The Charlotte News
Tuesday, April 18, 1950
FOUR EDITORIALS
Site Ed. Note: The front page reports that the U.S. formally charged the Soviet Union with shooting down an unarmed American plane over the Baltic Sea on April 8 and sought "appropriate indemnity" for the loss of the plane and crew of ten, warning against repetition of the conduct under any pretext. A life raft from the plane had been found but no survivors located. The Soviets claimed that the plane was fired upon after it strayed into Soviet territory over Latvia. The State Department, in claiming the Soviets violated international law in the incident, denied that the plane was at any time over Soviet territory.
Senator Joseph McCarthy stated at a press conference that he would seek to have the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee investigating his charges of Communists in the State Department subpoena two former FBI agents, one of whom had worked as an undercover agent within the Communist Party, who would corroborate his contention that Owen Lattimore was the top Communist spy in the country. He declined to identify either agent but said both would testify willingly provided they were subpoenaed.
Senator Styles Bridges of New Hampshire was called to the White House for a conference with the President and Secretary of State Acheson, in an attempt to rebuild bipartisanship on foreign policy. The President said afterward that the effort in this direction would continue, with Republican viewpoints being sought on the subject on a regular basis. The President had recently called Senator Bridges and other Republicans supporting the efforts of Senator McCarthy "agents of the Kremlin". That statement, said Senator Bridges, was not discussed this date.
Now, at least, Senator McCarthy could gain traction for his charges as he could assert, with unassailable credulity, that the President was working on a regular basis with agents of the Kremlin.
Senator Kenneth Wherry of Nebraska said that the testimony received by the Judiciary and Commerce Committees indicated that there was, contrary to the statement the previous day by Attorney General J. Howard McGrath, a national crime syndicate. The Attorney General, testifying in support of a pending bill to block transmission across state lines of gambling information, had said that there were, however, big business operations in the larger cities of the nation but no evidence to connect them in a nationwide syndicate. Senator Homer Ferguson also expressed surprise that the FBI had not turned up evidence of a national underground syndicate, that it was possible the FBI had not gone looking for them.
In London, Chancellor of the Exchequer Sir Stafford Cripps instituted income tax reforms, lowering taxes on workers, whose wages had been frozen two and a half years earlier by government policy to check inflation. He also instituted 85 percent taxation, effective retroactively, on huge bonuses paid to corporate executives. He told Commons that devaluation of the pound, undertaken the previous September, had turned out better than expected. He had also cut down on food subsidies and declared that the National Health program had to be held at present levels.
In Washington, in the trial of John Maragon for perjury before Congress the prior July 28 regarding his financial dealings as a five percenter to obtain government contracts for his clients, the Government presented evidence that at a time when he claimed to have only one bank account, he had, in fact, another in Texas, one of the four allegations of perjury against him.
In Los Angeles, a man was under a suicide watch after trying to form a noose while jailed on a charge of attempting to kill his wife, his two children, and 13 other passengers aboard a United Airlines DC-3 by placing a bomb aboard the flight. He had lost his nerve at the last minute, according to police, and told personnel at the airport that he had placed a bag of gasoline on board and not to let the plane take off. At about the same time, a baggage handler dropped a heavy suitcase on the tarmac and it exploded, singing the man's eyebrows and hair. Inside was an alarm clock set to ignite a box of matches, which would have ignited in turn several gallons of gasoline contained in an innertube. He was in love with a stewardess for another airline, who said that she thought that at the time he was placing the bomb, he was instead in court seeking a divorce. The onetime top aviation engineer for Douglas Aircraft Corporation, specializing in DC-3's, told police that he had planned to collect on $25,00 worth of life insurance he took out on his family before the flight, to pay off his $6,000 of debt. He also informed police that he was a "sick man".
Ashley Smith of The News reports of Congressman C. B. Deane of the North Carolina Eighth Congressional district in Rockingham County, in his contest for re-election with Democratic opponent W. B. Horner. Mr. Deane viewed the farm economy as the cornerstone of the nation's economy, and to that end, was working on a proposal to institute crop insurance, similar to the FDIC for bank deposits. He believed that both parties had over-politicized the farm program. But he opposed big farm plans, such as the Brannan plan, designed to iron out all of the problems at once, as he believed that each crop deserved separate consideration.
Flood waters menaced North Dakota and Western Minnesota as tornadic winds swept across areas in the vicinity of Mobile, Ala. this date. But most of the rest of the country experienced near normal spring weather.
In Rye, N.Y., a man with a bow and arrow, who could not seem to shoot it straight, was on a mission to prevent golfers from hitting stray balls onto his property adjoining a golf course. A ball had hit his wife in the eye, dozens had hit his house, and his complaints went unheeded. So the prior Saturday he had set up an archery range eight feet from the golf course and began practicing, overshooting the target several times, causing the arrows to land on the course just when a golfer drew near. The golf club responded that they had offered to contribute a hundred dollars to build a fence on the property but that the owner was unreasonable about the matter.
On the editorial page, "Politics and Recreation" tells of the Park & Recreation Commission being set to make a decision on the location of the Latta Park recreation center, which had been controversial among residents for the fact of increased traffic to their neighborhoods. It appeared the previous decision to locate it on Winthrop Avenue would stand as an alternative to the more controversial previously designated location.
The piece thinks that the independent Commission ought assert its independence and select the site and stand by it. For if it caved to every objection, it might as well be abolished and the City Council assigned the decision.
