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-OUR MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE
Thursday, January 2, 1958
;3 dfEDFOHDtWRIBUNE
"Everyone in Southern Oregon
Reads The Mail Tribune"
.-Published Daily except Saturday by
33 North Fir St. Ph. SP.2-6141
" ROBERT W. RUHL. Editor
'-HERB GREY. Advertising Manager
T; GERALD LATHAM. Business Mgr.
..ERIC ALLEN". JR. Managing Editor
I HARRY CHIPMAV. Teleg. Editor
RICHARD JEWETT. Sports Editor
Z OLIVE STARCHER. Societv Editor
-DALE ERICKSOX. Circulation Mgr.
An Independent Newspaper
In'ered as second class matter at
- Medford Oregon under Act of
March 3. 1897
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4
NEWSPAPER
PUBLISHERS
ASSOCIATION
NATIONAL EDITORIAL
' S I lAsTbcfATIN
faptjjiin.a'.u.'.i.ua
Flight 'o Time
Medford and Jackson County
History from the files of The
Mail Tribune 10, 20, 30 and
40 yean ago.
Editorial Correspondence . . .
By Eric Allen, Managing Editor
Indio. Calif. About three years ago, the California divi
sion of beaches and parks, using some of the millions of
dollars received from off-shore oil concessions, established
a state park on the northeast shore of the Salton sea.
On the Sunday between Christmas and New Year's, it
was crowded with sun-worshippers, picnickers, water skiers,
boat enthusiasts, and just plain tourists, like us.
The sea itself, about 40 miles long and 15 to 20 miles
wide, is, we believe, unique. Its surface at present is just 220
feet below sea level. Between 1905 and 1907, waters of the
ocean seeped in from the Gulf of Baja California, creating
the Salton sea. Like the Great Salt Lake, its water is salty,
and the lake, obviously, has no outlet. In this desert country
its inlets are, of course, seasonal and limited, but we are
told that the surface is gradually rising.
It is a dirty body of water, scummy and yellowish near
the shore. But looking out across it to the Santa Rosa range
on the other side, rising in rugged majesty almost straight
ud. the sea takes on a blueness and freshness one hardly
exoects of the "Dead Sea of America."
The park has only a few scrawny pepper trees, and the
picnic tables, each equipped with a natural gas stove, are
shaded by wooden latticework.
There were more than 20 boats, ranging from two-seat
speedsters to 15-foot open cruisers powered by twin 35-horse-
oower outboard motors, when we counted, just alter noon.
Many of them were towing skiers, but more of them were
lined up with their bows on the sandy shore, waiting until
their owners decided to take another spin.
oQ o o2
Cr -- A.) o o no
'I
INHALED!
Matter of Fact
To the northeast is the jagged escarpment of the Little
San Bernardino. Orocopia and Chuckawalla mountain ranges
treeless, lifeless and eroded into sharp ridges and gullies
To the northwest is Mt. San Gorgonio, 11,485 feet tall, or
just over the height of Mt. Hood. It had a dusting of snow
on its barren peak. Across the pass through which we drove
from Riverside is Mt. San Jacinto, 10,805 feet in height. It,
too. had a little snow, but only on the north slopes which
escape much of the burning sun of this dry and dreary
desert land.
r U OA-vsJIa AritT fi-nm Tnir, in fVio Raltnn P9 up
hnvo th hichpst averasp vear-around temrjerature of any w
city in the United States It was in the high 70 s as we drove
through.
SAD LETTER
Paris Dear Stew: You want
me to celebrate the New Year
by trying to sum up my im
pressions after
12 endlessly
itinera ill
months as a
foreign cor
respondent. It will be a
pretty melan-
4C ' nWftittiif-- ttMA
1 -j?
Joseph Alsop
choly sort of
celebration.
The trouble
is, simply, that
I am frighten
ed for the
C 10 YEARS AGO
M Jan. 2. 1948 (Friday)
Generally optimistic as to
'" the future, a note of caution
1 - aounded by representatives
I of Medford banks in the an-
r nual end-of-the-year survey
and predictions for the com-
lne year.
From Arthur Perry's Ye
Smudge Pot column: "There
It a wide belief 1948, the
'Z new-born year, can't be any
r -worse than 1947. no mater
'.Z how hard it tries."
Harbor, while the ' Japanese
bombs thumped down on the
blacked-out city. I was not
frightened then as I am now.
