246 



college students, some of whom began to ^jganize their own pilot 

 programs. Students at Harvard, the University of Michigan, and else- 

 where, established organizations to recruit students."^ The National 

 Student Association, representing more than a million college students 

 registered its support and began to study the concept."- On Novem- 

 ber 11, 1960, a "Conference to Discuss the Challenge to American 

 Youth from the World's Emerging Nations," was held at Princeton 

 University. Conferees consisted of students and educational, labor, and 

 technical assistance experts from the eastern seaboard, plus repre- 

 sentatives from the stall' of Senators Kennedy and Humphrey. The 

 conferees concluded that a massive Federal youth program consisting 

 of draft-exempt and trained men would help solve many of the prob- 

 lems of the underdeveloped world.-^ 



Additional support came from all levels of American public opin- 

 ion. In mid-January 1961, the American Institute of Public Opinion, 

 the Gallup poll, reported that 71 percent of all Americans favored the 

 proposal, while only 18 percent opposed it. It was favored by both 

 Democrats (74 percent) and Republicans (67 percent) as well as by 

 Independents (73 percent). 



Criticisms of the Peace Corps plan centered on its personnel selec- 

 tion, training aspects, and the Kennedy suggestion for exemption from 

 selective service. For example, Josephine Ripley, in the Christian Sci- 

 ence Monitor, concluded that dedicated young Americans might not 

 be as attracted by it as the "undergraduate drifter.'* This, she said, was 

 the "most common criticism of the Youth Corps plan * * *." Standards 

 of selection were accordingly "the most important problem." -* 



The Wall Street Journal objected, editorially, to the draft exemp- 

 tion and suggested that the economic contest inherent in the cold war 

 could never be won without a greater infusion in the foreign aid pro- 

 gram of highly technically trained manpower : 



Thp idea of giving one lad a uniform and another a passport to Indonesia pre- 

 supposes a screening for which no objective criteria exist * * *. 



What the backward countries * * * need is trained, experienced technical help. 

 One slvillful man in field boots, slogging through a paddy to teach natives how to 

 grow more rice, is worth a dozen aid dispensers in air-conditioned retreats. Cer- 

 tainly such skill and experience are not acquired during a "cram" course in 

 Washington. It would better serve U.S. interests abroad — and American "pres- 

 tige," if you will — to send no technicians rather than young and inexperienced 

 ones. 



But perhaps the worst feature of Mr. Kennedy's "Peace Corps" is its gimmick- 

 type approach to the deep and intractable problems of cold war. It purports to 

 offer a dramatic solution to problems which simply are not susceptible to easy 

 solution.^ 



III. Assessment of the Issue 



Formal congressional consideration of the Peace Corps proposal 

 began with tlie introduction, on June 1, 1961, of an administration bill 

 by Senator Humphrey and Representative Thomas E. Morgan, chair- 



21 .Josephine Ripley, "Exploration of a Youth Peace Corps," Christian Science Monitor 

 (Dec. 9. 1960). editorial. 



23 Helen B. Shaffer, "Government Youth Corps," Editorial Research Reports (Jan. 4, 

 1961). p. 4. 



^Alan C. Elms, "New Frontier: The Peace Corps," The Nation (Dec. 3, 1960), pp. 

 4.3n-4.?2. 



-* Christian Science Monitor (Dec. 9, 1960), p. 1; see also editorial: "Youth Corps Bi- 

 partisan Project" (Nov. 5, 1960). p. 1. 



^ Wall Street Journal (Nov. 15, 1960), p. 1. 



