The Charlotte News
Thursday, March 14, 1957
THREE EDITORIALS
Site Ed. Note: The front page reports that in Havana, Cuba, tank-supported troops had wiped out a bold student attempt to capture or kill President Fulgencio Batista, in fighting which had taken an estimated 40 lives, including an American tourist from New Jersey, killed as he watched the battle from the fifth-floor balcony of the Regis Hotel. Among the dead was the president of the University of Havana students' federation and a former Congressman when Carlos Prio Soccarras had been President. The death of another revolutionary leader, a former Senator, whose body had been found early this date on the grounds of a suburban country club, was not yet immediately known to have been the result of the attempt against Sr. Batista. Another estimated 60 persons had been wounded. The Government had said that the entire nation was calm early this date. A curfew imposed after the assault on the presidential palace in the heart of Havana had been lifted the previous night, and many persons, including American tourists, moved about as usual in bars, restaurants and nightclubs. Armored cars and tanks were still mobilized around the palace, Sr. Batista's office and residence, the only remaining open signs of the trouble which had erupted the previous afternoon. There had been no official announcement of arrests, but it was evident that police were carrying out an intensive search for participants in the attack.
Before the Senate Select Committee investigating racketeering and organized crime influence within the Teamsters Union, Portland, Ore., District Attorney William Langley had refused this date to answer questions regarding whether he had interests in gambling establishments, having been confronted with purported recordings of his own conversations with racketeers, as recorded at the direction of previous witness James Elkins, an admitted racketeer in Portland and described by the Committee as "king of the underworld" in that city. A Committee transcript of one recording had quoted Mr. Langley as telling Seattle gambler Joe McLaughlin: "You can't have prostitution going, Joe, with this screwball in Salem," with an appended note indicating that it was Mr. Langley's description for Oregon Attorney General Robert Thornton. Senator John McClellan, chairman of the Committee, said that so much of the language in the recordings was "obscene and vulgar" that they could not be played publicly, but that full transcripts were available to the Committee. Mr. Langley had fidgeted nervously as the tape recordings had been played. He invoked the Fifth Amendment, declining to answer many of the questions posed by the Committee members and investigators, noting that he was under indictment in Oregon on conspiracy charges. One question put to him had been whether he had an interest in any gambling establishment when he had run for the office of district attorney. Others had included whether he had any interest in any establishment with Mr. Elkins, whether there was gambling at any establishment he owned jointly with Mr. Elkins, and whether he ever had paid any money to Mr. Elkins. The hearings had begun this date with Senator McClellan reading a statement regarding the circumstances attendant the arrest the previous night of Jimmy Hoffa, vice-president of the Teamsters Union, Mr. Hoffa having been accused of scheming to plant an agent on the Committee's staff, charged with attempting to bribe Federal employees. Senator McClellan said that the Committee would meet any challenge, and Committee member, Senator Karl Mundt of South Dakota said: "Goon squad methods applied to the U.S. Senate will not work."
Mr. Hoffa, reputed to be the real
power in the Teamsters—Senator McClellan having said this date that, according to the information he had, he practically controlled "all transportation
In Manchester, England, a Viscount airliner, pride of Britain's commercial air fleet, had plunged through three houses and burst into flames upon landing this date, with all 20 persons aboard having perished, and a woman and child in one of the houses being reported missing. A spokesman at Lancashire police headquarters said that the plane "apparently overshot the runway while coming in to land and hit houses on a council estate", that is a suburban housing project. The police said that there were people inside the houses, but they did not yet know how many. The Viscount aircraft had been sold in increasing numbers to American firms, being the world's first commercial turboprop jet airliner, normally carrying 47 passengers.
In Raleigh, reorganization of the State Highway Commission had moved a step closer to reality this date, as the State House had approved a measure already passed by the State Senate, with the bill now returning to the Senate for acceptance of two minor amendments made in the House, before it would become law—the Governor at that time not having veto power. The bill would change the number of members of the body from its current 15 down to seven.
