Capital AJournal
An Independent Newspaper Established 1 888
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.
Full Leased Wire Service of the Associated Press and
The United Press. The Associated Press is exclusively
entitled to the use for publication of all news dispatches
credited to it or otherwise credited in this paper and also
news published therein.
4 Salem, Oregon, Monday, January 23, 1950
Truman's Tax Message
President Truman in his special tax message, calls for
a selective excise tax reduction, coupled with higher levies
on corporations, gifts and estates to provide a net increase
of f 1 billion in revenue. No changes are proposed in indi
vidual income income taxes.
Mr. Truman said "drastic increases in tax rates . . .
might prove to be self-defeating." But, he said, he was
recommending adjustment "to reduce present inequities,
to stimulate business activity and to yield about $1,000,
000,000 in net additional revenue." He did not say pre
cisely how much he thought excise taxes should be reduced,
but remarked:
"I believe that reductions are most urgently needed in the
excise taxes on transportation of property, transportation of
persons, long-distance telephone and telegraph communica
tions, and the entire group of retail excises, including such
Items as toilet preparations, luggage and hand bags."
The present' excise taxes on toilet preparations, luggage,
handbags and similar items are 20 percent, compared with
prewar rates generally of 10 percent. The present trans
portation tax on persons is 15 percent and the freight tax
three percent. The taxes which Mr. Truman proposes to
reduce will yield a total of $1,326,000,000 in fiscal 1951,
according to budget estimates.
On corporation taxes, he recommended that the tax rate
on corporate income between $25,000 and $50,000 be re
duced to the same rate that applies to $50,000. The rate
on income above $50,000 now is a maximum of 38 percent
compared with what Mr. Truman described as "the exces
sively high 'notch' rate of 53 percent" between $25,000 and
$50,000 "to remove the handicaps which the present law
places upon the expansion of small corporations. The
favorable tax rates for incomes below $25,000 would be
retained."
The president recommended other changes in the tax
laws which are of a technical nature but which he said
would provide "increased incentive to business invest
ment." These involve losses incurred and foreign invest
ments. To make up for the loss in revenue through excise
tax reduction, Mr. Truman suggested a number of "loop
holes" that he said congress should work on. He partic
ularly referred to "excessive depletion exemptions enjoyed
by oil and mining interests." These depletion allowances
were granted to stimulate essential production during the
war.
Another "loophole" he asserted was the abuse of the tax
exemption accorded educational and charitable organiza
tions which he declared have been misused through the
conduct of business unrelated to educational activities.
This loophole, he stated, should be closed for life insurance
companies have escaped taxation on their earnings on in
vestments. Ha said :
"To the extent that these taxes remain too low, the remainder
of our tax structure must bear disproportionate load. The
1948 tax reduction act reduced the yield of estate and gift taxes
by about $300,000,000. Even before that act, estate and gift
tax yields were out of line with other revenues, and that act
made the situation worse."
This will not cheer the small colleges which depend upon
donations to meet rising costs or supplement meagre en
dowments. Two Complaints on Capitol Zone
Too many in Salem haven't been sold yet on the idea of
xtending the state capitol zone north to D street.
The hearing before the city council Monday night con
cerns extension of the zone only half-way from the pres
ent boundary on Center north to Union street. If and
when the zone is actually stretched that far, then it should
be put all the way north to D street.
There are only two complaints heard now against this
proposal which would give Salem and Oregon the basis for
the most beautiful group of state buildings in the nation.
The other complaints have been more or less eliminated in
the discussion and action taken following announcement
that an apartment house was planned on North Summer
street in the heart of the proposed zone.
The main complaint or question concerns the need for
state buildings in the future. How can Oregon ever use
six or seven more buildings in the next 50 to 75 years?
The answer is actually found in the simple statement
that five buildings, and a sixth one under way, have been
constructed to care for state needs in Salem in the past 50
years. At the turn of the century only the capitol itself
was here. Then these buildings were put up in this order:
supreme court building, state office building, agriculture
building, library building, and public service building. The
highway building is under way.
But these buildings don't satisfy some who question
space for future buildings. Those are the people who claim
that the existing buildings will be adequate. Those same
people overlook the fact that the state office building was
built but 20 years ago and yet another one, in the form of
the public service building, had to be constructed. With
the state growing as rapidly as it is, more buildings will
certainly be needed for state services in the next 10 or
more years. This will be especially true if the headquar
ters of boards and bureaus which have gotten established
in Portland are brought down to Salem where they belong.
