Eugene register-guard., July 21, 1954, Image 10

AN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER
PUBLISHER Alton F. Baker
EDITOR AVilliam M. Tugman MANAGING EDITOR Alton F. Baker Jr.
SERVICES Full Associated Press, United Press, Audit Bureau of Circulations.
The Register-Guard's poiicy is the complete and impartial publication in its news
pages 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 he.pful in the development of con
structive community policy. A newspaper is A CITIZEN OF ITS COMMUNITf.
Entered at the Post Office at Eugene, Oregon, as second-class matter.
10A
EUGENE, OREGON, WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 1954
Bethel Will Vote on Annexation;
Voter's Problem Mostly Arithmetic
Judging by the feelings expressed at
Monday night's "town meeting" in
Bethel, a man from Mars would suppose
that this peaceful little suburb was being
invaded by a wicked, hostile power. Now
that Judge East has decided that there
are no sufficient legal grounds to enjoin
or prevent Friday's election on the an
nexation issue, there are a few things
we would like to say:
1. For the Bcthcliles who will vole in Friday's
election, there is really only one question
that matters do I get more for my money
by joining up with a full-fledged city like
Eugene, or by supporting the type of "par
tial city" proposed for Bethel?
2. No matter who wins on Friday, the sun
will rise and the sun will set as usual and
nobody is going to have his life or his for
tunes greatly changed one way or another.
3. Under whatever system, an area as popu
lous as Bethel is going to have sewers, sew
age disposal, police protection, street lights,
and all the other services which go with
decent living, and the people will have to
pay for them.
In Eugene, we think we have a good
managed town (in spite of some of the
cockeyed capers of our city council) and
we would be very glad to welcome our
neighbors into the "lodge" if they want
to come in. If they don't, there will be
no hard feelings because we can just sit
back and wait until they get plenty mad
at their own Bethel city councilmen.
If we were living and owning proper
ty in the Bethel area selected for annex
ation, we would vote to join with Eu
gene, and for these reasons:
In the Bethel area, a property owner now
pays 5.5 mills Water District tax and gets only
his water and fire protection therefor.
Assuming that the proposed Bethel City could
be operated for as little as 3 to 5 mills addi
tional, the total municipal levy would go to
8.5 mills or 10.5 mills, which is half, or less
than the 20.6 mills currently paid for munici
pal services in Eugene.
On a home assessed at $2,000, annexation
would add about $20 a year at the outside to
the tax bills, but this would be offset sub
stantially by savings on electricity, water, and
fire insurance, making the net addition per
haps $10-515 a year on the average home.
Bethel City offers only a partial and tem
porary solution of the sewage and drainage
problems which are Bethel's worst headache
Place for Rebellions Is
As the lumber strike drags on, there
are more and more reports of "rebel
lion" against the AFL and CIO leader
ships which issued the strike orders.
There arc reports of groups which have
withdrawn from the established unions
to sot up individual unions of their own.
And there are reports of other groups
which seek a return to work without any
official cancellation of the strike orders.
To all these dissident groups within
the established unions, we would give
the same counsel that we gave to rebels
in the local Teamsters union back in
1938 when they were threatening to
"tear up our cards." At that time we
said:
"Don'l tear up your cards, even though
you may not have wanted to join that particu
lar union. Now that you have joined, it be
longs to you. and if it isn't run right, it's jour
fault for not taking pari in its affairs and
insisting that It be run right."
The place for the rebellions in the
abor unions is on the floor of the union
halls. Now, as always, we recognize how
difficult it is for "peaceful, law-abiding
people" lo .start fights, and we certainly
wouldn't advise anybody lo start any
fight until he has enough people with
at least at the bargain miltage suggested
and Eugene offers everything from full-scale
police and fire protection, streets, water,
sewers, sanitary services, parks and play
grounds, on down lo an equity in our munici
pal squabbles.
Ill our opinion, nobody can supply
positive answers to all the questions
which arise in such a situation. There
are some things which just stand to rea
son and we would put it this way:
"There isn't a thing in the way of municipal
services that Bethel couldn't offer as a city
it (he people of Bethel want to pay the bills
but it is predictable that for comparable
services the people of Bethel, as an indepen
dent city, would have to pay a constant 5 or
10 mills a year more than they would pay as
citizens of Eugene, because they would not
be attached to the high taxable values of
Eugene's central business district. A city with
a 40 million dollar valuation gets $40,000 with
I. 0 mill: a city with a 4 million dollar valuation
gets only $4,000 with 1.0 mill. If you are stuck
in the mud, you can get pulled out cheaper
and faster with a 90-horse cat than you can
with a model "T" engine."
