The Charlotte News
Tuesday, March 4, 1958
TWO EDITORIALS
Site Ed. Note: The front page reports that Senate Minority Leader William Knowland of California and House Minority Leader Joseph Martin of Massachusetts had predicted this date that the White House arrangement under which Vice-President Nixon would take over as acting-President should President Eisenhower become disabled would spur Congress to act on the subject, expressing the view to the press after their weekly meeting with the President. Prominent members of Congress of both parties earlier had voiced approval of the procedure worked out between the President and Vice-President applicable only to themselves. Senator Knowland reported that the Republican leaders had informed the President that they should go along with the arrangement whereby the Vice-President would serve as acting-President should the President become incapacitated. The Senator said that the feeling among the Republican leaders was that such an arrangement was "important in the day and age in which we live." The Senator added that approval of the understanding did not prevent the desirability of Congressional action on a long-range basis. He noted that the Administration still favored handling the matter by a Constitutional amendment rather than through simple legislation. He also said that he understood that a group of Democratic and Republican Senators would introduce a bill this date to deal with the situation, with the main sponsors of the bipartisan legislation being Senators Estes Kefauver of Tennessee and Everett Dirksen of Illinois.
Secretary of State Dulles said this date that Russia's proposal for a pre-summit foreign ministers meeting was unacceptable on the terms indicated by the Russians.
House investigators, looking into improper influence exerted against FCC commissioner Richard Mack, had caused him finally to resign his post, but now the group showed signs of indecision on the issue of seeking testimony from Senators mentioned in the inquiry. There was also hesitation regarding the calling of Col. Gordon Moore, the brother-in-law of the President. The subcommittee chairman, Congressman Oren Harris of Arkansas, had called a closed session for later in the day to discuss further proceedings. Representative Charles Wolverton of New Jersey said that it was his opinion that the question of whether Senators should appear before the subcommittee ought not rest entirely on the desire of the individual where the witness was important enough, that the subcommittee should also indicate its desire. Mr. Harris said that he interpreted the rules of the House to provide that a committee of one branch could not ask members of another to appear, but that any Senators who wanted to testify voluntarily would be welcome. Mr. Wolverton said that he did not believe it would violate a rule to extend an invitation. Representative Joseph O'Hara of Minnesota asked whether Col. Moore would be given an opportunity to appear or whether he could send a letter to the subcommittee, and whether similar consideration would be afforded other persons whose names had been mentioned in the testimony. Mr. Harris said that House rules did not apply to the case of Col. Moore, who was not a member of Congress, and that the subcommittee should decide in executive session whether and how it might wish to hear from him. Mr. Mack, crushed but protesting his innocence of wrongdoing, had submitted his resignation late the previous day to the President who promptly accepted it. He had been appointed to the FCC by the President in July, 1955.
At The Hague, the Netherlands Government said this date that it had protested what it claimed was an armed Indonesian attack on a Dutch Navy vessel on February 20, with a note having been sent to the Indonesian Government also charging that the Indonesians had made "unauthorized and illegal use" of a Dutch merchant liner.
In Beira, Mozambique, hundreds of inhabitants of the central part of the country clung to the tops of anthills in the flood-swollen valley of the Zambezi River in Portuguese East Africa this date, with the river having swollen to two miles in width from torrential rains in some places.
In Steyr, Austria, a slight, sickly looking father of two children, dubbed the "Satyr of Steyr" by the Austrian press, had gone on trial this date, charged with murdering two women and raping four others.
In Hartford, Conn., Governor Abraham Ribicoff this date had called on the State Legislature for immediate action to solve what he termed the "developing and grave" Connecticut unemployment problem.
In Fairfax, Va., a 34-year old widow who made daily visits to the grave of her jet pilot husband, had been found dead this date in her fume-filled car, found by a motorist parked in front of the tourist home where she had been living. The police said that the death was by suicide, that a hose had been run from the exhaust pipe through the rear window opening, stuffed with a blanket, and the motor was still running. She had apparently arrived in Fairfax the prior August from her home in Akron, O., to be near Arlington National Cemetery where her husband was buried, having been killed in a crash at Osan Air Base in Korea the prior June 18. A woman at the tourist inn said that the deceased had been placing flowers on her husband's grave every day and had been staying at the inn with her pet cocker spaniel. She had gone out shortly after midnight and had not returned. She received a phone call nearly every day from her parents in Akron but had persistently rejected their pleas to return home. Police had found in her room a poem by James Metcalf, "Our Dream Ship", stuck in the corner of a mirror, the last line of which read: "The two of us together in love for ever more."
