The Charlotte News

Tuesday, March 25, 1952

FOUR EDITORIALS

Site Ed. Note: The front page reports, via Sam Summerlin, that the truce negotiators in Korea had erected a curtain of secrecy this date regarding the issue of exchange of prisoners, the critical issue remaining being voluntary repatriation. Nothing would be published henceforth regarding those talks until a conclusion was reached. The news blackout was to try to effect a resolution on the issue, on the theory that negotiators would talk more freely about compromises if they were not to be made public. The U.N. command had warned that if the Communists began to use the secrecy of the negotiations for propaganda purposes, the secrecy would be immediately abandoned.

A second group of staff officers, regarding truce supervision, reached general agreement on the ports of entry to be used and inspected during the armistice, but remained deadlocked on the major issue of whether Russia could be nominated by the Communists as a neutral nation for the purpose of conducting inspections. The Communists had refused to budge on this matter.

U.S. Sabre jets reported destruction of one enemy jet and probable destruction of another this date, in the second straight day of renewed air activity, the battle having been fought between 32 Sabres and about 60 MIG-15s. A total of 18 enemy jets had been destroyed or damaged during the two days. Elements of three U.S. air wings had blasted 56 new cuts in the railway network between Chongju and Sinanju.

Only two patrol clashes occurred along the front on Tuesday morning, both in the western section, and, despite snow, wind and fog on the eastern front, there had been five light enemy probes in that section on Monday and early Tuesday.

General Alfred Gruenther, deputy to General Eisenhower, told the House Foreign Affairs Committee this date, testifying regarding the President's proposed 7.6 billion dollar foreign aid program, that Russia would not attack presently and if the country took the proper action, would never do so. He also had testified the previous day, but before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He said that General Eisenhower believed that if the country created a military force and in so doing, destroyed the economies of the U.S. and the NATO nations, the work would be in vain. Three Senators who had voted a week earlier to invite General Eisenhower to testify, Senators Guy Gillette, Alexander Wiley and Francis Green, all indicated their satisfaction with General Gruenther's familiarity with the issues and said there was probably no need therefore for General Eisenhower to testify. It was therefore unlikely that the issue would be revived.

The largest photographs ever displayed in the United States were being prepared in support of General Eisenhower's candidacy for the presidency, the first of about 150 to be distributed across the country to be erected in Times Square in New York within about a week, showing only the General's face and standing 48 feet high and extending 48 feet in width. His eye would be 5 feet across and his mouth, 17 feet wide.

Well, you know what type of rhetoric that is going to promote among the people opposing him in the fall campaign.

Three of the six industry members of the Wage Stabilization Board stated this date that the Board should go out of business because it was causing inflation and thus defeating its own purpose. They indicated that the recommendations of the Board regarding the steel dispute entailed more than the Steelworkers could have won in collective bargaining. Philip Murray, president of the CIO and the Steelworkers Union, criticized Defense Mobilizer Charles E. Wilson as a "biased and uninformed" big businessman, refusing to meet with him on the steel dispute. A spokesman for Mr. Wilson indicated that he still maintained hope of bringing labor and management together to avoid a strike, presently threatened for April 8. Economic Stabilizer Roger Putnam was reviewing the Board's recommendation of a 17.5-cent per hour pay increase plus other concessions, including the union shop. He was expected to report within 48 hours on whether the recommendations violated wage control policy. Mr. Wilson believed that they did, but he did not wish to interfere with the negotiations.

FBI director J. Edgar Hoover told the House Appropriations Committee, in testimony made public the previous night, that membership in the U.S. Communist Party had dropped by one-fourth during the previous year and that about a third of the remaining 31,608 members, about half in the New York area, had begun to go underground. A year earlier, there had been 43,217 Communists in the country. Mr. Hoover attributed the decline to public awareness of what Communism was and to fear of prosecution as a result of Congressional investigations and trials and arrests of Communists. He said that Communists no longer issued membership cards and met in secret. He said that, in addition to New York, California, Illinois, Ohio, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Michigan were centers of heavy Communist activity.

