The Charlotte News
Tuesday, July 6, 1954
THREE EDITORIALS
Site Ed. Note: The front page reports from Guatemala City that the new Guatemalan Government had turned its back on the Communist world in a bid to obtain better terms with its Western Hemispheric neighbors, as the top two colonels in the five-man military junta, Elfego Monzon and Carlos Castillo Armas, informed a news conference the previous day that their administration would reverse the policy of the ousted Government of former President Jacobo Arbenz Guzman and would refuse to deal with the Soviets or their satellites. They indicated that Guatemala would rejoin the Organization of Central American States and support the Organization of American States, as well as the U.N. The statements were considered to be an appeal for diplomatic recognition. Thus far, Costa Rica and El Salvador had indicated that they would extend formal recognition to the new military regime in Guatemala. Sr. Monzon stated that the police had completely filled the country's jails with 2,000 Communist suspects and were preparing new places of confinement for more, that 1,000 persons had taken refuge in foreign embassies and that the case of each would be studied and no safe conducts out of the country would be permitted for any persons wanted for crimes. He said that no safe conduct had been made by Sr. Arbenz. The two colonels announced that they would suspend the national land reform which had been undertaken by the Arbenz regime, redistributing large land holdings, until a new constitution was drafted, but that public works projects begun under the previous Government would be continued and the social gains consolidated.
In Baernau, Germany, German border police said this date that Czech authorities had offered to swap seven U.S. soldiers, arrested the prior Sunday, in exchange for three Czech freedom seekers, but U.S. Army headquarters at Heidelberg had said that it was not involved with the Czech escapees, which was a separate issue. Army headquarters said through a spokesman that the Army was negotiating directly with the Czech authorities for release of the six U.S. enlisted men and a captain on leave, seized while sightseeing along the East-West border.
A House Judiciary subcommittee, in a disputed report, criticized Supreme Court Justice Tom Clark this date for declining to testify before it after he had joined the high court, but said it had turned up no proof of wrongdoing by him while he had been Attorney General during the Truman Administration, appointed to the Court in 1949 after four years heading the Justice Department. Representative Byron Rogers, one of the five subcommittee members, said that the subcommittee chairman, Representative Kenneth Keating of New York, had pulled a "sneak play" by his "unwarranted political release … of his proposed libelous report." Mr. Rogers, a Democrat, defended Justice Clark and said that most of the report had not been approved by the members of the subcommittee or even considered by the Judiciary Committee. The 135-page report contained no signatures of subcommittee members, indicating at various points "minority views" under the name of Mr. Rogers, as well as separate views entered under the names of two members of the Judiciary Committee, but not of the subcommittee. There was no explanation as to why the report, communicated to the Judiciary Committee 11 months earlier, had not been acted on. After indicating no evidence of any wrongdoing on the part of Justice Clark, the report stated that it was troubled by the fact that testimony of his associates and subordinates while he had been Attorney General had indicated that certain actions for which they had been criticized were traceable to the Attorney General.
Two men who had served in the Army's Information and Education division during World War II refused to testify before a Senate Internal Security subcommittee as to whether they had ever been Communists and two other witnesses said that they had encountered Communist propaganda within the division. Subcommittee chairman Senator William Jenner of Indiana said that the hearings were intended to demonstrate how Communists in the armed forces, particularly within the division, sought to indoctrinate soldiers.
In New York, a Chinese businessman was arrested this date in connection with the alleged theft of $810,000 in Chinese Nationalist funds intended for purchase of surplus war supplies, reported to have received the funds from former Nationalist General Pang Tsu Mow, who had fled to Mexico in 1951 after being accused of embezzling about six million dollars in Nationalist funds while in charge of the Chinese Nationalist Air Force office in Washington. Nationalist China's Vice Minister of Justice had requested that the arrest be made on the basis that the businessman had received three checks from the general totaling the $810,000. Detectives who arrested the man indicated that he denied wrongdoing, saying that he thought the money given to him by the general was the property of the general.
