tAMS ClWlff IMM HnMNt
AN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER
ALTON F. BAKER, Publisher, 1927-1961
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editors of the Register-Guard offer their opinions
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tive community policy. A newspaper it a
CITIZEN Or ITS COMMUNITY.
Published every evening and Sunday morning
by the Guard Publishing Co.
From Our Past
Rope Trick
Don's Fleeson
ALTON F. BAKER JR.
Editor and Publisher
EDWIN M. BAKER
General Manager
RICHARD A. BAKER
Managing Editor . . .
ROBERT B. FRAZIER
Associate Editor
A. H. CURREY
Associate Editor
14A
EUGENE, OREGON, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 1962
Timely Attack on Economic Illiteracy
Prominent in the news lately have
been complaints about the economic il
literacy of Americans. Secretary of Com
merce Luther Hodges has aired fears
that the future of our nation, dependent
as it is upon an informed electorate, is
endangered because too few voters un
derstand why the U.S. is blessed with
prosperity unique in this world. Writing
in; the Saturday Evening Post a couple
of issues back, Secretary Hodges noted
that, even among college graduates, ig
norance of economics is appalling.
Now the Committee for Economic De
velopment has followed such concern
provoking reports with the timely an
nouncement of an 11-point program to
promote economics education in U.S.
schools. The CED program only happens
to coincide with a cresting of public in
terest in economics. It actually has been
13 years in processes of formulation and
refinement. However, public reaction al
ready is indicating that it could quickly
become the crowning success of every
thing this group of leading American
educators and businessmen has done to
combat ignorance and apathy in regard
to vital economic questions.
The CED program makes especially
good sense for the reason that it is
aimed primarily at the 90 per cent of
U.S. citizens who never had or never
will have even the chance to learn the
ABC's of economics in college.
; To start the ball rolling, the CED
program will employ a "College of the
Air" television series, beginning this
September, to coach high school teach
ers and other interested adults in the
fundamentals of this subject. Meanwhile,
carefully screened packets of study ma
terials are being sent to each of the
25,000 high schools in this country. Next
spring, special tests will be circulated to
the high schools to check the effective
ness of the training system.
When it gets in high gear, the CED
program also will attempt to stir grade
schools to mix basic economic ideas into
arithmetic classes and other related in
struction. The CED cannot command
that any of this be done, or even that
our high schools seriously endeavor
to upgrade the teaching of economics.
But growing public concern about eco
nomic problems ranging from automa
tion and crop surpluses to the European
Common Market and depletion of gold
reserves has created a climate which
is favorable toward, if not demanding
of, promotion of this once too lightly
regarded study area.
And just wait until Junior comes to
the dinner table asking what his parents
think will be the outcome of congres
sional debates on tariff problems. Wait
until he and his generation realize that
they are becoming more mature in eco
nomic judgments than most of their
elders. Then, and it can't come too quick
ly for the good of the nation, there will
be a resultant reaction among those al
ready old enough to vote. Crackpot eco
nomic schemes will be more closely
scrutinized. Sound proposals will be bet
ter understood and supported by the
voters.
Necessity is dictating that the aver
age American must develop the same
sort of interest in the bread-and-butter
issues of economics that he now has in
the material advantages he otherwise
may be about to lose. Necessity, in this
case, promises to be the mother of understanding.
ft ft
Double Bite
Great legal minds in Oregon and
Washington are all torn up over the
problem of 38 fellows who work on the
interstate bridges between Portland and
Vancouver. The states are arguing about
the law. But there can be no question
about the side that simple fairness is on.
It's on Washington's.
Under an agreement between the two
states, Washington collects the tolls.
Under Washington civil service regula
tions, Washington employes must live in
Washington. But the toll houses are on
the Oregon side of the line. Thus the toll
collectors work in Oregon. And Oregon
levies an income tax on people who work
in Oregon, even if they live out of state.
Because they must live in Washington,
the toll collectors naturally do most of
their shopping there. (Indeed, if they
tried to smuggle in some items, Wash
ington would take action against them
for payment of excise and sales taxes.)
So, for reasons beyond the control of
the employes, they are victims of double
taxation.
Maybe the way out is for Washington
to raise the men's wages to cover the
Oregon income tax bite and then to bill
Oregon for the added expense.
ft ' ft " ft ft
public relations. Hereafter it should be
easier for representatives of the press
and other interested citizens to get
authoritative information in answer to
any legitimate questions. Also, the pub
lic likely will be increasingly Informed
about highway commission plans and
programs through routine news releases.