In Danvers, Mass., three gunmen this date robbed an armored car of about $600,000 in cash, all of the money present in the vehicle, as it was stopped in the town, about 20 miles north of Boston. The truck had been unattended, with its back doors left either unlocked or open, while the guards had gone into a drugstore. Most of the loot was in small bills and the truck was being used to deliver money to banks and businesses in various communities. About a million dollars had already been delivered during the day to banks and businesses before the stop in Danvers. The three robbers fled in a black Buick sedan, which was discovered less than an hour later abandoned in Everett, just north of Boston. The car was reported stolen from a Boston steelworker. Witnesses, unaware of the robbery, had seen men quickly shifting large bundles from the Buick to a black Pontiac. The FBI had entered the case.

If they don't recover the loot, they ought take it out of the guards' future pay.

In Los Angeles, a fire at the St. George Hotel in downtown had killed at least six persons and injured at least ten others during the early morning hours. The hotel was patronized primarily by male transients. The night clerk had run through the corridors awakening patrons and then returned to the lobby to awaken more by telephone. The flash fire was brought under control within an hour of its outbreak at around 3:00 a.m. The night clerk had responded to someone yelling that there was smoke on the fourth floor, and when he ran upstairs and then back down the stairway to the third floor, saw fire emanating from room 312 at the rear.

Probably another evil result of smoking. It is very clear that dancing did not cause the fire.

The News was conducting another informal straw poll of readers as to their preference for the presidency in November, including nine named candidates and a space for writing in a name.

Not on the page, the national semi-finals of the N.C.A.A. Tournament would take place this night, at 11:00 p.m. and 12:45 a.m., E.S.T., in Seattle, with tenth-ranked St. John's nipping second-ranked Illinois, 61 to 59, and eighth-ranked Kansas smothering unranked Santa Clara, 74 to 55, permitting Dean Smith to get into the game, albeit with a similar boxscore to that of the previous two games in the Tournament, in which he had netted a total of two points on one field goal in as many tries. (Never, ever give up hope, bench-warmers. A stellar career in coaching may yet lie ahead.) "Cloudburst" Clyde Lovellette had led the Jayhawks with 33 points. Kansas, coached by "Phog" Allen, would therefore meet St. John's, coached by Frank McGuire, for the national championship at around 1:00 a.m., E.S.T., the following night, after the third-place consolation game between Illinois and Santa Clara.

And, in the National AAU Women's Basketball Tournament, in Wichita, Hanes Hosiery of Winston-Salem, winners of the 1951 Tournament, beat Dowell's Dolls of Amarillo, Tex., 39 to 33 in the second round. What was the nickname of the Hanes team?

On the editorial page, "The 'Investigatingest' Congress" finds the "investigation-happy" 82nd Congress to be legislatively irresponsible, citing the example of the investigation of the Katyn Forest massacre in Poland of several thousand Polish officers during the early days of World War II, the massacre first having been attributed to the Germans, but now having been laid at the feet of the Russians by a House committee. It suggests that the atrocity was not the business of the U.S. Congress, as American citizens were in no way involved. The prior Thursday, nevertheless, the House had approved an expenditure of $65,000 for use by members of the committee, presently on their way overseas to continue the investigation, even though they could get nowhere near Katyn Forest. The matter was probably within the jurisdiction of the U.N. But it equates the Congressional junket to members of the Politburo going to Mexico City to investigate the riots the prior year in Cicero, Illinois.

Nevertheless, the taxpayers were paying for that investigation along with 59 others currently proceeding, out of the 225 conducted thus far during the 82nd Congress, which had spent more money on investigations than any previous Congress. It was fine to investigate when the outcome would be new legislation on a given matter, but many of the investigations had no such object, were being performed only for publicity and political reasons.

Congressman Thomas Stanley of Virginia had indicated that investigating committees were bulging Congress at the seams, such that the two House office buildings had become inadequate, necessitating the renting of outside quarters. He found some of the investigations helpful, while others were tinged with politics or, in some cases, "the grossest tomfoolery".

