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About La Grande evening observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1904-1959 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 6, 1945)
Side Glances - Washington Merry-Go-RouncI EDITORIAL PAGE Br DREW PEARSON ' La Grande Evening Observer Frank Schiro, Publisher MONDAY KVKN!N(. AUGUST fi, 1915 1'uge Two Kami-Krazi "-'' C I'.l J ii' III ii i i . ' EVENING OBSERVER'S PROGRESS PROGRAM IRRIGATION Complete the Grande Ronde Valley irrigation project. LA GRANDE A city of 10,000 Extend the city limits. "I Same Old Aims, Not The Same Old Plan For more yours Hum the country cures to remember the government has been trying to hit upon an agricultural program which will satisfy all concern eel: the farmers by giving them ade quate and equitable income without regimentation; the rest of the public by keeping the prices of farm products within the reach of the consumer and by not levying too much tax for the aid of agriculture. Comes now the new member of the agriculture department's reorganization committee, one VV. U. Ronald of South Dakota, with a proposition which, in the modest manner usually adopted by the originators of such plans, is design ed to add IT) Million dollars (maybe even 25 billions) to the national income. The best part of the deal, however, (be sure and get this) is that the thing could be accomplished and still eliminate at least half the agriculture department, and thus reduce the tax bill by that amount. Ronald calls the fanner a "poor rela tion" because "he has not even received the cost of production." To labor the obvious, Konald says "give the farmer a fair price and a large part of the de partment of agriculture imiv be abolish ed." Konald says he would replace the AAA with a national conservation asso ciation, to be entirely fanner adminis tered and supported by assessments of the membership. This, at least, is some thing new. No one has ever before sug gested it might be logical for the fann- Funnij llusiness er himself to run and support his own agency; previously, it has been custom ary to have a political appointee in the high job in the farm program and to support it out of general taxation. What. Konald would have the farmer do in the way of program is pretty much what has been attempted with varying degrees of success for the last lfi or 20 years. His plan calls for con servation payments, government com modity loans and an acreage allotment program. One thing in his dream will not appeal to a large number of rugged individual ists and there seems to be no particular reason why it ought to: lie would make ( membership compulsory after it hud' been established and approved by 70 or 80 percent off the farmers. "Com pulsory" never is a pretty word. Further provisions of Ronald's plan merit study, including the proposals to finance the program by taxing the farmer on his own produce. He would get the lax back by complying with conservation regulations. If he had a penchant for conservation iand rated more than 100 percent ho'd get back all of his tax, with a bonus. Where the bonus would come from, Konald didn't say; probably from the usual source of bonuses. Other parts of the program include the "ever normal granary" which has been standard for years; the com modity loan but made through pri vate banks with government guaran tee; ami the blended prices for export able conmiodiies, to enable the farmer to meet the world price a scheme which needs looking into. All in all. the plan seems to be a mix ture of old and new; new methods of putting into practice old ideas which have proved more or less sound in the past. One of the most, attractive fea tures of the plan, of course, is the re duction of the department. Here, in deed, is something different, even revo-lutionarv. "O. a, y" J ... Ii'. I. .Ill" "Now do wo go homo, It's lull!" o SO THEY SAY Slap-dash legislation is a poor way for congress to show its ap planation of the veterans of this war. Houston, Texas, Press. Uolh Britain and the United States realize that in the ease of Japan, as in the case of Germany, half measures would be fatal. London Times. The Dutch are naturally demo cratic. They have been so for cen turies. That was one of the rea sons they were ablo to become so united in resistance tu the Ger mans, who are naturally the op positc. Dr. E. E. Menton, chairman of the Netherlands Foundation for Recreation. Th.