The Charlotte News
Wednesday, November 29, 1950
THREE EDITORIALS
Site Ed. Note: The front page reports that two American divisions had escaped south across the Chongchon River in the northwest sector of Korea but that Communist Chinese troops, numbering about 200,000, swarming through the Tokchon gap, threatened to trap a large allied force, with one column reaching Singchang, 30 miles from Pyongyang, the vital supply depot for the allied forces in the sector. At least three other Chinese columns were reported rolling through the Tokchon gap in wide sweeps against the exposed right flank of the allies, where three South Korean divisions had earlier succumbed. Another Chinese force was also reported attacking on the left flank. Six Chinese armies had now been identified in Korea. The first observed Chinese tanks were also present, west of Kunu, eastern anchor of the line. Kunu was being attacked from three sides and its fate was in doubt.
Allied war planes were grounded by bad weather during the morning but were out in force during the afternoon, though a heavy smoke haze, perhaps from fires set deliberately for the purpose by the Chinese, hampered operations on the eastern flank.
General MacArthur explained that his prior comment, recorded by A.P. correspondent Relman Morin during the General's return flight to Tokyo after initiating the kickoff of the Friday offensive to end the war, that the war would be over when the troops reached the Yalu River and they could then go home for Christmas, had only been meant to express hope, was communicated in a jocular vein to some of his field commanders and had been exaggerated and taken out of context.
At the U.N., the U.S. said, through chief delegate Warren Austin, that it wanted the Security Council to put on record the "conscience of the people of the world" regarding the charges that the Communist Chinese were aggressors in Korea. The Chinese made it clear that they would not withdraw from Korea, and Russia would likely veto a resolution condemning the aggression and demanding the withdrawal of all Chinese forces. At that point, the General Assembly could then consider the matter without hindrance from a veto. Ambassador Austin urged speedy determination by the Council so that the Assembly could then consider the matter.
Worried members of Congress urged a quick U.N. showdown and sought out Secretary of Defense Marshall to come to the Senate Armed Services Committee to inform them of the situation in Korea in light of the Communist Chinese intervention. Senator Joseph O'Mahoney of Wyoming advised the Government to serve an ultimatum on Russia to get the Communist Chinese to withdraw. Senator Taft said via radio the previous night that the policies of the President and Secretary of State Acheson had gotten the country into the mess. He said that he did not believe the point had been reached, however, where the atomic bomb should be used. Senators Owen Brewster of Maine and Styles Bridges of New Hampshire said that they wanted General MacArthur given discretion to use the atomic bomb. Two Congressmen agreed, including Mendel Rivers of South Carolina. Senator Harry Cain of Washington wanted General MacArthur given authority to send planes and troops across the Manchurian border.
Government officials were reported to be considering imposition of sanctions through the U.N. against the Communist Chinese, such as cutting off trade and curtailing or withdrawing diplomatic recognition. The U.S. was committed to full consultation with the allied nations in the matter to avoid a split. There was general agreement that the resolution to withdraw the Chinese troops would continue to be pushed at the U.N.
High U.S. defense officials opined that General MacArthur had enough firepower at his disposal in Korea to avoid a major military disaster. The U.N. would need to decide whether he would be given enough men to smash the Chinese offensive, not backed up by much artillery or armor. It was expected that General MacArthur could reform his lines running east and northeast of Pyongyang, where the allied superiority in tanks and artillery could hold the Chinese while air superiority hit the enemy lines to the north. One source of additional troops was Formosa, where between 50,000 and 100,000 troops were in a high state of training though not adequately armed. But Britain, India and other U.N. nations in Korea had recognized Communist China and would likely object to use of Nationalist troops. Original rejection by General MacArthur of an offer by Chiang Kai-Shek of 30,000 Nationalist troops was premised on the now moot notion that use of these troops might provoke the Chinese Communists to join the fight.
Secretary of State Acheson was
scheduled to speak
The cost of living index rose to an all-time high of nearly 175 percent of the base period of 1935-39, and nearly a million workers whose union-negotiated contracts were tied to it would receive a wage boost of two to three cents per hour.
