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About La Grande observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1959-1968 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 13, 1959)
' "Mind if I Sit Here?" K 3 NIA Srric, I'' EDITORIAL PAGE LA GRANDE OBSERVER Thursday, August 13, 1959 "A Modern Newspaper With The Pioneer Spirit" RILEY D. ALLEN . Publisher PUBLISH PD BT THIS ' " CA QRANDJfi I'UULiHHiNu com pant GEOKGE S. CIIALLIS Adv. Director TOM HUMES Circulation Mgr. 1 1 1-Ad vised Move By Power Boys By the large our country's electric light and power industry is a good one, well managed and well regulated in the public interest. But, on some occasions, representatives of that industry do some things which make the whole industry ., look bad. Such a mistake is the proposal before , Congress regarding payment for down " stream benefits to power companies who build and' operate hydroelectric facilities. Under this proposal, if adopted by the Congress, Idaho Power would be entitled to receive Federal funds for any bene fits accruing to downstream Federal projects because of storage capacity or release programs from the three IPC dams along the Snake river. Or, Portland General F.lectric could apply for a federal grant because its Pelton and projiosed Uound liutte proj ects on the Deschutes are located above Bonneville and The Dalles dams. Idaho Power carried on a big fight to get approval to build its three dams, on the Snake. One of the main factors in its win was the company's positions that it could produce the kilowatts without any drain on the Federal treasury. An ill-advised move by the company resulted in its getting certificates for a fast tax writeoff on its Snake projects. Amid a storm of protest IPC asked the government to cancel the special tax privilege. It would be equally poor policy, it seems to us, for Idaho Power to ask the government, in effect, ta bear part of the cost of the Snake projects by re imbursing the company for downstream benefits at government dams' in the Bonneville system. t The strongest poiril of the stockholder owned utilities in the old public vs. pri vate power fight was that the companies could produce the necessary power for the nation without going to the Treasury for financing. This should mean all forms of financ ing, not jusct financing for construction costs initially. Otherwise, the ower companies are denying their own story. Moves such as this are ill-advised. Such A Candidacy Is Not Too Likely Oregon newspapers who employ A. Robert Smith as Washington correspond ent carried a story last week which started out this way: "A number of highly placed Oregon ' Democrats think Gov. Mark Hatfield may run for the Senate next year against Sen. Richard L. Neuberger." Such a candidacy, we think, is highly unlikely for two reasons. First, Hatfield would not be able to beat Neuberger. Neuberger, if all the polls and expressions of opinion are correct, is doing his job to the satisfac tion of the great majority of Oregonians, Republicans as well as Democrats. ' This is demonstrated in the inability of Sen. Wayne Lyman Morse to find a candidate of statewide stature to run against Neuberger in the Democratic . primary next year. Morse has said he is giving up, since no suitable opposition candidate can be found. Second, Hatfield has been the subject of some criticism because of the opinion often expressed by political opponents that he is an opportunist who never finishes out a term in office. Whether you agree with this opinion or not, it has been expressed with enough frequency to constitute a major political liability to Hatfield if he should seek another Oregon office before completing his first term as Governor. This puts Hatfield in an unfortunate position. If he wins a second term as Governor he has no "safe" position from which to seek a Senate seat against Wayne Lyman Morse in 1964, since his second gubernatorial term will end the same time. If the Oregon Demc?rats quoted by Smith really believe what they said, they are less discerning than we thought. Wagons Rest JAsEndNears For Long Trip . AMITY (DPI) The Oregon Centennial wagoneers kept Wed inesday night s schedule nl the Dundee camp ot a minimum. . storing up their energy lor the triumphant arrival at Indopend I enre Saturday. The wagons pushed out t I a.m. today (or the 17 - milo trip land overnight encampment here. l The wagons made 25 miles Wed nesday Lunch and supper were j provided at the Dundee school grounds camp liy Dundee resi dents and the modern pioneers retired early. Wagon train member Ivan