The Charlotte News
Thursday, October 30, 1952
FOUR EDITORIALS
Site Ed. Note: The front page reports, via Stan Carter, that about 2,000 Communist Chinese troops the previous night had launched probably the largest attack in weeks against "Triangle Hill" as allied infantry repulsed other Communist troops from "Pinpoint Hill", the highest peak of nearby "Sniper Ridge", the battle presently in its 18th day with no sign of surcease. Both sides had hit the central front hills with possibly the heaviest artillery assault of the war. Allied troops took cover 50 yards from the summit of "Pinpoint", to avoid the heavy artillery attack. The allies had sought to push the Chinese troops back to the "Yoke", but the intense enemy shelling and small arms fire had caused them to withdraw.
The U.S. Eighth Army said that it had inflicted 5,789 casualties on the enemy during the week ending the prior Tuesday, bringing the total casualties for the first four weeks of October to 32,885, the heaviest enemy casualty count since the prior November.
In Germany, the Russians stopped eight American tanks from proceeding this date on railroad flatcars through the Soviet zone of East Germany to West Berlin. The Patton tanks were general replacements for the single tank company which was part of the Sixth Infantry Regiment in Berlin. Six new Pattons had come through the zone by rail the previous week without incident. It was not clear why the Russians had stopped the tanks in this instance, their complaint having been that the tanks were too wide to ride on flatcars without endangering trains on the adjacent tracks.
At the U.N. in New York, Russia's Foreign Minister Andrei Vishinsky asked the body the previous night to form an international commission to seek peace in Korea and unification of the country. Mr. Vishinsky indicated that the commission should be comprised of the "parties directly concerned and other states, including states not participating in the war", but did not mention specific countries. He had launched into a fiery speech lasting three hours and 39 minutes, rebutting Secretary of State Acheson's contention the previous Friday that Russia was a participant in the Korean War, and stated that the Assembly should not approve the resolution introduced by the U.S. to approve the U.N. command's stand against forcible repatriation of prisoners. Mr. Acheson said that the Soviet Foreign Minister had not said anything which the U.N. and the Panmunjom truce negotiators had not heard a thousand times before. Another U.S. spokesman stated that to follow his advice would mean starting the negotiations all over again.
In New York, General Eisenhower, addressing a Manhattan neighborhood crowd estimated at 5,000 at the Stuyvesant Town housing project on the East Side, again reiterated his promise that if elected, he would to go to Korea to try to effect an end to the war. He again proposed to use more South Koreans to replace American soldiers on the front lines, and said that one of the things he wished to study during a trip to Korea was how much the South Koreans could contribute to their own battle requirements. The previous night he made public a letter from General James Van Fleet, the commander of the U.S. Eighth Army in Korea, in which the General had said that the South Korean army was in "apple pie order". General Eisenhower also addressed between 1,500 and 2,000 persons in front of the Richmond borough hall on Staten Island.
The President, addressing a
train-side crowd estimated at 5,000 in Grand Rapids, Michigan,
declared this date that he was convinced that the election of General
Eisenhower would be "most dangerous to all our hopes for peace".
He said that the Republicans had repudiated the late Michigan Senator
Arthur Vandenberg's leadership and scoffed at the General for calling
himself a "Vandenberg Republican". In Illinois, the
President had said that the General "sneered at the policies"
of Senator Vandenberg and "talked like an isolationist",
indicating that he was "surely a Dirksen-Taft-McCormick
Republican in Illinois". He praised Senator Vandenberg for his
bipartisan approach to foreign policy, saying that since his death in
1951, the Republicans had "slid backwards into the hands of the
Old Guard isolationists", who had always hated the Senator and
made haste to reverse his work. At his first stop of the day in
Muskegon, Mich., police estimated that 20,000 to 25,000 people turned
out in the early morning to see the President. He had indicated the
previous night in Chicago that "no superman is going to solve
our difficulties for us, and anybody who poses and talks like a
superman is just a plain fraud
Senator Richard Nixon resumed his final home state campaign this date out of Los Angeles, following a broadcast the previous night in which he talked about "the forgotten man", whom he labeled the American taxpayer, as well as older people trying to live on pensions and savings, government employees, schoolteachers and others living on fixed salaries, as well as holders of savings bonds and life insurance policies. He contended that General Eisenhower was the nation's only hope for a sound economy, opportunity for the children and a lasting peace. He said that the average American family was caught in a squeeze between high prices and high taxes, citing "dishonesty, waste and inefficiency in government" as the primary reasons, adding that the General was not "tied to the big city bosses, Harry Truman or the big labor bosses". He stated that Governor Stevenson stood for the policies which meant higher taxes and more government control, "squeezing the little man and discouraging initiative". He described the General's promise to go to Korea personally as "the words of a man of action". He said Governor Stevenson offered no hope for an end to the fighting and bringing home U.S. troops. He also claimed that the Governor had run up a 37-million dollar deficit in Illinois during his term since 1949, stating, by contrast, that the General had always run his military commands on less money than allocated by the Government.