"Kerr Bill Veto in Order" defends the President's veto of the natural gas deregulation bill for it not having been in the public interest, certain to have produced higher costs for consumers of natural gas. Moreover, the bill had passed both houses by narrow margins and so there was little chance of override of the veto, requiring a two-thirds majority in each chamber.
With the exception of Senator Frank Graham, North Carolina's delegation, save for five non-voting Congressmen, had voted for the bill, and it counsels reconsideration of their votes in light of the President's veto message, should an override be sought.
"Major Smith's Big Assignment" finds unconvincing the contention of C. R. Tolar, recently resigned as commander of the State Highway Patrol following his speeding incident while on private business and indictment for reckless driving and illegal use of his siren after failing to heed the directions of a patrolman to slow for a funeral on the ground that he was proceeding to a reported traffic accident, that he was "crucified" for Governor Kerr Scott. It finds that he brought on his own troubles, notwithstanding any threats from the Governor's opponents to get him, as he had claimed.
It praises the Governor for appointing in his stead a career Highway Patrol officer, Major James Smith, removing the position from politics. Mr. Tolar had been the Governor's chauffeur during his campaign in 1948.
"It's That Time Again" tells of it being time
And it goes on, even unto the scorcher...
A piece from the Christian Science Monitor, titled "First Robins (Plural)", finds that the claims of sightings of the "first robin" to be unduly self-centered in approach, that there were plenty of robins to go around for everyone to spot.
John F. Day, in a piece from the Louisville Courier-Journal, tells of the outright charges of being a "liar" flowing like water in Washington of late, with the controversial claims of Senator McCarthy stimulating back and forth obloquy. He looks to the Congressional Record and to Thomas Paine for some of the euphemistic, less direct methods of expressing the charge of stating an untruth or having developed a misunderstanding "out of the whole cloth", as well as for some of the more expansive versions of the direct asseveration regarding claims of calumny.
Drew Pearson tells of Ambassador to Iran John Wiley cabling the State Department of the progress being made by the Russians in the takeover of the country because of its political and economic turmoil from crop failure, along with business panic and political graft, bringing new members to the Tuden or pro-Communist party. The Shah, after his good visit to the U.S., where he made a positive impression, returned to promise a "holy war" on corruption. But that had not endeared him to the politicians who were now hoping to be rid of him and cooperate with the Russians. Meanwhile, secret talks in Russia were taking place regarding the supply of aid to Iran. The Shah, according to diplomatic cables, was preparing a proclamation to dissolve Parliament and revise the government.
He next relates of the President's secret poker games aboard the presidential yacht Williamsburg, taking place at night. The President enjoyed playing with wild cards, especially the low hole-card, and liked a game called "Papa Vinson", named for Chief Justice Fred Vinson, ordinary stud poker played with an extra draw. He also liked seven-card stud, which he had named "Jack Garner", in honor of the former Vice-President under FDR from 1933-41, an avid poker player, himself. The President played for fun and disliked having the stakes become too high. The games were a way for him to forget the pressures of his office for a few hours. His most frequent guests in the game were Chief Justice Vinson, former aide and adviser Clark Clifford, and former court jester George Allen.
Senator Carl Hayden of Arizona was working hard for an excise tax on copper imports, which would restrict Chilean copper from coming into the U.S., at a time when the State Department was trying to cultivate friendly relations with the fledgling democracy to the south, where, without copper exports, Communism could more easily obtain a foothold among unemployed miners.
The Democrats were working hard among the aliens who had become citizens since the previous election, as their blocs might be decisive in some of the larger states, as New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and California.
Joseph Alsop, in Belgrade, tells of his hour-long meeting with Marshal Tito, finding him pleasant, to the point, with no affectations, leaving a sense of hope in the listener. Yet, Yugoslavia was not a happy place and the means used by Tito were ruthless to achieve his ends. The hope engendered came from the fact that the stern training which Marshal Tito had undergone had not stamped out all of his respect for human values; or, perhaps, ventures Mr. Alsop, he had regained them during his year of fighting in the woods alongside ordinary men and women of his country during the war.
He rejected the brutal ruthlessness of the Soviet system and displayed none of its cold disinterest, even while having been brutal, himself. He hoped for a better way of life for his people and wanted more freedom for them when it was obtained. It was likely that Yugoslavia would be asking the U.S. for more regular and generous aid to give the people more supplies of consumer goods, in great demand.
He had an unremitting desire to maintain Yugoslavian independence in the face of the Soviet threat. That gave incentive to the U.S. to provide him with aid and also provided a means through which the cold war might be won, by inducing, through positive example, other independence movements in Eastern Europe.
The plain fact was, he concludes, that Yugoslavia held a strategic place in the confederation opposing Soviet aggression and Tito appeared as a good, strategic investment for those desiring victory in the cold war.
Henry C. McFadyen, superintendent of the Albemarle, N.C., schools, in the thirty-third in his series of articles on childhood education, relates of two parents who had three daughters who they sought to treat exactly alike throughout their growing years, giving each the same gifts through the time of their marriage. Yet, the three girls were extremely jealous of one another, as manifested by the fact that every piece of silver in the household was spoken for as part of the estate of their parents. The mistake the parents had made was to try to treat them alike when they were each individuals. The only thing which needed to be doled out equally to each was love.
He applies the same lesson to the
classroom and instructs that teachers needed to treat students with
just as much individual concern, staying on the back of some students
to get them to perform while recognizing that other students needed a more caring form of motivation to avoid resentment. A smile and
friendly manner toward each student was important to avoid such
resentment when punishment or correction was required. Students who
liked their teachers and regarded them as friends accepted such
correction
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