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About Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1919-1980 | View Entire Issue (May 2, 1947)
Aged and Vets to Gel Delayed Pension Checks Truman Signs Deficiency Appropriation Bill for Welfare Payments Washington, May 2 U.R Pre sident Truman has cleared the way for payment to veterans and aged persons of benefits which had been delayed for lack of funds. Mr. Truman signed a defi ciency appropriation bill pro viding $2,835,161,509 to take care of the additional needs of various government agencies until the current fiscal year ends June 30. The bill carried $1,801,894,500 for the veterans administration. Other items included $135, 000,000 in grants to states for aid to the aged and blind and fito dependent children; $465, 000,000 for army pay; $300,000,- 000 for government and relief in occupied areas; $9,604,000 for grants to states to administer unemployment benefits and $1, 000,000 for the return of war brides from Great Britain. Ask Funds Be Wired State officials appealed today to the federal social security board to telegraph welfare funds so that Oregon can pay its old age pensions and other public welfare allotments im mediately. Miss Loa Howard, Portland, state public welfare administra tor, said 23,000 old age pension checks should have been mailed out yesterday, but were delayed because congress was slow in appropriating funds. She told Acting Gov. Marshall E. Cor nett this morning that congress finally appropriated the money, but it would be another week or 10 days before Oregon's share arrived unless the money were telegraphed. Cornett appealed to Sen. Guy Cordon to contact the U. S. treasury to see if the money could be telegraphed. Miss How ard also made a similar plea to the social security board. The federal funds involved are about $500,000, but the de lay ties up Oregon's federal-state-county welfare program which amounts to $1,200,000 for this month. 25,000 Steel jdAnrIAiT Cfrilo Pittsburgh, May 2 (IP) With 25,000 of its members idled by scattered strikes principally in non-basic steel plants, the CIO United Steelworkers union to day was faced with a declaration small companies might be "driv en into mergers" by the union's bargaining tactics. Miles H. Knowles of Washing- ton, general counsel for the non- basic steel coordinating commit tee, last night at Detroit de clared that the U. S. Steel set 1 tlement with the union Arjril 21 ! ditions in fabricating plants." Of the 25,000 idle workers, the largest group, 12,000, was in a basic steel plant, Inland Steel Corp. at Indiana Harbor, Ind. where workers walked out be cause they had no contract, al though negotiations continued. The other 13,000 walked out at a score of fabricating plants in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New Jersey and Ohio. Why Russia Blocks Atomic Bomb Control Washington, May 2 flJ.fi) Pres ident James B. Conant of Har vard university says the reason iHussia is blocking international J control of atomic energy may "be that her leaders expect the United States to "disintegrate in a whirlpool of internal trou bles." "The dwellers in the Krem lin are hard headed realists." he told the U. S. Chamber of Com merce convention here last night. But, he added, "even the shrewdest of men. if thorough ly inbued with the Marxist philosophy, can hardly escape wishful thinking about the Unit ed States. "And so long as this thinking seems plausible to our Russian allies of World War II, so long, perhaps, may the international control of the atomic bomb be delayed." The Weather (Released by United States Weather Bureau) Forecast for Salem and Vicin ity: Only scattered clouds to night and Saturday. Little cool er tonight with lowest around 40 degrees. Weather will be fa vorable for dusting and spray ing Saturday morning. Maxi mum yesterday 83. Minimum to day 51. Mean temperature yes terday 66 which was 12 above normal. Total 24-hour precipi tation to 11:30 a.m. today .00 Total precipitation for the month, trace, which is .10 of an inch below normal. Willamette river height Friday morning. .5 of a foot. C apital 58th Year, No. 105 Lie Would Bar Jews From Voice In UN Debate New York, May 2 Pi Trygve Lie, secretary-general of the United Nations, warned today that the general assembly would be making a drastic departure from past practice if it gave the Jews a voice in its Palestine de bates. Lie raised no legal objections, however, against hearing the Jewish side. The secretary-general addres sed the assembly s 14-nation steering committee after Poland formally moved a resolution de manding that the official Jew ish agency for Palestine be given the right to represent the Jews at this