It adds that some of the investigations also duplicated others, with witnesses sometimes having to appear before multiple committees. It concludes that Congress appeared to have lost its self-control when it came to investigations. Very little legislation of any import had been passed during the year and convention time was approaching, after which little legislation would be passed. There were many bills in Congress worthy of attention and, it urges, it was time for the body to revert to its primary business, legislation.

"Garden Time" tells of a robin at home scolding the editor every morning, seemingly encouraging garden work. It hopes that the weather stayed clear so that the peas and beans could be planted in the small garden. It suggests that gardening made one wonder about "man's seeming distaste for solitude and silence", as the garden afforded quiet, "broken only by occasional offerings of the feathered symphony", making other recreations seem dull by comparison.

It observes that gardening enabled one to appreciate the wisdom of Josh Billings when he had said: "It's better not to know so much than know so much what ain't so."

"The GOP Needs Dulles" tells of the announcement of the forthcoming resignation of John Foster Dulles as the Administration's foreign policy adviser, not unexpected, and finds that there was probably no significance in the timing of it beyond the increasing tempo of the election campaign. In 1950, Mr. Dulles had accepted the job of framing the Japanese peace treaty and he had acquitted himself well in that effort. With the Senate's recent ratification of the treaty, his job was now finished. He hoped to frame the foreign policy for the Republican Party and the piece indicates its approval, as the Republicans were in need of his caliber of counsel, there being no Republican to fill the void of promoting bipartisan foreign policy since the death of Senator Arthur Vandenberg.

"The Wrong Ties" tells of Time indicating that a newspaper in Pakistan had become upset because it heard that the U.S. was sending $650,000 worth of ties for uniformed railroad employees, when, according to the newspaper, what the country needed was wheat, not neckties. Later, it was discovered that the ties were, in fact, wooden, for use on the railroads, not by the railroad employees.

The mistranslation brought to mind a corny story from the early postwar days of the Marshall Plan, which had gone that Frenchmen had asked Uncle Sam for some wheat, but the interpreter asked for corn, prompting the Frenchmen to view with skepticism the prospect of receiving popcorn, but were quite surprised when regular corn had arrived from the Midwest. It concludes that perhaps all of the country's international representatives should begin speaking Esperanto.

A piece from the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, titled "Culture Off the Main Line", tells of The News having recently sent a scout, Mack Bell, to Richmond to report on the culture of Virginia and that he had reported many good things happening in Richmond, but had found that despite Richmond being twice the size of Charlotte, it had no symphony orchestra or Little Theater as in Charlotte.

It indicates that since Richmond was on the main line of the passenger transportation axis from New York, it had found no need to organize either its own symphony or its own theater, as Broadway theater companies and the larger symphonies, ballet and opera companies came to the South each year and made appearances in Richmond.

By contrast, Norfolk was off that main transportation line and for 31 years had its own symphony, for 24 years, its own Little Theater, and for 17 years, its own Children's Theater, plus a chamber music society for the prior five years.

It suggests that Charlotte was on the main line from New York to Atlanta and becoming larger in size and adding to its considerable wealth, such that the impact of imported music and drama would become more frequent, and with it, more difficult for Charlotte to maintain its own cultural institutions. As that happened, it suggests, Charlotte would long for the time when it was smaller and able to support its own cultural facilities.

Drew Pearson tells of machinery manufacturer Tom Coleman, who had been walking on clouds as the top leader for the Taft and McCarthy forces in Wisconsin, until a couple of weeks earlier when the returns started coming in from New Hampshire, followed by the write-in vote for General Eisenhower in Minnesota, and the withdrawal of Senator Taft from the New Jersey primary. The General was not running in Wisconsin and he could not be written in, but, nevertheless, Mr. Coleman remained worried because Governor Earl Warren was on the ballot and if he were to poll a large vote against Senator Taft, even if in defeat, it would reflect adversely on the viability of the Taft candidacy going forward. Moreover, Governor Warren had made a favorable impression in Wisconsin, as the old Progressives who had supported the La Follettes were flocking to him, as were the Eisenhower Republicans. If Senator Taft failed in Wisconsin, his candidacy would be foredoomed.