Otherwise, the choice for Bswelites
is the kind of politicos who have been
manipulating Bethel affairs for a long
time or the kind of politicos we offer
within our corporate boundaries. In our
opinion, the Eugene Council flubbed the
question at Monday night's meeting as
to whether Bethel would have represen
tation in the Eugene Council. The an
swer, we believe, should have been:
"Of course, you will have representation."
At the present time, Eugene's Ward
1 contains 13,920 people, Ward 2, 6,240
people, Ward 3, 8,680 people, Ward 4,
II, 160 people, and Eugene is years over
due for a complete revision of its city
charter provisions governing council
manic representation.
If Eugene's City Councilmen think
they can sit tight forever on Eugene's
"rotten borough" system of ward repre
sentation they are overestimating their
political charms and powers. If Bethel
votes to come in with Eugene, it will
force a reapportionment in the Eugene
Council.
in Union Halls
him so that he has a pretty fair chance
to win.
The most necessary thing is for the
union member with a grievance to re
member that he does have rights. In
every union that we have ever known
anything about, there's a body of union
law. A member must know his rights
under union law; then if he has a griev
ance, he must have the guts to stand up
in meeting and shout.
There are some who would like to
see the present discontent directed into
a movement to wreck the unions. We do
not share this feeling. Serious questions
have been raised concerning the manner
in which the strike votes were taken and
by which the strike decisions were made.
But the remedy is not to destroy the
unions. The remedy will be found when
every dues-paying member who has an
equity asserts his rights in open meeting.
The strike, they say, has a back
ground in "union politics," the influence
of the "loud speakers and big promisors"
who over-awed the rank and file. If mis
lakes were made, the first step to correct
those mistakes should be in open meet
ing by "due process."
Racketeers Raid Under Charity Banners
According to Lois Miller and James
Monahan in the current issue of Header's
Digest, generous Americans gave 4-bil-lion
dollars to charities in 1953, and of
ihis total 100 million dollars went to
racketeers operating under the banners
of charity. Ry our calculation, this is a
per cent rake-off on charity enter
prises, and the obvious moral is "caveat
emptor" in other words, let the sub
scriber beware. We suggest this rule:
"Give nothing to any cause or charily un
less the agents can show a responsible list of
LOCAL, sponsors, people whom you know,
whose judgment and integrity you would
trust. "
Actually we doubt If anybody really
knows, or ever will know, the extent to
which the American public is bilked,
either in the name of charity or some
other form of soul or body or world
saving.
Every mail brings a flood of appeals
and stuff from organizations with all
kinds of high-sounding names. These
are not even charities. These are "up
lift" or "salvation" enterprises. All you
have to do is mail a check and you can
have your name on the letterhead, along
with that of all the other distinguished
suckers who are committed to preserv
ing, conserving, uplifting, suppressing,
co-ordinating, co-agulating from Spitz
bcrgen to Terra del Fuego. Some years
ago Lester Beck read a paper at Round
Table at which he estimated that healing
rackets alone cost the American people
B-bllHon dollars each year. Add in the
phony religionists and evangelists, and
you've really got something.
We never grieve for the suckers. Our
Complaint is that these parasitical rack
els take so much away from legitimate
and worthy charity and welfare and re
ligious enterprises. That is why for years
we have tried to enforce a rule that
Itinerant promotions will not receive any
mention in this paper unless or until
they can get some responsible 'local
agency to vouch for them. Even with
vigilance it's a tough job.
IS THE fcE
tfHo CfN
TViROW
AHYTttlKGr?
Big Crisis in the Pitching Staff
Peter Edson
t
James Marlow
Two Strikes on Flanders in Senate Game
WASHINGTON 10 When he
bats against Sen. McCarthy (R.
Wis) in the Senate league, Sen.
Flanders (R-Vt) needs a team
and a scorecard. There's no sign
he has a team. And he's learning
the score the hard way.
He has swung twice and
missed. There's a good chance
he'll strike out.
Persistence may be all the two
senators have in common.
They've used it on each other.
