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About La Grande observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1959-1968 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 29, 1959)
Misnomer ISOLATION booth! Aw EDITORIAL PAGE LA GRANDE OBSERVER Thursday, October 29, 1959 "Without or with friend or foe, we print your daily world as it goes" Byron. RILEY ALLEN, publisher Grady Pannell, managing editor George Challis, advertising director Tom Humes, circulation manager Comes The 'Hot Stove' Season At least two entirely different topics in public opinion, discussion and debate will tend to generate interest in the coming wintry weather in La Grande when people move indoors for the "hot stove" season. ' The one topic is based on the juvenile problem, local discussion derived from the national level through the Parent Teachers Association. The other is political in nature and is under sponsorship of the I-a Grande Chamber of Commerce. Both are excellent types of entertain ment for adults; the former comprising a listening and participating audience of parents of school age children; the latter for the more politically-minded person. At least 100 persons attended a recent session at the local Junior High School under auspices of the school's ITA, and took up one phase of parent-juvenile dis cussion. The meeting was highly inter esting and enlightening and was so be cause of intelligent panel selection. The select body was composed of a judge, an insurance man, a teacher, a mother and four students. Main body of discussion centered around "teen-age drivers." Future meetings contemplated by the PTA will delve into additional young people's problems, a comparison on the national and local level. Iuck Hermann, president of the Junior High School PTA, and his committee are to be congratulated on their efforts to present current topics that are bound to interest all parents of school-age children. These meetings are well worth the attendance of all parents from throughout the La Grande area. Man Is Judged By The ' The producer of a major TV quiz show says he is stunned. His network is drop ping all quiz shows on the grounds that the public has lost confidence in them. He has done nothing wrong. His show is on the up-and-up. Yet he has to go off the air. ;This producer suffers from what is implied in the phrase, "guilt by associa tion." llshoncsty has been exposed in Borne quiz shows. Therefore all similar shows are suspected. This is unfair, but it happens all the time. A small percentage of the teen agers are delinquents. Yet other teen agers find themselves often treated as if they are at least potential delinqu ents. Some movies are unbelievably bad. Company He Keeps The whole movie industry suffers as a result. -An honest wrestler could claim he had never thrown a match,- but who would believe him? Men in public of fice somtimes find it difficult to cope with the old conception that politicians as a group are just in it for what they can graft or steal. Sen. McCarthy became adept at see ing guilt in those who merely associated with those known to be guilty. This took a queer twist when the senator's tactics became so discredited that some who were outspoken against the Red menace were accused of McCarthyism. Guilt by association is a bad thing but it is difficult, if not impossible, to avoid. Gunnar's Move A Smart One Pete Gunnar, Republican State Chair man who has come under fire from this and other quarters in recent months, has quit lobbying. Henceforth, while serving in his present non - paid job, Gunnar will not represent clients before the legislature or state boards or com missions. This is a wise move on Gunnar's part. The widespread knowledge that he was engaged in such activities made his own pronouncements suspect. He has re moved this possible stigma. Now, if he'll just start going after someone he has a chance to get, and drop some of his unfounded criticisms against Senator Neubergcr . . . Tljiis Area Not The Only One There are several areas of Oivgon in which the phony mutual benefit soci eties have been operating. These outfits have been attempting to sell insurance in this and other areas of the state, even though they are op crating in violation of an order issued by the state of Oregon. Pendleton residents, including a num ber of persons in the over-60 age group, have been bilked too, if a story in a recent edition of the East Oregoninn is any indication. Trouble is, with outfits like this, no sooner do you flatten them out a little than they come back with some new gimmick, and it takes the law a while to catch up with them. Barbs There's really more happiness in hav ing something to look forward to than in having everything you want. DREW PEARSON Wyoming Senator Blameless WASHINGTON Talking to Rev. Charles R. Jackson in Tulla homa, Tenn., the other