rOTO MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE
MEMXDvTRIBUNK
"Everybody in Soutftern Oregon
RmH T m Uatl Tnhma"
Published Daily Except Saturday by
MED FORD PRINTING CO.
7-29 North fir St. Phong 2-6141
ROBERT W. RUHL. Editor
HERB GREY. Advertising Manager
GERALD LATHAM, Business Manager
ERIC ALLEN JR. Managing Editor
EARL H. AD A11S. City Editor
HARRY CHIP MAN, Telegraph Editor
RICHARD JEWETT Sports Editor
OLIVE ST ARC HER. Society Editor
DALE ERICKSON Circulation Mgr.
An Independent Newspaper
Entered as second class matter at
Medford. Oregon, under Act oi
March 3. 1897
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
By Mail In Advance: Per Copy 10c.
Daily and Sunday One year S12.00
Daily and Sunday Six months S.50
Daily and Sunday Three mot. 3 50
Sunday Only One year $350.
By Carrier In Advance Medford,
Ashland. Central Point, Eagle Point,
Jacksonville. Gold Hill, Phoenix.
Shady Cove. Rogue River. Talent,
and on motor routes:
Daily and Sunday One year (IS. 00
Daily and Sunday One month 1J5
Carrier and Dealers 5c per copy.
All Terms Cash In Advance
Official Paper of the City of Medford
Official Paper of Jackson County
United Press Full Leased Wire
MEMBER OF AUDIT BUREAU
OF CIRCULATION
Advertising Representative:
wrcT-nni : irAV POMP A NY INC
Offices in New York. Chicago, De
troit San Francisco, LX Angeies.
Seattle. Portland. St. Louis. Atlanta.
Vancouver. B.C.
NATIONAL EDITORIAL
NEWSPAPER.
PUBLISHERS
ASSOCIATION
Flight o' Time
Medford and Jackson County
History from the files of The
Mail Tribune 10. 20. 30 and
40 years ago.
10 YEARS AGO
April 1, 1946
(It was Monday)
H. F. Swingle reelected presi
dent of the Trail Creek Cattle
and Horse Raisers' association;
J. B. Hannah vice-president, and
J. B. Glow, secretary.
From Arthur Perry's Ye
Smudge Pot column: It is now
April. Any showers during the
month will make May flowers,
and August pears.
20 YEARS AGO
April 1. 1936
(It was Wednesday)
Mercury drops to 21 in valley,
heavy smudging continues.
Cottages at Lake of the
Woods damaged by heavy snow,
according to Hugh Ritter, forest
ranger.
30 YEARS AGO
April 1, 1926
(It was Thursday)
Vaccination of high and Roose
velt school students for small
pox starts; no new cases report
ed since Tuesday.
American Legion here launches
drive for increased membership;
M. N. Hogan, vice-commander,
in charge.
40 YEARS AGO
April 1. 1916
at was Saturday)
From Local and Personal col
umn: The Jackson County Sun
day School association opened its
institute at the Methodist church
in Jacksonville on Saturday. A
good attendance pleased the
leaders of the work.
March rainfall totaled 1.76
Inches, according to weather bu
rea; average is 2.34 inches.
What's tha Answer?
Can You Get 4 of tha 7?
Copr. 1955. Editorial Research Report
1. Senator Sparkman, 1952
Democratic vice - presidential
nominee, did or didn' -5gn the
recent manifesto by members of
Congress against the Supreme
Court's anti-segregation ruling?
2. Ulcers aggravated by worry
are more common among men or
women; or is it about 50-50?
3. In connection with Greek
Turkish troubles on Cyprus: the
U.S. has more persons of Greek
or of Turkish descent, or about
the same number of each?
4. The U.S. is or isn't the only
country where harness racing is
widespread?
5. A good golfer has about one
chance in (a) 85. (b) 850, (c)
8,500, (d) 18,500 or (e) 81,500 of
making a hole in one?
A public house in Great Brit
ain is a small hotel, place to bet
on horses, what the U.S. calls a
saloon, a house of prostitution
or a small restaurant?
7. Saccharin is a mineral, veg
etable or animal product, or a
combination of the three?
The answers: 1. Did sign. 2
More common among men. 3.