The 73-year old Vermont Repub
lican persists in trying to get the
Senate to rebuke McCarthy some
way, some how.
McCarthy persistently ignores
Flanders, paying no more atten
tion to him than he'd pay to a
gnat. He dismisses Flanders, his
most outspoken Senate critic,
with the word: "Senile."
For months Flanders has been
after McCarthy with Senate
speeches and television state
ments that got headlines. For all
their effect on the Senate it was
like a batter warming up with
pop-flies.
THE BIG TRY
But Flanders apparently felt
ready for the big try. He asked
the Senate to vote McCarthy out
of his committee chairmanships,
which would be a shattering re
buke. Flanders had stepped into one
of the most sensitive areas of the
Senate. All its members yearn to
be committee chairmen, a job
that comes to them not by bril
liance or ability but by seniority:
by sticking around long enough.
Senators, being politicians,
have a heightened sense of sur
vival: Once they started some
thing like this in motion taking
a senator's chairmanship away
it might happen to them some
day. ,
Besides, there were other con
siderations: In this election year 37 of the
96 Senate seats are at stake. Mc
Carthy has a host of friends,
well-wishers and admirers who
might make their anger at a vote
against him felt at the polls in
November.
That goes for Democrats and
Republicans alike.
THE FACTS OF POLITICS
Behind closed doors a group of
Senate Republicans who plan
their party's strategy in the up
per chamber the Senate's Re
publican Policy Committee de
cided to tell Flanders about the
facts of politics.
They voted against his resolu
tion, in effect killing it before it
had a chance to be debated on
the Senate floor. He couldn't
fight McCarthy and his own par
ty's policy committee, too. He
dropped his resolution in a hurry.
The fact that he did, and that
the committee vote against him
was unanimous, was pretty thor
ough evidence all Flanders had
from the start was a pious hope.
He had no team. He had been
swinging in the dark.
That he had taken a stand
against McCarthy may have been
personally satisfying to Flanders.
It certainly got him a lot of pub
licity. But batting against Mc
Carthy single-handed has been a
useless occupation.
SECOND MISS
Undaunted, Flanders stepped up
to the plate again, took another
swing, and missed again. This
time he asked the Senate simply
to pass a vote of censure against
McCarthy. The vote was sup
posed to be taken Tuesday.
Late Monday Flanders decided
.lo postpone his request for a cen
sure vote from Tuesday until
July 30. This was one of the
reasons he gave:
That the "Republican leader
ship" expressed concern that
throwing the censure question into
the Senate now might snarl up
its efforts to get through with its
regular work by the end of this
month.
But since Flanders is now going
to wait until the end of the month
to ask for censure of McCarthy,
a milder rebuke than taking his
chairmanships away, it stands a
good chance of being trampled to
death in the Senate's last-minute
rush to go home.
i
In The Editor's Mail Bag
COMPLAINT
EUGENE (To the Editor):
In publishing my letter concern
ing Adlai's Saturday afternoon
talk, you made two errors. I did
not say the depression started
in 1928. 1 said 1929. Also in the
very last word in the letter you
left off one letter. In comment
ing that the New Dealers some
times talk as though they were
the original creators of electric
ity, I did NOT, as you printed
it, say that electricity was and is
created by "Go". I said by
"God". Very truly yours,
ROBT. N. McCREA.
make. Most of us agree that peo
ple should be permitted to make
their living in the land where
they are living, and take a part
in it.
Now Americans do like to use
"things" T-V sets, electric
ranges, refrigerators, and cars.
There isn't anything wrong in
that. But why is it that European
countries are able to ship and
sell their goods over here in spite
of the tariff? I believe the high
est wage paid in Germany is to
the auto worker 51 cents an
hour. I don't know what the
British mechanic gets. But we do
see Japanese goods in our stores
and while they are cheaper to
buy there isn't the quality of our
homemade goods. And now gov
ernment proposes that, lo keep
Japan from being overwhelmed
by the Soviets, she must be given
more world trade.
Surely we need God's guidance
in our' decisions more than ever.
Sincerely,
CECIL F. HAMMOND.
THERE'S A POINT
SPRINGFIELD (To the Edi
lor) We are all glad to see that
there is to be a meeting of the
mill owners and workers to end
the lumber strike.
The outward sign of it is quite
noticeable many more houses
have For Sale signs on them. A
large number of families have
already moved out o the district.
