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51t Year 24 Pages
Supreme Court
Orders Assessor
To Take Action
Technical Reasons
Cited in Decision
Salem (U.P.) The Supreme
Court today ordered the Jack
son county assessor to strike
certain increased assessments
on commercial orchard proper
ties rom the tax rolls due to
certain technical reasons.
The case was brought by the
Medford Pear company which
claimed increased assessments
covering trees in its orchards
were void.
Assessment Ordered
Before 1955, the county had
not taxed the trees, but in June,
1955, the State Tax commission
ordered the board of equaliza
tion to assess the trees and add
their valu to the assessed land
value.
The pear company contended
the increased assessments were
void because the board failed
to give notice of he increases.
The tax commission ruled that
the increased assessments were
void, but the assessor failed to
delete them from the assess
ment rolls.
Proper Notice Claimed
Later the tax commission, act
ing as a board of equalization,
made assessment of the trees.
The court, in an opinion by
Justice George Rossman, held
the tax commission gave prop
er notice, but that assessments
previously made by the assessor
and not adopted by the tax com
mission should be deleted.
The Dasic question of taxing
the trees was not involved in
the, case.
Sam Stewart, chairman of the
State Tax commission, said he
was "very pleased" with the
state Supreme Court's decision
in the Medford Pear company
case.
Stewart said he regarded the
decision as a victory both for
the commission and the taxpay
er. Appikl on Grounds of Errors.
Stewart pointed out that the
commission had adopted prac-
tically all the increased assess
ments after hearings were held.
The tax official noted also
that Medford Pear company ap
pealed the tax on grounds of ad
ministrative errors and did not
attack the right of the tax com
mission, to include the value of
the orchards in its property tax.
This, Stewart felt, was an im
plicit admission that the trees
were taxable.
By UNITED PRESS
Financial and commodity mar
kets throughout the United
States will be closed Good Fri
day, but banks and foreign ex
change markets will operate as
usual. Domestic livestock mar
kets also will be open. .
Certain Tree
Ordered St
Chamber Study of Taxation
Report Includes Nine Recommendations
A four-month study of state
and local taxation was conclud
ed last night by the legislative
committee of the Jackson County
Chamber of Commerce. Its find
ings, which include nine recom
mendations, will be presented
to the chamber board at a spec
ial meeting tomorrow noon.
In brief, the report recom
mended: 1. Elimination of the 6 per
cent tax limitation, and the adop
tion of a tax levy limitation
based on a percentage of market
values averaged over a period
of years.
Published Budgets
2. A requirement that pub
lished budgets contain compari
sons with tax revenues of past
years to provide taxpayers with
some idea of what taxes will re
sult from proposed budgets.
3. An increase in the number
Ma
MEDFORD, OREGON, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28, 1956
ricken
if '
zm&fck was! Jsf rkimxM
feygy ?sJjl ri . 4Jgsl
A POINT OF INTEREST President Eisenhower (center), Mexican President Adolfo
Ruiz Cortines (left) and Canadian Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent pose on lawn at
L White Sulphur Springs, W. Va before meetings of the "little summit" conferences.
Talent Residents to
Ask Reinstatement of
Dismissed Marshal
Talent More than .60 Tal-
lent citizens met in the city hall
last night to exchange protests
over last week's discharge of
John Baldwin, Talent city mar
shal, on grounds that he has fail
ed to meet Requirements of the
job and has been the target for
numerous complaints.
At least one spokesman will
be delegated to carry the citi
zens' support for Baldwin to the
city council when it meets Fri
day at 8 p.m. in the city hall to
hear' protests and consider hir
ing a new marshal. A petition
bearing signatures of about 170
people advocating Baldwin's re
instatement will also be given
to the council at that time.
Special Meeting
The marshal was fired March
19 at a special city council meet
ing at the home of Mayor Keith
V. Thoreson. Councilmen un
animously voted in favor of the
mayor's recommendation for
Baldwin's dismissal. Later that
night the council decided to give
Baldwin until April 1 to sub
mit his resignation. He has held
the position for about two years.
During the meeting Tuesday
Baldwin was given a standing
vote of confidence and a number
of people gave testimonies as to
his accomplishments. As evi
dence of his competency, they
cited his work toward control
ling traffic problems, answer
ing calls for assistance from the
citizens and aiding in numerous
maintenance projects in the city.
It was explained at the meet
ing that Baldwin's job has con
sisted of both maintenance and
police work. Actual percentage
figures on police and mainten
ance work Baldwin was hired
to do were unavailable at the
meeting Tuesday.