Governor Stevenson, continuing his tour through Pennsylvania, pledged in Reading this date before an estimated crowd of 3,000 that if he were elected president he would strive to end the "noisy and unnecessary" war between government and business, saying that there was no basis to claims that businessmen were reactionaries. He said that the country could not survive without prosperous business. He denied that there was any "creeping, crawling socialism" as claimed by the Republicans. Reading had voted in 1948 two to one for the President. The previous night he had received large ovations in Convention Hall in Philadelphia, where police estimated 18,000 people heard him speak, with 6,000 more outside. He had accused the General of being a puppet speaking lines put into his mouth by his handlers, holding out false hopes to the people. He had continued to criticize the General for saying that he would go to Korea to try to end the war, an idea which he said that the New York Times had indicated originated with one of the General's new speechwriters, the Governor finding it a "cynical search for votes". This night he would provide a major speech in Pittsburgh.
Democratic optimism was increasing as Democratic leaders believed that there was a last-minute surge of support for the Governor. The Governor also appeared more confident and was increasingly predicting victory in his speeches. Democratic leaders wondered privately, however, whether the surge had come too late.
In Chicago, gamblers continued to favor General Eisenhower, but had reduced odds from a week earlier. The Chicago Daily News reported that the latest odds were 7 to 5 in favor of the General, meaning that a seven dollar bet for the General would win five dollars if he were elected, whereas a $10 bet for Governor Stevenson would win $11.
It sounds like a victory for Governor Stevenson would bring in a lot more money and thus improve the economy for all the "little people" for whom Senator Nixon's heart was bleeding so badly. Perhaps, the British Government should place their bets on the Governor and possibly reap a huge windfall from the American election, getting their economy back on track with plenty of American dollars in reserve. Of course, if they were to lose, and could not pay up, the bill collectors for the Chicago bet brokers might have to seek out Prime Minister Churchill and break some limbs, or at least take away his cigars as collateral.
In Elkin, N.C., a distant relative of Governor Stevenson would turn 100 Saturday, thought to be the oldest Democrat in the state. She said that she would cast her vote for the Governor the following Tuesday. She indicated that she had known the Governor's grandfather, Vice-President Adlai Stevenson, elected in 1892 with Grover Cleveland. He had been the cousin of her father, Adlai Hampton of Statesville. The woman had five children, 28 great-grandchildren and seven great-great-grandchildren.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics said that the cost of living index for October 15 was three-tenths of a percent lower than the index for the previous month, estimated to be 232.5 percent of the 1935-39 average, 14.5 percent above the pre-Korean war level. Higher prices for fresh fruits and vegetables and eggs were primarily responsible for an increase, however, in retail food prices of seven-tenths of a percent during the first half of October.
Henry Grunewald pleaded not guilty to a 22-count charge of contempt of Congress this date for his refusal to answer questions put to him by a House Ways & Means subcommittee investigating tax frauds. His trial was set for January 19 and he was released on bond.
Martin Cannon of Charlotte, 67, nationally known in the textile industry, had died this date in a hospital in New York following an operation the prior Tuesday. His death was announced at Concord by his brother Charles, head of Cannon Mills. Mr. Cannon had attended VMI and UNC and had become secretary and treasurer of Imperial Cotton Mills and later president of that corporation, was associated with that company from 1909 until 1927, as well as being president of another cotton mill from 1915 until 1946, and president of Cannon Manufacturing Co. from 1916 until 1921, as well as heading Cabarrus Cotton Mills from 1919 until 1926. He was also a director of several corporations. He had been chief of the city's civil defense program during World War II. Shortly after the war, he sold much of his large holdings in the textile industry.
