The Charlotte News
Friday, October 3, 1958
THREE EDITORIALS
Site Ed. Note: The front page reports from Moscow that the Soviet Government had said this date that it had resumed testing of its nuclear weapons because the U.S. and Britain had continued with their tests. A special announcement made through Tass, the Soviet official news agency, declared that the blame was on the two Western powers because they had not followed suit when the Soviets had announced suspension of their tests the prior March. The Soviets, who had concluded a big series of experimental detonations before swearing off the testing at the end of March, were known to have detonated four nuclear devices in a test area north of the Arctic Circle during the current week, as announced by the Atomic Energy Commission, having detected two detonations on Tuesday and two more on Thursday. Tass provided no details of the new tests. It accused the U.S. and Britain of using the Soviet suspension "to secure the greatest possible military advantage for their side, thus ignoring the will of the peoples. This is evidenced by the fact that precisely after March 31—that is the moment the Soviet Union suspended nuclear tests and called upon other countries to follow suit—the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom undertook the biggest ever series of tests of atomic and hydrogen weapons. The United States alone has set off about 40 nuclear shots during this period. Considering this, the Soviet government cannot allow the security interests of the Soviet state to suffer because of such actions of the United States and the United Kingdom… Tass is authorized to state that, although forced by the actions of the United States and Britain to resume its own nuclear tests, the Soviet Union will in the future continue its struggle for immediate and universal termination of such tests." The announcement came in the wake of the President's recent indication that the current series of tests taking place at the Nevada Test Site and, before it, in the Pacific, would be the last tests before the start of an 12-month moratorium, which would continue as long as the Soviets continued their moratorium.
In Eschwege, Germany, it was reported that three guards of the East German people's police, whose officers were away at a large sports meet, with nobody home therefore to see them violating non-fraternization orders with the West, had received a friendly pack of cigarettes thrown over the Iron Curtain to the guards, along with eight bottles of beer, taking them but 15 minutes to consume the latter while sitting atop their watch tower puffing at the Western cigarettes, tossing back the bottles with thanks. The salesman had brought new supplies from a nearby inn in the meantime and a second shipment crossed the 30-foot-wide "dead strip" in which any illegal border crosser risked being shot without warning. After awhile, the empty bottles had again returned, this time with the sentries themselves carrying them to the Western side, creeping through the barbed wire with their guns, and beginning to unburden themselves to their host, indicating that the East German food was terrible. They then had some more beer and viewed West Germany as not being so bad. Indeed, they said they would not mind staying, following yet another round of beer. Night had come and they stood up and sang "Deutschland, Uber Alles", the German national anthem. (That, also, no doubt, had begun as a drinking song.) Three relief guards fired star shells into the dark sky and finally traced their comrades, and it had taken only a few words after contact before the East-West beer party had increased to seven persons. But the noise and star shells had alarmed a West German border patrol, which came rushing to the scene, prompting the six East German policemen to stand up and declare in unison that they were determined to stay. After a long persuasive talk from the Western side, the six men agreed to return to duty on the Eastern side and no one, it had been agreed, would mention the beer party. The West German patrol feared that if one of the six men changed his mind after sobering up, he would claim that he had been kidnaped while drunk and that there would be a new East-West incident. But despite the vow of secrecy, there had been a leak on the Eastern side and the Communist bosses had learned of the party. Two defectors from the same police unit said that all six of the men had been arrested by the Communist state security service and that a large-scale probe into the incident was ongoing while the six were awaiting trial. West German border authorities had released the story after a delay of three days.
In Constantine, Algeria, it was reported that Premier Charles de Gaulle had announced this date a five-year program for resolving the stubborn Algeria nationalist rebellion, the program calling for more and better jobs and housing for the local population, land distribution and better educational opportunities.
In Belgrade, Yugoslavia, it was reported by Belgrade Radio this date that an explosion at Podvis coal mine the previous day had taken at least 36 lives and the fate of 20 other miners remained unknown.
