The Charlotte News
Tuesday, March 20, 1951
THREE EDITORIALS
Site Ed. Note: The front page
reports, via Olen Clements, that U.S. troops battling northeast of
Hongchon on the central front in Korea had run into stiff enemy
resistance as air and artillery failed to knock out the enemy.
General MacArthur ordered a news blackout on the distance the troops
were from the 38th parallel
Elsewhere on the central front, at Chunchon, allied troops advanced against increasing resistance. Resistance was also encountered on the western front south of Uijongbu, north of Seoul. On the west central front, South Korean troops led the allied advance as they made the deepest penetration of enemy lines. Activity on the east central front was confined to patrol skirmishes.
B-29's flew raids on Hamhung and hit a bridge near Kowon, south of Hamhung.
Censorship was lifted on the capture of Chungbyong reservoir and power station 15 miles northeast of Seoul, captured intact three days earlier.
Correspondent Russell Brines reports from Tokyo headquarters that Communist strategy appeared to U.N. military analysts to be to dig in north of the 38th parallel for the time being, either to create a passive stalemate, with the possible hope of a diplomatic resolution, or to delay to enable rebuilding of their forces in advance of another southward thrust. Should the former course be the chosen strategy and, as a result, the country divided along the parallel, it would effectively move the Manchurian border south and enable the Chinese to build up their forces within North Korea. The U.N. forces would have to be maintained in South Korea indefinitely to provide safeguards against incursion and preservation of South Korean independence. The Communists would thereby pin down a vital Western force needed elsewhere. The alternative would be to risk giving up the land for which thousands had died. Allied withdrawal would also free Communist troops to fight elsewhere. The other possibility for a peaceful settlement might be creation of a buffer zone in North Korea, but that would mean renunciation of the U.N. aim of reunifying Korea.
In Teheran, Iran, the Shah declared martial law to prevent the "gangster elements" from trying to upset the security of the city. Premier Ali Razmara had been assassinated by a Moslem nationalist on March 7 and the deputy chancellor of Tehran University, Dr. Abdul Zanganeh, had been shot the previous day. The city was reported to be quiet. Iran's Senate completed action on nationalization of the British-controlled oil industry, voting unanimously for the measure—as further considered below in an editorial.
East Germany banned Christian Science.
General Eisenhower, supreme commander of NATO, named Field Marshal Viscount Bernard Montgomery as his deputy commander and appointed eight other high-ranking officers to comprise his staff, naming Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Saunders of the British Royal Air Force to be his air deputy. French General Alphonse Juin would serve as ground troops commander and a French naval officer would serve on the staff as well. Lt. General Lauris Norstad, commander of the U.S. Air Force in Europe, would serve as commander in chief of the NATO air force for the central sector and U.S. Maj. General Robert K. Taylor would serve as commander of the air forces of northern Europe.
The Atomic Energy Commission suggested that new atomic tests might be underway on Eniwetok atoll in the Pacific to test the ability of buildings and materials to withstand atomic blasts. A notice was issued by the AEC to area aircraft and ships.
In Naples, Italy, four brothers, ages 11 to 15, were killed when they uncovered a bomb or artillery shell while playing.
The Veterans Administration told Congress that it would close 72 contact offices before the end of the fiscal year, including three in North Carolina.
Former New York Mayor William O'Dwyer, now Ambassador to Mexico, renewed his testimony before the Kefauver organized crime investigating committee, meeting in New York, saying that there was a growing "national empire" of crime and urged large Government appropriations of 25 to 50 million dollars and creation of a standing committee of Congress to stop it. Chief counsel for the committee, Rudolph Halley, retorted that if something had been done locally while Mayor O'Dwyer was in office, then racketeer Frank Costello might not have gained power over Tammany Hall, as he had testified. Ambassador O'Dwyer begged to differ.
And, another parenthetical for the over-worked stenographer at the hearing: the reference by Senator Charles Tobey on March 15, in his colloquy with former NYC deputy police commissioner Frank C. Bals, regarding his visit to El Centro, California, to the ranch of the "O.D." brothers, actually should have been transcribed, we assume, as the "O'D" brothers
A secretary to RFC director Walter Dunham had testified to the Senate Banking subcommittee that RFC director C. Edward Rowe had urged her on February 20 to rush to the White House and give Presidential aide Donald Dawson a letter of resignation for Mr. Dunham, who was then out of town, having retreated to Florida in ill health. Mr. Dunham had left the letter of resignation in case the President wanted it. Mr. Rowe, she said, had revised the first page of the letter to say that Mr. Dunham was being "crucified on the Hill" because he had voted for the Lustron and Texmass loans, and urged her to hand deliver it, that by so doing, it might clear up the controversy surrounding RFC. The secretary then phoned Mr. Dunham, read the proposed revision, prompting his anger and instruction to her not to deliver the letter. The subcommittee was seeking to get to the truth about the conflicting testimony between Mr. Dunham and Mr. Rowe as to whether there had been pressure placed by Mr. Rowe on Mr. Dunham to resign.