More of Greek descent. 4 Is
5. About one in 8.500. 6. What
the U.S. calls a saloor. 7. Min
eral product.
rn -Raw ;u.R Price of a
-- J
haircut will go to $1.7o per head
in Coos Bav. L. E. Fletcher of
v.orKor union said the 25
cent increase had been voted for
all union shops from Gardiner
in western Douglas county to
Port Orford in northern Curry
county. Shaves will cost
An Easter Sermon
. . We have known humiliation, we have known abu
sive language, we have been plunged into the abyss of
oppression, and we decided to rise up only with the weapon
of protest. It is one of the greatest glories of America that
we have the right of protest.
"If we are arrested every day, if we are exploited every
day, if we are trampled over every day, don't ever let any
one pull you so low as to hate them. We must use the weapon
of love. We must have compassion and understanding for
those who hate us. We must realize so many people are
taught to hate us that they are not totally responsible for
their hate. But we stand in life at midnight; we are always
on the threshold of a new dawn."
We are indebted to Dave Shaw of Gold Beach,
candidate for congress this year, for the above extract
from a talk given in a Methodist church in Mont
gomery, Alabama, by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.,
a few hours after his arrest as a leader of passive
resistance against color discrimination in the city bus
lines. Naturally under such circumstances the emotional
content was high but as an appeal to the true spirit
and essence of Christianity on this Easter Sunday we
can think of no better text for a most timely and
impressive sermon. R.W.R.
'Who Killed Cock Robin?'
It is not a matter of world-wide importance but
we would still like to know what it was that per
suaded ex-Governor McKay to change his mind so
suddenly regarding title race against Wayne Morse
for the U.S. Senate.
Forty-eight hours before he decided to make the
race he declared emphatically he would not make it.
Obviously something happened in those 2 days,
that completely changed his mind. What was it?
"THE only incident reported at the time that could
have changed his mind on such an important sub
ject was a "call to the White House."
But when it was stated President Eisenhower was
responsible for his Secretary of the Interior resigning
to enter the Republican primary, Mr. McKay showed
signs of resentment and stated the "White House"
had nothing to do with his decision. The ground
swell from the people of Oregon, demanding that
he come to the aid of his party, and save his state
from the blight of a certain G.O.P. "apostate," who
at one time was dean of the Oregon Law School, was
the cause.
FOR the time being that seemed to settle the $64
question. It was Oregon calling, not the White
House. The former claim was supported by an "im
partial poll" taken in some section of the state not
specified, which showed the following result in per
centages: McKay 47, Morse 42, undecided 11.
This survey gave Oregon's former Governor a 5
advantage, but how about that 11 still undecided.'
If they should decide on election day they don't want
the Secretary of the Interior in the Senate, for six
years, it seems fairly obvious he would not get there.
BUT the mystery is how a
exDerts. and showing: at best only a slight advantage
for the Interior Secretary could have changed his
mind, when all other pressures exerted both in Oregon
ailU etSlllllgtUll CACeyt
failed to do so.
AND now comes Attorney General Brownell to add
frt 4-!- w.-.rr,-.r Tv A rtmnn rr nnr "Ao cVnn rf nrt
LU LUC illOlCIJ. -Ill
nrresnrmdent. A. Robert
retary McKay failed to satisfactorily refute charges
of "give-away," he did directly and oy implication,
support the claim that what changed Mr. McKay's
mind was that "White House call."
Mr. Brownell did not say exactly what happened
that "White. House call" he would not SDill
trio hpnna if hp. knew. But
issued, he did know the
M i t i-k
Sherman Adams and Kepuoncan unairman nan on
March 8th, to make the race and he did not deny that
'A or 4 hours thereafter, and onlv 12 hours after he
had emphatically denied
for the Senate he WAS !
CO WHAT?
Well, as stated above, the matter is not of world
shattering importance. Politics is politics. And what
Secretary McKay is trying to do is quite obvious. He
is trying as so many politicians try to do have his
cake and eat it too.
That is, he wants of course, the 100 White
House endorsement, on one hand, he doesn't wish on
the other to give his opponent the chance to follow
the Kefauver technique, and maintain that the "Big
Boss" in Washington, dictated as to who should rep
resent the people of Oregon in the Upper House and
who shouldn't.
