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About Eugene register-guard. (Eugene, Or.) 1930-1983 | View Entire Issue (March 13, 1952)
-(Btiatfi HMI ! AN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER PUBLISHER Alton F. Baker EDITOR William M. Tugman MANAGING EDITOR Alton F. Baker. Jr. SERVICES Full Associated Press, United Press, Audit Bureau of Circulations. The Register-Guard's policy Is the complete and impartial publication In its news oiees of all news and statements on news. On this page the editors of The Register Guard offer their opinions on events of the day and matters of importance to the community endeavoring to be candid but fair and helpful 'Ji con- itructive community policy. A newspaper is A CITIZEN OF ITS COMMUNITY. Entered at the Post Office atgeneOregorsjsecolaMjmatter PAGE 8 EUGENE, OREGON, THURSDAY, MARCH 13, 1952 Lincoln, "Best General of Civil War" It would be impossible for any writer to add to the stature of Abraham Lin coln as he stands in the minds of most of his countrymen. All who have stud led the character and achievements of the man either admire or worship. Those who can't be bothered to study are perfectly willing to accept "Hon est Abe" as a personal hero, the man who saved the Union, the man who freed the slaves, the Rail Splitter, the Common Man's ideal of A Man! (Although there are many who claim Lin toln as a hero they don't know much more about him than many who "accept Christ" because in their particular environment it happens to be "being don?.") Nobody seems to have thought of Lincoln as a great military leader, in addition to all his other accomplish ments, until now, when along comes a puny little chap named T. Harry Wil" liams, who is teaching and writing American history at (of all places) Louisiana State University, at Baton Rouge. He has just published a best seller "Lincoln and His Generals" (Al fred Knopf, 363 pp., $4), in which he portrays Lincoln not only as the super patriot, philosopher, humanitarian, and practical politician but as "able strat egist,", a better man than all his gen erals 'til Grant, Sherman and Thomas evolved out of the pompous military mess! Under the Constitution of the United States, the President of the United States is titled the "commander-in-chief of all the armed forces of this aation, qn land, air or sea," but, accord ing to Mr. Williams, it was Lincoln who first gave real substance to this theory of civilian direction of the professional military. Lincoln inherited, along with other troubles, a prize collection of military "stuffed shirts" the fluttering McDow ell; the theatrical (but useless) Mc Clellan, who thought he ought to be president; the four-flusher Fremont; the unimaginative Buell; and dear old dod dering Mexican War hero, Winfield Scott. It was Lincoln who could write to Buell in the very earliest days of the war; "I slate my own Idea of what the war ought to be that we have the greater num ber, and the enemy has the greater facil ity of concentrating forces upon points of . collision; that we must fall unless we have some way of making our advantage over match his; and that this can be -only by menacing him with superior forces at dif ferent points at the same time." After Gettysburg, on July 10, 1863 after rebuking and removing Meade for failing to follow up that bloody vic tory (Meade had complained that his, horses were worn out, and Lincoln had remarked that they didn't get that way fighting) Hooker wanted to counter Lee's invasion of the North with a blow at Richmond. Lincoln wrote to Hookei: "I think Lee's army, not Richmond, is your objective." As Author Williams points out, Liiv coin made many costly mistakes, ,es. pecially in selecting some of his earlier generals, in underestimating the strength of the Confederacy, in delay ing the draft and other stern measures needed to win the war. Maybe these mistakes can be explained by the fact that no president can travel faster than public sentiment will let him. But the main thesis is that Lin coin understood the war and proposed better ' military strategy than any of his generals, until Grant and Sherman (They say this guy Williams actually teaches his Louisiana pupils that Grant was a better general than Robert E. Lee. That's genius, or showmanship, or something!) We are not astonished to hear Lin coln acclaimed a better strategist than most of his generals. War is a very complicated art, in which strategy and tactics from time to time must vary according to all manner of existing circumstances, the.terrain, and the weap ons available, the character and prow ess of the enemy, even the psychological factors. But war, like every other hu man business, is largely a matter of "common sense" which Abe Lincoln had in super-abundance.. Lincoln may be said to have estab lished or confirmed our tradition that the military must accept civilian di rection as to overall policy a tra dition which entails certain dangers if the direction is in the hands of a little man. In our opinion, the values out weigh all these risks. Lincoln certainly did not fancy himself as a general. He listened to many a general. After listen ing to all of them he asserted his pre rogative of applying "common sense." Marauis Childs Where the Flying Fishes Play Portents of New Hampshire's Primary If the results of the New Hampshire primary are a sample of what the people in other states are thinking they confirm these two frequently heard "guesstimates" of how the American