The Charlotte News

Wednesday, October 20, 1954

FOUR EDITORIALS

Site Ed. Note: The front page reports that in Paris, Secretary of State Dulles, who arrived by plane this date from Washington, called on the Allied leaders to transform into reality the "hopes of London", referring to the recent nine-power London conference which had generally settled on a rearmament plan for West Germany and its inclusion in NATO and a modified Brussels Pact, with sovereignty to come later. The Secretary would participate in a series of meetings with French Premier Pierre Mendes-France, British Foreign Secretary Sir Anthony Eden, and West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, which were expected to bring into being the London conference agreements, with the immediate goal of agreement on restoration of West German sovereignty and ending the postwar occupation of the three Allied powers. The following day, the Secretary would attend a nine-power conference to amend the Brussels Pact treaty to include West Germany and Italy, and on Friday, would meet with other members of the NATO Council to vote on admission of West Germany as the 15th member.

In Hartford, Conn., the President, speaking informally to an estimated crowd of 7,500 persons at Trinity College convocation ceremonies, said this date that the world had arrived at a point where there was no longer an alternative of victory or defeat in war, but only at stake the degree of destruction. He called on the youth of the country to take the lead in preserving a sense of spiritual values, which he said were the real salvation from the threat of destruction. After the speech, he was scheduled to go to New York for two major speeches, one this night and the other the following night. All three addresses were billed as non-political by the White House, but coming in the midst of the Congressional campaign, gave the President the opportunity to focus attention on his Administration. The President had received a roaring welcome from crowds lining the street in the neighborhood of the college, and from those along the route from the airport. He was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree as part of the ceremonies.

Samuel Lubell, in another article in his series of reports on the midterm elections, indicates that in the crucial battle for control of the Senate, perhaps the worst Republican liability was the fact that in so many states, the Democrats were running better-known candidates. During the previous two weeks, the President's campaigning for a Republican Congress had begun to have a noticeable impact on voters, with some indicating that the President needed more time and could not perform miracles in the space of two years, finding that they ought give him a chance to show what he could do and not tie his hands with a Democratic Congress. Occasionally, he had found Democrats who said that they were against the President but would vote Republican during the midterm elections, as he ought to have a Congress during his term which would not fight him. Thus far, however, those kinds of sentiments appeared to be confined to a minority of voters, with many believing that the Democrats ought be given control for the purpose of balance, and some indicating that they voted for the best man regardless of party. Generally voters linked the best known candidate with being the best man, even if the two qualifications did not necessarily match. With the exception of New Jersey, which would be covered in a later article, in each of the seven states having Senate contests which Mr. Lubell had visited, Republican prospects could be scaled according to how well known their candidates were. For example, in Michigan, and even more so in Massachusetts, he found ordinarily Democratic voters who intended to vote for incumbent Republican Senators Homer Ferguson and Leverett Saltonstall. One worker at the Packard factory in Detroit had told him that the President was not doing him any good but that he would vote for Senator Ferguson because he had the experience. A Boston policeman had said that the Democrats were better for people like him, but he still intended to vote for Senator Saltonstall because he was "a fine upstanding man, the kind we need in government." By contrast, in Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois, where the Democratic Senators seeking re-election were more widely known than their Republican opponents, there were relatively few people departing the Democratic ranks to vote Republican.

Near Wilmington, N.C., the Army, after seeing the massive clean-up necessary for Wrightsville Beach and Carolina Beach, in the wake of Hurricane Hazel the previous Friday, immediately sent a rush order to Fort Bragg for delivery of more heavy equipment. A battalion of combat engineers from the 82nd Airborne Division had arrived the previous day and were working this morning clearing the streets of the two beaches so that water and sewage facilities could be repaired. It was estimated by the battalion commander that in Carolina Beach, 165,000 cubic yards of sand would have to be removed from the streets immediately. It was hoped that the 300 soldiers would complete their work at both beaches within three days and then would move to other points from Topsail Island to the South Carolina border. The mayor of Wrightsville Beach said that rapid progress was being made and the day would soon arrive when the town would be almost back to normal. Civilians were pitching in to hasten the clean-up operations.

Meanwhile, the known death toll from the storm in North Carolina had increased to 19, with the recovery the previous day of one additional body from Ocean Isle Beach, after previous reports said that they were three bodies recovered the previous day. A State Highway Patrolman said that the body, a male, may have washed up from a South Carolina beach, and he was contacting South Carolina authorities to try to establish identity.

