The Charlotte News

Thursday, May 5, 1955

THREE EDITORIALS

Site Ed. Note: The front page reports from Saigon that a 4,000-man "National Political Congress" had given thunderous approval this date to a demand for removal of South Vietnam's Chief of State Bao Dai, while in another political assembly, rebellion had arisen over a move to provide Premier Ngo Dinh Diem sole power to arrange for national elections. There was no indication of the manner in which the legal responsibilities of the two congressional groups were distributed. But it was clear that Bao Dai, the former Emperor, was finished, not appearing to be acceptable even in the role of a constitutional monarch, as reportedly envisaged by the U.S. The Congress which had voted to oust him had been summoned by the National Revolutionary Committee, which originated the demand for his removal the previous week. It consisted of 4,000 political leaders, revolutionaries, representatives of religious sects, local and provincial officials. The meeting which was reluctant to provide sole power to the Premier for determining national elections was a 700-member congress, dubbed a "States General", summoned by the Premier, consisting of elected local and provincial counselors and tribal chiefs, convening at the presidential palace the previous day. During the morning, 22 southern members of the executive committee of the States General had walked out angrily protesting a proposal to give the Premier the sole power over elections to the National Assembly, wanting instead the arrangements left to the Provincial Assembly of municipal and provincial counselors. Conciliatory efforts had resulted in the return of four of the southerners, and deliberations were resumed on a resolution calling on Bao Dai to yield his full authority to the prospective Assembly when elected, and in the meantime, to confer full military and civilian powers on the Premier. The entire executive committee of the States General had agreed on a preamble which vigorously attacked Bao Dai, but did not demand that he be deposed. The elected counselors, generally more conservative, would give the projected National Assembly the power to depose the former Emperor, who now resided on the French Riviera. He had become Chief of State in 1949, but had not been in Vietnam for more than a year. Some bitterness had arisen over the U.S. support for a constitutional monarchy as the best bet for making the transformation to a democratic government, one highly placed Vietnamese having asked whether the U.S. thought it was the only nation privileged to enjoy a democratic republic, and whether it had forgotten its own revolutionary past so quickly.

In Washington, the 50-member House Appropriations Committee this date approved the Administration's planned military manpower cuts and voted 31.5 billion dollars in new defense funds, promising additional funds quickly in the event of "drastically worsened world conditions." The recommended new appropriations, plus the unobligated funds from previous appropriations, would provide the Defense Department with over 43 billion dollars to spend during the coming fiscal year, provided the full House and the Senate would agree to the new appropriation. According to a report written by the Committee, the appropriation would emphasize "continental air defense and the increasing potential for massive retaliation in the event of enemy attack." The bill approved 744.6 million dollars less new money than requested by the President, but much of that cut had been more technical than real. The approval of the President's proposed plan to cut Army strength by about 75,000 men during the coming year was expected to touch off a battle in the House at large. The Committee had said that a large standing army and the stockpiling of large quantities of weapons, especially those subject to rapid obsolescence, had been determined to be less economical in the present age of rapid technological development. The report held out little hope for big defense appropriation cuts in the near future. The piece provides a breakdown of the proposed new funding, to be shared across the services, with the largest part, 14.4 billion, devoted to the Air Force, followed by 9 billion for the Navy and 7.3 billion for the Army.

In Bonn, West Germany became a sovereign nation in alliance with the free world this date, as the ten-year Allied occupation ended at noon, with two short ceremonies formally ending the supreme powers wielded by the U.S., Britain and France over the 50 million West Germans for the prior decade. The Allied High Commission repealed all of its laws and abolished itself by proclamation, and the British and French high commissioners completed the formality of depositing the sovereignty treaty at Chancellor Konrad Adenauer's office, an act undertaken by the U.S. on April 20—whether by design to coincide with Hitler's birthday being left to conjecture. Perhaps, it would have been more appropriate to have done so on April 30, his death day and Walpurgis Night. Sixty Allied laws and 130 ordinances were repealed by the declaration, signed by the high commissioners of each of the three countries, who would now become ambassadors to West Germany for their respective nations, including Dr. James B. Conant for the U.S. Within five years, it was anticipated that West Germany would produce an Army, Navy and Air Force comprised of 500,000 men, to be the largest Western armed force on the Iron Curtain frontier, consisting of 400,000 men trained in atomic warfare, a jet air force of 80,000 men and 1,300 planes, and a coastal navy of 20,000 men. That force would outnumber the Soviet Union's present armed strength in East Germany and Allied strategists believed it would tip the balance in favor of the West in the event of a third world war. During the occupation, diplomatic relations with the Soviet bloc had been banned, but now the Bonn Government could establish relations with any country, East or West, which it chose, as the treaty gave West Germany the full authority of a sovereign state over its internal and external affairs. It would, however, continue to be dependent on the U.S., Britain and France for its defense against Communist domination.