It was reported from Berkeley that a "very strong" earthquake, which would have caused widespread damage in a populated area, had occurred in a northwest Nevada desert area early this date, with its epicenter located near Fallon, registering between 6.75 and 7 on the Richter scale, the largest earthquake since the Tehachapi-Bakersfield quake of July, 1952, which had registered 7.45. The shock was felt as far west as San Francisco, as well as in the central valley of California. By comparison, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake had registered an estimated 8.25, though before the Richter scale came into existence.
In Knoxville, Tenn., Frances Bera of Inglewood, Calif., winner of the previous year's Powder Puff Derby air race, had arrived across the finish line first in the current eighth annual race this date. She operated a flying school and had a female co-pilot, also of Inglewood. The race had begun in Long Beach, Calif., the previous Saturday with 95 pilots in 51 aircraft. The race was timed and so the winner was not yet known.
Scattered rains during the weekend brought some relief from Georgia's drought, but the damage remained heavy, especially in south Georgia, particularly to corn, tobacco, cotton and peanut crops. There had been numerous 100-degree temperatures recorded along with dry weather in north Georgia, but the injury to crops was less devastating and the chance for recovery, brighter. No section of the state had received general rains for more than three weeks.
A furious hail and wind storm had hit Person County near the Virginia border of North Carolina to the northern part of Johnston County the previous evening, causing millions of dollars worth of damage, with two to three million dollars worth occurring in Wake County and more than a million in Granville County, in addition to significant damage in Person and Johnston. Meanwhile, most of the state continued to suffer from prolonged drought which had caused severe crop damage, particularly to tobacco and corn. The Weather Bureau at Raleigh reported that showers during the weekend had brought only limited relief to specific areas and that there was little relief in sight.
Final accident figures for the three-day July Fourth holiday weekend indicated that traffic fatalities were below expectations, with the total having been 348, compared with the National Safety Council's projection of 430, with the president of the Council indicating that the lower traffic toll was "spectacular evidence" of a trend which had been apparent during all of 1954, with every month having shown a decrease in traffic deaths by comparison to the same month of the previous year, encouraging the belief that combined efforts were bringing about better traffic behavior. The total accidental death toll was 620, including 189 drownings and 83 killed in miscellaneous accidents, four from fireworks.
In Charlotte, City officials said that they could not do anything about complaints arising from the nuisance of an abandoned rock quarry on W. Tremont Avenue, used by businesses and individuals for dumping refuse. The previous week, a fire had erupted within the dump, causing a water failure for residents in the southeastern area of the city when half a dozen fire pumps had to operate continuously for nearly 30 hours to extinguish the blaze. The resulting overflow of water and stench arising from the dump had prompted numerous complaints from nearby residents. The City Manager, Henry Yancey, said that the only way the intolerable conditions could be eliminated was for the City to obtain authorization for full and complete dumping of the City's refuse into the hole, a plan advanced by Mr. Yancey three years earlier against protests by local residents who blocked the move. Mr. Yancey said that he believed the quarry would be completely filled by this point had the City been allowed three years earlier to undertake supervised dumping there.
This night, between 7:00 and 8:00, a representative of The News will begin calling random telephone numbers in the "Jumbo Jackpot" contest, and the first person who answers the telephone with the word or words formed from letters omitted from words contained in advertising from the previous Thursday's edition will be awarded $300. Do not answer with any salutation or you will be disqualified.
For your assistance, here is the puzzle page. "Ercup", or an anagram thereof, such as "pure C", is not the answer, by the way. Nor is it "castavets". Smart answers
On the editorial page, "The United Nations Must Be Preserved" indicates the Senator William Knowland of California had turned a quiet disagreement between Britain and the U.S., as conveyed during the recent Eisenhower-Churchill talks in Washington, into a major controversy, with Senator Knowland threatening to resign his post as Senate Majority Leader should Communist China be admitted to the U.N., then devoting his entire efforts to terminating U.S. membership therein.
The piece regards it as the attitude of a spoiled child not getting his way about the rules of a game of marbles and then going home, indicating the type of suspicion and distrust which many U.S. politicians were displaying toward the U.N.