Of course I do not mean
that I felt no fear for myself.
I- 20 YEARS AGO
- Jan. 2. 1938 (Sunday)
The holiday weekend got
'.Z off to a bad start in the num-
1- ber of auto accidents though
-no fatalities nor serious in
Juries were reported in this
.Z area.
Medford firemen see smoke
I at home of Mrs. Martha F.
t Spooner, 435 North Bartlett
St.; go to it before alarm
founds.
90 YEARS AGO
Jan. 2, 1928 (Tuesday)
Origin of the bulbous blue
grass in Jackson county is a
matter of considerable local
controversy.
Judge Harry Belt of the
aupreme court and J. A.
Churchill, president of the
Southern Oregon Normal
school to speak at association
meeting of law enforcement
officers.
40 YEARS AGO
Jan. 2. 1918 (Wednesday)
The first open house New
Year's day celebration ever
held by the local Elks lodge
vas reported as a success.
December with 2.75 inches
of rainfall fell - below the
average of 4.25, according to
official statistics.
What's Your I.Q.?
Nine or tan correct is superior;
seven or eight is excellent; five or
six if good.
. Z 1. If one is said to be
- "gumshoeing," what is he do-
3 Ing?
2. Bible: Name the apostle
'. " establish the fact that Christ-
ianity is a distinct religion in
- Itself, rather than a sect of
-; Judaism?
-C 3. Correct the following:
!- "His bride would have liked
to have gone with her hus-
: band."
Z 4. What is the middle name
; Of Herbert C. Hoover?
1 5. Where is Bedloe's Island?
5 6. On what day in 1918
; was the Armistice that ended
. ; World War I signed?
- 7. A famous plant breeder
Z lived in Santa Rosa, Calif-
- ornia. Name him.
- 8. Why is there an apos
" trophe in the expression
I "o'clock?"
Z 9. When Edward VIII ab
; 2 dicated the British throne,
; who succeeded him?
- 10. Does the common house-fly
have a proboscis?
Answers: 1. Moving about
Z stealthily. 2. Paul. 3. "His
Stride would have liked to go
-with her husband." 4. Clark.
-5. In New . York harbor.
;6. November 11. (5 a.m. Paris
jlime, Monday 11. 1918). 7. Lu
Elher Burbank. 8. The apos
; trophe denotes the ommis
Ision of the words "of the."
-9. His brother, who became
-King George VI. 10. No. (It
:cannol bila or suck). I
This is the "peak" season for this desert, which is part
nlavprmind. rjart farmland and Dart emntv barrenness.
The date-harvest is in full swing at present, and many first time in my life. I can re
of the date plantations, with their stately palms planted in member lying on the floor in
neat rows, also cater to the tourists, offering illustrated lec- inKy aarisness in jtiong js.ong,
tures on the "Sex Life of the Date," date "shakes," and gift straining my ear against a
packages of dates of all varieties. ruined radio tnat was oareiy
The California Date Growers Association, a cooperative, wmspermg xne news oi i-ean
maintains what it claims is the largest date plant in the
United States and perhaps the world at Indio. It is easy to
believe this boast, for the plantations, set in square blocks
amidst surrounding sand and sage, are not only beautiful but
huge and numerous.
Other crops hereabouts are cotton (though not as much
is grown here as in the plains around Bakersfield) and some The sound of bombs dropping
truck crops (although the Imperial valley, to the south ot affects me exactly as it af-
the Salton sea, is better-known for vegetaoie raising. fects the next man. I mean
rather that I did not feel even
.The key to all this burgeoning growth is, of course, water. a lingering doubt about the
Until the first deep wells were drilled, bringing in their future of our country, the f u
precious and remarkably soft and pure water, this was a ture of our civilization, the
wasteland, good for nothing but small desert animals and future of human decency and
reptiles. Today it is a rich area. And much of its wealth human freedom. No such"
comes from the pressing millions of people a hundred miles doubt has ever before crept
way across the mountains, on t;:e plains-around Los Angeles, into my mind, even although
Palm Springs is an example. We drove slowly througn we Americans have com
the desert spa Sunday afternoon. "Fabulous," and "unbe- mitted great follies and have
hevable were adjectives which came immediately to mind, gone through some very
But as we kept driving, and watched the flossy motels, ex- rough patches in the quarter
pensive restaurants and exclusive homes going by, a sort oi century of my working, life
inverted snobbery came into play, and we wonaerea just Maybe I have ben making
wnat sort oi a sense oi vames wouia una an ims gmiuuiuus
and important.