In Beverly Hills, Dixie Lee Crosby, wife of Bing, remained in a coma and her physician held out little hope for her survival. The singer would not appear on his weekly CBS radio show this night, with Judy Garland appearing in his stead.
In Danville, Va., a man lost an auto race when his car stalled on a railroad crossing. He got out and started pushing, the car picked up speed, and the driver, chasing it down, saw his car plunge down a hill and hit a building, doing $500 worth of damage.
In Vicksburg, Miss., a man who had worked for two days with a railroad section gang near the town had left without collecting his pay in 1916, and when he had become ill a few weeks earlier, remembered the incident and wrote the Illinois Central Railroad about it, the previous day receiving his check for $1.25.
Socialistic Democratic bureaucratic Commies held it up.
On the editorial page, "Umstead, Hodges et al." reminds that there were other important offices at stake in addition to the presidency and vice-presidency the following Tuesday, including the gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election in North Carolina, with William B. Umstead and Luther Hodges, respectively, having been nominated for those positions and assured of victory in the one-party state. Thad Eure was the incumbent Democratic nominee for re-election as the State's Secretary of State, and it proceeds on down the list of various state executive, legislative and judicial nominees.
It suggests that the voters of the county had an opportunity to give such an historic majority to Democratic state and local candidates so that its votes would be a constant reminder that the county was applying its weight in the election of state officials, thus urges county residents to vote the straight Democratic ticket for state and local offices, no matter for which candidate they voted in the presidential and Congressional elections.
We thought you were all hep on developing a two-party system in the state. That's a hell of a way to start, isn't it?
"Constitutional Amendment—III" regards the third of the three State constitutional amendments on the upcoming ballot, urging approval on this one, as well, which provided for a uniform method of filling vacancies for State Supreme Court justices and Superior Court judges and solicitors. The present State Constitution provided that they would be filled by the governor, unless otherwise provided for, and would then hold their positions until the ensuing regular election for members of the General Assembly, when elections would be held for the judicial offices. The amendment would interlineate that the provision would apply only for those positions in which the General Assembly election would be held more than 30 days after the vacancy occurred.
"A Gentle Reminder" indicates that the newspaper had, for several weeks, been carrying the Gallup polls, which it considered to be news, though it was not a perfect measure of public opinion. Too many people were reluctant to give their opinions to pollsters for it to be completely accurate, while others were apt to state one thing and then vote another way. In the present campaign, there were so many variables and so many undecided voters that predicting the outcome of the election based on the Gallup poll was risky. In 1948, millions of Americans had believed, based on the polls, that the outcome of the election was a foregone conclusion for Governor Dewey, only to have their hopes shattered on election day. It indicates that the fault was really in those who used polls as crystal balls instead of treating them as part of the news. So, it advises, it had provided the polls as information, making no prediction of the outcome of the election on that basis.
Parenthetically, we have to wonder what polls the Republicans are reading, when some of them proclaim that the Democrats are so worried that the "President" is going to win re-election that they have started the present impeachment inquiry as a political gimmick. Every single poll we have seen has each of the three leading Democratic candidates, at this juncture, a year from the election, leading the man in the White House by double digits, at least 10-12 points. It is still early, but maybe these Republicans are considering the North Pole...
"This High-Level Campaign" finds that the present campaign, historically speaking, was quite dignified and not the dirtiest ever, as many people were suggesting. "It has not even been intimated that either candidate believes in free love and has fathered illegitimate children, nor do the most violent partisans suggest that either is a drunken old sot. Grandpa, who waved flaming torches that would have horrified our fire department and sang most indelicate songs about the opposition, would have thought this a disgustingly high-level campaign."