Few Americans would advocate admission of Communist China to the U.N. presently. The Charter limited membership to "peace-loving" states which were willing to accept the obligations of the Charter and which, in the judgment of the organization, were able to carry out those obligations. China had demonstrated no such willingness or ability and its record as an advocate of peace had been marred by its intervention in Korea and in Indo-China. By the same token, the U.S. could not afford to attach itself blindly to a policy which could shatter the fragile global peace. The U.N. had its shortcomings, but they were small by comparison to its virtues, including its record of achievement in Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Indonesia, Greece and Palestine, which might otherwise have been international disasters following World War II had it not been for U.N. resourcefulness. It had been responsible for great progress in obtaining international cooperation in resolving economic, social, cultural and humanitarian problems and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. Much remained to be accomplished, but nothing could be done unless the nations got down to work at it. The U.S., it posits, should never allow short-sighted policy or political expediency to stand in the way of long-term aims.
If succeeding generations were to be saved from war, and social progress and better standards of living were to be promoted, it would take united effort not swayed by transitory political verbiage.
"Debt Limit Increase Isn't Necessary" indicates that during World War I, Congress had imposed a statutory debt limit for the first time and the debt had risen to 25 billion dollars, reduced to 16 billion by 1930, then increased to 45 billion by 1938, at which time people began to regard the rising debt with alarm, with predictions within the business community that an economic depression could result if the debt limit were continually raised. That view had proved to be incorrect, as by 1945, with the debt added for World War II, the limit had been raised to 300 billion dollars, lowered to 275 billion in 1946, where it currently remained.
The Administration had sought unsuccessfully the previous summer to raise the limit to 290 billion, the Treasury indicating that it could not get through the year and properly fund the costs of government without raising the limit, though Congress refused and the Government had muddled through anyway.
Now, the Government wanted again to raise the limit, and the piece indicates that it would be unwise and unnecessary because the Treasury presently had about six billion in funding on hand and could borrow another five billion under the present limit. With the Korean War over and the possibility of U.S. involvement in Indo-China remote, the 11 billion available ought be enough, it suggests, for an economy-minded Administration to proceed. Furthermore, the Administration's tax bill, which appeared certain of passage, would provide more revenue than was anticipated. If the increase was denied, it indicates, the nation would not likely encounter the problems which the advocates of the increase were forecasting, any more than it had the previous summer. The country was at peace and prospering, with military, foreign aid and domestic expenditures reduced, and if the budget balancers could not make ends meet under such favorable conditions, they needed to reconsider the 7 to 8 billion dollars worth of tax cuts the Administration had recommended and Congress had passed, rather than advocating the habit-forming practice of more borrowing.
"Most Everybody's a Commie Dept." indicates that Representative Wayne Hays of Ohio had pointed out the absurdity of the technique of ferreting out Communists based on something someone might have said, taken out of context and highlighted by Communist-hunters. Mr. Hays had read excerpts from a couple of documents to an investigator for a committee of which he was a member, the investigator having claimed that some charitable foundations had been infiltrated by Communists, and after listening to the excerpts, the investigator identified the passages as "closely comparable to Communist literature" and its ideals, then being embarrassed to learn from Mr. Hays that the excerpts were from the encyclicals of Pope Leo XII and Pope Pius XI.
In another incident, columnist Westbrook Pegler, recently convicted of a criminal libel of author Quentin Reynolds, had been asked during the trial to comment on a quotation that "Communism is the reaction to poverty, oppression and the exploitation of the masses by the few, and represents the demands of the masses for a strong central authority to curb their enemy", which Mr. Pegler described as "pro-Communist propaganda" and nonsense, a very familiar Communist line, after which he was informed that he, himself, had made the statement in 1937.
It recommends that since nearly everyone, including Mr. Pegler, had been accused of following the Communist Party line, it would be a good idea to quit such silly business of judging statements by Communist standards.
A piece from the Green Bay (Wisc.) Press-Gazette, titled "Cows Cure Own Itch", indicates that it was common enough to come upon a publication by the Department of Agriculture which appeared on its face ludicrous, as some years earlier, a member of the House had much fun with a bulletin relating to the sex life of the bullfrog.
Now, it appeared that in certain areas of the country, a biting, blood-sucking insect was proving very costly to herdsmen, causing them to have to spray or dip their cattle, and in some Northern states where the weather was cold and damp, the practice might be undesirable. Entomologists of the Agriculture Department research services had found that cattle in feed lots would delouse themselves if given a chance, via burlap-wrapped wire wound around a post, treated with about a gallon of five-percent chlordane oil solution, attracting the cows to rub against it to free themselves of their lice, a good application, it finds, of the principle that an itchy cow would rub against a wire or post at every opportunity.