Charles Kuralt of The News reports from Myrtle Beach, S.C., that according to the accusations of Horace Carter, Tabor City editor and owner of several newspapers in the Carolinas, there was corruption in the Horry County sheriff's department which had produced a widening investigation by Federal agents, with a Federal grand jury set to receive the evidence on March 25 in Aiken, S.C. Mr. Kuralt found Myrtle Beach quiet this date, with the long line of beachfront concessions still boarded up for the winter and 7,000 permanent residents going about their business on the streets. Two months hence, however, there would be 30,000 tourists swarming into the town with their cares behind them and their pockets full of money, ready to place nickels and dimes into beachside juke boxes, adding up to big cash and big-time competition among the jukebox companies, at the heart of Mr. Carter's charges, having indicated that sheriff's deputies had pressured amusement operators to change jukebox firms. He had also charged that some deputies had conspired to protect bootleggers and others with night hunting in the Horry County wilds—Mr. Kuralt making it clear that it was pronounced "Awree"—, claiming that he had enough evidence to back up the accusations, even in the face of a flat denial from the sheriff. Mr. Carter had issued his statements in bylined reports in his Loris Sentinel, which had created a sensation in Myrtle Beach, with citizens everywhere talking it over. A county grand jury had adjourned after hearing testimony for six days, taking no action, but suggesting that it might do so later. The population of Myrtle Beach had doubled in the previous five years, and now an airbase was being built three miles south of town which would bring 4,000 servicemen and a payroll of a million dollars per month to the area. The sheriff's department, based in Conway, 14 miles from Myrtle Beach, had sole authority for law enforcement outside the county's incorporated towns, and now that the department was under investigation, the area was filled with Federal Alcohol Tax Unit agents, dispatched from as far away as Georgia, Alabama and Washington, engaged in collecting evidence. It was common knowledge that despite bars being illegal, nobody had to refrain from drinking alcohol during the summer, as liquor by the drink could be purchased and privately owned, State regulated liquor stores abounded. There was also white lightning available.
The Loris Sentinel was, in consequence of the continuing story, selling for 50 cents per copy in Myrtle Beach, a restaurant owner having indicated that he had one for 30 minutes and then had to give it back. A front page bylined editorial by Mr. Carter this date carried fresh accusations against the sheriff's department, as had been ongoing for a month. Mr. Carter had won a Pulitzer Prize in 1953 for his expose of Klansmen who had terrorized residents, including several white people, in and around Whiteville, N.C., with nighttime floggings. Mr. Carter also edited the Tabor City Tribune, just over the North Carolina line, where he lived. Everyone in town knew him and most of them liked him, having elected him as the Mayor for two terms. His papers were weeklies, and the people knew him so well that they knew not to dismiss his accusations lightly, despite many having absolute confidence in the popular sheriff.
Julian Scheer of The News reports that a woman would be nominated for the Charlotte Park Board vacancy at the ensuing week's City Council meeting, according to what the newspaper had learned this date, and that the nomination would be made by a male member of the Council and would receive support of other male members.
In Copenhagen, Denmark, actress Anita Ekberg had flown in this date, denying that she was running away from her British husband, actor Anthony Steel, also denying that there was any rift between them, saying that she had come to Copenhagen for rest and nothing else. She had departed the Rio de Janeiro film festival unexpectedly the previous day, having gone so hurriedly that she had no time to pack suitcases and had arrived at the airport carrying some clothes on her arm. Mr. Steel said that his wife was leaving because of sickness in the family, but her mother in Sweden, just across the sound from Copenhagen, indicated that the only member of the family who was ill was her grandmother, who had been suffering from heart disease for six months. Mr. Steel said that he was returning to Los Angeles to close the couple's house and had a reservation on Scandinavian Airlines for its polar flight for Saturday night. He said that they had been traveling since they had been married a year earlier and had not had an opportunity to be alone together, but were still very much in love. Ms. Ekberg said that the story printed in a Rio de Janeiro newspaper that there was a "serious dispute" between them was "a lot of nonsense".
Well, that is definitely encouraging
to hear. We had been pacing the floor for days about it
On the editorial page, "Why City Limits Must Be Extended" tells of the board of directors of Charlotte's Chamber of Commerce having provided more than rubber-stamp assent to the proposed annexation, contributing to the public's understanding of the necessity for it.
The members of the Chamber's special committee had traveled around the area proposed for annexation, sifting facts and figures, interviewing officials, studying special problems, and gauging advantages and disadvantages, the previous afternoon having delivered a full report endorsing the principle of extension of the city limits and recommending passage of the proposed annexation act without exceptions or exclusions. The Chamber's argument was notable, it finds, for its realism and foresight.
It indicates that its only regret
was that the project could not have been undertaken earlier, prior to
the controversy having reached its present stage. The report was
consistent with that which had been stated by the City Council, from
which it quotes, as well as by Mayor Philip Van Every, from whom it
also quotes. It urges that the annexation take place for the benefit
of the whole community and with an eye toward the future of a
metropolitan giant which was choosing between progress
"Praise Thrift & Pass the Appropriation" finds that the passing of the buck between the Administration and Congress regarding who would have the responsibility to cut the budget had reached a new peak of hilarity the previous day, with the President at his press conference being as sympathetic as ever with talk of economy, saying that the budget could be cut, but that he could not respond to a House request for advice on how to do so, that the House would have to do it itself, whereupon the President announced his intention to take a leisurely cruise to Bermuda, leaving Congress with the responsibility.
