The Charlotte News
Thursday, July 10, 1958
FOUR EDITORIALS
Site Ed. Note: The front page reports from Wiesbaden, West Germany, that Soviet civilians had threatened to hang one of nine U.S. airmen shot down in Soviet Armenia and had roughed up others, according to U.S. Air Force Col. Dale Brannon, senior officer aboard the unarmed transport plane which had been shot down in flames on June 27. He said this date at a press conference that Maj. Bennie Shupe had narrowly escaped being lynched, indicating: "The rope was attached to a telephone pole and the noose was being placed over his head when he managed to convey to them the fact that he was an American. The group then paused for a discussion. It was at this time that the Soviet military police arrived and took him into custody." He said that five of the nine airmen aboard the transport had received rough treatment from the local population after they had bailed out of the burning plane. He said that his own hands had been tied behind his back and that he was beaten in the face by fists and later kicked in the body when placed aboard a truck for transport to the local village. The four crewmen who had stayed with the plane for the crash landing and were picked up by Soviet soldiers had not been molested. The abuse by civilians of the other five had stopped as soon as they were turned over to Soviet authorities. The colonel added that the "overall treatment by local authorities was considerate." The plane, a C-118 transport attached to the large U.S. Air Force Base at Wiesbaden, was on a routine flight carrying cargo assigned to U.S. diplomatic and military missions in Iran and Pakistan. It had strayed into Soviet Armenia in bad weather and had been attacked by Soviet MIG fighters. The nine crewmen had been released to an American representative on the Iranian frontier the prior Monday. They had been flown to Wiesbaden, headquarters of the U.S. Air Force in Europe, for medical observation and consultation with Air Force officials before appearing before the press this date. The colonel denied that the flight over Armenia had been an intentional violation of Soviet airspace, that to avoid a turbulent thunderstorm, the plane had steered slightly north off course and the crew did not realize it was over Soviet territory until they noticed two jet fighter aircraft approaching and crisscrossing around them.
In Berlin, it was reported that East Germany's Stalinist boss Walter Ulbricht this date had warned Yugoslav leaders that they might suffer the fate of the executed leaders of the Hungarian revolt should they persist in independent Communism. Opening the East German party congress in the presence of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, Mr. Ulbricht had angrily condemned Yugoslavia's revisionism, the Kremlin's name for independent Communism, as an open attack on the Socialist bloc. He said that the fate of the Nagy Government in Hungary had showed where revisionism would lead. Hungary's puppet party chief Janos Kadar had sat listening in the crowded, tense East Berlin hall as Mr. Ulbricht made his reference to the execution of former Premier Imre Nagy and Defense Minister Pal Maleter, which had taken place recently. He stated in a high-pitched voice: "We must create an atmosphere of intolerance against all revisionism." More than 2,000 East German and foreign delegates had sat silently as he unleashed the toughest attack yet on President Tito's Yugoslav party. Yugoslav Communists were not in attendance at the congress. Mr. Ulbricht had added: "We hope our Yugoslav comrades will soon become convinced, and we on our part will strive to establish normal relations with Yugoslavia." He had formally opened the congress with a bitter attack on the U.S.
Bernard Goldfine had refused this date to tell investigators of the House subcommittee looking into the Goldfine-Adams matter why he had issued two checks totaling $178,982 the previous year. The members of the subcommittee threatened to subpoena his books. The chairman, Representative Oren Harris of Arkansas, gave the Boston textile industrialist, who was testifying for the fourth day, a choice of either answering the question or having his books subpoenaed, to which Mr. Goldfine stated that on advice of his counsel, he could not answer as the question was not pertinent to the subcommittee's subject of inquiry, the Federal Trade Commission. One of the checks was for $83,385, issued on March 28, 1957, and the other was for $95,597, issued on April 30, 1957, to the Yale Wool Waste Co. on one of Mr. Goldfine's textile mills, the Northfield firm. Representative John Bennett of Michigan said that the Yale firm had been under investigation in 1957 for violations of the wool labeling act and that Yale had sold some of the goods involved in the investigation to Northfield at a lower price than usual. He demanded that Mr. Goldfine testify whether the checks had been issued to pay Yale for any goods supplied to Northfield. Mr. Goldfine said that the checks were never used and were deposited back into the bank by the Northfield firm and therefore, he argued, could not have been used for any purpose. Mr. Bennett insisted that Mr. Goldfine say whether they were intended when issued to be used as a line of credit and he declined to answer at that point, saying that the question was not pertinent. Mr. Bennett insisted that it was pertinent and asked for a ruling from the chair, at which point Mr. Harris provided his ultimatum.
