TLS Ruth Gage-Colby to Evelyn Lincoln, 11 April 1962

WOMEN STRIKE FOR PEACE Coordinating Office 750 Third Avenue New York 17 OX 7-0527 April IIth, I962 Dear Evelyn Lincoln, This is the letter I promised in my night letter. It is principally to say that the fifty women who went to Geneva learned some things they would very much like to share with the President. You will recall that through the years whenever I came to see you it was always to learn what Mr. Kennedy had been say- ing about disarmament. He has said many fine things which indicate that he regards disarmament as inevitable if we are to have peace. He has also made clear that he understands the necessity of renounc- ing the nuclear arms race, if we are to live at all. Thus, we find it difficult to reconcile his position with his declaration to resume tests. Now, we seek his answer to our urgent question: What are you going to do, Mr. President, about resumption of testing? We heard from Mr. Arthur Dean, his chief negotiator, that he could not compromise on international inspection, and that since the USSR will not compromise on national inspection, he considers a stalemate to have been reached. We learned from other nations that they regard compro- mise to be better than stalemate and a ban without fool-proof inspec- tion to be wiser than fool-hardy testing without any controls whatever. There was general belief that nuclear testing in the atmosphere is a crime against humanity and that continuing the arms race, far from guaranteeing security, is a total denial of it. We discovered in Geneva that in the conduct of the arms race both the United States and the Soviet Union are condemed and feared. In announcing his decision to test unless a test ban agreement was reached promptly, the President hoped "these grim un- welcome tests would never take place. If We are one in this hope and we would urge him to enter into a moratorium on all testing until there is an accord on bahning the tests forever. Even our Allies seem re- luctant to support Mr. Dean at Geneva, while the neutral delegations seem appalled at the wilfullness of our Government. We need to see the President face-to-face to assure him that Women Strike for Peace believes he can win the peace race if we can achieve general and complete disarmament under United Nations safeguards. Anything that you can do to help us help him will be deeply appreciated. Believe me, Ever yours, Ruth Ruch Gage-Colby International co-ordinator, WISP