day, I was told by him that the trouble with TV quiz programs is the tempta tion of program directors to play God. They ran make or break a contestant on the air, build up his ego or destroy it. The temptation to play God is not confined to TV producers. It sometimes influences judges, bur eaucrats, newspapermen. As a member of the latter profession. I sometimes make that mistake myself. Some time ago, I reported that Sen. Frank Barrett of Wyoming had got his fellow Republican. Sen. E. V. Robertson of Wyom ing, out of a tax case without ev en going to court. This I now find was in error. I have criticized tax-fixes and tax-pressures in the past. So have the Republicans. They even prosecuted Truman's assistant at torney general, Lamar Caudle, and Truman's White House sec retary. Matt Connelly, for alleg edly going easy on a St. Louis shoe manufacturer, Irving Sachs, even though Sachs was sent be fore a U. S. district judge who gave him a $40,000 fine and a suspended sentence. Robertson, former GOP sena tor from Wyoming, purchased a big Cody, Wyo., cattle ranch from his cousin for a relatively cheap price and then sold it to the Hunt Oil Co., owned by H. L. Hunt, famous Texas oilman. The sale was made by a complicated lease arrangement. Internal re venue agents investigating the transaction came up with the charge that Senator Robertson owed the treasury a considerable amount of money in penalties and back taxes. It was no ordinary tax case. However, it was com promised. Ex Senator Robertson had ap peared on the Senate floor to ask his former Republican colleagues i to help settle his case. It was my earlier information that he had. asked Senator Barrett to help! him and that the senator had done so. However, I now find that; I was wrong. And, in fairness to Senator Barrett, I take this opportunity of setting the record straight and offering in sin cere apologies. Note Senator Barrett has had a long career as a public ser vant as State Senator, governor, trustee of the University of Wyo ming, and V. S. senator. He has now taken the tough job of coun sel for the Department of Agri culture where he will have to deal with the problem of ever-mounting surpluses. Good luck to him in his new assignment. Alabama Tax Fixing On Jan. 12 and 13, 1!)59, this column reported "a strange in come tax case in Alabama indi rectly involving the brother of Gen. Wilton Persons, who has replaced Sherman Adams in the White House, which has been kil led by the Justice Department. "The ease.' I reported last January, "involved payoffs by northern liquor companies to two Alabama politicians, Jimmy Thro wer and Emory Solomon, close political cronies of Gordon Per sons, former governor of Alabama. "Most significant fact in the scandal is that the Treasury De partment officially recommended criminal prosecution. However, someone near the top intervened . Internal Revenue submitted the case to the Justice Depart ment on Dec. 15, 1957. For sev eral weeks backstage conferences ensued in Washington. Then on; March U. 1958, Joseph M. How ard, chief of the Justice Depart ment tax division's criminal sec tion, wrote a two-page letter to Internal Revenue refusing to pro secute the case. 'The regional office of Internal Revenue in Atlanta promptly pro tested. This made no difference. 'No prosecution' was the final word of the Justice Department." The columns of Jan. 12 and 13 then proceeded to outline the facts in the Alabama scandal. They reported that during Gover nor Persons regime $200,000 in cash and $500,000 in free liquor was collected from the liquor companies by the governor's co horts." Part of this was handled through Jimmy Thrower, ex may or of Dotham, Ala., whom Gov ernor Persons had appointed to the ABC liquor board; also through Emory Solomon, a leader of the Persons forces in the Ala bam legislature. 'Since the ABO liquor board can ban arbitrarily any brand of liquor from the state, I report ed, "the big liquor distributors not only flooded them (Persons' henchmen) with free liquor, but in this case paid political tributr through front men. "Jimmv Thrower, working with Governor Persons political hench men, proceeded to set up a net work of friends and relatives as company representatives.' For the most part their salaries were paid over to Thrower and Solo mon. Some checks were mailed direct to P.O. Box 236 in Dothan. the ex mayor's post office box.; SUPER-OUPERS LOW-LOW PRICES MILTON-FREEWATER. DELICIOUS POUND PL APPLE $ BOX WE GIVE m GREEN GTAM DS , mm CAULIFLOWER HEAD TEXAS RED EACH GRAPEFRUIT B0C LETTUCE POUND 15C COAST. CRISP CELERY Liquid Starch STA-FLO NEW! LIQUID ALL 7BC Qt. Size Treasure Valley Margarine 5 Jl00 WHITE HOUSE PEANUT BUTTER 68-Oz. COOKY JAR... $TI 59 PILLSBURY LOAF CAKE MIXES 8 $T1 oo PKGS. iU CHOCOLATE CHERRIES m Box . jIFFY 40-OZ. 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