Side Glances
Washington Merry-GoRound
Bj DREW PEARSON
EDITORIAL PAGE
', i
La Grande Evening Observer
Frank Schiro, Publisher
THURSDAY KVKMNd, JULY 12, 19-13
Page Four
Another Marker Along the Road
p
EVENING OBSERVER'S
PROGRESS PROGRAM
IRRIGATION Complete the Grande
Ronde Valley irrigation project.
I, A GRANDE A citv of 10.000
Extend the city limits.
Menace of the Filibuster
In considering tin; list of initstiinding
people who have join c d ir. urging
speedy . riilil'iciilioii by the United
States senate of the United Nations
charter, it becomes difficult to imagine
the possibility of the rejection of, or
the failure to approve, the document
drafted at San l'Yancisco.
The charier has the endorsement of
practically all, if not all, of the more
prominent figures in the democratic
party. Of greater significance, it is
endorsed by such men as (Jov. Thomas
V.. Dewey of New York, Senator Van
denbertr of Michigan and former Gov
ernor Stassen of Minnesota among re
publicans who, as the minority croup,
would normally be expected to furnish
any opposition Hint might exist or de
velop. Likewise, speedy ratification has
breu urged by the governors' confer
ence which met recently. As a matter
of fact, if there is any considerable or
important opposition to approval of the
charter, if has not yet made itself heard.
In view of such support, every pres
ent indication does seem to point to
speedy ratified ion of the document.
Prospects, as they appear now, prob
ably are brighter for favorable action
I ban ever has been true of any legisla
tion of comparable importance pending
before the upper house.
Funny llusinvs?
If there is any danker at all that rati
fication may be refused or blocked, it
appears now to lie in the possibility of
a .senatorial filibuster. There have been
no surface indications as yet of such
a maneuver, but part of the strategy
of a filibuster sometimes is surprise.
Most people understand the meaning
of the term, 'filibuster," as applied to
the senate. It is a device employed by
a minority hopelessly beaten to defeat
the will of the majority. Filibusters arc
made possible under a rule of procedure
which allows unlimited senate discus
sion and debate on any pending matter
except when a "cloture" rule is adopted
and cloture roles arc extremely diffi
cult of adoption. Without such a rule,
any senator who might so desire would
be permitted to speak as long as he had
strength to talk.
This does not suggest that any such
thing will happen in connection with the
charter. Probably it won't happen. Hut
it could happen, just as it has happened
in the past. A small handful of .sen
ators could block literally talk to death
such a measure even though all their v
colleagues and Hie vast majority of the
people might be demanding il.
So, w hile the senate and the nation
are thinking of the charter, isn't it time
to give thought also to remerying con
ditions under which filibusters not
merely are possible, but are of relative
ly frequent occurrence? liven if the
charter is approved, is it to the national
interest to retain conditions under
which it. as in the case of all legislation
hi future, might be blocked by a vocal
.Hid long-winded minority?
" ... -
i. ri". V" .'..i "v.'OT'-,. "v... : "
SO THEY SAY
If I wore president, I would
want whomever is running the
veterans m fire sit lint; at the cub
oid lalil.'.
- Hug.. Ccn. Frank T. Mines, re
tiring vdermis administrator.
We came home on prayer and
h'ipe.
I.I C K. Miller, pilot of Amer
ican Privateer plane Hint re
lumed to Okinawa with belly
ripped onl aflor attacking ill
TMi' hina straits.
I fervently hope thai III? cynics
who speak disparagingly of the
united nations prove to bo as
wrong as the evnies were at Hu
me i;t colonies began their
'etil venture.
C'omdr. Harold E. Stassen.
time
"Saves vehicles they used to be a vaudeville tumbling act!"
We a iv going to do tilings not
for. but wilti, thr. (.urvivors of the
greatest tragedy III Jewish his
tory. Kahbi Stephen S. Wise, presi
dent, American Jewish congress.
WASHINGTON One of the worst wastes
of food in months occurred recently in Nor
folk, Va. It involved potatoes for Belgium.