The highway commission, comprised of
three unpaid citizens appointed to their
posts, will be assisted in its work through
increased public understanding and good
will. Public relations with emphasis on
the first word also will provide further
assurance that Oregon's record of never
having had a highway scandal will con
tinue as a mark for other states to shoot
at.
Get Off It
Four distinguished citizens of East
ern Oregon went down to Portland the
other day to tell the Chamber of Com
merce a thing or two. They sought to
convince the city slickers that Eastern
Oregon people are nice people, impor
tant people. Eastern Oregon, they in
sisted, is a nice place. Eastern Oregon
shouldn't be discriminated against.
Not in Our State
Commenting upon scandals being un
covered in some state highway depart
ments, the Christian Science Monitor
notes that "secrecy and billions do not
mix safely unless men of the utmost in
tegrity are running the laboratory."
Oregon hasn't exactly been in the
billion-dollar-share bracket as federal
highway construction funds have been
passed out with increasing liberality in
recent years. But Oregon's system of ad
ministering its share of these, and its
own locally collected highway funds, has
long borne out the contention that in
tegrity and open books are basic to good
highway programs.
Just last week there was a small
news item which indicated that the Ore
gon Highway Commission now intends
to further increase the illumination of
its operations. The commission has ap
pointed Victor Wolfe, an experienced
member of its professional engineering
staff, to take over highway commission
Why protest so much? This apparent
"bad feeling" between the two section of
the state is in their own minds. To be
sure, things have been said that ought
not to have been said. A big-mouthed
Portland legislator said something about
Eastern Oregon as a land of sagebrush
and jackrabbits. And Eastern Oregon
politicians have been known to say terri
ble things about the web-footed folks in
the valley, with their effeminate ways
and their city-bred inadequacies. But
such cracks are exceptional. Otherwise
they wouldn't get in the paper.
In Eastern Oregon there is some feel
ing that the Legislature is being stacked
against that section of the state. Yet,
nobody over here has ever proposed any
system as flagrantly one-sided as the so
called "federal plan" that is brought up
now and then east of the mountains.
We're not mad at those people. And
we don't want them to be mad at us.
We're interdependent. We'd have a
poorer state if we had to get along with
out them. And they'd be worse off with
out us.
Again we say to our friends east of
the mountains, "Get off it."
Maybe You
Can Supply
Punch Line
By KENNETH L. HOLMES
Profeiior of History, Llnfleld College
On Oct. 23, 1873, Bishop Dan
iel Tuttle of the Episcopal
Church wrote to his home office
telling of his extended stage
trips through the West. Here is
one thing he said:
"I have, this summer, traveled
more than 3,000 miles, and 2,500
of these by stage, in day and
night riding, along roads where
sagebrush growths are almost
the only trees, and holes in the
rocks almost the only houses.
The stage driver is sovereign.
How absolutely he rules, any
Rocky Mountain passenger can
tell you. Police, constables,
courts are things unknown in
his domain. His will is law for
the time being, from which
there is no appeal.
"He is not hard hearted nor
unintelligent; but reticent, will
ful, autocratic, despiser of titles
and dignities, he certainly is!
And if perchance you thought
yourself possessed of powers for
working influence or winning
favors, be not surprised to find
them having no effect upon him.
"A more independent set of
men, resenting the slightest at
tempt at interference or con
trol, I never met. Yet they are
noble fellows, too; most skillful
and unwearied in their work;
men of sound judgment and
good education, and with a
proud esprit de corps that im
pels them to meet, steadily, dan
gers from the highwaymen and
suffering from cold and sleep
lessness, in order to push on
over their route the United
States mail and passengers."
An Expert With Whip
Undoubtedly some of the
readers of this column will re
member one of the most famous
of the stagecoach drivers in bur
area, Felix Warren. Felix drove
the coaches in all three of our
Pacific Northwest states: Ore
gon, Washington and Idaho.
Those who knew him seem to
be unanimous in giving him
credit for being a friendly but
firm knight of the whiplash.
He was certainly an expert
with the whip. One old-timer
said to me of him, "He could
flip a flea off a dog's tail."
One day Felix Warren was
driving from Lewiston, Idaho,
on a run to Palouse, Washing
ton, via the Idaho communities
of Genessee and Moscow. This
trip involved a climb up the
steep grade of the Snake River
Gorge. His only passengers
were two women, one young,
the other elderly. Just as the
stage reached the summit of the
grade on the way to Genessee,
the older woman called out,
"Mr. Warren, - we'll have to
.stop. We've got a baby on our
hands."
