The Charlotte News
Tuesday, October 16, 1951
FOUR EDITORIALS
Site Ed. Note: The front page reports, via John Randolph, that U.S. airmen, in history's deadliest jet battle to date, shot down nine enemy jets and damaged five others in a fight this date involving 33 U.S. Sabre jets and more than 100 enemy planes. A total of 217 jets were in action in the brief 15-minute battle which occurred late in the day.
In the ground war, U.N. infantrymen hit heavy Chinese resistance on two Korean fronts, as three U.N. divisions hit the main Chinese defense line about four miles from Kumsong, the enemy's central-front bastion, and U.S. troops were prevented from breaking through in the west, near Yonchon. An Eighth Army briefing officer said the allies were engaged in "heavy fighting" all along the central front.
General Matthew Ridgway, supreme commander of the U.N. forces, said that U.N. troops would continue to drive northward in Korea and that allied demands for a ceasefire line would advance commensurately. The General conferred for an hour with Vice-Admiral C. Turner Joy, leader of the truce negotiations team for the U.N. Meanwhile, liaison officers were still seeking common ground on the neutrality area to be set up around the new site for the ceasefire talks at Panmunjom, in advance of renewing the talks which had been canceled by the Communists on August 23. The Communists were reported to desire an area comprising 175 square miles, whereas the allies wanted to limit the neutrality area to 20 square miles, to avoid the chance for further claimed incursions, the reason for the prior cessation of the talks.
At Panmunjom, Chinese soldiers modeled their new winter uniform for allied newsmen. The newest addition to the uniform consisted of four separate special-purpose pockets in the padded jacket, to allow for a first-aid kit, a sewing kit, a vermin extracting kit, and a letter of encouragement from workers who made the suit.
At Rawalpindi in the Punjab,
Pakistan's Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan
The British Foreign Office announced that it was sending reinforcements to its troops in the Suez Canal zone of Egypt, resulting from a series of incidents which had occurred in the zone and the action taken by the Egyptian Government to deny certain facilities to British forces there. The action came in the wake of the Egyptian abrogation of the 1936 treaty between Egypt and Britain in which use of the Suez was granted in exchange for British defense of the zone. British officials said that Egyptian mobs had looted British arms stores, that a truckload of British schoolchildren had been stoned by Egyptians, that Egyptian laborers had quit work on British Army projects, that a British soldier had been stabbed, and that water pipes had been damaged and a tank drained, all in different locations within the zone.
An Iranian spokesman said that his Government would reject the latest British proposal for U.N. action to settle the British-Iranian oil dispute. No details were provided in the late report.
As expected, Senator Robert Taft announced at a press conference in Washington that he was running for the Republican nomination for the presidency in 1952. He said that he would enter the Wisconsin primary and also accept the bid of Ohio delegates to the nominating convention. He became the first candidate officially to enter the race. In his statement, he assailed certain groups, singling out one in California, for making unjustified attacks on Governor Earl Warren and General Eisenhower, both potential rivals for the GOP nomination. He said that he felt confident that he would be nominated and elected. It would be his third try at the Republican nomination. His close political advisers had informed him that he was "the overwhelming and obvious choice" for the nomination.
In response, William Green, president of the AFL, stated in a Chicago speech the previous night that if nominated, Senator Taft would be defeated.
Governor Thomas Dewey of New York would deliver a major address on foreign policy this night at a banquet in Hartford, Connecticut, at the convention for the Connecticut State Bar Association, the speech to be broadcast nationally over the ABC radio network at 8:30 p.m.
Set your watches.
Before the House Ways & Means subcommittee investigating scandals at the IRB, the president of a Boston textile firm said that in 1949, he paid $10,000 to a New York insurance man who had promised to save him $100,000 on taxes and that the move had been endorsed by the former Boston collector of internal revenue, since fired from the post. The man said that he was fleeced after paying the money, and was never released from any of his tax obligations, though the collector had never pressed for full payment.