Hoy cr of Cottage Grove, news direc tor for the trek, reported that many of the Fifty-Nlners were expressing regret that the trip was soon to end but also were looking forward to reluming to (heir homes for jt much needed rest. Twenty eight persons of the original 30 that started from In dependence. Mo last April will finish -the journey. Mr. and Mrs. Lowell Ulair. Sheridan, dropped out in Wyoming. Mrs. Rlnir he came ill at Hock Springs and re turned to Sheridan and Hloir left the train at Kemmerer to join her. Coos Fire Now Under Control COOS BAY VPI A forest fire which covered 1.500 to 1.600 acres south of Powers In both state and federal land was reported under control today. Ivan Young, district state fire warden, said some 200 still were on the firelincs today but that rnils were holding and some of the fire was in the mop-up stage The fire, which started from grass blaze, also spread Into Sisk iyou National horest timber. Young said some difficulty still was being experienced on the north end in a rocky bluft area DREW PEARSON SAYS: CIA Report Links Castro Advisers With Communism WASHINGTON With the Pan American foreign ministers meet ing in Chili to pacify the turbu lent Caribbean, this column has obtained a copy of a central intel ligence agency repor showing Fidel Castro's links with Communism. The document lists some of Castro's top advisers as Com munists and cites nine trips by these advisers to Moscow since the revolution on Jan. 1. Their aim, according to the CIA re port, is to make the situation in Cuba so chaotic that the United Slates will be forced to inter vene. Then the United States would be charged with an "Am erican Hungary.'' It is such intervention that the United States is trying to avoid by getting the advice and sup port of other Pan American gov ernments at the foreign minis ters conference. Salient portions of the reveal ing CIA report follow: 'It has become increasingly ap parent in the past several months that ridel Castro, if not s Com munist himself, is certainly dom mated by them. For a few weeks, during and immediately after his trip to the United States, there was hope that at last he would settle down, pay more at tention to his more conservative ('visers and stop flirting with the left wing. "This hope was expressed by Felipe Pazos, president of the National Bank of Cuba, by Regi no Boti, minister of economics, by several of the ministers and people of importance who ac companied Fidel Castro to the United States. They felt this mainly because they had been chosen to make the trip, rather than the other people. Before the trip, these p?ople, although they occupy high positions in the government, had barely even spoken with Castro. Then with this trip, he sud denly became attentive to them and with their help was coached through his visit to the United States. On arrival back in Cuba. these men gave out that they were happy that Castro had list ened to their advice, that now lie would put aside his more radical advisers, that he would shun the Communists and listen to them. 'Instead, Castro proved con clusively that he is operating ac cording to a well conceived, well directed plan of operation. On return to Cuba he ignored the men who- coached " him- through his visit to the United States. From the time of his return to date, he has refused. Hepeatedly and even after written demands he has denied an audience to Felipe Pazos. the president of the national banks. He had sim ply used these men as fronts while in the United States. Who Wrote Agrarian Bill? At the same time, he had some ol his more conservative minis ters drawing up a bill for Agrar ian reform. Particularly devoted to this was Sori Marin, minister ef Agriculture. Sori Marin com pleted his bill, showed it to all the members of the cabinet and went to the Sierra Maestra with Castro and all the other minis tcrs to proclaim the Agrarian reform bill, which he thought would be his, the one he wrote. ' "Once on top of the Mountain, Castro took out his own Agrarian reform bill, one of which no member of the cabinet had seen before then, and required them ill to sign it. This is the Agrar ian reform bill which has now gone into force. It was written P'imarily by Ernesto 'Che" Guevara, Vilma Espin. wife of Raul Castro, Raul Castro, Anto nio Nunez Jimenez, and Pino Santos. "Of Ernesto Guevara, a U. S. intelligence agency states. 