The Charlotte News

Friday, February 15, 1952

FIVE EDITORIALS

Site Ed. Note: The front page reports that that the negotiating committee regarding instructions to belligerent governments would meet the following day to hear a new Communist proposal for the permitted areas of discussion at a proposed Korean peace conference to take place 90 days after signing of the armistice. Meanwhile, staff officers working on prisoner exchange reported some slight progress this date while the truce supervision staff officers only marked time, still discussing differences on troop rotation and the number of ports of entry to be inspected by neutral teams, with an allied spokesman saying that it appeared the Communists in that meeting were stalling until the Saturday plenary session. Other than the issue of voluntary repatriation, the prisoner exchange meeting had only to work out minor disagreements on wording. There was no hint as to what the new proposal by the Communists would be after the allies had agreed to two of the previous three-point agenda for the proposed conference, nixing the proposal that discussions would include other issues beyond Korea, such as Formosa and Indo-China.

On Peiping radio, Communist China's Premier Chou En-lai accused the U.N. command of "shameless stalling" while preparing for "a new aggressive war on a still larger scale" in Asia.

In the ground war, allied artillery sent a large barrage of shells into Communist positions on the eastern front this date for more than an hour, and for 15 minutes battered Communist positions above the Mundung Valley, which had served as a springboard for one of the heaviest Communist attacks in weeks on Thursday night, with two enemy companies spearheading the attack and another thousand troops following right behind, intending to drive a wedge through the main U.N. lines, stopped cold after a 49-minute battle, much of which had been at close quarters. While there was no official report of enemy casualties, the allied troops were exuberant, indicating that enemy losses must have been "very heavy". An Associated Press correspondent, Stan Carter, who observed the fight from a hillside bunker, indicated that the enemy lost at least 160 men.

In the air war, storms kept allied aircraft on the ground during the morning, but in the afternoon, allied aircraft had damaged one enemy jet in a four-minute battle between 19 U.S. Sabres and 30 Communist MIG jets. Fifth Air Force planes flew 289 sorties during the day, hitting enemy supply lines.

The Army announced that enlisted members of the National Guard and the Organized Reserve presently on duty involuntarily would be released as individuals after 20 to 24 months of duty, impacting about 325,000 men, speeding up their prospective release from active service, to begin the following month. National Guard anti-aircraft units would not be subject to the plan. The program of release was to be completed by May, 1953.

Clarence Mitchell, Washington Bureau director of the NAACP, criticized both General Eisenhower and Senator Estes Kefauver on the issue of racial segregation, saying that the Senator had once voted for segregation in the armed forces and that the General had told the NAACP that black soldiers mixed with whites "would be at a disadvantage". The Senator's office indicated that he had once backed a proposal to allow men in uniform to decide whether they would serve in segregated or non-segregated units. No one offered any comment on behalf of General Eisenhower.

Senator Wayne Morse of Oregon criticized Senator Taft for saying that he had "no confidence" in the present Joint Chiefs, indicating, without naming Senator Taft, that such statements should not be made, shaking public confidence in military leadership. Senator Taft, meanwhile, was campaigning in Idaho, stating that the potato issue of a few years earlier, was an example of "Federal bungling in industry" and that the Administration's Far East policy was wrong, that the Chinese Nationalists should be armed.

Governor Earl Warren of California stated in New York that he did not believe that General MacArthur should deliver the keynote address to the Republican convention in Chicago in July, that the keynote should not be delivered by a candidate.

Key Congressional leaders indicated that the President's request for far-reaching investigative powers for his appointee to clean up the executive branch, Newbold Morris, including the ability to subpoena documents and persons and allow for granting immunity to witnesses, was unprecedented and a departure from established practice. Previously, Congress had granted the subpoena power only to its own committees and certain executive agencies such as the FTC, the FPC, and the INS. The power had never been granted to a single individual.