In Lausanne, Switzerland, a Swiss Federal court convicted Charles E. Davis of political espionage in connection with charges that he furnished information anent Communists to Senator Joseph McCarthy and U.S. agents, and sentenced him to eight months in jail and ordered him expelled from Switzerland. He had already served 11 months while awaiting trial and so would be released forthwith. The Swiss prosecutor had asked for a 15-month sentence. Mr. Davis had admitted that he furnished information as accused, concerning activities of Communists and U.S. diplomatic personnel in Switzerland.
In the wake of the resignation of William Boyle as DNC chairman, Sidney Salomon resigned as the DNC treasurer, stating that it had nothing to do with the political influence investigation in Congress, but was based entirely on the notion that the new DNC chairman should be able to pick his own treasurer.
In Johannesburg, South Africa, a South African Airways plane, a routinely problematic DC-3, crashed on a 7,000-foot peak about 100 miles southwest of Durban in a heavy fog late the previous day, killing all 17 persons aboard.
In Taunton, England, a part-time fire fighter, who was paid by the job, admitted that he had started 20 fires himself during the prior year, with a total damage of more than $50,000, mostly to barns, haystacks and schools, but with no one injured in the process. He pleaded guilty to arson and was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
In Denver, Colo., an escapee from the Oregon State Penitentiary, who had been on the lam for a week from his 15-year sentence for setting a hotel and drug store on fire in Portland in 1943, decided it was too tough to be on the outside and so made a long-distance call to the warden to ask for return to the prison, and then called a second time to complain that law enforcement had not arrived speedily enough, as he sipped beers inside a Denver bar.
In Shelby, N.C., the Chamber of Commerce announced that a Philadelphia mineral company was buying 881 acres of land, located near Kings Mountain, for production of lithium, after an engineer stated that the area was the most important known source of lithium-bearing ore in the Western hemisphere. Lithium was used in the manufacture of airplanes.
The Weather Bureau reported that the danger of the hurricane out of the Caribbean had passed, as the storm had dissipated into squalls. Another hurricane, the tenth of the season, was reported 400 miles east of Jacksonville, Florida, the previous day and was presently southeast of Cape Hatteras, but losing force, with its highest winds at 50 to 55 mph.
On page 5-B, Dick Dunkel, who ranked football teams, told of the University of California being the best at present in the nation.
On the editorial page, "Mr. Truman's Visit to N.C." finds that it liked the President's foreign policy speech at Winston-Salem the previous day, in conjunction with the groundbreaking ceremonies for the new campus of Wake Forest College. The President had again reminded Russia that the U.S. was willing to sit down at the U.N. and discuss ending of the armaments race and control of nuclear energy, suggesting strongly that the Soviets drop their propaganda campaign and meet those issues with sincerity. The President had stressed the need for increased strength from which to negotiate successfully with the Soviets.
The piece finds that such a speech would read well in Western Europe and, as disseminated through such organs as Voice of America, behind the Iron Curtain.
It also hopes that members of Congress would take to heart the President's statement that the "sowers of suspicion and the peddlers of fear" ought take off their "blinders and look toward the future".
It concludes that the President's track record was very good on placing actions behind his words in the foreign policy arena and that the country could use more leaders "who talk, and act, in accordance with those principles enunciated by the President."
"The Senate's Duty" finds that the Senate ought vote up or down on confirmation of Ambassador-at-Large Philip Jessup to become a member of the U.N. delegation, as shelving the appointment, enabling the President to make a recess appointment to enable Mr. Jessup to attend the U.N. General Assembly meeting in Paris in November, would leave open too many questions regarding Mr. Jessup's loyalty. Confirmation of the nomination would put to rest any doubts which had been raised by Senator Joseph McCarthy and former Governor of Minnesota Harold Stassen regarding the fitness of Mr. Jessup to serve.
"Mr. Boyle Steps Down" finds that while loyalty was a noble trait, it could not take precedence over clean, honest public service and therefore it was quite appropriate for DNC chairman William Boyle to resign his post, given the allegations that he had taken money from a St. Louis printing firm for the purpose of aiding that firm in its receipt of three large loans from the RFC, a claim which Mr. Boyle had denied, saying that he had conducted himself "with honor and integrity". The piece finds that by the standard of ethics applied in the "Missouri school of politics", it might be the case, but his resignation, accepted by the President, had removed the continuing taint to the Democratic Party and taken from the Republicans the campaign issue of corrupt influence in Administration politics.