It involves quite a balancing act.
It will be interesting to see how successful "Dear
Doug" will be in making a success of it. R.W.R.
Names Obtained for
Reapportion Measure
Bend, Ore. 0J.R) Giles
French, Moro publisher, said
here Saturday that 25,000 sig
natures had been obtained on
petitions to put a federal .re
apportionment proposal on the
November Oregon ballot.
Proponents of the move to re
apportion the state legislature j
have until July i xo ODtain w,
000 signatures.
French heads a statewide
group seeking to reapportion
the legislature on the basis of 36
senators one from each county
with 60 members of the house
of representatives elected on tee
Sunday, April 1, 1956
poll of this kind, not state-
Ulclt finite uuuoi. vnn
Hig w vini ri uuui"6v
Smith, that he ever said Sec
he DID know the call was
pressure put on McKay by
i 1 yiti tt 11
he would be a candidate
Husband Snatches
Wife's Purse
Grand Rapids, Mich. U.P
Police who answered a purse
snatching caU in a downtown
store found the "thief was the
complainant's husband.
He said he took his wife's
purse to prevent her from buy
ing anything more.
basis of population. There are
now 30 members of the Oregon
senate.
If approved in the 1956 gen
eral election, the new sysfem
would become operative for the
election of senators in 1958.
Communications
Letters to the Editor must bear the name end address of the writer, although
under certain circumstances the use of a pen name or initial for publication
is permissible. The Mail Tribune reserves the right to edit all letters with a
view to clarification and condensation. Letters submitted for publication must
not exceed 400 words.
Who Are the "Experts"?
To the Editor: The opponents
of fluoridation evidently mis
trust their own Jackson county
doctors and dentists, as the "ex
perts" they quote are always
from some remote point. This is
not peculiar to Medford in
every area where fluoridation is
needed, the opposition "experts"
are shipped in. The people of
Palo Alto, Calif., referred to
them as the "Merchants of Fear"
and requested they peddle their
superstitions elsewhere.
On examination we found the
following:
1. None of these "experts" has
done original research on fluor
idation, and therefore must get
his material from the same
sources our own doctors and
dentists use.
2. Few of these itinerant prac
titioners can put an M.D. or any
other degree after their name.
One, a "Dr." E. H. Bronner is an
escapee from an Illinois state
mental institution; another, a Dr.
Royal Lee is a graduate dentist
but has never practiced, instead
sells vitamin preparations for
which he was indicted (March 11,
1945) by the U.S. Federal Trade
Commission for product misrep
resentation. Dr. Leo Spira quotes
himself as his own authority and
maintains we're all being poi
soned by cooking in aluminum
pots and pans. Etc., etc. A few
of the opponents' "experts" are
deceased. Sometimes reputable
men are misquoted; and some
times, as in the case of the
Smiths of Arizona, erstwhile op
ponents are now proponents of
fluoridation.
Dr. F. B. Exner of Seattle has
appeared in about every state in
the union, and one wonders how
his radiology practice supports
this junketing without his pres
ence. Dr. Exner's theories have
been discredited from Florida to
California. A well-known bio
chemist in the latter state writes:
" while most of the opponents
of fluoridation are misguided.
but honest, in their beliefs, I
cannot help but feel from the
way in which Exner distorts the
facts that he is well aware of
what he is doing." And, regard
ing Dr. Exner's statements, '. . .
there is always a point which
he left out which entirely
changes the meaning." The most
questionable item regarding Dr.
Exner is his "patient who died
of fluoride poisoning," when the
examining physician in Honolulu
and the physicians who autop
sied the- ease indicate the man
died of pyelo nephritis with
acute pyelitis, and had nothing
to do with fluorides.
In short, there are a handfull
of medical opponents to fluori
dation, a quantity of quacks,
and some who simply have been
frightened and misled by the
former.
Mrs. Edward Sickels,
Chairman, Dental Health
Committee, Jackson Co.
Public Health Assoc.