Swimming pools are everywhere. Even the second-rate
motels must have them to stay alive, and the third-rate
motels which do not have them are reduced to catering to
the honest poor who come for a glimpse of the sun, and Tn vpars as a ITS. Naw
cannot hope to afford the expensive facilities which might petty officer, Ed had imbibed
give them a chance to catch a fleeting glimpse of a "name" firm convicti0n that no
personality from Hollywood. one on earth couij teat the
We saw the largest trailer-park in our limited experience TT R fjavv The British Naw.
in i'aim springs, pacKea to capacity wim Huge uouch h he aiso regarQed as .' a re
"mobile homes," as their owners prefer to have them called). SDectable force, but that end-
MOSt OI tnem gave evidence OI permaueiiue w eim-i;ciiiici-
nence as they arrived to spend the winter months .
Palm Springs, which the map shows as being in the
10,000 to 25,000 population classification, probably exceeds verses those first terrible
that at this time of year, and probably is closer to the smaller nt th war rc,r alas
figure in the summer time. But there is no doubt but that tne japanese news was only
it nas grown iremenaousiy in xne past iew years, ivxust uj. 0Q rue
lllc UUllUUito die uiaiiu ucn. iuc fluwuiwo, vnt x-m.
the mistake of Ed Gingles, the
superbly brave old man who
was our leader in the prison
camp where the Japs put me
for awhile after Pearl Harbor.
ed Ed's list of serious fight
ing forces in the world. Hence
Ed flatly refused to believe
the Japanese news of our re-
. . .. .. . , ,( 1 1 ,,
them that, for the entire town resemDies one nuge suourD, TlyTAYBE, in other words,
are mosuy composea oi ramer smaii, iwu- miu un cc-ucu - i.Tx should have begun to
room, Iiai-iuppeu iiuuiea u an ummuiuiicu Uu J feel doubts about OUT future
ueseri resiuenis say inai in uie suiiiinci, aij. Luuuiuuuuig is
the difference between living and existing.
The more expensive homes, some of them truly palatial,
and virtually all of them with the inevitable swimming pool,
are higher on the slopes of the ravines above the city itself,
many on private roads or drives.
Water, here as in agriculture, is the key. A desolate
stretch of rock-studded sage borders immediately upon an
emerald-green, landscaped golf course; a sand dune is pre
vented by a drift-fence from encroaching on a date-palm
grove which in season is flooded six inches deep. Water, in
the desert, is life. 7
Our visit to the Los Angeles metropolitan complex has,
thus far, been relatively free of the well-publicized smog.
But returning from the desert in the late afternoon and
evening yesterday, we ran into a seizure of it. It is as bad
as reputed.
The stars and new moon were visible overhead, but street
lights only a block away were faded and blurred in the
dirty haze, and our eyes smarted from the fumes.
But as this is written (in the back seat of the car, and to
the accompaniment of "Watcha doin', mister?" from small
fry of the neighborhood, and as the wheels of domesticity
turn in the house), the smog has gone, and the sun is shining
hot through a faint overcast of honest water vapor. We may
get to the beach this afternoon, if our desert sunburn isn't
too sensitive.
Deep Snow Slows Hillary in Race
Wellington, New Zealand
(IP) Unexpectedly deep
snow slowed Sir Edmund Hil
lary today in his race to the
South Pole and gave new hope
to his rival, Dr. Vivian
Fuchs.
Hillary was reported about
100 miles from the pole but
deep snow has halted his
snow-cat halftrack vehicles
and cut deeply into his gaso
line supply.
A message filed from his
Scott Base depot after nearly
a week of smooth, fast run
ning, said "at one time it
looked like the end of the
road for us."
The suddent rough going
gave new hope to a British
party lead by Fuchs, which
long before this. But you and
I have always assumed that if
the American people just
understood the problems con
fronting them, they would
manage to solve those prob
lems somehow.. So we have
been called pessimists, be
cause we have insisted on the
seriousness of the problems,
whereas we have been opti
mists, because we have be
lieved the problems could
successfully be solved.
If I feel doubts about our
future now, moreover, it is
not because I have been con
verted to the. view that our
basic problems are insoluble.
I am plagued by doubt, rather,
because it seems to me that
the American response to the
supreme challenge of the last
year has been so sadly inadequate.
