The Charlotte News
Saturday, October 2, 1954
TWO EDITORIALS
Site Ed. Note: The front page reports that in London, Belgian Foreign Minister Paul-Henri Spaak had said this date that the nine-nation conference which had set as a goal providing independence to West Germany and getting approval for its joinder of NATO, had reached full agreement on a system of controlling West German rearmament. He declined to say whether it was his compromise proposal which had been adopted. The previous night, French Premier Pierre Mendes-France had unexpectedly rejected the first compromise plan, which would have entrusted control of German rearmament to the enlarged seven-nation Brussels Alliance, to be comprised of Britain, Italy, France, the Benelux countries, and West Germany, and pending its creation, to the three Western occupation powers. But new plans had been presented which had resolved the deadlock, with Premier Mendes-France and West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer making concessions on arms control. Meanwhile, a meeting between Secretary of State Dulles, Premier Mendes-France, Chancellor Adenauer and British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden was expected to produce a declaration of intention to end the nine-year Allied occupation of West Germany.
In Denver, General Alfred Gruenther, NATO's supreme commander, told a press conference this date that Russia would be "beaten very badly" in the long run if it were to launch an all-out attack on Western Europe at the present time. He also said that within the ensuing three or four years, given West German troops and atomic weapons, the Western allies would stand a "reasonably good chance" in stopping any Soviet attack at the outset. He expressed optimism in forming a new defense alliance against Communism out of the London conference. He believed that there would be peace, provided the Western allies stuck together and prevented the Russians from picking off the Western nations one by one. He said that the prospects of holding off Soviet forces in Western Europe were much better than they had been 3 1/2 years earlier, that while they did not foresee being able to resist an all-out Russian attack at the outset, the Russians could not win the war. The General was in Denver to confer with the President.
Also in Denver, the President's headquarters announced this date that the U.S. would send a small Navy-directed expedition to the Antarctic, which was considered to have strategic importance in the event of war with Russia. The expedition would begin soon and last for four or five months, that in addition to map-making and collection of scientific data, the exploration party would study supply problems which would face a U.S. group to take part in the 1957-58 international geophysics program in the Antarctic. The White House said that no permanent shore bases would be established, the U.S. thus far having refrained from staking any claim to territory in the Antarctic region. Its military importance in the event of war with Russia had been under study by military experts. The Soviets had also sent out an expedition to the Antarctic without making any claim on territory.
In Waidhaus, Germany, two U.S. soldiers, imprisoned in Communist Czechoslovakia since the prior September 17 as suspected spies, were returned this date to the West. They had been seized by a Czech patrol near Bavaria while they were on a routine border mission, with a diplomatic note accusing them of photographing military installations and carrying out observations with field glasses. Army headquarters had rejected the charges, saying that the soldiers had been on a legitimate mission and were picked up in West German territory.
In Baltimore, police and school officials were hoping that the weekend would ease tensions mounting between blacks and whites in densely populated south Baltimore the previous day, after a 14-year old black pupil had been punched in the nose by a white man, and six persons had been arrested during a demonstration by about 400 white adults and teenagers, shouting opposition to integration of a high school, where 36 black pupils had been enrolled among a total of 1,780 pupils, one of six schools at which picketing, boycotts and protests had occurred. It was the only place where violence had erupted. About 50 police officers, in groups of two or three, dispersed gatherings of blacks and whites as they formed, in some cases, intervening between the opposing groups, as voices were raised and fists were shaken. Of the six arrested in the demonstration at the high school, four had been fined, one man, an unemployed shipyard worker, fined $100 plus costs after conviction of charges of assaulting the 14-year old while the latter was being escorted by police from the school. Two whites and one black person had been fined $25 each on charges of disorderly conduct. School officials said that all schools would remain open, with blacks and whites assigned to study together at 52 of the 190 buildings throughout the city. Until the prior Thursday, when pickets had shown up at a school which had 12 black kindergarten pupils, classes had been integrated without incident since the start of school on September 7, but the previous day, the demonstrations had spread to five other schools. The police commissioner said that the police were prepared to act immediately on any overt act and that they would not permit disorder, that all children would be allowed to enter and leave school peacefully and unmolested.