Not in the newspaper, the Senate Select Committee investigating misconduct of unions and management had begun two days earlier an investigation into mob infiltration of the restaurant business in Chicago, this date scheduled to hear from two Chicago police officers who, according to Committee counsel Robert F. Kennedy, would establish that an alleged 1954 gangland plot to kill Abraham Teitelbaum, erstwhile lawyer for the family of the late Al Capone, had occurred "to get him out of the restaurant picture" after he had gotten into tax difficulties with the House committee. Mr. Kennedy said that the Committee would also inquire about what had occurred to those who allegedly had hatched the conspiracy. He also said that the Chicago gang war killings of Paul "Needle Nose" Labriola and James Weinberg also would figure in this date's testimony. Mr. Teitelbaum was scheduled to testify but pleaded the Fifth Amendment and other protections, even as to whether he was a U.S. citizen, prompting Senator Karl Mundt of South Dakota to say that he was attempting to make a mockery of the Committee and threatening him with contempt of Congress.
In Juneau, Alaska, a major earthquake had struck a wide area of the southeastern section of the territory the previous night and several fishing boats had been reported in trouble in Lituya Bay on the Gulf of Alaska. The Coast Guard had dispatched a 95-foot rescue boat from Juneau to the bay, about 50 miles northwest of Cape Spencer. A cutter was also dispatched to the area. A Coast Guard official said that the cutter had reported recovering a capsized cabin cruiser which was supposed to have been carrying four persons, but might have been torn loose from its anchorage while no one was aboard. A Juneau bush pilot said that he had received a radio report that several persons had been injured, but said that the report was garbled and he could not say where or how the injuries had occurred. The radio message had come from the captain of a trawler who had asked that the injured be picked up at Pelican, about 85 miles west of Juneau. The Coast Guard, however, had asked the pilot not to fly there because of unfavorable weather. The pilot also said that the captain of the trawler had told him of a tidal wave in the bay following the earthquake. The Coast Guard said that it had a report that the temblor had shaken ice off Lituya Glacier and that the ice smashing into the water may have produced the wave.
In Beirut, Lebanon, rebels and loyalist irregulars had agreed to a local truce in the hills behind Beirut airport. Leaders of the two rival guerrilla bands had met a few days earlier to seal the truce.
In Columbus, O., it was reported that an unauthorized strike by members of the United Auto Workers had halted production at the giant General Motors Ternstadt division plant this date.
In Sophia, W.Va., rescue officials had abandoned hope that any of the three miners entombed by a coal mine explosion early this date would be found alive.
In Newport, R.I., railroad magnate Robert R. Young had left an estate of $8,367,237 according to an inventory filed in the Newport Probate Court this date.
Julian Scheer of The News
reports from Cape Canaveral, Fla., of the firing of the Thor-Able
intercontinental ballistic missile with a mouse
John Kilgo of The News reports that lawyers for suspended police Capt. Lloyd Henkel had said this date that they were subpoenaing 33 persons, including Mayor Jim Smith, all seven members of the City Council and City Recorder's Court Judge Basil Boyd, as defense witnesses at Mr. Henkel's Civil Service Commission hearing scheduled for the following Monday afternoon. City Manager Henry Yancey was also among the persons subpoenaed, as well as seven high-ranking police officers. The clerk of City Recorder's Court had been ordered by the subpoena to bring all debit memoranda between January 1, 1942 and July 1, 1958 from the clerk's office. Police Chief Frank Littlejohn had issued a subpoena list naming 21 persons for the hearing.
