The Charlotte News
Saturday, May 26, 1951
TWO EDITORIALS
Site Ed. Note: The front page reports, via Olen Clements, that allied tank infantry columns had moved in large numbers into North Korea all along the 125-mile front this date, in hot pursuit of the fleeing enemy, surrendering in unprecedented numbers. The enemy had abandoned their more careful retreat only at night and were now fleeing in plain view of American aircraft, which hammered their movements. There were so many Chinese troops dead on some hills that one American officer said one had to be careful where he stepped. Enemy opposition was light. American and French forces linked up to eliminate enemy resistance along the important Honghon to Inje road. A U.S. task force reached Inje and South Korean forces to the east reportedly had occupied Yangyang, six miles north of the 38th parallel.
In a bi-weekly report to the U.N. for the latter half of April, General Matthew Ridgway, supreme commander of the U.N. forces in Korea, said that his troops had used loudspeaker broadcasts and dropped leaflets to warn Communists, before they began the April offensive, that they faced certain death. The report said that the enemy had expanded their forces to 70 divisions for the spring offensive drive, which had begun April 22. He said that more than 90,000 prisoners of war had been interned at a new prison camp on Koje-do island, south of Pusan. He also said that enemy guerrilla forces numbered 12,000 and were on the defensive, but that groups of battalion strength had been engaged in clashes in south-central Korea with U.N. troops.
General J. Lawton Collins, chief of staff of the Army, told the joint Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees this date that General MacArthur had violated a "policy" in sending American troops the prior November to the Manchurian border at the Yalu River. He corrected his previous day's statement in which he had called it a "directive" of the Joint Chiefs, said that he did not accuse the General of violating an order, per se. The Joint Chiefs nevertheless had feared that the General might do the same thing again with regard to violating policy.
General Collins also stated that the percentage of deaths among the wounded in Korea was a third less than in World War II, thanks to the medical personnel. He said that 90.4 percent of the non-battle casualties had returned to duty in the Far East, while 4.9 percent were returned to the U.S. for treatment and .3 percent had died. Of the battle-related casualties, 70.2 percent had returned to duty, 57.3 percent, to duty in the Far East.
This date, some 175,000 young men in college, who did not qualify by class standing, were taking their ETS-administered aptitude test to determine whether they could obtain deferment from the draft. The standards were otherwise that a freshman had to be in the upper half of the class or score 75, sophomores, in the upper two-thirds or score 70, juniors in the upper three-fourths or score 70, and seniors allowed to complete their education, with seniors headed to graduate school required to be in the upper half or score 75. Many colleges and universities were taking final exams during this same period. Another 325,000 students would take the test on three subsequent dates through mid-July.
The report provides samples of the types of questions which would be posed, such as: "If one pound of oranges equals 2 to 4 oranges, what is the least possible weight in pounds of three dozen oranges, 6, 9, 12, 16 or 18?"
24 or 36, 224, thus none of the above.
Unless you want to get blowed full of holes, you'd better get a good night's rest.
Can't compare apples to oranges. How much do the apples weigh on the moon?
In Tehran, the U.S., through Ambassador Henry Grady, informed the Iranian Government that the oil dispute with Britain could seriously weaken the free world and urged negotiations aimed at settlement. The Dutch Government, the British Government and the Anglo-Iranian Oil Co., 53 percent British-owned, asked the International Court of Justice at The Hague to intervene in the matter. The previous day, Premier Mohammed Mossadegh of Iran said that it was imperative to nationalize the oil to relieve poverty in the country.
The Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen had settled the wage dispute with the nation's railroads which had lingered for two years, but other unions had still not reached agreement. The BRT settled for a raise of 33 cents per hour for yardmen and 18.5 cents for those in road service, retroactive to October 1.
Bob Sain of The News reports that indications were that the bus strike in Charlotte and five other Carolinas cities might be lengthy, possibly, according to one informed source, as much as a month or longer. Mayor Victor Shaw said that plans for a substitute bus service during the interim were being considered. Efforts to resolve the strike between the BRT, representative of the workers, and Duke Power Co., operator of the buses, continued to be fruitless and the effort was abandoned for the nonce.
An attorney for the Yellow Cab Co. said that a restraining order would be sought to permit the company to continue use of its meters during the bus strike rather than be constrained to a 25-cent per passenger emergency mandatory flat-rate fare, as ordered by the City Council, effective at noon this date.
Queen Mother Mary turned 84 in London and received 24 truckloads of gifts, flowers and telegrams before noon.
Well, aren't we special?
Bet you don't have to worry about getting to work via the bus.
On the editorial page, "A Suggestion for Six Mayors" regards the bus strike and the failure of the two sides to have come together during the week to work out at least a temporary resolution to avoid cessation of bus service in Charlotte, Salisbury, Winston-Salem, and High Point, N.C., and Greenville and Spartanburg, S.C. The issue was whether the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen, representing the drivers and mechanics, would accept the same five-cent raise provided by Duke Power Co. to its Greensboro and Durham drivers and mechanics the previous December. Those employees were represented by Amalgamated. The BRT demanded a ten percent wage increase, averaging to 13.5 cents per hour.
