Capital A Journal
An Independent Newspaper Established 1888
GEORGE PUTNAM, Editor and Publisher
ROBERT LETTS JONES, Assistant Publisher
Published every afternoon except Sunday at 444 Che
meketa St., Salem. Phones: Business, Newsroom, Want
Ads, 2-2406; Society Editor, 2-2409.
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credited to it or otherwise credited in this paper and also
news published therein.
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BY BECK
Only Human
4
Salem, Oregon, Friday, December 16, 194!)
The Hike in Steel Prices
The United States Steel Corporation has announced an
increase in the prices of its products an average of $4 a
ton, and other steel producers are expected to raise their
prices along the pattern set by Big Steel before the end
of the year.
This is an expected aftermath of increased wages and
$100 a month company financed pensions forced on the
steel industries by the Truman administration and the CIO
unions. It is probably the only way the steel makers can
meet labor demands, make a profit for stockholders, and
remain solvent. All wage raises are passed on to consum
ers eventually because of high taxation.
Congressional economic experts express fear of a new
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JgPIKI6 M3UR MIOMit-JaJ?
WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND ,
Nation's Worst Scandal Today
Is in Income-Tax Fraud
By DREW PEARSON
Washington One of the 'vorst scandals in (he nation today is
income-tax fraud and the way certain politicos or friends of politi
cos are able to get away with it.
With the country facing almost certain lax increases next
year, it remains a fact that every man who dodges his taxes
sends the tax
BY CLARE BARNES. JR.
higher
other
bill up
for the
fellow.
Recently this
column cited
various tax
cases where the
little guy got
prosecuted, but
the big guy
able to hire po
litical influence
got off. This
Drew Pearion
SIPS FOR SUPPER
He Did It
nflomnow amVal aimilni- tn thnA that fnllnwprl thp Roy Harland on plans he'd laid for a presidential party he was
two other general wage boosts, which are largely respon- giving at the Chamber of Commerce Thursday as retiring presi
oiWo f, inr.ron.orf nnt nf livmr, rfno tn tho inprMsorl rnst dent f 'hat organization, and in particular complimenting him
i,t;n s f f livi .Inn,, vuith w,. r hls outlining a program of food and entertainment with defi
and never catches up. The public is always the goat.
his brother-in-law, Sam Ripps,
with doing.
In selling jewelry to army
PX's, checks would come in to
them from all over the country.
For instance, Camp Shelby,
Miss., bought $15,000 worth of
jewelry on July 18, 1942, an
other $4,000 on July 23, 1942;
and another $3,453 on Dec, 4,
1942.
In handling this money, Mit
chell and RiDDs followed a uvs-
is far more frequent than the lem of letting their small checks
public realizes, and this column and cash accumulate. Then,
herewith begins a scries to show when a large check came in,
how income-tax fraud is put they deposited the accumulated
across. small checks and cash to the
same amount as the big check.
For instance, in Mobile, Ala., in order to make it appear that
Joe Mitchell and his brother- the big check had been cashed,
in-law, Sam Ripps, organized the" Actually the big check was con
Gulf Coast Tobacco Co. during verted into a cashier's check,
the war and sold millions of then sent by a roundabout way
dollars worth of jewelry to army through the Jefferson Invest
post exchanges. The boys in the mcnt Co., of St. Louis, control
army camps would buy almost led by Mitchell, to the Para-
anything those days and Ripps mount Check Cashing Service
in New York.
White Collar Zoo
V
f -
2
n i t e 1 y no
speeches. While
Chairman Joseph C. O'Mahoney (D., Wyo.), announced ror -ls good jp.
that his house-senate economic committee will investigate tent we were
Big Steel's price boost sometime after Christmas and that jUst a wee bit
corporation officials will be asked to explain the increase doubtful wheth-
at a public hearing. "The price boosts are completely un- er he could
justified," O'Mahoney said, because the industry is operat- really pull off a
inir "nn an extraordinarily hich nrof it level." U.S. Steel. Chamber of
he said, is doing more to "injure the whole free enterprise
system than a:! the crackpots have ever done."