Claims Answered
To the Editor: The dental
health committee of the Public
Health association has had occa
sion recently to investigate the
claims of those opposing fluori
dation, and to check on the iden
tity of their "experts". As most
of these claims and many of the
"experts" have been publicized
in this column, a few of the
findings may be of interest. Any
one can obtain this information
for himself by writing the
American Dental association,
American Medical association,
the State Board of Health or to
other responsible groups whose
interest is the nation's health.
The claims opposing fluori
dation always seem to fall into
these categories:
1. Material that is out-of-date,
Example: A letter appeared in
this column on March 7 con
cerning blood clotting time rela
tive to fluorides. It was practi
cally a verbatim quote from a
New Mexico bulletin, long since
out of print, dated 1938, includ
ing material dating back to
1889. The University of New
Mexico writes concerning this
bulletin: (March 15, 1956) "Such
preliminary information is now
hopelessly out of date and
should be accepted by no one
as authoritative.
2. Material taken out-of-con-text.
Example: Statements listing
fluoride as a poison, disregard
ing the quantity involved. This
is like running an ad warning
that hydro-cyanic acid is poison
and asserting that cabbage, and
cauliflower should not be eaten
as they contain cyanogens.
3. Material that is unsubstan
tiated by scientific fact. Exam
ple: Opponents have endeavored
to connect the incidence of leu
kemia with fluoridation. Both
the American Cancer society
and the Leukemia society write
(March 16, 1956) that this charge
is completely false.
In conclusion, so far our re
search has turned up no facts
that discredit the advisability of
fluoridation. The opponents
have raised unsubstantiated
fears in many towns among the
gullible and those who didn't
have the time to look into the
matter themselves. The Health
association's dental committee is
endeavoring to do a research
and educational program so that
I the people of Medford will not
be sold a bill or goods by the
"merchants of fear."
Dental Health Committee
Jackson County Public
Health Association
By H. Dewey Wilson,
Vice Chairman
Who Will Profit?
To the Editor: I am one of the
lucky people who have deep
wells full of wonderful water,
but I do enjoy a swig of good
cold spring H20 while shopping
in Medford, and think it would
be a shame to spoil it as this
water is a well advertised draw
ing card to Medford and really
quite famous.
I hear the expense of fluori
dation is high and so much of
this expensive water would be
wasted in baths, floor scrubbing,
garden and lawn watering and
such a fraction ever goes
through tha mouth for drinking
purposes.
If fluorine is not harmful, why
do the latest tooth pastes which
contain it make a point of say
ing "not recommended for use
by children under 6"?
When I was small my mother
bought an inexpensive bottle of
lime water from the drug store
and added a few drops to my
drinking water. No taste and no
smell. Probably fluoride can be
bought that way for those who
want it.
Why inflict this stuff on all
the children under 6 and all the
many who do not care if their
false teeth are soaked in fluori
dated water?
Some of the great wonder
drugs have done miracles for a
great many, while they have
proven very harmful to others,
even causing death.
Think of who will be really
profiting from fluoridation? Ana
who will be the one to pay, pnd
pay.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Ray Doran
Table Rock
Still Decayl
To the Editor: Tooth decay is
increasingly becoming more of
a problem. I have a daughter
nine years of age who already
has four fillings. I plan well
balanced meals each day for my
family, have the children brush
their teeth regularly. Still tooth
decay!
Let's have fluoridation and
children with pretty smiles. A
smile takes you a long way, so
let's keep them as attractive as
possible!
A Concerned Mother,
Bettie (Mrs. Wm. E.) Ruffner
2512 Lyman Ave.,
Medford, Ore.
Effective snd Safe
To the Editor: In- "Communi
cations" for Sunday, March 25,
a correspondent asked questions
about water fluoridation for the
purpose of cutting down tooth
decay. In all fairness, her ques
tions should be answered. This
information is available to any
one who is looking for the an
swers.
The United States Department
of Health, Education and Wel
fare's report of "Medical Aspects
of Excessive Fluoride in a Water
Supply" on a controlled 10-year
study comparing Bartlett, Tex.,
(which nature has fluoridated
with eight times the recommend
ed amount) with Cameron, Tex.,
(which has a fluoride lack) dis
closed no significant differences
in death and disease rates from
cancer, kidney and other ail
ments except that there was a
slightly higher rate of cardio
vascular abnormalities in Cam
eron and a mottling of teeth
in Bartlett because the water
had so many times the recom
mended amount of fluorides.