Mr. Yancey had declined a request of Chief Littlejohn for selection of an attorney to assist him at the hearing, but at the same time offered the services of an attorney already on the City payroll, indicating that the City had no funds to hire outside counsel and that he had made arrangements to have an attorney presently employed in the tax department and until recently had been engaged in the practice of law in Charlotte to assist him.
On the editorial page, "Let's Get to the Bottom of It Quickly" finds that the grand jury's adjournment until July 28, to give the State Bureau of Investigation more time to work on the irregularities in the City Recorder's Court, might be justified, as sufficient time had to be allotted for a thorough probe of every detail of the situation, but it also cautions that there could be no dozing, dawdling or thumb-twiddling, as the integrity of the governmental institutions was on the line.
There was already suspicion and distrust among the citizenry, with Charlotte's first reaction to the scandal being one of shock. As the scandal had developed, so had the sense of outrage and alarm. Now, some cynicism had set in concerning the conduct of the investigation, its probable results and the likelihood of widespread corruption in virtually all law enforcement and judicial agencies.
It finds the latter reaction to be the most unfortunate and unfair, that chances were that any irregularities were of a limited nature. Whole departments, organizations, professions and institutions had not been infected and blanket condemnations were not in order.
But given human nature, suspicion would continue to grow until all of the facts were in and the evil had been isolated and removed, and therefore it was of utmost importance that justice be rendered with some dispatch, that only harm could result from long and unnecessary delay.
"Ethical Codes Make Good Dust-Catchers" finds that former President Truman's genius for oversimplification had shone brightly in his prescription of the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount as the only ethical code needed by anyone in government.
The Commandments, however, had not prevented corruption in his Administration or in the Eisenhower Administration. But it finds Mr. Truman to have been eminently correct in suggesting that Congress would be wasting its time seeking to write a code of ethics which would be effective in enforcing a high standard of moral conduct in public officials.
Two New York Republicans, Senator Jacob Javits and Representative Kenneth Keating, had introduced bills to create a commission to study the question of ethics in government. A code would be drawn from the study and public officials would be expected to adhere to it, although not being subject to penalties for its violation. Oregon Senator Paul Neuberger doubtless would support the proposal in the Senate, having posed a question in a recent magazine article: "Congress has set itself up to scrutinize the ethics and morals of the executive branch of the government. But who watches Congress with respect to conflict of interest? Who polices the policeman?"
It suggests that the only answer to the question was the voter, that regarding a code of ethics, one reflecting the ideas of about 500 legislators would have to have sufficient loopholes to let each legislator follow his own conscience, the prevailing practice. It suggests that the trouble was that some public officials were afflicted with sleepy consciences.
Sherman Adams had needed no written code to tell him that he was acting improperly on behalf of Bernard Goldfine as Mr. Adams had bitterly criticized other officials for doing less than what he had done for Mr. Goldfine.
A code of ethics would take a long time to draft and would gather dust quickly. The only effective safeguard which the voter could have against corruption in office was his power to throw the rascals out when they were found out through the competitive processes of democratic government.
"The Old Balsam Wooly Beats a Rap" indicates that the Balsam Wooly Aphid had been found not guilty in the death of several thousand balsam firs on Mount Mitchell, according to the Associated Press.
It indicates that it was of no surprise to it and it could have saved the Federal agents investigating the matter the effort, as old Wooly had not even been in the mountains the previous winter because it had been too cold even for aphids, with the possible exception of the hopdamson aphid, which stayed hopped up half the time on the juice of hops.
