The Charlotte News
Monday, October 16, 1950
THREE EDITORIALS
Site Ed. Note: The front page reports that allied troops had made their way toward the flatland approaches to Pyongyang, in what was thought possibly to be the last major battle of the war. The U.S. First Cavalry Division broke through stubborn resistance to advance 16 miles to Sohung, 42 air miles from the North Korean capital, while the South Korean First Division had reached Suan, 40 air miles from Pyongyang. The latter units, led by American tanks, were reported to have broken into a run for the capital as the North Korean army appeared to be crumbling rapidly, albeit with some units still resisting fiercely. It was expected that the allies would push the enemy back against the Manchurian border to the north.
Prisoners were being taken in large numbers, with about 65,000 in the custody of the U.N. forces. About twenty percent of one North Korean division had deserted before entering battle. The enlisted men had lost all confidence in their officers and some units had simply stopped fighting, others fleeing to the south to surrender.
An east coast enemy force, accused of executing about 800 South Korean prisoners, had raced northward with about a hundred American prisoners in tow. A South Korean who had escaped said that he heard the North Koreans plotting to take the American prisoners to Manchuria.
The President and General MacArthur had met on Wake Island during the weekend, regarding the final phase of the Korean war, and both had departed, General MacArthur returning to Tokyo and the President, to Washington via Honolulu and San Francisco, where the President would address the country from the Fairmont Hotel the following night. A joint statement issued after the conference did not elaborate on the substance of their three-hour talk.
At the U.N., debate would begin on revised drafts of the seven-nation proposal to allow the General Assembly to act in an emergency without interference by the Security Council veto, and to control an international force to enforce U.N. resolutions. The revisions would allow the Assembly to act only in an emergency when a breach of the peace had occurred, and after seven members of the Security Council had concurred.
Correspondent John Scali reports that the U.S. was prepared to promise France financial aid so that it could start immediately its rearmament program. Informed officials said that Secretary of State Acheson would pledge aid without naming a specific amount. France had sought 3.17 billion dollars for 1951. U.S. officials predicted during the weekend that there would be a quick increase in aid to French Indo-China so that it could meet the Communist guerrilla threat of Ho Chi Minh. The State and Defense Departments generally approved of the French plan for rearmament but believed that they were overestimating what they could accomplish in 1951 and so would need less money during the ensuing year.
In Berlin, the East German Government proclaimed that it had been elected in the first election for East Germany, polling 12 million votes against 51,000 invalid or opposing ballots—the latter half percent cast by persons already onboard trains to Siberia to partake of a long holiday in the sun. The Government said that 98.44 percent of all voters had cast ballots, while forty percent had fewer cavities than the non-voters. Only one slate of candidates appeared in the elections, and seventy percent were Communists. Anti-Communists claimed that the Government had hidden a million votes.
In Landsberg, Germany, Baron Ernst von Weizsaecker was released from prison after his five-year sentence for war crimes was commuted by U.S. High Commissioner of West Germany, John J. McCloy.
New installment purchase restrictions on cars and consumer goods went into effect this date. Businessmen and others protested the Government action.
The Supreme Court refused to reconsider the June 5 decisions that the Federal Government had superior rights to the tidal oil lands vis-à-vis the states of Louisiana and Texas, consistent with a 1947 ruling regarding California tidelands.
CIO president Phillip Murray began negotiations with U.S. Steel regarding higher wages for production and maintenance workers. The workers currently received an average of $1.70 per hour and it was believed that the union would seek a 25-cent increase.
General Eisenhower, in response to a statement by Governor Thomas Dewey that he thought that the General should be the GOP nominee in 1952, responded that he was glad to receive the support but believed that his duty was to remain as president of Columbia University. He did not, however, flatly rule out running in 1952.
Don't think he will. What do you think?
On the editorial page, "Red Feather Proof" urges giving to the annual Community Chest drive, starting this date, and provides examples of the type of community services which would receive funding from it. The goal was $334,000. The previous year's campaign had fallen short of the previous goal by $52,000.