What has been this chal
lenge? Essentially, it has been
a sudden, brutal confrontation
with the consequences of five
years and more of self-indulgence.
We were lullel by
leaders who sometimes re
set out from the opposite side fused to believe the intelli-
of the Antarctic continent. gence and who sometimes
Fuchs and his men were simply lied about it. So the
still more than 300 miles American nation allowed its
short of the pole, making
slow progress across an ice
field criss-crossed with trea
cherous crevasses. It is coun
try never touched before by
a human foot.
Hillary was expected to get
to the pole at least a week be
fore Fuchs. But the setbacks
caused officials here to
vise their timetable.
re-
CHECK THAT, WATSON
Doncaster, England OP)
Sherlock Holmes has been
fined $14 for stealing $3.80
worth of coal. Holmes is a
37-year-old laborer.
Dower to be overtaken and
surpassed by the power of the
Soviet Union. That was the
central lesson of this last
year's turbulent events.
WHEN Allen Dulles was at
last permitted to make an
honest presentation of our
real power-position to the
leaders of Congress, I am told
that Sen. Byrd's only question
was, "When are they going to
hit us?" But I do not think
there is much danger of our
being directly hit by the great
nuclear striking power the
Soviets have acquired. We
By Joseph A'sop
still have enough power to
hit back, to make this parti
cular and extreme kind of
danger quite remote and un
real. The real and present danger
is much more complex. It
shows up in the greatly in
creased boldness and aggres
siveness of the Kremlin, in
the Middle East, for example.
It shows up in our own
greater timidity (for who has
heard Secretary Dulles talk
ing of massive retaliation
lately?) And it shows up in
the visible loosening of the
vital bonds of the whole West
ern alliance.
A cataclysm, ending life on
earth, is not what these signs
portend. But they very clear
ly point to a series of local de
feats and local surrenders
which will gradually impair
the strength, undermine the
economy and encroach upon
the borders of the free world.
In the thirties, Hitler took
half of Europe by piecemeal
nibbling and grabbing opera
tions, in which he was always
protected by the fear inspired
by his superior power. That is
just what the Kremlin is ex
pecting and preparing to do,
on a world scales, in the late
fifties and, early .sixties,
i
AT THE end of the thirties,
the British and French
awoke to the fact that they
could not hope to survive in
a Europe dominated by Hit
ler. I do not think that islands
of remaining freedom in
America and Western Europe
can hope to survive either, in
a world dominated by the
Kremlin. Hence I now fear
for our future for the first
time.
But I would not be afraid,
if I could only see a new,
vigorous and wise American
leadership telling the honest
truth to our people, seriously
mobilizing the vast resources
of our country, and sternly
preparing to discharge Amer
ica's heavy but glorious re
sponsibility as the last, best
hope of freedom in the world.
As ever Joe.
(c) 1958 New York
Herald Tribune Inc.
In the Day's News
By FRANK JENKINS
New Year's Eve note:
In New York the hot shot
night clubs were prepared to
handle big crowds. The going
tariff was reported to be about
$37.50 per person.
What was that talk we were
hearing aboulfa recession due
to tight money?
TN SAN Francisco, the Fair
mont hotel asked revel
ers in its plush Venetian room
$15 for food, paper hats, ser
pentine and rattles.
Liquor was extra.
30 you write your own
ticket.
Who furnished the aspirin
was unspecified.
JjROM Sacramento:
uamornians drank more
last year than they did in 1956
the state board of equalization
says in its 1957 year-end re
port.
Using actual figures
through October and estimates
for the final three months, the
board's research and statistics
division set the apparent con
sumption of beer at about 206
million gallons this year
Liquor was estimated at 23,-
500,000 gallons while wine
was set at 28 million gallons,
A year ago, Californians
drank 195 million gallons of
beer, 22,527,000 gallons of
liquor and 28 million gallons
of wine. This amounts to an
increase of 11 million gallons
of beer and a million gallon
hike in sales of distilled iquor.
Wine consumption remained
stationary.
T SOUNDS pretty bad.
I
But
As so often happens, the
news isn't as bad as it sounds.
For example:
The board of equalization
points out that since 1950
consumption of beer and
liquor has increased by only
27 per cent while the state's
population has increased by
about 33 per cent.
That is to say:
PER CAPITA consumption
of beer and liquor in Califor
nia is actually DECLINING
instead of increasing. v
gOME good advice:
When you hear what sounds
like disturbing news, dig in
and get the WHOLE picture.