In Dover, Del., a committee of citizens were preparing to ward off an outgrowth of a strong anti-integration movement which had spread through other Delaware communities, with about 150 residents having attended a closed meeting the previous night called by a school board member for the purpose of organizing a "vigilantes committee" to prevent "terrorism by lawless forces". Ten black pupils were members of the otherwise all-white Dover High School's ninth grade, pursuant to an integration policy adopted, following the Supreme Court's May 17 decision in Brown v. Board of Education. In nearby Milford, the local school board had given up on the integration program at the high school, when sentiment for segregation had been fanned to a fever-pitch by out-of-state proponents, causing a boycott of the town's schools. Attendance at the Milford school had returned to normal after the removal of the black students in the face of all except about a third of the white pupils having been boycotting classes.
In Chicago, the birth of two Siamese twin girls, joined at their heads, was disclosed this date by the attending physician who said that the babies were attached to each other in "virtually the same" position as the famous Brodie twins. They had been born at full-term and were described as beautiful and healthy. The Brodie twins had been born in September, 1951 in Rock Island, Ill., and had been separated by surgery in December, 1952, with one of the boys dying 34 days after the separation, while the other boy was presently a healthy three-year old.
In Kingston, Jamaica, medical authorities reported this date that there had been a serious outbreak of typhoid fever in the St. Mary Parish section, with 115 cases in the hospital and two deaths. It was believed to have derived from bad water, and there was concern that it would spread to other sections of Kingston.
In London, it was reported this date by Tailor & Cutter, Britain's authority on men's fashions, that "underwear is the equivalent in clothes to the subconscious mind in the realm of mentality," and that British men liked to don bright colors but lacked the courage to wear them where they showed. The magazine said, "A man wearing brightly colored underclothes is like a little boy smoking in the bathroom."
North Carolina voters would go to the polls in a month to decide on five amendments to the State Constitution, the most far-reaching of which would limit a county to one State Senator, regardless of its population. Governor William B. Umstead was opposed to the amendment because a county might grow to the point where one Senator would not provide equal representation. The other four amendments entailed: allowing retired members of the State Supreme Court to be called back to duty as emergency justices when active justices became incapacitated, a system presently in place in the Superior Courts; turning over to the State Board of Paroles the authority presently exercised by the governor in granting paroles; allowing a person to vote if a resident of the precinct for 30 days, replacing present requirements of four months of residency; and eliminating short terms of office running between the time of the general election and the beginning of the full term at the start of the year, applicable to all offices except U.S. Senator.
Sam Lubell, who had first predicted successfully the landslide of President Eisenhower in 1952, would begin writing a series of five articles, to appear in The News starting Monday, regarding the midterm elections. His predictions had been accurate, and he had won the annual Woodrow Wilson Foundation award for the best book on government and democracy, titled, The Future of American Politics. He obtained his predictions by going door to door, knowing which doorbells to ring. He paid no attention to what the politicians did or said, but concentrated on voters who were making up their minds or had already decided how they would vote. He was already on the job, going to various cities, villages, farms and factories, businesses and homes, compiling his findings and comparing them against records of prior voting through charts he had accumulated on every county in the country since 1896.
In Laurel Springs, N.C., former Congressman Robert Doughton, who died the previous day at home at age 90, would be buried the following day at the Laurel Springs Cemetery.
On the editorial page, "The Man They Called 'Muley'" laments the death the previous day of Representative Robert Doughton of North Carolina, who had served in the House from 1911 until 1952, serving as chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee for 20 years, except when the Republicans had been in the majority in the 80th Congress of 1947-48. He said that they called him "Muley" because he did not like to change a decision. He had served in the House longer than any other man at the time in U.S. history, except Congressman Adolph Sabath of Illinois, who had begun his service in 1907.
At the height of the New Deal, he served as a wheel horse and a balance wheel in the House, supporting most of the pump-priming experiments, helping to pioneer the nation's first Social Security law and backing the first reciprocal trade agreements. He had the basic philosophy that getting "the most feathers with the fewest squawks from the goose" was the best way. He had pushed through about 380 billion dollars worth of tax bills during his tenure.
