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About La Grande observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1959-1968 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 14, 1959)
THORN IN HER HAIR EDITORIAL PAGE IX GRANDE OBSERVER Monday, September 14, 1959 Without or with friend or foe, we print your daily world as it goes" Byron. RILEY D. ALLEN Publisher GRADY P ANN ELL ...Managing Editor GEORGE S. CHALLIS . Adv. Director TOM HUMES Circulation Mgr. PtTBMSHlCD BT THB UA GRANDS PUBLISHING COlfPAMT Whom Are We Trying To Convince? Most newspaper editors in the United States seem to think the Cold War is a debating: contest. ' This ia the conclusion we've reached after reading- editorials appearing in the American press on the eve of Krush ' chev's visit to this country. The most recent of these, and a prood example, is an article entitled "An Open Letter to Nikita Khrushchev" which appeared in the Oregonion's Parade magazine last Sunday. The editor of Parade attempted to explain briefly why he liked capitalist democracy better than communism. Whom are such editorials intended to convince? Do these men believe that the American people have so little faith in the free way of doing things that the country will fall into the throes of revolution, if they aren't constantly reminded of the virtues of America's free heritage? Perhaps the editors really lelipve that Khrushchev will take a kinder view of this country if he realizes how happy people are here. If so, they, are going to be disappointed. For the doctrinaire Communist sees the world through a dis torted lena. In free elections between contending candidates he sees the sinis ter machinations of Wall Street. In the strikes of free labor for better pay he sees the incipient revolt of the starved masses. And Khrushchev is a politician not hin dered by standards of "truth." If it serves the interests of world revolution as he sees them to continue telling un truthaabout the West, he will continue telling them. t " - - We rather fear, though, that the' real reason for this' rash of editorials prais ing the American .way is an attack of trepidation. For the West has not been doing well in international affairs in the last few years, and some people may fear that it will not survive. And so the press reassures us about the virtue of our cause, as if the fact of that virtue would protect us from disaster. ' It would be nice if this were true, but of course it ia not. For, as Gilbert has the Mikado say, "It's an unjust world, and virtue is triumphant only in the atrical performances." The Soviet challenge is not going to lx met by pious editorials declaiming the barbarity of the Soviet system. The Soviet challenge is going to be met by an enlightened and aggressive policy on the part of the West. What the press Ahould be doing, In stead of uttering platitudes, is assisting the West in formation and public accept ance of such an enlightened policy. Let Them Try To Fire Hoffa DREW PEARSON SAYS: Retired Officers Don't Fade-Just Get Offices (Editors note While Drew Pearson it on "work and play vacation," hit column it Ming written by hit data. Jack Anderson.) WASHINGTON Despite Gen Douglas MacArthur'i lament that old soldiers fade away, and Adm Arthur Radford's description of himself as a has-been, both men continue to haunt the defense establishment. MacArthur has been granted an army office and a military aide in New York City. At the same time, he is chairman of Sperry Hand wnicn received $423,700, 000 worth of defense contracts last year. Insiders say he fre quently participates in sales meetings and uses his prestige to help peodle Sperry Rand prod ucts. The navy thought enough of Radford to give him an. off ice and an aide, too, after he be came a has-been. Unlike Mac Arthur, whose five stars entitle him to free office space for life. Radford retired with only four stars. Yet the Navy generously pro vided him with accommodations among the procurement officers with whom he now deals as contractors representative. Not the least among his clients Is the I'hilco Corporation which did $71,500,000 worth of military business last year. Note; The Army also provides Gen. Omar Bradley, chairman of riulova Watch Co., with a Penta Ron office staffed by two en listed men and a civilian secre tary. The Air Force has set aside an office for Gen. Carl "Toohey" Spaatz, now a special writer for Newsweek. Like Radford, Spaatz retired with only four stars. Swing Strikes Out Essay on Shooting Straight Immigration Commissioner Joe Swing, who had his sights on $20,000 income from the Nation al Rifle Association but