At that point, the House cut off four million dollars from the President's executive office budget, hardly much of a dent, however, in the overall 72 billion dollar budget. Yet, the four million dollars represented 26 percent of what the President had sought to run his office, with the House obviously figuring that cutting the President's personal budget would not cost the members votes.
The President and Congress stood firmly for economy, as long as it did not mean spending less money, with both wanting the reputation of being misers, but neither wanting the responsibility. It concludes that thus far, they had displayed remarkable agility in avoiding that responsibility.
"Screw up Your Courage, Gen. Greene" finds that a man in the position of Brig. General Wallace Greene, head of the Marine Corps Recruit Training Command at Parris Island, S.C., ought not be frightened of bugabears. Nevertheless, he appeared thoroughly frightened, with the bogey having apparently emanated from the General's own imagination.
Prior to an American Legion meeting at Chattanooga, Tenn., General Greene had charged that there was an attempt underway to "destroy our fine training system", coupling it with an assertion of similarity between the way the Communists and U.S. newspapers "play up" happenings at the base. Other than a compliment to strategy and tactics developed by Senator McCarthy, the charge, it finds, amounted to nothing.
A substantial portion of the reports from Parris Island printed in U.S. newspapers had been written by Bem Price of the Associated Press, well-qualified for the assignment as he was a veteran Marine of World War II and Korea and was now a Marine Reserve officer. If his reports erred at all, it had been on the side of the Marine training system. He and other reporters had taken particular pains to treat the "death-march" which had occurred a year earlier at Parris Island, in which six Marines had drowned in a nighttime forced march through a tidal stream adjoining the base, as an aberration in the training system, which otherwise had produced unsurpassed fighting men.
It finds that the "play" given stories from Parris Island had been dictated by active public interest in the Marine Corps training since the drowning of the six Marines. It suggests that if General Greene could be as capable in subduing his own bugabears as the U.S. press had been in warding off Communist influence, the situation would be well in hand.
A piece from the Philadelphia Inquirer, titled "Music for Robots", indicates its lack of surprise at learning that Harvard University had an electronic machine which composed music, possibly explaining the strange sounds which had been heard lately on television and in the concert hall. It finds that "music" had come to embrace such a wide range of noise that there was no reason why an electronic machine should not qualify as a "composer", it having been a long time since "inspiration" had been considered a necessity or even desirable in music.
It finds that in consequence, in the alleged "popular" field, there was a new school of "epileptic singing and dancing", while in the higher echelons of "long hair" music, composers were scoring works to be banged out on sheets of steel. It finds that in music such as that, the robot would be a sharp competitor.
One of the toughest composition chores was getting the notes on paper. The late Arnold Schoenberg had once been accused of putting his tones on paper with spray guns, albeit a canard.
"With an electric robot, however, the modern composer for the first time will be able to get by without work as well as without ideas. All we need now is the invention of robots that can listen. Then the human audience of the future will get a break, too."
Drew Pearson tells of two plush cocktail parties having taken place in the Senate Office Building, raising the question of drinking in Government buildings, a question which had been debated since Daniel Webster had appeared inebriated on the Senate floor on occasion. It was a bipartisan question, as both the President and Adlai Stevenson attended the cocktail parties in question, one for former RNC chairman Leonard Hall the previous week, and the other for new Senator Joseph Clark, a Democrat from Philadelphia, which had taken place earlier.
Mr. Pearson indicates that there had been a time when the Methodist Board of Temperance and Social Service, of which the late Bishop James Cannon had been the crusading chairman, had kept an eye on Capitol Hill drinking, with the result of that the Senate did not permit even beer to be served in its dining room. The House did permit beer, but nothing stronger. In other Government buildings, there were regulations against serving liquor, loosened, however, around Christmas time. But on Capitol Hill, which had its own police force, the members had made their own rules, dating back to 1837 when Congress had voted to eliminate the official bar from Congress, primarily because Senators Webster and Henry Clay had spent most of their time there. About that time, a ring of saloons which had surrounded the Capitol had dried up, including Pendleton's famous House of Fortune. In those times, there had been one saloon for every 90 people in the city, but all the bars had been abolished from around the Capitol and remained so.
