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
. . . ' i in i i "" ' i" "I in Mm win iHMiii ;i"""'"lj!'l'l..ljiiijui'11" jwii IIIJJ..J i
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MIMMI
SAVINGS AND 10AN
FOUNDATION
o o
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NEW PHONE SP 2-6291
FIRST FEDERAL
Saviogs & Loan Assn. of Medford
19 North Ivy R. 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.
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