Public officials who know nothing about industry or
business always assume an infallible knowledge of it. U.S.
Steel lives in a glass house and perhaps knows more about
Commerce with
no speeches. It
was a laudable
project in the
extreme but whether
alert treasury agents caught
them keeping two sets of books,
and after long investigation, rec
ommended criminal prosecution.
The two men who were so
Don Cpiohn
And helps the common man.
But Father won't there come a time
When they run out of cash;
And we have left them not a dime
When things will go to smash.
My faith in you is shrinking son,
You nosey little brat.
You do too damn much thinking
son.
To be a Democrat.
Mother Love In the Sty
(Mt. Angel News)
Usually when a barn burns ,ried , nire Joseph Nunan, for.
POOR MAN'S PHILOSOPHER
By DON UPJOHN
The other evening this column took occasion to congratulate and MHcnell made a kming
Then, a couple of years later, "
This devious method of casti
ng checks was aimed to throw
T-men off the track and cover
up large amounts of income.
When this financial juggling
eager to sell jewelry to G.I.'s was detected on one set of Mit-
had not been so eager to pay chell-Ripps books, however, the
their taxes and treasury agents books mysteriously disappeared,
claimed they owed a minimum T-men had got out a subpoena
of $700,000; perhaps as much as for them, but when they came
$1,200,000. back with the subpoena, no
Ripps and Mitchell immedi- books could be found,
alely began to pull every politi- Mitchell, himself a former
cal wire south or north of the revenue agent, know how in-
Mason-Dixon line. First they criminating books could be.
The Mitchell-Ripps defense is vnu irive the hnnk to.
mer commissioner o: internal inai mey naa to ouy jewciry on
revenue. Then they negotiated me DiacK marnet, naa to pay in
ml
Recent Yale graduate's first day in the office
down that is the headline, but
it could a fire Monday afternoon has
, , , " , ,i " , , tftiumi.y uc put uv waa mi- mine iii mi es tills iim. iviuuuciy wfih Martin Swpahnr
ifa niicppssf irr mnnnirpmpnr than nnvnnp p sp. nnrl pun L .... .... , wnn ividriin oweautr.
, a. ' " omcr maiicr.
ennH cash. anH at hieh nrices. It was
finr rpnnrt nnu oftnrnnnn noiohhnre 4firinrt nocf . . n. i n. ,
probably State evincing reasons for its policy The more says that the party went off as the Fred' Lucht farm, east of gained WiS "Nicholson" 7t by h forme," awVrtner.Ta
It makes, the more taxes the government gets to squander s c h e d u 1 e d and with no town, saw a small hog house charlotte, N.C ..former law part- U.S. Attorney Hill opposed pros
And if production Costs more the price will be more and speeches. No wonder Roy Har- completely engulfed in flames, npr of Lamar Caudle assistant ecution
Christmas Book Titles That Fit
Newsworthy National Names
By HAL BOYLE
New York VP) Thinking of giving someone a book for Christ
mas? It is a problem, isn't it? So much depends on the choica
you make. For in the task of selection you are judging the ona
and you are judging yourself.
Every year Santa Claus gets in a blue funk over what books
to
autos, refrigerators, new building construction and other
steel-consuming fields.
complishmcnt we suggest they
set up in his honor a special
Steel and other private industries must operate at a award as se"i11r. citizen No
profit or be liquidated. Industry cannot follow the govern- or some sucn thlng
ment's policy of deficit spending. Congress should put its o,)e to Welfare Stale
own house in order for it runs nothing economically or in (Exchange)
business-like shape. Bureaucracy is always bound with Pathcr, must I go to work?
red tape that kills efficiency. No, my lucky son.