It says that the reason it was so defensive about old Wooly was that it had in mind to blame it for the demise of a couple of rose bushes, thus furnishing it with an alibi in the case of the firs and it one in the case of the rose bushes. The wooly aphid possibly had never been known to attack rose bushes, but it was its belief that its rose bushes had been host to every variety of aphid known to man, excluding only the hopdamson.
It concludes that it had been simply cold weather which had killed the balsam firs.
"Education Note" indicates that there was an item in the newspaper on July 7 which stated that Wallace Kuralt, administrator of the multi-million dollar County Welfare Department, had denied a $60 per month raise by the County Commission.
Another item in the newspaper of the same date said that Henry Severs, Mecklenburg Alcoholic Beverage Control Board chief, had received a $500 annual raise.
It suggests that perhaps Mr. Kuralt, for his own welfare, had better relearn the ABC's.
A piece from the Richmond News Leader, titled "The Future of the 'Feelies'", suggests that one day, a chronicler might turn to the "Frantic Fifties" and see in them the era of the "hard-sell". Veteran television viewers were familiar with bullying, the most primitive "hard-sell" technique, which was mainly a contest of wills. "The breathless but steadfast huckster attempts to wear down the viewer's sales resistance with unrelenting, pile-driver repetition. ('Now, that number is NAusea 8-4000. Got it? That's N-A-eight-four-oh-oh-oh. Once again, the number is…') The command to call, write or buy— now—is blared until the weak-willed must crack, until nothing will do but that the beans burn and the baby wails as the intimidated viewer hastens to obey."
It finds that bullying was passing but that more subtle means were being devised to put the product across, with the latest hard-sell technique being subliminal advertising in which the "pitch" was flashed on the screen so quickly that the eye did not consciously see it, while the subconscious received the message. Used experimentally in a few movie houses, the message thus far had been confined to the exhortation to "buy popcorn".
More ominous, however, was Hollywood's decision to use the subliminal hard-sell technique to tell the viewer what to feel and think. In an upcoming production, "My World Dies Screaming", subliminal perception, or SP, would be employed "for dramatic effect". In the movie, recently previewed, symbols were superimposed on the faces of the principals, such that a snake, denoting evil, flashed across the villain's face, while the heroine's face was fleetingly caressed by a heart. As suspense built, symbols multiplied and the words "death" and "blood" impressed on the dullest viewer the fact that the villain, dagger in hand, was up to no good.
The first SP movie, dubbed a "feelie", might be the cure, it suggests, for a sick industry. A recently issued survey of the movie industry showed that weekly theater attendance was down 44.5 million since 1947, with income among the top ten companies barely being 25 percent of what it had been in 1946. Because of that decline, a movie mogul hungry for the return of big profits might place a cunning SP commercial in his next production.
It also suggests that a producer of liberal persuasion might place in an epic the subliminal message: "Dulles Must Go". In 1960, an advocate for Americans for Democratic Action might place the message "Back Jack Kennedy" or "Keep Kool with Kefauver". (More to the point, Mr. Kilpatrick, as one more likely to be promulgated by the RNC, how about "Hangin' around with Dick"?)
It finds, however, that the "feelies" could backfire, as a wary citizenry, conscious of the evil designs on its subconscious mind, might shun the big and little screen and take to reading books, with nothing but clean, white space between the lines. "And wouldn't that be a pity!"
Should this piece seem vaguely familiar to those who have paid close attention herein, it actually reappears from our linkage to it in conjunction with the News Leader piece reprinted on the page on June 14. It pays to stay tuned
Drew Pearson indicates that the subcommittee's investigation of the so-called independent agencies had been a business of cops and robbers from the time of its inception, culminating in the "imprudence" of its chief investigator, Baron Shacklette, in bugging the room of Mr. Goldfine's press relations man during the week. His assistant, Jack Anderson, had been present, as any good reporter was always present, if he could be there.