extraordinary session. Britain Favors Jews Britain declared earlier' that the Jews should be given a voice in the debate if any legal means could be found to provide a hearing for them. The secretary-general told the steering committee that in the past many requests for partici pation had been received from non-governmental organizations but that they always had been turned down. As the committee debate pro gressed it became clear that the arguments would be concerned mainly with the question of pre cedent and legality. No Alliance Split Official sources said the Bri tish delegation, while it is wait ing for final instructions from London, was inclined to support an American plan for letting the Jewish agency present its side of the bitter Palestine dis pute to a major committee of the UN assembly in the current emergency session. The possibility of British support reduced the possibility of any split in the solid Anglo- American alliance thus far in the assembly's attempt to set up a fact-finding commission to consider the future of Palestine, A British source emphasized that his government wanted first to make certain the American plan, the result of fresh instruc tions from Washington, was "constitutional" and would not violate rules of the assembly, Czechs and Poles for Jews Poland and Czechoslovakia brushed aside objections to full voice for Jews in the Unit ed Nations assembly debate on Palestine. These demands, however, ap peared headed toward powerful opposition led by the big west ern powers. The United States and Britain were reported ad vocating a more limited form of Jewish participation. They felt it was not legally possible under the U. N. char ter to hear non-governmental representatives at a plenary meeting of the 55 nations. Warren R. Austin, United States, and Sir Alexander Cado gan, Britain, were expected to express their views later today before the assembly's steering committee which is consider ing Jewish representation at this extraordinary Palestine ses sion. Russians Develop Their Own B-29 Berlin. May 2 U.R Lt. Gen W. Bedell Smith, U. S. ambassa dor' to Russia, said today on his arrival from Moscow that in the Soviet air fleets taking part in the May day celebration there he saw a new type four-engined bomber which resembled the B 29. He said that 100 jet planes took part in the aerial display as part of the Moscow celebra tion yesterday. Retail Prices Reached an All Time High in March Washington, May 2 U.R The labor department reported today that the retail cost of living reached a new all-time high between February 15 and March 15. The department's bureau of labor statistics said retail prices for food, clothing, house furnishings and miscellaneous items broke sharply from a 60-day quiet to rise a full two percent for the month. It said average retail prices on March 15 were 58 14 percent higher than the August, 1939 av erage and 20 percent above the same date a year ago. At the same time, BLS said in another report that average wholesale prices for some 900 basic commodities dropped 0.3 percent for the week ended Ap ril 26. The overall average, however, was at almost 34 per cent above the same week of 1946 and only 1.7 percent below the 27-year high reached last month. Wholesale food prices, influ Xntercd Meond eltu matter it Salem, Oregon Conciliators Present Phone Strike Proposal Washington, May 2 OP) Gov ernment conciliators, unable to break a stone-wall deadlock in telephone strike negotiations, announced today they are ready to submit their own "compro mise wage formula" for the first time. They didn't describe the for mula, but there were indications that they might try to end the tieup now in its 26h day with a combination of: 1. An immediate wage in crease, smaller than the $6 a week demanded by the Nation al Federation of Telephone Workers. 2. An arbitration board to de termine the extent of any furth er raises, if any. Peter J. Manno and William N. Margolis, fast-talking, hard working conciliation team, spent last night steaming back and forth between the representa tives of the American Telephone & Telegraph Co. and its 20,000 long-distance employes. This dispute is only one part of the nationwide strike of more than 300,000 workers which started April 7, but it is a highly important part, and a settlement would undoubtedly influence the disputes in other A. T. & T.