Viet Government Soon to Vanish, Galbraith States

John Kenneth Galbraith, Paul M. Warburg Professor of Economics, said Wednesday that the next few weeks will bring "the disappearance of anything that can effectively be called a government" in South Vietnam.

Addressing the Boston Chamber of Commerce, Galbraith said that the United States must stop the bombing in Vietnam to start peace negotiations or find "the most dignified exit possible."

In reference to the choice between negotiations and withdrawal Galbraith said, "I am afraid we face the second rather than the first.'

Galbraith called the South Vietnamese government "a shell without any real South Vietnamese army will soon "disappear into the woods." Substantial units of the army will "go over to the other side" he said.

Galbraith said that the Vietcong infiltration of "hundreds of thousands' of fighters into the cities "can only be done with a friendly population." He said that elements of the South Vietnamese army have had "amiable relations" with the Vietcong for years.

Galbraith, predicting a need for policy decision in the near future, said, "We can still he guided by our own rhetoric supporting a government that doesn't exist" or face reality.