Several speakers voiced the
of qualified personnel in the
county assessor's office.
4. Legislation to create in
counties of 50,000 or more popu
lation tax supervisory and con
servation commissions to "ride
herd" on all taxing bodies in
those counties.
Finance Bureau
5. Creation of a municipal
finance bureau in the tax com
mission to keep track of trends
in local government tax and
fiscal problems.
6. A state sales tax with food
and medicine exempted, pro
ceeds to go to the state general
fund; repeal of the 45 per cent
surtax on incomes; considera
tion for eliminating any tax on
incomes of less than 35,000 year
ly; a change to make state capi
tal gains and depreciation sched
ules conform to federal tax practices.
opinion that police work should
be a full time job . and that
maintenance' work should not be
added to the marshal's duties.
Recent House Fire
Further discussion concerned
a recent house fire at which it
was learned the marshal did not
know how to connect fire fight
ing equipment. This was among
factors the council reportedly
considered in deciding to fire
Baldwin. The feeling of the
crowd appeared to be that fire
fighting was not included in the
marshal's -duties and he there
fore should not be required to
be familiar with the equipment.
Another major protest the
citizens voiced against the coun
cil's action concerned the fact
that thf meeting in which -Bald
win was fired was held in the
mayor's home rather than in a
public place.
Only councilman accepting
the group's invitation to attend
the protest meeting was Clif
ford Nicholson. He made no
statement during the session.
Conducting the meeting was
Ray Garland, chairman of the
special citizens' committee.
Other committee members are
Howard Lockwood, F. C. Learn
ing and Fred Morris.
Supreme Court Allows
Otto Cahill Petition
Salem (U.R) The State
Supreme Court today allowed,
without written opinion, a pet
ition of Otto W. Cahill for a
hearing of his appeal.
Last January 25, the Supreme
Court had affirmed Cahill's con
viction for conversion of public
funds from the Taft-Nelscott-De-Lake
water district.
Cahill had been fined $1,500
and sentenced to one year in
the penitentiary.
Completed;
7. Publication of detailed re
ports on the county's sinking
funds.
8. A broad study of the per
sonal property tax and of pos
sible substitutes.
Emergency Clauses
9. Elimination of the ban on
emergency clauses on tax legis
lation. The committee has been meet
ing periodically since the mid
dle of last November, and has
heard testimony from many
state, county and. other local
taxing and fiscal officers. The
report was copiled from the
records of these meetings, fol
lowing evaluation and discus
sion. .
The complete report, includ
ing a statement of the scope of
the study, the general findings,
and the recommendations in de
tail, will be published in tomor
row's issue of the Mail Tribune
Tribune
Price 5c No. 6
Daily Worker
Paper Published
Despite Seizure
New York (U.R) The Com
munist Daily Worker, published
its regular daily edition in make
shift offices today with assur
ance of Treasury officials that
yesterday's tax raids were not
designed to interfere with pub
lication of the newspaper.
Internal Revenue agents raid
ed and seized the property of
the Communist publication in
Chicago and New York for non
payment of income taxes.
Tax Raids All Over
At the same time Treasury
agents raided and locked offices
of the Communist party in Los
Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago,
Philadelphia and New York for
refusing to file a claim for tax
exemption and failure to cooper
ate with tax investigators.
The Daily Worker staff left
its offices on the eighth floor of
a New York building when
agents sealed the door with
warning stickers saying the
property had been seized for non
payment of internal revenue
taxes.
Editorial offices were set up
hastily on a lower floor of the
same building where the Worker
is printed by the F and D Pub
lishing Co., Inc., a job printing
concern not otherwise connected
with the Communist publication.
The Worker made arrange
ments later to establish semi
permanent editorial offices in
quarters occupied by the Morn
ing Freiheit, a Yiddish language
Communist Newspaper at the
same address.
Fight Expected
Both the Daily Worker and
the Communist party t indicated
they would fight the seizure of
their property in the courts.
Today's edition of the Daily
Worker said in a front page edi
torial the federal action showed
"contempt for the Bill of Rights."
John Gates, editor in chief of
the Daily Worker, said the news
paper did not owe any taxes be
cause it had never made any
money.
"The Worker was founded in
1924. We have had a deficit every
year since then. We have never
been out of the red," he said.
Medford's Population
Estimated at 20,083
Mf df ord's population has
reached 20,083, according to an
estimate made by city officials
today following a special census
of the recently annexed south
east area.
