The Charlotte News
Thursday, October 9, 1958
FOUR EDITORIALS
Site Ed. Note: The front page reports that, following the death of Pope Pius XII at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, this date at 3:52 a.m., his body would lie in state at the Vatican and be buried in St. Peter's Basilica, as a half-billion Roman Catholics worldwide would begin a nine-day mourning period on the following day. He had served as Pope since 1939 and had succumbed to two strokes in the previous three days at age 82. He had been the first Roman-born Pope since 1721. A week or so after the official mourning period, the College of Cardinals would meet in secret to begin consideration of a papal successor. The Pope, born Eugenio Pacelli, had wanted to be known as the "Pope of Peace", though elected on March 2, 1939, six months before the start of World War II with Hitler's invasion of Poland on the pretext of taking the Danzig Corridor to enable "free access to East Prussia". Pope Pius was the first Pope to die at the summer residence and the first to die outside Rome in 200 years, requiring changes to the usual ritual mourning process. The Italian Government had ordered three days of mourning, with Italian flags flown at half-staff and all theaters and places of amusement closed during that period. During the 18-mile motorcade route from the summer residence to Rome, the Pope's body would first be taken to the Basilica of St. John the Lateran, the Pope's titular church in his capacity as Bishop of Rome, and then would be removed in a solemn procession to the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican to lie in state there for three days.
In Charlotte, Roman Catholics joined in the mourning of the Pope, as the Rt. Rev. Msgr. John P. Manley of St. Patrick's Catholic Church said that prayers were being offered for the Holy Father after morning masses in local churches. Other commemorations, he said, would be announced later. Bishop Vincent Waters, spiritual leader of North Carolina Catholics, said from his Raleigh headquarters, upon receipt of the news: "The bishop, priests, religious sisters and laity of the Diocese of Raleigh join with the whole world in mourning the death of our Holy Father, Pope Pius XII. In the providence of God, Pope Pius XII was raised up in our time to be an image of Christ amongst us: By his sanctity, his kindliness, his sympathy, his understanding, as well as by his ability and great learning he will be remembered as the Pope of the people. No other Pontiff had the opportunity and means of modern inventions of radio, television and motion pictures to be seen by and to speak to so many people of all nations and no one since Christ has ever made himself more available to so many. His compassion on the multitude was truly like his Master Whose vicar he was on earth. His reign as Pontiff will go down in history as one of the most glorious and fruitful for souls in modern times. The bishop, priests, sisters and laity of the diocese will offer up prayers and Masses continually for the repose of his holy soul and for the providential choice under the Holy Ghost of his holy successor, the vicar of Christ on earth."
In Greenville, S.C., Dr. John R. Rice, editor and publisher of Sword of the Lord, described by sources at Bob Jones University as "America's most widely read evangelistic weekly", had said this date over the University's radio station, WMUU, that the long-term results of the worldwide evangelistic campaigns being conducted by Dr. Billy Graham would be "disastrous". The Reverend Graham had once been a student at the University. Dr. Rice had said: "I think there has been a great decay in Dr. Graham's stand. This is manifested in his taking in liberals, modernists, unconverted men, to help sponsor and help control campaigns. I think this is forbidden in the Bible and has watered down the results of his campaigns so that they make no permanent and great impact on cities as a whole. I think on the whole, that such 'ecumenical' campaigns tend to weaken the cause of evangelism and play down Bible Christianity… It turns out in following any such campaign that the people who do not believe in the Bible as the Word of God and Salvation by the Blood of Christ, the Virgin Birth, the Bodily Resurrection, the absolute Deity of Christ—these unbelievers have the honor and prestige of the campaign; and out-and-out Bible believers are left to reproach and in a forsaken minority." He added that Dr. Graham's campaigns in which churches cooperated had a "deleterious effect on real Bible-believing pastors…" He indicated that one church which had furnished a great number of counselors in one campaign had added only a single member.
Bill Hughes of The News reports that Dr. Graham's crusade at the Coliseum in Charlotte, his first in his hometown, was now ending its third week of a planned four-week series of meetings, with some discussion ongoing to extend it for one additional week. The previous night's attendance was reported to be one of the lowest thus far, with an estimated 12,000 having attended, not quite filling the Coliseum, and with no overflow into adjoining Ovens Auditorium where there were closed-circuit television facilities. Less than 400 "inquirers" answered the evangelist's call to make "decisions for Christ" at the speaker's platform, one of the smallest groups of "inquirers" thus far, bringing the total number of such inquirers to nearly 9,000 during the three weeks. Speaking on the Trinity and "that sin which we call the unpardonable sin", Dr. Graham the previous night had called modern times the age of God "the Holy Spirit", comparing the Trinity to a spring, a stream and a fountain, stating: "The spring, the stream and the fountain… It is all the same water. We look at God, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit." After emphasizing that the Holy Spirit was a person and should not be referred to as "it", he said: "You cannot get away from the Holy Spirit. He sees all the hidden things. There is no darkness dark enough to keep the Holy Spirit from penetrating. There is no sin that you can commit but that the Holy Spirit sees. There is no motive in the darkest recess of your soul but what the Holy Spirit knows."