- people of South America O like the air age. It is biirB.ng theni new high standards oi liv- ' O -Mrs. l.vdia Van Zandt. Wash '"titon, D, C. o WASHINGTON John. L, Sullivan has gone about his new job of being assistant secretary for naval aviation In a refreshing manner. Even before he took the oath of office, he went out on Adm, John McCain's flagship during one of the biggest opera tions against J a p a n, cruising within 17U miles of the Jap coast. Part of the time, Sullivan held no official position (not yet having taken the oath), so lolled around on the carrier's deck in a khaki uniform with no. insignia, getting acquaint ed with the men, He came back with a heart ening conclusion. "The chief American weapon of this war," he said, "is not any new invention, but the ingenuity and courage and especially the spirit of these kids. It's the most inspiring things in the world, the way they operate as inspiring as a religious service. They Will be loafing on deck as if they hadn't a care in the world. "Then, suddenly, the planes start coming in, and they are right on the job just as efficient as clockwork. And if one group is having trouble with its planes, you'll see another crowd rush over to help them. There never was a greater job of teamwork, in genuity and especially spirit ever seen in this country and that's true of all the navy." Sullivan pointed out that out of 399 offi cers aboard his carrier, only five were reg-. ular naval officers. ' "That," he added, "is a tribute to what youngsters can learn to do in an emergency." In addition to the training of green offi cers and men, Sullivan, emphasized that every ship in admiral McCain's task forces was almost new. "You look out over the horizon," said the assistant secretary of the navy, "and as far as the eye can see ships, ships, and more ships, all their keels laid since Pearl Harbor another great tribute to American industry, labor and ingenuity." Mrs, Truman Shadowed When Mrs. Bess Truman and her daugh ter, Margaret, first arrived at the White House in Independence, Mo., close friends of the Truman family found it almost im possible to contact them except by mail. Six secret service men who "lurked in the White House bushes," as the town folks put it, stopped anyone who attempted to WE, THE WOMEN By RUTH MILLETT reach even the front porch of the Truman home at 219 North "Delaware street. And every time the first lady or her daughter Margaret would drive to the town square or appear on the streets, secret service men shadowed them. Folks in Independence didn't like this. Resentment ran high. After all, commented some of the citizenry, the days of Quantrill, Cole and Bob Younger (Missouri bushwhack ers who headquartered near Independence and rode with the James gang) were over. Independence wasn't like what it used to be. Eventually the first lady learned about this sentiment and it's almost a daily occur ence now to see either Mrs. Truman or Mar garet on the streets unescorted. Anyone who cares to can stop and talk with them. The secret service men. have been rele gated to their Independence retreat the garage behind the Truman home. Naval Training While most of the navy's operations have shifted to the Pacific, one of its most im portant though unheralded jobs is still being performed along the Atlantic coast the training of pilots and carrier personnel. Seventy percent of all carrier personnel in the Pacific have been trained under "fleet air quonset," the Massachusetts headquar ters for training on the Atlantic coast. Murky weather frequently existing along the Atlantic coast is more similar to the rainy monsson weather around Tokyo, and carrier personnel have to operate in bad weather as well as good. Chiefly responsible for the A-l job of car rier personnel training are Commodore Gor don Rowe and Vice Admiral Patrick Bellin ger. They are now working to streamline the use of planes for training purposes, in order to keep as many planes as possible working every minute. The public didn't know about it at the time, but last fall a typhoon caused U. 3. carriers to lose a disastrous number of planes, many of them swept off carrier decks. Results was that pianes used for training had to be rushed from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Despite this, however, the intensive training program continued at top speed. A Wisconsin farmer has advertised for a wife who is willing to be a mother to his five-year-old son. He can't understand why he hasn't found a satisfactory answer to his ad since he has heard that there are "2,300, U0U women between the ages of 20 and 34 without a Chinaman's chance of marrying." Well, maybe here's the answer: The Wisconsin farmer's advertisement would naturally be regarded as another "help wanted," item