The reason for the cops and robbers game was that the Harris subcommittee had been probing some of the agencies and personalities in Washington and some of the members had been opposed to the probe and had rowed among themselves. Mr. Harris had not hired Bernard Schwartz as committee counsel until he had first phoned Sherman Adams to see if the White House approved, a highly unusual practice, since Mr. Adams was to be investigated by Mr. Harris. The reason for the solicitude by Mr. Harris was the fact that he wanted to be a Federal judge in Arkansas and Mr. Adams could veto that nomination, and because he had been carrying the ball for the White House and the President's Texas oil friends regarding the natural gas act.
The previous summer, after the Legislative Oversight subcommittee had been functioning for almost 6 months with no results, Mr. Anderson had gone to Miami and uncovered the first evidence regarding FCC commissioner Richard Mack and his conflict of interest with Thurman Whiteside regarding a Miami television station. That had been in August and the information had been provided to Dr. Schwartz and the chief investigator, Mr. Shacklette. They had not leaked the story to Mr. Pearson's column, as some Congressmen had suspected; in fact it had been leaked to them. After the column had published the charges against Mr. Mack on January 17, 1958, plus other charges of gift-taking by independent agencies, Dr. Schwartz was summoned before the committee and cross-examined regarding whether he had given the information to Mr. Pearson or to Mr. Anderson.
After the first revelations in the column, the New York Times had also published the Schwartz memo regarding gift-taking and influence-peddling. A copy of his report had been left in a bush near the Capitol for the Times, which then picked it up. Dr. Schwartz, however, had not equivocated to the Congressmen, indicating that prior to publication by Mr. Pearson, he had given the statement to the Times, at which point the committee had fired him.
Simultaneously, the Congressmen locked the questionnaires on gift-taking in the safe of Mr. Harris, where they still were. No one had seen them. Dr. Schwartz had been pilloried by some Congressmen and by gift-taking bureaucrats for sending out the gift questionnaires. At the time, the subcommittee was chaired by Congressman Morgan Moulder, who had backed up Dr. Schwartz completely. All the evidence since that time showed that Dr. Schwartz and Mr. Moulder had been correct, but the questionnaires were still in the safe of Mr. Harris, who had taken Mr. Moulder's place as chairman.
As the investigation dragged on through the spring, Mr. Harris had made it clear that he was not going to send investigators to Boston to probe the charges against Sherman Adams and Mr. Goldfine or the television station wire-pulling by the Boston Herald and Traveler.
Early in the winter, Mr. Shacklette had been ordered by Dr. Schwartz to Boston to probe those two cases, but Mr. Harris had suddenly countermanded that order. Later he called Mr. Shacklette in and fired him. Other committee members who believed Mr. Shacklette was the best man on the staff, had rebelled and forced Mr. Harris to keep him, but Mr. Shacklette was taken off the Boston probe. By May, it had become apparent that Mr. Harris was going to hush up the entire Adams-Goldfine case.
As Mr. Pearson had left for Europe on May 6, Mr. Anderson and he had discussed the evidence they had and decided Mr. Anderson ought write an early column on the tactics of Mr. Harris and the evidence. On May 13, Mr. Anderson had written: "Now that the public clamor has died down, Congressman Oren Harris has quietly called off the investigation of the second most powerful man in government—Sherman Adams…"
The column had then told in detail of the phone calls by Mr. Adams to the Federal Trade Commission regarding Mr. Goldfine's violations of the wool labeling act at his mills and of Mr. Goldfine's apparent influence with the Securities & Exchange Commission over the Boston Port Development case. After the other Congressmen had demanded that the probe proceed, it had. But significantly, Mr. Harris had not gone to Boston to conduct it, at least until the probe had hit the headlines, at which point he began investigation of his friends in the White House.
Doris Fleeson tells of the "League of the Imprudent" founded by Bernard Goldfine and Sherman Adams, then joined by their unpaid volunteer press agent, Tex McCrary, and two of the latter's associates. Now they were in company with the chief investigator for the House subcommittee, Baron Shacklette, looking into the Goldfine-Adams matter and a "well-known reporter", referring to Jack Anderson, who had been with Mr. Shacklette while eavesdropping on Mr. Goldfine's aides in their hotel room.
