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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 23, 1956)
Matter of Fact jPh auop TITANS OF THE ELEVENTH ' In his later middle age, John Pittsburg, Pa. If you want to know what the Democrats mean when they claim they are better 7 organized than than the Re publicans, this reporter would recom mend a trip to the 11th Dis trict of Pitts burgh's old Eighth Ward. I have just 4opb Auup spent a long M day laboriously polling this dis-1 so there are.' Walters is a shrewd and charm ing man, badly crippled but with his energy undiminished by his handicap, and with that curious expression of serenity that peo ple acquire who suffer a severe handicap without giving way to peevishness or self-pity. He knows his district intimately. "There's Democrats there lots of Democrats here on South Winebiddle so there are, thank the Lord," he will tell you. Or again on Coral St., "There's Re publicans in those frame houses, trict's pleasant, tree-lined blocks of old-fashioned, unpretentious but shabby houses. The llths mixed population of working people, white collar families and small businessmen looks, on the surface, like giving Dwight D. Eisenhower about the same ma jority that they gave him in 1952. But after a good part of an other day given to investigating what makes the Hth district tick, I am not so sure my poll results accurately forecast the outcome. The truth is that this little corner of Pittsburgh, which would be called a precinct in most parts of the country, is the private battleground of local po litical titans; and they do not' battle on equal terms. TITAN number one is Alder man John Walters, the Demo cratic district .chairman and leader of the whole Eight Ward, who rules his bailiwick from a small, shabby, comfortable old house at 118 South Pacific ave. c 3 WtfEN IT'S YOUR MOVE ...MOVE THE SAFE WAY You can rly on our specially trained man to mov you most fragile possessions carefully quickly to their destination. DIAL 2-6273 JACK FITZGERALD H5AVIS TRANSFER & STORAGE CO. 139 S. Fir Phone 2-6273 c 3 He has a pleasant mannerism of emphasizinz his statements by a repetition introduced by the word "so"; and he is full of con fidence. "We're going to carry the district this time, so we are," he says. "I'm sure of it, so I am." ... THE opposing titan, and an even more determined fight er than John Walters, is the Re publican district committeewo man, Mrs. Mary Leonard, a handsome, sharp-eyed lady, the wife of a landscape gardener, who inhabits a shiny, handsome house at 241 South Atlantic av:. Mrs. Leonard takes her politics seriously and is given to suspect ing dark Democratic plots and devious misdeeds. None-the-less, Mrs. Leonard is just as confident as John Walters that her side will carry the district. "Our people love Ike," she says. "We won last time. We should win this time despite all the tricks those Democrats can play." The trouble is, however, that in terms of political organiza tion, Mrs. Leonard is almost in the situation of a lone female fighting off a Spartan phalanx. The district has its full comple ment of Republican committee members four in all but only Mrs. Leonard has served for a long time and really knows the district and its people. The for mer Republican district chair man, William Betters, actually defected to the Democrats when - f - ' 1 ... 1 the Pennsylvania statenouse in 1954. ... WHEN the Republicans still held the statehouse and some Allegheny county offices, Mrs. Leonard had a few Repub licans on the public payroll to help her out in the 11th District. Now she has none, whereas in this one district there is an un usually high concentration of 26 Democratic office-holders. From the respected Judge John Ken nedy, with his wife and four children at 229 South Atlantic, down to the lowliest fireman, they and their families get out and vote for the Democratic ticket. And at least eight of them also help John Walters to round up other Democratic voters. Furthermore, the old people's home of the Little Sisters of the Poor, standing in its wide lawns Housewife Mayor Fights Ciiy Council College Springs, Iowa U.K A pistol-carrying housewife mayor planned to call a show down meeting today with an all male City Council to vote on a salary for her appointed femin ine town marshal. Mrs. Roy Simpson, who has been trying to "show down the town," appointed Mrs. Harold Bryson a town marshal, the first peace officer in this town of 368 in 22 years. Although Mrs. Simpson can appointment, the City Council controls the community's pock