He had worked very long and hard each day during his time in Congress, neither smoked nor drank, saying that he had figured he didn't have enough sense to drink, that he hoped to keep what little brains he had sober so that he could do his work.
It was said that he had won his first political race for the State Senate by making the shortest speech on record, saying only, "Look!", as he pointed his forefinger at a chart showing his opponent, the incumbent, having answered only 24 of 694 roll calls.
It concludes that he had served North Carolina and the nation well during his long career, and "America yesterday lost a sturdy landmark. The American people lost a good friend."
"Salute to America's Newspaperboys" indicates that more than 600,000 youths in the country deserved special commendation on National Newspaperboy Day. They were responsible for getting the newspapers out to the public, making most of the personal contacts between the newspaper and the reader, having the responsibility of creating good newspaper-customer relations.
It finds it no accident that many of the nation's great men had received their start as newspaperboys. The President had once had a route in Abilene, Kans., and former President Herbert Hoover had supported himself at age 15 by working as a newspaperboy and office boy. Comedian Bob Hope had told of being a newspaperboy in Cleveland, saying that one of his regular customers had been John D. Rockefeller, and that one night, he could not make change for him and told him he would trust Mr. Rockefeller until the next night to pay him, to which Mr. Rockefeller had responded that he should never give credit when he could obtain cash, that he was in business and should have change. Mr. Hope had regarded it as sound advice, considering the source.
Mayor Philip Van Every of Charlotte had once served as a newspaperboy for The News, and on the prior Thursday, had told two youngsters who were working his old route that being a newspaperboy was one of the finest ways of developing dependability.
It concludes that newspaperboys were the "leaders of tomorrow", assured of a measure of success if they continued down proper paths. Most of them already knew the meaning of breadth in education, but they would still depend on the secret reservoirs of their determination and extent of their dedication and resourcefulness to become successful.
Speaking of Cleveland and Hope springing eternal, not indicated on the front page or editorial page this date, though it had been referenced in recent days, the 1954 World Series ended
A piece from the Wall Street Journal, titled "Motivation Research", indicates that there had been a time when selling was a comparatively simple task, until merchandisers and advertisers had created new markets by developing desire and demand for their products. A discovery had been made by motivation researchers that people responded to some selling techniques in relation to the id, the psyche and the psychiatrist's couch. Guilt feelings and emotional blocks played as much of a role in business as in behaviorism. They described the "fear of posthumous guilt" to be in some men who used airlines, that they were not afraid of death but were afraid of their wives being critical if anything happened to them, and so the psychology was to sell their wives on flying, a strategy which the psychologists said was working well.
Some people developed blocks with respect to certain kinds of business, such as banks, and the trick was to unblock the emotion, the feeling responsible for the block regarding banking having to do with the bank being viewed as parental authority, and so the banks were conducting a campaign to convince customers that they were a sympathetic institution and not a house of correction.
It concludes that, notwithstanding these motivational experts, it would be quite a long time before the Fuller Brush man needed to worry over whether the housewife picked up in childhood an emotional block about the back of a brush.
Drew Pearson indicates that the resolution of censure against Senator McCarthy was almost certain to pass the Senate, in the wake of the unanimous recommendation by the six-Senator select committee which had studied it. But it would only be the beginning of his troubles, as his colleagues were now talking about not only voting on the censure resolution in the affirmative, but also planning to follow up, led by the censure resolution's sponsor, Senator Ralph Flanders of Vermont, along with Senator Clinton Anderson of New Mexico, with a demand that Senator McCarthy reply to the long unanswered questions about his finances, investigated by the Elections subcommittee in late 1952 and ignored by the Senator, one of the grounds for censure being that he had been contemptuous of that subcommittee. Mr. Pearson indicates that it could lead to impeachment of the Senator by the Senate.