The second mnin complaint concerns property owners in
the area suggested to be made a part of the zone. These
property owners rightly deserve just compensation if the
zone extension forces them out of their homes. And judg
ing from past practice, the state would be the last to deny
them that right. The actual decision on the zone will be
up to the legislature, which meets next year. How much
money would be appropriated for the zone extension would
be a guess. The best answer to the property owners, there
fore, would be a policy statement from the state as to prop
erty purchase as soon as such a statement could be issued.
When the people involved become better acquainted with
the state program for its capitol group of buildings and
differences are settled, then the two major complaints
should be eliminated.
Giant Upsets Hospital Routine
Chertser, England, Jan. 23 W Ernest Evans Is eight feet,
six Inches tall. He weighs 434 pounds.
And he's flit on his back on two beds placed end to end
In St. Peter's hospital here. He Is the biggest ease St. Peter's
ever had.
Evans was trucked In for a minor knee operation. It took
11 male nurses to move him.
The staff couldn't figure ont a good way to lift him un
conscious onto the operating table. He had to ellmb on himself
and then take the anesthetic.
BY H. T. WEBSTER
The Timid Soul
W BOAT W lT0
MR. ML.qLTOAST FINOS
HiMsew prawn into me
MAVY- ARFOKCE ROW jftk
WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND
Lilienthal Against H-Bomb;
Decision Now Up to Truman
By DREW PEARSON
Washington At a secret meeting with General Bradley re
cently, atomic energy Chairman Lilienthal made a last-ditch,
emotional plea against the hydrogen bomb.
In effect, he said: "We must exhaust every means of reach
ing an agreement with Russia to outlaw atomic warfare before
we make this
ATOMGRAD, SEPARATE
WORLD
American intelligence has a
complete report on Russia's
flourishing atomgrad, the Sov
iet's atomic energy center in Ar
menia. This huge area is surrounded
by high, closely guarded walls
and is a separate world for 70,
000 people. It is located 55 miles
northwest of Mount Ararat and
32 miles northwest of Yerevan,
. . . . j at xrii- ulc --apiiai oi soviet Armenia.
bll fda' 1 Atomgrad is in the upper valley
of the Zanga river and obtains
immense hydroelectric power
BV CLARE BARNES, JR.
White Collar Zoo
D O m D. W mi I
should appeal v . f
over tne neaas -
of the kremlin
to the Russian
people. They'
will force Stal
in to come to
terms."
Lilien
thal speaks
for a tormented
group of scien
tists who made
Drew PeanoB
KRISS-KROSS
Hair Cuts a la Brrr!
Editor's Note: While Don Upjohn is convalescing and his
"Sips for Supper" is missing, Chris Kowitz, Jr., will contribute
a local column. His first contribution, as a substitute for
"Sips," is below.)
By CHRIS KOWITZ, Jr.
A South 12th street barber shop was offering chilled hair
cuts during last week's cold spell.
It seems something went wrong with the wiring in the barber
shop while the temperature outside hovered about the 20-degree
mark.
Only one electrical outlet 'n8 trapshoot artists for years,
could be used at a time. Which N Clarence Thompson is
meant the barber had to dis- "8 the top scorers on. the
connect the heater everytime Salem Rifle club team,
he plugged in the hair clippers. - Support the March of Dimes -
Science has revealed that a
100-watt light bulb provides
2000 times as much light for
reading as does the moon.
Which just helps to prove the
old adage that there is a time
and place for everything. Moon
light isn't meant for reading
any more than 100-watt bulbs
are intended for love-making.
shima and Nagasaki and who
agreed somewhat against
their 'better judgment that
the bombs should be dropped on
enemy cities.
It is still a secret in the files
of - the Manhattan district, but
the atomic scientists were
sharply divided into three
groups.
One did not want the bomb
used at all. They urged that the
from the rivers coursing down
from the 17,000-foot mountain
peaks.
The atomic center is divided
into four sectors. One refines
the raw ore, the second purifies
the uranium and takes out Plut
onium. The third is the labor
atory, and the fourth, with a
personnel of 25,000, is concen-
tt n. .i.ifnn
Apple Polisher
president announce that we had trating on protective measures
the bomb and would use it un- against atomic bombs.
- Support the March of Dimes -Buck
Smith, Willamette U
coach, is probably Salem's No. 1
authority on mayonnaise jar
labels. At least he once con
ducted a lengthy study of a
specific label.
