Preserve and Protect (47 page)

“The same thing could happen to Panama ten minutes from now, Mr. President,”—Felix remained impassive—“if the United States so desired. Panama could be wiped out in an hour so that not a stick would remain on a stick or a stone on a stone. But that is not the way of the United States. And you can thank God it is not. It is the way of some. When there is a challenge to the Soviet Union by some small, weak power, Soviet tanks and planes appear, Soviet guns fire, Soviet bombs drop, and it is over.

“Sometimes, Mr. President, I think the Soviet Union is smart. It talks a lot about world opinion but it ignores it whenever necessary in its own self-interest.

“A little of that is now prevalent in Washington. It is unlikely that it will be more, because that is not really the way of the United States. And distinguished delegates who clamor and cry can be profoundly grateful. The United States for the most part, Mr. President, shows an extraordinary forbearance in such matters. It shows to the world a forbearance that no other power on the face of this earth, with the possible exception of the United Kingdom, has ever shown, will ever show, or could ever show.

“So we get a little tired, Mr. President, of all the cry and clamor. We think it is pious and hypocritical nonsense. And for the time being in Washington, at least, we aren’t scared of it. And we are going to do what we think is right in the cause of world peace.

“Now if delegates are so worried about blockade, the United States offers you a chance, as we say in our possibly undignified but pertinent fashion, to put up or shut up.

“My government has instructed me to offer the following amendment to the pending resolution SC/128:

“‘Strike all after the preamble and insert:

“‘And, whereas, events in Panama pose a serious and continuing threat to world peace, and

“‘Whereas, this threat will continue as long as the Panama Canal remains both a matter of contention between nations and a vital necessity to world commerce and well-being,

“‘Now, therefore, be it resolved:

“‘That the United Nations create an International Waterways Organization and invite all member states possessing any rights, title, interest or control in or over the following international waterways to transfer those rights, title, interest or control immediately without reservation to such International Waterways Organization, to wit:

“‘The Panama Canal.

“‘The Suez Canal.

“‘The Dardanelles.

“‘Gibraltar.

“‘The St. Lawrence River.

“‘The Rhine River.

“‘The Danube River.’

“In pursuit of the objective of this amendment, Mr. President,” Lafe said, “and in the interests of permanent world peace, my government herewith states that it is ready to turn over to such a body, as soon as it is created by the United Nations, all rights, title, interest or control the United States may now or in future possess in the Panama Canal.

“The United States suggests, Mr. President, an immediate favorable vote on this amendment, so that the United Nations may proceed at once with the great, constructive task of placing these world waterways under world control for the benefit of all and the assurance of world peace.

“Mr. President, the United States requests that the Chair call the roll—”

But his concluding words, of course, were lost in the uproar of voices shouting for recognition and it was not until Raoul Barre managed to catch Cymru’s eye and Cymru hastily cried, “The distinguished delegate of France!” that a semblance of order began to return.

“Mr. President,” Raoul said with a certain sardonic expression as he caught Lafe’s eye and received a bland smile, “this very interesting proposal is, of course, something entirely new, and it seems to my government that it would be best to consider it quietly for a little while. Therefore, Mr. President, I propose an adjournment overnight—”

“Until Monday,” Lafe interrupted firmly; and Raoul agreed with a graceful promptitude, “Until Monday.”

“Is there objection to the motion of the distinguished Ambassador of France?” the Ambassador of Cymru asked hastily. “The Chair hears none,” he added hastily. “The Council stands adjourned until Monday, is it!” he said hastily, banging down his gavel with an air of relief.

“Is it, all right,” Cullee said to Claude Maudulayne, who managed only a distant, glacial smile as they stood up and stretched and prepared to go. “Yes, sir, you can say that again. Is it, sure enough.”

“Your Honor,” Bob Leffingwell said, still comfortably relaxed after three hours of argument, “the afternoon is getting on, now, and we have reached, as Your Honor has just pointed out, the time for rebuttal and conclusion.