Senator Richard Nixon of California had promised to continue his inquiry nevertheless, and any information of misconduct which he, in his "bulldog" tenacity, uncovered would reflect unfavorably on the Administration.
For he was not a crook.
He, or perhaps his daughters, may also have watched Red Skelton.
But, observes the piece, the Republicans had missed an opportunity in not persuading RNC chairman Guy Gabrielson to resign before Mr. Boyle had tendered his resignation, and as long as Mr. Gabrielson remained, the GOP could not use the RFC scandals with any great effect.
"Congressional Tally Sheet" tells of the 82nd Congress, while setting a new record in the headline-grabbing department with its many investigations of the past, had, through October 12, passed only 168 public bills, whereas the previous Congress, in its 1950 session, by September 23, had passed 435 public bills at the time of its recess. (It is only fair to point out, however, that the piece compares the first session of the current Congress with the second and last session of the previous Congress, the latter in a midterm election year.)
But, it points out on the positive side that the Congress had set a new precedent when it authorized the assignment of U.S. troops to an international army under General Eisenhower in Europe, in support of NATO. It had also expanded military aid to NATO and given some aid to nations outside that Organization, had authorized a heavy investment in overseas bases and taken the first tentative steps toward universal military training. It had authorized famine relief for India, adopted resolutions to end the state of war with Germany, and had sent a delegation of its membership to the San Francisco Japanese peace treaty conference in September, indicating an intent for early ratification of that treaty.
But in counterpoise to this forward stance, there was a new form of isolationism which had surfaced among Republicans, who favored stressing Asia over Western Europe.
While the debate over the firing of General MacArthur and the Far East policy seemingly threatened to divide the country down the middle, the net result had appeared to be increased awareness and understanding of America's new role in the world, and so credit had to be given to the 82nd Congress for at least educating the American people during its first session.
A piece from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, titled "Bumble and Boodle", tells of Senator Clinton Anderson of New Mexico, former Secretary of Agriculture, soliciting contributions to a fund for establishing the Harry S. Truman Library at Grandview, Missouri. While it finds no issue with the fact that the country deserved a repository for the President's historical papers, in the letter to prospective contributors, Senator Anderson had argued that the contribution could be used to avoid taxes, at a time when the President was urging raising of taxes because of the need for greater revenue to support the increased defense budget. The letter had also stated that the Senator knew that the President would be happy to have the treasurer of the fund, George Allen, drop in at the White House and show the President the contribution.
The appeal was such a clumsy act that the President had repudiated it and said the letter would never have been sent, had he known of its contents.
The piece concludes: "What price friends?"
Ralph McGill, writing in the Atlanta Constitution, urges employers to hire the handicapped, during Employ-the-Handicapped Week, begins by relating of Admiral John Hoskins, commander of the aircraft carrier Valley Forge, who, while missing one leg, shot off during the war in the Pacific, was never considered anything but a commander in whom his men placed complete confidence, was never thought of as being handicapped. He stresses that handicaps, therefore, did not mean that such persons were unable to perform normal types of work suitably adapted to their limitations.
"So let this week remind us, and let every man with jobs to fill survey his community and check with the State Employment Service—and fill as many jobs as possible with those who are not really handicapped when it comes to doing a job of work for which they are fitted."
Drew Pearson tells of Governor Ernest Gruening of Alaska having threatened a four-hour filibuster at the governors conference recently at Gatlinburg, Tennessee, regarding a resolution by the conference for admission of Alaska and Hawaii to statehood. For the resolution to have passed required unanimity of the governors. Usually, in years past, the resolution had routinely passed with unanimity. But on this occasion, Georgia Governor Herman Talmadge had effectively vetoed it by voting against it on the basis that admission of the states would provide four new Senators who could not be relied upon to vote against cloture in the event of a filibuster on civil rights. Governor James Byrnes of South Carolina, meanwhile, abstained.