In Baltimore, H. L. Mencken, 70, had left the hospital after being written off by doctors when he entered the previous October with a heart attack. He was not expected to regain consciousness at that time but did the following day.
In Raleigh, the Legislature enacted a bill to raise unemployment benefits by $5 per week and reduce the cost of unemployment to employers. A State House committee recommended that the Legislature continue to advocate world government as it had in 1941 and 1949.
Not reported on the page, the 1951 N.C.A.A. Basketball Tournament would get underway this date with the Eastern Regional first round commencing at William Neal Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh and at Madison Square Garden in New York. N.C. State, champion of the Southern Conference, playing on its home court, would beat Villanova, 67 to 62, while Kentucky, eventual national champion, would beat Louisville 79 to 68, also in Raleigh. In New York, site of the regional semifinal games to be played Thursday, Illinois would top Columbia 79 to 71, and St. John's would beat Connecticut 63 to 52 in the other two Eastern Regional first round games. The sixteen-team Tournament would continue for each of the next four days, with the Western Regional opening rounds being played on the next day and Thursday, both regional finals on Saturday, and the national finals a week later, on March 27, in Minneapolis.
Be sure to fill out your bracket to win the big prizes. Everett Case, coach of N.C. State, had already won himself a new Cadillac. The assistant coach received a new Oldsmobile. And, we understand, the waterboy received a Model A, painted bright red, once owned by Alger Hiss.
On the editorial page, "Calendar for Iran" endeavors to explain how Iran, in the Western camp for half a century, had vacillated slowly toward the Russians such that the country was now likely lost to the West.
In 1945, Russian troops had moved into the northern province of Azerbaijan. The following year, Ali Hussein, U.N. envoy from Iran, demanded before the Security Council that Russian troops withdraw and they did. The Shah, for personal reasons, dismissed the Premier, who now plotted against him and would likely work with the Communists.
In mid-1949, the British owners of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Co. agreed to give Iran a larger cut of profits, but the Iranian Parliament turned it down. The Shah then sought money from the U.S. but obtained only a half million dollars.
In 1950, Ali Razmara was appointed Prime Minister and major reforms were planned out of a promised 100-million dollar loan from the Export-Import Bank, but the U.S. approved only 25 million and Iran, in retaliation, signed a 20-million dollar trade treaty with Russia. Radio Tehran stopped broadcasting the Voice of America and the BBC. Mr. Razmara voiced a line of neutrality.
During the current year, the Shah announced a program of land redistribution among half a million peasants. On March 7, a Moslem nationalist had assassinated Prime Minister Razmara and on March 11, Ali Hussein was appointed his successor. The British then warned Iran against canceling the oil concession on which it held a lease through 1993 and offered a 50-50 split of profits. But nationalization of the oil had been in the works for months and the lower house of Parliament moved forward with such a plan, to be delayed two months.
To try to quell a spirit of revolt, the Shah implemented part of the land reform program, turning over land to 163 peasants while soldiers maintained order with tommy-guns.
Ali Hussein was having trouble forming a new cabinet. The Senate had announced to vote on nationalization on this date—and, per the front page, had unanimously approved the measure.
This series of events had brought Iran to the point of revolt.
The New York Times had predicted that if the Parliament approved the nationalization, for which Iran was not equipped to manage, then there would soon be another agreement with Russia to run the oil fields, thus enabling Russia to have access to the prized Persian Gulf oil wells without having to bother with a takeover.
It suggests that had the U.S. approved the Export-Import Bank loan for the full amount, the trouble could have been avoided. The British also could have given concessions on the oil interests. The West had failed in Iran because it had not understood the growing spirit of nationalism afoot in the Middle East, did not understand the abject poverty of the people and did not realize that such poverty was breeding an alliance with Russia.
The only way to avoid nationalization of the oil should the Senate approve the measure would be for the Shah to dissolve the Parliament. If that occurred, it urges, the West then ought to review its whole policy toward Iran.
"Excess Baggage" agrees with Senator Harry F. Byrd that the RFC was created in a period of depression in 1932 and had outlived its usefulness, was "being used as a workshop by get-rich-quick political predators", and should be abolished. Jesse Jones, one of its early directors, had also recommended its elimination, as had the Hoover Task Force on efficiency in the Government.
"Community Easter Service" commends the Charlotte churches for cooperating in presenting an Easter sunrise service at Freedom Park the following Easter Sunday. The custom had been started by the Rev. Herbert Spaugh, who had come to his pastorate in Charlotte imbued with the traditions of the Moravians of Winston-Salem. While the Charlotte service had never attained the color or magnitude of that in Winston-Salem, which annually attracted thousands, it had become an important tradition for Charlotte. The Park & Recreation Department cooperated in the presentation of the service, along with the music departments of the city schools.