“I rather regret that our pleasant discussion must now come speedily to an end, for, frankly, I have enjoyed it. It did my heart good to witness our brilliant friend across the way, Mr. George Harrison Wattersill, display the virtuosity and forensic talent that have made him a household word … in some households. (George Wattersill bowed ironically.) I was equally impressed to hear the eloquence of our other good friend, the former Governor and present National Committeeman of Oregon, the Honorable Roger P. Croy—eloquence which was not only eloquent but even, I thought, magniloquent. (Roger Croy, who had started to look pleased, looked less so.) My own—if I may use the affectionate possessive—good colleague, Senator Munson, shrewdly and astutely reinforced and buttressed and, at many points, improved upon my arguments. (Bob Munson shook his head with a humorously deprecating air.)

“But now the time has come to conclude it all.…

“Your Honor,” he said, and slowly and deliberately got to his feet, “our side has not stood during these discussions, but I think now perhaps I will, for what it may be worth in lending emphasis. I do not intend, as has Mr. Wattersill, to allow my voice to soar—and dip—and whisper—and alarm. I do not intend, as has Governor Croy, to make my voice thunder—and roll—and blast—and shrivel. Like my friend and colleague the distinguished Senate Majority Leader, I shall simply—as we have throughout—talk: on the issues and, I hope, to the point.

“Now, Your Honor, to refresh the memories of our viewers and listeners in this country and throughout the world, we are here pursuant to a temporary injunction issued by the presiding judge of the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia, pending decision of a suit filed in the District Court that would direct the National Committee to reconvene the nominating convention which was concluded in San Francisco two weeks ago and turn over to it the task of nominating the candidate to succeed President Hudson, and a Vice Presidential candidate to run with him.

“It is our belief, Your Honor—though we have refrained from making it our contention—that the granting of this temporary injunction was irregular, unfounded and not based on the law: perhaps prompted by considerations known to the judge of the court below who handed it down, but not known to us. The justification for it, the solemnness of it, the integrity of the premise upon which it was granted, are matters for Your Honor’s wisdom to decide and his conscience to accommodate.”

(“Wowee,” the
Boston Herald
whispered to the
Arkansas Gazette.
“That ought to make old Hempstone squirm.” “That bird?” the
Newark News
sniffed. “He’s too dumb to know what he was doing.” “Dumb like a fox,” the
Arkansas Gazette
retorted. “He got some payoff. Or will. That’s for sure.”)

“Sometimes, Your Honor,” Bob Leffingwell said gently, “good politics is bad law. So our side feels it to be, in this instance.

“We also feel it to be in the instance of counsel who have spoken for the other side. We have heard a great deal about world peace and justice, and about freedom and liberty, and about which candidate can best save suffering humanity from the fate which it sometimes seems determined to bring upon itself.”

(“Does the bastard think it’s funny?” ’Gage Shelby demanded of no one in particular, slamming a fist into a palm with a bitter, frustrated gesture. “Ah, Christ!”)

“We do not say that these considerations are not valid,” Bob Leffingwell said calmly, “nor do we say that they should not weigh decisively with the National Committee when it is again permitted to proceed in an orderly fashion to do its work. But we do say that they are not pertinent to the narrow issue which confronts Your Honor: namely, whether the National Committee can be forced to choose one of the two options which it is given without restriction by its own rules.

“On this, Your Honor, we believe that our argument must stand unchallenged—because it has not been challenged. Instead, counsel opposite have wandered all over the lot of political partisanship, emotional prejudice and inflammatory intimidation, without ever once meeting head on this absolutely fundamental point.

“Meanwhile, in the world outside this little room, there has been what almost seems a conspiracy to bolster exactly these tactics; to place the whole matter on an emotional, strictly political, basis; and to create a climate in which, were we not relatively isolated here, and did Your Honor not possess such wisdom and such sense—”

(“Let’s hope he has,” Orrin remarked to the Undersecretary for Latin American Affairs.)

“—might very well have a major effect upon the atmosphere in which Your Honor must decide.

