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About Eugene register-guard. (Eugene, Or.) 1930-1983 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 1961)
A Mff7 MOMS MtWaA( AN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER ALTON F. BAKER Publisher ALTON F. BAKER JR. Editor . ROBERT B. FRAZIER Associate Editor A. H. CURREY Associate Editor SERVICES Associated Press, United Press International, Audit Bureau of Circulations The Register-Guard's policy is the complete and impartial publication in its newr 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 helpful in the development of constructive community policy. A newspaper is A CITIZEN OF ITS COMMUNITY. Science Gap 1.11k - EUGENE, OREGON, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1961 . . - r pJabberwocky' Describes It Nicely ; There's an adage to the effect that a "closed mouth gathers no foot. The Ore ..gonian's editors should memorize it "and reflect upon it when next they feel moved to write about "Tax Jabber- wocky." Last Saturday they published what they must have intended as a rebuttal to earlier disclosure here that Portland is dogging it when it comes to employing local property taxes for the support of public education. Instead, our peers at the Oregonian only proved what we have insisted all along. We quote them now: The Eugene taxpayer pays a smaller muni cipal tax than does his Portland counterpart, because the smaller the city the less complex the required services. And the Eugene tax payer's county millage Is extremely low, less than half that of the Portland taxpayer, be cause Lane County gets a big help from 0 & C land grant funds in meeting its budget.. Taking that first point first, we can only conclude, again, that the Oregonian expects to shift a larger portion of its local school district's burdens to the state-at-large, for no better reason than I that it is a big-city district. Portland is a big burg, sure. And a big fprce, politically, in this state. But that 'really should have nothing to do with the problem of putting state-collected school support funds to use where they are most needed. . The Oregonian's argument that Port land property owners are too heavily burdened to support their own schools as must those of other districts is re futed by facts available right in the Portland area. Statistically equalized tax ! rates for Portland, Gresham, Oregon City . and Beaverton are now quoted from a current tax study which the Oregonian , editors seem to have read only for pur poses of making Portland-Eugene com- parisons. . . m Capita m.. pr citr ' Portland . 1 Gresham Oregfti City ...$5,771 Beaverton $3,931 Capita Equallted MUlaies for! $9,412 $5,345 Com. tax County Sen. $147.74 6.S 12.0 $187.13 8.3 t ' " $149.44 2.2 $110.28 3.2 17.1 1S.8 24.6 8.4 6.0 6.8 2.2 1.1 1.1 Considering its abilities to bear prop , erty taxes, even Beaverton fe outclassing Portland in willingness to pay its own way particularly in regard to schools. ) Now,' as to the Oregonian's sly cut at the O&C funds which help reduce county taxes in 18 western Oregon counties, we are, and have been, agreeable to a legis lative interim committee recommenda tion that these be to some degree included in calculations meant to deter mine relative needs for state "equaliza tion" payments to local school districts. As the Oregonian so rightly stated, we do champion the principle that state aid should go first to those districts which are valuation-poor and pupil pressed. , It is our view, however, that Port landers are using the O&C issue only as a smokescreen to hide behind while they attack the equalization principle in hopes of destroying it entirely. Similar ly, it is purposeful that they cry "dis crimination"; .complain that they have too many tax demands upon them, be cause they live in a big city; and, be moan having only $5,412 assessed value per capita. , They are attempting to draw atten tion away from one compelling truth. We repeat that now. , Only 14 Oregon cities including Portland and Eugene have $5,400 or more assessed valuation per capita. Two hundred and four have less! And, many rural areas are without high-value in dustrial and commercial properties which they would need to match even' the average city's property-tax abilities. Clearly, equalization is needed in the distribution of state school-aid funds in order to guarantee every Oregon young ster a sound, basic education. Clearly, some youngsters could not be afforded this guarantee if state aid were appor- . tloned on the flat, per-pupil basis that Portland favors. 