missed the bull's-eye, is silently fuming. He lost out to Frank Orth, one of the Army.s deputy assistant sec retaries. Earlier Swing manag cd to get himself appointed as a Rifle Association director with the help Of a subordinate in the immigration service, Harlan Car ter, who happened to be an in fluential member, of the Asso ciations executive board. Car ter also belonged to the five- man committee which selected the 20,000-a-year - executive vice president. It was a poorly kept secret that Swing wanted the job. While the" selection'-' committee was deliberating. Swing sudden ly promoted Carter from immi gration director at San Antonio to deputy commissioner of the ntire New England region. But this was supposed to lnflu ence the ruiemeni cnoice, u backfired. How to Strike Oil Roland Whealy has just returned to the Ashland Oil ana neuuins v.ui pany after a two-year lcayve of absence with the oil import ad ministration which sets oil im- nnrt auotas. He served as aa ministrator Matt Carson s right bower. Among the new compan let suddenly authorized to im port oil this year was Ashland oil and refining whose allocation was double that of any other new importer in its district. When Carter later announced a 6 per cent reduction in individual al locations, Ashland's quota went down only 3.8 per cent. A grato- ful company promoted Whealy to vice president upon his re turn. Rebellious Whrts ' For relief from the heat both seasonal and political, some sen ators' wives are threatening to revolt against summer sessions which keep their husbands swelt ering in Washington during the vacation period. Sen. Hubert Humphrey, the Democratic dynamo from Minne sota, reported on the Distaff re bellion the other day to Senate leader Lyndon Johnson. Hum phrey confessed that his own wife, who will end her vacation just as he begins his, is one cf the mutineers. He suggested congress ought to meet year-around with two months off in the summer. This should be practical at least in non-election years, he urged. 'The old-timers would never agree to it," Johnson shook his bead. . . "We're not old-timers," plead ed Humphrey. "Put it to a vote." Then, with a knowing twinkle, he added: "Better still, let the wives vote on it." Note: Ex-Sen. Bill Benton of Connecticut, the encyclopedia Britannica publisher, will report privately to Humphrey today on his summer cruise with Adlai Stevenson. Benton rented a yacht to take Stevenson and his sons cruising in the Mediterran ean. Mixing politics with pleas ure, Benton tried to persude Stevenson to bow out of the 1960 presidential race in favor of Humphrey. Nowt Bitt Cargill, the big Minneapolis grain company, helped prepare the arguments which the agricul ture department used on Capitol Hill against bartering more sur plus food for strategic miner als. -'This would cut into the profits of the companies which store our huge agriculture sur pluses. Among them is Cargill which last year collected, over $13,000,000 for storing surplus commodities . . Missouri's presi dential-minded Sen. Stu Syming ton -has brought Dick Schmidt, bright young Denver lawyer, to Washington- to dig into the farm surpluses for possible scandals He has already picked up one in vqstigator from the Senate rack ets committee . . . Parade mag azine's office has kept a file of all his past writings about Rus- ia . . . Secretary of Defense Mc- Elroy has. ruled that future satel REMEMBER WHEN Any who think James Hoffa may not be such a bad labor leader after all need only consider a recent report on his act ivities. It concerns the way he handles Teamster money. Big unions these days have large bank accounts. The dues money pours in, and when there isn't a heavy drain for strike benefits it piles up. Money is capital. It should be kept working. When it is work ing it earns interest. Thus one of the du ties of any union executive is to invest his union's reserve funds in a safe way and yet one that will earn a return for the union so that the cost to the mem bers, through dues, and assessments, can be kept at a minimum. The Detroit local run by Hoffa has had $100,000 deposited in a Florida bank and $125,000 in an Indianpolis bank for "sev eral years" it was found by the court appointed Monitors trying to protect the rank and file from Iloffa. The money was just deposited in checking accounts and drawing no interest. Under an edict from the Monitors, Iloffa grudgingly agreed to shift the money to bank ac counts that pay interest In recent years banks generally have been paying 2V4 per cent interest. At that rate this Idle Teamster money would have earned $39,875 in three years. Thus, by