It indicates that it was reminded of that reality when General Eisenhower and his wife Mamie had visited Charlotte two weeks earlier, and Mamie stated that she heard a "boo", to which Mayor Victor Shaw stated that he had not heard it and, having been Mayor of the city for several years, if there had been such a boo, it would have been intended for someone else, meaning himself, and not the General. The piece regards an occasional boo for Mrs. Eisenhower to be mild treatment for a nominee's wife. Rachel Jackson, wife of Andrew, it relates, would have appreciated a mere boo, instead of the calumny which hastened her to her grave. The Jackson supporters of that era had countered with the charge that John Quincy Adams, while serving as minister to Russia, had engaged in some shady personal business with the czar. (No wonder the present "President" maintains a portrait of old Andrew in the Oval Office. But he really ought to have one of J. Q. hanging alongside it.)
"Even Senator McCarthy hasn't found anything sinister in Governor Stevenson's long-ago visit to Russia—yet, anyhow."
Parenthetically, the only thing that
we hold against former Vice-President Biden is that he is a
long-standing Corvette man. For shame. We much prefer Thunderbirds,
or even a Ford Falcon. Chevys. No. We don't think we have ever
related that we used to have a back-seat game, way back
Where were we? The poorest lemon ranch in California... No, that comes later.
Andrew Jackson and Governor Stevenson vs. Senator McCarthy... The piece indicates that President McKinley was pictured by the New York Tribune as a "wretched, rattle-pated boy … a mouthing, slobbering demagogue whose patriotism is all in its jawbone." It suggests that even conservative publisher Col. Bertie McCormick of the Chicago Tribune could not top that.
It further relates that the current issue of Space had reminisced about prior campaigns, stating that in one instance, the president of Yale had stated that victory for Thomas Jefferson would result in "our wives and daughters [being] the victims of legal prostitution, soberly dishonored, speciously polluted." Supporters of Vice-President Jefferson were characterized as "atheists and murderers". And, in 1884, President Grover Cleveland, unmarried at the time, was portrayed as a "libertine" for a dalliance with a carefree woman, producing a bastard. During the Harding Administration, Nan Britton had called the President "daddy"—as Gaston Means would relate, among other things, in his later book recording the exploits of which he became aware after being hired by First Lady Florence Harding as a private investigator of the President. A Democratic editor had mentioned William Henry Harrison's association with hard cider, at which point "the Whigs rolled out the barrels and rode them to victory".
"Shucks, youngsters, this campaign isn't dirty. Downright respectable."
We have to pick a little at that last related vignette, elder, as President Harrison was a Whig and won the 1840 election, before dying shortly after his inauguration, after having lost the 1836 election to the Democrat, Vice-President Martin Van Buren, defeating the latter in 1840. Thus, the imbiber of fermented cider must have been Mr. Van Buren—the one who appeared Beethovenesque on the cards in the game of Presidents which we used to play, back when.
Drew Pearson tells of Walter Winchell, in his telvision program, having just released public affidavits, shown briefly to the television viewers, alleging that the President had been a member of the Klan in 1922, that those affidavits had been obtained in October, 1944, prior to the election when Senator Truman was running for the vice-presidency with FDR. (He does not recount that the White House had issued a denial, stating that the President had said that he was approached by the Klan when he was running for county judge in 1922 and invited to join, but declined.) Mr. Pearson relates those facts by way of indicating that the time for revelation of such things which might impact voter approval of a particular candidate should occur prior to an election and not when it was moot. Thus, he pursues further the finances of Senator Nixon, who had told the column as well as the press generally, through his press secretary, James Bassett, that the Senator would make no further statements about his finances or publish his tax returns, and had refused to hold press conferences.
He relates that during the closing days of World War II, Mr. Nixon, who had been an attorney in the Navy, was given the job of renegotiating the defense contract of Erco, a firm located at Riverdale, Md, a job, if done properly, which could have saved taxpayers money. The renegotiating officer sat as virtual judge and jury to determine whether the Government should have a rebate from the contractor or issue a rebate to the contractor. During the course of the renegotiation, Mr. Nixon had indicated that he wanted to return to California to run for Congress, and borrowed money from Erco to pay for his expenses back home. Later, he repaid that money. Mr. Pearson suggests that it might have been coincidental, but Erco received a refund from the Government on its war work. He indicates that Erco officials confirmed those facts, but Senator Nixon was not available for comment.