1 ! The Oregonian calls it loony logic to suggest that Portland per capita taxes should be higher than Eugene's or Podunk's, we must suppose. ' What, may we ask, could be loonier than to follow the Oregonian's brand of logic to its conclusion? What could be . more neatly termed "jabberwocky" than a plea that state school-support funds should be juggled to compensate Port land simply because Eugene and Podunk haven't yet increased their non-school . property taxes to support zoos, munici pal sports palaces and other necessities of big-city status. Bu Sylvia Porter . ' .' Kennedy Moving Cautiously With Anti-Slump Measures M USSR... , ..MRotrs on..... Auto Madness The most reasonable of us are un reasonable where the automobile is con cerned. We have the example of the 110 ' pound woman who drives a two-ton car , half a mile to get five pounds of gro ceries. . - And we have the 'case of her husband who sneaks off work early so he can . beat the 5 o'clock rush, squeaks through , yellow and red lights , at breakneck speeds and dashes into the house to ; watch television for the whole evening. Who's Immoral? ' Just the other day Columnist Peter ( Edson pointed out that Communists are ' finding ready-mado propaganda in U.S. ; scandals involving morality, or the lack of it, in business, labor and government . hierarchies. ' Now the Milwaukee Journal reports ' that 1960 was a record year for fraud, , embezzlement and petty thievery by "trusted" employes of U. S. business ' firms. The total take of clerks, typists, book keepers, welders, deliverymen, house keepers and other employes of every 1 kind has been estimated at close to one I billion dollars. Authority for this, the ' Journal states, is a vice president of the ' world's largest employe bonding firm. This news, added to all that Colum nist Edson was referring to, leads one to wonder how many Americans remain eli gible to cast first stones in an offensive against transgressors. But it' may help explain why President Kennedy has called upon Americans to follow higher moral standards in private affairs. Quite obviously It will be a red-letter propaganda day for tho foes of democ racy when they can circulato proof that decadency in the U.S. is a general thing, not an abberation that shows up only in a few faithless leaders as they are ex posed to the stark light of public in- quiry. . The Kind of 'Gap' There has been consternation, under standably, but more than that there seems to be general misunderstanding concerning this business of a "missile gap." Recently, when the Russians shot a huge rocket toward Venus, we heard comments that the old "missile gap" ap parently still existed. That is, the U. S. is yet several years behind the Russians in long-range rocket capabilities. Actually, this is not the case. The re- n markable Venus shot by the Russians definitely indicates a "space gap" but it does not mean a "missile gap" in which the Reds' nuclear capabilities with rock ets is superior to ours. Even should the Russians have more long-range missiles, (which from all evidence is doubtful) we have tremendous capability with our strategically based intermediate missiles and Polaris type rockets for a nuclear deterrent. In the high-powered, long-range shots we admit the Russians are ahead of us. It is a "space gap" that we should be concerned about. It should spur us to push ahead faster on the power side of rocket development. But for nuclear war head capabilities, the Russians know we do not lag. Admiral Off Base Some of Vice Admiral Rickover's views on U.S. education have indicated penetrating Insight. Others haven't. Now he's come .up with one that may almost destroy his reputation as a com petent critic. He suggests uniforms for U.S. public school pupils. This is glaring evidence that he knows nothing of actual conditions among jun ior and high school sets. Nowhere are uniforms more cxactingly prescribed. They vary from school to school and month to month. But parents of teen-agers have tho budget deficits to prove thai their offspring are far fussier about appearing in the proper uniform of the day than any Navy man who ever lived. ...ITS V&lUS R0CKCT... ...PROGRESS Peter Edson K's Double-Talk Confuses Disarm Issue Washington (NEA) The Ken nedy administration apparently . hopes that most progress can be made in negotiations with Rus sia's Khrushchev on the subjects of disarmament ' and peaceful co e x i s t e nee to avoid World War III. . Khrushc h e v has done a lot of talking on these subjects as self-styled champion of the peace- loving states. But when his words are examined closely, what comes out is mostly double-talk. This was particularly true when ' he reported on the recent Moscow conference of Communit party representatives from 81 coun- -, tries. " Here are significant excerpts from his long Jan. 6 speech to . Illustrate this point: "Comrades, if the problem of all problems of our times is that of averting a new war, the most radical way of solving