At the nuclear test site in Yucca Flat, Nev., an atomic bomb was detonated, at least one and a half times more powerful than the blast which had leveled Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, knocking out the 250-watt mock radio station located less than a mile from ground zero and probably causing extensive damage to the four specially built homes located on "Doomsday Drive", only 4,700 feet from the tower from which the bomb was detonated. The fireball had lasted 25 seconds and had a power of between 30 and 35 kilotons, whereas the bombs which had been dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki had been 20 kilotons, the equivalent of 20,000 tons of TNT. The full extent of the damage would be determined on a tour of "Survival City", the test town, the following day. Depending on weather, the 14th and final shot of the 1955 series of nuclear detonations, also to occur from a 500-foot tower at Yucca Flat, might be detonated the following day, with that tower located about 7 miles east of the blast this date, not expected to have any effect on Survival City, set to occur prior to the tour of the latter area. The white flash from this date's detonation had been observed throughout the Southwest and 500 miles northwest, at Klamath Falls, Ore., lighting the sky also across the Mexican border from San Diego, and sighted in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Salt Lake City and Phoenix. Although it had illuminated the sky in Las Vegas, 75 miles distant, brighter than the sun for an instant, no concussion was felt there, although jarring was felt in Henderson, near Las Vegas. Survival City had lain completely enveloped in dust, some of which was radioactive, a few minutes after the detonation, and an hour later, remained completely obscured from the view of observers on News Nob, observation point for the press, eight miles from ground zero. The test had included about 2,000 women observers, some WAC's and some civilian volunteers, the first time females had been used in the tests.

Alton Blakeslee, Associated Press science reporter, reports from the trench at Survival City, the community specially constructed for testing the effects of an atomic bomb on residential and commercial structures, and the inhabitants thereof, tells of the sight, feel and smell of the atomic bomb having come "flashing, thundering and rocking at six women braving war's newest weapon in a trench only two miles from the blast center", resulting in those female observers being awed, excited and some few frightened. Typical reactions among the women observers in the forward trench were: "Oh, that burst" and "Gee, what a beautiful thing!" Mr. Blakeslee recounts that at the point of detonation, the earth had shaken "as if rocked by a giant's tread", followed by a tinge of warmth from the atomic heat, and then a "roaring boom of the burst and the blast hurling dirt and stones and sand and dust and bringing landslides of dirt spilling into the trench." Everywhere there had been dust, with the taste and smell of the bomb. A steel tower had vaporized and the bomb had scorched and ripped at typical homes only a mile from ground zero, including the food, furnishings and mannequins inside those homes. All of that had to be good for the live observers two miles away, as radioactivity is good for eliminating all of the earthly corruption of the body.

In Raleigh, Governor Luther Hodges told the General Assembly this date that revised revenue estimates had lowered the amount of new tax money needed to balance the state's budget for the ensuing two years to between 19.5 and 20 million dollars. He provided no advice, however, on specific taxes to be levied to fill that gap between spending and revenue. Speaking at a special joint session of the Legislature, he said that it was the job of the legislators to levy the specific taxes which they thought best, in their judgment, for the present times, and cautioned that it would be "unthinkable" to adjourn without providing for that revenue, as some legislators had suggested. He further said that an improved tax outlook was in prospect, resulting from individual income tax returns and a promise by the state revenue commissioner to increase sales and income tax collections by seven million dollars during the ensuing two years, provided he would be given an additional appropriation of $640,000 for new personnel. He reminded that the original estimates prepared the previous fall by his advisory budget commission, estimating that 52 million dollars in new tax money would be needed, had been based on early fall business conditions, which had improved in the interim, making it possible to reduce that figure to 37 million dollars in March, and could be reduced further based on the April 15 individual income tax revenue, once that had been further evaluated, likely to reduce the gap to between 19.5 and 20 million.

Meanwhile, a State Senate Judiciary Committee heard widely differing views expressed on a bill to exempt farm products in interstate commerce, while stored in warehouses, from ad valorem taxation, with one State Representative stating that the bill would benefit the state, while another, representing the League of Municipalities, called it a dangerous proposition. No action had been taken on the measure this date and another public hearing and vote would be scheduled for the following Tuesday. We look forward to that with bated breath.

In New York, New York Post columnist Earl Wilson had reported that the wedding arrangements between singer Eddie Fisher and actress-singer Debbie Reynolds had become so vague this date that friends were wondering when, if ever, they would be married. Mr. Wilson said that associates of the couple had hinted that there were serious problems in the courtship of Mr. Fisher of Ms. Reynolds. The latter had apparently given up on being married in June and it was a significant turn of events to the ladies that no new date had been set for the nuptials. Mr. Fisher's television program, already blamed for forcing a postponement from the original June 17 wedding date, was being cast as the villain of the piece should there be a cancellation of the wedding plans, as Mr. Fisher could not start living in Hollywood the following September because of his television schedule in New York. Mr. Wilson had reported that a couple of gossips had said that Ms. Reynolds had not worn Mr. Fisher's huge engagement ring during her most recent trip to the studio. The couple had last seen one another a week earlier in Detroit, and Mr. Fisher, in Chicago, was returning to New York the following weekend to appear on Ed Sullivan's "Toast of the Town" program, while Ms. Reynolds, in Hollywood, was planning a movie and a Las Vegas act. What will happen? Tune in tomorrow for another exciting episode of "The Edge of Night".

A report states that the special date, 5-5-55, which would not recur sequentially again until June 6, 1966, which would be the 22nd anniversary of D-Day, and which had last occurred on April 4, 1944—both of which latter days of the year, incidentally, would be freighted with ominous darkness for the country in 1968—, was producing longer than normal coffee breaks around Charlotte because of its redundant nature on the typewriters.

On the editorial page, "Annual Sessions: An Economic Must" tells of the General Assembly having resisted the movement toward annual sessions instead of the current biennial sessions, but finds that there was a chance that the opposition was weakening because of some adroit backstage politicking by State Representative Dave Clark of Lincoln County. He had proposed a bill which would permit North Carolinians to vote on the plan as a constitutional amendment, and the bill had passed the State House by a large margin during the week, after failing by two votes to pass the previous week. The State Senate would now take up the measure.