Lucky the man who was able
lo go lo work elsewhere and thus
give his family protection! But
even he has had to go into more
debt.
Our mills here arc giving 40
rents an hour more than those
in British Columbia, one dollar
an hour more than the mills in
the South.
The question is: Are they giv
ing enough for a family to live
on? But would not everyone be
belter off if everything were
lower priced? That includes wag
es, taxes, etc., etc. Could not
people live better?
No one can contest the fact
that we have a good country here
for why would the Europeans be
so glad to get over here? Surclv
no one in his right mind would
prefer to live in a Communistic
land. Just think, in spite of not
being able to pay taxes I have
been able to "carry on." And
now the Income Tax Commission
is prodding us for 1952 tax state
ment, something sent out two
years ago and tried to forget.
But there is a point I want to
SIDE GLANCES
By GALBRAITH
t M I. II, s. Pit M. I r
C. IW M Sir. c, tBf. 7Pl
"Yes, it fits perfectly, but you'd better take it in I'll
probably lost a couple of inches worrying about how I'm
going to pay for it!"
Highway Improvement
13 I ears in viaKing
-":3eW
Kdson
WASHINGTON (NEA)- Presi
dent Eisenhower's proposal for a
$50-billion, five-year, federal-state
highway program wasn't just
something pulled out of a hat to
impress the gov
ernors' confer
ence. The estim
ate has been some
time in prepara
tion as a secret
While House proj
ect, with the help
of Francis V. dul
Pont, commis
sioner of the Bur-tJ
eau of Public'
Roads in Depart
ment of Commerce.
It so happens that the nine re
gional directors of BPR are now
in Washington to work out the de
tails of a long-range road-building
program, as required by the Mc
Gregor highway bill recently
passed by Congress.
The planning will be done under
the direction of A. D. St. Clair,
chief of BPR research. State high
way departments will, of course,
have all their plans incorporated.
The completed report for carrying
out the President's proposal must
be submitted to Congress before
Jan. 30, 1955.
WORST JAM
Traffic surveys, under continu
ous study since about 1935, have
already been completed. Highway
engineers know where congestion
is heaviest and where the most
express routes would hav to be
laid out to free the bottlenecks
and reduce accidents. The area
between Washington and Boston,
of course, has the worst jam in
the country.
What has to be done is allocate
what the engineers call "suffici
ency ratings" to all projects, to
determine which highways should
be built first. Most states have
such priority listings now.
Just how many miles of high
way can be built for $50 billion
depends on many variables. What
part of the costs will be met by
federal funds and what by state
and local governments? What part
will go to rural roads, and what
to national defense needs, to
speed city evacuation in case of
bombing attack?
What mileage will be in self
liquidating toll roads? Will the
federal government's share be fi
nanced by special new taxes? Or
will Congress aprove this $5 bil
lion annual expenditure by deficit
financing?
The size of the President's pro
gram may be judged by compari
son with present federal highway
expenditures. This year's appro
priation is $575 million only 10
per cent of the S5 billion proposed.
For the two fiscal years 1956-7,
the total federal appropriation un
der the McGregor bill will be $875
million.
If federal funds are matched
by state appropriations on a
50-50 basis, which is the. present
average cast .,
total nvn: '!
bled.
Rut the i. .
teS with Iff!!
areas get frJ.Ntt
of their
Highway
" vary fromSfflS
0?0 anUtotFJSSl
ss million .
"Shways in urban''1
rnnrti, ,...i a Hal
New .To... . a Pi 111
Hnw m, - -IJ
PlanwouW hCft
employment, c ' 7"
Present estimate, "'J
the road-building dtT,
I'ui ucm oi the mm- Jt"
go to labor TJ"r?W
A R.kln.' '
program umH ,L "
and fiscal exnBfi, v...
no such stimulants e.
J.
IDEA NOT NEW
The iron fn .
Suilding rB S
new, however. It has bj
r "asningtonfon
In 1939 there w. , 21
roads. In 1941 th
fensc highway plan ol Jiif
J ear. in 1944 -, J
regional hishww i 3m
ned. In 1949 an iib,",1
si am was recommended.
in mou sen. Joseph (
jiuuey (u-wyoj, then ,
ot tne Congressional
committee, hadast
pared on hiehwm i
leclcd data from the tafel
their highway needs and ej
wun a w Dinioncostesti
billion for rural 1
the rest for town and ci
oughfares. It was eslin
would provide 10,000 1
of employment.
