We'ye Cut Out All the Frills"
DREW PEARSON SAYSi
EDITORIAL PAGE
LA GRANDE OBSERVER
Tuesday, November 24, 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
Continued Strife Hurts Public
A most extraordinary event is happen
ing in Portland. Two rival newspapers
have suddenly merged and are publish
ing a joint newspaper.
It is not, we hope, a peramanent
arrangement. ,
Portland at one time had four dailies
then three; then two and now one. The
Oregonian is owned by a wealthy chain
of newspapers. The Journal is on its
own. The figures released monthly by
the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Asso
ciation indicate that the Journal has
been doing a great deal less business
than the rival morning paer. If the
strike crisis is a threat to the two
newspaper situation, there is no doubt
which paper is threatened.
The stereotyper's union represents
less than 5 of the total employes of
the plant But the other crafts elected
to respect the picket lines despite their
own contracts. That is customary. A
picket line takes precedence over a con
tract "do unto others" basis. Unions
respect other union's picket lines because
they want their own respected when they
strike.
This same thing happened in New
York recently. One. of the smallest
unions with which the papers dealt
struck and then everyone walked out.
The New York papers didn't attempt to
publish and the city was left without
local newspapers for a prolonged period.
The result was a tremendous hue and
cry about one small, and possibly irre
sponsible group, having the power to cut
off anything so vital to the big city's
everyday existence as its newspapers.
Hut the exercise of such power is still
legal. The Portland situation proves it.
The publishers in Portland, however, de
cided on the drastic measure of trying to
published without the help of unionized
employes. . ,
The issues are similar to those in the
steel strike not money so much as
whether management shall have freedom
to manage. At present four stereotypers
must be employed to operate a plate
casting machine. A new and improved
machine has made' its appearance on the
market. One man only is required to run
it. The union insists that it, not manage
ment, shall decide how many men shall
opete the machine, even though man
agement agrees that no one - jhalT Jose
their job on account of it. '
A itereotyper can take a day off
anytime he feels like it, even though the
man that may be hired to take his place
has. to be paid overtime. This is true
when he is on vacation and when he takes
sick leave, too. Management says this
is unfair and wrong. The picket line says
it's right.
Here, then, are the basic issues
causing the longest steel strike in history
and threatening a disastrous railroad
strike or seizure by the government
under Taft-Hartley as Pres. Truman did.
Organized labor tenaciously hangs on to
work rules that have come to be accept
ed as standard practice. Management,
beleaguered and bewildered by ever
rising operating expenses, tries to cut
back costs and regain the privilege to
manage efficiently.
When only wages and hours are in
volved in a dispute, the merits of the
stands taken by two opposing sides can
be evaluated without too much difficulty.
J Uit, who can qualify themselves to deter
mine wether a steel mill should use labor
saving machinery or for a newspaper
to say how many men it takes to man a
machine?
It is hardly practical or possible for
those on the sidelines to pass judgment
on a specific issue on any of these
matters; the basic issue, however
management's right to manage emerges
more clearly with each additional dispute
involving "work rules." Management de
plores the fact tha't they ever let them
get into contracts in the first place.
P.ut what was sowed long ago will
reap consequences felt far afield. We
hope none of them will be destructive to
the existence or independence of Port
land's last home owned newspaper.
Giveaway TV Shows Grow
Into Business Enterprises
WASHINGTON Harris com
mittee investigators have been
poking inquisitive noses into one
of the most fascinating and mys
terious sidelines of television
he giveaway shows.
Congress eould probably spend
weeks delving into this aspect of
the TV networks and then not
reach all the ramifications of how
the millions of dollars worth of
Iree TV sets, refrigerators, mink
coats, airplane tickets, bridal cos
tumes are collected and who pro
fits most from their collection.
Inside fact is that the collect
ing and dispersal of TV giveaways
has become a multimillion-dollar
business though it may not be
when the Harris committee fin
ishes probing it. The man who
collects the giveaways usually al
so collects a fee of $50 to $100 a
week from the company whose
product is given away on some
body else's TV show. Usually he
also collects three or four extra
TV sets or mink coats or refrig
erators in addition to the one
that's given away. He sella these.
All this is the pay-off by the
manufacturer for sneaking a free
plug onto a TV show that
another sponsor pays for. In a
sense he gets a free advertising
ride; actually he pays fairly
well for it.
Here is the inside case his
tory of how the giveaway business
operates:
The bigger giveaways all have
their companies which front for
them in collecting merchandise,
Treasure Hunt
The "Treasure Hunt" produced
by Jan Tone Productions, Jan
Murray producer, has as its front
company for collecting "loot
Ceilward Enterprises.