In Shattuck, Okla., a spectacular series of explosions and fire had rocked the town in the wee hours of the morning after a 142-car Santa Fe freight train had derailed, with no one killed or any major injuries reported. Santa Fe officials said that 33 cars of the train had derailed and 29 had caught fire, six of which had exploded, breaking windows for a half mile through the town.
In New York, a children's court judge would take over from police this date in efforts to untangle a story told by an 11-year old boy who said that he saw two playmates drown in the Hudson River eight months apart. Police had called it "almost unbelievable coincidence". After hours of questioning, the boy had led police to a pier the previous night and pointed to where he said that his 7-year old friend had fallen into the river. He had told many different stories of what had happened to the boy, before finally indicating that he had thrown the boy a piece of string in an attempt to save him but that the string had broken. He said that he had searched the area for help but could find no one. He had gone home and told no one what had happened. Police had dragged the river for the boy after his parents had reported him missing the prior Saturday. The boy being questioned and several other of the missing boy's playmates had been picked up by the police for questioning. The boy who told of the drowning had told police a similar story the prior June regarding a 4-year old girl's disappearance. On that occasion, he had led police to a pier far away from the one where he had taken police the previous night, and said he had seen the girl fall into the river there. Her body was subsequently recovered near the spot. Some time after the girl had been reported missing, police had learned that she had been playing with the boy before her disappearance. Detectives were sent to Lancaster, S.C., where the boy and his mother were visiting and brought the boy back to New York. There had been no case against him at the time. Both the dead girl and the boy telling of the disappearances were black and the boy who had just disppeared was white. The assistant district attorney who had questioned the boy into the early morning hours said that he had ordered the boy to be arraigned in the children's court during the current morning so that he could obtain additional information and have the judge determine what to do about the matter. The boy had been sent home with his mother and detectives at 2:30 a.m. to rest before being taken to the pier by police later in the day.
In Raleigh, a member of the Eastern Carolina Regional Housing Authority Board had resigned this date after conferring with Governor Luther Hodges.
In Sanford, N.C., the second murder trial of Frank Wetzel, who had been convicted earlier of murdering Highway Patrolman Wister Reece near Ellerbe on November 5, having been sentenced to life imprisonment in that case, was still undergoing jury selection in the case of the murder of Highway Patrolman J. T. Brown, who had been killed on the same date, with the solicitor seeking the death penalty in the case. Eight jurors had thus far been selected and it appeared that an additional venire would be required as the number of prospective jurors had dwindled from the original panel of 100 down to 25. Whereas the first trial had attracted more than a thousand onlookers, a relative handful had appeared in the Lee County courtroom for the session of the trial this date. The milling confusion which had occasionally occurred during the first trial in Rockingham was being prevented by the sheriff's deputies in this case. The judge had prohibited newsmen from taking pictures in the courthouse whether or not the court was actually in session. The names and occupations of each juror are listed, in case you wish to contact them and ask them how they intend to vote.
In Raleigh, three teenage patients at the State hospital, who escaped the previous day, had been captured in Fayetteville after one of them had used a pop bottle to slug a cab driver who was carrying them. The hospital superintendent said that the cab driver had identified the assailant as a female, age 16, confined to the hospital in 1956 after she had been accused of killing her father in Concord. The other escapees were a 17-year old boy and a 16-year old boy. The three had the freedom of the hospital grounds and had managed to escape by hailing a cab, persuading the driver to take them to Fayetteville. As they approached the town, the cab driver said that the girl had hit him with the pop bottle and after a struggle, the three had exited the cab, whereupon the driver reported the incident to the sheriff's office and shortly thereafter the three had been picked up in a patch of woods. It was not yet known whether Cumberland County authorities would charge the three, and if not, they would be returned to the hospital, where, according to the doctor in charge, they would not any longer have the freedom of the hospital grounds.