After reviewing the competing positions in detail, it suggests to the six mayors, who had worked diligently to try to effect a resolution, that they urge Governors Kerr Scott and James Byrnes to appoint a joint commission, comprised of varied interests, to review the wage dispute and then make a recommendation of a fair wage increase. In the meantime, the striking drivers and mechanics would return to work on the five-cent increase, pending the findings of the commission, which would not be binding on either side. Such a resolution, it suggests, would provide moral authority to the mayors to pressure the BRT to accept a reasonable compromise, while also in the meantime serving the public interest in keeping public transportation running.
Head 'em up, keep 'em in...
"Clash in Iran?" tells of the British having sent 4,000 paratroopers to Cypress, a few hours flying time from Iran, in apparent preparation for entry to southern Iran in the event of seizure of the British oil interests of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Co., on which Britain's economy was heavily dependent. Soviet Ambassador, Gregory Pushkin, had promised that in that event, the Soviets would resist the move, in contravention to assurances provided by Soviet Ambassador to Iran Sadchikov to Premier Mohammed Mossadegh that Russia would not intervene.
Indications were that there would be a full-scale clash between the Russians and the British should the British paratroopers be deployed. It would be therefore a calculated risk by the British, based on testing the Russians' resolve.
The piece recommends that in view of the consequences, the paratroopers ought be either withdrawn from Cyprus or the British prepared to fight the Russians in Iran.
A piece from the Richmond Times-Dispatch, titled "Problems of MacArthur Norfolk Visit", tells of the General's announcement that he would visit his mother's homeplace in Norfolk the following month, resulting in local panic as it was realized that the old antebellum mansion was a wreck. Not much could be done in such a short period to improve it greatly, but the City was deliberating on whether to make it appear at least more presentable for the General's visit. Some City officials were reported not to have any great affection for the General, complicating the matter the more.
The piece suggests that if the General were prepared for the dilapidated mansion, then it would not be so great a shock and, meanwhile, the City ought consider simple and economical ways to make it appear better. Someone, however, had to impart the news to the General that his mother's homeplace was a "ghastly skeleton", made so by time, fire, and the neighborhood's deterioration generally.
Drew Pearson tells of a group within the Cabinet and the State Department policy committee working with the DNC to try to find a suitable replacement for Secretary of State Acheson. One of the leaders was Secretary of Interior Oscar Chapman. The group wanted a progressive, internationally-minded Republican who was vigorous and healthy, with Congressional experience.
Republicans did not want Mr. Acheson replaced as he proved to be good political fodder for them and they also knew that the more they criticized him publicly, the more the President would stand by him. The previous year, Mr. Acheson had told the President that he wanted to retire at the beginning of 1951, but changed course because of the adverse change of fortune in Korea in November and December. When the crisis subsided, the MacArthur debate arose and again Secretary Acheson felt it incumbent upon him to remain.
The bitter conflict between the pro-Taft forces and pro-Eisenhower forces within the GOP for the 1952 party nomination for the presidency had been carefully concealed until the present, but the struggle for convention delegates would soon force the controversy into the open. The fight for the Texas delegates was typical. The Eisenhower spokesman in Texas was oil man H. J. "Jack" Porter, a personal friend of the General and a big Republican contributor. He had been lining up delegates but had been undercut in recent weeks by Henry Zweifel of Fort Worth, a member of the RNC, who had told supporters of the General that he had been selected to round up the Eisenhower delegates. The resulting confusion worked in favor of Senator Taft. Few knew that Mr. Zweifel was in fact committed to the Senator, had been since early in the year.
Friction was increasing between General Matthew Ridgway and President Syngman Rhee of South Korea. President Rhee was trying to convince General Ridgway to free 35,000 screened North Korean prisoners of war so that they could join the South Korean army and help in the spring farming in South Korea. Lt. General James Van Fleet rejected the screening report, which had said that these prisoners were reformed, expressing his lack of trust of them. General Ridgway backed him up in that opinion, but President Rhee responded that most of these prisoners had been forced into Communism and were not ideological adherents, said that while they worked they would be observed to insure that they were loyal. General Ridgway nevertheless refused the request for fear that they would rejoin the fight against the U.N. troops.
Marquis Childs tells of the President having written a letter to U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Learned Hand upon his retirement from the bench at age 79 after 27 years on the Court. Judge Hand was regarded as a preeminent jurist in legal circles and a prime candidate during his career for appointment to the Supreme Court, an appointment which, however, never came.
President Truman had appointed four Justices, including Chief Justice Fred Vinson. All four had been political cronies, Justices Harold Burton and Sherman Minton having been fellow Senators during the President's ten years in the Senate, and Justice Tom Clark having been the President's Attorney General.