In Little Rock, Ark., Governor Orval Faubus said this date that he would never open the public schools as integrated institutions, opening a press conference by reading a prepared statement which said in part, "The only question is whether the [Little Rock public school] facilities can be used by the [Little Rock private school] corporation, or not used at all." Reporters had asked him to clarify the statement and the Governor, speaking with emphasis, said that he would never open the public schools on an integrated basis. He indicated in his written statement that he would assist private organizations, both white and black, to set up and operate private, segregated schools to replace the four closed high schools of Little Rock, which he had ordered closed rather than following Supreme Court-ordered continuation of desegregation at Central High School as during the previous school year. The private school corporation was working to collect money, facilities and equipment to establish private high schools for white children to replace the three closed white public high schools, including Central which had slightly been integrated by admission the prior year of nine black students among a student body of 2,000, with the Governor indicating that he would cooperate to assist the corporation. Seven black students had sought entry to Central again in the current term, and were ordered by an unanimous Supreme Court in its rulings of September 12 and 29 to be allowed entry forthwith. The president of the private corporation said that his plans did not include a private school for black children to replace the single closed black high school. The Governor said: "The matter of providing educational facilities for the Negro students has been mentioned. I will assist the corporation or any other in providing education for Negroes as well as whites. However, the corporation will require Negro teachers, facilities and funds for this purpose. It may be that the help of the NAACP will be needed, as well as some of the funds being received by Daisy Bates [the head of the Arkansas NAACP] and the money being spent for attorneys' fees." Commenting on the hearing the following Monday in St. Louis before the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals to determine whether the previously granted temporary restraining order against use of the leased public school buildings of Little Rock to the private corporation would be made permanent, an action addressed and struck down by the Supreme Court's September 29 opinion as still violative of the 14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause as a subterfuge, the Governor stated: "It appears that the only question to be passed upon … is whether or not the court will allow the private school corporation to exercise its legally acquired right to use the leased school properties." The previous day, State Attorney General Bruce Bennett had set forth plans for an all-out campaign against the operation of the NAACP.
In Cleveland, former President Truman attacked this date proposals to "ban the union shop" as an "insidious attempt to shackle the rights of labor", urging defeat of such proposals in six states where it would go before the voters during the year.
In Detroit, General Motors and the UAW had reached an agreement on a three-year master contract the previous night, but G.M.'s vast industrial empire remained shut down this date by a strike of its 250,000 UAW members. UAW president Walter Reuther hailed the new national agreement as "good for the nation, good for the UAW and good for G.M.," but cautioned that G.M. workers at 126 plants across the nation were authorized to remain on strike to back up local demands. A company-wide walkout against G.M. had preceded the new agreement by 12 hours. Prior to that, there had been a rash of wildcat strikes. The old contract had run out four months earlier and tensions had mounted in recent weeks under operations of the plants without a contract. A major complaint by the locals had been so-called wage inequities in G.M. plants, different pay for similarly classified jobs. The national agreement established a fund into which the company would pay half a penny per hour for each worker to narrow those differences. (If you 'aven't got a penny, a ha' penny 'll do. Cut out one of the tail light bulbs on the overly lit beasts and you can save the money.) Both Mr. Reuther and G.M. vice-president Louis Eaton expressed hope that the local grievances would be settled quickly so that G.M. could get into full production of the 1959 cars and trucks. Mr. Reuther told the G.M. locals to press for speedy settlement of differences and to return to work as soon as they were settled. G.M. had been the last of the Big Three automakers to agree with the UAW on a contract. Ford had settled on September 17 after a seven-hour strike and Chrysler had settled the prior Wednesday without a strike. G.M.'s settlement followed the pattern of the Ford and Chrysler agreements, with the three-year contracts replacing the agreement at G.M., which had run out on May 29, the new agreement enabling G.M. workers to obtain between 24 and 30 cents per hour in increased pay, in addition to other increased benefits.
Incidentally, while no mention was made of it on the front page, the World Series was ongoing, with the first two games in Milwaukee having gone to the defending champion Braves over the Yankees, 4 to 3 and 13 to 5, respectively, with the third game, in New York, set to take place on Saturday. The Series was a repeat of the previous year's sandlot rumble.
On the editorial page, "Dulles and Ike Finally Climb Down" congratulates the President and Secretary of State Dulles for finally climbing down from their Chiang-lobby soap boxes. "After weeks of choked-up brandishments [sic: blandishments?] about 'appeasement' and second Munichs, it looks as if we have removed the Generalissimo from our policy-making chambers. Perhaps we can hope that henceforth we will make our own policy regarding Quemoy, the Matsus and Formosa," finding it none too early.
It suggests it to have been not only question-begging and unrealistic to suggest that the fault was completely on the side of the Communist Chinese, but that the U.S. had been on the brink of a war with 600 million Orientals, which would have been a major disaster. Secretary Dulles and the President, the latter having echoed the Secretary in his press conference, had dispelled a lot of "fog and hokum". Mr. Dulles had admitted that Chiang Kai-shek's position at the back door of China was militarily "foolish". He had admitted that the return of Chiang to the mainland was at best "hypothetical". And he had indicated that the U.S. might be ready to do a little horse-swapping, in which Chiang's foot-stomping tantrum would be withdrawn to the theater of Formosa, proper, which was at least militarily defensible without a war for the mainland, in which nuclear weapons would likely have been exchanged, that is after the Soviets might have supplied nuclear arms to the Chinese Communists, as the mainland could not be taken without strategic nuclear arms being used by the U.S.