Several weeks ago the army promised
throe shiploads of potatoes to Belgium, to re
place potatoes which our troops had used
in that country. Spuds are precious in Bel
gium, so the Belgians wanted them back.
The war food administration agreed to pro
ide the potatoes, and the war shipping ad
ministration was to provide the shipping.
Everything was set.
War food, however, was aoie to get a suf
ficient quantity of spuds only by accepting
turc content. These spoil more easily than
potatoes of good quality but of high mois
those with lower moisture. The war ship
ping administration was warned of this
difficulty, and told good refrigeration was
essential. Liberty ships with modern re
frigeration were to be provided.
Instead of the Liberty ships, however, war
shipping sent three old British boats to Nor
folk with completely inadequate refrigera
tion units.
The spuds were supposed to be loaded
quickly and put under refrigeration at once,
but the ship's master refused to permit the
loading of more than 34 to 40 carloads per
day. In this he was correct, for too speedy
loading would have overtaxed the capacity
of his inadequate refrigeration unit.
More than 350 carloads had been loaded
on the first of the three boats when sudden
ly it was discovered' that the ship was list
ing so badly that the refrigeration unit sim
ply was not functioning. Finally it was de
cided to pull the potatoes off this boat, but
not until so many had gone bad that, as one
shipping man put it, "they had to be pumped
off."
In the end, the entire consignment of spuds
was turned over for sale to civilians. But
by this time so many had gone bad that only
about half were eventually brought to the
civilian market. The Belgians arc still wait
ing. Coal Prices Going Up?
It isn't being advertised, but data to justify
a raise in the price of coal are now being
prepared by solid fuels administrator Ickes
in an effort to stimulate production of a
commodity which is so short that adminis
trate leaders are worried sick. Represent
atives John Flannagan of Virginia and Andy
May of Kentucky called on President Tru
man last Friday to urge immediate action
to increase the coal output.
They proposed: (1) Immediate increase in
ceiling prices on coal; (2) immediate steps
to release from the army approximately 10,
000 coal miners who have piled up sufficient
points to win their discharge; (3) a ban no
further drafting of young miners; and (4) all
possible speed in turning out badly-needed
mining equipment. President Truman was
highly sympathetic on all these points.
There are about 137,000 coal miners now
in the armed forces, As a result, the work
force in the mines has been curtailed, and
mines which a few years ago rarely took
men over 25 for work in the pits are now
employing men as old as 47 for these jobs.
The older men have done mirailes, all things
considered, and last year turned out more
coal than ever before produced in a single
year in this country. But even more is
needed.
Note Senator Kilgore of West Virginia
has complained to the war department that
whereas we have screened German miners
from the German army in order to work in
German coal mines, the war department has
not been able to get any accurate list of coal
minars in the U. S. army.
WE, THE WOMEN
Br HUTH MTLLETT
The Georgia supreme court recently ruled
that a wife must follow her husband even
if he moves into a cabin. The decision was
made in a case where a wife was suing for
alimony after she refused to leave their five
room house to move into a cabin that was
nearer her husband's work.
Without any court decision to teach them
that lesson, thousands of war wives in the
last few years have decided on their own
that a wife's place is with her husband,
wherever he may have to go.
They have trailed their men over the
country leaving friends and comfortable
living quarters behind them to make homes
for their men in any kind of room, apart
ment, cabin, or shell of a house that they -could
find.
And with every change of orders for their
men, they have cheerfully packed up their
belongings and gone right along to the next
post and, in most cases, the next set of in
conveniences. They haven't kicked about it or complain
ed because they instinctively knew, as the
court decided, that "A wife's place is with
her husband even if it means giving up a
house to live in a cabin."
They haven't any doubt about the wisdom
of their decision to follow their men, for
they have seen the loneliness of the hus
bands and wives who have differed about
where a wife's place is, the ones who think
the right solution is for the wife to stay put
in the family home and keeping the kids In
the school they are used to. That solution
may mean comfort for the wife and kids,
but to the war wives who have followed
iheir men it seems like too high a price for
comfort.
