The Charlotte News

Wednesday, September 12, 1951

FOUR EDITORIALS

Site Ed. Note: The front page reports that Secretary of Defense Marshall had submitted his resignation, which the President had reluctantly accepted, appointing in his stead the Deputy Secretary, Robert Lovett. Secretary Marshall had been in the post for one year and had said that he was quitting for "very personal reasons". He was 70 years old. He had been chief of staff of the Army during World War II and had also been Secretary of State between early 1947 and early 1949, during which time, in a June, 1947 commencement address at Harvard, had suggested the Marshall Plan for rebuilding Europe. When, at the urging of the President, he came out of his first retirement to take over the position as Secretary of Defense from Louis Johnson shortly after the beginning of the Korean War, he became the first professional military man to head a military department since 1916. Secretary Marshall had already remained over two months longer than he had anticipated at the start of the position, which he believed would end June 30. He had then agreed to stay on until the end of the summer, following issuance of a report by the commission created to recommend basic policies on the universal military training program. The report provides General Marshall's reflections on his service and the President's letter of acceptance of his resignation.

The President named William Foster, head of the Marshall Plan administration, to succeed Mr. Lovett as Deputy Secretary, and named Richard Bissell, Jr., the deputy administrator of the Marshall Plan, and subsequently, between 1959 and 1962, deputy director of plans at the CIA, to become the new administrator.

Peiping radio gave hints that the Communists might reject an allied apology for the accidental strafing of the neutrality zone in Kaesong on Monday, citing a dispatch from a Communist correspondent who had said that the allied claim that the strafing was a mistake was "absurd". As yet, however, there had been no official reply to the apology. It was believed that a note had been received from the Communists by General Matthew Ridgway rejecting his suggestion of a change of the site of the ceasefire negotiations from Kaesong.

In ground action in Korea, U.N. troops attacked northward across the mountainous eastern half of the fighting front, while the western half remained quiet. Ground commander General James Van Fleet stated that there were no indications that the Communists were ready to launch a major offensive, though capable of doing so, but added that he would like them to do so as it would present the best opportunity to defeat them, as they were hurting and the U.N. forces intended to "keep them hurting". The report indicates that the nights were already becoming chilled, with winds coming from Manchuria and Siberia.

In air action, for the fourth straight day, allied and enemy jets engaged in battle and allied pilots reported damaging one Russian-type MIG-15 and probably shooting down another. Rain and fog hampered air action on Wednesday.

The Big Three foreign ministers, in their second day of talks in the Washington conference regarding the West's grand strategy to combat Communist aggression, were coming together for the first time as a group to review Cold War developments, including the Iranian oil crisis and other Middle East issues. The previous day, they had focused on a proposal to bring West Germany into the Western alliance, as well as on the Communist aggression in French Indo-China. American, British and French high commissioners to Germany were called in for an afternoon session to help put finishing touches on the proposal anent West Germany, which included ending the occupation and providing complete sovereignty to the West German Government. The Bonn Parliament would have to ratify that arrangement.

The Army alerted two Illinois and Ohio National Guard divisions that they would be placed in active service early in 1952. Six National Guard divisions were already on active duty, and another was scheduled to be placed in service later in 1952, in addition to the two just notified.

Former Governor of Connecticut and former OPA head during the war, Chester Bowles, was named by the President to become the new Ambassador to India, replacing Loy Henderson, who was appointed the new Ambassador to Iran, succeeding Henry Grady, who had just resigned.

In New York, Harry Gross, missing star witness in a trial of graft against 18 police officers and former police officers accused of accepting payoffs from Mr. Gross to cover up his 20-million dollar gambling syndicate, had received letters threatening the lives of his wife and children before he escaped from police custody, according to the district attorney. Mr. Gross had pleaded guilty to 66 counts of conspiracy and bookmaking and faced a maximum penalty of 65 years in prison. The FBI had been called in to assist in the nationwide search for him.

In Syracuse, N.Y., a 29-year old mother of four gave birth the previous night to triplets, born three months premature.

Also in Syracuse, a 60-year old woman who had been blind for 25 years regained her sight in both eyes this date and was able to read felicitous cards and letters following two successful corneal transplants. Her optic nerves had never been damaged, despite degeneration of her corneas 25 years earlier.

The report does not record whether she liked what she saw in the world around her compared to that which she had last seen in 1926.