City Manager Robert Duff re
ported to the state board of cen
sus that the southeast Medford
area has a population of 355.
That, plus the city's estimate of
Jan. 1 of 19,728, comprises the
new figure. "
The special federal census
made here in 1954 found the pop
ulation totaled 19,050.
Weather
FORECAST: Variable hieh
cloudiness tonight and mostly
cloudy Thursday. Expected
low tonight, 32. High tomor
row, 62.
Temp.
Highest yesterday 56
Lowest this morning 30
Fire Destroys Dry
Kiln Unit at Tolo
Lumber Firm Plant
.300,000 to 350,000
Board Feet Burned
Some 300,000 or 350,000
board feet of timber and one
complete dry kiln unit were de
stroyed by fire last night at the
Double Dee Lumber company
at Tolo.
Wayne Safley, general mana
ger of the firm, said the fire
started in a control room. When
discovered it was burning on
belts and motor, and was
thought to be extinguished. But
after that, the glow of fire burn
ing inside kiln tunnels was seen.
Starts About 8:30
The fire, which started about
8:30 p.m., destroyed three double-track
kilns and a cooling
shed in the unit. The three tun
nels were full of lumber as was
the cooling shed. Safley said
two tunnels were discharged of
lumber yesterday afternoon, and
the lumber placed in the shed.
Central Point Rural Fire Pro
tection district which had water
on the fire about eight minutes
after the alarm was turned in,
saved the boiler house and fuel
storage tank, Safley reported.
Firemen controlled the fire
on one wall while electrical
equipment and other machinery
was removed. A compressor and
other small motors were saved
from the second control room.
As much lumber as possible
was saved from areas near the
fire, Fire Chief Dick Krupp said,
but the blazing dry lumber pre
vented fire fighters from salvag
ing much of it in the fire area
itself.
The fire was allowed to con
tinue to burn under control to
dispose of debris, company offi
cials said. v
Safley has not yet estimated
the amount of damage. At pres
ent company officials have not
considered The possibility of re
construction. Krupp said state police were
called to control traffic near the
scene, and Central Point city
fire department had crews
standing by in case of another
alarm.
The plant was owned by J. L.
DeArmond. The unit which
burned was the Tolo Lumber
Driers.
Five Appearances in
Circuit Court Today
Judge H. K. Hanna this morn
ing revoked suspension of a two
year penitentiary sentence pre
viously given to Warren E.
Keller, 30, Trail, Ore., when he
appeared in circuit court on a
charge of obtaining money under
false pretenses.
John Butler Childress, 25, of
430 DeBar ave., was given a sus
pended two - year penitentiary
sentence for entering a motor
vehicle with intent to steal.
Arraigned this morning were
William H. Mitchell, 19, Salem,
who pleaded guilty to a forgery"
charge; Lee James Potter, 40, of
408 Edwards st., who pleaded
guilty to an embezzlement
charger and Lawrence Duncan
Ferguson, 20, Renton, Wash.,
who also pleaded guilty to a
forgery charge.
Investigation was ordered con
tinued on a grand larceny case
against Berkley Keller, 34, Trail,
Ore.
Motel Construction
Planned at Merrick's
Construction of a 40-unit mo
tel, with a swimming pool, res
taurant, cocktail lounge and
service station, is tentatively
planned for the site of Merrick's
old Natatorium on North River
side ave., it was reported today.
The Merrick building, now
being torn down, is one of Med
ford's most historic structures,
the site of many community
events.
It was purchased a few years
ago by a partnership including
Otto Frohnmayer, Jack Craw
ford and Tom Culbertson.
An option to lease the prop
erty has been given to Bob Cross
man, of San Francisco and Eagle
Point, owner of the Medical Cen
ter building. Crossman said his
plans for the motel and other
units are still in the development
stage.
Russia Embraces
Ike's Proposal in
Own Blueprint
Many Restrictions
Declared Included
London U.R) The Soviet
Union has embraced President
Eisenhower's "open sky" recon
naissance plan for the first time
in a formal disarmament pro
posal, it was learned today.
An informed source said the
new Soviet proposal introduced
here yesterday also goes further
on armaments inspection than
ever before.
The United States, France,
Britain and Canada were re
ported giving cautious study to
the still secret Soviet blueprint.
The part that embraces the
Eisenhower plan for mutual
aerial reconnaissance is hedged
by many restrictions, the in
formed source said. . ,
Giving Serious Study
Nevertheless, the Americans
were reported somewhat heart
ened by the fact that the Soviets
built the Eisenhower plan into a
formal disarmament proposal
for the first time.
