The Charlotte News

Saturday, September 8, 1951

FOUR EDITORIALS

Site Ed. Note: The front page reports that in San Francisco, 49 of the 52 nations present at the Japanese peace treaty conference began signing the treaty this date after Andrei Gromyko and the Soviet delegation departed, along with the delegations from Poland and Czechoslovakia, the two other Soviet-bloc nations present. A separate bilateral agreement between the U.S. and Japan would be signed subsequently during the day, authorizing the U.S. to maintain troops in Japan indefinitely. Argentina became the first nation present to sign the treaty.

Japan, through its Premier, Shigeru Yoshida, voiced approval of the treaty in the only Japanese speech before the conference, but also stated the nation's "pain and anxiety" regarding the loss of territory which the treaty confirmed, as previously determined at Yalta, and asked for eventual control by Japan of the Ryukyu and Bonin islands, held by the U.S., and South Sakhalin and the Kurile Islands, held by Russia. He was the last to be heard from among the delegations attending the conference.

Prior to the start of the ceremony, Mr. Gromyko had held a press conference at which he repeated the theme that the treaty was a "draft for a new war". He called the principal author of the treaty, John Foster Dulles, a "seasoned warmonger" and asserted that the purpose of the treaty was to "stage American troops" in Japan.

During the course of the day, Mr. Gromyko had sought advice from the temporary presiding officer, Secretary of State Acheson, as to what had occurred with the amendments he had introduced on Wednesday to try to prevent continued presence of American troops in Japan, to which Secretary Acheson responded that Mr. Gromyko had only mentioned those amendments in his remarks but had not formally introduced them as amendments, quoting from Mr. Gromyko's speech. Mr. Gromyko disagreed and said that the statement quoted was not consistent with the record. He was then ruled out of order, whereupon the Polish delegate stood and called the ruling "absurd".

We feel compelled to note that non-lawyer Grassley's performance as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2018, regarding confirmation hearings of the past week on the current nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, is little different in his treatment of Democrats from the manner in which the free nations treated the Communist delegations at this conference. For translation to the "deplorables", that is not a compliment to Grassley or American democracy, but rather reflects the overall attitude of today's Republican Party, or the most verbal and deplorable of its members, toward the oldest extant political party in the country. For translation further for the benefit of the "deplorables", we mean to say that these Republicans, especially the Trumpies, treat Democrats as if they were Communists, quite consistent with the actual rhetoric of the nuts on the radio out in Texas, from whom, at least in the recent past, the head Trumpie gets much of his current events information, the rest being from Fox News—little different in their narrative from the nuts, only couched in more polite language for the benefit of the more prudish daily tea-timers. Thus, by simple syllogism, Grassley & Co. equate to those nuts. They have heard such catch-phrases as "crooked Hillary" and "lock her up" from the chief Trumpie, as echoed at the Republican convention in 2016, so many times that they have actually come to believe that the phrases have meaning and are not simply expressions of hate speech directed at the former Secretary of State and Democratic nominee in 2016, who won the popular vote by nearly three million votes, 2.1 percent of the total votes cast—the "deplorables" and their fearless leader still maintaining, no doubt, that the margin was determined by widespread voter fraud, of which there has never been presented a scintilla of evidence.

Query, however, whether Grassley & Co. and their Draconian rules, which have prevented disclosure of the bulk of the documents on the Supreme Court nominee, are about to provide the nation with a Supreme Court Justice who plainly did not testify accurately under oath during the confirmation process regarding at least two matters, one of which, whether he knew that he was using stolen e-mails of Democrats, received from a "mole" in 2003 to assist the Bush White House in the confirmation process of Federal judges, suggests itself as an impeachable offense, both substantively and as to the false testimony regarding it—while one newly disclosed e-mail forwarded from the nominee, previously withheld from the public and thus not subject to use by the Committee members during the confirmation hearing until Thursday, September 6, 2018, uses the word "mole" in reference to a man providing, by his own e-mail to the nominee, "confidential documents" in reference to those stolen e-mails, appears to impute to the nominee knowledge in 2003, when he worked at the White House, that the e-mails were stolen.