Emery Wister of The News reports that hopes that the proposed Charlotte-Canton Highway might produce the creation of a new expressway across Charlotte had been expressed this date by former Mayor Ben Douglas, vice-chairman of the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce Traffic & Transportation Committee.
Donald MacDonald of The News
reports that there was no law against "chasers", according
to a soft drink bottling company official, and that drive-in
restaurant operators would be able to sell all of the soft drinks
their customers desired. The previous week, restaurant operators had
told the newspaper that they were afraid to sell "chasers"
at the risk of losing their beer licenses. ABC law forbade
consumption of whiskey on premises where beer was sold and the
crackdown on soft drinks had come, according to the operators, after
Malt Beverage Division inspectors had visited the drive-ins and
warned about whiskey consumption in their parking lots. Six drive-in
restaurants had been included in a survey taken by the newspaper this
date and were found still to be wary of selling soft drinks. From the
Dilworth area, a report had come that a shrimp cocktail made an
excellent chaser if the shrimp were discarded and only the ice were
used. The report said that a female customer, irritated by the
refusal of her request for ice and water, had ordered a shrimp
cocktail, and when the curb boy had brought it, she tossed away the
shrimp and poured her whiskey over the remaining ice
On the editorial page, "The Administration Must Go To Work" indicates that now that the President had made a "complete recovery" from his stroke, a clinical session with his political doctors would appear to be in order, for politically speaking, he was in a bad way.
Democrats were responding to the opportunity for criticism which had been denied them for so long by the radiance of the Eisenhower aura. But the more telling symptom of disenchantment with the President was the noisy desertion by Republican members of Congress. One of them, a Midwesterner, had opined publicly that the nation needed a new President. Meanwhile, the chairman of the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee had let it be known that trying to run on the President's coattails was not nearly so appealing as previously.
It finds that all of the criticism was predictable, as Democrats were bound to find some openings in the President's armor after 5 1/2 years in office and Republicans were bound to take an "every man for himself" attitude once the President had entered his lame duck period and thereby lost his ability to command the party's allegiance. In addition, much of the criticism was deserved.
Not infrequently of late, the Administration's political nerves appeared to have been suffering from an acute attack of shingles. Both the President and his major spokesman, press secretary James Hagerty, had been waspish with reporters seeking comment on matters of legitimate public interest, and in reading press conference transcripts, it appeared that the President had not been doing his homework on major matters. The Administration also appeared to be marked by an irritable defensiveness and, in many cases, the defense lacked depth.
But while the criticism was predictable and some of it apt, the intensity of it was another matter, with the near adulation of 1956 having turned to something verging on anger at the President. It finds that there was some danger to the nation with a sharp downturn in the President's prestige, as there was no substitute for the Presidency in the conduct of national affairs. President Eisenhower would be in the office for another 2 1/2 years, barring any major health crisis, and the current contest with the Soviets would likely become more severe and demanding of the nation's perseverance and willingness to sacrifice. Domestic problems would delight the Kremlin, turning the nation's interests inward and away from the Cold War struggle. Already the Administration had found it necessary to stage a national rally to drum up support for the mutual security foreign aid program. The foreign trade program, another essential of free world strength, also was beset by strong opposition in Congress.
It indicates that without an alert and vigorous President, Americans would face some tense moments in the coming months, suggests that the prestige of the Presidency ought not be ripped to pieces by habit of criticism. But citizen restraint would not be sufficient to shore up the prestige, with the President having to show a new interest in national affairs and exhibit the vigor which his doctors said was now restored to him. It suggests that it would be helpful if the President's top aides would cease acting like spoiled prima donnas whenever an embarrassing question was asked.
"The spell is over. If the administration wants an honored place in history, it had better start working for it right now."
"Bear Hunters Lay Down Their Switches" discusses the subversive activities subcommittee of the Minnesota Department of the American Legion, which had announced proudly recently that it had not been peering into closets, peeking under beds or examining the undersides of carpets for a whole year, had launched no investigations and made no sensational disclosures or received any headlines during that period. In a report, it said: "This does not mean that we are indifferent to the perils of subversive activity, but it does mean that we have confidence in our organized police system and feel that further participation by us would be similar to hunting bear with a switch. Your committee refuses to be a part of unsupported attack on individuals and organizations. We feel that such practices are unfair, undemocratic, and in effect subversive in themselves because they are contrary to America's fundamental precept of innocent until guilt has been proved under due process of law."