Another well-known giveaway,
now off the air, was "The Big
Pay Off," produced by Walt Fra
mer and sponsored by Colgate
Palmolive on CBS. Its front for
collecting giveaways was Spot
light Promotions.
Framer, one of the most fam
ous in the giveaway business, has
made it pay off big. He has a
mansion on Long Island, partly
furnished with surplus giveaways,
and is reputed to have made two
to three million dollars in the
past seven years.
One technique used by some
giveaway programs is to collect
a weekly budget from the spon
sor to pay for giveaway prizes.
then turn around and charge the
manufacturer of the prizes a
weekly fee for plugging the firm
onthc air. . Many of the. give
away merchandisers collect so
much extra loot that periodical
ly they sell off a whole ware
housefull to discount dealers.'
In some cases also, it's careful
ly arranged that the top prizes
will go to a friend or inside man.
Then he turns the giveaways back
to the warehouse to be used over
again.
No Sid Payments
Walt Framer, when queried as
to how he operated, denied that
he had ever used any prize loot
for himself. "As a busy produc
er," he said. "I used promotion
firms which specialized in col
lecting prizes."
"Was Spotlight Promotions the
firm you used?"
Yes, we used Spotlight Promo-
10ns. we used several firms,
ie said cheerily. "This was a
legitimate promotion firm. It
serviced the 'Big Pay-off for
years."
'But you owned Spotlight Pro
motions."
No, it was just one of the
several firms we used."
Did you accept any side pay
ments either in cash or in mer
chandise from the manufacturers
whose products you plugged as
prizes?"
"Never at any time."
Careful checking of Walt Fra-
mcr's denial showed that it was
true he personally did not own
Polish Relations Neither Fish Nor Fowl
Secrnrorv nf Commerce Frederick 11.
Mueller is leading a U.S. delegation to
Poland on a 10-day visit. Although the
delegation will do no formal negotiating,
it is expected to exchange views with
Polish officials on items of mutual con-,
cern. The trip is seen as a move by the
Administration to reaffirm the goodwill
inspired by Vice President Nixon's brief
stop-over in Poland last summer.
It is certain that U.S.-Polish commer
cial relations will be a chief subject of
discussion bv the Mueller-led delegation.
Of the 113 million dollars worth of
U.S. goods, mostly grain, exported to
the Soviet bloc countries in 1958, a total
of 105 'million dollars went to Poland;
nearly 30 million dollars, df a total of
(W million dollars imported from the
Niviet bloc last year, came trom roland.
Hie preponderance of U.S. trade with
the Soviet bloc continues to favor Poland
but the total value of goods and credits
provided Poland this year is expected
to be smaller than either of the last two
years.
The principal -reason for U.S. un
willingness to make a larger credit-and-sale
arrangement has been failure of the
Poles to make a satisfactory settlement
on the claims of American citizens and
companies for property lost as a result
of Poland's nationalization program.
It's fine for a wife to wear an apron
if her hubby isn't tied to its strings.
Spotlight Promotions. It was set
up in the name of his children
and operated by his brother Mer
vin. One of Framer's associates long
connected with his giveaway pro
grams confirmed that fees were
collected on the side for plugging
the products offered as prizes,
t'sually the fee was $30 a week
in cash, plus the prize. All the
"loot" for Kramer's shows was
collected through Spotlight Pro
motions. Another of Framer's as
sociates told how he collected so
many refrigerators, stoves, etc.,
that sometimes he would have a
big sale of appliances.
Thus operate the giveaways on
television. No wonder such mer
chandise middlemen as Norman
King have managed to acquire
several apartment houses, a coun
try home, and a small factory.
And they have operated right
under the noses of TV network
executives who either must be
extremely naive or else close
their eyes to the public's gullibil
ity that it is getting its full share
of the giveaways, plus the spon
sors' gullibility in paying for
valuable network time supposed
to be used exclusively for spon
sors.
Washington Pipeline
Senator Stennis of Mississippi
has ordered an investigation in
to mismanagement of the nation's
reserve officer program. Stennis
is upset over the way the armed
services arbitrarily discharge re
servists every lime there is a
budget cut. Because of this he
OBITS
United Press International
SPRING CITY, Tenn. l'PI'
Dr John R. Neal. M unnnscl
for the defense in the 1925 scopes
monkey inai, aieo Alonoay oi
pneumonia.
PINE ORCHARD. Conn. il'PI'
Dr. Albert R. Lamb. 78. profes
sor emeritus of clinical medicine
at Columbia University died Sun
day at his home here.