In Cleveland, O., a fourth juror was selected this date in the first-degree murder trial of Dr. Samuel Sheppard, accused of killing his wife, Marilyn, the prior July 4, after a third juror had been seated earlier during the third day of jury selection. For the second consecutive day, during voir dire, defense counsel brought out potential evidence of extra-marital affairs on the part of the doctor, inquiring of how that evidence might impact potential jurors. The trial judge, as he had the previous day, however, refused to allow defense counsel to perform any detailed inquiry of prospective jurors regarding their attitude toward sex in relation to the potential testimony to be introduced at trial. The State claimed that it had a statement from a former female associate of Dr. Sheppard at Bay View Hospital, since having become a medical technician in California, indicating that she had been "intimate" with Dr. Sheppard more than once the previous spring while they were in the San Diego area for a wedding, while Marilyn Sheppard stayed with mutual friends some 450 miles north, near Monterey. Again, as with the first two jurors selected, the two latest jurors' names and occupations were stated in the story.

In Sparta, N.C., a 22-year old farmer accused of using a shotgun to kill the local sheriff had been captured this date near Low Gap, about 15 miles from Sparta, after being the object of a large manhunt since the shooting early the previous day by the farmer, whom the sheriff had been seeking to arrest on a warrant for non-appearance on a traffic citation. The father of the accused had said that after he had left his home the previous morning following the killing of the sheriff, he had said that he was going to Sparta to kill a State highway patrolman, who was a witness against him in seven cases, and then would kill himself. Details of his arrest were not yet available.

In Charlotte, "Colonel Mecklenburg" was visiting United Appeal drive captains and firms with outstanding records in the current charity campaign, and was set to award two prizes per day to people he found wearing their United Appeal buttons. The previous day, he had visited Independence Square, and this date was at another location, would continue to visit different places every day, while wearing a frockcoat, string tie, fake mustache and goatee, to resemble a Southern colonel. Be sure and keep an eye out and wear your UA button, and maybe get one of those big prizes.

On the editorial page, "How about a Poll Tax for Non-Voters?" indicates that a Charlotte citizen, upset by the number of people who did not vote, had suggested that a law ought be passed to require people who failed to vote to be ineligible to vote in the next election unless they registered again, and that the names of those not voting be published in the newspapers.

It finds that the fault with the two suggestions was that neither would materially increase the number of voters and might even depress turnout, as people who were knocked off the registration rolls might not bother to register again. Publication of their names in the newspaper would not subject them to any penalty or disrepute, and thus would have little or no impact.

It suggests, however, that a poll tax as a penalty for not voting might have some consequence. Several countries, including Australia, Holland and Belgium, imposed such penalties, with Belgium charging a small fine for the first failure and heavier fines on subsequent occasions of non-voting, with a fourth failure subjecting the citizen to prohibition from any state promotion, distinction or nomination to public office, plus another fine and removal of the person's name from the register for a decade. Countries in Europe which did not penalize non-voters had much larger turnouts than did the United States, but the penalties of the three named countries contributed to their being at the top of the list in voter participation, with over 90 percent of the eligible voters casting ballots.

It indicates that it was not fully persuaded that penalties for non-voting were desirable, that citizens had the right to endanger their basic rights by not voting, but that if any penalty was to be imposed, a fine would have the greatest effect.

"Winston Churchill Won't Fade Away" indicates that 57 years earlier, after service in the British Empire as a soldier and correspondent, Winston Churchill had written that it was better to be making the news than taking it, "to be an actor rather than a critic." He had said to Commons in 1940 that "to die at the height of a man's career, the highest moment of his effort here in this world, universally honored and admired, to die while great issues are still commanding the whole of his interest, to be taken from us at a moment when he could already see ultimate success in view—is not the most unenviable of fates." When President Roosevelt had died in April, 1945, Mr. Churchill had said that he had died in "battle harness, like his soldiers, sailors and airmen who died side by side with ours and carrying out their tasks to the end all over the world. What an enviable death was his."

It finds therefore that Mr. Churchill wanted to die with his boots on, in the service of the British Empire and of humanity, and so it was surprising that London was confounded by his Cabinet shake-up, designed to accommodate Mr. Churchill rather than any successor who might follow him. In the 24 changes to the Cabinet made by the Prime Minister, youth was emphasized, with the exception of the Prime Minister, himself. It finds that it would be surprising if he ever voluntarily retired.

The New York Times had run a headline regarding the shake-up, which said: "Eden Retaining His Post—Is Expected To Keep It 'Til He Succeeds Churchill, Who Is To Stay Some Time". It hopes that the headline, which could have been written years earlier, would stand up years hence.

Mr. Churchill would step aside the following spring, and Anthony Eden would succeed him.

"5:30 Fight" indicates that members of the City Council and officials of Southern Railway and the Chamber of Commerce should be required at least once per week to get caught in the traffic jam which developed at around 5:30 p.m. from 5th Street to 8th Street on either side of the railroad tracks while a slow freight train made its way through town. While they were aware of the problem and were working to try to solve it, it suggests that they would work even harder were they forced to be stuck in traffic for a few evenings at that location for about a half hour.