Another Gallup poll appears which indicated that the President remained the top choice of Democrats for the 1952 nomination but that Senator Kefauver was gaining fast in popularity. Among both Democrats and Independents, the Senator polled a greater combined preference among respondents than did the President. Among Democrats only, the President polled 36 percent to Senator Kefauver's 21 percent, while Vice-President Alben Barkley was the choice of 17 percent, with three other candidates, not including eventual nominee Governor Adlai Stevenson, in single digits. Among Independent voters, Senator Kefauver was the choice of 36 percent for the Democratic nomination, followed by the President at 18 percent, Senator Paul Douglas at 14 percent, and Vice-President Barkley at 10 percent, with two others in single digits. The interviewing for the poll had begun January 19 before the current boom for Governor Stevenson had begun. A new poll was being conducted, which would include Governor Stevenson's name among the list of potential candidates. George Gallup points out in the report of the results that the poll should not be taken as an indication of how the individual candidates might perform in particular state primaries.

Congressman Robert Doughton of North Carolina, chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee, having previously announced, at age 88, that he would run again for Congress in 1952, changed his mind and stated that he would instead retire at the end of the year. He said that after making his previous announcement, he had been hospitalized under the direction of the Capitol physician for a few days with a heavy cold and upon the advice of his physician that his physical condition would not safely permit the strain of another campaign while also discharging his duties in Congress, had changed his mind. He had served in Congress since 1911, four years less than the longest active serving Congressman, Adolph Sabath of Illinois, four years younger than Mr. Doughton.

A House subcommittee investigating the Securities & Exchange Commission reported that it had "no credible evidence reflecting adversely on the honesty and integrity" of SEC chairman Harry McDonald, who had been nominated by the President to become the new administrator of the RFC, a nomination which had been held up in the Senate Banking Committee, pending the outcome of the House inquiry.

In Gainesville, Fla., more than 200 students at the University of Florida were being investigated for cheating on an examination, according to a reliable University source. Some were football players, but they were a minor part of the group. The University president, Dr. J. Hillis Miller, confirmed that an investigation was being conducted but would not say how many students were involved.

In Windsor, England, King George VI, who had died nine days earlier in his sleep after prolonged illness, was laid to rest, after a 2 1/2 hour procession in which new Queen Elizabeth II rode in a horse-drawn carriage behind the caisson bearing the coffin, while a dirge was played by ten bands, as more than a million Britons lined the streets of London in chilly weather to pay their final respects. The deceased King was buried in a crypt at St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, along with the remains of nine former monarchs, including George III. He was buried alongside his brother, the Duke of Kent, who had been killed in a wartime air crash. Present at the funeral were Prime Minister Churchill, seven sovereigns from other countries, Secretary of State Acheson representing President Truman, and the Soviet Ambassador to Britain.

On the editorial page, "Sound Advice from the VA" commends the Veterans Administration, despite having joined previously a chorus of criticism of the agency, for its adoption of new safeguards against abuses of G.I. schooling programs under the G.I. Bill, for Korean War veterans. The VA had asked that training and educational institutions be required to prove their quality before becoming eligible to train veterans and receive Government payments for it, to correct abuses from the World War II program. Veterans of Korea would still benefit considerably from the more tightly written law while taxpayers also would benefit from more efficient administration.

It indicates that while Congress might hesitate to change the law in an election year, doing so would cause a favorable reaction from a majority of the voters.

"Here's Something You Can Do" urges taxpayers to write their Congressman in support of a resolution which would soon be before the House to change House rules to require a record vote on all spending bills, as introduced by Congressman Dwight Rogers of Florida. The proposed rule change had been bottled up in the House Rules Committee, but had recently been set for a hearing by Congressman Adolph Sabath of Illinois, chairman of the Committee, who had indicated his support for the change. In many cases, the House approved spending bills by voice vote, preventing taxpayers from knowing how Representatives had voted. It favors adoption of the requirement of a record vote on such bills.

>"New Trend in Gobbledygook?" tells of the nation for years wading through an alphabet soup of initials standing for various Government agencies and non-governmental organizations, some of which it lists by alphabetic letters. In the Pentagon alone, there were over 1,500 official abbreviations, some of which utilized six letters. Too many letters in an abbreviation or acronym rendered it useless, necessitating an abbreviation of the abbreviation.