The Hoover report showed very clearly how our govern- w' "vJ1Kf now VP Aeet
ment is run, waste, extravagance, duplication, stupidity we've" leh itrup toljncie Sam
and deficit in full control. Britain is demonstrating just so don't Ret exercised
as clearly the inability of ideological socialism, nationaliza- wveyanabceT subsidized"1"
tion of industry to make a profit on anything, supplanting But it Sam treats as an so well
private enterprise which paid taxes, with hugh deficits in A"d fePts " milk and honey
everything it operates and kept functioning only by the ""S & SseTomoney6 hKlc
loan and gratuities of the United States and Canada. And Don't worry Bub there's not a hitch
socialism leads to communism which ends in the corrupt JP tllls , rc T";,11"!1
r Ho timnlu ennlr Ilia fi
tyranny and slavery of a totalitarian police state.
1 junior citizen. After this ac- alcly. Her first thought was the tax division.
steel price niKts, as in me past, win increase tne cost 01 iana was at one time namea no. ana notmea Mrs. L,ucnt lmmeai- attorney general in charge of However, treasury and justice
department tax men in Washing-
ton, when questioned by this
Scrupulous Caudle, a consci- columnist, said they had decid
entious public servant, phoned fd to reopen the case and hoped,
his former partner, asked him "le e"u. 10 prosecute.
about the safety of the sow and
her eight little pigs, which were
her son Freddy's 4-H project.
Running to the scene she saw
thai the sow had safely led the
little fellows to safety.
That's the story here are the
fire facts: The pigs were in
to withdraw from the case. He
did so.
Finally, however, Mitchell and
Ripps approached Will Walter
tiny barn in which a brooder Bankhead of Albama's political-
lamp had been placed to keep ly powerful family, and through
the little pigs warm. The lamp him retained Ben Leader, for-
ignited the straw and before the mer law partner of the U.S. at-
Mt. Angel fire department could torney in Birmingham, John
reach the scene the small build- Hill. Significantly it was Hill
ing was completely destroyed, who was to try the case.
The loss of the building was That case, however, has never
much less than the loss of the been tried.
(Ed. Note Another Pearson
column on tax frauds will fol
low soon.)
(Copyright 1949)
Bal Bo;l
pictures and not miss anything
really important.
To help Saint Nick out of his
annual quandary, we compile s
tentative list of books to giv
to the big and little folks on
his Christmas rollcall. Here'i
the 1040 list anH mavho If ha.
t.. ...... . .
The Passionate Journey Vict
President Barkley.
This War Weapon Smelled
He simply sonks the filthy rich project hogs would have been.
Pearson Wants a Power System
Now the suggestion is made that Oregon go into the
power line tranmission business.
The suggestion comes from none other than State Treas
urer Pearson, who is supposed to watch the dimes and dol
lars of the state. But he wants to figure the possibility of
spending an amount that could easily be $350,000 to put up
a power line to tap Bonneville power. That would be for
the line alone. Then there would be charges for the power
itselt on top ot that tigure,
MacKENZIE'S COLUMN
What Happens to Jerusalem
Concerns All Civilized World
By DeWITT MacKENZIE
UT) Forel.n Mltlra Analyst)
My office window in Rockefeller Center looks out on the great
Christmas tree, covered with myriad lights and topped by the
The man who is responsible for the state's finances, and ?.lowinft s'a(r, Bethlc!,om' .Each time my eyes wandes from
. , , ... . 1 , . , , . , ' , their work they encounter this emblem of peace and goodwill.
Maybe that's why, as I look out by window while mulling
It was sent by the justice de
partment to Hill for prosecu
tion, but that was as far as it
got. U.S. Attorney Hill held a
conference with justice and
treasury men in Birmingham at
which he contended he did not Q)f FORUM
end, with their concurrence, the
prosecution of jewelry profit
eers Ripps and Mitchell was sent
back to Washington as closed.
Tampa, Fla., Dec. 16 (P) The navy today described an at
tempted weapon of the Pacific war which didn't pan out
garlic.
Capt. A. R. Behnke, a naval doctor, said Garlic was fed
to certain gobs in "large quantities" as a possible repellent for
mosquitoes which plagued the navy's fighters.
But Behnke said the 'skceters showed "complete Indiffer
ence" to the aroma and kept right on boring in.