etbook, and has refused to pay Mrs. Bryson. Enough money for the marshal's bond, which ex pired Sept. 1, had to be solicited by Mrs. Simpson since the coun cil refused to underwrite the bond. Mrs. Bryson, with some help from Mrs. Simpson, has been campaigning to stop "reckless driving by young kids" and the "shooting of fire crackers" in the town. They handed out 60 tickets for traffic violations and disturbing the peace during one month. on South Aiken ave., has no less than 70 inmates; and John Wal ters' greatest triumph has been to persuade most of its inmates to go to the polls. Mrs. Leonard mutters darkly about senility and unorthodox inducements, but she had never 1jeen able to halt the procession of voting crones and balloting gaffers. In a district that does not cast many more than 700 ballots, a block vote like this of close to 70 per sons is a most important factor. SO THERE you have the equa tion. Other things being equal, so far as I could learn by polling, Eisenhower ought to carry -the 11th District about as he carried it in 1952. But other things are not equal. The Re publican organization amounts to the lonely embattled Mrs. Leonard. The Democratic, organ ization of John Walters is very powerful indeed. Perhaps this superiority of or ganization was what Pittsburgh's great Democratic chieftain, May or David Lawrence, was thing ing about, when he told this re porter that this year the Demo crats would gain 40,000 votes in Allegheny county, and would therefore carry Pennsylvania. At any rate, the 11th District is a good test of the value of po litical organization. And the test is immensely significant, be cause of the great number of states where the Republican or ganization is disheveled and the Democrats are strongly organ ized right down to the grass roots. Copyright 1956. New York Herald Tribune, Inc. Oner's proves your most important line is never spoken 14V i And unbroken. The only thing In the world thot will give you this line? A corselette, by Warner's. Warner's new collection lightweight, yet effec tive as a compliment is a far cry from the old days. There are pull-ons and strapless styles, boned and unboned, marvelous half-size versions. Why not brush up on your own lines? Hurry in and see us tomorrow. $150 AS ILLUSTRATED 16 Open Wednesday Night 'til 9 p.m. 214 EAST MAIN PHONE 2-7169 We invite you to open a charge account or use our layaway Plan. In The Day's News Senator Morse, who has run always before as a Republican, is campaigning for the U.S. senate this year as a Democrat. I think any fair-minded person will agree that anyone has per feet right to change his party affiliation at any time he cho oses. Indeed, I think we can all agree that one SHOULD change his party whenever he finds him self completely out of sympathy with its beliefs and in full sym pathy with the beliefs of another party. So I don't hold against Senator Morse the fact that he changed his coat. But I do think we have a right to be curious about his REASONS for changing. THE circumstances suggest that he quit the GOP in a fit of temper because he failed to get from it something he wanted. That is hardly what one would call a moral or an ethical reason for a change of party allegiance. Back in 1946, when he still wore his Republican coat. Sen ator Morse said in a political address in Des Moines Iowa, as quoted in the Des Moines Reg ister: "Liberalism is DEAR in the Democratic party, and that party has reverted to its TRADI TIONAL role of placing political privilege and corrupt machine politics, a la the Missouri gang, above the general welfare of our people." SENATOR Morse has always dramatized himself as The Great Liberal. Being a great liberal and feeling that liberal ism was DEAD in the Democratic party, how could he change his coat and go over to the Demo cratic side as a matter of PRIN CIPLE? That, of course, was back in 1946. But in February of 1952 he said in a letter to a North Bend publisher: "It is my opinion that the wel fare of -our country demands that we bring to an end the na tionwide disunity among our people which this (Democratic) administration has developed. We just CANNOT run the risks which would be entailed in four more years of a Democratic administration." By Frank Jenkins his change of political coats could hardly have been the re-, suit of a growing conviction on his part that the Democratic i party is better for the people of this country than the Republican party. As late as the spring of 1952 he was so distrustful of Democrats that he felt "we just can't run the risks entailed in