When Smith was a 14-year-old
living in Alaska, he was sent
out to watch for fish through a
certain small hole in the ice.
Smith spent several months on.
the monotonous job.
Someone later wondered how
Smith kept himself amused dur
ing his long, chilly wait. Asked
if he had anything to read,
Smith said, "Sure, the label on
a jar of mayonnaise."
- Support the March of Dimes -
Only two kinds of pedestrians
remain from the recent seige of
slippery streets the sure
footed ones and the hospitalized
ones.
- Support the March of Dimes
The name Clarence continues
to predominate among Salem
sharp-shooters. Clarence Town
send was one of the city's lead-
less the enemy surrendered.
Group No. 2 wanted the at
omic bomb dropped over an un
inhabited area as a warning.
Group No. 3 approved the ac
tion taken at Hiroshima. This
included Dr. Robert Oppenhei
mer and Dr. Harold Urey.
But when the photographs of
seared flesh and the medical re
ports from Nagasaki and Hiro-
eLima noma Vlaolr tVlPQa fipfpn-
tists went through the tortures defense, is on the skids.
of the damned. Their souls were Good-naturedly, the president
on fire, and they started a burn- told his conference "Louie's
ing private crusade against the been reading too many newspa-
hydrogen bomb that has divided pers, and they've got him down.
the atomic energy commission. I told him I was still 100 per
NOTE It is now easy to un
derstand why the Russians held
up the American missionaries
in search of Noah's Ark near
Mount Ararat. An atomic scien
tist was in their party, and at
omgrad is only 55 miles away.
TRUMAN AND JOHNSON
At a recent White House staff
conference, President Truman
silenced rumors that Louis
Johnson, the blunt secretary of
MacKENZIE'S COLUMN
Austrian Freedom Awaits Nod
Of Kremlin; All Issues Settled
By ALVIN STEINKOPF
(For DflWitt MacKenzle, AP Foreign Affair Analyst)
London An old friend who used to be my neighbor in pre
war Vienna writes from the Austria capital:
"We are beginning to have a feeling of pride in those Austrian
peace treaty negotiations. More than three years they have been
going on now, and I believe that's longer than the run of the show
"Oklahohi a!" -
The spirit of these scientists
was expressed by Dr. Oppenhei-
mer to a congressional hearing
Support the March of Dimes - as follows: "Many times we a columnist.'
cent back of him, and if I ever
decided otherwise, he'd hear it
straight from me and not from
Worth special attention at to
night's city council meeting:
The appearance of Bruce Wil
liams, young Salem attorney, as
he pleads for Don Clark's taxi
license. Williams' oratory is
a courtroom highlight. Tonight
Bruce makes his debut before
Salem's legislative body.
In addition to being a second
generation barrister (Attorney
Fred Williams is his pop), Bruce
is a sportscaster for KOCO.
- Support the March of Dimes -
With the disappearance of
most of the snow hereabouts,
cars are looking conventional
again. For a couple of weeks,
everyone seemed to be driving
white-topped convertibles.
scientists thought the war might
end before we had a bomb. But
Mr. Truman then looked se
verely at the little group of as-
some of us did not stop, because sistants and remarked, "I don't
we wanted the world to see the want any of you peddling stor
atomic bomb. It was to us the ies that Louie Johnson or any
greatest argument for world one else is on the outs with me.
peace." That isn't the way I operate."
These scientists and Lilienthal The president also told Un
are planning to organize a lob- dersecretary of State Jim Webb
by of church groups to carry on to shut up any anti-Johnson
the "crusade" after Lilienthal's "leaks" from the state depart
resignation from the atomic ment.
commission in February. He referred to the fact thati
during the argument between
The other side in the hydro- the Pentagon and the state de-gen-bomb
argument is champ- partment over Formosa, the
ioned by a modest, soft-spoken state department's far eastern
philosopher and ex-banker, division almost had Secretary
Lewis Strauss. He shuns publi- Johnson looking under his desk
city and his views can be given for the concealed microphone.
only because fellow commission'
in London.
"Such a little
country, but
how trouble
some we must
be that the great
powers take so
long to decide
about us!" I
The Big Foui
has been trying
since January
Alvln Sltlnkopt
sure, and he confesses it's com
forting to see Western troops
about. As long as they are
there, he figures, things will
hang in their present uneasy
balance.
