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About The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 27, 1994)
FACE FOUR Tli OREGON STATESMAN. Salem, Oregon, Wednesday Morning. February 27. 1948 PWmt tatesmau "No Favor Swayg Ut; No Fear Shall Awt" From First Statesman, March 28, 1851 1 T1IE STATESMAN PUBLISHING COMPANY CHARLS K. SPRAGUE, Editor and Publisher Member of the Associated Press Tht Associated Press la exclusively entitled to the use for publication of all new dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in this, newspaper. NEWVWE-PRlCEfmwM. VICTOR. Knotty QiH'fttion The supreme court's -outright repudiation of military tribunals in Hawaii, so far as civilians and civilian lavs are concerned, is an encourag ing answer to persons who have expressed fear of the encroachment of arbitrary military pow er. The decision, even though split 6 to 2, should settle for some time another of the knotty ques tions of legality which confronted the nation immediately after Pearl Harbor. But its ramifi cations are widespread and its results perturb ing What of the 11. 500.000 collected in fines and revenue by the military courts on Oahu? What of the 400 civilians who served jail terms under military sentence? And, far more important, what means of coordinating military and civil- . Ian judiciaries, whose duties might come in conflict: can be provided in the event of an other similar or even greater emergency, when time might be of the essence more than ever before It has become t apparent that a good many actions taken since Dec. 7. 19,41, had no clear cut status. After this latest decision, it seems time to re-evaluate the propriety of what may be termed law by sufferance. If. in retrospect, it is found that extralegal operations were vital to the continued sovereignty of this nation and not motivated by a hysteria of desperation it appears some way should be found to permit well-thought-out action, in sudden emergencies, within our democratic processes. This is dangerous ground to trod, but so is Indecisivtriess in time of stress. Portions of Justice Black's majority opinion are we'll worth quoting: "Legislatures and chjH are not merely cherished American government institutions; they are inriisptsnsable to our government. Mili tary tribunals have no such standing. We believe that when congress passed the Ha'A-aiibn organic act and authorized the es tablishment of 'martial law,' it had in mind and did mt wih to em-eed the boundaries be tween military and civilian power, in which our people have always believed, which re sponsible military and executive officers had heded. and which havd become part 'of our the time congress passed the organic act. "The phiase martial law,' a employed in that at, therefore, while intended to authorize the military to act vigorously for the maintenance 01 mi ui mil Kvri iimriii anu lui inr dWriKe of the island against actual or threat ened retellin or invasion, was not intended to aulhoiie the supplanting of courts by mili tary tribunal." Justice Stone, concurring, assailed the "usur pation of civil power by the military,; and Justice Murphy declared that to back away from the "open court" rule would "open the door -to mmpant militarism and the glorifica tion of war " The minority opinion of Justice Burton men tion. the "dangers of over-expansion of judic ial control into the fields allotted by the con stitution to agencies of legislative and execu tive action. His colleague and joint dissenter. Justice Frankfurter, said only that defense measure "had to be taken on the basis that .anything could happen" in Hawaii in 1941 and '1942 No part of the supreme court's opinion would give cause for any new worry that America is deviating from the democratic line. But there Is no room for smugness. Little wbs said publicly at the time, but if is a known fact that persons in comparatively li'iiih nieces were thinking seriously of invoking martial law and instituting military courts in parts of the western defense command in 1942. What should or will happen in case there is 'next time'! leading or Following? Giving Stalin a new title as commander-on-chief of the armed forces of Russia can t make much difference in the over-all, picture, but the announcement of the unification of all Red military services may be significant. The Sov iets have followed the course this nation has txen debating for months ruit j waa in ii'inwiaiiu vi nicr ai iiij nf air" force, arid he was head of the defense cornnutte- to which the navy commisjar was Editorial Comment OCR BROTHER S KEEPER Outcrie in congress and elsewhere against the prpotlt 'to feed the American people dark bread in orderto make more wheat available for ship . ment abroad are shocking to anyone with a sense of proportion, to say nothing of decency. The contrast between the well-being of the Amer ican people and those of most of the rest of the wwld is simply terrific. Even a normally prosper ous country like Britain is on a more restricted diet than at,ny time during the war. The average diet In western and central Europe is far below the minimum considered necessary for health. In other ections of the world conditions are even worse Million will starve in India, where crops have failed, and in China. In fact outside the United States half of the world's