429,000 MILES
American Association f &
Highway officials last year I
a new survey of needed 3
way improvements for tltl
erally aided highway
came up with an estimate ltd
000 miles of highway a
improvement, at a tola! t
$35 billion.
The figure that has bas
tioned around Bureau if 1
Roads for the past ten ;
been between $45 bill
$60 billion as the total t
modern U. S. highway mi
Public Roads Commisiiwl
Pont told Ohio Congresaal
Harry McGregor's PublieH
Subcommittee earlier tins
that the U. S. now hid i
three million miles of I
Of this he said only K
were toll roads planned I
operation.
Hal Bole
City Ideal Spot in Summe
'Commuters' Only Vexatid
NEW YORK iff) The best
place to spend the summer now
is in the city.
Let a friend of mine explain
why.
I live in an
air- conditioned
apartment and
work in an air
conditioned of
fice," he said.
"I've figured out
a way to get to
and from work in
33 minutes a day.
That means I
have to spend
only 2 hours and Boyle
45 minutes outdoors from Mon
day through Friday.
"On Friday evening I put on
my pajamas and hibernate in
them until Monday morning. I
don't have to worry about the
heal, or mosquitoes, or sunburn,
or stepping on cockleburrs.
"By staying home I save money,
catch up on all the books I want
to read. I have even had time to
get acquainted with my wife
imagine that, after all these years
and she has turned out to be
a pretty interesting fellow, now
that we don't have all those quar
rels about where to go for the
summer and how to get. there."
He'd be a happy guy except for
one thing. He put it in one word:
"Commuters."
"Some of our friends who own
country places and used to insist
on having us out for the week
end," he complained, "now want
to come and visit us in the city.
They've heard about how pleas
ant and restful it is to spend a
weekend in the city. I wish I
knew what to do about it."
So I told him what to do about
It Give 'em the same kind of
time in the city as they give you
in the country.
The suburban nature lovers in
vito a weekend guest from the
city for two reasons, generally:
1. They actually arc miserably
lonely in their bullfrog-echoing
dale in the wildwood, and misery
loves company.
2. They are afraid (heir boring
country neighbors will drop over,
and hope the guest from the city
has a personality repulsive
enough to frighten the neighbors
away.
Using the same tactics, here is
how the happy city dweller can
repel an invasion of humari lo-
mcfc caoblntf rnlipf frflltl In
comforts of" a summer il
country:
1 When Ihpv arrive, t
lhat your air-conditioner J
broken down and that mil
weekend in Hades, as yoil
lUr, hnlfncl 3 n n rt m Pnt M
2. Ask if they will plaJ
a snower wnne you vn
tneir doming, ana ntimn
1.. (ittr. I . ,.n am Hi
but some siiburbanilesMIl
iu. .UvM
wood tICKS into um w
airenaic.
3. Tell Ihem you've amM
neignDors over, aim """rTJ
"You'll love them both. JjjJ
card tricks, ana "ja
keep a party going "'
Anyway, it'll be so hot yon
be able to sleep."
INDOOR BARBEQUE
A II rllnnnrtlme VOU
barbecue gnu in " T'J
and announce, "Thcre'-J
like the taste of hot
over charcoal inaoors.
..... ,K pharcoal!
.sure 10 pui me -the
grill and the hot doSfffJ
it. Then pour "" J
the hot dogs ana "m
When the cnarcum -.
j i.ih iM.SStU
COOKL-U Ull . ,(
in a mm, anu ii
try guests don't like "J
charcoal, dab on a htftjl
5. Put a few siw"fl
cones between the mJ
the sheets oi )' fJ. n
so they won i
smell.
. ...i.ir nr.V
6. Just before ttffl
Uy ,o bed hand ft!
mosquito repeii.
them tousc il "be J
of "Flight oi u.. ;;.
the phonograph and IP . J
m! This Is real WT1
They'll twist anu v-
at (he empiy ;"mb m
When they do c "S
from the saciv, w
Gee, you've BWJJ1
better catch the n
home. We're kinds M
the country, I t;Mi
"The city rt Ufa
but, gosh, wedn'
As soon a ,
can turn on the " !
and relax. Don't 1
as they spread
experience fJ
your cool 'vory w"fJ,(
safe for Uw rest of