She finds that even the subcommittee had taken a tentative step toward membership when it failed to control its witness, John Fox of Boston, on the basis that it had to hear him because he had pointed the finger at Mr. Goldfine for them and because it could not choose Mr. Goldfine's associates. She indicates that they could, however, choose their own staff and should not have agonized for so long about firing Mr. Shacklette.
Through it all, the singular fact remained that Mr. Adams had accepted important gifts from Mr. Goldfine, which the latter had taken as business expenses on his tax returns, and Mr. Goldfine had $750,000 in uncashed checks which did not bear his name.
The primary mission of the subcommittee was to discover how the regulatory agencies were functioning and to promulgate any remedial legislation necessary. Now it had to pause and regain solid ground on which to operate. Its staff problem at first glance appeared to be part of a general problem afflicting the Government since it had become so security-conscious. Everybody needed investigators in the era and far too many groups, including Congressional committees, had not been very scrupulous or careful about who they hired, carrying the potential for general mischief. Members of Congress and reporters had been aware of the army of private detectives who had turned up with fair regularity regarding routine as well as special inquiries. Some of them had prestige and enjoyed a good reputation, working with facts and records, and generally received good press, with members of Congress vying for their services. Others catered to the special interests of their employers and were passed around to select groups, sometimes sticking their necks out too far such that the pressure became so great that they had to go.
Carmine Bellino, chief accountant for the Senate Select Committee investigating misconduct in unions and management, was an example of the best type of investigator. J. B. Matthews, who, while working for the late Senator McCarthy, had attacked the Protestant ministry as furnishing too many fellow-travelers for Communism, was typical of the other type.
Generally speaking, a committee staff was a fair reflection of the chairman's personal code of ethics, his common sense and his worldly experience. Members of Congress often came from circles where police work was an attractive novelty and could be dazzled, just as the public was sometimes, by plausible characters on its fringe.
The Harris subcommittee had set a bad example for its staff when it spied on its first chief counsel, Bernard Schwartz, and had generally mishandled the latter in a way which reflected on its sense of the fitness of things. It was now being punished by its own acute embarrassment over the present predicament of its chief investigator, Mr. Shacklette.
The explosive growth of public relations as a profession, which had long been a matter of concern to serious reporters, had also strikingly come to the fore in the story of Mr. Goldfine. For the first few days of his well-staged rehearsals of his statements to the Harris subcommittee had reduced it to the status of a second-run movie house with a stale attraction. She finds it probable that many television viewers had thought they were watching him face his inquisitors when what they actually saw was an artful presentation under the coaching of experts in forming public opinion for propaganda purposes.
Few people were aware that Mr. Adams had done precisely the same thing before the subcommittee. He had utilized White House facilities and a select circle had been present to observe him and advise on his dress rehearsal which the television viewers actually saw. And reporters, conscious of their responsibilities, covering, where possible, both the rehearsals and the hearings, had been trying to make plain the distinction between the two. A good reporter knew that he had to "see the whites of their eyes" and was entitled to take into account the demeanor of the witnesses.
She indicates that it might conceivably be of interest to bar associations that the technique had been adopted in the present case, not by lawyers for show business, but by presumed leaders of their profession in matters involving the integrity of the Government, itself. Roger Robb, Mr. Goldfine's chief counsel, had been counsel for Admiral Lewis Strauss, chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, in the ouster of Dr. Robert Oppenheimer, and his associate counsel, Samuel Sears of Boston, had been described as equally reputable. Mr. Robb's association with the original unpaid volunteer, Mr. McCrary, had been somewhat vague, but now was appearing in pictures with an investigator who investigated the subcommittee investigators and a paid public relations counsel who called press conferences at midnight and had a professional model, Bea Duprey—whose picture had appeared on the front page two days earlier—as a press receptionist. She remarks that she was a very pretty girl and in a sense the reporters never had it so good. The effect on some of them had been to drive them to cups of coffee in perhaps a losing effort to keep their sense of reality intact, though the supplies of food and stronger drink remained plentiful.