-controlled companies. At 12:33 a.m. (EST), the two conciliators made a joint state ment saying the parties had not budged from their positions. That is, the strikers still de manded $6 a" week, and the A. T. & T. still offered to let the wage issue be settled by arbitra tion. Frisco Compromise San Francisco, May 2 UP) Negotiators for striking tele phone workers in the five-state area served by the Pacific Tele phone and Telegraph company were expected to present a com promise wage offer today in ef forts to end the ' 26-day-old walkout. No details of the prospective offer were disclosed, but NFTW officials said it was formulated "due to developments through out the country." Statehood for Alaska Delayed Washington, May 2 UP) A house public lands subcommit tee voted today to delay action on statehood for Alaska until it can visit the territory for a first-hand study. Rep. Crawford (R-Mich), chairman of the subcommittee. said statehood for the territory will be the first order of busi ness at the next session of con gress in January. Crawford said the sub-committee wants to make a personal investigation in Alaska of con ditions involving the Alaska railroad, homesteading, public lands, fisheries, water, stream, roads and the economic ability of Alaska residents to meet ad ded costs of statehood. He said the sub-committee also wants to determine how much taxable land would be available to raise revenue for the proposed state. Crawford said the subcom mittee will go to Alaska im mediately after congress re cesses this summer. The action of the subcommit tee had been expected by ad vocates of statehood for Alaska due to the many questions in volving the proposed state raised at hearings before the subcom mittee last week and the week before. enced by liberal supplies, de clined 1.2 percent for the week; farm products prices rose 1.3 percent chiefly due to sharp in creases in eggs, cotton and fresh fruits and vegetables prices; and all other commodity prices went down 0.3 percent. Elsewhere on the price front, Gael Sullivan, executive director of the democratic national com mittee, said that President Tru man has ordered all members of his cabinet to "put the heat on the basic manufacturers" for price reductions. Sullivan said that in general i retailers arc willing to cooper ate in price cutting but that only slashes in basic industry prices, such as steel, automobiles and durable goods, will mean "any real saving to the consumer." Salem, Oregon, Friday, May 2, ft.wssv iWmJi ELVi Ll I I JL-I 2 J Government turns over $6,000,000 Klamath Falls barracks to state of Oregon for $1. The huge facility will be used as a state vocational education school. Left to right: C. T. Mudge, Oregon director of war assets administration; O. I. Paulson, director, division of vocational education; Acting Governor Marshall Cornett and State Treasurer Leslie Scott. AFL and CIO Reject Each Other's Merger Plan Washington, May 2 UP) The AFL and CIO today rejected each other's plan for a merger but agreed to cooperate on labor prob lems and eventually work out details of a consolidation. Leaders of the two larger organizations concluded a two-day discussion of merger possibilities with a joint statement pledging continued Riley Demands Facts on Vice Portland, May 2 U.R Mayor Earl Riley today challenged the Citizens' committee of the Port land Ministerial association to substantiate its charges of law lessness with "facts," not ."gos sip or rumor." The committee in a letter to the mayor dated April 24, charged "commercialized and syndicated gambling, prostitu tion, slot machine leasing and operation" were being carried on in Portland. In a sharply worded reply written to the Rev. Dick D. Mor gan, president of the organiza tion of ministers, Mayor Riley said he welcomed the commit tees offer to co-operate in an enforcement program. But first it "must submit to me the spe cific information upon which you have based your conclusions, provided that such information is not mere gossip, rumor, guess work or other. supposition, which of course, are of no value in prosecutions of law enforce ment." Riley said that the commit tee's picture of vice rampant in the rose city was "completely at variance" with reports from Police Chief Leon V. Jenkins, "in whom I have the utmost confidence as to honesty, in tegrity and ability and whose reports I have never had oc casion to question." Land Search for Lost Liner Ends Vancouver, May 2 (CP) Land search of the cloud-shrouded Mount Coquitlam and its rain- soaked valleys for traces of the missing Trans-Canada Airlines transport, has been abandoned. The search will be continued from the air. Treacherous weath er conditions brought a halt to the land search. When the weather clears, a helicopter, sent from Seattle, will in vestigate a "strange object" sighted on a high peak, across a mile-wide valley north east of Lake Buntzen, about 20 miles northeast of here. Some of the searchers said it looked like an aircraft wing "standing straight up;" others thought it might