In his speech of September 23 relating his explanation for his $18,000 expense fund raised by California millionaires, Senator Nixon had claimed that he had used the money to pay office and travel expenses and so saved the taxpayers money. But he claimed $1,294 in deductible office expenses in 1951 beyond his $2,500 Government allowance, and part of that claim, $600, was for taking constituents to lunch. In 1950, he had claimed a deduction for $1,471 for office expenses, $260 of which was also for constituent lunches. Yet, the firm of Price, Waterhouse, which performed an audit of the expense fund for those years, listed "meetings and lunches and California hotels, $410" and "meals, taxi cab fares and parking charges paid for visitors, $382". Mr. Pearson finds therefore the audit in conflict with the Senator's expense deductions.
In March, 1951, Pat Nixon filed on behalf of herself and Senator Nixon a sworn statement in California that their joint property did not exceed $10,000, enabling them to take advantage of a California tax exemption for veterans living under reduced circumstances, amounting to about $50. In July of that year, Senator Nixon purchased his $41,000 home in Washington, making a down payment of $20,000, and earlier in the year, had acquired a smaller home in Whittier, California. Mr. Pearson wonders where, if he and his wife had less than $10,000 in March, 1951, he had obtained the $20,000 for the down payment in July.
Mr. Pearson further indicates that the best way to judge a Senator's record was by his work on committees. Senator Nixon belonged to the Labor and Public Welfare Committee, which handled the Taft-Hartley Act, labor legislation, health and education legislation. Out of 18 full committee meetings during the previous session of Congress, the Senator had attended only four. He was also a member of the subcommittee on Veterans Affairs, which had investigated veterans' medical care and found it bogged down and inadequate, reorganizing and revitalizing the program. But Senator Nixon, despite being a member of the American Legion and publicly active in veterans' rallies, had the worst attendance record of any member of the subcommittee.
The Senator had made several recent speeches regarding civil rights and had urged the end of segregation in the District of Columbia, but as a member of the Senate Labor Committee, was one of only three Senators who had voted to keep the civil rights bill bottled up in committee.
The Senator, in explanation of his expense fund, had said that he had sought no government favors for those who had contributed to it. But he had written a letter to the U.S. Ambassador in Cuba asking for aid for Dana Smith, the man who arranged for and collected the $18,000 for him. The prior spring, Mr. Smith had reneged on a gambling debt in Cuba after playing the cubolo tables at the Club Sans Souci in Havana, where he lost $4,200, which he paid with a check, then stopped payment on the check, causing the man to whom the check was made out to sue. Senator Nixon wrote a letter to the U.S. Ambassador, recommending Mr. Smith as a man of good character, thus interceding in a matter regarding which the Ambassador should not have been concerned.
The latter incident would be raised again by Mr. Pearson and elaborated upon prior to the 1960 election—the old cubolo in Cuba caper, leading to the Bay of Pigs thing. Hal de man.
A letter writer indicates that if he were to vote for Governor Stevenson, he would not be voting for the Democratic ticket but for "some other kind of an ultra-smart new Fair Deal ticket." He finds this to be a "misrepresented Democratic ticket" for which a vote would be one against "our fundamental Bill of rights and Constitution; voting for socialized medicine, more class antagonism, more capital and labor trouble … for less states rights, but for more government ownership, more controls and less freedom … more centralized dictatorial government, more government employees, more spending, more taxes, higher prices, cheaper money and cheaper morals which go together … more socialist prosperity at any cost which must finally burst when our people will be so confused that the Russians may take us over into Communist slavery."
Oh, you better vote for
Eisenhower-Nixon then to save the day. Clark Kent is on the way
A letter writer from Belmont indicates that he did not think General Eisenhower would like his letter, indicating that he had read in a Baltimore newspaper of October 25: "I hope when General Eisenhower gets in the White House he puts all you black ___________ back in your place. You guys have listened to Harry Truman and got too big for your britches." The writer indicates that it was sent by one Sam Houston of San Antonio, Texas.
The letter writer indicates that he did not believe that the sentiment expressed by Mr. Houston was why Republicans in North Carolina were backing the General and if it was why the Republicans were trying to win, "may God have mercy on their souls."