It says that it was about to suggest that all taxpayers also make the weekly trek, until realizing that practically everyone in town appeared to be in the area every night anyway.

"The Case of the Three Cases" indicates that Clifford Case, the Republican candidate for the Senate from New Jersey, had been the subject recently of an accusation by a former Communist that his sister had been a member of Communist-front organizations, only to have it turn out that the person in question was someone else of the same name as the sister.

It finds that even if it had turned out that Mr. Case's sister had been a member of such organizations, that would be totally irrelevant to the candidacy of Mr. Case, as would be even his own prior membership in subversive organizations. Membership in such organizations which were now deemed subversive was frequently meaningless, as indicated by the fact that such arch-conservatives as Senator Homer Ferguson had been such members in the past. Ironically, former Communists who had renounced their past and informed were received sometimes in the McCarthy camp with greater credence than non-Communists who chose to fight, sometimes unsuccessfully, against Communist control of organizations, refusing to be stampeded into reaction.

It suggests that Mr. Case had lost an opportunity to make that point when he clarified the record regarding his sister, instead taking pains to make it clear that his sister had once belonged to a "left-wing study group", but that it was during a period of "nervous illness" and that what she did then in no way reflected her feelings at present. He had, opines the piece, thereby aided the conformists who had attacked him and who would gladly brand anyone a traitor who made his own examination of unorthodox ideology. It concludes, therefore, that Mr. Case and the liberalism for which he had stood suffered defeat in New Jersey.

A piece from the Goldsboro News-Argus, titled "Why We Like the South", tells of liking living in the South because of such personal experiences as it relates, regarding the need of the writer's wife for a hurried wedding gift for a young girl from Mount Olive, having phoned a jewelry store to find the china pattern designated by the bride, being told that the owner was in the hospital and that the person answering the phone did not know much about such things, then telephoning another jewelry store, being told by a woman there that she was trying to locate the china pattern, said that it was available at the first jewelry store, on display in their window, and that she would go to that store, purchase a setting, pay for it and they could pay her later. In the end, they got the china setting to the bride on time, and so the writer and his wife were very pleased, again indicates that was why they liked living in the South.

Nowadays, you would be lucky if they didn't go down to the other store and break the china, just to keep you from being able to buy a place setting at a competitor. Southern hospitality is not what it once was.

Drew Pearson provides a rundown of how the Congressional races and some gubernatorial races were shaping up in New York, Pennsylvania, California, Iowa, Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, South Dakota, Kansas, Minnesota, New Mexico, West Virginia, Ohio, New Jersey, Kentucky, Illinois, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada and Michigan.

Among his more interesting observations, pertinent to future politics, was that Senator Hubert Humphrey was deemed unbeatable in Minnesota, Senator Leverett Saltonstall of Massachusetts would be re-elected as a result of Senator John F. Kennedy having deserted former Congressman Foster Furcolo, and that Secretary of Defense Charles E. Wilson's bird dog, kennel-fed dog comment in Detroit regarding unemployment the previous week, could cause Senator Homer Ferguson in Michigan to lose to the Democrat, Patrick McNamara.

Harry S. Ashmore, former editor of the News and presently executive editor of the Arkansas Gazette in Little Rock, in excerpts from a Founders Day address at Woman's College in Greensboro, discusses the secrets of North Carolina progress, indicating that when he had been growing up in South Carolina and beginning to practice journalism there, he, along with most of his neighbors, tended to view North Carolina with some alarm, perceiving it as full of a rude lot of people. If considering economic interests, they had to recognize North Carolina as a dangerously successful competitor, galling South Carolina to be behind in such important categories as per capita income, literacy, and percentage of college graduates.

When he moved later to North Carolina and became associate editor and then editor of The News, it caused a marked change in his perspective, causing him then to point to North Carolina with pride. When he moved to Little Rock, on the rim of the old Confederacy, looked upon by some of his former neighbors along the Eastern Seaboard as "Indian Country", he had discovered yet another viewpoint on North Carolina. In Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, there was a feeling that North Carolina was remote and alien, that it was not really Southern.

He indicates that North Carolina stood apart from the other Southern states, in his view, because it was out front in most important categories. He considers that preeminence to have derived in large part from geography, with the state more blessed with soil and climate than other Southern states, and because the mountain barrier to the west and the coastline to the east had kept the state out of the main currents of migration and of commercial transportation, rendering the state out of the mainstream antebellum plantation economy, causing its feudal culture therefore not so widely to flourish in North Carolina as elsewhere. The state came under the dominance early of the Scotch-Irish, who tended to drift toward the highlands and brought with them a tradition of liberality in politics and conservatism in social customs.