With his usual dignity, Felix
Warren pulled to a stop, got
down from the coach, unhitched
the horses and let them out to
graze. He walked over to the
edge of the Snake River Can- Ralph fVlcCjlll
nnH mil atftfiA lnnlrintf OUT AVPP
the valley for about half an
hour. Suddenly he heard the
cry of the babe who had been
born in his coach. Another
period passed, and then the
older woman called out that
they could go on.
More and More Excited
. Felix hitched up the horses
and drove carefully on to Genes
see. There he left the young
mother and her baby and went
on to finish the run. When he
arrived at Palouse, Felix found
the husband waiting for the
stage. As the stage driver told
him about the birth of his first
born, the new father became
more and more excited. Never
was a wagon hitched so fast nor
driven so hard as that young
man dashed off over the dusty
road through the rolling Palouse
Hills toward Genessee.
A few days later Felix War
ren was in Palouse again. He
met the father once more on
the main street. The young man
said, "Mr. Warren, we would
have named our baby after you
if it had been a boy, but she is
a girl, so the next best thing
is for you to name her." Felix'
eyes twinkled. "Why, I'll be
glad to," he said.
Now you will ask me, "What
did Felix name the child?" My
answer is, "I don't know." May
be someone who reads this
column will be able to tell us
all.
Congress Appears Bent
On People 'Eating Cake'
ius:
PRESTISE
J l L'.v.v.v. I iv.-. I
WASHINGTON The reluc
tance of Congress to do any
thing for the American people
this election year is rapidly ap
proaching the proportions of a
political p h e
nomenon.
A business
that broke no
new ground in
two years and
brought out no
eye- catching .
product to cap
tivate the cus
tomers would
certainly be in
trouble. Yet
WW
Fleeson
Congress can find notnmg in
the legion of Kennedy propos
als in the domestic field which
it feels might endear it to the
voters next November.
A campaign pointing with
pride to what Congress has
kept the President from doing
seems in prospect, at least in
the areas represented by mem
bers of the no-saying conserva
tive coalition. It hears no evil,
speaks no evil and sees no evil
in the affluent society.
To point out that the afflu
ent society brings new national
problems in its train not to
mention the advent of the space
age with which it coincides is
In the Editor's Mailbag
Let's Be Reasonable
EUGENE (To the Editor)
May I answer the letter by Mr.
Melvin Bishop of 222 W. 20th
Ave.?
Why, Mr. Bishop, do you and
all other , pro-fluoridationists
want to force fluorides upon
those people who do not want
them?
Fluorides are available at the
drug stores for anyone who
wishes to use them, at a very
nominal cost, as has been point
ed out previously in these col
umns. No one is denying you, or any
of the other pro-fluoridationists,
the right to use fluorides if you
wish to do so right now, today.
Let's keep our freedom of
choosing what we do, or do not,
wish to take. Following this
manner of doing things, no one
will be trying to force anything
upon you, or anyone else.
Let us all be reasonable in
our approach to these things,
shall we?
WARREN COOMBS
1674 Washington St.
Ah, Wilderness
COTTAGE GROVE (To the
Editor) Re article in Mailbag
section of Register-Guard 4th
inst. over signature of Walter
Keyes, Florence, stating I am
badly confused over the pro
posed national park in that area,
that it is more desirable to pre
serve the wilderness area than
the national park as proposed
by our esteemed Sen. Maurine
Neuberger, which I believe to
be in best interests of all con
cerned. I think it is Mr. Keyes that is
confused, so let us count the
sores on this modern Lazarus
that has been raised up by Mr.
Keyes and others in that area.
The original meaning of wil
derness is a "grassy plain" and
I can prove it.
The Basques from the small
nation in the Pyrenees on the
border between Spain and
France are the best shepherds
on five continents, and any large
sheep outfit will always procure
them to tend their flocks, be
cause Basques love sheep, and
if needs' be, rain or snow, at
lambing times the Basques will
sit up all night, dry off the little
lambs, and see to it they do not
get separated from their moth
er, and help them get their first
meal at the lunch counter. After
that the little lamb's troubles
are about over.
One could not compel a
Basque to let his flock wander
into the brambles and hidden
"pot holes" of the present area
south of Florence, not even at
the muzzle of a shotgun, where
even an elderly man strayed
from his own domicile and per
ished within earshot of his
home, and due to depravity of
undergrowth was not found for
several days after his death.