It finds it well spoken and offering an object lesson to all of the would-be witch-hunters in and out of the Legion. It finds that far too many careless vigilante groups had complicated and obstructed the work of legitimate law enforcement agencies during the previous decade. "The demagogues and extremists, capitalizing on fear, actually managed to attract quite a following, composed largely of lesser demagogues and extremists. Thankfully, Americans are essentially moderate. They are not accustomed to live in fear, nor are they the kind of people who will let their institutions be subverted by fear. The excesses of intimidation, accusation and denunciation of these bear switchers actually defeated their own purposes. A sense of equilibrium was felt, admirably expressed by the American Legion's Minnesota brethren, and a crisis of the spirit was put in its true focus."
It says that the Legion's subcommittee had made its point tellingly by adding to its report: "The Legion nationally and also in the State of Minnesota has sacrificed some of its prestige and esteem by its zeal in declaring things to be un-American. All too often we have adopted the techniques of the dictators when the machinery of democracy would have better served the cause. Every war in which we have been engaged has been fought to protect the freedoms of someone, and yet, in our eagerness to mold the country and the patterns of our personal desires, we have sometimes been willing to carelessly ignore those cherished liberties and freedoms in order to attain our immediate goal."
It concludes that in refusing to be a party to spiritual and political vigilante movements, the Minnesota Legion had revealed their own great inner strength of character and responsibility and congratulates them for it.
A piece from the Chicago Daily Tribune, titled "Improving the Breed", indicates that the sports pages showed that athletic records were being regularly shattered, with at least nine new world swimming records having been established, with two U.S. records broken during the same week in Connecticut and two others in California, while two Australian runners had beaten the four-minute mile on grass for the first time on record.
It finds that each new crop of athletes seemed to be able to do things faster and better than the previous one. Of 59 world records in swimming, only seven had stood for as long as two years. It indicates that the art of swimming had come a long way since 1844 when a London sportswriter had watched some American Indians demonstrate the crawl stroke and described them as "thrashing the water violently with their arms, like the sails of a windmill, and beating downward with their feet." In 1878 it had taken the world's champion swimmer 68 seconds to swim 100 yards, while in 1906, it had taken 55 seconds, and now the record was less than 49 seconds.
In track, each year also brought better performances. During a 50-year time span, the running broad jump record had been lengthened by two feet, the high jump by seven inches, the pole vault by three feet, and the mile run reduced by 17 seconds.
It indicates that it perhaps should not be surprising considering how much taller and healthier young people were at present than ever before, but it was pleasant to realize that in all likelihood the present athletes could outrun Pheidippides, outswim Leander and outlift Achilles. It suggests that even the Neanderthal man, who was thought of as the symbol of brute strength, probably could not have hurled a javelin anywhere near the present record of 281.5 feet, established in 1956 by a Norwegian.
It suggests also that in brain power, humans had no doubt surpassed the Neanderthal, "although sometimes it may not be quite so apparent."
Drew Pearson indicates that four alert Senators, Clinton Anderson of New Mexico, Robert Kerr of Oklahoma, Albert Gore of Tennessee, all Democrats, and John Williams of Delaware, a Republican, had managed to block a loophole in the tax laws the previous week which would have meant that taxpayers would pay about 250 million dollars extra. The loophole impacted the large life insurance companies which had been earning money by the millions but in some years had paid absolutely no taxes. Senator Anderson, who ran an insurance company in Albuquerque, had been the first to spot the loophole. The bill had come to the Senate in the form of a hastily passed bill rushed through the House by Representative Wilbur Mills of Arkansas. Mr. Pearson remarks that laws were considered so hastily in the House that not one vote was cast against the giveaway, though it would have cost the taxpayers 224 million dollars.
Senator Gore had asked why the insurance companies needed the bill, after Senator Anderson had spotted the tax bonanza. The latter, whose company would have profited from the passage of the bill, explained that ever since 1942, the Treasury had difficulty deciding how much insurance companies ought be taxed, with the result that in some years, such as between 1947 and 1949, they did not pay any tax, while the average taxpayer was paying high taxes. More recently, the Treasury had been arguing that insurance companies ought be taxed the same as other corporations, on all of their income, opposing the current system under which insurance companies had not paid any tax on tremendous profits, but only on investment income.