He is a little alarmed by the
possibility that should every
one, including the Russians,
leave tomorrow the country
would be vulnerable to the
schemes of Austrian communists
being trained as political agents,
he believes, in regions of Rus-
POOR MAN'S PHILOSOPHER
Turning Clustersof Grapes Into
Champagne Is Bit Difficult
By HAL BOYLE
Urbana, N. Y. (VP) Turning a cluster of grapes into a bottle
of champagne is about as complicated as motherhood.
I found this out during an afternoon in a winery, here in the
heart of the Finger lakes region known as "the champagne district
of America."
The invita
tion came from
Stewart Under
bill, head of the
Urbana Winery
Co., whose fam
ily has been
mashing grapes
in New York oft
and on for 150
years.
I accepted it
gladly. For 20
vcars n e o D 1 e
have been showing me through years
steel plants, auto plants, air
plane plants or buttonhole facto
ries. Nobody ever gave me a
steel beam for a souvenir, a mo
tor car, a B-36 bomber or even
a buttonhole.
ers are shocked by the attacks
on him by the pro-Lilienthal
forces.
Strauss is quoted as saying,
"All hope of international
agreement to outlaw the atom
CHAMELON
It has been shushed up by the
democrats, but Connecticut's
new democratic senator, Bill
Benton, underwent a political
1947 to write a
treaty of independence for Aus
tria. In 248 meetings deputy sian occupation,
foreign ministers nave settled
just about everything except a But weighing it all he
little dispute about how much stm wants eyB occupation
Austria should pay for supplies to t t He thinks ft t
received from Russia since 1945. Austria as a whoje has reached
. . . , . . , a sufficient degree of prosperity
The amount involved is less to resist communism,
than a million dollars. Last De- ...
cember in New York the dep- . Many Austrians are thorough
uties decided to let Russia and convinced that Marshal Tito
Austria come to terms between ln Yugslfvia " the unwitting
themselves. Since then Russia ?a.uf the u?elay in PuttmB the
has turned down two Austrian t.nv'a! finishing touches on the
offers and the matter is still up Austrian treaty,
in the air as the deputies meet Russia, according to the Aus
here for their 249th session. The trian belief, is not finished with
West thinks Russia just doesn't Ti- They think he is in for
want Austria to be freed. more pressures, and that Russian
In more serious vein my Aus- troops in Hungary and Romania
So, getting dryer at every steij,
I learned how grape squeezings
end up in a champagne bottle.
The grape juice, sugar and
yeast ferment happily together
in the oak casks for months. The
wine is then drawn off and
blended with other wines and
this is where the winemaker's
skill enters. The blended wine
then is put in bottles, more yeast
and sugar are added, and the bot
tles are corked and laid on their
sizes. There they meditate for
bomb was killed when Russia """"" y "
refused to accept the Baruch owl'r" 1,1 lu u,e se,"He
proposals for inspection. That Just before the ceremony,
was the great shock of our Benton stopped off to see his
times. Now we cannot afford not friend, republican senator Ralph
to make the new hydrogen Flanders of Vermont,
bomb. We must maintain our su- "Well, this is my last day as a
periiority over any possible ag- republican," grinned Benton,
gressor. That is the chief hope "how about taking me around
left for peace." and introducing me to some of
From the beginning of the at- my new democratic col
omic energy commission, Lilien- leagues?"
thai and Strauss have been In
trian friend gives some impres
sion of the feeling of uneasiness
that disturbs his more thought-
might apply them.
These troops are in Hungary
and Romania "to guard Rus-
ful countrymen because they sian communication lines" to the
can't start acting like a normal occupation force in Austria. If
country.
the Russians sign an Austrian
They know they aren't big peace treaty they would be ob-
enough to be dangerous to any- lighed to remove their troops
one and concede, with resigna- within 90 days. If they iid take
tion, that their desting is being them out, there wouldn't be any
shaped by events outside their justification, legal or otherwise,
different corners. During the
first year, Strauss was a lone
dissenter. He offered to resign,
but President Truman refused.
Today, Strauss is the majority
leader in the commission and his
LIMITING AIR GROUPS
Here is a startling fact that
will come out when congress re
opens the debate on a 70-group
air force. By limiting the air
fn.M 4a - AO ............ T,.SAt
th.e hydrogen bomb is Tis IdtngTdo To 16
groups less than before Pearl
country in distant capitals.
A year or two ago my friend,
a Catholic, wanted all occupa
tion armies to get out, as prom
ised when a treaty is written.
for keeping Russian forces in
the two satellite lands. There
would be no "communication
lines" to protect.