'If he is not a Communist, he will do for one until another comes ulong.' Vilma Espin is the sis ter of a noted French Commun ist and apparently a Communist herself: Antonio Nunez Jimenez, who has been named to head the Agrarian reform institute, has had his way paid by the Com munist party of Cuba to a youth iestival in Prague in 1954. Pinos Santos, the financial reporter for revolution the 26 De Julio newspaper, is really Carlos Santo Vega, a regular member of the Communist party. Nine Trips to Moscow "The best U. S. intelligence agency reports available suggest that the recent trips back and forth to Moscow by Cuban Com munists there have been nine such trips since the end of the revolution have been to settle on policy. The Communists themselves have been so amazed at their success in Cuba they have had to find out what they should ask for next. The 10 points which they demanded in their newspaper, 'Hoy, immedi ately after the end of the revolu tion, have already been granted. It appears that the decision has been made to be as provoca tive as possible, to ruin the eco nomy as completely as possible, to disrupt the sugar supply pro gram of the United States, and by such violent, trouble making activities as the invasions of oth er South American countries from Cuba and confiscation of United States property, as will force the United States to inter vene directly. This is their hope, their basic plan of action: "Should thh U.S. intervene directly, there has been whipped up enough anfl-U.S. propaganda, that there will be force to resist U. S. intervention. The young men of Havana especially, the university stud ents, the junior executives, ap pear enthralled with what they call Italian or Cuban Commu nism. By this they mean they ill go to church, they have their children baptized. Intel lectually they oppose police viol-j tnce, but economically they be- Senate Rackets Committee Winds Up Journey Along Crooked Trail By ALVIN SPIVAK UPI Staff Writer WASHINGTON "UPli-The Sen ate Rackets Committee is near ing the end of its three-year jour ney along crooked Hails of crime and corruption in labor and man agement. Apart from mop-up investiga tions and a close look, at the role unions play in politics, the com mittee's main effort now will be to prepare a final, comprehensive report on what it has found and where this should lead. The eight-member committee headed by Sen. John L. McClel lun (D-Ark. I already has inspired the drive for labor reform legis lation which meets its crucial test in the House this week. Its disclosures have prompted the AFL-CI to drive the scan dal-scarred Teamsters Union I from its ranks and knock leaders of several other unions from power. Urges Hoffa Curb Committee hearings have touched off a number of federal and state criminal prosecutions, and have sparked a Justice De partment investigation of "whole sale racketeering, perjury and income tax evasion by various Teamsters officials. The committee's second interim report, issued last week on the basis of last year's testimony, ac cusod Teamsters President James R. Hoffa of sinister designs which it said,, "will successfully destroy the di'cent labor movement" un less he is curbed. The tone of the committee's fi nal recommendations will depend to a large extent on the final shape in which labor reform leg islation comes through this vear. Committee members themselves are divided on how strong ft should be. Testimony before the committee already has amounted to 45.000 pages of original transcript. It covers 262 days of public hear ings in which 1.505 witnesses ap peared and 341 of them invoked the Fifth Amendment. MeClellan has emphasized re peatedly that the committee's charges of corruption have ap plied to "a minority of the un ions." Spotlights Teamsters Most of the investigative road has run through Teamsters ter rain where the committee has en dured head-on collisions with Hof fa 'and Fifth Amendment road blocks from his aides. It has been territory which,, ac cording to the testimony, has been infiltrated by gangsters and racketeers ranging from street corner thugs to crime overlords of New York, Detroit a id. C'hi-J even greater threat 4 than Beck charges that he "took, not bor rowed, more than $370,000 in un ion funds. The committee's' dismay over Beck's "uncontrollable . greed" soon gave way to uiger and shock nhout Hoffa, leading it to slate that Hoffa "presents an lieve Communism a better sys tem than Capitalism. "These young men would fight vigorously against U. S. inter vention. It would flatter their sense of a 'lost cause,' to die- ill equipped opposing a Marine in vasion. In short, they are pre pared to die fighting U. S. in tervention, to die screaming. Look, look, a second Hungary. "The echo of this scream would be Russia's reward, Commu nism's victory. Hope of coaxing India and the African world into our camp would be dimmed. In short, the Communist tactic in Cuba today appears to be a gambit to force U. S. intervention for world propaganda purposes." cago. . I The committee also has tracked through smaller but similar Ureas of nions including the Bakers. Butchers. Carpenters. Restaurant Workers. Operating Engineers, and others. . 