A piece from the Goldsboro News-Argus, titled "Even That $3 Was 'Good'", indicates that years earlier, John and Henry Belk, founders of the Belk Department Stores, had been standing in front of their Charlotte store when a friend who was passing by asked them how their business was doing, to which Henry had replied that it was good, after which John asked Henry why they should lie when they had not taken in but $3 that day, Henry responding, "But that $3 is good."
Drew Pearson provides some highlights of the talks a week earlier between the President and Prime Minister Churchill, indicating that regarding recognition of Communist China, Senator William Knowland had become so upset with Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden's statement that Communist China would inevitably become a member of the U.N. within a year and therefore it would be better for the allies to move for its admission soon so that they could obtain concessions in return, that the Senator was threatening to lead an effort to get the U.S. out of the U.N. after resigning as Majority Leader should Communist China be admitted. Mr. Eden was referring to the fact that Communist China had enough votes to get into the U.N. the following September and that there was no way the U.S. or any other country could stop them, as a veto in the Security Council would not operate within the broader General Assembly, where all they would need would be a majority vote. After Vice-President Nixon, while in Formosa, had promised Chiang Kai-shek that Communist China would never be recognized by the U.S., the State Department had advised the Vice-President not to preclude that option, as Communist China might be recognized in return for unity in Korea. Subsequently, Mr. Nixon had changed his rhetoric to state that if China were reasonable, it might be admitted to the U.N.
Regarding Guatemala, Secretary Dulles had appeared preoccupied with that country during part of the talks with Mr. Churchill, concerned that Communism was gaining a foothold within the Western Hemisphere and insisting that Britain would have to back the U.S. on putting a stop to it. Britain had abstained from voting when the question regarding the Guatemalan revolt had come up for discussion before the Security Council, Mr. Eden stating in response that as U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., had just stated recently that it would be a shame if the time ever came when a small nation could not present its case before the Security Council, the British had sought to aid the case by abstaining.
Regarding the atomic bomb, Mr. Churchill had said that Britain must be notified and consulted before the U.S. would drop any atomic or hydrogen bomb, wanted an agreement to that effect or that there was no use discussing anything else. The President, however, had stalled on the matter, saying that he believed in the principle of consultation but that under law, he could not make agreements with a foreign power regarding consultation on the atomic bomb, agreeing, however, that he would notify Britain before such use.
The British could not understand why the President insisted that they view the movie, "The Student Prince", but, nevertheless, sat through it in the White House theater, though bored. The air conditioning had been turned up so high in the theater that they almost caught pneumonia.
Mr. Churchill had resented any attempts to help him because of his age, that when Canadian Foreign Minister Lester Pearson had started to help him up stairs at the airport, the Prime Minister pushed him aside and ascended the stairs, then turned around at Mr. Pearson and made a face.
Mr. Eden and Mr. Dulles were upset with one another over Mr. Eden's speech in Commons, but patched up their differences and were soon calling each other by their first names.
The President failed to use FDR's tactics for obtaining sleep during the visit of Mr. Churchill, who liked to stay up every night until the wee hours, a habit which FDR had gotten around by scheduling early morning sessions so that the Prime Minister could obtain no sleep during the morning hours, and then also scheduled afternoon sessions. Ordinarily, Mr. Churchill slept most of the day and worked most of the night, but since FDR had kept him awake all day, he had to go to bed at night.
Marquis Childs quotes from point three of the Declaration of Principles resulting from the conference the previous week between the President and Prime Minister Churchill, that neither would be party to any arrangement or treaty which would confirm or prolong the unwilling subordination of any sovereign state presently in bondage and would continue to seek to achieve unity through free elections supervised by the U.N.