be a mountain snow formation. The helicopter, piloted by An gus MacKay of Seattle, returned to the Sea Island base followed by the big Canso flying boat of the RCAF. Japs Get Back Their National Flag Tokyo, May 2 VP) The Jap anese people got their national flag back today on the eve of Inauguration of the country's new constitution. General MacArthur restored the Rising Sun banner with a strict proviso on where it could be flown without restriction the emperor's palace, the nation al diet and supreme court build ing and the prime minister's resi dence. "Let this flag fly," MacArthur wrote Premier Shigcru Yoshida, "to signify the advent in the Jap ancse life of a new and enduring era of peace based upon personal liberty, individual dignity, toler ance and justice. Journal 1947 consideration of unity. The AFL plan for merger called for AFL affiliation by the CIO unions "as they are now organized with their full membership" by the next October convention of the AFL. The CIO unions would have "full privileged participation" in that conclave. The CIO plan would have es tablished a campaign "against vicious legislation to destroy la bor's rights" and then set up a program to eliminate jurisdic tional disputes between AFL and CIO unions as the second step. Fight Looms on Foreign Relief Washington, May 2 (IP) Some senate republicans rallied today behind the administration's full request for a $850,000,000 for eign relief fund. But democratic Senator Mc Clellan (Ark.) called for a re duction nf $250,000,000 nr nnlv $50,000,000 more than the house voted earlier this week. McClellan also served notice that the bipartisan foreign pol icy leadership would face a bat tle unless the bill is amended ad ditionally to ban relief for any communist-dominated country. The Arkansas senator told a reporter he wants to go even farther in this respect than the house, which provided that relief money could be spent in such areas under t'ght American con trol. The house limited the relief program to aid in Italy, Greece, Austria, Hungary, Poland and China, with $15,000,000 set aside for emergencies in such unspeci fied areas as Trieste. Of the countries listed only Poland presently is classed as communist-dominated. The Arkansas senator seemed assured of support from those colleagues who have been com plaining that furnishing of food, medicine, clothing and other sup plies in Russian-influenced areas would circumvent President Tru man's program of bulwarking Greece and Turkey against com munist threats. Cornett Accepts Lei From Hawaii. Coming by air from the Ter ritory of Hawaii as a gift from Governor Stainback of the Ha waiian islands to Governor Earl Snell of Oregon, a lei was pre sented in the governor's office Friday afternoon. In the ab sence of Governor Snell it was accepted by Acting Governor Marshall Cornett, and the pre sentation was made by Miss Virginia Hanks, representing the United Air Lines, one of whose planes brought the lei to the States. It is believed to have come from the islands on the record flight of 9 hours and 19 min utes made Thursday. Miss Hanks, who presented the lei to Acting Governor Cornett, is connected with the Salem office of the United Air Lines. Income Tax Payments State income tax receipts dur ing the first four months of this year toaled $20,250,000, a gain of $4,240,000 over the similar pe riod of last year, State Tax Commissioner Earl Fisher said InHav Fishpr cniH th fipnrps for the collections this year are subject to some revision. - 1 Prir I " tIU' Cornett Late For Ceremony The $6,000,000 Klamath ma rine barracks, with its 80 build ings situated on 734 acres about four miles from the city of Klamath Falls is now the prop erty of the state of Oregon. The formal transfer of the property, scheduled for 1:30 p. Thursday afternoon was de layed for an hour while a group of state and government of ficials awaited the arrival of Acting Governor Marshall Cor nett The acting governor, himself a resident of Klamath Falls, did not know anything concerning the ceremony, details of which were made following his depar ture to The Dalles where he at tended funeral services for State Police Officer Delmond E. Rondeau, who was shot and killed while in the act of ar resting a buiglar. State police officers located the acting governor on the road between Woodburn and Salem. notified him of the event that was being delayed and escorted him to the state capitol. As Cornett entered the board of control room where the cere-, mony was held, he was handed a news dispatch concerning the robbery of $3000 from his Klam ath Falls office. "Just a moment, gentlemen," lnc ac,in8 governor said Let me read this. It concerns my own money. C. T. Mudge. administrator