1 And management's sinsi have been explored in case's where em ployers paid off corrupt ..union bosses, or worked with .union leaders for their mutual advan tage and to the detriment o their $l,fc0,iwo "in excess commissions workers. , and service fees." . Charges have involved ."dicta-1 In its March. 1958, intc-im re torships" reaching from local .to, port, the committee said "union international levels of several u'n-j funds in excess of 10 million dol ions: extortion of , money, from j lars were either stolen, ember. to the welfare of this country." Last week's report charged that Holfa "muneuered" use of three million dollars iir Teamsters in surance money to "pay off a lurgstanding debt to the Chicago umlerwoild n'ld to the corrupt la bor leader who introduced him to Midwest mod society,, Paul Dort man." The report suid the mon ey, paid to Dortiiian's son and wife oer eight years, included employers: brutality, from juiony mens threats to brass-knuckles beatingseand murder; graft, and collusion, including allegations that some union agents wo-ked with law enforcement officers to take over local vice operations. The latter sort of inquiry,' cen tering on Portland, Ore., started the committee on its way fearly in t957. But before long, the Port land sensations were drownetf out by the howling swan song, 'in a Fifth Amendment key, of Dave Beck, Hofln's predecessor as Teamsters president. 1 Union Funds Stolen Beck's downfall began after the committee traced through thou sands of financial transactions and came up with documented zled, or misused by union of.i cials over a period of ii jt..rs, for their own financial gain or the gam of their friends and as sociates.'' The committee's final total is still being tallied. Sen. Corbett Takes A Poke At Hatfield COItVALMS i UPI Demo cratic Slate Sen. Alfred H. Cor bett, Portland, took a poke at Gov. Ma-k Hatfield during a talk Wednesday night to the Benton County Democratic Central Com mittee here. Corbett, speaking mainly on the accomplishments of (he 1959 Leg islature, took time out to answer Hatfield's criticism of a- nronosal euiivAe.L.is uri wayne by the Ways and Means Commit Bodi. 20yeur-old polio crippled, tee that rentals charged state 20-Year-Old Gets 10 Year Sentence carpenter, was sentenced to 10 years in the State Penitentiary Wednesday for the death of a four-month-old girl. Bodi was convicted last week of having struck the infa it. Peggy Susan Smith, daughter of Clara Smith, 32-year-old mother of 10. The state contended the blow caused the baby's death. Arthur Biggs, attorney for Bodi. said he did not know whether the involuntary manslaughter convic tion would be appealed. '1 Mamie Is Visiting Her Ailing Mother DENVER .(LTD .-Mrs.' Mamtc Eisenhower, wife of the' President. frtt- ikii ,.,!ih t,- ,ii:- ..,,!,,... himself. Mrs. Elivera Doud, 81. I Mrs. Elsenhower's trip to Den-i ver by train was not a inounced until after her arrival. f i Mrs. Doud has been in pfoorl health recently and is confined to her home. She normally' sees only close friends. ' ; . agencies in state-owned, buildings be boosted. Corbett, chairman of the com mittee, said the governor's com ments were an "unnecessary and unjustified attack .... a typical Hatfield technique of using a blunderbuss to cover his own blun ders." The senator said more than $1110,000 in general fund sav ings were involved. , He said his Committee' had to "dig out the facts that ' Oregon was not charging rentals sufficient to cover full cost of maintenance in addition to interest and princi pal pay - outs on the current basis." He charged tTiat Hatfield slipped up while secretary of state xy not suggesting the needed increase Consoweld 4 Formica Beautiful, durable plastic covering that you can atily installl MILLER CABINET SHOP ...sit down to a real Western treat Hamburgers ... all YO' ' an eat! Made with the finest, best tastin' buns . . . real eatin' son! OVEN FRESH . . . tCL&bLLAD-C tJDodl Saluia To Hawaii ... Our 50th Stale fife mm fi son : Regular Sunday Piices 25c-35c-45c 1 r 1 V 1 Wios only ,0 Haw''n Pineapple i ufiLu Sunues on Fri., Sat., Sun., Aug. 14-16 HOSER'S -Dnmy .QUEEN Fiiih & Depci Triangle i