The Charlotte News

Friday, December 2, 1949

FOUR EDITORIALS

Site Ed. Note: The front page reports that Consul General Angus Ward reported that, pursuant to the order of the Communist Chinese court, he had arranged to leave his post at Mukden and take his staff with him by the following Wednesday.

Secretary of the Treasury John W. Snyder told a joint economic subcommittee of Congress that the Government's budget should be balanced but declined to say whether he favored a tax increase, budget cuts or both to do it.

Marriner Eccles of the Federal Reserve Board, in a letter to Illinois Senator Paul Douglas, chairman of the joint economic subcommittee, criticized Treasury for having an "easy money bias" under most circumstances, that such policies were producing inflation when it was in the best interests of economic stability to take the opposite action. He urged Congress to undertake the responsibility for setting national monetary and credit policy.

The President endorsed adviser John R. Steelman's proposal for combating unemployment through local improvement programs.

Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson returned from the Paris conference of the Three-Power defense committee, which had formed an agreement the previous day. He and Secretary of State Acheson would now seek to convince the President that the agreement was appropriate.

In Topeka, Kans., Harry Darby, an industrialist and GOP national committeeman, was appointed by the Republican Governor to serve the unexpired term of recently deceased Senator Clyde Reed.

In Catania, Sicily, Mount Etna was hurling down black volcanic ash on the town, erupting prior to dawn and continuing until 9:30 p.m. It was the first activity of Etna since the prior June, with the last major eruption in February, 1947. Since the Sixteenth Century, eruptions had taken place at regular intervals, usually about six years apart.

In Alameda, California, a Matson freighter, after catching fire, finally rolled over and crashed into the dock this date. There was no immediate report of casualties. The ship had returned from Hawaii carrying cargo produced from sugar cane.

In Allentown, Pa., a gas explosion shortly after midnight had ripped open a downtown street, causing fires and subsidence, with damage expected to run hundreds of thousands of dollars. No one was injured seriously.

In Inez, Ky., a young mother and her infant son died in an early morning fire at their home.

In Sapulpa, Okla., an early morning fire burned through a four-story hotel and spread to adjoining buildings, causing an estimated million dollars in damage. There were no known deaths and only one person was hospitalized.

In Barberton, O., a $100,000 downtown fire sent two firemen to the hospital in critical condition. Phonograph records and other plastic items were being tested by chemists to determine whether they had released poisonous gases during the fire, emissions which sometimes proved lethal as long as one to two days after breathing them. In all, 24 persons had been hospitalized.

In Birmingham, Ala., a streetcar conductor had been charged with murder in the fatal shooting on November 20 of a black man during an argument over sitting in the streetcar's white section. Both men had been charged initially with assault with intent to kill.

In Rome, Ga., two of the twelve defendants charged with flogging of seven black citizens the previous April had their cases dismissed by the Federal Court after the judge entered directed verdicts for them, indicating that after the prosecution's case there was, as a matter of law, not enough evidence to support one or more elements of the crimes charged and thus the jury could not render a legal verdict of guilty. Defense counsel had contended that the evidence against all twelve defendants was insufficient. He also claimed that the Federal civil rights statutes under which the men had been charged were applicable only to states and not individuals.

The FHA issued new regulations which mandated that the agency refuse aid in the financing of any properties, the occupancy or use of which was restricted by race, creed, or color. According to Solicitor General Philip Perlman, the President had been working on this matter for some time.

In Memphis, Tenn., a nine-year old girl wept and told law enforcement of her father having killed her mother and sister, then wounded her brother the previous night, as she and another sister, 7, observed. The father was on the lam with a .22 rifle in his hands, last heard saying that he intended to kill himself.

Near Sao Paulo, Brazil, an airline crash killed 20 persons. Only two persons survived, a woman and her five-year old daughter. The plane had been trying to conduct a forced landing on an emergency airfield in heavily overcast weather at the time of the crash.

At Muroc Air Base in California, a Navy Douglas Skyrocket piloted by Eugene May, a 45-year old grandfather, flew at speeds between 760 and 800 mph, breaking the sound barrier of 757 mph at the sea level of the base. According to Navy officials, the D-558-2 had repeatedly broken the sound barrier. The official world record was held by an F-86 jet fighter which had flown 670 mph.

In Bristol, England, the Executive Council of the National Health Service refused a new set of false teeth to a girl who had lost hers in a surfing accident. Henceforward, she would have to be known as "Little Snaggle Surfer Missing a Gaggle of Teeth".

Christmas might save her grin.

On the editorial page, "The Latta Park Skirmish" remarks on a letter appearing on the page from a Dilworth resident favoring the construction of the teenage recreation center in Latta Park. Two days earlier, a resident had sent a letter opposing it.

It finds that, given the strong feelings apparent on both sides of the issue, it was unlikely that public hearings during the week would resolve the dispute. But the Park & Recreation Commission had acted wisely in calling the hearings, in the wake of a sudden controversy arising long after announcement of the project.

While the Commission would listen attentively to both sides, its duty was to all the people of the community and it would have to act accordingly, even if contrary to the wishes of a vocal minority.

"Socialism on the Wane?" tells of the surprising defeat of the Labor Government in New Zealand by the National Party being perhaps a harbinger of things to come in Britain and Australia. New Zealand had elected Labor in 1935, the first of the major British Empire powers to do so, and Australia had followed suit in 1941, then followed by Britain in 1945. The National Party had come to power on promises of reducing controls of the free enterprise system, reviewing taxation, and cutting the cost of living, all while continuing social benefits. It remained to be seen whether they could meet those promises, but the election suggested that New Zealanders had seen enough of socialism.