And now those same women who trailed
their men around this country as long as
they could and then had their men go off
to Europe are already talking of joining their
men in foreign countries now that the war
department has announced that wives of
men in the army of occupation will be al
lowed to join their husbands as soon as pos
sible. War has taught these women enough about
separation so that no judge will ever have
to tell them that a wife's place is where ever
her husband's job takes him. All they ask
is to be allowed to follow.
Behind Scenes in Washington
Br PETER EDSON, Lb Grands Evening Observer Washington Correspondent
WASHINGTON, July 12 Ex-Secretary of
State Edward It. Stctliiiius, jr., will be bus
ier than a couple of bird dogs when he
takes over his double-barreled job as mem
ber of the security council and head of the
five-man U. S. delegation in the general as
sembly of the new united nations organiza
tion. The business Council Member Slettinius
will have to look out fur, as outlined in the
charter now being considered for ratifica
tion by the senate, would include:
1. Planning the establishment of a sys
tem of armament limitation.
Determining the existence of any threat
to the peace of the world and deciding
what should be done about it.
3. Telling the nations in any interna
tional dispute to settle Iheir differences
by negotiation, mediation, arbitration, ju
dicial settlement or result to regional
agencies like the Pan-American union, or
any oilier peaceful means Ihey call figure
out for themselves.
4. If these peaceful means don't work,
the council may decide to cut off the dis
puting countries' foreign trade or com
munications. 5. If blockades or economic boycotts
don't restore peace, the council may then
order the use of armed forces.
All of the united nations are obligated un
der the charter to cany out the decisions of
the council. The council lias as its strong
right arm a general staff committee made
up of the chiefs of staff of the Big Five pow
ers. This general slaff committee would
designate what countries would furnish what
air, sea or land forces and direct their use
in enforcing the peace.
In pasisng on all these matters, council
member Slettinius will have one vote to
cast for the United Stales. On simple mat
ters of procedure, questions wjjl be settled
by a majority of seven out of Hie eleven
council members.
When it comes to the hig questions of en
forcing peace, however, all of the Big Five
plus at least two of the non-permanent
members must vote for the action or it's no
dice. Only exception lu. Unit unanimous Big
Five rule w ill come w hen one of the council
members is in a dispute, in which case it
must abstain from voting.
In addition to casting the U. S. vote, coun
cil member Slettinius will cast the U. S.i
veto. This veto power over which there has
been so much controversy, is really a pro
tection for the United States, as Senator Ar
thur H. Vandenbcrg has pointed out. If the
United States doesn't like any course of ac
tion which the security council is taking, it
may be killed by a veto vote from Mr. Stct
liiiius. When council member Slettinius moves
over to his other job and becumes general
assemblyman Slettinius, he will be sitting
in on a big debating society the new town
meeting of the world where anything men
tioned ill the charter may be discussed.
It can talk about future disarmament, for
instance, or any subject relating to world
peace, and assemblyman Slettinius can take
part in making recommendations for coun
cillor Slettinius and his ten cohorts on the
security council to do something about. Once
the assembly Kcs a subject to the coun--eil,
however, the assembly is supposed to
keep hands off and mouth shut till the coun
cil takes action.
The assembly is also supposed lo pro
mote international cooperation in the devel
opment of international law, economic, cul
tural, scial and health improvement. To
this end it will receive reports from the se
curity council, the social and economic
council, the trusteeship council, council, the
secretary general and all Ihc other organ
izations UNO may set up. When you get
right down to the bottom of it, this general
a semlily w ill run the works.
Important decisions in this G. A. will be
made by two-thirds majority of those pres
ent ami voting. The five-man, U. S. dele
gation w ill get only one vote, and that's nil
any nation will have. Questions requiring
this two-thirds majority include election of
new- members, election of non-permanent
members of the security council, election of
nations to be represented on the economic
and social council, the trusteeship council,
election of tile secretary general after nomi
nation by the security council, fixing UNO's
budget, kicking out undesirable members
and suspending those that haven't paid Iheir
dues.
The general ascsnibly must meet once a
year, but it isn't expected to be in session
all th time, which is a break for assembly
man Slettinius, as that will give him a
chance to keep up with the work of coun
cilor Slettinius.
cops, mi av mia servici. iwc t. m. ago, o. s. pat, err.