The bill of Congressman Mills would have permitted the insurance companies to pay taxes on a compromise formula adopted in 1954. Members of the Senate Finance Committee had debated in closed session the bill for 90 minutes before finally agreeing that there should be no rush about passing such a tax loophole for the insurance companies, and instead agreed that hearings would be held.
Senator Arthur Watkins of Utah had been speaking in Salt Lake City before a large farm group sponsored by the Farmers Union. The Senator, who was a Mormon bishop and had done an excellent job of organizing the strawberry growers of Utah into a cooperative, knew something about farming and scolded the farm meeting for complaining about prices, saying that he could remember when he was selling hay for $10 per ton, producing a murmur of resentment through the crowd. Afterward, the Senator asked the chairman what it was he had said which caused the groan, to which the chairman replied that he had said that he remembered when he sold hay for $10 per ton, when the farmers were currently selling it for eight dollars.
The President had temporarily given up on his plan to soak the American taxpayers to recompense Germans whose assets had been seized in the U.S. during the war.
The men responsible for the fine bipartisan foreign aid conference the previous week had been Eric Johnston, head of the Motion Picture Producers, and Erle Cocke, Jr., former head of the American Legion.
Joe Feeney, a friend of dictator Rafael Trujillo of the Dominican Republic, had picked up the dinner tab recently for the aides of Senators at the Army-Navy Club, with over 50 Senate aides having attended the party. Mr. Pearson suggests that it was one way to influence Senators.
Dr. John Hagen, the director of the ill-fated Vanguard rocket project, had pleaded with Defense Secretary Neil McElroy not to abolish the program, arguing that one Vanguard satellite, if launched, would be able to collect as much scientific data as 8 to 10 of the Army's Explorer satellites, one of which had become the first American satellite launched into orbit the previous month.
A letter writer indicates that for three generations there had not been any Southern member of the Cabinet appointed by a Republican President, or as an ambassador to a first-class nation. The President during his first term had appointed Oveta Culp Hobby as HEW Secretary, from Texas, but the writer points out that she had been a Democrat and had left the position before the end of the first term. He believes it was why people of first-class ability and prestige had withdrawn from active participation in Republican politics in the South, as there was no reward for the service. He believes that since the Democratic leadership did not require much ability in the South, the region had produced few statesmen, despite Democratic administrations having appointed able Southerners to high positions in the Government, including the Cabinet. He indicates that state governments in the region had fallen in virtue and prestige and finds it sorry that one political party did not function in a section of the nation.
A letter writer indicates that the late P. T. Barnum was credited with saying that people were never satisfied unless they were gypped, which he suggests appeared to be true. He believes that criminals were being let off easy by the court systems, finding it ridiculous, suggesting the elimination of the legislatures, the cops, the courts, juries and prisons and allowing everyone to report monthly to the parole board to confess and be forgiven.
A letter from Joe Whitley, Chief of County Police in Mecklenburg, indicates that in law enforcement they sometimes wondered if what they were doing was reaching the people and if so, if the job they desired to do was being done. He comments on an editorial of February 22, titled "Efficient Police Deserve Public Plaudits", finding it to show well what the situation was and what the message ought be, especially where it discussed the Klan and their activities, whom he describes as "misguided fifth columnists". He thanks the newspaper on behalf of the entire Department, finds the words kind and assures that they would do their best to continue to earn their place in the community.
A letter writer indicates that the Communist conspiracy had been highly successful in using the clergy in their front groups, according to the American Mercury, indicating that if it was true, it was the most shameful situation ever brought to the attention of the American people. "The hour has struck for active attention on the part of church laity."
The writer apparently refers to an article written by a staffer of the late Senator McCarthy several years earlier, an article which was thoroughly debunked at the time and the staffer ultimately fired by the Senate Investigating Committee, having been hired unilaterally by the Senator.