He offered no comment on how the garlicy guinea-pig sailors
got along with the rest of the fleet.
Salem's Christmas Tree Too Tall?
(Editor's Note: Letters to the Open Forum must be limited
to 300 words and must be signed by the writer.)
give famous
people.
The truth is
the old fellow's
eyesight isn't
what it once
was. About the
only things he
reads anymore
is a few back
numbers of the
old Police Ga
zette, because
ne nas iouna ne a r..;j- - - :j t t
can skip the fine print under the Harry s Truman. 1
The Mature Mind Westbrook
Pegler.
A Graveyard To Let Guy
George Gabrielson, chairman ol
the Republican National commit
tee. The Shaggy Man of Oz John,
L. Lewis.
Effective Talking in Confer
ence Ditto.
The Man with the Golden
Arm John D. Rockfeller, Jr.'
South Carolina Bird Life
Former Secretary of State Jamei
F. Byrnes.
Growing Roses "Cactui
Stars in My Crown Sam
Goldwyn.
It's Fun to Retire Herbert
Hoover.
What Every One Should Know
about the Law ex-Rep. Andrew
is
boasts about it in dodgers designed to educate the people,
hasn't explained how this big power lino would do any
think but mean more money out of the pockets of those
people. In fairness to him, it must be acknowledged, how
ever, that no real cost figures are available yet. Bonne
ville officials will appear before the board of control on ization ot Jeru-
December 27 to present estimates of cost of such service, salem, it's diffi
This proposal, nevertheless, raises the question of why
the state should go into the power-line transmission busi
ness. What provision would be made for maintenance of
the lines? How much would be the cost for eventual re
placement? Would there be any real gain financially to the state in
burdening itself with a transmission line system duplicat
ign one already in existence and apparently offering satis
factory service ?
This suggestion of Pearson's is too much like the New pens to this holy city is a mat
Deal flings into operations that compete with private busi- for of concern to the whole civil
ncss and thus discourage individual enterprise of the pri- izccl world. t . t
vate citizens. . s;ijon is ti,is-
If the present power arrangement isnt satisfactory, no Tn? Nsatlon's assembly
one has complained publicly about the line recently. a fcw davs a(!0 voteci to nterna-
Instend of sinking hundreds of thousands of dollars into tionalize Jerusalem. A minority.
a line mat would duplicate an existing system, the state including America and Britain,
could certainly spend the money 111 more constructive ways
over the unhap'
py squabble
about the inler-
national
cult to escape
the feeling that
this untimely
problem is sus
ceptible of solu
tion by comp
romise. Failing that
we are heading for
fortablc time, since
DeWItt M.ekciui.
an uncom
what hap-
1VTnqr,i.,V.i1 (hi. nnl.imn n,nk. Tn IVia TTriUnf Thom ie talk that fh PHPI-Han ChristlTinK
in the tax' fraud, unearthed emwinff too laree to be illuminated and that this is the last year. Jackson May of Kentucky.
some interesting facts. What in the world is the matter with Salem? Why does it lay Some Problems in Federal
Ben Leader, when questioned, down on a job like this? Taxation ex-Rep. J. Parnel
admitted he was Hill's former Many cities in California, Washington, even Vancouver, B. C. Thomas of New Jersey.
Jews and Arabs occupy their re- 'aw partner; also admitted he have been hauling large Christ-
spective portions "by r 1 g h t of received a fee of $12,000, but mas trees to their civic centers too much. They illuminated the Beauty After Forty Clark
conquest" an outgrowth of made a long speech about the and erecting them at great ex- smaller tree at the north west Gable.
the lale war case having been decided on its pense, also, the expense of illu- corner of the courthouse. This Hypnotherapy of War Neu-
Most of the holy places of the merits. mination. was in 1937. This woman was roses The U.S. Navy,
city are in the more ancient por- This column also discovered, Salem already has a live in Sreat distress and the follow- The Show Must Go On In-
tion held by the Arabs. In this however, that this is not the first Christmas tree only 67 Vi feet in8 is what she had to say to grid Bergman,
zone is the Church of the Holv time Joe Mitchell has slithered in hi.ii.ht There it stands, live "V5 Chernans:' Men Who Make Your World
his way out of trouble with the an(j growing. All Salem has to
law. do is to illuminate it. Now it
Graduating from New York costs too much? Tree too high?