Immediately after President Eisenhower had been elected, some of the most distinguished leaders of the Republican Party had established the Capitol Hill Club, just across the street from the House, enabling thirsty members to get a quick drink. That bar had been located in the former home of former Congressman Charles Dewey of Chicago, and such Republican leaders as John Foster Dulles, Clare Boothe Luce, former Secretary of War Pat Hurley, and Senator Frank Carlson of Kansas had each contributed $500 to establish the club. It had aroused a furor among Washington clergymen, partly because it was the first bar near the Capitol since 1837 and partly because the Republicans had pulled wires to get it licensed, with a license for a liquor store next door to it having just been vetoed. They had even gotten the D.C. law waived regarding fingerprinting of the licensed owners of the establishment, as the distinguished Republicans who had applied for the license did not want to be fingerprinted.
As a result of the two open cocktail parties, one Democratic and one Republican, held in the Senate Office Building, the dry interests in Washington and the clergy were up in arms, and he assures that there would be more heard, urging the Capitol to return to the laws of 1837.
Vice-President Nixon's ballyhoo over the new state on the African Gold Coast, Ghana, and his tour of Africa were having repercussions among the so-called Good Neighbors, some of whom now called themselves "Neglected Neighbors". When Latin Americans had read about the celebration of the new state of Ghana, they wondered what the newfound American love for Africa was going to do to the tropical products which Latin America had been shipping to the U.S., but which were now being increasingly shelved in favor of the near-slave labor of Africa. Cheap black labor had made Africa an easier target for Communism at present, which had been one reason Vice-President Nixon had been frantically wooing the Africans to remain out of the Soviet bloc.
The Joint Chiefs had warned the President to expect the following month a Chinese Communist assault on Quemoy or Matsu, the outlying Nationalist Chinese-occupied islands which stood as a bulwark near the Chinese mainland, as secret photos had shown a steady buildup of the Communist Chinese military.
Secretary of State Dulles was so unpopular in Europe and Asia that the Russians were using him as their main propaganda weapon.
University students in East Germany were so restive that the Communists had formed armed "alert squads" to patrol and police the universities.
Japan's new Premier, Nobusuke Kishi, had sounded out the U.S. Embassy in Japan about visiting Washington during the summer.
Marquis Childs tells of the subcommittee investigation of the oil industry, which had left its initial objective, to inquire into the oil-lift to Western Europe, and turned to challenging directly the power of corporate enterprise. Senator Joseph O'Mahoney of Wyoming, chairman of the subcommittee, had spent much of his career doing just that. Prior to World War II, he had headed the Temporary National Economic Committee, which had taken voluminous testimony regarding the powers of the corporations and those of government, developing data on the vast resources of the big oil companies.
But this time, there were differences, one being the fact that the large companies had grown bigger than even Senator O'Mahoney could have envisioned when he had ended three years of TNEC testimony in March, 1941. Standard Oil of New Jersey was now an eight billion dollar corporation. A second difference was the politics of oil in the Middle East, urgent for the West. A third difference was the presence on the subcommittee of a new Senator, John Carroll of Colorado, who found the bigness and power of the large oil companies not only new but shocking, and was likely determined to obtain the details from the hearings regarding taxes and profits of the oil companies. Senator Carroll had sought to establish, from the executives of Standard of New Jersey, Gulf Oil and other major companies, that because of the 27.5 percent oil depletion allowance, the foreign subsidiaries of those companies paid little or no Federal income tax, the depletion allowance being taken not only from profits of oil produced within the continental U.S. but also by American companies operating overseas, a fact which appeared to be news to some of the members of the subcommittee.
Senator Carroll had concentrated on the Arabian American Oil Co., 30 percent of which was owned by Standard of New Jersey, another 30 percent by Texaco, another 30 percent by Standard of California, and 10 percent by Socony. Executives testified that Aramco, which operated in Saudi Arabia, had total earnings for 1955 of over 724.3 million dollars. Operating costs had reduced that to a net of 452.1 million. Aramco had paid income tax to Saudi Arabia of about $193,000, with the amount paid in taxes to a foreign government, pursuant to a 1918 law, being offset against taxes otherwise to be paid to the U.S. At the same time, Aramco received a complete depletion allowance of 121.7 million dollars, the result of which, according to the figures placed in the record by Senator Carroll, had been that the company received tax-free net earnings of 272.2 million dollars.
Senator Carroll had suggested a change in the law which had caused great concern for the major companies, that being either to reduce greatly or eliminate the depletion allowance on operations outside the U. S.
While the major headlines were going to the McClellan Committee, the Senators conducting the oil inquiry were "dealing with something nearly as interesting as sex", that being big money and the price which every consumer had to pay.