it is dis armament. ...Our struggle for disarmament is not a tactical move. We sincerely want disarma ment, ... . . Edson "The struggle for disarmament is the most important factor for averting war. It is an effective struggle against imperialism. In such a struggle the socialist camp has the majority of 'mankind on its side. "The struggle for disarmament is an active struggle against im perialism, for restricting its mili tary potentialities "The primary conditions of progress in disarmament js the mobilization- of the broadest masses of people and their in creasing pressure on imperialist governments. "In the capitalist camp, policy regarding socialist countries fol lows two trends: A militant ag gressive trend and -a moderate sober' trend. .,. : "Lenin pointed out the neces sity for establishing contacts with those circles of the bourgeois which gravitate toward pacifism; even if they should be of the poorest quality. . . . The correct ness of these words is confirmed by the events of our times, too. i ' "Among the ruling classes of the imperialist camp, a fear for1 the future of capitalism prevails. . . . Hence there are two tenden cies: One is aiming at war, the second accepting the . idea . of peaceful coexistence in some form. ... . "Comrades, life itself bears out the correctness of the Lenin ist policy of peaceful coexistence of states with diverse social sys tems, consistently pursued by the Soviet Union and other socialist countries.... "Peaceful coexistence with capitalist countries . . . facilitates the activities of Communist par ties and other progressive organi zations of the working class. It facilitates the struggle the people wage against aggressive military blocs, against foreign military . bases. ' "Thus, the policy of peaceful coexistence, as regards its social content, is a form of intense eco nomic, political and ideological struggle of the proletariat against the aggressive forces of imperial ism in the international arena. -.' "There is only one way of bringing imperialism to heel . . . an all-out unification and consoli dation of the world revolutionary movement-. . . to prevent the dan ger of war.- - , . "The Communist party of the Soviet Union and the Soviet gov ernment will continue with de termination to do everything to enhance the military might of our country." So far the Kennedy administra tion has done little more to com bat the current business down turn than a Nixon administration would have done and to date it actually has shown more cau tion on anti slump moves than the Eisen hower adminis tration showed during the last downturn in 1958. Cons idering the torrent of out of the White sy,vl House on the economic situation, the headline being made about the level of unemployment, the administration's efforts to prod Congress into'passing urgent leg islation to extend jobless benefits and aid depressed areas, this ap praisal well may startle you. But read on and you'll have the facts to confirm it. (1) Government spending pro grams and awards of defense con tracts are being accelerated. This is a continuation of the speed-up begun during the Eisenhower ad ministration in mid-1960 before any GOP official pssplicly admit ted a recession was on. As Prentice-Hall emphasized, in July-November, 1960, military procure ment obligations jumped 21 per cent above the 1959 span and this was no accidental rise. In the 1958 recession govern ment defense spending was boosted much more. Prentice-Hall estimates spending on defense hard goods, in the first half of 1958 at almost double the total in the preceding half. (2) Spending on the highway program is being speeded up too another continuation of a move initiated under Eisenhower. In the 1958 recession this type of spending was not only accelerated but also increased by more than a quarter-billion dollars. (3) Unemployment insurance is being extended to workers who already have exhausted state benefits, and liberalization of the program is being pushed. Similar moves were made in the 1958 downturn. Incidentally, the Ei senhower administration rated temporary aid to the unemployed in that recession as the step of greatest impact. (4) The outflow of government cash to individuals who might be in most need now is being ac celerated via an order to speed up payment of dividends on vet erans' life insurance and of tax refunds. Orders of the same na ture was issued in 1958. (5) Pressure is being put on home mortgage rates through re; duction in FHA's charges, some liberalization of housing credit and an organized campaign to talk down mortgage rates. Much more than this was done to stim ulate housing in 1958. (6) The Federal Reserve Sys tem has taken aggressive steps to make credit easily available and lower its cost in order tb en courage