A report in the February,
1954, issue of Missouri Medicine
by a committee of the St. Louis
Medical Society says that the
ideal daily dose of any substance
is the amount which will pro
duce benefit without doing harm.
For fluorides, the ideal dose is
about 1 milligram per day which
is achieved by human use of
drinking water containing an
average of 1 part per million.
This intake is calculated as the
proper addition to the small
amount contained in various
solid foods. In the ideal amount
fluorides are not stored in the
body except for the very small
amount that enters into the
hardening of enamel of develop
ing teeth. The rest has been
proved in scientific experiments
measuring ingested and excreted
amounts in animals and in
humans.
The margin of safety with
higher than ideal amounts is so
wide that no ill effects have
been found even in residents
of Bartlett, Tex., which has used
eight parts per million for sev
eral generations.
Dogs were fed daily (by a sci
entist named Largent) 65 milli
grams (65 times recommended
dose) o sodium fluoride from
age 11 months to after 5V4 years.
No noteworthy changes were
found in microscopic examina
tion of organs and bones. Similar
studies have been carried
through several generations of
dogs without discernible effects
on their health.
The amount proposed to cor
rect Medford's fluoride deficien
cy is 1 part per million, which
POTLUCK
(By M-T Staff and
Contributors)
A group of beauticians from
one of Medford's better establish
ments for the improvement of
feminine good looks . make a
practice of attending tke North
west Beauticians' Trade show in
Portland.
Last vear when they attend
ed, they had a room at a hotel
near where a fire broke out.
And on the way home, their
car caught on fire just south of
Roseburg.
This vear. brave souls, they
ventured north again. There was
no hotel fire, thank goodness, but
just south of Roseburg, in almost
exactly the same spot, tneir car
caught fire.
Wonder if they're looking lor-
ward to next year?
J. B. Gosselt, of the Cargill
Court apartments, was work
ing on a wall there recently,
and tucked away, apparently
undisturbed for many, many,
years, he found an eld "ice
card," printed way back when,
maybe 1915 or so, by the
Medford Printing company,
which in those days did Job
work.
It had a dial (remember
em?) for telling the ice man
how many pounds of ice the
householder wanted that day.
and it invited everyone to call
the Jackson County Creamery,
telephone Medford 51.
Col. W. H. Paine, one of Med
ford's most-resDected citizens,
admitted the other night that
he's just a bit behind in nis
Grange dues. He said he thinks
he is one of the earliest Grang
ers hereabouts, having joined tne
organization in 1888.
But he stooDed paying dues
two years later, and now figures
that he s just 66 yean in ar
rears. The colonel has been a dues
paying member of the local
chamber of commerce, how
ever, for something like 30
years. The board of directors
tried to make him an honor
ary member the other day.
but found they couldn't. He
already was one.
A local elected official, who
shall here be nameless, dozed
off during a talk at a meeting
in Medford last week. He was
inlted awake, though, when the
speaker concluded a portion of
his talk by asking: "Isn't that
so, judge?"
An intense interest in the
mysteries of science was noted
among the young and single
female population last week
when the GM Parade of Pro
gress was In town.
Lecturer: for the parade
are all young, single and male.
And they're under contraci
to stay that way during the
tour, too single, that is.
A young man we know (young,
personable and single) was fam
iliarizing himself with the out
skirts of the city recently, and
dropped into an eating and
eating and drinking establish
ment. When he left he inad
vertently left his favorite cig
arette ' lighter there. A week
later the friendly bartender ad
vised him he'd found the light
er, but had left it at home that
day. If the young many would
come back next day, he said,
the lighter would be there. The
young man arrived, but the
lighter was still at home . . but
if he would drop in Sunday
evening . . . This. continued for
nearly two months until it dawn
ed on our young man that this
was a new type of sales promo
tion. The same bartender, by the
way, extinguished a fire in the
front seat of a Cadillac after
one of the waitresses spent
considerable time circulating
through the crowd asking
quietly, "Does anyone own a
red Cadillac?'
