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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 15, 1957)
o o Matter of Feet Stewart Alsop KIXON MINUS Washington "If Dick Nixon ever becomes President," one knowledgeable Democrat has re marked, "he'd have the shortest honeymoon on record. I'd give him about two weeks, and then it would be the night of the long knives." Since the Presiden t's stroke, the face of the Vice- stcwan Ainn fresiaeru peer ing out in multiple form from every news-stand, has become more familiar than the face of Santa Claus, even at this season. And acres of print, almost every square i8ch laudatory in tone, have been devoted to the Vice President's qualifications for the Presidency. There is no doubt at all there are many impressive pluses in the Nixon ledger. One major plus, Nixon's changed attitude towards his function as a poli tician, was recently noted in this space. There are plenty of oth ers, including, the Vice-President's vitality, energy, and really remarkable mental equipment. But there are minus signs in the Nixon ledajr too, which ought to be frankly noted and weighed in the balance. For despite the President's decision to go to the Paris NATO meet ing, which was supposed to kill speculation about the possibility q of his resignation, the specula tion has not been killed at all. On the contrary, it has become a chief subject of conversation, even, and perhaps especially, in the most impeccably Republican circles. 0 QJUPPOSE, then, that the Pres- ident were to resign, and the Vice-President to take over the great office to which he was not elected. In the first place, he would enter office burdened by the deep distrust and dislike of the men who now control the Congress. To cite only two examples, Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson, who somehow manages to get along with almost every body, has never gotten along with Nixon. House Speaker Sam Raybum has said some of the harshest things about Nixon he has ever said about anyone and the Speaker can be very harsh indeed. By all the signs, more over, the Congress will be Dem ocratic right through 1960. The profound dislike and dis trust of Nixon among Democrats of almost every persuasion are, of course, the legacy of Nixon's earlier years, when he regarded theiestruction of the opposition as a chief function of a politician. Though Nixon has changed, the legacy lingers on. o JO DOUBT the Democratic leaders, who are by and large responsible men, would not wish to risk the destruction of the country in order to destroy Nix on. But the beady-eyed suspi cion with which the Democrats already examine every Nixon act for its political motivation would remain, while all concerned maneuvered for the showdown in 1960. Moreover, much as Nixon has changed, there is still something lacking in him as a national j leader. What is lacking is hard ! to define precisely. But Thomas I E. Dewey came close to it when he remarked to a friend: "Dick's got the same trouble I've got too many people dislike us both." The public image of Dewey as "the mechanical man." marvel lously efficient but lacking in human warmth, probably cost him the 1948 election. The public image of Nixon still has the same flaw. Nixon is too intelligent, too efficient, too politically effective for his own good. He has been facetiously compared to the kind of young woman who is always a picture of perfection every hair in place, the slip never showing, never at a loss for a word but who is somehow nev er led to the altar. . HIS VERY quickness of mind and it is no accident that Nixon led his classes in college and law school is a disadvan tage. It robs him of that appear ance of ponderous sincerity which is a major asset to Sen. William Knowland, and, for that matter, to President Eisenhower, which makes it easy for them to deal earnestly in the estab lished simplicities. Finally, there is the fact that I Nixon is a political animal in j his every instinct, a fact he can no more conceal than a dog can i conceal its fur. To be sure, our most successful Presidents have been successful politicians. But these days the public has been taught to believe the silly no tion that "politician' 'is a bad word, and that a President must exist in a non-political limbo. Nixon is calmly aware that he suffers from these drawbacks, for he has a curious capacity for examining Richard M. Nixon as though he were another person. Perhaps that is why he has shown such a remarkable capac ity for change. Especially in re cent days, formerly violent Nix on critics, like certain members of the Gaither Committee, have found themselves listening with open-mouthed admiration to Nix on on the subject of defense and foreign policy. Perhaps Nixon will change still more. And one thing seems certain. A Nixon Presidency would be a time of action, and no one would doubt for a moment that there was a President, or who he was. (c) 1957 New York Herald Tribune Inc. oseburg Editor Sees Precedent In Colorado Railroad Decision STRICTLY INCIDENTAL Hollywood (IP) Actress Dorothy Malone suffered a deep arm cut when she was hit by a swinging door on the set of "Too Much, Too Soon." "It didn't in terfere with