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About La Grande observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1959-1968 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 30, 1959)
v"K!o Thanks, I'm a Man-Eater' , Nu stiMf, im. y EDITORIAL PAGE LA GRANDE OBSERVER Wednesday, December 30, 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 Date With Death Beckons A soul-searching question litis lieen asked by the Oregon Traffic Safety Divi sion. The department askfi: "Who will lie Oregon's first 19(50 traffic victim?" With the coming1 year beurinfr down on us at the speed of a recklessly driven, automobile, it is a good question to kick about for a moment or so. The Observer also' can ask n question along this line. It is: Will Eastern Oregon again rate high up in number of auto accident fatalities and will this area boast of the first, sec ond or third victim of the new year as it did in 1959? A Wallowa County man was Oregon's second traffic death with 1959 not two hours old at the time. far, this year, 13 motorists have been killed violently on Union and Wal-' Iowa' County roads. Seven of them died in Union County highway mishaps. Whoever the first Oregon victim is, whenever and wherever it happens, of ficials say it will pave the way for an expected death toll of more than 400 on the state's streets and highways. In ad dition, more than 17,000 persons prob ably will be injured and some will be permanently crippled. Hope For Co-Existence Held With Russia If it seems that Russia and the United States are too far apart ever to solve their differences, consider our relations with Spain, a country Ike visited re cently. During World War II Axis sub marines and planes found safe haven in Spanish territory. All free nations de plored the totalitarian government set up by Franco. But despite Spain's being on the black list 10 years ago, she is today a trusted ally of the West. U.S. naval and air bases are allowed in Spain. We have sent con siderable aid to .help the impoverished Spaniards. Relations between France and Spain are improving. Spain has been accepted as a member of the United Nations. We still don't approve of Spain's gov ernment, no more so than Russia's but we get along. Spain and the U.S. are on friendly, co-operative terms. It is conceivable that a similar relationship could be worked out with the Soviet. Mafia Gets First Strike Out A strange "Summit Conference" oc curred at a rural residence in Appnlachin, New York in 1957. Many of the big names of the underworld, some from for eign countries, gathered in the home (if the late Joseph BarlMira. Police Ix'came suspicious and raided the place. The lir time gamblers scattered and fled, liter ally, in all directions. The twenty or so who were caught were questioned, of course, as to why they were meeting. No one would talk. This conspiracy of silence led to some thing that none of the gangsters expect ed indictment on the charge to conceal the real purpose of their get-together. The case was carefully prepared by the Justice Department and was finally brought to trial. When the verdict came in the 20 delegates to the infamous con ference three years ago were convicted. This conviction is called by Attorney General William P. Rogers as "a land mark in the government's fight against organized crime and racketeers." SUU no one knows what the true pur pose of the meeting was. It is believed that the Mafia the oldest crime or ganization in the world was Miind the meeting and that the purpose was to divide up territories and perhaps divide the proceeds of various rackets, including those In organized labor. It is understan dable why none of the 20 avoided prose cution by talking. Punishment for 'talk ' er to rtjmttd 8Wif t- am' liUr in ' tlu Mafia. It may be that, now, facing prison terms, one among this group will be willing to tell at least a part of the story in exchange for a shorter prison term. I'.ut that is not likely. The Mafia is as strange and as sinister a thing as any of the fiction writers ever dreamed of. This is one of the few times that the organization has suffered a really seri ous setback at the hands of the law. Barbs 'A movie star claims she is the victim of typing. Ijke thd girl who spends years as a stenographer. DREW PEARSON SAYS; U. Congressmen Hurting gelations With Philippines MANILA. 1" I The Philipinos are our best friends in the Far Cast and we can be proud of the democracy we have helped build. But we seem to have an irresis lable proclivity for kicking our best friends in the scat of the pant;. This is especially true of con gressmen. They no sooner get olf their free government plane and check into their hotel, usually paid tor by the government, but they issue statements calculated to undercut the American-Philip pine alliance. The tactics of some "ugly" Am crican personnel in shutting themselves up in exclusive groups along Dewey Boulevard or in military reservations has the same effect. The Filipinos are patient peo ple. Despite the congressmen and the "ugly Americans" the al liance is still strong. The Filipi nos were taught for years to buy American products and they still do. They were taught to sneak hnglish and they are now the third-largest English speaking country in the world next after the United Kingdom with six English-language newspapers, on ly two in Tagalog and two in Spanish. The Philippines also have a lit eracy rate surpassed only by Japan and Taiwan, with a craving for education that sends colleges and night schools sprouting all over Manila. Within a few blocks of ancient University of Santo I nomas, founded in 1611, I saw the more recent East Asian Col lege, the Guzman School of Tech nology, the Filipino School of fashion, Far Eastern University. the University of The East, the Polytechnic Institute of the Phil ippines, and the Far Eastern Technical Institute. English is the language of in struction in all of them, which caused the correspondent of Mos cow's Izevestia, while touring the islands, to urged the Filipinos to give up English and go back to their "Beautiful" Tagalog native language." Moscow's Best Allies Izvestia's best allies in trvine to alienate Filipino affection re cently have been Congressman Phil Weaver, Nebraska Republi can, and Sen. Steve Young, Ohio Democrat. The former demand ed that American bases be mov ed to Thailand because of "thiev ery, looting, blackmail, extortion and assault" of American person nel "all Winked at or onenlv approved bv Derhan. th mui corrupt government in the