A letter writer from Albemarle finds that the people who had said they would never again read the newspaper for its endorsement of General Eisenhower were "awful and disgusting" for refusing any longer to read the local newspaper because of its expression of a political opinion. He thinks such people should write again and thanks the newspaper for backing the General, says that the newspaper was one of the finest, if not the finest, of the daily newspapers published.
A letter writer suggests that Senator McCarthy had protested too much, such that one began to wonder about his own affiliations. He would condemn without a trial and prosecute without competent evidence, judge without facts, methods used by the Communists. "The Bill of Rights to McCarthy is but a useless appendage to our Constitution. The club that he desired to beat Governor Stevenson with on his campaign train is the hammer and sickle of Russian force." He finds it a "Republican conspiracy from the high command all the way down to McCarthy in the sewer."
Herblock, later on, insofar as Vice-President Nixon, will wholeheartedly agree with your synopsis.
He asks Eisenhower voters whether they still would claim Senator McCarthy as their "lawfully wedded ally, your very own fellow traveler" on election day.
A letter writer says that she was hearing every day how the country had never had it so good, asks a series of sarcastic questions, regarding Alger Hiss, the national debt, mink coats, deep freezes and corruption, and "when the little man from Missouri can fire a great five-star general when he dared make suggestions that would have brought the Korean War to a quicker end".
And well it might have, but in 2019, the country might still be fighting Communist China as a result, in a never-ending war, one which might have bankrupted the country 50 years ago after the loss of perhaps millions of Americans in the process, if not producing an all-out nuclear war with Russia. You are a purblind idiot who cannot see beyond the end of your political nose. You obviously desire a military state, where General MacArthur, through unilateral action, dictated foreign policy to the President.
A letter writer responds to another letter printed October 27, which he believes confirmed the obvious fact that since the Republicans had no meritorious past record or substantial platform for the future of the country, the best they could do was to register a protest vote. He urges remembering that the "quality of the government is better indicated by the votes of the open-minded, rather than those of the asinine."
A letter from the president of the Charlotte Property Management Association urges the newspaper to inform the public regarding the constitutional amendment on the ballot to raise the limit of State and county taxes which could be levied on property from 15 to 20 percent per $100 of valuation.
A letter writer from Lincolnton wonders why incumbent Congressman Hamilton Jones refused to appear on television and instead had former Governor and Senator Cameron Morrison talking for him, suggests that he apparently was ashamed of his record. He favors Republican Charles Jonas for Congress.
A letter writer encourages prayer to guide the voter to the right person.
A letter writer suggests that General Eisenhower was in much the same position as King Henry VIII in Shakespeare's (& Fletcher's) drama: "His promises were, as he then was, mighty; But his performance, as he is now, nothing." He finds that the General's promises changed with the climate, as well as with the ethnic, racial, religious and occupational preferences of his audiences. He appeared to be promising everything to everybody based on what he believed they wanted. "What'll you have? Peanuts, popcorn, and crackerjacks, and there's a prize in every package for the kiddies."
A letter writer indicates that those who attended the football game between Harding High School and West High School the previous Friday night had received information on what a political campaign in a European satellite country was probably like, as they had to listen to a speech by Vice-President Barkley via public address speakers in the stadium, while the football game was delayed for a half hour, which he regards as an invasion of individual rights. He does not blame Democratic Party officials because such persons were always trying to stage campaigns and do everything they could to reach the public. Rather, he blames the City Park & Recreation Commission, or whoever was responsible for granting permission to install the loudspeakers in the stadium. He favors ordering such politicking to cease in the future at football games.
A letter writer from Waxhaw indicates that a United Press dispatch of January 4, 1951 had indicated that General Eisenhower had said that men called to military service by the draft should receive little, if any, pay because they were fulfilling an obligation to the state, and that men who undertook a military career should be paid "along professional lines". He was quoted as saying that people were not paid to attend school or to work out their poll taxes, as such were obligations to the state. The letter writer indicates that the General had never retracted those statements, and she reminds voters that a vote for the General would be a vote to reduce the pay of draftees.
Framed Edition
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