Doris Fleeson tells of new RNC chairman, Meade Alcorn, at his first formal press conference, becoming a bridge between the old and new Republicanism. At his right and left had been Senator Andrew Schoeppell of Kansas and Representative Richard Simpson of Pennsylvania, respectively chairmen of the Senate and House Republican campaign committees, both being well to the right of the President. Senator Schoeppell was regarded as a spokesman for the oil and gas interests and had voted against the censure of Senator McCarthy in December, 1954. Congressman Simpson was the second-ranking Republican on the powerful Ways & Means Committee, from which vantage point he led the war against the reciprocal trade program, to which the President was committed.
Under those circumstances, questions and answers regarding the new look in Republican affairs had to be a mere exercise in semantics, as it had been. The private conversations of the three men with the Republican executive committee, however, had faced some hard facts, which would also be the subject of six regional conferences announced for the spring. Mr. Alcorn, the White House choice for the job, had been told that the Republican revolt against the President's record budget was real. Some of the press was described as departing from the President on the issue. Mr. Alcorn also heard that it was suspected that foreign aid, which was nearly the entirety of the Eisenhower foreign policy, had become increasingly unpopular in various parts of the country.
Regarding the mid-term elections of 1958, Mr. Alcorn, in analyzing the 20 Republican seats up for election, indicated that two Senators, William Knowland of California and Frederick Payne of Maine, had announced their retirement, and that in California, Democrats had been making great strides while Republicans faced a party quarrel, that Maine Democrats had a popular Governor in Edmund Muskie, who was ready to seek Senator Payne's seat, while Republicans lacked a comparable star. Another strong Senator, John Williams of Delaware, wanted to retire and was having to be coaxed to run again. Moreover, five Republican incumbents were age 70 or older, including Edward Martin of Pennsylvania, Alexander Smith of New Jersey, Ralph Flanders of Vermont, William Langer of North Dakota and Arthur Watkins of Utah. Of that group, Senator Langer had been gravely ill and Senator Martin was not expected to run, with the Democrats having a popular young Governor, George Leader, ready to run for that seat in Pennsylvania. Neither Senator Smith nor Senator Flanders had announced their intentions, but only Senator Flanders appeared safe of for re-election.
Senator Irving Ives of New York, also up for re-election, was not in the best health. Also included in the 20 Republicans up for re-election were four right-wingers for whom the President had no enthusiasm and thus would not be expected to help, Senators McCarthy, William Jenner of Indiana, George Malone of Nevada and Chapman Revercomb of West Virginia.
Ms. Fleeson concludes that when Mr. Alcorn had said that the party needed "attractive candidates", he had been speaking from the heart.
A letter writer responds to the editorial, "Rep. Love's Postage Prepaid Agreement", finding that such an idea was surprising as being worthy of consideration for the newspaper's "American Museum of Political Gimmicks", indicating that if the annexation postcard had been worthy of such an honor, it would be placed in the file somewhere near Alexandria, Va., as the first "museum" of such ideas had been completely filled during the term of President John Adams. He indicates that the postcard idea was as old as the republic, having been used by Alexander Hamilton to solicit support for the ratification of the Constitution, as had many other politicians and government workers since that time. He thus finds the postcard to be in the finest American tradition and part of the right of petition. He also points out that Mr. Love had not received favorable press and so it was not unusual for him to spend his own money for public relations denied him by the press, which had given a lot of free space to his opposition. It finds that Mr. Love was the first so-called "political boss" hounded by the press who had not been accused of either graft or using his political career for personal gain or for the gain of his business or for the representation of a special interest group.
A letter writer indicates that he had read with great consternation and some amusement an article appearing March 12, titled "Officials Seek $1 Million for Local Colleges", expresses dismay at the thought of public officials appearing so naïve as to think that the citizenry of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County would vote to spend that much public money for separate educational facilities at the college level, in the wake of Brown v. Board of Education. He says that implicit in the statement had been that the officials in the community were not undertaking efforts to find ways of compliance with the decision, instead seeking to evade it. Nothing had been said about the economy inherent in purchasing one site and the overall advantage educationally in using the million dollars available to develop one good college for the benefit of all citizens. He finds it strange that successful businessmen had an uncanny knack of developing keen insight as to how to get the most out of a dollar in private enterprise while failing miserably to see the wisdom in using the same know-how when it came to spending public money for the public welfare. He believes that a more enlightened title for the article would have been: "Officials Disclose Plans for Wasting $1 Million on Local Colleges".
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