John Kilgo of The News, in
the fourth of a series on juvenile delinquency in Charlotte,
indicates that acting Police Chief E. C. Selvey had said that most
teenagers who broke the law and terrorized others had never known the
true meaning of the word "love". He believed that improved
home life was the center of the plan to reduce teenage crime. He
said: "These kids who start drinking early in life and hanging
around street corners are missing something in life. Most of the time
they come from broken homes. They have never really felt what it was
like to be loved. You can imagine how they feel and what goes through
their minds. They go out and get into trouble for a reason, most of
them. They want to be noticed. They have a desire for someone to pay
attention to what they are doing. If getting into trouble is the only
way to get some attention, they'll take that chance. I know some of
these boys that we've had down here who have never had any home life
at all. It's a pitiful thing. You hate to treat a young boy like a
hardened criminal. We try to help them. The ones I have talked with
tell me that they don't know where their parents are, or their daddy
is a drunkard, or something like that. I know parents can't keep up
with everywhere their children go, but they can certainly know what
time to expect them home at night. I think the broken home and the
lack of knowing what it is to really be loved is our greatest problem
for our children right this minute." Youth Bureau director J. R.
Hall encountered young people in trouble every day and saw them and
talked to both those who were good and those who were mean, those who
were bitter and those who were happy. He had devoted his life to
Charlotte's young people and had a list of things he believed would
help eliminate the teenage hoodlum problem, his program also starting
in the home. He had said: "Most of the serious crimes committed
by our young people occur after 10:00 p.m. This is when the petting
parties start and the trouble begins. Parents should make it their
business to know where their children are at night, who they are out
with, and what time they are coming home. It would help a lot. If
parents would just stop at 10 o'clock and ask themselves the
question, 'Where is my son, or where is my daughter right now?'"
Well, the solution appears to be for parents not to allow farm
animals into the house late
At the U.N. in New York, the disarmament debate had been suspended temporarily this date as efforts were being made to find a compromise in an East-West procedural deadlock.
In Taipei, Formosa, President Chiang Kai-shek heralded his nation's independence day this date with a challenge to Communist China to attack again and bring about its own destruction.
In Beirut, Lebanon, a career Government official had been reliably reported this date to be trying to form a military government to run the country.
In New Delhi, India, members of the World Bank had approved this date the U.S. proposal to increase the bank's resources to boost available loans to underdeveloped countries.
In Karachi, Pakistan, it was reported that a special government of civil servants had run the country this date under military chiefs and martial law regulations, extending the death penalty to numerous offenses.
In Washington, DNC chairman Paul Butler said this date that Camille Gravel, Jr., would continue as the party's Louisiana national committeeman, despite his ouster having been voted by state party leaders in a dispute regarding the issue of segregation.
On the editorial page, "The 'New Enlightenment' Was Tardy" comments on the appointment of Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Potter Stewart to the Supreme Court by the President to replace retiring Justice Harold Burton, who had been a Republican Senator at the time of appointment in 1947 by President Truman, the latter's first appointment, to replace retiring Justice Owen Roberts. Of President Truman's four appointees, only Justice Tom Clark remained on the Court, after the death in 1953 of Chief Justice Fred Vinson, succeeded by Eisenhower appointee, Governor Earl Warren, and the retirement in 1956 of Justice Sherman Minton, succeeded by New Jersey State Supreme Court Justice William Brennan.
It finds Justice-designate Stewart—who would remain on the Court until his retirement in 1981, succeeded by the first woman to be appointed to the Court, Sandra Day O'Connor—to be refreshing because he was a judge, having been on the Court of Appeals for four years. Chief Justice Warren had no prior judicial experience and Justice John Harlan, appointed in 1955, had less than a year of judicial experience, though, as indicated, Justice Brennan had nearly five years of experience as a State Supreme Court Justice and two years before that as a Superior Court judge. President Eisenhower's other appointee, in 1957, Charles Whittaker, had not quite three years of prior experience as a U.S. District Court and Court of Appeals judge.
It finds that the President had bowed to pressure to appoint judges to the high court. A number of bar-sanctioned proposals had been presented to make judicial training a prerequisite for appointment. The latter three appointments had suggested that judicial experience had become a prime consideration above such factors as political affiliation and geographical representation, as Justice Brennan was a Democrat, though appointment from another party was nothing new, President Roosevelt, for instance, having elevated Justice Harlan Stone, appointed by President Coolidge, to Chief Justice in 1941, and President Truman had appointed Justice Burton. Three of President Truman's four appointees had previously been politicians, and Justice Clark had been Attorney General, with no prior judicial experience.
It finds it too bad that the "new enlightenment" had not arrived soon enough for the appointment of the late Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge John J. Parker, appointed by President Hoover to the Supreme Court in 1930 but failing of confirmation by one vote.