Inattention or otherwise, Hoffa cost the Detroit local nearly $40,000. In busi ness an executive with that much dis regard for the funds of his employers would be fired. Hoffa is employed by the members of the Teamsters union to han dle their affairs. Uut can they fire him? Just lot them try. Barbs Any mother with a flock of sons has darn hard work and also hard darn work. We'd rather see sumrrter just pass a long than burn itself out as it does in our forests.' An Ohio man reported a light bulb that burned for 10 years. He likely never got into the habit of reading in bed. "A penny for your thoughts" reminds us: what else can you buy for a penny? Houseflies don't seem to realize that human beings carry germs. Young girls like to keep company w ith promising young men if they promise enough. Sunday brings more auto accidents than any other day of the week. A day of rest for a long time. The average man speaks 11,900,000 words in a year. But the wife still gets in the last word. , . 25 years ago Huey Long the "Kingfish broke a louisi. ana political ring that had been forming against Aim. The Dixie politician scored a heavy victory at the polls. . .- Harvey Carter, part-time Cen tral and grade school boys' work supervisor, trudged back from a grueling ordeal 01 irying u shoot the rapids down the Grande Rondo River on a plan ned 10 day canoe trip to Portland via the Snake and Columbia Riv crs. Low water spots caused serious damage to his canoe af ter 75 miles of traversing the Grande Ronde. He started his junket at Rondowa but four days later had to call it quits. Miss Elizabeth Milne was olected Worthy Advisor of the Rainbow Order for Girls at La Grande. Other officers were Miss Muriel Webb, Jean Sturdevant, Mary Frees .and Genevieve Flex cr. At Enterprise, the Lions cele hraicd their fifth anniversary with Norman W. Frees, head oi the U Grande Lions, as guest speaker. President of the Lnt crprise club was Merrill Ruthcr ford. litea Twill be launched with Air Force missiles. The Army may be permitted to use its Jupiter missile for launchings already scheduled, but thereafter all satellites will be carried into space by the Air Force-developed Atlas, Titan or Thor missiles , From Havana, the American em bassy reports that the Commu rists have made new gains in Cuba, particularly in the labor movement Vet Secretary of State Herter has laid down the pc licy that the United States will offer .both friendship and eco nomic aid to Fidel Castro's gov eminent . . . American observers in revolt-racked Laos report that the Monsoons have added driving ins to the general confusion. They don't expect the weather to let up for another six weens . . Congressman Dale Alford, the Little Rock, Ark., segregationist, telephoned Governor Faubus to sk how he should vole on me Landrum-Griffin labor reform bill. Faubus advised him to vote gainst the bill. . . 15 years ago, the La Grande Junior Chamber of Commerce started regular newsletter to all local servicemen and women in the armed fo.xes. The local post of the VTW commanded by Glen John, boast cd a national percentage increase award from state headquarters World War II servicemen be ginning to join the vet organiza lion. Alan Mills, sub footballer at Iji Grande High school, wrote liis parents to inform them of his making the Peru Navy V-12 football team. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Mills. 1108 First Street His team had just played against the powerful 2nd Air Force Super Bombers at Siou tity, Iowa. - - NEWS BRIEFS PRESIDENT TAKES OATH BONN (UPI) Heiririch Lueh kc, a farm expert whose name was unknown three months ago to three Germans out of five, took the oath of office today as West Germany's second president. Luebke. a compromise candidate, was put up by the governing Christian Democratic Party after Chancellor Konrad Adenauer and Economics Minister Ludgwig Er hard the nation's leading politi cal figures decided they didn't w ant the job. DENY PLANE ATTACK JERUSALEM. (LTD Isrracli authorities have denied that fight er Dlanes of Israel's air force fired warning shots at an Egyp tian airliner in the Aqaba area The Israelis charged that the plane a British-made Viscount turboprop "violated Israeli air space" but was not interfered with because Israeli fighters iden tified it as a civilian plane. WELLES SUES CBS LOS ANGELES (UPD Actor- producer Orson Welles has filed a $425,000 damage suit against the Columbia Broadcasting Sys tem for using material from his Itoa radio show "The War Of The Worlds" in a television pro g-am. The 1938 broadcast of H O. 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