Some "playground," that's for
sure. A Biblica: parable by
Christ set forth in Luke 15:4,
the "good shepherd" gives his
life for the sheep. Left the
ninety and nine safe in the wil
derness and "searched for the
one that was lost."
Who would imagine that a
good shepherd would be boob
enough to turn his sheep loose
in that primitive area south of
Florence?
. There is. plenty, more to be
said re this wilderness matter,
and if this escapes the editor's
waste paper basket, may come
again some day.
BART JOHNSON
Rt. 1, Box 486A
only to state the obvious. Con
gress seems to be acting on the
theory that if it doesn't look,
they will go away.
Curiously, this is not accom
panied by a resurgence of iso
lationism. In the area of for
eign policy, world communism
and its leader, Moscow, have
made a truly staggering mis
take. Perhaps out of their own
fear, they persist in creating
fear. So long as they do that,
appropriations for defense, for
eign aid and the United Nations
are not in serious trouble.
In some defense categories,
Congress wants to spend more
money than the President does.
It complains of foreign aid and
is snarling at a United Nations
bond issue. But it has abso
lutely no evidence that the pub
lic does not support the Presi
dent in these matters; the evi
dence is all the other way, so
these can be worked out.
Americans look to the Pres
ident as leader in foreign pol
icy. He gets the credit and
blame in that field. Congres
sional cooperation can be very
vital, but the dividends mainly
are his.
This was shown in 1948. For
mer President Truman's "80
worst" Congress had ratified
the Marshall Plan and Greek
Turkish aid which gave him a
high place in history, but it did
not save them from his furious
attack. They had passed a tax
bill which gave grounds for ar
gument that it mostly helped
the people with money; and its
other major legislation was a
bill to remove independent pro
ducers of natural gas from fed
eral regulation, which Truman
vetoed.
What he did with that record
is legendary.
Apart from the vote appeal
aspect which every politician
must consider, there is a philo
sophic speculation much in the
minds of Washington observers.
It is the question of whether
any society can continue to vote
staggering sums for defense
with its foreign aid ramifica
tions and let its domestic plant,
so to speak, decay, if not in
whole, in important parts.
Yet even a conservation bill
in recognition of the population
explosion and urban sprawl
scarcely made a ripple in Wash
ington. "Let the Americans eat
cake" seems to be the congres
sional motto.
(Copyright, 1062, by United
Feature Syndicate, Ino.)
Chief Justice Earl Warren, the Symbol
So They Say
The only thing that really
counts in world opinion, in my
judgment, is how strong is the
United States.
Sen. Henry M. Jackson, DAVash.,
urging II. S. resume atmospheric
nuclear tests.
MEMBER Or
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cation of all the local news printed
In this newspaper.
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ROSS G. JOHNSON.
Advertising Director
JARL rUGLE Circulation Manager
ROBERT K. BERTSCH Promotion
W. B. JOHNSTON JR. Auditor
ARNE STROMMER ' Production
Eight years have passed since
Earl Warren became Chief Jus
tice of the United States. He
came to the court well prepared
to sit as its chief justice, al
though the cat
erwaul of ex
tremist critics
still rises rau
cously and fool
ishly against
him.
Since we have
been a nation,
only 14 men
have held office
nf rhiof lustice.
and three of McGill
these served in the first 12
years of our history. In this
century there have been but
seven chief justices. Each estab
lished a record of excellence
Melville Fuller, Edward D.
White, William H. Taft, Charles
Evans Hughes, Harlan F. Stone,
Fred M. Vinson and Earl War
ren. It is significant that all of
these seven men became centers
of controversy, some more vio
lent than others, because of de
cisions by the court. (In the
years before them we see their
predecessors caught inevitably
in the same web of history.)
Each chief justice has had his
furious, and usually irrational,
critics, because he, the justice,
is the symbol of the whole ju,
dicial system and the enormous
power of the Constitution, the
document which so admirably
shelters us all.
Wise to Drop It
Earl Warren was 62 when ap
pointed by President Eisenhow
er. The Californian brought to
the court a really remarkable
record. He had practiced law
for 39 years. He began with ex
perience in private practice and
as a deputy city attorney. After
that he was district attorney for
14 years during which he built
a highly regarded reputation for
ability and results. He argued a
number of cases before the U.S.
Supreme Court and attracted
admiring approval.
He was attorney general of
California for four years and
governor for 10. While governor
he was the Republican vice pres
idential nominee in 1948. the
year Harry Truman confounded
the experts and disemboweled
the Dixiecrats. Few men have
come to the court with so wide
an experience with the prob
t O
lems of laws and government in
action.