population is get ' tin less than a reasonable food diet. In view of this indisputable condition now any one in this country can object to the very slight sacrifice . asked of us to relieve this suffering is diffV-ult to understand It must be due to ignor ance of the condition, and that can be due only to refusal to think about it. The rest of the world is judging American con duct in the light of previous American professions and is finding the two miles apart. And there may he a day of reckoning if we don't mend our atti tude. The real criticism merited by the Truman admin istration is not that it is trying to do something bout starvation1 now. but that it waited so long before acting when the condition was known months to be feitain to develop before the 1946 har vwl R&kcr Democrat-Herald. I: SZl i lit Vh responsible. So it is difficult to see how his own personality can be much more effective than it has been, militarily. The announcement as printed in the govern ment newspaper Izvestia won't salve pur own navy which has been opposing a merger of the armed forces in this country. Izvestia does not mention the Russia navy, says only that "the Soviet people - - - will be doing every thing in order that the Red army does not stay behind any army of any country - - - .' It goes on to say that the USSR "will improve and develop to the dread of the enemies of our people and the cause of peace in the entire world." It will be interesting to see what capital of the Red move will be made by proponents and opponents of similar unification in this country. President Truman, within a few minutes after the announcement in Moscow, was asked wheth er the Russian action 'had any bearing on the merger proposal here. He was quoted as reply ing: Why should it? We will tend to our own business and they will tend to theirs. That's all very well to say but neither nation is weiring blinders. Behind the News By PAUL MALLON (Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc. Re production in whole or in part strictly prohibited.) WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 The Truman-Bowles "nut cracker" economic control plan proposes that wages be increased 30 per cent or more over pre war, but that price increases be allowed only to permit business a pre-war profit, as I explained in my last column, promising to answer today the question: Will it work? ' I do not believe it will or can. I think someone sold Mr. Truman a destructive bill of economic goods, and I will tell you why: Something must give in this kind of a nut cracker. Business- will not, and cannot be expected to operate with dollar earnings limited to pre-war, (Because the dollar had a much higher value in purchasing power then.) while labor and the rest of the economic world lives In the current era of rl Mallea the inflated dollar and its de preciated purchasing power. My Information from the inside suggests the administration thinks business can change its books and values around so it can survive and will be willing to produce. The administration also may point out that the limitation of profits to pre-war levels will affect only the industries which cannot absorb the 15 to 20 per Cent proposed wage in crease without increasing their prices, and there fore not many may be affected. Would Hqueexe Production Generally This does not make sense. A super-mathemeticlan might be required to spend a few months finding out how each individual business "Would fare under this proposition, but the general condition is quite apparent. Only the richest industries could possibly take this IS 20 per cent wage hike, atop the 15 per cent of the little steel formula, and all the labor cost boosts effected during the war (vaca tions, portal to-porta I, reclassifications,) and the increased cost of materials, including basic steel which is up $5 a ton I say few businesses could absorb all this increased cost without doing some thing about it, if any could. The nut cracker then must eventually squeeze production generally, j What will producers do? If they cannot, increase prices, they will be compelled to allow the quality of their production to deteriorate. They will use ' inferior materials, which cost less The deteriora tion in the quality of both goods and services which developed during the war will continue. This, of ., course, is a secret price increase and a further decline in the purchasing power of the dollar be cause the consumer gets less and .less for his money. They may do other similar deteriorating things. But who will want stock in a company which measures profits in pre-war dollars j (now worth a fraction of their former purchasing power,) and which is limited to earning that same amount of dollars, while individual earners are allowed to take In more and more dollars because of Infla- tion? No wonder the highly inflated stock market nosedived at the news. Its people fathomed the proposal better than the public. These factors I have cited would be destructive to production. 