A local family has a pet goose,
which has learned to knock on
the door for attention.
The other day the lady of "the
family was making a hasty dash
through the house without bene
fit of clothing, en route to a
bath, when she heard a knock
ing at the door. She hid in a
corner of the living room for
quite a time, afraid to go past
the window, before she discov
ered the knocking was being
done by the goose.
Jimmy Dunlevy, manager of
KYJC, arrived late at police
headquarters for his part in
a weekly driving program rec
ently, and admitted he'd been
delayed when he ran out of
gas on route.
APPOINTED CARETAKER
Washington (U.R) The
White House Friday announced
the appropriately pre-Easter ap
pointment of A. E. Rabbitt as
caretaker of President Eisen
hower's putting green.
trace amount has been proved
safe and effective in reducing
tooth decay.
William J. Thompson, O.D.,
209 Fluhrer Building,
Medford, Ore.
Matter of Fact by mp
THE NSC SYSTEM
Washington The National
Security Council, the nation's
top policy-making body, was
1 formed for the
soundest of
r e a s ons and
has often per
formed most
usefully. Yet
it is time to
ask whether,
on balance, the
whole govern
mental system
Stewart AIsod wnicn nas
grown up around the NSC has
not proved a dangerous failure.
The laudable purpose of the
NSC was to provide the govern
ment with a single, coherent
policy, instead of half a dozen
insanely competing policies. The
idea was that the principal
policy-making officers would
meet regularly to hammer out
policies on the major issues, for
submission to the President.
The idea worked weU at first.
But as the years have passed,
certain unanticipated conse
quences of the NSC system have
become apparent.
pi THE first place, the Council
has tended to become an in
strument, not for reaching hard
decisions, but for reaching the
lowest common denominator of
indecision. President Eisen
hower, as in the matter of Que
moy and Matsu, will occasionally
take matters into his own hands
and over-rule the NSC. But, like
President Truman before him,
and for understandable reasons,
he heartily dislikes "split
papers." Thus the NSC system
generates a heavy pressure for
unanimity at all costs.
Unanimity often boils down
to gassy generalities many
NSC papers these days are re
liably reported to consist of
meaninglessness couched in im
peccable governmentese, . and
nothing else at all. And when
real decisions cannot be' avoid
ed, unanimity is almost always
achieved simply by splitting the
difference. Do we, for example,
make a major effort to overtake
the Soviet lead in missile de
velopment, or is it more im
portant to balance the budget?
In the NSC, difference is split.
The missile effort is stepped up
somewhat, but not enough to
throw the budget out of whack
or to catch up with Soviets.
This difference-splitting is about
as useful as building a bridge
half way across a river.
rPHE NSC system has, more-
over, seeped relentlessly
down through the whole gov
ernment. Inter - departmental
committee is piled on inter-de
partmental committee in a vast
squirming pyramid, so- that de
cisive action is impossible, and
officials at all levels waste their
weary lives away at committee
meetings, with no time left to
think or act. The results were
neatly summed up by Dr. Wal
In The Day's
I'm a little surprised to find
this morning in the editorial col
umns of one of our most estim
able and most respected Western
newspapers this statement:
"We are certain that a good
many loyal and reflective citi
zens will be somewhat disturbed
by the government seizure of
Communist party property, in
cluding that of the (New York)
Daily Worker, on back tax
claims."
That seems to me to indicate
a fundamental misunderstanding
of the ruckus between our gov
ernment and the Communist
party and its New York news
paper, the Daily Worker.
The facts in the case are about
like this:
THE government says the Daily
Worker owes $46,049 in in
come taxes for the years 1951,
1952 and 1953 and HASNT
PAID IT.
The Daily Worker says it ac
tually LOST MONEY in those
years, and so doesn't owe any
tax.
In answer to this contention,
the government says: "How
come? If you were losing money,
how did you go on operating? It
takes money to operate a news
paper, just as it takes money to
operate any business. Where did
the money come from?"
TO THIS, the Daily Worker re
plied in effect:
"We lost money on our news
paper, but our friends GAVE US
MONEY to keep on going."
The government then says:
"Well, that was INCOME. You
must report it. You must report
how much it was and WHERE IT
CAME FROM." ,
THE Daily Worker refused to
report it.