Television originally had been barred from House hearings by fiat of Speaker Sam Rayburn and it might be, she ventures, that what was happening in the Goldfine-Adams case was worse than any evils which the Speaker had first seen in admitting television cameras finally to the House. Certainly Mr. Goldfine, having gotten his story before the public in terms satisfactory to experts, had contentedly filibustered the subcommittee at the beginning of his testimony. The press had been involved in the general razzle-dazzle through the disclosure that Mr. Anderson had hired the hotel room next to Mr. Goldfine and loaned it to the chief investigator for the subcommittee.
The chief responsibility for getting the inquiry back on the track rested with Representative Oren Harris, the chairman, and he was quite angry, though anger would not be enough and his reaction in hiring a press agent for the subcommittee was not an encouraging sign.
Robert C. Ruark, in Palamos, Spain,
finds it a good thing that the State Department had issued a passport
to Paul Robeson
He finds Mr. Robeson and Mr. Chaplin to be almost exact counterparts, entertainers who had entered uncharted minefields of other people's politics. He suggests that anyone in show business could say that the buffoon who wanted to play Hamlet was headed for trouble. Both men had rejected the country which had given them wealth and fame in favor of Russia, which had given them nothing except headaches. Mr. Chaplin's comedy had vanished when he had taken himself seriously and Mr. Robeson's talents, including singing, football, law and even boxing, had disappeared in the public eye when he started shouting Communist doctrine from any stump he could find.
Mr. Robeson had been spitting through his own lips at his country, of which he was a citizen, since he had been bitten by the Russian bug and even had sent his son to be educated in Russia. He had yelled as loudly as Josephine Baker, who had lived abroad most of her life, mostly marrying white people but who returned to scream that she had observed lynchings and that one little white boy had complained to his father that he had been promised he could kill a "nigger" that day.
Mr. Robeson had nothing to yell about on the other side, as the NAACP would be the first to say, since he had been integrated since he was an All-American at Rutgers, a first-rate boxer, a Phi Beta Kappa and one of the foremost singers of his time.
Mr. Ruark says that he liked to recall the anti-racial line he had used, according to Alexander Woollcott, in While Rome Burns, over 20 years earlier, Mr. Woollcott relating that Jerome Kern had wanted Mr. Robeson to come down and sing "Ol' Man River" for Oscar Hammerstein, who had written the lyrics. Mrs. Robeson, lighter in color than her husband, having mixed black and Jewish blood, had custody of the purse. Mr. Robeson wanted two dollars for the taxi fare, but Mr. Kern was going to drive him and so she knew that he would need only fare for the return trip, which would be covered by a dollar. He had said, according to Mr. Woollcott, "Aw, go on, be all nigger and give me two."
He concludes that he could only say
one thing to Mr. Robeson now that he was free to travel abroad, "Come
on, you tired soap-boxer, be all singer
Mr. Ruark had grown up in Wilmington, N.C., and, unlike others, had never, despite his education at UNC, disabused himself of the paternalistic form of racial prejudice or at least stereotyping which characterized so many of his generation, raised during the onslaught or in the immediate wake of such commonly attended fare as "The Birth of a Nation", reinforcing that which had been passed generationally by word of mouth without too much to intercede to counteract it. Mr. Ruark, however, a graduate of the UNC sociology department in the time of Howard Odum, had little excuse for his persistence in the old frame, his subsequent time as a cub reporter in New York, part of which saw him covering sports, including Florida spring training in a segregated time for Major League baseball, and his following stint in the Navy during the war, plus his more recent experience with the Mau-Mau during his Kenyan hunting expeditions, mayhaps having helped to restore his prior atavistic underpinnings.
Framed Edition
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