since he stressed the fact that the woman he was looking for would need to be a successful farm wife, would have to understand children, be industrious, etc. Women have. been besieged by "help wan' ed" ads since the start of the war and they have been promised a lot. Such things, for instance, as a five-day week, time and a half for overtime, a well-cooked lunch at cost, ideal working conditions, chance for advancement, and so on. The farmer asks that his applicants be un der 42 years of age, of good habits, even temper, intelligent, with an open mind, an understanding heart, etc. But he doesn't promise much except him self. He rates himself as being healthy, hav ing regular habits and average good looks. Men who want wives have a lot of com petition in these. Himc's when women "can just about dictate their working conditions and pick their jobs. And there is the im pression among the womenfolks that farm life isn't the easiest life in the world for a woman. They know that the average farm er, who has fancy equipment for the fields, doesn't always have it in the kitchen. So if the farmer really wants a wife, may be he had better figure out some induce ments that would make the job of farm wife look as good as the jobs the city oflers. Behind Scenes in Washington By PETER EDSON, La Grand Evening Obierrer Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 In these uncer tain times of reconversion it behooves re sponsible public officials in charge of this shift from war to peace to know what they're talking about or else hush up. Two recent incidents illustrate the point. A recent charge that the army was tak ing railroad battalions and converting them into combat artillery seemed worth check ing. The charge was made by Col. P. Mon roe Johnson, director of ths office of de fense transportation. Its apparent purpose was to show that the war department was resisting the efforts to get experienced rail road operations men discharged from the armed services. The conclusion drawn was that the army was thus contributing to the present U. S. transportation crisis. Inwstigation reveals Colonel Johnson's charge is the truth, but not the whole truth by a long shot. The unit referred (o consists of 115 men. They were members of the two railway operating battalions involved in the Paris black market scandals last winter. They stole army gasoline and sold it to Frenchmen for $7 a gallon, cigarets for $10 a carton, chocolate bars at $1 each. One hun dred and fifty men were caught, courtmar tinlcd and convicted. Thirty-five got 20 to 50 year sentences. The other 115 men were given a chance to clear their records by service in combat. All accepted and further agreed to forfeit then pay till value of stolen goods was made good. They were put in an artillery unit for combat training. Then the war ended in Europe and the unit which had seen no action was assigned to the Pacific to give the men a chance to win honorable dis charges. General Eisenhower made this decision and its wisdom is hardly open to question. While the war department comes up with a clean nose in this first instance, the rec M'd isn't so good in the second case, which is this: principal reason given by war de partment spokesmen for unwillingness to discharge skilled workmen like lumberjacks, i;0il miners or railroad workers who may have jobs waiting (or them v4.4h.at the British tried this system after the last war and the tumps mutinied. Investigation shows this argument is no good for two reasons. First because the Brit ish demobilization riots after the last war had nothing to do with the system of dis charge by jobs classification. Second because the British now have another system of dis charging men of certain skilled trades, and its working. The British army today grants discharges on two bases. Class A discharges to the old er men with longest combat service. It is similar to the U. S. system of discharge on points. Then the British have class B dis charges for skilled laborers whose services are needed at home. By the end of 1945 the British hope to have 750,000 class A and 75,000 class B men discharged. In other words, one out of every 11 British soldiers gets an occupational discharge. The skilled laborers getting these preferential discharges are largely building and construction work ers who can be put to work immediately in relieving Britain's admittedly huge war damage and rehousing problem. The British experience and example would therefore seem to indicate that a system of limited occupational discharges will work. After a week's wrangling among U. S. gov ernment manpower