people are feeling about the presidential situation: "They don't want any more of Harry Truman In the White House! "Even if TRft can control the Republican convention and get the presidential, nomina tion, he may not be nblc to win the election." Truiium may think that primary elections are "a lot of eyewash" but he must know by now they are not "white wash." To our way of thinking, the repudiation of Truman by his own pat ty in Now Hampshire has even more significance than Eisenhower's clean sweep over Taft. (Although Eisenhower did not appear or make any appeal in his own behalf, he did hnve "nn organization" working for him un rir the leadership of New Hampshire's Gov ernor Adams and the Taft-Elsenhower con test might he described as a struggle between two well equipped factious, one conservative, and the other liberal.) In the Democratic contest, Tennes sers's Kefauver came to the frosty New England state alone and with little to recommend him except his fame as a gambling-buster. In all of New Hamp shire's industrial centers, Truman had the powerful support of veteran "heelers" and thousands of federal job holders. The alibi of the Democratic "boss" at Manchester was one of the most amusing political statements we have ever heard. The "boss" complained; "This vote doesn't mean a thing. Kefauver Vanie up here from Tennessee and spent weeks ringing doorbells, while the President was tied to the duties of his oftice and had no chance to speak for himself." Poor Hairy! Poor Yankee Democrats, unable to defend themselves from this Tennessee "carpet bagger"! (Kefauver spoiled his victory somewhat by that silly statement that "this was not a protest vote against President Truman." When will candidates ever learn that water will not stay put on both shoulders?) Taft takes some consolation from his belief that the vote in New Hampshire cities "proves labor was not against me." He thinks that if he had taken time to stump the rural areas, the result might have been different. But Taft is candid enough to confess "disappointment" where Truman with his usual bravado pretends to laugh it off. For the people of the nation the im pressive fact is that in both parties the "amateurs" made a clean sweep. Eisen hower not only piled up 46,441 votes to Taft's 35,691 but won all 14 convention delegates. Kefauver not only "snowed" Truman 20,240 to 16,128 but captured all 12 convention delegates. (It is also worth noting that the voting for Stasscn and MacArthur was unimpres sive.) , The people of New Hampshire (and the people throughout the United States) are tired of the old "profes sionals." That's what we think the New Hampshire voting means. Maybe thev "like Ike" BECAUSE he has stuck to his job in Europe and refused to chase votes. At any rate, he's something new. Maybe Kefauver wouldn't be their first choice but he looks mighty good com pared with Truman. The New Hampshire results give the "practical politicians" in both parties a great deal to think over. If the results are "not according to Hoyle" it may be because the people are roused and making a few "rules" of their own, The boys who hope to manage the conven tions on "straight draw" ought to get set for "roodles" with jokers and deuces wild. If anybody docs not understand this talk, any old poker player will be glad to explain. U.S. Backward In Jet Aviation WASHINGTON One of the obscure Items in the President's vast budget could have a lot to do with the kind of airplanes flying on America's air lines five years from now. An appropriation of $1,400,000 Is requested for testing jet planes for transport duty. The United States is far behind both Britain and Canada. The British are producing 45 jet tranennrte nf the t.vnes known as Comet I and I Y7r i t Comet II. The Comet II I g,9- B has four Jet engines and w" is said to be capable of CHILDS flying even the longest routes. In May British Overseas Airways Corp. will start jet passenger flights to Egypt and South Africa. And as Comet II's are delivered, routes will be extended through India and Pakistan to Singapore and on to Australia. In test flights well over a year ago passengers were flown from London, where they had breakfast, to Cairo, Egypt, where they had lunch, with the return trip in the afternoon in time for a late tea In London again. Those on the flight said it was an entirely new sensation. They felt virtually no fatigue, since vibration was negligible. So great was the speed that the noise of the jet motors was left behind. It made Hying in the standard-type plane with conventional engines seem like horse-and-buggy stuff. AT THE LAST SESSION Congress au thorized "$12,500,000 for testing jet trans ports built on a prototype basis. But the money was not appropriated. Whether even the modest sum asked this time for carrying out much more limited tests will be approved in this economy year is doubtful. American backwardness in this newest field illustrates vividly the plight of the air-line and aviation industry. Last year, for the first time, commercial airtransport in this country became a billion-dollar in dustry. Passenger traffic dominated the picture, accounting for about 80 per cent of the $1,043,324,812 in total operating revenues. This represented a 21 per cent increase over 1950. The possibilities for expansion have scarcely been touched. Yet, the greatfor ward movement that is just around the corner can be held up indefinitely. The reason is that the whole operational sys tem is