He indicates that when he was in high school in 1914 at the time Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated at Sarajevo, touching off World War I, his contemporaries had little realization of what was going on or an understanding of the events which followed. He records that there was no interest even in the war to end all wars. This date, however, he had been reading a stack of messages written from American youngsters to be broadcast over the Voice of America to youngsters behind the Iron Curtain, some of them written by children younger than high school age, yet demonstrating a genuine understanding of what was happening abroad and the principles for which the nation stood. The object of the messages was to make an impression on youth behind the Iron Curtain, who might become future friends or enemies of the American people, depending on whether they were indoctrinated by the Russian system or could be educated to the benefits of a democracy. He indicates that if a local newspaper or the state superintendent of schools was not coordinating the activities in a particular district, then the top ten percent of the messages from a particular school could be sent directly to Mr. Pearson and he would see that they were transmitted to the Voice.

Senator Taft had been introduced at a large rally of electrical cooperatives in Wisconsin by the chairman of the Taft committee in that state, who misspoke and introduced him as Senator Bob La Follette. The audience had snickered but nevertheless applauded Senator Taft. They snickered a little louder, however, when the Senator then said that it was a great privilege to meet the farmers of New Hampshire, and the guffaws got worse as he continued to repeat the mistake. He finally realized his error and interrupted himself to apologize.

What was he doing talking before a bunch of socialists? Sounds suspicious. Need to write Senator McCarthy or Senator Nixon and seek an investigation.

Joseph & Stewart Alsop examine the failing campaign of Senator Taft and the prospect that General MacArthur might step into the breach should Senator Taft's chances become hopeless to achieve the Republican nomination. They deem it premature to declare him a failure at this point, but the Wisconsin primary, in which he would face no substantial opposition on the ballot, would be the deciding factor. He would nearly have to sweep all of the 30 Wisconsin delegates to continue in the race.

Assuming he got by that test, he would also need to obtain support from the professional politicians in the South, who, for the most part, wanted to support a winner on the ticket, regardless of positions. If Senator Taft suddenly appeared unlikely to be able to win the nomination, those professionals would bolt to General Eisenhower. The supporters of the General were already making note of a trickle of such delegates to his side. And if Senator Taft performed poorly in Wisconsin, that trickle would turn into a flood.

At that point, General MacArthur would likely enter the fray as the foreign and domestic policy alternative to the "me-tooism" of General Eisenhower. For if Senator Taft's candidacy failed, that wing of the party would not accept defeat readily. The tone of General MacArthur's statements and speeches of late had placed him well to the right of Senator Taft, even warning that "creeping socialism" was threatening professional football.

Robert C. Ruark comments again on the William Hillman book, Mr. President, comprised of diary entries, interviews and letters of President Truman, to form a kind of memoir. Mr. Ruark again indicates his boredom with the material and longs for an explanation for why Mayor William O'Dwyer of New York had suddenly, amid the graft and police scandals, been made Ambassador to Mexico by the President. He indicates that if he were writing a memoir, he would certainly wish to clear the air on the topic, assuming there was air to be cleared.

Another missing aspect was regarding the President's military aide, General Harry Vaughan. He says that he would have said something along the lines: "Caught H. Vaughan raiding the icebox again. Must warn him Gen. Graham keeps his grain futures in freeze-compartment, and apt to spoil if subjected fresh air."

He thinks a diary was not a diary unless everything was confided therein. He concludes: "In all my newspaper life I never read more abject garbage than some of the prose the southpaw press used to describe the noble simplicity of the Man Truman, as portrayed by private papers in which all but the politically harmless had been carefully excised."

Take out "southpaw" and substitute "righty", "mp" for "man", and there you have, in lieu of "private papers", a perfect view of the past weekend on Fox News. Best be careful about gloating in the third inning of the game.