"Exit Mr. Thomas" tells of Congressman J. Parnell Thomas, former HUAC chairman, who in that capacity had persecuted witnesses and disposed of evidentiary rules in grilling them, after having been accorded deference by the court which tried him on the charges of fraud against the Government in his salary kickback scheme, having changed his plea to nolo contendere and thrown himself on the mercy of the court for sentencing.

It urges the Congress to take action without delay to bar him from resuming his seat and make it impossible for any other member to get away with such activities in the future.

"A Warm Christmas" finds it not surprising that John L. Lewis had agreed to call off renewal of the coal strike after the three-week hiatus period and resume work with a three-day week. But the action posed questions as to Mr. Lewis's use in the future of industry-wide bargaining, unsuccessful during this round, and the future use by the Administration of Taft-Hartley's injunctive provision. The latter had served as a Sword of Damocles hanging over Mr. Lewis and so was a primary reason for his returning the miners to work. Thus, it was unlikely that the next session of Congress would effect any change in the injunctive provision, despite the President having campaigned for a watered-down version in which he could ask for a labor-management truce while a Presidential fact-finding board studied the matter and then issued recommendations.

The miners, it concludes, could look forward to a Christmas of sorts, even if not so well-heeled as in previous years.

Drew Pearson tells of a young high school football hero in the nation's capital whose father had also been a hero by hiring the former secretary of Representative J. Parnell Thomas, who had just changed his plea from not guilty to nolo contendere in his case for defrauding the Government through taking salary kickbacks from employees. The secretary had originally reported the practice to the Government and for that was indicted as a co-conspirator. Her case had been dismissed when Mr. Thomas changed his plea.

The clergy was now opposing the real estate lobby regarding the latter's fight to release rent control.

While Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson was stating that the U.S. would not rearm Germany, Field Marshal Viscount Bernard Montgomery was quietly lobbying him and chief of staff of the Army General Omar Bradley for rearming, as otherwise Germany, he said, would be taken over by Russia's 360,000-soldier army formed in the Eastern sector, as soon as the Western allies would leave Germany.

But West German leaders had made it clear that they would not fight in another war and so a rearmed Germany would not help the U.S. in any event, the primary reason for Secretary Johnson's stand.

The office staff of General Bradley asked the General whether they should refer to Field Marshal Montgomery as "Viscount" or "Field Marshal", to which General Bradley replied that he just called him "Monty".

John L. Lewis railed at the president of the Pittsburgh Consolidation Coal Co. for showing up at a mediation conference, that nothing he said would change anything as he served the banker interests and Mr. Lewis viewed him as an errand boy for them. Mr. Lewis still did not specify his demands other than preservation of the "willing and able" clause in the contract—whereby as long as miners were deemed by him not willing and able to work, he could call a full or partial strike—, and that there be no changes in the administration of the welfare and pension fund.

Marquis Childs, in London, tells of Winston Churchill still fighting, as when he participated in the cavalry charge at the Battle of Omdurman in the Sudan, recounted in a volume of his autobiography, My Early Life. He was the unchallenged leader of the Conservative Party and Anthony Eden, who would otherwise be in line to become Prime Minister after serving well as Foreign Secretary in the Churchill coalition Cabinet, would have to wait, perhaps a decade, for his turn at the top spot in the Government.

Though having just turned 75, Mr. Churchill plainly wanted another chance to serve as Prime Minister, having perceived the 1945 loss to Labor as a personal rebuke. Whether he would run remained the subject of question, as he largely kept his own counsel.

He was staying in the public eye by fighting for European union, taking the lead in forming the Council of Europe, one reason perhaps that Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin had been cool to the concept.

Some believed, however, that Mr. Churchill would sidetrack this interest for his original love, the Empire and Commonwealth.

Mr. Childs concludes that Mr. Churchill was remote from the times and the longer he lived the more remote he became.

Robert C. Ruark, in San Francisco, bemoans Vice-Preisdent Alben Barkley's recent marriage for the fact that it meant his joyous, relatively free-wheeling bachelor days were done. No longer would Mr. Barkley be permitted to kiss the girls; no longer would he be able suddenly to take off on a weekend trip. For "if he comes home and says he has put in a hard day kissing Miss Strawberry Festival Queen or Miss Horners' Coroners, 1949, he is going to get a stony stare, at best, and maybe even a skillet alongside his kisser."

Lipstick on handkerchiefs would no longer be acceptable.

He concludes by saying to Mr. Barkley: "...[A]ll the world loves a lover, with just one mild exception. That would be the lover's bride."

A letter writer, as indicated in the column, writes to support the proposed construction of the recreation center in Latta Park. He takes issue with the previous writer opposing the project.

A letter from two readers thanks the newspaper for its content, especially the back page columns of Dr. Herbert Spaugh, Erich Brandeis, and Dr. George Crane.

A letter from former News reporter C. A. Paul advises the paper that a caption under a picture of Governor Bill Tuck of Virginia had been in error in referring to him as "former Governor", that he had recently seen the Governor and he had assured Mr. Paul that he was still in the position. Furthermore, the man in the photo identified as Governor Tuck was actually Governor Jim Folsom of Alabama.

A letter writer from Biloxi, Miss., tells of visiting the Mississippi Civil War Veterans home recently and meeting an old woman there who wanted to locate some of the descendants of her relatives in North Carolina. He invites responses.

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