Meanwhile, doctors at Bethesda Naval Hospital were quietly stating that the Senator's recent illness was not so much sinus trouble as it had been nerves. He had experienced chronic sinus trouble, but it was also true that immediately after the select committee chairman, Senator Arthur Watkins, had recommended the censure, Senator McCarthy had entered the hospital for sinus treatment. The doctors said that he had come to the hospital after the typical sinus season and one doctor had told Mr. Pearson's column that the Senator's nerves were "shot", that he had also been drinking more than was good for him. Mr. Pearson indicates that the Senator seldom turned down a can of beer or a shot of bourbon, but in the past had not been a heavy drinker.
In the meantime, Senators Flanders and Anderson intended to keep him on the defensive, counting on his personal unpopularity with fellow Senators to provide the decisive votes against him. After the censure, the two Senators would begin addressing to him the questions about his finances which he had ignored for two years, pointing out that one of the censure counts involved the contempt of the previous subcommittee's investigation. If he were to refuse to answer their questions, they might urge another investigation to determine whether he should be impeached.
Mr. Pearson notes that Senator Watkins had sought behind closed doors a stronger report condemning Senator McCarthy, despite having been once an admirer. But when Senator McCarthy had issued a public statement hinting that the Agriculture Department was riddled with Communists, Senator Watkins's admiration diminished. Mr. Pearson points out that both Agriculture Secretary Ezra Taft Benson and Senator Watkins were Mormons. He also notes that Senator Herbert Lehman of New York was compiling all the evidence which the Watkins committee had overlooked and planned to bring it to the Senate floor during the censure debate, while colleagues were urging him not to do so, for fear that the counts on the censure resolution would get lost in the debate.
There was also consideration being given to censuring Senator McCarthy's political friend, Senator Everett Dirksen of Illinois, as Senators were quite concerned about an unpublicized finding that Senator Dirksen had sent a political agent into secret sessions of the McCarthy Investigations subcommittee when highly confidential matter was being discussed, and that the agent had participated in the questioning of Brig. General Ralph Zwicker regarding secret security matters. He had attended with the permission of Senator McCarthy, but in violation of the rules and traditions of the Senate and the rules of the Investigations subcommittee, which stated that only committee members or authorized staff assistants could question witnesses and that only official committee representatives could attend executive sessions.
Joseph & Stewart Alsop indicate that soon the Administration would likely have to answer whether the country needed scientists or could rely on Atomic Energy Commission chairman Lewis Strauss, a question raised initially when Admiral Strauss had determined that J. Robert Oppenheimer would no longer have security clearance by the AEC, a decision which had caused bitterness and indignation within the scientific community. Time's science correspondents, James R. Shepley and Clay Blair, Jr., had published The Hydrogen Bomb, a book directly indicting virtually the whole scientific community, raising to hero status Admiral Strauss and Dr. Edward Teller, depicting them as waging a lonely battle for the hydrogen bomb, while suggesting all other American scientists, led by Dr. Oppenheimer and including the AEC staff at Los Alamos, as being in league against Admiral Strauss and Dr. Teller.
Various eminent scientists had reacted to the claims as "sophomoric science fiction", "a vicious book" full of falsehoods, with the authors receiving their information from sources motivated by "psychopathic impulse", "sick men or villains". Former AEC chairman Gordon Dean called it "a horrifying combination of little knowledge, outright untruths and questionable motives."
The Alsops indicate that the Administration was involved in the trouble because, according to Mr. Dean, who had queried 16 scientists, AEC commissioners and others who had played major roles in development of the hydrogen bomb, only one person had been consulted by Messrs. Shepley and Blair when they were preparing their book, and that person was Admiral Strauss. That did not mean that the latter had direct responsibility for the book's attack on American science, as the Admiral had actually pleaded with Mr. Shepley not to publish the book, offering him money not to do so, as confirmed by both men. Mr. Shepley indicated that the chairman regarded the book as something which should not be published for 25 years, but did not say that the Admiral had warned directly that it was a morass of untruths, with the Admiral apparently, therefore, believing that it was basically accurate but inexpedient. That had been the conclusion of the scientists, becoming angrier than ever. Admiral Strauss was now under great pressure to repudiate the book publicly and decisively, Mr. Dean asking him to do so but obtaining only a refusal. The director of the Los Alamos laboratory had also asked him to repudiate the book but received only an empty assurance of the Admiral's high regard for Los Alamos. All of the division chiefs at Los Alamos reportedly had joined recently in a solid front to request an official repudiation, which would be hard to refuse.