Another slow Friday at the editorial desk…

"Democracy Requires Many Words" tells of over 10 million words having been spoken during the recent Paris session of the General Assembly, according to unofficial U.N. statistics. In addition, 8,000 documents had been produced and 40 million copies made on mimeograph machines.

During the meeting, the Assembly had established a Disarmament Commission to study the reduction of worldwide armaments, and had passed a resolution which called upon members to maintain armed forces at the ready for action against an aggressor.

Despite the prodigious verbiage, the first session of the 82nd Congress had produced 12 million words in the Congressional Record, according to Senator Matt Neely of West Virginia, in addition to the millions of additional words uttered in scores of committee meetings and investigations. During 1951, Congress had approved 35 major bills and a few hundred minor and private bills.

While most people were apt to criticize such prolixity, it was better to have such free discussion in a democracy, it posits, despite its time consumption, than to be governed in a manner which did not permit adequate discussion of issues, as it was that discussion which enabled democracy to work.

"Making Trucks Welcome" tells of trucking companies having expanded in the state as the highways had developed, a welcome business enterprise for economic growth. But occasionally there was an out-of-state truck which was even more welcome in the state by the fact that it had mud guards on its rear wheels, showing a regard for passenger cars forced to follow. If the trucks originating in state were so equipped, either by law or voluntarily, they would be much less of a nuisance in wet weather, such as had occurred in recent days. It suggests to the trucking industry that it would be a good gesture to instill goodwill among the residents of the state, as well as creating a favorable impression in other states where those trucks would travel.

An editorial from the New York Times endorses General Eisenhower for the Republican nomination and in the general election, focusing on the New Hampshire primary set for March 11. It advises that it was an independent newspaper which had supported the Republican candidate, Governor Dewey, in 1948. It asserts that it was time for a change in control of the Government, especially as the Democrats were a "tired party", beset by "intraparty strife and infirmity of will" on important domestic issues, with the "slipshod administration and easy toleration of corruption typical of a party too long in power".

It finds that such was the considered judgment of a great number of independent voters across the country, weary of what was going on in Washington, deeply troubled by the corruption, the appeals to class and sectional interests, the rising debt and "loose fiscal thinking". These independent voters would be necessary for the Republicans to achieve victory in 1952. It posits that it would be folly for the Republicans to believe that they would only need nominate a party stalwart, popular among the other party stalwarts, and walk away with victory. Republican party stalwarts had long become a minority in the country. The independent voters held the balance of power in a dozen populous states, containing a large proportion of the electoral votes. The Republicans would be hard-pressed to win the election, no matter who the Democrats nominated.

It asserts that there were two tests to be applied to determine who could woo these independent voters, the first being that the candidate had to be able to demonstrate that he was fully aware of the critical importance of maintaining a solid front among the democratic nations and that he was capable of doing so, and, second, that his record and character would re-establish a period of confidence and mutual respect among all groups and factions in the country such that American private enterprise could prosper to full advantage. Based on these tests, it supports General Eisenhower and recommends him to the voters of New Hampshire in the first preferential primary.

Drew Pearson again regards the fact that Russia was outproducing the U.S. in planes and also building up a reservoir of battle-tested pilots to fly them, utilizing Korea as a training ground for the purpose. The Russians were regularly rotating their pilots in flying the MIG jets over Korea to learn battle techniques. They began with navigational flights, then graduated to observation of American formations at a safe distance, casually making a pass at a bomber formation but never firing a shot while making sure they stayed out of the way of the U.S. F-86 Sabre jets during this training period. During the third month of the training, they would begin to engage the American fighters, preferably the slower F-80 Shooting Stars and F-84 Thunderjets, before taking on the Sabres. The result was that the green Russian pilots were shot down at the rate of 13 to 1, vis-à-vis American pilots. But the survivors became toughened and skillful.

He notes that by contrast, the U.S. sent up only crack pilots to fly over Korea, giving the new pilots no battle training, as the allies were short of Sabres and could not risk allowing untrained pilots to fly them in combat.