Mr. Childs finds that having so many political appointees on the Court resulted in split decisions, such that it was difficult to know where the Justices stood on important issues. The Court recently had split 4 to 4 on whether a person fired from a Federal job because of loyalty issues had the right under the Sixth Amendment to confront and cross-examine the witnesses against him or her, leaving the lower court decision intact, which had held in favor of the Government and against the individual, in this case Dorothy Bailey. Justice Clark had recused himself as he had been Attorney General at the time the case arose, another drawback, points out Mr. Childs, to having political appointees on the Court.
He praises Judge Hand for having served justice well during his tenure, without resort to politics.
Always weigh the benefit to society
of any given attractive nuisance against its potential danger to the
public and the reasonably affordable ability to make it more safe, such as by plainly visible warning of the pitfalls, and you will follow Judge Hand's well-known formula in torts.
Cf. The merry-go-round
Robert C. Ruark tells of teachers, via the High School Teachers Association, having decided that they would not serve extracurricular activities in or out of the classroom beyond that which was necessary for "safety and decency". He finds it a sign of the times, a function of low salaries for teachers.
He tells of one of his young teachers, Miss Knight, when he was in seventh grade in Wilmington, who had supervised the students in swimming in the creek, after advising the boys to cease skinny-dipping so that the girls could participate, had also substituted for the left end when he was injured in a football game, and was good at kissing games. She was "pretty-ugly" and when she crossed her knees, her bloomers sometimes showed, "lending a touch of sex to a class that included a lout named Shepherd who was about a year older than Carrie", the teacher.
She had spent a great deal of time outside class trying to civilize the students and as a result when she was injured in an airplane accident, she received more sincere attention from her graduates than was ever accorded Dr. Robert Hutchins, renowned educator, formerly of the University of Chicago.
Apply the Learned Hand formula to this situation and remain out of the draft. You have ten minutes. Discuss.
Tom Schlesinger of The News, in his weekly "Capital Roundup", tells of Senator Pat McCarran of Nevada having found a champion in Senator Willis Smith of North Carolina in the former's effort to block exemption of the Nimitz commission, charged with study of Government loyalty issues, from the conflict of interests law which forbade a person for two years from representing a party before the Government after leaving its employ. The law had prevented the President's appointees from serving. Congress had previously exempted members of the Hoover Commission which had studied Government efficiency in the executive department. Senator Smith agreed with Senator McCarran, however, that there was no reason for the exemption in the case of the Nimitz commisssion as there were many persons qualified to serve who would not care about the law's restrictive provisions.
The House Judiciary Committee, meanwhile, had unanimously approved a bill for exemption. An effort to bypass the McCarran committee was being attempted but had little chance of success, as it would likely be blocked in the Senate Rules Committee.
Senator Clyde Hoey had opined that the law was not intended to apply to private citizens serving on temporary commissions.
The Senate Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Departments reported wide disagreement among agencies regarding implementation of recommendations by the Hoover Commission anent the Agriculture Department. GAO head Lindsay Warren of North Carolina told the Committee that some savings could be accomplished by the pending bill but that until obsolete Government functions were eliminated there would be no real savings.
Both North Carolina Senators were aware of the connection between the rollback in meat prices and cotton price ceilings.
Both Senators had voted for the loan of 190 million dollars worth of surplus grain to India to prevent starvation there. Senator Hoey had been instrumental in knocking down a proposed amendment by Senator Styles Bridges which would have required that India repay the loan with a certain amount of monazite. Senator Hoey responded that North Carolina had a plentiful supply of monazite, enough to supply the nation's needs. The amendment, however, passed when changed to include both monazite and manganese (or "manganize" as it is spelled in the column, in quotes). That's like Manganizine, the official publication of the Manganizinites, a religious cult who believe in handling manganize, only in the nitetime, for physical and spiritual holism.
Parenthetically, we note, as just today, that we continue to see plentiful incorrect spelling in news stories of the past tense of "lead" as "lead", as in a pencil, rather than "led", all lit up as a Christmas tree. "Lead" is not an acceptable variant; to be the past tense of itself would make no sense in the English language, would result in "leaded", or unleaded, as the case be, as distinguished from untoward
Yes, smart-aleck and alas, we realize that recently we caught ourselves confusing "warn" and "worn", both of which having properly appeared in the same paragraph, in summary of a Robert Ruark column. It was 5:00 a.m. and we was tired—and, at least, did correct the orthographically challenged rendering a few hours later. We refer to routine misusage and cliche, not aberrant typographical errors and transient mental glitches for want of rest.
No less than three times in a story we saw this week, "lead" was used for "led", being corrosive of the internal components of the reader's engine, producing a red reaction, as being lost in the midst of a misty, reeded swamp, not to mention the nozzle used to put it in the tank being, for its necessarily mangled constriction, bent to unrecognition. So, again, on bended knee, we beseech ye, Your Highness, to cease use of such fouled and plugged-up lang
The Senate Democratic leadership had called for acceleration of all legislation to permit a two-month recess from August 1 to October 1, effectively a year-round session with time out in late summer, in lieu of the July 21 adjournment for each session recommended as a goal in the Congressional reorganization plan.
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