In Cleveland, the National Council of the Churches of Christ was formed this date as a united nations for American Protestants. It embraced more than 31 million communicants of 29 Protestant and Eastern Orthodox churches. The church leaders taking part in the ceremony made repeated references to Korea and the international situation. Secretary of State Acheson was scheduled to speak at the event but had to change to telephonic delivery, given the necessity to address the emergent situation in Korea.
On the editorial page, "The Choice Is Clear" finds that Communist China, either on their own or through urging by Russia, had determined to push the U.N. forces out of the Manchurian border region and possibly off of the Korean peninsula. The delegation at the U.N. from Communist China hoped, for propaganda reasons, to press its claims of aggression by the U.S. against Formosa and China. The current Chinese offensive might be intended to give the delegation a stronger negotiating hand.
If there was a failure to negotiate a peace at the U.N. and if general war resulted, then U.N. military policy, it suggests, would have to be to avoid commitment of large numbers of soldiers, as the Soviets wanted U.N. forces committed elsewhere than in Western Europe. Western European resources, especially steel, were critical to Russia's long-term war-making capability and so those resources had to be kept out of its hands at all costs. Maintaining military strength in Western Europe was therefore crucial to deter Russian aggression.
"The Record in Korea" regards the issues before the U.N. Security Council, China's charge that the U.S. was guilty of aggression in Formosa and Korea, and the charge by the U.S. that Communist China was guilty of aggression in Korea. It explains that the Soviet-backed charge of China was false, that North Korea had been the aggressor in Korea because the U.N., by 1949 resolution, had established Korea as one republic and the national elections held there the prior spring would thus apply to the whole country, not just South Korea, making the North Korean Government of Kim Il-Sung illegal. The Communist Chinese also had been aggressors in Korea by reason of the same circumstances, coming to the aid of the North Koreans, also violative of the post-invasion resolutions passed by the U.N. urging other nations to remain out of the war to avoid its spread.
The prior October, Chinese troops were discovered in Korea and in early November, whole units were found present. By mid-November, Chinese troops were present en masse. Now, hundreds of thousands of troops were streaming into North Korea from Manchuria.
There was no excuse for this intervention, as the U.S. had promised, along with the U.N. as a whole, to respect the territory of Manchuria and Siberia, and to leave intact the hydroelectric plants along the Yalu River jointly serving both China and Korea.
Because of the Russian veto, the Security Council would likely be unable to act on the formal charge of the U.S. that Communist China was an aggressor. But the General Assembly, under the recently approved Acheson plan, now could act on any matter involving charged aggression when the Security Council was stymied in that effort by veto. It urges getting the charges through the Security Council as expeditiously as possible to enable the Assembly to consider them promptly.
"Progress in Reverse" tells of the South making progress in some respects, such as the decision of South Carolina finally to abolish the poll tax and the decision of Georgia voters to refuse the effort of Governor Herman Talmadge to extend to the general elections the county-unit voting system, giving inordinate weight to rural areas over urban areas. But then, taking a step in reverse, Georgia's Board of Education also had just decided to ban the U.N. flag in State schools because the U.S. flag was a symbol of sovereignty.
It concludes that it reminded of a Reconstruction era law in Georgia which had it that when two trains were in the station at the same time, neither could leave until the other had first departed.
A piece from the Asheville Citizen, titled "Air Force Academy", hopes that the site selection committee for the Air Force Academy would choose the Huntersville site near Charlotte, one of 28 remaining sites being considered. It thinks that having the Academy in the East made sense, just as West Point and Annapolis, because of their proximity to the seat of national government, and that North Carolina would provide a natural setting for the Academy.
Drew Pearson tells of the Communist aggression in Asia threatening, as during World War II, to cut off supplies of rubber, quinine, tin and other tropical products. Though the country was much better prepared than at the outset of World War II, with synthetic rubber being produced and quinine trees planted in Latin America, shortages could nevertheless occur. The country was neglecting, however, Latin America, where rubber abounded in Brazil and other countries.