Minimally, further hearings ought be had regarding this matter before the confirmation vote occurs. But will Grassley allow it? We consider it doubtful, given his performance thus far, emulating Draco more than any Senator elected by the people to represent all of the people, not just the deplorables who voted for him. Thus, it may have to await debate on the floor of the Senate regarding the nomination, when the nominee is no longer subject to examination further anent these issues.

Regardless, there are two old saws which the "deplorables" ought be carefully bearing in mind these days, given the upcoming midterm elections: 1) Don't count your chickens before they hatch; and 2) Be careful of that for which you wish, as you may surely get it.

Oh, we know that we are probably singing to the choir, given the way the deplorables "think": that such is all fake news from the mainstream meteor and so unworthy of belief, that there is nothing to it until the Fearless Leader, whom we believe ahead of Jesus H. Christ, says there is, or at least until one of his dedicated followers, such as Fox News, says there is, at which point we then condemn that person or entity as a sell-out to the Deep State, coerced by the globalists to turn State's evidence and so unworthy any longer of anything beyond complete disbelief and condemnation as a weak-kneed Benedict Arnold, turned hireling for the liberal cabal out to undermine everything sacred in America, especially our guns kept in deep storage for the revolution and/or the coming apocalypse brought on by the Deep State globalists seeking to undermine our nationalism—a not dissimilar perspective to the type of adherence and demigod reverence given during the Thirties and Forties to Hitler by the dedicated Nazis or to Stalin, Khrushchev, Brezhnev, et al., by the captive and party-line Communists of the Cold War era.

In ground action in Korea, Communist troops and tanks this night were reported in Kaesong, site of the suspended ceasefire talks, as the Chinese Communists increased probing ground attacks on the western and central fronts. Presence of forces in Kaesong constituted a violation of the neutral zone agreed upon by the parties to the conference in July. Communists had been routinely, since the August 22 suspension of the talks, claiming that the allies had violated the neutral zone around Kaesong, in each case denied by the allies. There was no report of action in the east or east-central sectors. There were still no firm indications of the anticipated major Communist offensive.

In the air war, 25 allied jets battled 40 Russian-type MIG-15s in the southwest sector during a 25-minute battle, and no damage was reported on either side. Fighters and light bombers of the Fifth Air Force flew 440 sorties against supply and transportation facilities of the enemy.

In Berlin, the Russians expressed regret for the fatal shooting of an American soldier Thursday night on the Russian zone border and said they had arrested the East German policeman who fired the fatal shot. The soldier's car had crashed into a barricade at the border on the outskirts of Berlin, prior to the shooting.

Frank Graham, U.N. mediator in the dispute between India and Pakistan regarding Kashmir, arrived in Karachi this date from New Delhi and told newsmen that he was seeking further consultations with the Government of Pakistan before he would leave September 12 for Geneva, where he would present his report for the Security Council on his efforts to resolve the dispute.

A hurricane alert was given to Bermuda this date as a large hurricane, labeled "Easy" because it was the fifth hurricane of the season, hurtled with 160 mph winds toward the island, currently 330 miles to the south-southwest. The huge storm posed no threat to the U.S. "Fox", with 115 mph winds, was not far behind in the Atlantic. The G string of storms had not yet coalesced and centralized into a hurricano.

Near Las Palmas, in the Canary Islands, a bus went over a 140-foot embankment, killing five persons and injuring 40.

In Baltimore, the Johns Hopkins Hospital, where Thomas Wolfe had died in 1938, disclosed this date that his medical case history had disappeared from its files. He had undergone two surgeries at the hospital in his latter days in an attempt to overcome an illness which had begun with pneumonia contracted in Canada two months earlier. A free-lance writer had sought permission to see the record, when it came to light that it was no longer present. A hospital spokesman had no explanation for the fact.