So the Austrians, longing for
a peace treaty, are resigning"
He thought that with American themselves to waiting for the
aid Austria could make a go settlement of the Tito-Kremlin
of it. Now he isn't quite so quarrel one way or another.
But a trip through a winery
well, that was something else.
The least I could expect was the
freedom of its press.
"It is the flavor released by
the fermenting yeast that makes
the true champagne flavor, and
it can not be hurried," said
Kournicr. "It is produced only
by being aged in the bottle for
one to four years."
Periodically the bottles are vi
brated to insure complete fer-
backed by both the national se
curity council and the atomic
energy committee of congress.
The difficult decision of
whether to build the dread hy
drogen bomb is now up to Pres
ident Truman.
OPEN FORUM
Harbor. The air force had 64
groups the day the Japs bombed
Pearl Harbor, built this up to
243 groups by the end of the
war.
(Copyrltht mm
CapitalJUourrial
Save Civil Service System
And my heart really bounded T"!.?"- When PrPly 8ed
when I entered the first cham
ber in the winery which has
more than a mile of tunnels. It
was filled with huge oak and
the bottles are put in racks, head
down. Twice a day for eight
weeks a man known as "a shak
er'1 gives each bottle a quarter
cypress casks holding from 500 ' T . II .u
to 9,000 gallons of wine. I fig- tne, liment to gather on the
cork.
By quick-freezing the wine in
I figured also that if I sampled """" " c. wine
. i.r.i... I-- ..1. maker is able to remove the cork
ured roughly there must be at
least 150 of these casks. And
and sediment. A new cork
a beaker or two from each cask
-I would be there until summer. hen Inserted, the labels added-
"Don't know if I'll be able to ,m lnE cnampagne is reaay.
make it," I murmured thirstily.
"Oh, it won't take too long," "The reason champagne can
answered my guide, Charles not be produced cheaply is that
Fournicr, the chief winemastcr, each bottle must be handled 250
who learned his art at the times before it is ready for ship
French home of champagne in ment," said Fourier.
Rhcims.
And how many bottles do you
have here?"
"Oh, perhaps 3,000,000."
"My, my all that cham
pagne," I said admiringly.
A moment later a cork popped
Well, to get down to the bitter
truth, in a trip through a winery
they spend most of the time tell
ing you how wine is made. They
don't feel it is necessary for you as the house bought.
to test a sample from each cask. And then there were 2,999,.
It seems they have people paid 000 bottles. A grape is a won
to do this. And there is a long derful thing to spend an after
waiting list for the jobs. noon with.
To the Editor: In the months to come, the public will hear
state officials both lauded and criticized on the operation of
our state government.
I, like hundreds of others, am more laudatory than critical.
The criticism that comes from one large group could be wiped
if the executive branch would !
act promptly and save what is department head is not required
left of the civil service system, by law to reinstate them,
reduce the power of those who When state employment is
operate the personnel patronage based on merit, it is an attrac
system, see that justice is dis- tive career. The worker has se
pensed to career workers, and a curity, good working conditions,
real merit system provided. freedom from labor troubles,
What protection does the state and substantial retirement pay.
civil service give the worker? Under the personal privilege
If he or she is discharged for system, except the privileged,
political, religious or racial rea- it will no longer attract and hold
sons, the commission can de- the kind of men whom our state
mand re-instatement, but for government so urgently needs,
other reasons, including petty MRS. GEORGE LEWIS
malice and loaded charges, the Salem
'Missouri' Stuck in the Mud
To the Editor: Suddenly I've thought of this one. Wonder if
you would want to use it in the Capital Journal.
The battleship Missouri, stuck in the mud, is a problem the
U. S. Navy is trying to solve.
The solution is simple: Just hitch a couple of republican
elephants to the Missouri mule.
FERN MILES,
Scotts Mills, Ore.
ml v ifaS A "Not Responsible I
WX A"- WSiR5PK?CrW Deits" notice he I
j t-'itfV. iSKff isS" fSi ran in a Chicago paper J
SM'SryfiilG 31 brought Patrick Jacob-
VjT MWpi?l$L'?ii unexpected results,
J V3i3 T? When 1 8lst" 11 5
IS iSfX llll Jacba2zt was reunited I
T ''MV,iWl irfKJEsvff 33 ith his mother and 5
Y Tie.. Tf TT ISTI """'relatives he hadn't t
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