Scott Defends Johnson Vietnam Policy

Senator Hugh Scott (R_Pa.) last night defended the role of the Republican party as a loyal opposition, while emphasizing the party's support of the Administration's policy in Vietnam in the face of criticism from Democratic "neo-isolationists."

Scoot told an overflow crowd in the Winthrop House Junior Common Room that "our system of government depends on the two party system for a continuing dialogue on public policy, but when we have what appears to be a one-and-u-half party system, the dialogue lags."

Scott held out hope for the Republicans, however, prophesying gains in the next gubernatorial and congressional elections. He foresaw new Republican advances in the South on the basis of economic policy rather that racial matters, and said that in 1968 the extremists will not be permitted to maintain control of the party, so that the two parties will resume their "overlapping" positions.

Regarding the war in Vietnam, Scott emphasized that American tactics have been aimed at "teaching Red China that warlike adventures are not profitable."

At the same time, Scott said, the tactic seeks to demonstrate that the United States seeks neither territorial gain nor an escalation of the war.

The senator criticized some of his colleagues, such as Wayne Morse (D-Ore.) who advocate the "cut and run" policy of withdrawal from Vietnam. He said that if the United States pulls out of Vietnam, it will simply be forced to continue the war elsewhere.

The American people, Scott continued, must overcome their impatience, and recognize that we are not fighting for a "quick and happy ending," but that we are involved in a "long and dirty struggle around the world for the freedom of man."

In this struggle, Scott said, the President is entitled to the full support of the American people and of our allies. However, he continued, past American policies have made other nations unwilling to contribute materially to the war in Vietnam, and the American people are only beginning to learn "to give the President his head in an emergency."

But if the Republicans support the Vietnam policy, they are in strong disagreement with other Administration views, Scott said, and the proper workings of American democracy require that they be able to provide an effective opposition. However, he continued, their landslide defeat in November--which he attributed to illogical thinking and the "kidnapping of the party by outside extremists" has made such a role presently difficult to fill