In Copenhagen, the grand old man of the Danish temperance movement received a bag of potatoes as a present from Denmark's largest distillery for his 70th birthday. He said that he accepted the gift with special gratitude because it meant that the potatoes could not be used to make schnapps.

In Atlantic City, the Miss America pageant finals would be held this night, and one of the ten remaining contestants for the title, which had started with 51, would be crowned by 11:30 p.m. Miss North Carolina, LuLong Ogburn, had won the first bathing suit competition on Wednesday and also the talent competition the previous night with her piano rendition of "Malagueña", to become the only double winner in the pageant. Miss Arkansas had won the final bathing suit competition.

Per the drawing on the page, Consolidated Vultee Aircraft was contemplating an atomic plane which could fly almost indefinitely without refueling—and when it crashed or was shot down...

News sports editor Bob Quincy continues his preview of Southern Conference football with a look at UNC, coached by Carl Snavely—with prospects not so promising, and, we fear, after yesterday's performance at ECU, serving as a not too inferior harbinger of things to come in the 2018 season. But there is still time for hope, renewed self-confidence and hard work to triumph over augury. Time will tell, but it better begin telling soon

On the editorial page, "From Waynick to Jordan?" finds the reasons for Capus Waynick, Ambassador to Colombia, having taken his name out of the running for the 1952 gubernatorial race in North Carolina to involve considerations of the difficulty of winning a primary against his probable, though as yet undeclared, principal opponent, William B. Umstead, as well as the general uncertainty of pursuing a career in politics. His exit from consideration in the race would open the door for others who might be considering a run, and, it posits, Dr. Henry Jordan, chairman of the State Highway Commission, would likely carry the banner for the "Go Forward" program of Governor Kerr Scott, unable to succeed himself. But Mr. Umstead would remain the most formidable candidate in the race.

And, indeed, he would win.

"MacArthur Named Wrong Goat" finds General MacArthur to have misstated the facts in a speech the previous Thursday night, in which he had stated that one of the major reasons why the victory in World War II had been squandered was the adoption by the military and diplomatic leaders of a policy of rapid demobilization after the war. While hindsight had shown that it would have been better to remain mobilized, the fact was that the great majority of the people and the Congress, Republicans and Democrats alike, favored demobilization after the war. There had been a mass demonstration by thousands of homesick American soldiers in Manila on Christmas Day, 1945, reflecting the sentiment of the people at home and in Congress. The Congress failed to pass the universal military training bill urged by the President and military leaders. Minority Leader in the House, Congressman Joe Martin of Massachusetts, had introduced a resolution for immediate action to establish an international agreement to prohibit compulsory military service in peace time, claiming in February, 1946, that the measure had solid support among House Republicans. It thus concludes that General MacArthur, if looking for a scapegoat, should start with his most ardent admirers rather than looking to diplomatic and military leaders.

"Mutual Admiration Society" finds it humorous that Josef Stalin had exchanged greetings with Mao Tse-Tung on the sixth anniversary of the victory over "Japanese imperialism" by congratulating one another on their mutual military efforts in that regard. It corrects the facts to which each communiqué makes reference by stating that Communist China had occupied only a relatively small portion of northern China during the war, spending more time fighting the Nationalists than fighting the Japanese, and that Russia maintained its troops in Europe until the surrender of Germany on May 8, 1945, did not declare war on Japan until August 8 after the Hiroshima bomb had been dropped, a week before the Japanese unconditionally surrendered to the Allies. Both countries were engaged in aggression in Korea.

"How silly can Communist propaganda become?"