The Americans were under
stood to be giving the offer
serious and lengthy study. U. S
Delegate Harold Stassen accord
ingly withheld substantive Amer
ican comment on the plan until
next week.
Stassen did, however, ask
Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister
Andrei Gromyko many questions
m an effort to clarify the Rus
sian position at today's session
of the five-power U. N. Disarma
ment Subcommittee meeting.
Discussion described as "inten
sive" and "animated" boiled for
two hours and 15 minutes in the
closed door meeting. It centered
altogether on the new Soviet
plan and the Anglo-French dis
armament proposal which the
Soviets are attempting .to bypass,
The United States will ad
vance more proposals of its own
early next week after the con
ference's Easter recess ends
Tuesday.
The informed source said the
United States will make a "con
siderable presentation."
Western delegates avoided dis
closing details of the new Rus
sian plan until Moscow does so
But it was understood to switch
emphasis from nuclear disarma
ment toward conventional ' dis
armament. McKay Submits
Resignation
Washington (U.R) Secre
tary of Interior Douglas McKay
has formally submitted his resig
nation, freeing him for the po
litical wars in Oregon.
McKay, a former GOP govern
or of Oregon, said he plans to
quit about April 15 to get into
the Oregon senatorial race. He
will try to unseat Democratic
Sen. Wayne L. Morse.
The secretary sent his resigna
tion to the White House yester
day. He mentioned no specific
date of resignation in the letter.
McKay told a group of Am
herst college political science
students at his office that he
couldn't rest easy in retirement
unless he at least tried to un
seat Morse, a former Republi
can who bolted to the Demo
crats in 1952.
"I'll either be a senator or
I'll be free," McKay said.
The 62-year-old secretary's first
campaign target is the Oregon
Republican primary May 18.
Neuberger Delighted
By Eugene Bond Vote
Washington (U.R) Sen. Rich
ard L. Neuberger (D-Ore.) said
today he was "delighted" with
rejection of a bond issue by
voters in Eugene yesterday for
the proposed Beaver Marsh
power project on the upper Mc
Kenzie river.
House-Senate
Administration on Cotton
Washington (U.R) House-Senate
conferees, in another rebuff
to the administration, voted to
day to boost the support price
for the 1956 cotton crop by an
additional 1.4 cents a pound.
The conferees voted to delete
from the big administration
backed provision plans for
changing the way of figuring cot
ton supports.
Reconciling Differences
The provision had been in
cluded "in the Senate bill. The
conferees are working to recon
cile differences between bills
passed by the House and Senate.
The conferees yesterday ig
nored administration jpleas to
Diamond L. Flynn, 59, mayor
of Medford for three terms and
immediate past president of the
League of Oregon Cities, died
unexpectedly of a heart attack
early today.
He was stricken at home late
yesterday, and was taken to a
local hospital at about 8:22 p.m.
He died at about 3:30 a.m.
Active in Community
"Dime" Flynn was one of
Medford's and southern Ore
gon's best-known citizens, hav
ing been active in a wide variety
of community and civic enter
prises over a period 'of many j
years. During nis terms as
mayor, the city underwent many
changes and improvements, in
cluding a reorganization of both
fire and police departments,
construction of a new city water
pipeline, improvement of Haw
thorne park and building of the
swimming pool, and many
others.
The flag at the city hall was
at half staff today in his honor.
Mr. Flynn entered city gov
ernment in February, 1948, re
ceiving an appointment to the
city council to fill an unexpired
term. In November of that year
he was elected mayor, and serv
ed three two-year terms, leaving
office in January, 1955.,
League President
He was elected president of
the League of Oregon Cities at
the 1954 convention, and trav
eled widely throughout the state
during his one-year term of of
fice. He was long an advocate
of good municipal government,
and it was under his leadership
Ike Summons
Top Officials
Charlottesville," Va. (U.R)
President Eisenhower, en route
to Washington after his Ca
nadian - Mexican conf ere n c e s,
called a late afternoon meeting
at the White House with Secre
tary of State John Foster Dulles
and other top State Department
officials.
White House aides described
the meeting as "very import
ant," but declined to discuss the
subject matter.
The President's special train
was scheduled to arrive at Wash
ington in mid-afternoon.
Before leaving, Mr. Eisen
hower held farewell meetings
with Canadian Prime Minister
Louis St. Laurent and President
Adolfo Ruiz Cortines of Mexico.