The state had able leaders from its beginnings but few achieved first rank in national history, as did the Virginians or John Calhoun of South Carolina. Mr. Ashmore believes that to have been a major blessing, being of the opinion that the author who contributed most to the downfall of the Old South was not Harriet Beecher Stowe but rather Sir Walter Scott, as the people of the pre-Civil War South fed long and consistently on the romantic dreams conjured by such works.

He indicates that he was not contending that North Carolina was not touched by the romantic fervor that gripped the South in the first half of the 19th Century, recognizing that North Carolinians did fight, even if reluctantly, with the Confederacy. North Carolinians, however, were always more concerned with the reality than the illusion, and so he believes that the state had done a better job through the years with the tasks of developing a stable economy from the wilderness and establishing an orderly society, enabling North Carolina to be the first to emerge from the Civil War and Reconstruction to rejoin the union, eventually putting the state in the vanguard of the South.

He suggests that the two great instruments of the state's progress in recent years had been the system of public education and the press, though both had their imperfections. Yet, he was aware of no professional educator who would rate any Southern institution of higher learning above UNC, and would not place Duke in the first rank of private institutions, with the state having the resources to build yet another such private institution in Wake Forest. He indicates that he believed there were better newspapers than any of those published in North Carolina, but was aware of no other state which could match the average excellence of the state's daily newspapers, large and small.

He finds that it was not possible to determine whether it was the North Carolina tradition which had produced the educational system and press, or whether the educational system and the press had nurtured the tradition. Men such as Governor Charles Aycock, at the turn of the 20th Century, had stressed public education, and Charles Duncan McIver believed strongly that women should go to college. Such men and the editors of the state who supported them had developed popular opinion under the politicians of their day and forced them to levy taxes to support public education. But there was also reason to believe that the impetus for such movements was already present.

Robert C. Ruark returns to his topic of Monday, regarding his opinion that the rules for prisoners of war should be loosened to permit phony confessions and broadcasts to provide phony information, in a time when Communists had developed brainwashing techniques, suggesting that such things were not the worst sins of collaborators. Those occurred when collaborators joined their captors against their own tougher fellow prisoners, informing on the latter or establishing a black-market in foods and medicines which were to be distributed freely, then deliberately spying on fellow prisoners. He believes that only those transgressions should be subjected to severe punishment, including long imprisonment or execution.

He opines that if troops were generally encouraged to submit to enemy demands, with ample mental reservation, the captors would have less opportunity to drive wedges between the strong and the weak prisoners, playing one off the other.

He had read that the Air Force was teaching pilots who were potentially to be shot down in combat how to resist brainwashing, with the school employing the typical enemy techniques of fatigue and confusion, hunger and degradation, to break down the willpower of the prisoners. He indicates, however, that to be effective, it would have to use brutality, as did the enemy. He asserts that no man could stand sufficient pain indefinitely without cracking, and he believes there would be less likelihood of pain as an instrument of persuasion were the captives encouraged en masse to humor the enemy and appear to cooperate, while secretly not doing so.

Up to the present time, the greatest asset of Americans was their sense of humor under stress, and Mr. Ruark believes that it could be used as an effective weapon if applied by prisoners of war.

A letter writer from Lincolnton indicates that Democratic candidate for Congress J. C. Sedberry had recently attacked his incumbent opponent, Representative Charles Jonas, on several issues, referring to Republican deception, asking at one point how one could save that which one never had. This writer indicates that in 20 years of Democratic rule in Washington, they had spent 245 billion dollars which they never had, and so the Republicans ought be able to save 17 billion dollars which they never had. Mr. Sedberry had also attacked the Republicans for failing to reduce taxes after saying that he wanted the budget balanced. The writer regards it as talking out of both sides of his mouth at the same time.

A letter writer from Pittsboro indicates that he had heard the Republicans and Democrats promise the solution to every other problem and wonders why their remedies should not apply also to hurricanes, which cost the taxpayers a lot of money and took a toll on lives and property. But not one candidate had promised to remedy the hurricane situation. He asks, "Is it because big winds stick together?"

We do not know, but it is refreshing now to have a President again in 2021 who takes climate change seriously and has restored the country to the Paris Climate Agreement, from which the previous guy in the White House moronically withdrew the country based on his lunatic followers' beliefs along the lines: "Well, sir, the climate, it do change, always has, always will. Got ye gun?" Yet, Fox "News" and other such outlets stimulative of such lunacy, can only sophomorically sit and mock the President for catching a couple of winks for a moment at the conference, during a particularly droning speech, which would have challenged most to remain completely attentive if not on methamphetamine, as most of the former White House occupant's lunatic followers seem to be and so could likely recount every word the speaker was saying, even if not aware of what the words meant when assembled into sentences.

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