7-i
"Oh, so you're marines! Well, the invasion is early, boys
- apples won't be ripe for another two weeks!"
-the
o McKENNEY ON BRIDGE
Br WM. E. McKENNEY, America's Card Authority
EVEN UNUSAL PLAYS
HAVE SET PURPOSE
N. M. Clitrino and A. P. Wein
berg of Wilkcs-Barre, Pa had
quite a time for themselves at
the northeastern Pennsylvania
championship tournament at
Scranton. They won the open
pair championship and the fol
lowing day won the team-of-four
542
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96
Q 10 8-7 6
Weinberg;
A K 10 8
V 104
A 10 8 7
52
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s
Dealer
Catrino
AQ8
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KQ
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Duplicate E.-W. vul. .
South West . North East
1 A 2 Pass 3
3 Pass 3 A Pass
Pass ' Pass
Opening A. 13
with Morris Lawrence and Mike
Depeitro. I like the way both
of them were on their toes in de
feating today's contract. The
opening club lead was ruffed by.
declarer and he led a small dia
mond. West correctly played low.
Questions & Answer t
Q How many Greeks are
homeless as result of the invasion
of their country by Germans and
Italians?
A More than 500,000 from 1400
villages burned by axis forces.
Catrino relaized that declarer
must have three diamonds, and
was going to try to ruff one. He
did not carelessly win the trick
with the queen he put on the
king and now returned the queen.
West realized that this was an
unusual play and knw that it was
made for a definite purpose, so
ho overtook the queen with the
ace and led back another dia
mond, which Catrino was able to
ruff with the six of spades. Thus,
the defenders were able to get
three diamonds and two spades
defeating the contract.
IN FORMER
YEARS
30 Years Ago
Bound for New York via Seat
tle, San Francisco and southern
California, with Orange, Texas,
as their' ultimate destination, a
party of wealthy Texans passed
through La Grande today noon,
enroute north. They left Orange,
their home, June 1, and have
been traveling 18 days, resting
the balance of the time. Two
large Pierce Arrows convey the
party and one of the cars has
been used in a European tour,
and is now being used in the
complete circle of the United
States. The larger car has GO
horsepower and the smaller 48.
Q What help docs England
plan to give us in bombing Ja
pan? A That nation expects to send
over its newest and largost bomb
ing aircraft, the Lincoln, which
will carry the 11-ton earthquake
bombs that did so much damage
in Germany.
15 Years t.jo
Miss Helen Melville and Miss
Betty Bohnenkamp are driving
to Baker tomorrow evening
w here they will join the group of
girls attending girl scout camp
at Anthony lake.
Mr. and Mrs. Walter Rculcr
are to return tonight from Wal
lowa lake where they drove yes
terday to visit their son, Bob,
who is a guest there of Frederick
Bingaman.
Q What was the first lime in
navy annals that the or: ' asked
for help in crossing an ':iland
river?
A In crossing the ' dur
ing the big push on ( ; ny.
Q How strong arc lha treble
strings of a piano?
A They must have a Urcngth
ot JIIO.UUU pounds per square inch
more man eiglil times
stiongih of ordinary steel.
the
10 Years Ago
The weather warmed up in
cistern Oregon yesterday under
the influcnc of a warm sun and
nbsncc ot chilly breezes, which
have been prevalent most of the
time this summer. In La Grande
the maximum temperature was
8!) above, within two degrees of
the warmest recorded this year,
end indications were today might
foe a new 1935 record set. The
minimum last night was 56 above
and at 7 a. m. today the mercury
had mounted to 71 above and
was still advancing during the
morning.
This Curious World
corn, ihs a, nca $e8vice. inc.
CARRIED CUEL TANK'S FULL OP
BEER TOTHIRSTYijRtXNDCREWS
Building landins fields on
dusty normandy beachheads.
U- '3
NEXT: The chimpansee, light housekeejMr.
'FI6HTE5S INSIDE THE ROPES
CAN SLU& ITOUT, 5dkr
AIRS. HENEY AlATTFO .