After Governor Gruening, however, threatened his filibuster, one of the other governors whispered in Governor Talmadge's ear and he promptly decided to change his vote to the affirmative, after which Governor Byrnes also voted likewise, so that the meeting could adjourn.
Senator Owen Brewster of Maine had inquired of Senator Paul Douglas of Illinois, regarding the latter's amendment to a bill, whereby Federal subsidies to any airline caught offering gifts to Government employees would be terminated, whether it would apply to members of Congress. Senator Douglas replied that, while he had no intent to reflect on any individual member of the Senate, it would so apply. Senator Brewster had been known for accepting gifts of flights from Pan American Airways, while also promoting that airline's exclusive dominion over certain overseas routes. The amendment of Senator Douglas was adopted by a weak voice vote, without dissent.
Robert C. Ruark says that he has no use for the former St. Louis tax collector who took his job as a 3 to 4 hour per day sideline while accepting bribes to overlook tax problems. But he could find sympathy for the average tax collector, one of whom had written him a letter and even given him permission to use his name, which he elects not to do, who received take-home pay of only $2,800 per year, but was prevented by IRB regulations from accepting any outside employment. His wife had urged him to go ahead and take honest outside employment when offered, as long as it did not conflict with his tax collection duties. Mr. Ruark understood the dilemma in the face of the rising cost of living, suggests that the Government ought pay more to the employees assigned to review problems with the taxes of wealthy citizens, to avoid the temptation of being bribed, either directly or through jobs taken on the side.
Stewart Alsop, in Berlin, tells of Germany being a land of paradox, with the Western sectors having achieved an amazing revitalization while the eastern sector remained drab and uninviting, "the streets silent and sullenly empty". In the latter, the only color was provided by the Soviet war memorials and endless red banners. Thus, it was not surprising that 16,000 refugees had fled to West Berlin alone during the previous 18 months. The intelligence estimate that there would be an overwhelming anti-Communist vote in any free election in East Germany was probably not unduly optimistic.
Yet, there was the paradox that the Soviets were scoring well in the propaganda department by preaching "unity" and "free elections", which strengthened the hand of such West German nationalists as Dr. Kurt Schumacher and gave West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer cause to increase his terms for German rearmament. The problem threatened the negotiations between the Western allies and Germany at Bonn with another in a long series of nearly complete collapses.
All Germans desired unity of the country and as long as the Soviets were able to exploit that as a prize, West German rearmament would come, if at all, reluctantly, as it would seem to be a compromise with the chance for unity.
While the West could not agree to any form of unity on the basis of U.S. withdrawal across the Atlantic and Soviet withdrawal to Poland or a neutralization of Germany, most Germans also did not want unity on those terms. So, Mr. Alsop suggests, it was time for the West to determine what terms would be acceptable for German unification and then to launch a political offensive based on those terms. That would at least counter the Soviet promises of unity. Until such a stance would occur, a decisive West German defense contribution to NATO was impossible.
Mayor Reuter of West Berlin stated to Mr. Alsop that sooner or later the two halves of Germany would come back together, and it was this fact which the West was forgetting in properly stressing West German rearmament. Meanwhile, the Kremlin was not forgetting that fact.
The "Congressional Quiz", from the Congressional Quarterly, tells of Senator Lester Hunt of Wyoming stating on September 5 that transfer of 24 U.S. destroyer escort ships to other countries had been to the nation's advantage, as the ships, in the event of an emergency, would be in the right place at the right time.
The Defense Production Administration had reported to the Senate Public Works subcommittee investigating the shortage of structural steel for bridges that the shortage would likely last until the end of the current year, but would improve during the second half of 1952.
A member of Congress could submit a resignation at any time he or she wished, merely needing to submit the resignation to the Governor of the state represented. Representatives Ed Gossett of Texas and Harry Howe of New Jersey had resigned during the year, prompting the question from a reader.
Framed Edition
Links-Date — Links-Subj.