“During the fifteen-minute recess just past, which Your Honor most graciously allowed, for instance, there was thrust into my hands by several reporters outside as I was trying desperately to find a haven of relief, editions of the afternoon newspapers which carried such headlines as: SWARTHMAN CHARGES KNOX AUTHORED GAG BILL AS PART OF DICTATORSHIP DRIVE … VAN ACKERMAN”—for just a second a genuine distaste, so strong that it came across to startled millions of viewers, transformed his easy expression—“FANS DICTATOR CHARGE … UN SPEAKERS FLAY KNOX, URGE JASON AS ONLY HOPE FOR WORLD PEACE.

“I did not allow,” Bob Leffingwell said with a return of amiability, “indeed, could not allow, these intrusions to interfere with my urgent and necessary quest. Yet it was apparent, even in those brief glimpses accorded me by our friends of the waiting press, that we are everywhere surrounded by a most insistent and oppressive campaign seeking to persuade and, if you please, intimidate, both this Court and the National Committee in pursuit of your respective duties.

“Now, Your Honor, I know that you will not be swayed, as I know a majority of the Committee will not be swayed. And therefore I think we can safely leave such arguments to the side which has originated and is encouraging them.

“We return, as we have returned frequently this afternoon, and now do for the last time, to the only issue which to us is valid as a point of law: the question of whether the court below, or this Court, or anybody anywhere, has any legal authority whatsoever to instruct the National Committee as to which of its two options, equally free and equally democratic, it must choose.

“We believe that no such directive can be given the National Committee. We believe that all arguments political—emotional—national—international—are completely invalid and completely extraneous to this one basic
legal
issue.

“With faith in Your Honor’s wisdom, integrity and courage, and with thanks for your infinite patience and kindness, we rest our case.”

He smiled briefly but cordially and sat down.

“Mr. Wattersill,” Tommy Davis said quietly, and democracy’s defender was on his feet.

“Yes, Your Honor,” he said briskly. “We too believe we can be brief.

“Counsel attempts here, in these final moments of this historic hearing, a hearing which a desperately concerned and worried world has been privileged to follow through the marvels of television and radio—and press,” he added hastily as the UPI cleared his throat with a significant “A-hem!”—“this historic hearing which could very likely, Your Honor, be the first step in separating the quick from the dead—counsel attempts here, in these closing moments, to once again narrow proceedings to a quibble concerning which there is, really, no argument.”

(“What’s that?” the
Arkansas Gazette
asked the
Newark News
in a startled whisper. “Keep calm,” the
Boston Herald
advised. “Georgie will get out of it somehow. Georgie has a plan. Georgie always has a plan.”)

“Certainly, Your Honor,” George Harrison Wattersill said reasonably, “there can be no dispute that the Committee has the option under its rules of either selecting the nominees itself or reconvening the convention. We thought that was clearly understood. We have been surprised in fact, that counsel opposite have thought it worthwhile to spend so much time this afternoon in pointless repetition. The issue has never been the Committee’s rules: it has been whether the Committee would be free to exercise its option under those rules, or whether the arbitrary and hurtful decision of a temporarily inflamed and excited majority would prevent it.”

(“Ah,” said the
Arkansas Gazette
. “So that was it.” “I told you,” said the
Boston Herald
.)

“It is to make impossible just such hasty and ill-advised action, Your Honor,” George Wattersill said earnestly, “that we on our side have contended throughout this hearing that the matter must not be left to chance. It must not be left to a capricious and uncertain impulse of a majority of the moment whether or not the Committee is to select the nominee or whether or not the convention is to select the nominee. It must not be left to the passions and the pressures which can afflict 106 men and women. Your Honor, however noble, however honest, however decent and responsible. It must be left to the great, free, open, democratic decision of the full convention, once more called together in all its solemn majesty, its libertarian dignity—”

(“Is that what we saw in San Francisco?” the AP whispered. “W-e-e-e-llll,” the UPI replied with a grin.)

“—its sober dedication—”

(“Not that!” protested the
Arkansas Gazette
.)

“—its profound and moving devotion to the eternal principles of this great Republic, its deep and somber realization of the importance—to
all
humanity—of what it does.