frozen in a pattern designed for an age when air transport was hardly more than a promising experiment. In that infant era it was intended to be a highly specialized supplement to rail and auto. Today most metropolitan airports are seriously overcrowded. Passenger facili ties are outgrown, primitive, neglected. Everywhere evident re the barriers that will keep the industry narrowly con fined unless and until sufficient force Is applied to break those barriers. TO SOME, IT HAS SEEMED that dom inant elements in thev air-line were them selves determined to keep the pattern small and tightly controlled. The big air lines have fought the nonscheduled op erators. The non-skeds most of them run by veterans out of World War II have shown that they could compete while charging lower rates and without bene fit of the generous subsidies granted the big operators. After two crashes by non-sked planes, there was considerable talk about the safe ty factor' on these irregularly scheduled flights. But shortly afterward two sched uled air liners of the most modern type crashed in the vicinity of Newark (N. J.) airport, indicating that the safety factor is not necessarily related to the method of operation. The regular air lines that early ac quired the basic routes are accused by some critics of wanting to maintain a mo nopoly, excluding any new competition. In his frequent dissents from the opinion of the majority of the Civil Aeronautics Board, Joseph Adams, one of the most conscientious and also knowledgeable members, argues that a little competition is just what the regulars need. ADAMS MAINTAINS that the whole-coach-fare sytem, which has now been extended to European routes, resulted from the competing rates of the non skeds. The conch-fare system has meant a large increase in passenger revenue. In a recent dissent CAB member Adams pointed out that on the New York-California and the New York-Miami runs standard-faro traffic has increased at a much faster" rate than on other routes. He expressed the belief that "many thous ands of the low-coach-fare passengers ini tially carried by the large irregular op erators have voluntarily chosen to 'up grade themselves' to the cerificated car riers' system." The Senate Small Business Commit tee also has been interested in the right of the nonscheduled lines to compete at least to a limited degree. To the indus try this looks like unwarranted Interven tion. But in reality competition Is one of the ways by which the barriers can be broken down. As the recent past has shown, it can help to open up an ex pansion that is still a great potential. (Copyright. tWI. by United reaturee Syndicate. Inc.! wis the last ortu aus" THE MASTER'S GRIEF "He brhcltf the citu and U'cpl orer If." " Luke 19:41 He wept above His Holy City . . . His heart moved with concern and pity , . , But what if in your town He saw . . , The things that violate His law . . . For cities are people after all . . . Who live their lives. The rise and fall ... Of human hates, greeds and desires . . . The graft and vice and pulling wires ... Do still combine to bring His tears , . . For sins of cities throughout the years. JUUEN C. HYER ! mz? Af v 1 ' igsr.tSa "WV . I'M Boeing 0(d On Atom PI In The Editor's Mailbag SPRINGFIELD ISSUE SPRINGFIELD (To the Editor) They are doing it again. Some one seems to think the voters of Springfield do not know their own minds and always wear them down by two or three elections. Certainly, it is a spendid thing to have a recreation center and swimming pool. But why bleed the already pale taxpayers to do it? What about all i.e. the clubs, churches and other organizations? Why don't they get together on .this and they could raise sufficient funds to pay off the indebtedness and keep the building open. As for supervision, aren't there enough people in this town with exper ience and a genuine liking for young people to donate their time for that? If a number would do this volunteer work each would just have a day or so a month. But no, It seems there is no an swer to problems anymore except ing . putting it up to the long suffering Taxpayer. And why do children have to be away- from their homes most of their waking hours always craving excitement, seeming to find no enjoyment at home? One of our Springfield doctors who practiced what he preached, said the great est sin a parent could commit against his child was to raise that child up in idleness. If a lot of you parents would go back to the woodpile, that would give the boys some good exercise and a wood fire is not so expensive as oil and is a more comforting warmth. Why not learn the girls cooking and sewing at home, get them interested in making their homes and gardens more attrac tive. If parents who really love their children were willing to stay home with them evenings most of the time, we would not see so many young people running the streets in search of entertainment. We wouldn't see so many boys and girls with old jaded faces at four teen and fifteen and with their narrowed ugly eyes as they blow smoke through their noses. Why will a girl primp for hours to make herself lovely and spoil it all in a minute that way? How a boy or anyone else can see any thing attractive in a girl with that ugly mask of sophistication, spoil ing all her natural charm I cannot see. When you do see a natural unspoiled young girl we want to applaud her and her parents. What a job it is these days to raise a normal youngster. But why not you who