom:of scientific investigation, and all countries should cooperate in scientific activities relating to celestial bodies."
Couldn't we make a beginning on this right here on earth? Say by doing away with all secrets in the: exploration .and develop=. . ment of nuclear energy? Why not. open the files oF the Atomic Energy: . Commission for the: benefit of all mankind! meet
Again, Johnson deserves the highest praise for asserting, "No country should be permitted to station weapons of mass destruction on a celestial body. Weapons tests and military: maneuvers _. should be forbidden. os Les
It is mankind's misfortune that Johnson does. ‘not rate our own planet as a celestial body. Declaiming a principle like that while escalating a war: that can convert the earth into a radioactive desert, the president sounds. Hike. the preacher offering pie in _ the, sky. : Lod a
Of course “Johnson may not really be thinking of what a. veautin. ful world could be constructed in the heavens. He may.simply be cal- . culating that the Soviet astronauts will get there before the Americans. In which case, the U.S. is for:an "Open Door" policy as in China at the turn of the century when the other powers arrived first, we with their carving knives. mony
But if U.S. astronauts were to win. the race. :to land. on. the moon, then we might hear a different tune; perhaps an-updated version -. of the hallowed Monroe Doctrine: "Hands off! It's our pie!"