The Alsops conclude that the dispute was quite significant, as the partnership between the Government and scientists, which was already imperiled, was now endangered. The appropriate authorities had to show some sense of responsibility for protecting science from such attacks by "modern know-nothings". If there was no such indication, the partnership would end by breaking down for good, undermining the nation's security significantly.
Mr. Blair, incidentally, as we pointed out over 20 years ago, co-authored, with his wife Joan, The Search for J.F.K., published in 1976, in which they related, at pages 120-122, that the young John Kennedy had visited Charlotte on the weekend prior to Monday, February 10, 1941, seeking a ghost-writer for his father's memoirs. It so happened that on February 10, The Mind of the South by W. J. Cash was published, with Alfred Knopf visiting with the author in Charlotte the following week.
Frederick C. Othman, in Caracas, Venezuela, tells U.S. motorists to take advice from the residents of Caracas, who were veterans of a perpetual traffic jam, that when one got stuck, one should enjoy it, depart the car where it was and drop into a nearby café for a cup of coffee, phone one's girlfriend, have a chat with pals on the sidewalk, or purchase a necktie.
The previous night, he and his wife and their friend had gotten caught in a traffic jam in the suburbs, which appeared permanently snarled, leading most of the motorists to depart their cars and stroll into a nearby bodega for a beer. They had gone along, and found the beer good, along with the conversation.
He describes Caracas as a boom city, full of bulldozers, steam shovels and riveting machines operating day and night, removing whole mountains to provide more building sites, with tall buildings being erected in every direction, the center of the city having twin skyscrapers 30 stories tall, nearing completion. He goes on describing the boom, and indicates that it was being driven by oil, which flowed at the rate of two million barrels per day, but also by iron, gold, diamonds, aluminum, coffee, cocoa and cattle.
Caracas managed all of those enterprises. One person they had met in the saloon told them that not more than 15 years earlier, even though the oil had already been discovered, one of the principal businesses in Caracas was the sale of tropical birds in wooden cages. Nearly all of the bird salesmen were gone and life was better for them, according to their correspondent, and also for the birds.
A letter writer congratulates the newspaper for its splendid editorials on fluoridation, finding that it had rendered a genuine service to the health of the city.
A letter writer indicates that she was of the opinion that the Democratic Party, being largely for the South, "is a lot of hog wash."
A letter from the vice-president of Duke Power Co. indicates that the people of the company had read with interest and appreciation the editorial titled, "Power for the Wheels of Industry", praising the company and its contributions to the progress of the Piedmont section of the Carolinas. He indicates that they felt that the new plant at Belmont had special significance because it would represent striking advances in design built into a generating center of the first magnitude. Recent completion of the first link in a 230,000-volt transmission line and the beginning of Plant Allen were getting the company off to a busy start as they began their second half-century of providing electrical service to the area.
A letter writer from Myrtle Beach, S.C., wonders what sectionalism would become if it sank to the "low level dregs" expressed in a previous letter which disapproved of "carpetbagger politics" in the South. He states that in the previous 20 years or so, many good, solid, Christian families from the Northern states had moved to the South, and that a large percentage of them had been mature, successful businessmen, seeking relief from the rigorous Northern climate, pioneering in new fields in the South. Many had been executives and skilled technicians of companies with national distribution, opening branches in the South, and contributing to the rising economic status of the region. He urges that it was no time to follow "the preachments of a rabble-rouser, whether Democrat or Republican", and therefore he was casting his vote for "an All-American—Thurmond."
A letter from the president of the "Anti-Cancer Club of America", in Toledo, O., finds that the editors had become sidetracked in their editorial praising fluoridation for helping children, but that the editors were not to blame as they had to attract a reader once in awhile, and that even a doctor or dentist liked to read things like the editorial, that maybe the editorial writer was doing the best he could.
He liked clean water
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