Manaos, the rubber capital of Latin America, had become a ghost city after a Briton smuggled seeds of the rubber plant to Ceylon during the Twenties. Gradually, the British-Dutch rubber cartel built up its market in the U.S. and after obtaining a monopoly, started raising prices on the American consumer. Despite protests by then-Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes, the prices were charged and paid. After Pearl Harbor, the U.S. began encouraging Latin America to grow rubber. But then in 1947, American delegates to the Geneva Economic Conference agreed to give up two-thirds of the American rubber market to Asia, controlled mainly by the British, resulting in the collapse of the Latin American rubber market and the closing of synthetic rubber plants in the U.S. Not only would rubber be scarce in the event of general war in Asia but also Communism threatened Latin America because of widespread economic stress and unemployment.
Senator Tom Connally had clipped a previous column of Mr. Pearson regarding lack of combat bonuses for infantrymen in Korea and taken it to the Army to inquire of the matter. As a result, the Army was urging a $50 per month bonus for combat enlisted men, and $100 per month for officers.
The excess profits tax bill being drafted in the House Ways & Means Committee would have a clause which would forbid deductions for expenses beyond those incurred during the base period of 1946-49, to prevent squandering of profits on lavish ads, entertainment, and the like to avoid paying taxes through business expense deductions.
Marquis Childs discusses the lame-duck session of the current Congress, with expected action on the excess profits tax of 75 percent on profits above those earned during the 1946-49 period, statehood for Hawaii and Alaska, aid to Yugoslavia, aid to Southeast Asia, and revision of the Ferguson, McCarran, Nixon anti-subversive law to eliminate the anomalies working injustices against worthy immigrants because of childhood compulsory membership in parties advocating totalitarian government. Many thought other measures ought be included in the session for action, as extension of rent control beyond the end of the year. Yet, it was unlikely that any of the measures in play in the three-week session would be passed. The session would likely be simply a warm-up for the new Congress. But just a little show of unity, he suggests, would be a heartening sign in such times.
Robert C. Ruark, in Miami, looks again at the effort to clean up gambling syndicates in the city, tells of a Miami radio program being broadcast every Saturday for the prior 19 months in the city over WKAT, "Crime: The Sinister Plot", seeking to expose a new crook in every show. Dan Sullivan, former FBI agent, directed the investigation featured on each show. Former Mayor Frank Katzentine owned the radio station and led the Miami Crime Commission, a citizen's vigilance committee. The show initially received threats, primarily aimed at Mr. Sullivan. The show continued, with detailed crime coverage supplemented in each of the Miami Herald and News. Air time was donated on thirteen radio stations.
Among those exposed were Abe Allenberg, partner with gambling kingpin Frank Erickson in the Wofford Hotel, Harry Russell of the Capone gang, who supplied muscle for the operations, and notorious thug Sam Taran.
As Miami residents heard the revelations, they began to realize that their crime problem was no longer merely a local issue, as it had ties with the nationwide gambling syndicate.
Bill Ladd of the Louisville Courier-Journal writes of football records aplenty being broken during the season, transforming coverage of the game from recordation of the basic score and outcome to emphasis on who broke what record. He provides hypothetical examples. Games were scheduled so that players could break records.
The Associated Press now ranked the teams each Tuesday by vote, though most of the sportswriters voting had not seen the teams play. "It has always escaped us how a guy can spend Saturday chattering his teeth at a game between Evansville and Tennessee Tech, and then go back to the office and vote for whether Army is stronger than Oklahoma."
On Thursday, the writers examined the figures and predicted who would win on Saturday. They patted themselves on the back when they got 80 percent correct, despite a ten-year old being able to predict as well based on the prior year's results.
A piece from the London Times regards the Ladies' Kennel Association Show at Olympia, where 283 smooth-haired dachshunds had been exhibited. It finds that presumably there were 283 different ways in which the dachshunds manifested their ability to inveigle their masters through nuisance to abide their wishes. They had, through this "low cunning philosophy", managed to defeat the docile spaniel and the proud Pekingese, making them "cocks of the walk". "They will now waddle with an even jauntier stride, sturdily refusing to come when they are whistled for, resolute to stand on guard against the postman and murder the baker's boy."
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