Vic Reinemer of The News provides the third in his six-part look at the 1947 bipartisan Hoover Commission report on efficiency and waste in the Federal Government, with recommendations of various changes to eliminate duplication of tasks and unnecessary agencies. In this installment, he looks at the Veterans Administration.

In Winston-Salem, it had been determined that William Neal Reynolds, who had died on Monday at age 88, had provided in his will bequests of an 1,100-acre park, his Tanglewood Farms, for Forsyth County and Winston-Salem, as well as a million dollars to Wake Forest College when the transplant of the College from the Raleigh suburb of Wake Forest to Winston-Salem was complete, plus many smaller bequests.

In a little known holographic condition inked-in as a codicil to the will, Mr. Will stipulated that, to receive the bequest, the name would need to be changed to Reynolda College, later informally determined to be too tangled in its implications vis-à-vis Duke and so, with the concurrence of the executors of the will and the trustees, as well surviving interested family members, was struck without formal action or public disclosure. But we of the Secret Passage, who know the truth, still fondly refer to it as "good old Reynolda".

On the editorial page, "The Proposed Gambling Tax" agrees with Robert C. Ruark's editorial of the date, telling of the approval by the Senate Finance Committee of a 10 percent excise tax on gambling proceeds. Senator Walter George of Georgia had estimated that it could generate potentially an additional billion dollars of revenue, but had admitted that collection would be very difficult under the circumstances.

It thinks, along with Senator Estes Kefauver, former chairman of the crime investigating committee, that taxation would confer the aura of legality to gambling. It also suggests that it would encourage more payoffs to officials, while giving the gambler more respectability, enabling him to widen his circle of clients and become yet the more respectable. It thinks therefore that Congress would be better advised to support vigorously the IRB's efforts to crack down on tax evasion among the big-time gamblers and operators, which Senator Kefauver had estimated to run into the hundreds of millions of dollars of lost revenue to the Government.

"TV from Capitol Hill?" addresses the move afoot, in light of the popularity of the televised hearings of the Kefauver committee hearings earlier in the year, to televise regularly Congressional hearings. Senator William Benton of Connecticut had said it would completely ruin the Senate, and Majority Leader Ernest McFarland of Arizona had said that it would enable everyone to advertise themselves.

It finds much wisdom in Senator McFarland's statement and also finds problematic the issue of sponsorship, as television cost large amounts of money, despite the requirement that television networks had to devote a certain amount of their programming to public service. Also, few members of Congress would want to see sessions in which billion-dollar votes were in progress with only a handful of legislators present. Nor would they wish to see dozing solons during debate or some industrious camera operator catching them emerging from their Cadillac at the entrance to the Senate, shattering the myth that they drove around in beat-up, pre-war Chevys.

It concludes, however, that showing Congress at work in the viewers' living rooms across the nation, would be educational, "very educational".

"More Names, Please" tells of columnist James Marlow having recently observed that the President, former President Herbert Hoover, and General MacArthur all had in common the lack of use of names while resorting to general charges and indictments. Mr. Hoover had criticized the "intellectual dishonesty in public life" characterized by "corrupt propaganda", while President Truman had lashed out at "slandermongers", and General MacArthur had lambasted the postwar "political and military leaders".

Not many of the pundits had quibbled with the fact that there was some "intellectual dishonesty" in Washington, but each was left to find the object of their choosing among those most guilty. It had generally been assumed that the President was referring to Senator McCarthy, while some believed Senator Pat McCarran was also an object, and both had responded to the President's remarks. Arthur Krock of the New York Times had expanded on General MacArthur's statement, by asserting that he was really criticizing General Eisenhower, as one of those "political and military leaders".

It concludes that while such speeches were subject to all kinds of interpretations within the context of subsequent editorials, the speakers would be better served if they were to become specific.

"You May Be the Unlucky One" says that, according to the Association of Casualty & Surety Companies reports, some unknown soldier recently had become the millionth American service man to die since the first Minute Man had fallen at the start of the Revolution. Yet, though the automobile had been in wide use in the country for less than a half-century, the millionth highway death would take place sometime during the ensuing winter.

"Crossroads can be as dangerous as cross fire."

It concludes, therefore, "Slow down—look around—think."