increased borrowing for homebuildings, new plants mod-, 1 In The Editors Mai I bag About the Mission EUGENE (To the Editor) There still seems much, a way too much talk or jabbering, and not enough sound down to earth reasoning about the Eugene Mis sion. There are people that rightfully say what they think without thinking. ' They do not want the mission in town; becauso they have, a self ish attitude; they thlnlf only of themselves ana to neii wun any one, and everything else. What they really mean is "I al ways tako this stand toward the down and outers." I say God will take positive Carmichael hold on this issue, so let's all pray. Pray hard enough so these down and outers can have a place to get in out of the storm and cold, and be permitted to clean up, and let them have a chance, to try to be respectable, so that they might join in and pray and thank Almighty God; the one that made it possible for them to have ; a chance in life and to thank the one that made it possible. If those children that run loose .on the street were chaperoned and disciplined they wouldn't be : in jeopardy. Let's all pray about it and get in and keep these people that are less fortunate than we, and watch them be someone whether the selfish people think so or not. KENNETH BOTTOM 764 Clark Ave. would create many new jobs our President says are so badly needed. She advocates an expenditure of $30 million (this is the Park Service's own estimate. See page 25 of their economic survey) to change the 12-month, multipur pose economy of the Florence Reedsport area to a three months tourist economy, thus doing away with many more jobs. The seashore proponent's claim that the seashore will, attract enough new winter tourists to the area to offset this loss of existing economy is not supported by what has actually happened in other national parks and our one exist ing seashore at Cape Hatteras. Voluminous proof of this could be cited but a resident of the Hat teras area best summed it up to us during our two weeks' visit there this past October. He said "We have a ball all summer and. starve all winter." It is all very confusing. Presi dent Kennedy says we must spend millions to create employment Senator Neuberger says we must spend millions to do away with existing and potential jobs. Which is right? JOHN M. HAYES Chairman, Western Lane Taxpayers' Assn. ern equipment, etc. As our coun try's central bank, the Federal Reserve System acts independ ently of the administration. It be gan moving toward easier, cheap er credit in early 1960 before even its governors were sure something was going wrong in our economy. It also acted aggres sively to ease credit and cut in terest rates in 1958. Of course, it's not entirely black and white! A Nixon administra tion wouldn't have favored so broad a depressed areas bill nor, probably, the quick expansion of social security benefits proposed by President Kennedy. It's un likely that Nixon would have urged a higher minimum wage "immediately." Nixon's recom mendations for "a new tax in centive for businesses to expand" undoubtedly would have been dif ferent. ' But there's a provocative cau tion in the pace and type of anti recession action proposed to date, and the resemblance between the 1958 anti-recession remedies and the 1961 suggestions is, in Prentice-Hall's words, "strikingly close jn the broad outlines." I hope it implies the Kennedy administration's judgment that this recession will be neither serious nor persistent enough to justify crash programs. I think it implies just that. (Distributed 1961 by The Hall Syndicate, Inc.) (All Rights Reserved) Other Editors' Views Full Cycle In Freighting From the Cleveland (Ohio) Plain-Dealer The newest item-of contention tin the continuing squabble among carriers involves the Internation al Brotherhood of Teamsters who are crying foul play because the railroads are under-selling the truckers in the business of trans porting new automobiles. The Teamsters, understand ably, are trying to maintain jobs for their drivers. But there is a queer twist to the car-toting trade. Total employment on the nation's railroads is about half what it was in 1930 and it is rea sonable to assume that the com petition from trucking lines hat been responsible for most of this job loss. Other reasons would be rail-, road cutbacks, mergers and auto mation. In fact, it wasn't so long ago that the federal government told the nation's railroads, when the latter went to Washington to seek relief from losses, to do something in the self-help area. The railroads were told to find ways of helping themselves. One of the ways discovered was the specially - designed tri- level railroad car which can carry up to 15 regular sized autos or 18 compact cars. This is the tech nique which the