University in 1923. Mitchell be- what a shame!
Sepulchre, the Mosque of Omar
and the Jewish Wailing Wall.
Nearby are the Garden of Geth
semane and the Mount of Olives.
The Arabs also hold Bethlehem
to the south.
Israel holds the Holy Cenacle
came an internal revenue agent,
but was permitted to resign in
1929 after a scandal over falsi-
site of the last supper which fying expense accounts.
is just outside the old walled In 1930 Mitchell was caught
city. Israel also has Nazareth to tapping the city water main to
No 7Mue Train for Santa
Just Regular 'Yule Train
Newark, O., Dec. 16 W No, little children, Santa Claus
will not be coming by mule train this Christmas.
But there were some who caught this rather fantastic idea
when the familiar hit-parade melody, "Mule Tm.'n" was
heard coming from loudspeakers atop the courthouse tower.
It seemed some jokester who has a doubtful sense of humor
lipped the "Mule Train" platter Into the yule season's
organ carol records to give a juke-box atmosphere to New
ark's community Christmas center
The mechanism which operates the day-long broadcasts of
carols is situated near the nrivate office of Common riras
Judge Charles B. Holtsberry.
No one could be found who knew who made the record
iwitch or how it was done.
Said the Newark Retail Merchant's association:
"Little children and grownups too, don't let yesterday's
specialty throw you. Santa will come by 'yule' train as al
ways." No Scratch on This Scratch
Mays Landing, N. J Dec. 16 U John Beckett, 54, Sea
Isle City, scratched his shoulder with a fur-llncd glove while
hunting near here yesterday.
A friend, Cassimcro Canelll, saw the fur mnvlng by the
side of a tree. He fired at the "raccoon."
A local physlcan removed the bullet from Beckeh'i hand.
opposed the plan as impractical,
since the city is partitioned and
occupied by armed forces of Is
rael and of Hashcmite Jordan.
Jordan and Israel officially
are still at war a hangover
from the Arab-Jewish warfare
of 1947-48. Both have served
firm notice that they won't give
up their respective parts of the
city, and Just now Israel is rush
ing the transfer of her capital to
her portion of Jerusalem.
Of Israel's action the British
foreign office has said:
"The move of the Israeli gov
ernment docs not surprise his
majesty's government. At the
same time wc regret that Israel,
which is a member of the U.N.,
should have thought fit to flout
its authority."
At Lake Success some U.N.
diplomats predict that Israel's
action will wreck the general as
sembly plan to put the city un
der international rule.
...
In any event, the partition of
Jerusalem Into two parts, one
Jewish and the other Arab, is an
accomplished fact. And it's go
ing to take more than words
be they spoken cither in peace
or in anger to alter that situa
tion. All other things apart, both
the north of Jerusalem, and
Cana of Galillce, where Christ
performed his first miracle.
. . . '
The way things now stand the
trusteeship council of the U.N.,
will go ahead with the drafting
of an internationalization plan.
What fate this may encounter
remains to be seen. On this point
a message from Tel Aviv to
Lake Success quoted Israeli
Premier David Bcn-Gurion as
saying:
"It is to be hoped that the gen
eral assembly will, in the course
of time, correct this mistake
which its majority has made,
and will make no attempt what
sovcre to impose a regime on
the holy city against the will of
Its people."
Later Bcn-Gurion declared in
Jerusalem: "We have entered
upon the greatest political strug
gle in the history of our people. '
supply a negro tenenment that
he owned in Mobile. He was
"You can move a stone Post Mae West.