'Then, what should we do? Should we rush the other way and follow the advice of the big busi ness organizations which want all price controls removed? This would get production, which Mr. Truman says we so vitally, need, while the Bowles program would not, in my opinion. But it might also, as Bowles says, cause a short boom and then j depression. Certainly it would fall as soon as pro duction is obtained. In non-competitive industries, price might be arbitrarily maintained. What would seem logical, sound and fair would be the substitution of an orderly, non-social, non revolutionary government control program to cush ion, but not specifically control, every item in the reconversion period. Congress can kill the project to limit business to pre-war dollars and profits. Simple Controls Could Be Continued This would eliminate the suicidal quality of the program. Simple general controls over prices and materials distribution could be continued during the shortage, period to prevent chaotic fluctuations in important lines. A price increase policy could be followed to encourage production in certain needed lines. The proper principle for management of prices is universal justice, not these political argu ments, social revolution, absorption of business, etc. ' This alternative would no doubt cause some fur ther inflation, but Mr. Truman has only himself to blame. He called for his wage increases at the wrong time economically. This time was logical politically .The unions, wanted to keep their war time earnings. But the fight time economically would have been the coming moment when busi ness starts to lag, when purchasing power is threat ened, and needs stimulation. He pushed the wage increases when inflation had already gone too far from sound values (witness the stock market and every other mavket.) and when purchasing power was already too large for the amount of good available. ; Vvvp i don't know who Hilliliill , W0N.MR PRESIDENT, BUT W M T A PRE GOOD IKAl B0WU5 JEFN Pbuftf4 a? Klu rtra SvaJWa as vtta tm wmmin mm He Just Pays and Pays and Pays County Employees Retirement Data Gathering Nears Finish Gathering of retirement data for Marion county employees has almost been completed for submission under the new state law to the public employees' retirement system, the county court announced Tuesday. The information will allow the state to advise the county what the actual cost of the program will be both to the county and to the individual employes i ; Salem Elks to Observe 50th Anniversary Fifteen hundred Elks from Tho Literary Guidopost By W. G. Sogers CRITICAL BEMABKS ON THE ME TAPHYSICAL POSTS: AN IN TKRLUDC, fcr Imtl Jebasea u4 Herace ir(y, wit poetry by CMvsUae. tewley, Dans sn4 It Um Srswiart r Reewli (OeMest EsgW rrtu). This is the happy combination, menaced in these times of mass production of books selling for $ I, or f or ' 49 cents, or even a quarter," of superb text, excellent art, paper, type and general de sign. In his forword Gregory re minds us that Johnson's sonor ous strictures on the "metaphys ical" poets applied more accur ately tojCd'wley than to Donne, who after all has reached a wide audience even now. at least with the sentence: "Any man's death diminishes me, because I am in volved in mankind; and there fore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee." Much as I respect the contem porary poet who did the fore word, arid enoy Roesch's ab stract, perhaps even metaphys ical "illuminations" as Gregory describes them, of the text, I relish most of all the full-bodied sevor, the strength, the remark able solidity of Johnson's prose, nd wonder why we do not write anything to compare with it to day. J MUSIC TMKOI'GH THK ACiKtt. ay Mirtoi Bauer mm Kthel Pyer (Ptaara'; $). Published first in 1932, this "completely revised" edition, more than 000 pages long, is an admirable digest of information as much up to date as is pos sible in a book printed this year. The authors .are broad-minded and alert, .they are interested in anything new and expect you to be, and they .think Kern Rodg ers, Hart, Romberg, Goldman, Sousa belong, in a book or? ser ious music. , ntEMH AT SIGHT, by Alexander U4 (CrawtU; $IM). Here in 100 pages is probably the smartest, certainly the most entertaining, elementary lang uage book I ever saw, not even excluding L one I once wrote. Code uses pictures instead of English; you learn French much as you learn your native tongue when you're a child. It's too much to hope, I suppose, that schools will adopt It I U U U I i V u 11 n It hi rnrorrrra (Continued from page 1) though operating with new methods, reflects the historic aims of Imperial Russia. " So much for Soviet Russia as an example of a wrong solution of the perplexing problem of our tfme: . The economic organi zation of society. But where do the Yogi and the Commissar of Koes tier's title come in? The two chapters under that title, one at the front and the other at the back, are Koestler's philosophic explanation of the 3 dilemma in which man struggles. Imagine a sociological spectro scope: "On one end of the spectrum, obviously the infra-red end, we "see the Commissar. The Com missar believes in Change from Without. He believes that all the pests of humanity .... can and will be cured by revolution, that is, by a radical reorganization of the system of production and distribution of goods: that this end justifies the us of all means, including violence, ruse, treachery and poison This end of the spectrum has the lowest frequency of vibra tions and is, in a way, the coarsest component of the beam; but it conveys the maximum amount of heat. "On