A piece from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, titled "Fifteen Words Including Love", finds that Western Union, in scrapping its 10-word minimum telegram in favor of the higher-priced 15-word telegram, had left to telegram senders the dilemma of how they would employ those five additional words, either to impart information or affection. In the past, nine words had been used as the vehicle for information, but only one for affection, resulting in something on the order:

"ARRIVED SAFELY PLEASE SEND TOP-COAT AS WEATHER CHILLY HERE LOVE."

It finds that it would be more practical to use the additional words afforded by Western Union's new policy to impart information, such as where to find the top-coat in the hall closet, but more satisfactory to use the added verbiage to express more thoroughly the closing sentiment, such as: "I LOVE YOU MADLY DESPERATELY DARLING." It would also imply that the recipient had enough sense to know where the top-coat was to be found.

It concludes by indicating that it meant to imply no bias in terms of suggesting how to use the words, but merely sought to point out the dilemma.

How about a combination, producing sentimental information, conveying caring by the sender of the recipient through economy via brevity, in conveying the dual message: "LOVE DARLING THE FIX IS IN"?

A piece from the Congressional Quarterly comments on the "wine, women and song" brand of lobbying not being effective any longer, according to one of Washington's active female lobbyists, Violet Gunther of the Americans for Democratic Action. She had said it was why she stuck to facts and ideas when she started trying to influence legislation. Mildred Scott, a lobbyist for the American Federation of the Physically Handicapped, had agreed. Of more than 2,000 persons who were now legally registered under the Federal Lobby Act, only 35 were women. Ms. Scott had said she had not the time or money to spend on social lobbying. So she stuck to the facts, ma'am.

It had found in its survey that the typical female lobbyist was an officer in some national educational or welfare organization, might be a lawyer, probably an experienced professional woman, vitally interested in a particular cause and thus wanting to see the proper legislation enacted to support that cause. Frequently, she claimed not really to be a lobbyist but registered under the law anyway to prevent complications. She made little money, unless she happened to be representing a major interest such as the AMA, whose female lobbyist was paid $50,000 per year.

Ms. Gunther said that it was not a 9 to 5 job, but was stimulating and that one learned a lot about how the Government worked.

It lists some of the many groups represented by female lobbyists in Washington.

Drew Pearson, having just returned from Europe and his vacation, tells of finding far more hope than four years earlier when he had accompanied the Friendship Train to France and Italy to deliver collected toys from Americans to the needy children of those two countries, during the critical winter of 1947-48, before the Marshall Plan had taken effect. Whereas then, for instance, he had found the streets of Paris dark and depressing, the people lost of hope, he now found a return to light and hope, as General Eisenhower had accomplished miracles in welding together a united European army. "Time—which is on our side—has given us a chance to make tremendous progress in perfecting new weapons", weapons which were so deadly and far ahead of the Soviets that it had become increasingly dangerous for the latter to make war. No longer, therefore, was the average man in the street tempted to turn to the phony promises of Communism, as Mr. Pearson had found the case four years earlier, when even the cathedrals and palaces seemed forlorn and weary, emblematic of lost hope.

He adds that this optimism, coming from an ordinarily cynical and jaded journalist, was based on genuine observation, but yet also possessed of the recognition that plenty of mistakes had been made, among which were the facts that the U.S. had failed to sell Europe on the concept of a United States of Europe, and had likewise failed to sell the Declaration of Independence and its concept of the equality of man and economic opportunity, as the old economic class system still prevailed.

Marquis Childs, in San Francisco, discusses the just-concluded peace treaty with Japan, having forged a strong link with the nation which, despite its crushing defeat in 1945, remained the most powerful country in the Far East from the standpoint of both war and peace. While Japan had recovered remarkably from the war, it still needed, to sustain that recovery, access to raw materials. The U.S. had provided two billion dollars of aid to rebuild Japan, but the most important factor in this progress was its own industriousness, energy and patient ingenuity, a factor which would also determine its future. Eighty-three million people lived in Japan and its births the previous year had been 1.6 million, all living in an area less than the size of California.