So the government cracked
down on the Daily Worker's
property just as it would crack
down on this newspaper if it re
fused to report essential facts
about its income.
That's about the situation.
HERE'S the rub:
SUPPOSE THE COMMU
NIST PARTY OF RUSSIA,
WITH HEADQUARTERS IN
THE KREMLIN, HAD TO PUT
UP THE MONEY TO KEEP THE
DAILY WORKER GOING.
Or at least a part of it.
It would be EXTREMELY em
barrassing - to the Communist
ter Dornberger, creator of the
V-2, when asked why American
industry had fallen behind in
missile development:
"The industry has to convmce
at least 200 different people in
twenty different offices and
committees before a new proj
ect can start. Most of these peo
ple change every two years.
They have different opinions and
they have to be convinced again.
Too many people, too many ques
tions, too many answers."
These consequences of the
NSC system are serious enough.
But there is another conse
quence which is very much
worse. The system has tended
to cut off communication be
tween the American government
and its real masters, the Ameri
can people. A wall of sacro
sanct immunity has been built
around the NSC, so that govern
ment officials tremble and turn
pale, as though a blasphemy has
been committeed, when they
hear the august, unmentionable
initials pronounced.
T)OLICY decisions of the Na
. tional Security Council,"
one member of that body has
loftily stated, "are not a fit
subject for public discussion."
This is another way of saying
that policy decisions of the
American government are not a
fit subject for public discussion.
For the NSC is the government
these days.
The Cabinet, already shadowy
under Franklin Roosevelt, has
become the merest shadow of a
shadow, since all real power has
passed to the NSC. But when the
Cabinet was the principal policy
making body, it never occurred
to anyone to suggest that its
policy decisions were not a fit
subject for public discussion.
They were discussed freely and
heatedly, inside the government
and out, in accord with the tra
ditional American system.
Almost without anybody
noticing, the NSC system, of
secret decisions secreUy arrived
at, has been replacing the tradi
tional system. Obviously there
is an area of the government's
policy-making process which i
properly secret. But the NSC
system goes much further than
that. It is a system in which the
government's policy on the
great central issues is regarded
as none of the public's business
and, increasingly, none of Con
gress's business either.
SURELY THE NSC system ex
plains at least in part the
queer public apathy which has
greeted the many authoritative
warnings that the world balance
of power is shifting rapidly In
favor of the Soviets.
. What to do about this sort of
curity is, according to the NSC
system, not a fit subject for
public discussion. So the public
can hardly be expected to get
very excited about it.
Copyright 1958 New York
Herald Tribune Inci
News
Daily Worker to have to confes
that.
But I think as Americans we
are entitled to know where the
income to support this Commu
nist newspaper, the Daily Work
er, comes from. We are spending
our treasure and in Korea and
elsewhere we have spilled our
blood to defend the free way of
life against the encroachments of
Communism.
T CAN see no reason why the
Communist Dallv Worker.
which operates in the United
Sstates of America, shouldn't be
required to reDort the facts about
its income just as other news
papers and other businesses in
our country are required to re
port the facts about their income.
can you?
Editorial Comment
LET'S KEEP IT CLEAN
The Portland-Salem freeway
returns some of the pleasure to
what used to be called pleasure
driving. It is uncrowded and un
cluttered. There are no eyesore roadside
stands, no rusting car bodies,
no shanties 10 feet from the
shoulder.
But there are a few billboards
and prospects for more.
The freeway is one of the 18
roadways in Oregon classified
as "throughways," and as such
the law prohibits billboards
more frequently than every
1,000 yards and specifies setback.
In that open country signs so
placed would be visible by the
dozen from almost any point.
One advertiser took a look at
his board and promptly ordered
it removed to preserve "the
beauty of our native state."
We are going to add our up
state voice to that of the Port
land Journal and ak that other
companies follow suit. That
highway's beauty still can be
preserved.
There's a place for billboards.
It's in cities and towns which
already are marred by neons and
irregular buildings and all the
other jumbled paraphernalia of
commerce and industry. Al
bany Democrat-Herald.
WEATHER
By United Press
Northern California: Mostly
fair through Sunday.