for the war assets administra tion in Oregon signed as papers transferring the property after which Acting Governor Cornett. State Treasurer Scott and Roy T. Mills, secretary of the state board of control affixed their signatures to the documents. Value of the real property comprising Klamath barracks which Is to be used as a voca tional school, was set by the government at $5,781,320 and personal property turned over to the state $443,207, or a total of .6,224,527. The state paid the government $1 for the property. Cornelius Flax Plant Sold As Surplus Portland, Ore., May 2 J.R The surplus flax fiber processing plant in Cornelius, Ore., has been sold to its wartime operator, the Washington County Flax Grow ers, for $27,753, war assets ad ministration officials said here today. The plant was constructed at a cost to the government of $219, 115 and has a current fair ap praised value of $42,000. Locat ed just outside the limits of Cor nelius on 135 acres of land, the plant includes several buildings and about 40 pieces of equip ment. The plant employs 30 to 60 persons. Parking Meter Receipts Double Those of First Week The demand for milking pails has increased suddenly in Salem, not because the farmers are milking any more cows, but because the city finds them good receptacles for the nickels and pennies milked from the parking meters. - Four 14-quart buckets have been added to the equipment of the finance department a City hall and they are all full Friday. The second week's collection of coins from the meters was made . before daylight Friday morning, and guesses made by city employes who handle the money are that the total will be more than twice the $682.10 col lected last week. The counting machine is at work on the money but will not finish the job Fri day. Only part of the meters had been installed when last i week's collection was made. Ban on Coercion By Unions Voted Into Labor Bill Taft Wins Battle for Amendment Over Unfair Labor Practices Washington, May 2 (IP) The senate today voted into Its pend inr labor disputes legislation an amendment prohibiting union coercion of workers. The vote was 60 to 28 in a roll call. Adoption of the proposal re stored a provision which had been knocked out by the senate labor committee over the ob jection of Chairman Taft (R Ohio). Sponsored by Ball Sponsored by Senators Ball (R-Minn), Byrd (D-Va), George (D-Ga.), and Smith (R-NY), the amendment makes it an unfair labor practice for a union or its agents to "restrain or coerce" employes in the exercise of their rights to self organization and to bargain through representa tives of their own choosing. Employers already are pro hibited from such coercion. Senator Taft (R-Ohio). and Morse (R-Ore), clashed in de bate when Morse appealed for acceptance of the measure with out amendments that Taft wants. Clash With Morse "My appeal for the amend ment is based on its merits," Taft told the senate. "I am mak ing no appeal for party regular ity. I am asking everyone to vote on the merits." Morse replied that it would be "good republican policy" to accept the bill as approved by the senate labor committee "if we are trying to get some good legislation." He said that if proposed amendments are adopted, they may cause President Truman to veto the bill, and "all the weeks of work in committee will come to naught." Taft yielded to opposition in his own party in deciding to forego an attempt to permit pri vate employers to file for injunc tions. Among others, Senator Vandenberg (R-Mich), made it clear that he would not sup port such an amendment. Colleagues of the Michigan senator said he is against the plan on the ground it would be regarded as a move to junk the ' 15-year-old Norris-LaGuar- dia anti-rinjunction act. Taft said he may seek an agreement to limit debate on the senate bill in order to as sure a final vote next week. Oil Companies Cut Gas Prices San Francisco. May 2 U.fi Richfield and Union joined the Standard Oil company today in announcing a three-tenths of a cent cut in gasoline prices in California, Arizona, Oregon. Washington, Nevada, parts of Idaho and Hawaii and Alaska All western oil companies raised prices eighth-tenths of a cent a gallon in March. The reduction dropped the price of regular gas to 20.5 cents a gallon and premium to 22.5 cents a gallon. A spokesman for Shell Oil company said instruc tions to cut prices were expected momentarily. R. G. Foil is, president of Standard of California, said the cut was not warranted from a business standpoint but was made in response to President Truman's appeal for lower prices. Spokane High School Struck by Lightning Spokane, May 2 UP) Light ning hit a corner of the Lewis and