Remarks to a Group of Eisenhower Exchange Fellows.

IN MY TRIPS around the world, I have run into some of your Fellows. Without exception they make a point to come to see me. I ran into two or three of them while I was in South America and one or two in Asia. From their reports, they are getting a lot of use out of this program. They believe that not only have they learned a lot themselves but they think they have been able by coming here to impart to our people a better appreciation of their cultures and their civilizations. And of course that means the kind of thing that brings benefits in both directions.

I always have one thing to stress when I meet an international group in my country. It is very simple. The development of a just peace is the imperative of our time. We are approaching more and more a critical period in this regard. Without peace we are burdened with defense mechanisms. Our minds are diverted from constructive purposes to those of worrying about our own safety, of our children, of our friends abroad. And finally we are upset all the time by the possibility that a really catastrophic occurrence could do much to destroy civilization.

I have come to put it almost as a truism in my own thinking that only through the exchange of information among peoples, resulting in better understanding of the basic issues in the world, are we going to have peace. I believe that governmental negotiation is principally, as of this moment, designed to get a better atmosphere in which peoples can work. I think, therefore, that on this side of the Iron Curtain, as we understand each other better, as we show a unity of purpose in great world problems, we will be stronger morally, spiritually, and economically, as we strive to better the people in our own countries. Moreover, by this kind of understanding, we will get renewed hope and renewed inspiration to help those on the other side to understand us better.

In the long run, this is the only thing that is going to lift these terrible burdens of sterile and unproductive armaments and give us an opportunity to develop ourselves as individuals, as human beings of dignity. Thus we will be able to achieve--each of us--what he believes will accord with his own aspirations.

So when you come over here, I welcome you not just as individuals that I want to see. I welcome you also as people that have been inspired to join a great crusade in the world--to help develop understanding among the nations of the world.

It's a peculiar thing that in spite of the growth of communications-the radio, the television, and magazines and newspapers--we still have to meet face to face to achieve mutual understanding.

And so, in the measure that you people can help, I thank each one of you, and my country thanks you for taking the trouble to come here to be a part of this great movement.

When I say I am glad to see you, I really mean that the whole Nation is glad to see you here.