Mr. Eisenhower decided to re
turn to the capital by train in
stead of by plane because of ex
pected bad weather. He planned
to return aboard the same Ches
apeake & Ohio private railroad
car that he used traveling to this
plush resort Sunday night.
American officials told news
men the conference accomplished
its main objective of creating a
bond of friendship between the
leaders of the three nations. The
officials said the friendship
would aid solving any future
differences.
They hinted the President may
hold similar meetings following
the same relaxed procedure in
the future possibly the meet
ing this July with Premier Jaw
aharlal Nehru of India.
Shady Cove Logger
Hurt by Failing Limb
Jack Dugger, 20, Trail, was
injured in a logging accident
near Shady Cove this morning.
Dugger was working for
Joseph Olliver, Trail, in the Long
Branch area near Shady Cove
when a limb fell on him, it was
reported here. Extent of his in
juries were not known. He was
taken to Sacred Heart hospital
by Medford Ambulance service.
Conferees Hand Rebuff To
continue flexible price supports
They voted instead to restore
rigid high supports at 90 per
cent of parity for basic crops;
also to provide a "dual parity"
system which' would raise dollar
and cents supports for cotton,
wheat, corn and peanuts.
Veto Predicted
As the bill now stands, it is so
objectionable to the administra
tion that -Republican leaders
again forecast a veto if the meas
ure reaches the White House.
As a result of today's action,
the measure" would provide a
1956 crop support price of 31.7
cents a pound for 7-8 inch staple
cotton. -This would mean sup
r S-
a
I - r
IX'
DIAMOND L. FLYNN
Heart Attack Fatal
that Medford adopted the city
manager plan of operation.
He was born- in Palouse,
Wash., on April 29, 1896, the
son of Thomas and Alice F.
Flynn. He was educated in Med
ford schools, and on Christmas
day in 1919 was married to the
former Miss Fay Rinaberger of
Medford.
He started work as a division
electrician in the Portland-Med-ford
district of the Southern
Pacific railroad, later becoming
associated with the Peoples Elec
tric company here. Still later,
he was associated with his
brother, Ben J. Trowbridge, in
the firm of Trowbridge and
Flynn.
Semi-Retired
He was semi-retired for a
time, but recently had accepted
the position of state public rela
tions director for Pierce Auto
Freight lines.
Among his public service
work . was service on the war
manpower board, the county ar
bitration board, the Jackson
county selective service board,
and the Medford civil service
commission. He was a director
of the Medford Community
Chest in 1943, and of the USO
between 1943 and 1946. His
memberships included the Elks
lodge-, the American Legion and
the Medford Rotary club. He
served in the Army during
World War I.
Active in RVMH
At the time of his death he
was acting director of the
Rogue Valley Memorial hospital
organization, having been one of
the most active workers in the
fund-raising organizations which
campaigned for the new hospital
to be built here. He was also ac
tive in making plans for the
Pear Blossom festival to be held
here next month.
Mr. Flynn suffered a minor
heart attack several years ago,
but appeared to have recovered
from it completely. He spent a
busy day yesterday, making
calls on behalf of the hospital
and of the Pear Blossom festivaL
Survivors include Mrs. Flynn,
two daughters, Mrs. Bruce
Holmes, Panama City, Canal
Zone, and Mrs. Donald Ross,
Portland; two sisters, Mrs.
George Peake,. Grants Pass, and
Mrs. Mary Elkins, Los Angeles;
four brothers, Alfred A. Flynn,
Portland, Tom J. Flynn, Med
ford, and Ray and Ben Trow
bridge, both Medford, as well as
four grandchildren..
Funeral ' arrangements are
pending at Conger-Morris fu
neral home.
DOW-JONES AVERAGES
New York (U.R) Dow
Jones final stock averages: 30
industrials 510.25, up 1.57; 20
rails 170.35 up 0.18; 15 utilities
67.52, up 0.06, and 65 stocks
180.45, up 0.38. Sales today were
about 2,610,000 shares compar
ed with 2,540,000 yesterday. .
Price Support
ports averaging 33 cents a pound
for the entire crop. Secretary
of Agriculture Ezra T. Benson
had indicated he wanted to peg
1956 crop supports at about 30
cents a pound for the entire crop.
Small Portion of Crop
As a result of today's action,
price supports would continue to
be computed on the basis of 7-8-inch
staple cotton, which com
prises only a small portion for
the crop. Most of the crop is
more valuable than that type,
and brings a price premium
over it. The adrninistration
wanted to base the cotton sup
ports on the average staple. This
would have lowered the dollar
and cents supports.