A lot of schools across the country were taking advantage of the Voice of America's program of having schoolchildren broadcast to schoolchildren behind the Iron Curtain, and many newspapers were also cooperating, in Charleston, W. Va., in Los Angeles, and in Wichita.

For the first time in years, a Senate committee would defy an unwritten code against questioning members of Congress, as the Senate D.C. Crime Committee wanted to know why certain Congressmen had been friendly with gambling kingpin Frank Costello's Washington lobbyist, Murray Olf, who had a criminal record, was friendly with racketeer Joe Adonis and had made calls to Mr. Costello's partner, Phil Kastel. Mr. Olf had entertained at least 50 Congressmen at cocktail parties and some had been very close to him, at least one running errands for him. The Crime Committee intended to take statements from these Congressmen, including James Morrison of Louisiana, James Murphy of New York, Louis Rabaut of Michigan and Edwin Willis of Louisiana. Mr. Pearson notes that it was fear of something like this practice which had prevented extension of the work of the special Senate crime committee which had begun its work in 1950 under the leadership of Senator Estes Kefauver.

Dr. Walter Schreiber, who had been identified as conducting experiments on human guinea pigs in German concentration camps during World War II, following a protest by the Massachusetts Medical Association to the President for being employed by the Air Force at Randolph Field in Texas, had issued a statement saying that he had a six-month contract with the Air Force, after which he intended to return to Germany, and denied being associated with any wartime experiments on human beings in the concentration camps, as had been charged by the evidence before the Nuremberg war crimes tribunal.

Marquis Childs, in Springfield, Ill., tells of Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson having undertaken a large and successful campaign to clean up the machine politics and corruption which had preceded him, but yet having a long way to go in that effort, in a state which was beset by a corrupt past. Even several Republican newspapers had praised his prodigious efforts. Thus, it was not surprising that he was being touted as a strong possibility for the Democratic presidential nomination, should the President decide not to run again.

The Governor had confronted two scandals, one being horse meat sold in restaurants and stores as high quality beef, leading to the firing of his chief meat inspector who had admitted taking bribes from racketeers and nine others. The other scandal involved cigarette fraud, forgery of the State cigarette stamps, in which he had gone perhaps beyond the bounds of his authority to apprehend the culprits.

The previous week, a Republican ward chairman, who was an acting committeeman on the West Side of Chicago, had been shot by seven shotgun blasts as he was walking home, apparently because he had challenged organized crime elements which had been trying to take political control in several wards.

The Governor had experience in both foreign and domestic areas at the national level and therefore would be an inevitable choice for the Democratic nomination. His strong stand on the side of clean government in a time when there were so many scandals at the national level made all Americans grateful that there were some public officials who could still "hew to the line of integrity and decency."

Robert C. Ruark says that every time he had gone to Madison Square Garden to watch the dogs being shown in the annual Westminster dog show, he had come away relieved that the dog persons were showing the dogs, "because if the dogs were showing the dog persons nobody would win anything." He finds a dog person kin to a horse person in that both resembled physically the animals they showed. But whereas the horse persons dressed nattily, the dog persons looked like "something the dog just dragged in", which was not the case. The female dog person was apt to be dowdier than the male, wearing "saggy tweed skirts and twisted stockings, with some emphasis on mousy hair, horn-rimmed spectacles, and low-heeled brogans." The male dog person wore "baggy-slacks" and was apt to "decorate his hat with a band of pheasant feathers and his belly with a Tattersall vest." He believed that some of them drank because of their flushed faces and a certain pervasive odor that could not be "entirely composed of kibble". They usually wore crewcuts or let their hair run wild over their collars.

He had seen a female dog person crouching in a vacated cage performing tricks with a crossword puzzle, while the dog apparently was elsewhere observing.

There were signs which prevented the dogs from petting the people, which the dogs obeyed strictly. The dogs appeared too afraid of obtaining germs from the people to bite them, apparently being informed that they could contract hydrophobia or some other virus.

He concludes that as the evening wore on, one wondered what the dogs saw in the people.

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