"Navy Chow" finds that Yeomen Third Class Bruce Hopping of the Bainbridge, Md., Naval Training Center, who faced potential court-martial for his complaint over Navy chow at the base and his distribution of a handbill in protest of it, which the Navy had regarded as potentially mutiny, should be treated with deference and patience. For if everyone in military service were subject to court-martial for complaining about the food, it would soon be the case that so many cases would be brought that the military justice system would be clogged to the point of breakdown. It finds that unless the Navy had changed recently, in all likelihood the sailor would be given the opportunity to spend time in the galley attempting to improve the menu.

"And if he gets hopping mad, we won't blame him."

A piece from Collier's, titled "Nailing a Communist Lie", tells of the NAACP having, at its 42nd annual convention, reaffirmed its opposition to Communism and strengthened the authority of its local branches to deal with infiltration by Communists. The Communist Party had worked persistently to exploit to its own advantage the position of the black community within the U.S., and, opines the piece, a vocal minority of blacks, such as Paul Robeson and the recently jailed Communist Benjamin Davis, had tried to provide "a false impression of the loyalty of their race and to inspire a lot of irresponsible talk". The action by the NAACP had shown that the Communists were not succeeding and that the individual blacks effectively supporting that cause were not telling the truth. It concludes that the great bulk of the black population were loyal, and their leaders alert to the designs and dangers of subversive influence.

Senator Herbert R. O'Conor of Maryland, chairman of the Senate Crime Investigating Committee, substitutes for Drew Pearson, returning from Europe, tells of two questions having arisen from the just concluded Committee hearings, whether local law enforcement officials would rise to the occasion and rid their localities of the "octopus-like crime system" which was threatening the judicial processes of the country and, second, whether television would become generally accepted as another means of keeping the citizens of the country in close touch with the functions of the Government. He finds that in recent years there had been too much of a tendency of the people, the cities and states, to look to Washington for solutions of problems rather than handling things on the local level. Thus, when the Committee made its findings, there had been plenty of people across the nation who were ready to defer to the Federal Government in effecting the remedy. Senator O'Conor, however, believes strongly that the remedy should be provided at the local level.

As to the new medium of television, the televised hearings in New York and Detroit, and later in Washington, had proved the power of television and its great effect on the public consciousness. But at the same time, it was just another medium, an extension of the newsreels and radio, long accepted by the public. Protest had arisen regarding the use of television in Congressional hearings for it being overly invasive of the rights of those being questioned, prompting some witnesses to refuse to testify before television cameras. In making its determination, the Committee had to weigh the right of the people to be provided the fullest information available against the right of the individual witness. Another consideration was whether having cameras present would compromise the ability of the Committee to receive testimony, outweighing thereby the right of the people to know. While the Committee took steps to reduce the amount of equipment in the hearing room, its presence nevertheless proved disturbing to witnesses, and because the testimony was more important than the transmission of the testimony via television, the Committee decided to have the cameras turned away from objecting witnesses during their testimony.

The implications of televised hearings was pervasive in Congressional hearings generally, and some believed it would be unfair for any prospective witness to be forced to testify before television cameras.

Senator O'Conor finds that television should be permitted in open hearings before Congressional committees, on the same basis which newspapers, magazines, radio, and newsreel cameras had been permitted. But, he advises, every precaution had be taken to safeguard the rights of witnesses to assure their ability to testify without intrusion by the equipment, itself. Making the equipment less conspicuous and having it operated in a manner which would not interfere with the functioning of the committee or distract the witness would be imperative.

Marquis Childs, at San Francisco, finds that while the anticipated nightmare at the Japanese peace treaty conference regarding Russian intervention had not materialized, the real scare had been created by India and Prime Minister Nehru after he had sent a note prior to the conference indicating his intention not to attend. The note had angered both John Foster Dulles, chief architect of the treaty, and the President, the more so the latter because he had recently guided through Congress a bill to provide emergency famine relief to India in the form of surplus wheat. The note had essentially insisted on "Asia for the Asians", though couched in more diplomatic language.