It suggests that the explanation for the loosening of the official attitude was perhaps that Mr. Dulles, "with that Nixon-designated 'saboteur' in the State Department," had been reading the 80-percent of unfavorable mail regarding the Formosa policy, and perhaps had seen the strategic and political folly of his previous ways. The diplomatic negotiations at Warsaw had reportedly become embarrassing, with the Communist Chinese Ambassador, Wang Ping-nan, quoting to the U.S. Ambassador, Jacob Beam, the bad press which America's China policy was getting in the U.S., as well as in Asia and Europe.
It suggests that the next step, as Walter Lippmann had indicated, would be to negotiate seriously for the withdrawal of Nationalist troops from the offshore islands. It finds that it was vital that the U.S. reach some conclusion on the future of Formosa, for the aging Chiang was not immortal and the U.S. would not win a popularity contest with the Formosans. It finds that it was in the U.S. national interest to come up with some solution in which Formosa would neither remain a papier-mâché "China" threatening the mainland, nor become an outpost from which Mao Tse-tung could point his "flower-decked dagger" at the Philippines.
Mr. Nixon, incidentally, may have been off base, according to Marquis Childs the previous day, in his charges against the State Department, he was, nevertheless, 80 percent, or 7.5 miles high, at least, on the Beam, even, as it would turn out in 1960, in Alaska.
"Have Another Drink (Hic) Mr. Key", which we include for all of the deadpan serious "patriots" out there who place their stock in songs and flags and could give a hoot about the Constitution for which, if they mean anything, they actually stand, indicates that the tune which was, and still is, sung as the "Star Spangled Banner" had given a lot of people a pain in the neck as well as in the larynx for a long time. It thus finds it no wonder that Congress had before it during the past session a bill to set Francis Scott Key's words to another melody. It finds it also no wonder that former President Truman, who played keen Mozart on the piano, had said that he did not like the old tune anyway.
A professor, Dr. William Templeman
of the University of Southern California English department, had
researched the matter carefully and come up with the notion that the
anthem was not supposed to have been sung the way it was being sung
anyway, that the melody had been written by a British composer and
Mr. Key did not have that melody in mind when he wrote the lyrics,
the professor stating: "Key actually wrote his lyrics with the
specific intention of having them used as a drinking song. The
handbill on which our national anthem was first printed indicates
that it was 'to be sung to the tune of 'Anachreon in Heaven'
It finds the notion not to be implausible, considering that the start of the first verse was: "O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light?…" And of the second verse: "On the shores dimly seen through the mists of the deep…" It suggests that in the context of a rowdy barroom song, the lyrics became clearly the musings of a person in his cups whose eyesight was beginning to fade just slightly. It suggests that Mr. Key might well have been bending a friendly elbow with the British admirals in Chesapeake Bay the night when he went out to get Dr. Beane released, and was probably just being honest about his condition, not dramatic about the weather, when he set the words on some old, ale-stained napkin or parchment.
It indicates that the more it thought about it, the more enthusiastic it grew about the possibilities of the thesis of the professor. "How nice to think that Key was showing the Limey brass that he could hold his grog like a gentleman and write a song to celebrate the night to boot!"
So the next time you place hand to heart, doff whatever cap or hat you might be wearing and solemnly consider what is being played before an average sporting contest, you can, without blushing at crashing the solemnity of the moment, smile or even laugh a little with complete probity and knowledge in store to educate any to your right or left, in front or behind, who might take umbrage, that the whole thing was just a drinking song to begin with, that, indeed, you could exaggeratedly sway one way and then the other with the lyrics and be completely in tune with the original intent. Criticize someone for kneeling or raising a clenched fist during it? Hell, you could wallow and wiggle around on the ground like a spent, flea-bitten dog scratching its back and remain not inconsonant with its original spirit.
And, as we have recently subliminally suggested, one might find better, more accurate interpretation of the Constitution while reading it to the accompaniment of some jazz. Our Founders were not completely solemn men, after all. Those who interpret the document with punctilious attention to the detail of each individual word in staccato form, as Mr. Truman once mocked H. V. Kaltenborn the day after the 1948 election, without the glissando, not seeing the entire sentence or the entire paragraph in which the sentence occurs within the context of the entire document at once, undoubtedly do violence to the intent and the language, we trow, just as were in this time frame the brilliant legal minds behind the Little Rock and Virginia standoffs with the Federal Government and courts, ignoring the while the Supremacy Clause overriding their states' rights arguments, not to mention the general welfare clause of the Preamble and the overall intent of the Bill of Rights, which the Fourteenth Amendment extends to the states, being quite obviously expansive, not restrictive.
As we have fallen behind, there will be no further notes on the front page or editorial page of this date, as the notes will be sporadic until we catch up.
Framed Edition
Links-Date — Links-Subj.