Teamsters com plain is unfair competition and which threatens truckaway job maintenance in the union. Thus the cycle is complete. Railroads get business as a mono poly at one time, railroads lose business to truckers, railroads win business back. In the steady advance of technology jobs dis appear in wholesale lots. But are the Teamsters interested in what became of the almost half a mil lion railroad employes whose jobs disappeared in the last 30 years? So They Say- How do we intend to conquer space and survive when only about 50 per cent of our mala population has enough physical efficiency to be qualified to wear the uniform of our armed serv ices? Col Frank 1. Kones. director of physical educaUon at West Point. , H'S PRICE'S vVoijip be Very reasoma&le IP he Weren't jch a 6PURIY PRtSStR Mttt aana'(?tf a VETERINARIAN il Seashore and Jobs WESTLAKE (To the Editor) The new administration is greatly concerned over the unemploy ment situation. It plans to spend millions of dollars to correct this situation by creating new jobs and increasing unemployment bene fits. On the other hand our new senator appears to be doing every thing in her power to add to the administration's difficulty in solv ing this problem by her single minded advocacy of a national seashore on the Oregon coast. She has recently stated that she may disapprove of the Inter national Paper Company's pro posed pulp mill at Gardiner sole ly on the basis that it would detract from her seashore, regard less of the fact that this mill MEMBER OP THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Thn Auoclaltd Pros la ntttlea' eluslvtly to tha usa of republication of all th local nawt printed la tills oswipaar. .V1LLIAM L. WASMANN, Ncwa Editor DONN L. BONHAM City Editor EDWIN M. BAKER, Buslniu Hinaftr JARL E. FUGLE, Circulation Manasrr ROBERT K. BERTSCH Promotion W B, JOHNSTON JR. Auditor ARM STROMMER Production Jerry Bennett Kennedy's Will Weakens on Liquid Diet' WASHINGTON (NEA) Even President Kennedy's strong will power weakens when it comes to going on a diet. Recently, the chief executive decided to lose 'some weight by drinking one of the popular low calorie liqnid foods. But at least one person saw him using the concoction to wash down two sandwiches. NEW DEFINITION of a gour met: Someone who can tell when a hot buttered rum is made with margarine. SAYED HAQ, Pakistan em bassy press attache, quips that informing Americans about his country definitely has its limits. He recently received a letter from a school child which read: "I am very interested in learn ing about Pakistan. Would you please mail me literature about it and the press attache, too?" PRESIDENT KENNEDY'S plan to revive the food stamp plan for depressed areas has sparked this gag: The colors of the old stamps were blue and orange. But since no Irishman would stand for an orange stamp, the colors will probably be changed to green and gold. SCOUTING OFFICIALS were particularly proud to announce that President Kennedy and eight' of his 10 Cabinet members had 'been Boy Scouts. Robert S. McNamara, ' secre tary of defense, and Orville L. Freeman, secretary of agricul ture, were the only ones to attain the rank of Eagle Scout. But Dean Rusk, secretary of state, was the knot-tyin cham pion of the Atlanta region. And Robert Kennedy, attorney gen eral, had the distinction of be ing a Scout in another country. He joined the Scouts in Eng land where he lived from 1937-40 while his dad was ambassador to the Court of St. James'. KATHRYN LARSEN. 9year old daughter of Washington executive and former NEA cor respondent Douglas Larsen, went to the National Press Club's week ly family night buffet decked out in a new muff and pillbox hat. When she got on the elevator, a man remarked "Trjat young lady looks just like Jackie Kennedy." "You're mistaken," said a voice in the rear. "She must be Bobby's wife." " - MRS. JAMES ROOSEVELT, wife of the Democratic congress man from California, went to the Sheraton-Park Hotel to hav Natalie Greer, the dressmaker, . alter one of her formal gowns. She got the room number from the clerk, located the right door and knocked. A woman opened the door, acknowledged that she was Mrs. Greer and then looked completed baffled when Mrs. Roosevelt handed her the dress. Mrs. Roosevelt had the same reaction when she saw a big sign on the wall which read, "Republi cn National Committee," Turned out the clerk had directed her to Mrs. Mary Greear of the com mittee's staff who was using the room for a Republican women meeting. AT A BOY SCOUT anniversary breakfast here, 14-year-old Eagla Scout Richard E. Osher of San Diego, Calif., made a speech so eloquent that Rep. Bob Wilson (RCalif.) cracked: "I'm sure glad he has 11 year to go before he is old enough to run against me."