Clark high school roof dur ing a severe electric storm early today, tearing out a section 15 feet long and throwing bricks and masonry into the street. Principal A. L. Parker said the only casualty was a canary which had built a nest in the cornice. To make handling the money easier the First National bank will make some coin trays for the city. The trays hold a definite amount of money in nickels or pennies, so the money doesn't have to be counted by the roll. A roll of pennies Is 50 cents, and of nickels $2. For convenience the money is to be deposited with the First National bank, with an arrange ment between that bank and the United States National for ad justment of the surplus between the banks before any of the sur plus is sent to the Federal Re serve bank. Control Board Delays Decision On 5-Day Week Cut in Work Week of . State Employes Asked By Civil Service Board By James D. Olson A five-day week for all stata employes was advocated today by Secretary of State Robert S. Farrell at a board of control meeting. Action was deferred until the return of Governor Snell who is expected back from California in a few days. The subject of the work wek of state employes came before the board when a recommenda tion from the civil service com mission advocating office hours from 8:40 a. m. to 5 p. m. from Monday to Friday and 8:40 a. m. to noon on Saturday. At th present time male employef work from 8 a. m. to 5 p. m. and women from 8:30 to 5 p. m. with 12 o'clock closing on Saturday; Officials Stage Protest. Immediate protest at the pro posed hours came from both Farrell and State Treasurer Scott. The latter declared that it was necessary that the state treasury office be open not later than 8:15 a. m. because of the need of frequent telephone com munications with New York in regard to sale of state bonds. He also advocated closure of his of fice at 4:30 p.m. Farrell maintained that open ing and closing hours of all state offices should be uniform to avoid confusion. Under Farroll's proposal skeleton crews would be on duty on Saturdays if a five day week schedule is adopted Employes asigned to work on Saturday would be given time off on Monday, he said. "At the present time we keep the motor drivers' license office and the gas tax refund depart ment open on Saturday after noon" said Farrell. "We do this because many farmers come to Salem on Saturday and expect to be given service. I would ad vocate that this plan be contin ued even though a five-day a week schedule is adopted for stale employes." Declines to Sign Contract Acting Governor Cornett, who took no part in the discussion, suggested that action on the pro posal be deferred until the re turn of Governor Snell, who if expected to return from Cali fornia in a few days. The board declined' to sign a contract with the W. C. Smith company for $171,000 for con struction of a segregation cot tage at the Woodburn school for boys, because the firm had not accepted state woikmens' com pensation, as provided in the statutes and in the specifications for the job. The contract has al ready been signed by the con tractor and Roy H. Mills, secre tary of the board, was instruc ted to contact the contractor and notify him that acceptance of the state workmens' compen sation act would be necessary before the contract would be signed by the board members. (Concluded on Page 13, Column ) Barbecue Opens May Festivities Slices of beef fresh from the barbecue pit dug along the mill stream south of Sweetland field provided the principal attrac tion shortly after noon Friday Willamette university stu dents swung into the May week end festivities which will crowd thH campus until late Saturday night. Fires were kept burning all Thursday night by relays of students and at 12:50 Friday afternoon long queues of hungry young men ana women wauea for their share of the savory beef. The program of freshman-sophomore competition was car ried out during the afternoon as well as the baseball game at Waters field between the Bear cats and the University of Port land Pilots. Queen Margaret I was honor guest during a reception ten dered at Chi Omega house late the afternoon while she and her court were scheduled to at tend the school play "Ten Littla Indians'' in the high school au ditorium Friday night at 8:15. The coronation ceremonies at 1:30 Saturday afternoon will be the highlight of the observance. The queen's formal dance "May Mood" from 9 D.m. to midnight Saturday will close the festivi ties. Denver Babies Used As Phone Pickets Denver, May 2 (U.R) A picket line of "babies" of the striking employes of the Mountain States Telephone & Telegraph com pany will be thrown arouna Denver exchanges of tht firm today.