world." Senator Young In turn an nounced that he had been forced to pay $25 for a room at the Ma nila Hotel and warned American tourists to stay away from the Philippines. I told Filinino newsmen h. queried me that Senator Young na a line record in Congress and doubtless had been suffering from a touch of the usual hue that kit. congressmen in the Philippines "headlinitis." The senator from Ohio had checked into the hotel on November 13 with Sens. Frank Mos3 of Utah and HnwarH r.n. non of Nevada, both Democrats, ; jon an alleged trip of reserve of- iiicrs. wnn Mem were IS Son. ate functionaries supposedly putting in their reserve training by a pleasant tour nf th p.. East at Uncle Sam s expense. , senator oune occunicH mon. 530 and his bill. No. 4436. show ed that he paid not $25 for his room, but 25 pesos, which is about $12. However, the hotel manager told me that when the senator paid his bill he wanted to exchange his dollars for pesos at the black market rate which would have made his room ahn.n $6. Black marketing is a criminal ottense and the hotel manager refused. So the senator then warned When some TV personalities take a vacation it gives us a chance to have a nice one, too. Your chances for safety are better in an auto that won't start than In one that won't stop at the proper time. One of the saddest things about long arguments is the way they shorten mar ried life. When we think of Santa having only Jack Frost as a pal, aren't we forgetting Tom and Jerry? When there's plenty of snow, look out for those hit and run kids. Snowballs lnifV . . ... - '. . tourists not to come to ManOi. When 1 told Filipinos that Sena tor Young has had a good rec ord, they expressed the hope that he would get over his touch of "headlinitis" soon. Theft and Poverty Up at Clark Field, chief U. S. air base in the Philippines, I found there had been theft from both the government and Ameri can personnel. But you have to remember that for some years we encouraged the Filipinos to steal from -Japanese bases, so stealing from military bases to some has become an accepted profession. On the other hand there have been 27 Filipinos shot and killed by U.S. guards during this series of lootings, which has made the local population just as indignant as Congressman Weav er. Philippine law does not sane tion the killing of a thief. You also have to remember that when you put wealth along side of extreme poverty you are buund to have trouble. One shelf of goods in the Clark Field. PX would feed a neighboring Fili pino family for months. Poverty is such that Filipinos dig fox holes on the Crow Valley bomb ing range to get scraps of shells after they explode. One man was killed and another had a leg blasted off waiting for the bombs to drop. Yet they sell the scrap for only 37 cents. When the Filipino who had lost his leg was asked why he had hid on the bombing range at the risk of death for only 37 cents, he replied: "It's better than starv ing." Shortly before I visited Clark Field, however, all thievery had stopped. The Philippine govern ment had sent extra members of the Philippine constabulary plus 12 horses to patrol the 27 miles of fence around Clark Field. This was partly necessary because budget cuts in Washington had eliminated 300 American guards this year. Despite past theft and some friction, however, American mili tary relations with the Filipinos on the whole are excellent. For the Philippine people have a gen uine, deep-rotted affection for Americans which not even visit ing Congressmen so far have been able to squelch. - ' v r mm yivyv mm ... . , "you say we were dancing on the deikt?" Photofun - Some Holiday Foolishness "Good King Wencertaui looked out . . ." "Humph.' We sent them to her last year." Russia Never Had It So Good As During Past Year LONDON L'PI) The year 1959, was one of "hard shocks and unpleasant surprises" for the West, but not so for the Kremlin with three space rockets and Nik ita Khrushchev's visit to America, Radio Moscow said Sunday. Commentator Viktor, Shradgin, in a summary of the events of the year; declared "Three Soviet space rockets launched to the tun and the moon have firmly en dorsed the superiority of. Soviet science and technology in the conquest of outer space." He told home service listeners:. "For the capitalist West, which quite recently smiled skeptically and sniffed scornfully, the year of 1959 has been a year of hard shocks and unpleasant surprises. "It has realized that it has been overtaken and has been com pelled to admit it's lagging." Shradgin termed 1959 "A year of great bnwnKS,-brlght4Mpet and good sowings." He said Khrushchev'i visit to the United States had "opened the path for a whole series of con ferences of heads of governments of East and West." EXPLORERS RESUME TRECK CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand UPI) Sixteen Soviet Antarctic explorers who spent three days at the American station at the South Pole resumed their trek Tuesday. The group was headed for the Russian "Vostok" station, 762 miles north of the pole., REMEMBER WHEN . . 25 years ago. Max Baer, king of the heavyweights, scored knockout against King Levin- sky in the second round of a heavyweight fight. The blow put the "King" a way for five min utes. A former Cove man. Dean Smith, was identified as the famed flier who discovered four survivors of a plane crash in the Adirondack of New York state. Smith was a member of Admiral Byrd's first trip into the Antarctic. . . 15 years ago. 13 local boys enlisted in naval service from here. They were Robert H. Carey, Sherman Shinsel, I.uciin Whealy. Robert Shepherd, Erwin Carpen ter. Peter Russell, William Bailie, Richard Weigel. Donald Baker, ,!ohn Beeson. Meivin Keltt John Marrs and W. G. Bailey. Jr. Tribute was paid to the two sons of Mr. and Mrs. L. U Mar tin. 1305 N Ave., Capt. Patrick A. Martin, 22, serving with the Air Force as a B-17 pilot in Eng land, and Ensign Howard E. Mar tin, 20, U. S. Merchant Marines. Both were students at Eastern Oregon College when they enter ed ten ice. . .. bsdirveir Classified Ads g- Quick Cash Results i. Use 'em lo sell things that you no longer need. Use 'em to buy things' you do need at prices that save you money. Use the phone to call in your ad An Ad-Taker will be happy to help you word your ad. Use the 'Bargain Rate' 6 Days for Cost of 4 AJIY TRIE IS THE RIGHT TEIE TO REACH FOR RESULTS! Classified Ads Are - - -as near as your telephone. You'll find the results are just like finding the Gash! Call WO 3-3161 For Classified Ads