authorities in Washing ton, the war department now seems to have come around to this way of thinking. This is indicated by the announcement that some 1,300 high point ex-railroad workers are to be given expedited discharges which will re lease them for civilian railway service by Aug. 10, while another 2,000 will be released by October. The railroad discharges set no precedent for the army's granting occupational dis charges to high point coal miners or lumber men who are also badly needed in U. S. in dustiy. But it is recognition that this kind of manpower problem can be worked out to keep everybody armed services, war agencies and private industry reasonably happy. And it should demonstrate that the spread ing on misleading information about t h e background of these issues is bad business. It m a form of rumor mongering (hat signi fies the existence of a home front industrial fifth 'column. Tliete will be trouble enough in this pc.rixxl of readjustment from produc tion (or war to production for peace. Creat ion mistrust will only make it worse. 7 COWt 1W IY UtA MBVrCj, IWft J. M. IHO. U- f MT. Off. "Now here's a lovely one this is really super-sloppy!" O McKENNEY ON BRIDGE By WILLIAM E. McKENNEY America's Card Aulhorily BIDDING, PLAYING EQUALLY IMPORTANT Every day someone is sure to ask, "Which is more important, the bidding or the play?" Both play an equally important part in your game. You cannot get very far in contract bridge if you do not get into the right contract; when you do, you must be able to play the cards well in order to make a large percentage of your contracts. It was surprising to note in a recent duplicate match that to day's hand was played by every pair except one at six hearts. Only one pair played it at six spades, which West doubled. Of course there was not much to the play of the hand. Declarer won the opening lead and then led the queen of trumps. West covered P BARBS This is August, hottest month of the year, when the ladies try on their new winter furs. and dummy won, and the king of hearts was cashed. A small heart was led and East put up his best defense by ruffing with the nine- K73 VQJ 10 K J 104 K 10 7 A A 10 6 5 VK987532 6 A W E s Dealer 93 A872 J9432 4QJ84 A Q953 Q865 Duplicate Both vul. " South West North East Pass Pass I V Pass 1 A Pass 3 Pass 3 N. T. Pass 4 N. T Pass 5 Pass S Pass 6 4t Double Pass Pass Opening Q. ' Boys will be taught homemak ing in St. Louis schools. Darn those socks! A Cleveland landlord, gives a war bond to every baby born in one of his apartments. Nice little bundles, eh? An intensive campaign against rats is scheduled for fall. Things are tough all over for that family. People w h 0 go over Niagara Falls in barrels may be only train ing ftr rides in day coaches. Belgian government voted against return of the king. Leo pold seems to agree the trip isn't necessary. spot; but South over-ruffed with the jack. The trumps were pick ed up and declarer conceded a diamond. P IN FORMER YEARS Thirty Years Ago Work has commenced on the new Methodist parsonage. It will . be a six-room bungalow, with a large porch and wilt face, on Spiing street. A new and natty line of Tarn O'Shanters has just been received at the Golden Rule store. Members of the Neighborhood club have petitioned the city commission to provide a separate ward for women prisoners in the city jail. Some action to this end will likely be taken at the first opportunity. If you aaauire a bald head, keep it under your hat. Regarding (he high pirice of suspenders, all we have to say is that it's a holdup. Fifteen Years Ago The Cemetery Memorial works has just recently moved into its new home at 2213 Adams avenue. . With the summer well under way, the Union county market road program is also making con siderable progress. Single girls aren't the only ones who are looking for a husband. Loose conduct often gets you into tight places. Never strike a woman while the iron is hot. Ten Years Ago Safeway store managers and employers and their families en enjoyed their annual picnic at Pine Cone yesterday. Union Pacific and Greenwood kitten ball teams were dead locked today for the leadership of division A in the city league play-off schedule. This Curious World 7 rx if 1 11 -J WILL NOT ONLV SHARE ITS NEST HOLE WITH OTHERS OF ITS KIND, BUT WITH A FAMILY OFtC. COPR. IMS BY NtA SERVICE. INC. y3 WERE A SISN OF BEAUTY AVtONS EARLY MAYAN INDIANS, AND MOTHERS TRAINED THE EYES OF THEIR CHILDREN TO AJSjME A PERAVANENTCRCSS. T. M. ta. V. I. MT. Off. 07 WHERE'S gLAA-Eg P" ANSWER: Iceland. NEXT: Do orchids grow wild in. the United States? '' 1