The two sentences had caused controversy between the British and Americans, holding up release of the statement for a period of time. The President and Secretary of State Dulles intended the words to warn that the U.S. would not accept the type of mutual nonaggression pacts for Southeast Asia as proposed by Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden in Commons two days before the start of the Washington conference, that it would be regarded as tacit endorsement of the Communist regimes in China and North Korea and constitute a step toward U.S. diplomatic recognition of those regimes, opposed by both Republicans and Democrats in Congress. Another fundamental reason for not accepting such pacts would be that the U.S. might be called on, in theory, to fight against those who were presently allies. For instance, if South Korea should go to war to try to unify Korea, moving against North Korea, as threatened by President Syngman Rhee, the U.S. as a signatory to such a pact would be required to oppose such action with force.
Doris Fleeson indicates that the Treasury soon would increase the national debt limit, expected by members of Congress to be proposed at between 15 and 20 billion dollars of increase, which, after four tax cuts voted by Congress, the membership would not be in position to reject. The Treasury had sought and failed the previous year to get Congress to raise the debt limit from 275 to 290 billion, just at the last minute before the August recess. Senator Harry F. Byrd of Virginia, who had warned the White House not to attempt the maneuver so late in the session, led the fight to force the Treasury to manage for the rest of the year without raising the debt limit. The Treasury had been able to do so primarily because 90 percent of its corporate tax revenue from 1953 income was payable within the first six months of 1954, and by adoption of various emergency provisions, including monetization of part of the Government's free gold.
The anticipated loss of revenue from the four tax cuts was between seven and eight billion dollars and Treasury statements as of June 30 indicated that the deficit was running at three billion dollars. Secretary of the Treasury George Humphrey had told Senators that he could not estimate the debt until all appropriations and tax bills were concluded. The Administration wanted the tax cuts for the purpose of stimulating the economy and, not incidentally, to help in the midterm elections.
The Eisenhower Administration, like the previous two Administrations, had preferred more inflation to the risk of an accelerating deflation. The Federal Reserve Board on June 21 had cut the reserve requirements of member banks, with the result that banks could increase their loans, meaning that they could purchase the greatest part of the new securities which the Government would sell during the fall, making private credit cheaper, another inflationary device.
With farm income down, there was a semi-panic among Republicans to do something, lest Democrats would begin running on the fear of another depression. Whatever their reasons, the Administration had not desired to take on the problem of balancing the budget and refusing tax cuts during a midterm election year, despite the fiscal conservatives having come to Washington determined to destroy the monetary aspects of the New Deal, instead now copying that monetary policy for the most part.
A letter writer responds to a letter of June 30 from a writer whom he presumes to be a Democrat, being reminded of a conversation he had with a hardware dealer years earlier who had supposed that he was a rabid Republican, to which he had responded that as a South Carolinian, he thought of a Republican as being a slight grade lower than a son of a bitch. He says that while, in accord with the previous letter writer, there might not be as many Republicans as there were black people, there certainly were enough "good, solid, substantial, thinking Democrats who joined with the Republicans to elect the best chief executive that has occupied the White House since Mr. Hoover." He thinks that the 20 years of FDR and President Truman would be viewed in 100 years as "the most backward, dangerous and disastrous, morally and financially, this nation has ever had." He finds that it now took $100 to pay for what had once cost $35, while the individual shouldered $4,000 of the national debt. He says that he had lived through tight times in 1897 and again in 1907, when all of North Carolina, except Charlotte, used script or coupon-type money, as well as during the early 1920's and the 1930's, during all of which time he had managed to stay busy and employed, had never been in want and made a substantial living for his family, making sure that each succeeding generation had more than the previous one. He assures that if one maintained faith in "the Great Architect" and a reasonable amount in one's self, plus the tendency to do right by one's neighbor, and to work, such could be done.
A letter writer from Lincolnton finds it frustrating in the heat of the summer to sit down to watch a television program, only to discover that it was a rerun, wonders what could be done about the policy, that perhaps if enough protests were printed in the newspaper, it might be changed.
You are perhaps watching the wrong
A letter writer from Maxton indicates that it was the parents' duty to choose their children's companions until they reached adulthood and were directly responsible to God for their actions. She places the statement in the context of segregation and the parents' responsibility for their children's "cleanliness of mind, morals and character".
Thus, we take it that you intend to have your children thoroughly integrate with all socio-economic classes and racial and ethnic groups within the community, so that they will have a well-balanced mind, morals and character.
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