Governor Earl Warren of California, prior to the San Francisco conference, at which he had spoken, had visited Japan for three weeks to obtain a firsthand view of its living conditions. He had observed that only 16 percent of the land in Japan was arable, compared to 25 percent in California, which supported a population of 10.5 million. He had spent a day with a Japanese family comprised of 11 members spanning three generations, earning their living from about one and a half acres of land, planting every grain of rice by hand and transplanting every seedling in a ball of mud in the same manner. Human fertilizer, collected in the large cities of Japan and distributed throughout the country, was the only fertilizer available. The family's only income had come from silkworm cocoons cultivated on racks in the attic over their one-room cottage.

He questions how the Japanese people, with such a rapidly climbing birthrate, would sustain themselves into the future as they had in the past, with the silk trade largely having been replaced by nylon and other such materials. Governor Warren had found no answer to the question, except through greater industrialization plus farming by more productive and scientific methods. But in order to increase industrialization, raw materials would be necessary so that the goods produced therefrom could then be sold to buy more raw materials.

He does not in this piece add that the most convenient market for obtaining those raw materials was Communist China.

The solution to the problem thus posed, as well as that suggested by Drew Pearson at the end of his piece, appears to have lain in the development of the transistor radio and the compact beep-beep automobile for the masses, both of which, along with the players and media on which to play and record some of the emanations from those little radios, were produced in both Japan and Europe, imported into the U.S. market.

That, of course, produced its own set of problems, in Detroit, Flint, and elsewhere through time, especially so in conjunction with the OPEC crisis of 1973 and beyond—complicated by the failure of the masses and the Government fully to heed the implications of Earth Day in 1970, all of which perhaps leads inexorably to the prospect of massive flooding from Hurricane Florence in the Carolinas this weekend. The head Trumpie got elected in 2016 through promises to remedy that problem, at least insofar as the Detroit and Flint issues, not, however, taking much account of some of the other integrated issues, such as storm surge. But has he even begun to make inroads on the Detroit-Flint aspects? Can anyone do so, without opening up a whole new hornets' nest?

Robert C. Ruark comments, as indicated in the above editorial, regarding the Senate Finance Committee having approved a 10 percent excise tax on gambling booty, plus an occupational tax of $50 per year against lawbreakers and their associates. He thinks it not likely to produce the estimated two billion dollars of new revenue, as it would be impossible to collect, and would only have the effect of legitimizing illegal gambling operations.

He relates that the last time he had been in Mississippi, it was rife with prohibited drinking, after the Legislature had placed a tax on bootleggers. The crooked cops and crooked sheriffs were conspiring with the bootleggers and the ardent dries to maintain that system. Likewise, Louisiana had been a breeding ground for government corruption when gambling had been legal, and Nevada was "no gift to civic cleanliness".

He tells of being no moralist regarding the evils of gambling, having quit playing the horses after he had found himself too many times having to seek loans to maintain the habit. He insists that society could never reform man's inherent urge to violate certain precepts known to be inimical to their well-being. He believes the repeal of Prohibition had been good for the country, but that it had never removed the crooks from legal businesses, as the breweries of certain brands of liquor and other intoxicating beverages were still operated by the old mob, and bootlegging was "bigger and better" than ever in 1951.

He asserts that taxation of gambling would be worse than complete legalization, as once the Government effectively owned a piece of the operation, it would have a tacit interest in perpetuating the source of the revenue. The legal taxpayer would continue "to pay for both ends of the operation, while remaining in the middle."

The "Congressional Quiz" asks whether investigators for Congress had found that crime and protection payoffs were confined to the large cities, answers in the negative, that the Senate crime investigating committee, in its final report of August 31, had said that "the same pattern of organized crime found in larger metropolitan areas, exists in medium cities, with similar evidence of official sanction or protection … [and] [has its] counterparts in the smaller cities."

It also answers a question regarding "collapsible corporations", that it was one set up for a single, short-term enterprise and dissolved when the enterprise was completed, such that sale of its assets could be treated as a lower-rate capital gain for tax purposes.

In answer to whether Congress wanted to stop aid to nations carrying on any trade with the Communists, it says that under a bill passed in both the House and the Senate in August, economic or military aid would be denied any nation selling arms or implements of war to such nations, and would provide discretion to the President to cut off that aid regarding materials of "prime strategic importance".

It also says that opinion differed as to whether there was any current danger of an air attack on the U.S., with Senator Kefauver stating on September 5 that at least three key defense figures believed there was "great danger", including Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Lovett, just named the new Secretary, Secretary of the Air Force Thomas Finletter and Civil Defense administrator Millard Caldwell.

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