Another feature was the cooperative observance of Good Friday at the First Methodist Church.
Drew Pearson tells of Defense Mobilization director Charles E. Wilson receiving his advice on minerals from a lobbyist for the foreign mining interests. The lobbyist, Fred Searls, Jr., who had been hired to advise on securing minerals for defense, was also the president of a firm which had a large stake in South African mines. He advised Mr. Wilson against Government subsidies to domestic mines, though his own foreign interests had received Marshall Plan aid. He was opposed to expansion and exploration for domestic mining but preferred to have the Government buy from foreign sources, such as the South African mines. He also favored a reduction in the appropriations for stockpiling, though the country was dangerously short of strategic materials.
The column quotes from the secret testimony of Mr. Searls to the Senate Interior Committee, during which he made these revelations.
Stewart Alsop, following a trend of recent editorials by The News and by Ralph McGill of the Atlanta Constitution, comments on the recent U.P. poll which had established that among state and local Democratic leaders across the country, Senator Paul Douglas of Illinois was the preferred alternative candidate for the 1952 nomination should the President decide not to run, of which the President's closest associates believed there was a better than even chance.
Senator Douglas, who tired easily from his war wounds on Okinawa and napped as a result often during the day, appeared more as an economics professor, as he had been at the University of Chicago, than an aspiring presidential candidate. But he had established himself as a foreign policy spokesman and was noted for his intelligence and drive, was untainted by the cronyism and influence-peddling which was infecting the Administration and the Democratic Party. He was a member of the New Deal wing of the party but was also liked by conservatives for his stand on spending. Even Southerners did not dislike him, as he had never taken an extreme position on civil rights.
He had repeatedly told friends that he was not qualified to be President and appeared genuinely not to want the position. He had suggested that the Democrats nominate General Eisenhower should the President decide not to run and had even suggested that both parties ought nominate the General. The fact indicated that the General was, through no fault of his own, being transformed into a kind of father figure and that Senator Douglas sincerely did not want to run. Mr. Alsop urges, however, that if the President did not run, an eye ought be kept on Senator Douglas as a possible nominee.
Robert C. Ruark tells of the show
put on by Virginia Hill for the television viewers of the Kefauver
hearings having been beyond compare, even to Tallulah Bankhead in a
tizzy. He thinks Ms. Hill ought be given a show of her own as she had
developed a whole new art form with her testimony. Judy Holliday in
"Born Yesterday"
Despite having been a mob moll,
Bugsy Siegel having been murdered with a shot through the eye while
staying in her home when she was in Europe, the committee appeared to
be mesmerized by her and believe everything she had said. People kept
giving her money for which she appeared not very grateful. Her worst
vice, she had claimed
He regards her as either being a great actress or having been cut out to be a great lawyer and having managed both roles deftly before the committee, "more successfully than a parlay of the late Gene Fallon and Ethel Barrymore." Any secrets she had on the mob empire were safe, for she was "a girl who don't know nothin' about nobody, and is a little loath to say so."
An interview is reprinted from U.S. News & World Report with Dr. Ross McIntire, FDR's physician during his twelve years in the White House. Dr. McIntire assures that, contrary to rumors, the President was at all times alert and healthy while participating in the Yalta conference in January-February, 1945 and appeared healthy right up to the time he had left the last time for Warm Springs, Ga., in April, 1945. He had been sick with a flu virus which caused a chronic cough after the November, 1943 Tehran conference and the cough had lingered into the following March-April, prompting the President to visit the estate of Bernard Baruch in Hobcaw, S.C., a visit which enabled him fully to recuperate.
Afterward, Dr. McIntire had decided to reduce his weight by ten pounds, down to about 178, but the President liked the resultant lightness on his braces so much that he took off another five pounds. That made him appear gaunt, especially as he refused to buy new shirts to replace his wardrobe which had become too large around the neck.
Eventually, the President complained of weakness and agreed with Dr. McIntire that he should gain back some of the lost weight.
His blood pressure was normal for his age, 63 when he died, but could vacillate by 20 to 30 points during a day when he became upset about something.
Dr. McIntire said, without reservation, that the President was not a "dying man", as also rumored, when he was elected the fourth time in 1944 or during the subsequent Yalta conference. All of the specialists agreed on the state of his health in 1944, that he was up to serving a fourth term.
He doubted that his polio had contributed to his death but added that not much was known about the cause of cerebral hemorrhage, the immediate cause of death.
He had seen him before he went to Warm Springs the last time and would not have allowed him to risk the trip if he thought in any way that he was not fit for it.
Framed Edition
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