the other end of the spec trum, where the waves become s short and of such high fre quency that the eye no longer sees them, colorless, warmthless but all-penetrating, crouches the Yogi, melting away in the ultra violet. He believes that the end is unpredictable and that the means alone count. He rejects violence 'under air circum stances. He believes that logical reasoning loses its .compass value as the mind approaches the magnetic pole -of Truth or the Absolute, which alone mat ters. . . . The real issue remains between the Yogi and the Com missar, between the .fundamen tal conceptions of Change from Without and Change from With in " I do not have space to quote or paraphrase Koestler's analy sis of the conflict between de terminism (destmy) and free dom (volition). It is significant that both Hayek and Pal any I and Koestier devote much at tention to the problem which i inherent in framing a successful solution of the problem of so cial and economic organization. Koestier alone ventures boldly into the field of philosophy and science to reconcile the two which were at one time the sub ject of grave theological dispu tation. Koestler's solution is this: ' "Neither the saint nor the revolutionary (the Yogi or the Commissar) can save us; only the synthesis ofythe two. Wheth er we are capable of achieving it I do not know. But if the answer is in the negative, there seems to be no reasonable hope of preventing the destruction of European civilization, either by total war's successor. Absolute War, or by Byzantine conquest -within the next few decades." should they accept the provisions of the act. Until the information is secured the county court indicated that it could not say whether Marion county employees will accept or reject the act or if the county will do likewise. , In Marion county there are S3 road employees and 86 others who would be affected by the act. the ! othr Pt ' the state and na court said. The county has until ! tion are expected to be here fot July 1 to file a rejection to the j the celebration of the Salem act and if it does not do so then j lodge's 50th anniversary Satur it comes automatically under the I day. April 20. Harry Wenderoth, terms of the statute. j general chairman, said here this "Without taking actual count, i week, the court feels that there seems Committees for the event in to be a favorable attitude on the ! iMude: part of the employees toward ac- j General finance James B. ceptance of the act," County Judge i Young. Dr. E. E. Boring. Joe De Grant Murphy said. "But we can- j vers. Fred Paulus. riot be sure of their position nor of Publicity Syd King. Steve ours until we rasve all the infor- SUwie. Hunt Clark, ma tion available." he added. ' Entertainment William H. Hammond, C. W. Claggett, Mar vin Headrick, Carl D. Gabrielaon, Rene Bense. Banquitt Vern Perry, Milo Rasmusaeh. W. I. Need hum. S J Butler. Harley King. Ralph Caley Refreshment Clifton Mudd. Sephus Starr. Bar James A. Byers, William Schlitt. William H. Paulus, Tred Phillips. Dent Reed. Housing W. W. Chadwick. Tom Armstrong, Leroy Gard. Reception Carl Jordan, Roy DeArmond, Adam Lefor. Don McBain. Distinguished guests Past ex alted rulers. Employees in the county welfare department are paid by the state and consequently come under the act without affecting Marion coun ty, the judge said. Near 15,000 Veterans Due In Port Today By th Associated Press Approximately 15.000 veterans are due to arrive aboard II ves sels at six U.S. ports today. Three west coaot points expect debarkation of 12,464 personnel from 11 ships while two east yast ports await 193S aboard six vessels. New Orleans. La., will re reive one transport carrying 594 troops. Ships and units arriving in clude: At 9mm Diego 23 Guard Units Commended By Inspectors Twenty-three uniU of the Ore Miscellaneous on following: As- gon state guard have received a GRIN AND BEAR IT By Liclilv i w ji m " s . r " ' n y-a, jm a a w 7-asBssr si sa w but si s '. la l i m i ii 4 2-lt " Cfcj Tm f. So much for the Danubians. The going has been tough. I know; but the subject is the toughest man has to face, af fecting as it does every indivi dual and overlapping national boundaries. What is the summary of the panel of the Danubian writers? Each contributes elements of truth to the discussion. Hayek emphasize the necessity of pro tecting the individual; Polanyi shows that blind adherence to a formula like the free market crushes many ' individuals and forces society, to mitigate its rigors. Drucker shows the lack of permanent satisfaction in the economic (materialist) goal and Longs for richer substitutes as incentives for human endeavor. Koestier points out the "necessity (though not the means) of blending thought with action in support of human values. My own conclusion is that there is no easy road, no sure sign, no ready-made iormula or system which will insure a per fect socio-economic organization. Humanity will have to continue to fight its Way forward, ad venturing from time to time but conserving the best out 'of its experience. ' " We shall probably continue for a long time in this country the competitive system but it will be permeated mote and morerwith higher ethical stan dards which will emphasize service and broad sharing of the rewards of industry and inven tion, with concessions from time to time to government regula tion or even participation. The roots of individualism in this country go too deep for any complete turn to the socialist state, and the example of the fate of the individual in Soviet Russia repels any thought of adopting its brand of communism. sault transport Presidio, 1143 na vy, marines and army (due origi- I nally Monday); transport Poco- moke, 450 navy, marines, coast guard and army. At Seattle Miscellaneous on following: S S. Columbia from Alaska. 