A letter writer from Hickory indicates that in looking up records which showed how the Supreme Court had been made an institution by the Constitution over the protest of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, Patrick Henry and Benjamin Franklin, he finds that it meant the end of majority rule, as the Federalists had been in control and elected to set up the Supreme Court. Most Americans had voted for George Washington as the first President, even though some had suspected he would vote with the Federalists on important questions, and apparently he did with regard to the Supreme Court. He appointed Thomas Jefferson to be Secretary of State, Alexander Hamilton to be Secretary of the Treasury, and John Jay of New York as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. All members of his Cabinet had been Federalists except for Mr. Jefferson, who remained in the Cabinet for about a year before resigning, not specifying any reason. Chief Justice Jay had resigned after about five years, and the writer quotes from page 968, Volume 14 of the 14th edition of Encyclopedia Britannica: "At the time of Marshall's appointment [in 1801] it was generally considered that the Supreme Court was the only department of the new government which had failed in its purpose. John Jay, the first Chief Justice, who had resigned in 1795, had just declined a reappointment to the chief-justiceship on the ground that he had left the bench perfectly convinced that the court would never acquire proper weight and dignity, its organization being fatally defective." John Marshall had then been appointed as Chief Justice, at the time of his appointment, being Secretary of State under President John Adams. He indicates that Chief Justice Marshall had been praised as a great constitutional lawyer, but finds that if the records showed anything, he had not even been a lawyer because he had never attended a law school or had legal preceptors.
It should be pointed out, anent the latter point of the writer, that in those times, it was not uncommon for lawyers to "read" the law under established lawyers or former judges, thus earning their way into the profession. Institutional law schools were practically non-existent in the early part of the nation's history and when they were finally founded, were often akin to one-room schoolhouses with few students. UNC's first law school, for instance, the building for which still stands at the corner of Hillsborough Street and East Franklin, was a small corner law office and residence converted to a place of study. Established in 1845, it was at the time the only law school in the state, for the first State University. The only other state-supported law school in the South at the time was at the University of Virginia, established in 1819, only two years younger than Harvard, and that not established as more than a local school for the training of lawyers until 1829, when it became the first "national" law school under the direction of Justice Joseph Story. The first recognized law school in the young nation associated with an institution of higher learning was apparently at William & Mary, Virginia having established by statute the single law professorship of George Wythe in 1779, under whom John Marshall studied for a year in 1780, his only formal legal training.
A letter writer says that he was an old man, retired and sat around all day reading the newspapers and magazines, finds that the News devoted considerable space to the activities of women, those in the social swirl and the professional fields such as teachers, nurses, commerce and office workers, which he believes was as it should be. He writes in regard to Mrs. Ethel Sloop who had been unemployed three years earlier, having sought work everywhere and despite being competent, had found no positions available. She had decided that there were thousands like her in Charlotte who were considered too old by employers and so contacted the business and professional people, city officials, and various clubs, conceiving the idea of organizing an "Over Forty Club". She explained the benefits to merchants, city and county officials, of hiring such people, as it meant fewer people in the bread lines and less burden on taxpayers, as well as boosting the morale of the unemployed. She gained the admiration and pledges from most of those to whom she spoke. The Club had been especially beneficial to widows and single women who had to depend on themselves. A realty company had donated the use of its building for the Club. Her work was a labor of love and more than 850 people had been employed through the Club since 1955, some of whom having advanced to more responsible jobs at increased pay in the meantime. He invites people to drop in if they wished to learn about the Club and that if they were a member, to tell their friends who were not members what a worthwhile project it was.
A letter writer indicates that on February 24, he had attended as a guest the performance of Il Trovatore in Charlotte's Ovens Auditorium. He says that as a resident of a town in New Jersey, noted for its cultural advantages, he was scarcely prepared to find himself spellbound by such excellent singing and acting, at times feeling that he was attending the Metropolitan Opera. He congratulates the Charlotte Opera Association and indicates that the people of the community were fortunate to be able to attend such a finished performance. He had heard much in the North about the values placed on culture in Charlotte and suggests that with such an opera company, an auditorium, schools, public libraries, churches and facilities, it was not surprising that the city attracted as new residents quality people who placed a high premium on culture. He wishes that many communities in the North had as much to offer in which they could take just pride.
A letter writer from Salisbury indicates that most people loved to be classified as liberal in politics, because Woodrow Wilson and other great men had been classified as liberals. People also wanted to think that they gave of their time and money to good causes. He finds liberals to be the type of people who made the world go around, giving of themselves, their time, their money and substance to satisfy their high ideals and their consciences.
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