the scene," she said with some feeling. "That's be cause I get hit in the face with a tennis ball in the scene." BY CHARLES V. STANTON Editor, Roseburg News-Review A decision which might serve as a precedent for the Oregon Public Utilities Commissioner, now examining the "Friendly j Southern Pacific's abandonment of passenger service in Southern Oregon, has been announced in Colorado. The Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad had petitioned . to halt passenger service on its lYampa Valley Mail line. This line passes through a tunnel built by public funds raised through bond issues by four counties. The Public Utilities Commis sioner held that the use of the Moffat Tunnel, constructed by taxpayers, carries with it a duty to serve the area with passenger service. The decision by the Colorado commissioner contains some in teresting parallels to the state ments repeated frequently here in Southern Oregon. The commissioner held, for example, that instead of the people of the area deserting the railroad, as had been claimed by the railroad company, the com pany had in fact deserted the people by failing to give ade quate service. Does anyone in this area argue that the Southern Pacific sup plied "adequate service" with its famed "Night-crawler?" We have contended consistent ly that adequate facilities for passenger travel would result in increased patronage. The South ern Pacific, desiring to rid itself of the trouble of handling pas sengers, deliberately killed off patronage by making the service as uncomfortable and inadequate as its best brains could devise. Rail passenger service in Southern Oregon is not apt ever to be a profitable business. Prop er service, however, would, I believe, involve only minor loss, a loss that could easily be com pensated from the exceedingly large volume of highly profit able freight business from this area. The Colorado commissioner touched on this phase of the railroad business in his decision. It was noted that the company claimed a loss of about $150,000 a year on its passenger service, but had substantial profits from heavy freight business. The pas senger revenue loss, it was point ed out, was used by the railroad company in successful presenta tions for increases in freight rates, the increased rates thereby becoming a subsidy that should guarantee adequate passenger service. And the commissioner placed responsibility for adequate serv ice upon the company officials, declaring that those officials sup posedly are traffic experts and it is their job to determine the serv ice best fitted to give satisfac tion. The nub of the decision, of course, is centered in the fact that the tunnel was constructed by public funds, on which bond payments will continue until 1982. "Taxpayers mortgaged their lands to put the tunnel through," said the commissioner. "For so long as the railroad chooses to benefit from the fruits of their labor it should return value in kind to a full quantum of serv ice, cheerfully rendered." There is a close parallel be tween the Colorado case and the situation here in Southern Ore- i gon. The right of way and tracks in Southern Oregon were paid for from public funds through O & C . . . 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F. Kyle, President V grant lands. The railroad com pany was granted alternate sec tions of lands for 30 miles on each side of the roadbed, ex clusive of lands already home steaded. While this donation was not as directly local in character as the Colorado bond issue, the principle' involved remains the same. When Harris Ellsworth was representing this district as con gressman he caused suit to be in stituted against the Southern Pacific company to force compli ance with the O & C act which specifies that through passenger trains shall be operated over the Sunday. December 15, 1957 o MEDFORD (OREGOt) WAIL TflBUK ?VE route between Portland and San Francisco. The suit was dropped during the early days of the Second World War to prevent interfer ence with the railroad's handling of war material. The court was never asked to pass upon the company's responsibility to com ply with the terms of the. act. The Southern Pacific, of course, can contend it was freed from those terms when the grant lands were revested in the fed- i eral government, and that such revestment nullified the public contribution. On the other hand, it can be shown that the railroad company profited more than was antici pated in the grant of land, be cause it sold acreage for a higher sum than the amount specified, which partly was the reason for revestment. The federal govern ment, after recovering the lands, paid the railroaod company the S2.50 per acre listed in the grant as the sum for which the land was to be sold to settlers. Thus the railroad got 11 tb money coming to it and more, too. It seems to me the Colorado decision sets a very definite precedent which the Oregon Pufr lie Utilities commissioner would do well to examine. THE VILLAGE DAIRY-SUITU o Invites You to Order Your 2 SAVAGE TUBKDY o NOW for the Holiday Season WEEKS & ORR nilMHiMillH offinasGBS o ""iXl ' P7 vtv era -SK nsvALL 10 PIECES - . 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