17 ar my; Marine Panther from Cal cutta, 3628 army. At San Franrlaeo Clay from Saipan 1677 army, including following units of 20th air force: 313th. 314th and 315th bomb wings (very heavy) and 76th fighter command; 59 miscel laneous navy personnel. Miscellaneous personnel on fol- lowing: Burleigh from Samar, ! 1632 navy; Rockwell." from Perl i Harbor, 803 navy. 815 army; Acadia from Manila. 767 army ' 22nd battalion. Hermiktoti: Co. B, (due originally Monday); Sierra ; 24th battalion. Baker, and Co. B, from Pearl Harbor, 513 navy; 25th battalion. Ontario. Round Splice from Honolulu, 13 l troops of 54th floating spare parts depot; Oneida from Guam. 1716 navy, 231 army. "The political and social Implications of contacting the moon are ob- v4ea--were toe scieatlsU who. did it Republican or Democrats!" 6 Di Ar L, UU Dispute SB. Plant Jurisdiction EUGENE. Ore.. Feb. 26WP An AFL leader told Springfield Plywood Corporation workers to day that his union would supply logs to the plant if CIO loggers carry out their boycott threat. Eldon Kraal, representing the AFL Lumber and Sawmill Work ers' Willamette valley district council, made the statement. CIO men have declared they fwill furnish no more logs to the plant if the AFL wins a bargain ing election Wednesday. HOSPITAL GETS ESTATE ALBANY, Feb. -The en tire $35,000 estate of S. G. Talia. 81 -year-old farmer who died to day, was bequeathed to the Shrine hospital for crippled children in Portland. Talia immigrated to the United States from Dalmatia in lt9l. He was upmarried " "very satisfactory" rating, as result of re-cent armory inspec tions. Acting Adjutant General Raymond F. Olson announced Tuesday. Units receiving this recognition inHude: Headquarters company, band, headquarter detachment, 2nd battalion: Co. E. Co. F. Co. G. headqiiaiters deta c h m e n t , 4th battalion: Service drtai-hment, medical department detactiment, Co A. Co B, Co. D, all of Port land. Co. K, 3rd battalion. Salem; medical department detachment, Eugene; Co. L. McMinnville; Co. A. 6th battalion. Oswego: Co. D. Rlh battalion. Albany; Co A. 1 8th battalion. Cave Junction. Co. E, Oregon Guard Slates Changes Major Milton E. Staight. head quarters 24th battalion. Oregon state guard, has been transferred to the state, staff and assigned as military coordinator, the adjutant general announced here Tuesday. Warrant Office Francis B. Ma loney, band, with station in Port land, has resigned. Other appointments, promotions and trsrufers: C.mrgr E. Emlgh Jr . appointed rap tain. Inf . and awOfneW a athlrtir diieetnt. state staff, with station In Salem Clifford 8. Danlelon appointed 2nd It.. Inf . and assigned to Co. B. 4th battalion, with station in Portland Charles R Menfredi appointed Jnd It . Inf . and aMtcned tn Ab B. 4th battalion. Portland. Donald R l.indqumt appointed Ind ! It . Inf . and assumed to ncadquarteis I detarhment. 4th battalion Portland I Capt Mitchell A tillliam promoted to ma). Inf. and aaeiicned to head- j Suarters detarhment. 24th battalion. ! alter. a. i 1st It Walter B Varlson promoted ; to capt.. Inf . and assumed to Hermis- , ton. 2nd It. Charles H Friday promoted to 1st It . Inf.. and assumed to Co E. 22nd battalion. Hermiston. 2nd Lt. Terry A. Majors promoted to 1st It . Inf.. and assiajned to Co. B. 20th battalion. Bend. i Capt William W. Schuldt. formerly ; In command of Co. B. 4th battalion, j with station tn Portland, transferred i to .Reserve , 2nd 1.1. Albert T .Prlchard. Co B , 4th battalion. Portland, transferred to , reserve. (General Reports Troop in Japan Yearn for Home YOKOHAMA, Wednesday. Feb 27.-i4)-American enlisted men In Japan don't want their wives to join them overseas, Lt Gen. Rob ert L. Eichelberger asserted today after touring Japan following his return to the states. But the reason, he hastened to dd. is that the men just don't want to stay overseas that long, t's true of the majority of Junior officers as well as enlisted men, he related; "they don't want to stay here, they all want to go home." , Rural Teachers To Take Junior Red Cross Work Teachers from all rural schools interested in or enrolled in Junior Red Cross work are to meet next Saturday morning at 1 1 o'clock in court room No. 2, Marion county court house. Mrs. Carmalite Weddle, Marion county chairman for Junior Red Cross, will preside. Among topics to be discussed will be the educational gift boxen and how to assemble them; mak ing of afghans in the rural schools; stocking dolls and stuffed ani mals; school correspondence; and Junior Red Cross gifts for the service hospitals. A question leriod will be conducted follow ing the talks and discussions. C Stevens Distinctive Sty Hag Not Just another ring but as entirely new design, skillfully fashioned in 14kt gold. A worthy setting for a Stevens flawless diamond. Extended Pay tit Ceert St.