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<strong>CHAPTER</strong> 7 141<br />
mean life or death; and they are led to war like steers to slaughter. Does America wish to be a "Columbus" to<br />
the unknown worlds? To lead peoples to their conquest? To add another name to those of the forty-eight states<br />
that comprise the Union? Take possession of the other worlds in the name of the United States? To colonize<br />
them? To cultivate them? To people them? To transport thither all the prodigies of art, of science, and<br />
industry; and to constitute them a republic, if they are not already one? I fear for the natives of these unknown<br />
worlds considering our own history. The so-called "primitive people" of our own planet have undergone<br />
brutality at the hands of their earthly brothers. Their lands have been stolen outright; their ways of life<br />
destroyed. Would people of other planets be treated even as kindly? Man's inhumanity to man--when will it<br />
cease?<br />
The idea of extending our own violence into outer space is at this moment circulating all over the planet Earth.<br />
The same pulp magazines that are influenced by creative space intelligences print monstrous tales inspired by<br />
the opposite, or negative forces. Scientific articles published in leading journals add to the power of<br />
confusion. If man on Earth can conquer space, then he will extend his miseries to the Universe. Humanity,<br />
now having sufficiently corrupted this planet wishes to spread its poisons to larger areas. The vast<br />
astronomical distances which are God's "quarantine" regulations must somehow be overcome.<br />
A wild dream that planet after planet, system after system, and in the end, galaxy after galaxy can be forced to<br />
come under the dominion of the planet Earth. The destruction or enslavement of other men in the Universe:<br />
this is the "noble" goal. First they say other worlds are uninhabited "balls of gas"; yet, they plan to travel to<br />
such "worthless" worlds. What good would it do to go there in the first place if this were true?<br />
If men on Earth make it to Mars, there will undoubtedly be a West Mars and an East Mars. The American and<br />
British Zones and the Russian Sector, of course! What a dither the United Nations would be in! Who is going<br />
to own which planet? Will Russia try to take Jupiter by force?<br />
In _Collier's_ magazine for March 22, 1953, there was an article called: _Who Owns The Universe?_ by<br />
Oscar Schachter, Deputy Director, Legal Department, United Nations. He said: "Now that scientists have<br />
shown that man can conquer space and that new worlds lie within his reach, the question of 'owning' the moon<br />
and the planets no longer seems to be so much of a joke. Today, the question is not at all far-fetched and, in<br />
fact, it may well have important consequences for all of us.<br />
"Will governments claim 'ownership' (or, more correctly sovereignty) of the moon and other celestial bodies,<br />
just as claims today are being made to the barren wastes of the Antarctic? Will there be national rivalry to<br />
plant the 'Stars and Stripes', the 'Union Jack' and the 'Hammer and Sickle' far off in space, so that the<br />
governments can then assert exclusive control and keep others away? A conflict may arise when the first<br />
rocket ships reach the moon and other celestial bodies. The old story of territorial rivalry; but this time<br />
extended into the heavens themselves.<br />
"Although we have been talking about outer space, we have said nothing about where outer space begins; or<br />
to put it in another way, how far up does the territory of a country extend? Whenever a country could prevent<br />
or interfere with the movement of a rocket ship or space station it would have the legal right to do so. Would<br />
this not, in effect, simply be a rule that 'might makes right'? And would it not place rocket ships and space<br />
stations at the mercy of those national states which would be able to interfere with their free passage? Beyond<br />
the airspace we would have to apply a system similar to that followed on the high seas."<br />
The above quotation is ludicrous in the extreme! In answer to the question: "To what tribunal would questions<br />
of space law be referred?" Mr. Schachter says: "A dispute in space that involved two or more governments<br />
could be submitted to the International Court of Justice at the Hague, just as international disputes are today."<br />
What a surprise is in store for those who would put their "brand" on the Universe--a much higher authority<br />
exists in outer space!