Prime Minister Nehru had explained to Great Britain and other members of the British Commonwealth that he did not want to attend the conference for fear he would be pressed into siding with the Russians. A simple note to that effect, however, would have sufficed rather than making the explanatory statements which made Mr. Dulles and the President so angry, that the treaty, in his view, had failed to meet the desires of the Japanese people for contentment and independence. Mr. Dulles had worked very hard on the treaty, having gone to Japan three times during the previous year. Prime Minister Nehru's sister, India's Ambassador to Washington, had said she would seek to convince her brother to sign the treaty, which she thought was appropriate.

Whether the resulting anger on the part of the U.S. would persist and characterize in the future relations between the two countries, remained to be seen. But if the background of the peace treaty suggested the future, relations between the two countries would likely be troubled.

Robert C. Ruark tells of Ben Stahl, an artist, having just returned from Europe on assignment from Esquire Magazine to choose and paint the prettiest women he could find in each of twelve countries. He had determined that the prettiest were in the far north and the far south and that the saddest were the "good but globular" women of Holland. He found the greatest wealth of feminine pulchritude to exist in Spain but the prettiest individual woman to have been found in Britain. The Scandinavian countries had a plentiful amount of pretty women. He was not high on the French, and added that, for the most part, the prettiest women of the world were in the U.S.

Mr. Ruark agrees on the latter point but also, as Mr. Stahl also found, American women were more prone to independence and seeking to fill traditional roles occupied by men than were European women.

There was no firm decision on which group of women most appreciated men among the Europeans, because at the moment a decision was being made by the panel of "academic experts", three wives had called and another member had a date.

Tom Schlesinger of The News, in his weekly Capital Roundup, tells of the average member of the North Carolina Congressional delegation being a 59-year old former state politician with a background including law, agriculture, and service in a war. But the range of their ages was between 37 and 87 and they had come from various backgrounds. Eight of the twelve had law degrees. Seven were veterans, only two of whom, however, having served in World War II, and one of those, in both wars. Five came from farming backgrounds. Robert Doughton, chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee, was the oldest at 87, and the youngest was Woodrow Jones, at 37. Only two had possessed no political experience before being elected to Congress. Two, including Senator Willis Smith, were millionaires. Both Senator Smith and Senator Clyde Hoey were lawyers and had former political experience before being elected to the Senate. Senator Hoey had spent some time in the newspaper business and Senator Smith was a veteran of World War I.

The column explains that the reason for the five-minute difference in the Senate convening of a meeting at noon or 11:55, in a brief, perfunctory session lasting eight seconds the prior Tuesday to enable extension of Labor Day weekend by one day, was that there were two clocks in the chamber, one being five minutes fast. The Senate could not be in recess for more than three days without the consent of the House, which was on vacation until September 12.

Senator Hoey, who did not smoke or drink, predicted that cigarettes, beer and whiskey soon would cost more by virtue of increase in the excise taxes on those items, as well as on automobiles, dishwashers and many other such consumer items. He said that the Finance Committee had accepted without change many of the increases approved by the House, and that it was likely that the Senate would vote to approve. If so, the tax on a pack of cigarettes would rise from one cent to seven or eight cents, on beer, from eight to nine dollars per barrel, and on distilled spirits from nine dollars per gallon to $10.50. It equated to an increase of about 26 cents on the price of a fifth of 85-proof whiskey.

The historical drama "Faith of Our Fathers", by North Carolina's Paul Green, ended its second season the previous Sunday after being attended by 100,000 persons, including 25,000 during the last six performances. Whether it would go another season was yet to be determined. The Washington Star found the outdoor drama's display of patriotism admirable, if its presentation was not strictly historically accurate in every detail, and indicated that the whole American community owed thanks to Mr. Green and all others who took part in the presentation of the play regarding the life of George Washington, originally presented the previous year in conjunction with the Sesquicentennial of the establishment of Washington as the nation's capital.

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