BRADLEY BEACH, N.J. L'PI'
Sol J. Levy, 62, an engineer and
inventor died Monday at Fitkin
Memorial Hospital, Neptune, N J .
after a long illness.
expects over half of the Army's
40,000 reserve officers to resign
or Tetire within the next five
years . . . Vice Adm. Ruthven
Libby, commander of the First
Fleet, is getting called on the
carpet for criticizing the head of
the Air Force, Gen. Tom White.
Admiril Libby bluntly declared
he 'couldn't believe anyone
would take seriously the proposal
of General White to consolidate
all strategic missiles under one
command. The admiral failed to
clear his speech . . . Philippines
delegate Leon Maria Guerrero
has been quietly pulled out of
the United Nations following his
luncheon quarrel with U.S. dele
gate Walter Robertson. Guerrero
made some critical remarks about
American imperialism which
caused Robertson to flare up. As
a result of the incident, Guerrero
has now been ordered by his
government to London suppos
edly to attend a sugar conference
though he's no expert on sugar.
Americans
Wed Younger.
WASHINGTON UPI -Americans
are marryina vounger in life
than they did in the gay 90 s. AndJ
the age gap also is narrowing. ,
The Census Bureau says that
general prosperity, greater job se
curity and wider practice of birth
control account for the drop in
REMEMBER WHEN
... 25 vnr acrA th Union
County Relief Committee, headed
by J. H. Peare. was in the "butch
ering business" because pf a
change in government relief plans.
Peare said that at first Uncle
Sam would purchase hogs out of
the area, butcher them and ship
them here. The government de
cided, however, to buy area hogs
and let the local committee pro
cess the meat for relief purposes.
Fires over the first nine months
cost La Grande $17,733, but this
was considered an exceptionally
low figure over the national average.
... IS years ago, the La Grande
Tigers walloped Roosevelt High
of Portland 33-7 before 2,000 local
fans who braved snow and rain.
The locals, unbeaten in season
play, thus qualified for the right
to meet Mcdford in the state prep
final championship football game.
Bob Carey and Forest Marshall
sparked the victory.
Special tribute was paid to
William Graydon, 22, son of Mr.
and Mrs. Lawrence Vaughn, Union,
who was serving aboard a warship
in Pacific. He was a member of
invading units at bloody Tarawa.
the average age of brides and
bridegrooms.
The bureau laid the median
age for men at their first mar
riage dropped from 28.1 years in
1890 to 22.3 years in 1959. For
women, the median age declined
from 22.0 in 1890 to 20.2 this year.
Partly as a result of this trend,
the percentage of bachelors and
old maids also has been declining
steadily, the government said.
In 1890, half of the males over
14 years old were married. In
1959, seven out of 10 in this age
group were married. The ratio
of married women changed from
one out of two to two out of three
during the same 60-year period.
The report said the average
bridegroom was about four years
older than his wife at the turn of
the century but only has a two
year seniority these days.
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QUOTES IN
THE NEWS
United Press International
BOSTON. -Mass. Richard Car
dinal Cushing on Cuban Trime
Minister Fidel Castro:
"Fidel Castro, they say, is not
a Communist. Well, when I see
a bird thnt waddles like a duck
and looks like a duck, I know
he's a duck."
BOREHAM WOOD, England
Scoutmaster Jack Olden after he
discovered the slide viewers given
to his troop at a party contained
mule pin-up pictures instead ol
animal life studies:
"It was a dreadful mistake."
NEW YORK British Field
Marshal Montgomery on generals
becoming politicians:
"Generally- speaking. I would
say that generals are not trained
for politics. . .when generals go
into politics. I think they find it
a pretty rough game."
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Mrs. A. T
Gibb.i, S3, on her Intention to
clamp down on the tobacco-chew,
ing habits of her new SOyear-old
husband.
"He's not going to spit all over
the house."
"WH0-WH0"
Nearly Every One In La Grande &
Union County Reads & Uses Ob
server Classified Ads . . . Thai's Who!
"WHAT"...
The
It's Results That Tell The Story. More People
Read The Ads Than Ever Before And More
People Bay What Is Advertised
"WHEftL
Every Time A Prospect. Picks Up The Paper
He Is Exposed To YourjjSales Message.. And
It Works.
"WHERE"...
3-3161
RESULT Number
Observer Classified Ads, 01 Coarse,
And Ask For The BARGAIN RATE
4
DAYS FOR THE PRICE OF
2 Lines for 6 Days Cost Only $1.50
Cash Or Disconnl Rate, If Paid In 5 Days ... And Yon May Kill
The Ad When Yon Get Results, Paying Only For. The Days Hun.