four more years of a Democratic administration." So It seems to me His change must have been due to a belief on his part (following whatever it was that upset him at the Republican convention in July of 1952) that it would be better for SENATOR MORSE if he became a Democrat than if he remained a Republican. IN VIEW of these vigorous ex- considerable period of time, of his distrust of the Democrats, A T THE hearing on termination of the Klamath Indian res ervation held at Klamath Falls the other day by the senate in terior and insular affairs com mittee the management special ists told the committee members they had been advised by lumber experts that dumping this vast tract of timber on the open mar ket would have harmful econom ic effects not only on the Kla math Basin but on the entire state. That is true. But something else is equally true. It would have harmful effects on the Kla math Indians. They are the own ers of this timber. If, by throw ing it on the market at forced sale, the price is forced down materially, it is the Klamath Indians who will be the losers. Tuesday, October 23, 1956 MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE TVTK rpHEY shouldn't have to be the losers. The Klamath Indian reservation is their patrimony. It came down to them from their ancestors. It is all they have left of the country that belong ed to their people for imme morial time. ' If anybody benefited from a forced sale of this timber, it would be those who acquired it cheap. Because of acquiring it at a low price, they would have an advantage over their less fortun ate competitors. We don't want anything like that to happen. It would be another case of the white man robbing the Indian. I THINK this hearing con trihntoH miita a little ho solution of the difficult and com plicated problem of liquidating the Klamath reservation. Among Pyrofechnical Poll Shows Ike in Lead Miami- (U.R)' A man with a "different" kind of political poll which he says "never has failed" believes President Eisenhower will be re-eleced. Art Briese, pyrotechnician, based his prediction on his "pyrotechnical poll" in which he has painted pictures of President Eisenhower and Adlai Stevenson in fireworks for state fair crowds across the country. "Everywhere, Ike's picture has drawn the most applause," he said. . Briese said he has conducted it every election since 1916, when the first poll correctly forecast Woodrow Wilson's vic tory over Charles Evans Hughes. CHECK BOUNCES Terrehaute, Ind (U.R) A used car dealer, Lee Baldwin, complained to police today that a man swindled him out of II automobiles by paying him with a $21,350 check that bounced. FOX HAS STRANGE DIET Lake Orion, Mich. (U.R) Leon Roach has a pet fox that eats scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast and potato chips and candy for lunch. Use Tribuns Want Adt Driver Gets Award For Record of Safety Leslie W. Thomas, 430 N. 4th st.. Central Point, a driver for the Greyhound Lines, has achiev ed a 10-year safety record. In recognition of having driv en more than 600,000 miles with out a preventable accident. Thmas has been awarded a gold watch. He is on the Medford-Portland other things, it brought out the fact that termination of federal control of this 2,000-odd square miles of .Oregon terrain isn't just a matter of dollars of set tling up an estate and dusting off our hands and saying that's that. Two thousand human beings are involved in these termina tion proceedings. The human side of the problem is far graver than the financial side. That fact needed to be brought out and I think it was brought out at Thursday's hearing. when you drive the '57 PLYMOUTH suddenly it's 1 960 NeedleCraft 211 East Main St. Phone 3-1011 -SALE- Children's Sweaters Jackets-Playclothes ?S How $1.88 " ' Now $2.88 JUST ARRIVED! New Shipment of Cold Weather Togs Winter Coats and Snow Suits There's still a good selection of NEEDLEPOINT V2 OFF! Complete CloSe-OUt- Beautiful Pieces for Pillows, Chair Seats, Benches, Pictures, etc. make beautiful gifts for Christmas. SALE YARNS Table loaded with yarns for sweaters, socks, dresses, bags. Values to 89c. All Dress & Novelty YARNS TTm 75 OPEN WEDNESDAY NIGHT TILL 9 WLEIEIKS & (Mm SOUTHERN OREGON'S OLDEST AND LARGEST FURNITURE STORE ON IS ID) And EVEN MORE! WEDNESDAY ONLY! ALL BEDROOM SETS )-$2-$3 0FF Includes all styles light or dark woods and maple in our Maple Department on the Mezzanine. Big selection to choose from. EASY TERMS O YOUR CREDIT IS GOOD O NO CARRYING CHARGES OR INTEREST Come In See and Save! OPEN WEDNESDAY EVENINGS TILL 9