haven't been doing so try to make your home as attractive as a recreation center? Why not have games in the backyard, have .a garden, it is lots of fun and trips and picnics together. There are so many fas cinating things for parents and children to do together. Recreation centers and swim ming pools certainly if we can afford them but most of fill a good home is the finest thing in the world for a chtfd. If some of these parents would stay home with their children evenings learning them it can be fun to be at home with corn pop ping and music, lot of fun, and try to learn them a love of God, a love of cleanliness of body and mind and love of work and ac complishment. Surely these things have not become old fashioned, too bad for the world if they have. Helen O. Pridmore. method, its lead in first aid, home nursing, civilian emergencies, as well as its big disaster relief pro gram that steps in and takes over in every grave emergency, makes it an invaluable asset in our lives. The blood program alone is worth fifty times the cost of all Red Cross work, yet is only 5 of Its work. Where else can we buy so much for so little? And yet in spite of this won derful work Red Cross gets much severe criticism. So many "don't believe in it," "wouldn't give it a dime," etc., usually citing some little mistake or misjudgment some case worker may have made if pressed for a reason. Yet I know the opposition is deep and genuine. But why do so many so deeply oppose Red Cross? I be lieve I know the answer. I like people. Next to dogs and horses whose loyalty, devotion, and faithfulness can never be questioned, I think our two legged species called "man" is one of the finest species ever spawned. But our species does have its weak points and all who look know it. One such weakness I have long detested, that characteristic of mistreating its benefactors. Soo rates, Jesus, Gallio are typical ex amples of the treatment accorded our highest benefactors, those names can be multiplied by hun dreds of thousands of others who were crowned with thorns or worse while working for our bet terment. But it doesn't stop with history, this trait runs .right on down to your next door neighbor and to "us." Human nature doesn't change or at least changes very slowly. Shakespeare saw this trait when he said "If you don't want no body to get mad at you don't loan nobody no cash or nothing for if you do you may lose the cash and the friendship of the guy what you loaned it to, both." That wasn't Willie's exact words but that is exactly what he meant. (Come, come Polonius, speak up!) But we must not lose faith. Per sonally I couldn't for I do like people. There is so much good mixed up with their cussedness that we can't lose faith. Not as a boast but with the greatest humt lity I wish to state that our fine community has made it possible for me to be favored in some ways over many, in our communl ty and has favored all of us over most people in other parts of the world for which we all should feel, and I do feel deeply indebted to my community and my country, As a token of my appreciation for the fine work the Red Cross has done for that community, I 'am again making my personal check to the American Red Cross for an amount many times my just share of the load, this above a substan tial amount given through my business connections. I say this in all humility and say it only be cause I want others to know the high value I place on the fine work it does do, and that I think the finest investment each and ev eryone of us can make is ah in vestment of at least our full share in our local Red Cross. GEORGE E. OWEN Air Force R Award of Con, J TIT . r. . ... . I Force disclosed ThuM ' boosted its program t'''! ment fantastically i' powered flight with , J tract to Boeing AirrL"' Seattle. AlrPlm,c, " Is. 'he secnl contr. J I ijf io oe announced h, I 0. 'Force and indicates th ...of atomic flight second phase th,. .T.l ing and experimental ATOMIC POWER could airplane almost UnuSe 80 times around ttaZ pound of uranium -fJ.! experts say-and J" miles an hour and uT ; But most experts sav ir, ONE SAID IT probjk, take "somewhat longer!? estimated two or V, needed to complete a J Dowered suhmari .r" Navy has announced it t J ing. B:i Boeing i, working mJ ou u.e ainrame, or shall plane to be fitted arounda, J i? eS'ne now being denfe! Pratt & Whitney aJwJ East Hartfnrrl .-P1! & Whitney contract ml nounced last December. 1 House OkJ Nisei Claims WASH I Nf.TOK . House tentatively Wednesday an appropriisl $14,800,000 to nav I sons of Japanese ancestrrl ing out oi tneir detention cl World War II. 1 Most of the Japanese id lived on the West com 71 time. I The fund approved witbscl bate Is in addition to (TSlmJ viously alloted to expefnl payment. I The Justice DepartmaJ mated that 23.72S rlaliniiwl last July 1, approxtautdirj will have been settled tj J June 30 If funds are provM ADVERTISEMENT "Oldat4O,50 Man.You'refti Forget your urc! ThmiMndsireran Try "peppinn up" withOsiieiuGffiu lor weak, rundown (eelhi diwMlfljttl lack o! Iron which many intnmdra "old." Tesiert hy Doetoit! 8fT, rifrt rottlta. Many, tmprwaed. Mld.'Mpi Ostrex In future.'7 Tryowrn Tttj for pep, vim. younger Il!m.Mwfi not dellghttd. fittf Tmroducttryilart At all drur strtrei tTtwtrn Eurenc: Fred Meri and lm SEE PAS RED CROSS TRIBUTE EUGENE (To the Editor) Red Cross is the largest and most complete humanitarian or ganization on earth today. 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