It comments that in addition to judicial experience, a broad understanding of public policy and the process of statesmanship were equally important qualifications, finding Judge Parker to have satisfied each of those requirements. The News had campaigned for the appointment of Judge Parker, from Charlotte, at nearly every opening on the Court since his original rejection by the Senate.
Justice Stewart, in the overall arc of his career on the Court, was considered a moderate on most issues.
"Footnote" quotes Philip Yeager and John Stark, in an article titled, "The Supreme Court in Transition", which had appeared in New York Times Magazine: "The outlook is not for a trend to conservatism in its popular sense. Lawyers and judges with broad training are often as liberal in their basic views as those who openly champion the most up-to-date political, economic and social dogmas. But the former are more difficult to pigeonhole politically, more likely to display individuality, taking liberal positions on some issues and conservative ones on others."
Marquis Childs indicates that what was behind that which was presently taken to be a switch in official policy by the Administration on the offshore islands in the Formosa Strait was an off-the-record meeting bringing into focus all of the European opposition to the U.S. stand on Quemoy, an important factor in bringing about the change.
For several years, a group of high-level Europeans and Americans had been meeting privately to exchange views regarding world problems, the group including no members of present governments, although often those present had been ministers of state in previous administrations and some were likely to head future governments.
The group had met between September 13 and 15 at Buxton, England, with one of the Americans present being John J. McCloy, the former U.S. High Commissioner for Germany, presently head of the Chase-Manhattan Bank in New York and a loyal adherent of the Administration. Another of the U.S. participants was former Secretary of State under President Truman, Dean Acheson. On the first day of the session, a questionnaire had been circulated on China policy, placing sharp questions on the effect of Quemoy and its defense by the U.S. on the situation in the Far East and in Europe. Mr. Acheson in his replies had expressed the criticism of the Eisenhower-Dulles policy that he had made publicly, with stress on the threat to the NATO alliance inherent in the U.S. stand. According to one of the Britons present, when Mr. Acheson had shown his response to Mr. McCloy, the latter had said that he found little with which he could differ in the criticism, and, almost without exception, the Europeans present had been critical of America's inflexible stand on the offshore islands.
What had made it doubly significant was that for the most part, the people present were conservatives. Among the bankers and industrialists were Hermann J. Abs, one of the leading figures in West Germany's industrial revival, while another was Giovanni Agnelli, a vice-president of the Italian Fiat firm, and a third was Berthold Beitz, managing director of Krupp in Germany. There had also been present liberals and socialists, including Hugh Gaitskell, head of the British Labor Party and possibly the next prime minister of Britain should the Conservatives be defeated in the ensuing election.
What had been remarkable was the unanimity of opinion among Europeans regardless of their politics, as Mr. McCloy had found, returning with the conviction that it was essential to impress their viewpoint and the consequent peril to the NATO alliance on the Administration. His views had always been respected within the Eisenhower Administration since he was one of the leaders of the group in New York which had been strongly internationalist and had a great deal to do with bringing about the nomination of General Eisenhower in 1952 and his subsequent election.
Mr. McCloy had found an opportunity not long after the meeting to give Secretary of State Dulles a first-hand account of it when he sat next to him at a dinner of the Far East-American Council of Commerce and Industry in New York. Mr. Dulles had already begun to hear reports from Europe regarding the grave doubt of what appeared to be the American determination to risk war over Quemoy and Matsu and so he had listened intently to Mr. McCloy's account.
Secretary Dulles had given a speech that night which reiterated the belief that the future of the West turned on the defense of Quemoy, comparing the islands within view of the Chinese mainland to Berlin, an analogy which most informed Europeans rejected, as the discussion of the meeting at Buxton had developed. But it was believed that while Mr. Dulles contented himself with repeating the American position, he was even then engaged in seeking a formula which would extricate the U.S. from an impossible position, and in his press conference the following week, he had gone a long way toward modifying the American position, making it clear that the country was not committed to fighting for the offshore islands.
While Mr. Dulles was believed to have suggested to Mr. McCloy that he could be helpful if he were to go to Formosa to talk frankly with Chiang Kai-shek regarding America's position with respect to the NATO alliance and world opinion, he did not make a direct request to him to undertake a formal mission. Mr. McCloy, who had just been elected chairman of the board of the Ford Foundation, felt that no useful purpose could be served by talks with Chiang, whether formal or informal.
But at a crucial moment, Mr. McCloy had helped Mr. Dulles to put American policy in a new perspective and whether what had followed, including the Chinese Communist offer of at least a one-week de facto cease-fire, was a "solution", only events in the days ahead, he posits, could determine. At the very least, however, the situation was now quite different from that of ten days earlier, when the world feared an Asia-wide, if not a worldwide, war.
That's a relief. Maybe they can stop blowing that air raid siren every Saturday at noon atop the pharmacy a block away from our new home. It all started August 23, just as the Formosa Strait crisis began and so we think the two may be connected.
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.
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