We shall say it again, that no matter how hard you rig the system ostensibly to cleanse your sins regarding how you got power, you cannot govern from the standpoint of a minority—at least, not in a democracy. It begins to remind of "Z".

Let us not forget, too, not touched upon in the Attorney General's summary letter of the past weekend and therefore, presumably, not in the Special Counsel's report, apparently considered beyond the scope of the Special Counsel's prerogative for determination, the question of whether there was a felony committed by violation of Federal campaign finance laws, in the non-reporting of the hush-money paid to two persons shortly before the election to keep quiet about alleged amorous affairs with the candidate, clearly intended to benefit the candidate on whose behalf the hush-money was paid and thus required to be disclosed as part of campaign finance regulations under the law, the only questions then becoming whether the tapes made by the candidate's lawyer prove the candidate's knowledge of at least one of the pay-offs—whether made in the form of cash, check, money order, specie, kisses or otherwise being irrelevant to knowledge of the payment and the subsequent failure to disclose it, and, as to criminal intent, there being no question of knowledge by the candidate of the intent of his lawyer to set up the dummy corporation to hide the payment—and whether, aside from the client's waiver as to admission to one proceeding, those tapes are admissible in evidence generally—probably to be answered in the affirmative, falling within the ambit of the present or future crime exception to the attorney-client privilege, if analyzed sufficiently—the future crime being the non-reporting of the hush-money—, with the same attention to rigidity of rules applied by the Attorney General in his summary letter of the last weekend. That, for convenience, we shall denominate the "Edwards phenomenon". But, then, perhaps the rules and laws are only applicable now to Democrats perceived as liberal, not to the walk-on-water Man.

High crime or misdemeanor? you ask. Well, if perjury regarding an amorous affair in the context of a civil suit, unrelated to the office of the Presidency, can form the basis for an impeachment proceeding, as in 1998-99, then certainly a felony in the non-reporting of substantial campaign expenditures designed specifically to keep from the public relevant and notorious information regarding the candidate on the eve of an election, therefore quite related corruptly to the manner of acquiring the office, can form such a foundation.

But, we understand, Foxy. Democrats are all evil people. Republicans are saints.

A letter from the secretary-treasurer of the Brotherhood of Railway Clerks, Local Lodge 473, responds to the editorial and letter of March 21, regarding the union shop issue, indicating that his union did not wish to deprive any worker of their freedom to join or not to join the union, but wanted each beneficiary of its efforts to pay their rightful share of the costs of producing those benefits. If, after the union shop was negotiated, there were those in the employ of a railroad who did not wish to become members, they would not be forced to do so, but only to seek employment elsewhere, in a place where the majority of employees did not believe in union organization and did not receive the benefits thereof. He indicates that their union was as democratic as the national government, electing its officers and delegates to national and system conventions. Each member had the right to express their own opinions and the union was governed by a majority rule of the rank-and-file. He equates paying of union dues to paying of taxes.

A letter writer responds to the earlier letter contending that dancing was an evil, worse than smoking, and should not therefore be taught in the public schools. She counsels that the most beautiful and wonderful things in the world could be made into an evil, whether art, beautiful stories, nature or even biology, that evil found in things was usually because people were looking for it. She thinks that parents ought counsel children to look for the beauty in things, just as they were shown the evil side. She had three children and all of them had danced in school. One was studying dancing and two, music. She thinks that if the child studying dancing could find music in her feet the same as others found it in their hands, she could see no difference. She believes dancing was important for exercise and fellowship.

But it inspires those evil thoughts in the boys and leads to all kinds of things, therefore, including war and rumors of war. It all goes back to dancing. That was actually the snake in the Garden. Halleleujah...

A letter writer tells of a statement regarding Queens College in the newspaper on March 20 having omitted two important documents, the Charter of Presbyterian College, established in 1896, before the name was changed to Queens, and records of the Presbytery of Mecklenburg, which provided a complete account of the founding of the College. She informs that Presbyterian College had been established without any relationship to any former college, regardless of what any purported account indicated.

So there. No more lip about that will be tolerated from anyone.

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