Office, why can't you illumi- Horses: Their Selection, Cars
nate a Christmas tree? Can't and Handling U.S. Supreme
the City fire department help Court Justice William O. Doug-
visil? Vnll Pliorrianc An nni linnm inc
Other cities in other states are what hav(J done Y()u do Twilight On the Floods-The,
not know that that tree was the New York City Department ol
first live one In the world to be Water Supply, Gas and Electric
illuminated." ily.
In order to prove it she wrote A Rage to Live George Ber
to all forty-eight states in the nard Shaw.
Redhead Aly
to see
tallest
vieing with each other
who can put up the
Christmas tree.
Bellingham, Washington, as
the city's contribution to the
Tallest Christmas lree aerby, United States and all our nnsses. I Married
allowed to settle the water bill nrougni into me cny a "8 sions to make that research. Khan.
out of court. In 1942, when rent llr measuring more man iu Well, the Cherrians did not And So
ceilings were clamped on his Ieel- know it and the smaller tree was Kai-shek.
Farewell Chiano
property, he was caught fina- """B" ' " usea lor mat year. Alter this Way of a Fighter Humphrey
gling rents above the ceiling double truck arrangement held episode, the Cherrians saw that Bogart.
the base of the tree up, so as not the original tree was illuminated The Sinews of Peace Gypsy
price And in 1943, when tires to break the branches. A Santa and each year after that until Rose Lee.
were rationed, Mitchell was claus supervised the job from the war years. Yes, they called To Every Man A Penny The
caught stealing two tires from a ms Psltlon on the tree trunk. on tr,e fjre department to help U.S. Bureau of Internal Reve-
Tupelo, Miss., filling station. This tree, almost a hundred them, too. nue.
When arrested for this theft, feet higher than our own Cher- Why does Salem want to Point of No Return Ditto,
his pockets were found bulging rian Christmas tree. Bellingham abandon that beautiful tree, One On The House Conrad
with $100 bills from which he citizens illuminated that lsu foot now? Hilton, who bought The Waldorf,
nosted $1,000 bond. Coneress- tree and placed a star on its
man Boykin of Mobile then topmost branch. Think of it!
sought the intervention of Con- Seems like Bellingham citizens
gressman Rankin of Mississippi, can do things Salem cannot
and Mitchell escaped prosecu- do. . . .
tion. He even got back $500 of If California had the Cher
his $1,000 bond. rian Christmas tree they would
In 1945, Mitchell was convict- see that the tree was illuminated,
ed of violating the election laws, making no difference how tall
and sentenced to 60 days hard it got or how much it cost, as
Internationalization would be labor. However, the supreme long as that tree remained alive.
MISS RENSKA
738 N. Front St.
L. SWART I Hear You Calling Me Gen.
, Salem Dwight Eisenhower.
calculated to protect the holy
places and keep them open to
pilgrims from the outside world.
Both Israel and Jordan have
promised protection and access,
and if the U.N. does change its
mind, it presumably will be on
the basis of these promises.
Observers find it difficult to
figure out any solution of the
problem except a compromise.
court threw out the case on the They would advertise it too, as
ground of an improperly drawn the tree that STARTED the
indictment. While the case was world's out-door decoration of
up for appeal, two witnesses dis- Christmas trees and shrubs. It
appeared, and, when picked up has already claimed having the
in Pensacola, swore that Mitchell first tree but missed it by eight
had paid them $100 a week to years.
stay out of Mobile. A Salem woman is at work
This is the man who. when writing a book about "Trees
charged by the treasury with in- with a Story" and in it she wrote
come-tax fraud to the tune of that the tree had been illumin-
The consensus is that any idea of $700,000 minimum, managed to ated every year since Its first
the U. N. using strong-arm me- squirm out of prosecution. illumination in 1913.
thods to achieve its object is un- Here are some of the things Then came the first shock,
thinkable. the T-men charged Mitchell and The Cherrians thought it cost
Heat with
fuel that is
clean, efficient
and economical...
use "Pres-to-logs"
CAPITOL LUMBER COMPANY
NORTH CHERRY AVE . SALEM, ORE.
Phones 3-8862 or 2-4431
aw.
J