"At Last, an Auditorium" urges the City Council to undertake as soon as possible the construction of the new auditorium and coliseum, as the bond issue for three million dollars had been approved the prior Saturday. To wait too long would mean higher construction costs.
It praises the community for voting in favor of the bond but also finds it distressing that only about one-sixth of the registered voters had cast ballots.
"The Wrong Approach" finds the passing of local anti-Communist ordinances in some cities across the nation to be misguided, as the job of controlling Communism belonged to the Federal Government. The Supreme Court would need to rule on the Constitutional validity of the new McCarran anti-subversive law and until then, localities would be better served, it suggests, by letting the FBI keep tabs on Communists.
A piece from the
St. Louis
Post-Dispatch, titled "Mr. Butter Learns a Lesson",
informs that none of the predicted problems had arisen for butter
during the three months since the Congress had passed the law
removing the longstanding discriminatory tax on margarine
The butter producers complained that
the main problem in expanding the market was the price support
A series of questions and answers are provided anent the Community Chest, to help residents understand where the funds were needed and why the needs were so great, as well as informing of the expenses of the drive and that the workers received no pay.
Drew Pearson tells of Navy troop ships not being equipped with lifeboats which could be deployed within ten minutes during an emergency, as Coast Guard regulations required. The davits depended for efficient operation on the ship's power and usually power aboard failed in an emergency, requiring resort to the manual crank, slow and cumbersome. Ships' officers had complained about the problem but thus far had been ignored. Recently, the Benevolence, a hospital ship, had sunk off San Francisco before any lifeboats could be deployed. Fortunately, it was close enough to port, undertaking only a trial run after undergoing repairs, that rescue of most aboard could be effected. He urges installing modern lifeboats in the seven troop ships.
The President thus far was not disposed to make a whistle-stop tour as in 1948, despite being urged by leading Democrats to do so during the last ten days of the campaign. His reason was concern that he could not so easily affect the outcomes of the midterm elections as he had the general election in 1948. His advisers believed that it would hurt his standing with the people in 1952 should he campaign and the Democrats still lose seats. Democratic scouts across the country were reporting apathy among voters generally.
He notes that the meeting of the President with General MacArthur was a compromise between the two camps of advisers, as the trip would keep the President in the war news and remind voters that he had something to do with the decision to commit the country to the fight in Korea.
Labor leaders were grousing with people at the White House for the absence of recent appointments of labor representatives to key Government positions, as the Wage Stabilization Board, the Economic Stabilization Board, and the National Production Authority, all three having been filled by big business leaders who were Republicans.
Marquis Childs, in Geneva, tells of Switzerland living calmly amid the world tumult. It depended heavily on tourist dollars for its economic well being, and eight percent of American tourism went to the country. TWA had twelve flights per week into Zurich and Geneva, and Swiss Air had two transatlantic flights per week, thus connecting the country increasingly to tourism.
The trend was to mock Switzerland
for its pacifism, as Harry Lime, played by Orson Welles, had done in
"The Third Man"
He praises the orderliness of the hotels and points out that Sir Stafford Cripps of Britain, who had imposed an austerity program which, much to the dismay of the Swiss for its adverse impact on tourism, prevented British travelers from spending more than 50 pounds outside the country, was recuperating in Switzerland, following a special diet.
The Swiss believed that Switzerland was a good place to recuperate at a reasonable price, but that one ought go there before the need for recuperation arose, so that an understanding could develop of how to live in peace and calm.
Robert C. Ruark tells of a news story which reported that Curt Simmons, formerly a pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies, had received a 10-day leave from the Army, into which he had been drafted a month earlier, to be available for the World Series. Another story told of a Marine who had gone AWOL from Camp Pendleton, California, to help his family in Syracuse, N.Y., and now faced a court martial. His pregnant wife was trying to raise four children on $125 per month.
Mr. Ruark finds the Marine not to be blameworthy, even if his commanding officers had sought to shame him for ducking out on his responsibilities to his fellow Marines fighting in Korea. He thinks that Curt Simmons was entitled to no more favorable consideration for attendance of the World Series than the Marine private to tend to his family. If the top brass had authorized a pass for such a frivolous reason, then they ought authorize one as well for the private.
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