The more carping critics try
to make something out of the
fact that Earl Warren was never
a judge. They would be wise to
drop the subject. Lawyers en
tertain either reverence, re
spect, or both, for John Mar
shall. He generally is considered
the giant of the court's history.
He had had no experience as a
judge. Roger Taney, who was
chief justice in the cruelly con
troversial years before and dur
ing the Civil War, had held no
judicial position; neither had
Melville Fuller, the legendary
Charles Evans Hughes, nor Har
lan Stone, when appointed to
the court.
Resiliency and Health
The attack on Chief Justice
Earl Warren grows largely out
of a lack of understanding about
Carmichael
THERE'S BEeN A
MISTAKE I PWT
ORPER THE
i
3-ti
tolMMIMUl
the court and our government.
We, in the strict sense of the
word, are neither a democracy
nor a republic. We are not, as
the disfranchised citizens of
many states know to their sor
row, even a representative de
mocracy. The unique, dynamic
and, some think, God-inspired
plan of the men whose philos
ophy, experience and vision
were written into the Constitu
tion was a system of checks
and balances. It is this which
has given our government the
resiliency and health to endure,
prosper, and grow for almost
two centuries.
We do not have a single leg
islature. There are two. But, if
a bill passes both, it cannot be
come law without the signature
of the President, or a two-thirds
vote of both houses after his
veto. Even the Congress, which
is considered all-powerful in the
legislative field, is forbidden by
the Constitution to pass laws in
certain fields of human rights.
Powers of the states are limited
by a number of constitutional
restrictions, especially the 13th,
14th and 15th Amendments.
Of All Thoughtful Americans
What the Constitution calls
the "Judicial Power of the Unit
ed States" is given to the Su
preme Court and the lower fed
eral courts. These courts can
deny a president as Truman
was denied when the court inval
idated his seizure of the steel
plants in 1952. The Congress is
checked when it passes laws
that conflict with the Constitu
tion. The Supreme Court deci
sions bind state courts. This
was known to all state supreme
courts and judges, but most of
them kept silent during the
school segregation controversy.
But the judiciary of the several
states had no doubts about the
validity of the ruling.
The court interprets and ap
plies the Constitution.
Earl Warren has become, as
have other chief justices before
him, a symbol of the contro
versies arising out of great
events encountered by a nation
in a world of change. He and
the associate justices have
earned the respect and admira
tion of all thoughtful Ameri
cans who give loyalty to. and
who have faith in. our remarka
ble government of checks and
balances.
Distributed. 193, by The Hall
Syndicate, Inc.
From a Reporter
Some Hints
To Hopefuls
By DAN SELLARD
Of the Register-Guard
One of the things that make
political reporting difficult is
the reluctance of some candi
dates to make themselves avail
able. Now that the filing is com
pleted, we feel justified in
speaking our piece. Our thesis
is that the public has a right to
know, and a newspaper has the
-obligation to tell, a great deal
about a candidate who wants to
win a public office.
Already, and it's very early
in the campaign, we've had a
candidate who refused to give
his age, another who was reluc
tant to give her age, a candi
date who has refused to let us
take his photo, and another
who was reluctant to tell about
his educational background.
Important Information
These are important facts.
We feel justified in using as
much friendly persuasion as
possible to get them into print.
Then, if the candidate still will
not cooperate, we will have to
say that he wouldn't.
A goal of any decent news
paper is the printing of enough
information about a candidate
to enable the voter who never
sees him or hears him to still
make an informed appraisal.
The age, education, job back
ground, public achievements
and platform philosophy of a
man are important information.
And the candidate's picture is
just as important
We have a formula we use in
presenting candidates. There
is no favoritism. If the reluc
tant candidate gets less presen
tation than the others, it's his
fault.
By election day we shall have
tried to tell all the facts and
explain the thinking of each of
the many candidates.
We Don't Mind
This means a lot of night
meetings, listening to sometimes-dull
speeches, eating less-than-exciting
meals, drinking
too many gallons of coffee, and
receiving a lot of personal
abuse from candidates who are
losing and need a whipping-boy.
This we don't mind. It's a
small enough sacrifice to make,
considering that without this
coverage it just might be that
"the wrong man" would win,
that a man could be elected
without showing his hand.
We still think it takes a
"good guy to beat a good guy."
If this sounds like a personal
message to several candidates,
it's because it is.