More often than not, when
what sounds like bad news is
put against its proper back
ground, it turns out to be not
quite as bad as.it sounds. Per
sonally, I bfe a notion that
if the wholeV picture were
properly presented and
understood by everybody our
defense situation wouldn't be
as bad as it is being pictured.
Unfortunately, we humans
tend to pay more attention to
bad news than to good news
U.S. Appears To Be Near Full
Membership of Baghdad Pact
McCann
By CHARLES M. McCANN
United Press Correspondent
The United States appears
to be edging toward full
membership in the Middle
Eastern Treaty organization,
The State Department has
said that there is no plan for
the United States to join
"M E T O"
the so - called
Baghdad pact
"at this
time."
That un
doubtedly is
true. There
are good rea
sons why the
United States
should not en
ter fully into
the alliance right now. One is
that Allied relations with Eg
ypt, which opposes the pact.
are improving.
The decision of Secretary
of State John Foster Dulles
to attend the annual meeting
of METO foreign ministers
at Arjzara, Turkey, on Jan.
27 seems to be another of sev
eral moves which the United
States has made toward full
membership.
The Baghdad Pact was con
cluded in 1955. Its members
are Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Paki
stan and Great Britain. It
links the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization and the
Southeast Asia Treaty Organ
ization to form a chain of al
liances against Communist ag
gression extending from arc
tic Norway to the Philippines,
Australia and New Zealand.
Sponsored by U. S .
The United States was the
chief sponsor of the pact but
did not join it. It took the role
Communications
LettAs to the Editor must
bear the name and address of
the writer although under cer
tain circumstances the use of a
pen name or initial for publica
tion is permissible. The Mail
Tribune reserves the right to
edit all letters with an eye to
clarification and condensation.
Letters submitted for publica
tion must not exceed 400 words.
Hatfield May Yet
Run for Governor
Salem (IP) Secretary of
State Mark Hatfield today left
the door open on the possi
bility that he may yet file for
the Republican nomination for
governor, even though tstate
Treasurer Sig Unander has ai
ready announced his intention
to seek the nomination.
Hatfield has, so far, declined
to say flatly that he would not
oppose Unander for the nomi
nation. While remarking that
he could not "conceive" of cir
cumstances that would cause
him to enter the race, he ad
mitted that his position was
orjen to reevaluation.
State Sen. Lee Ohmart of
Salem revealed that he was
conducting a personal poll of
Republican members of tne
Legislature on preference for
Hatfield or Unander for the
nomination.
Hatfield said "A strong
showing of sentiment for me
in this rjoll could move me to
revaluate my position, parti
cularly if I were convinced
that it represented the views
of members' constituencies."
He added. "This is some
thing on which, in the final
analysis, I'll have to make up
mv own mind personally. I
have always faced such issues
without regard to primary
election opposition."
Unander made his an
nouncement New Year's eve.
A LOVER SCORNED
Turin, Italy HP) A
spurned lover sent 19-year-old
Carla Musso a bouquet of
roses on New Year's Eve.
Carla pinned the roses on her
dress before going to a party
with another suitor. But she
never made it. She passed out
for 16 hours. The roses were
chloroformed.
Congress To Open
With Series of
Hearings Slated
Washington (IP) The in
coming Congress will leap
back into the investigating
business with up to seven
separate House and Senate
inquiries slated for hearings
in the opening week.
The House has five hear
ings starting after Congress
convenes Tuesday, and the
Senate will begin at least one
and perhaps two.
Two House subcommittees
announced Wednesday they
will begin public hearings
next Wednesday, the day aft
er Congress convenes. Three
others scheduled hearings
earlier.
In the Senate the prepared
ness subcommittee is expect
ed to continue hearings next
week on the nation's missle
program and the Rackets
Committee may also resume
sessions during the week.
Slum Clearance Due
Latest House hearings
scheduled deal with the De
fense Department's airlift op
erations and the nation's
slum clearance and urban
housing programs.
Other opening week house
hearings:
The Ways and Means Com
mittee stars a review of tax
laws Monday. .
An appropriations subcom
mittee starts looking Wednes
day into the Defense Depart
ment's request for an extra
$1,200,000,000 mostly for
missiles during the pres
ent fiscal year ending June
30.
The Armed Services Com
mittee will begin Jan. 10 an
investigation of missile and
other defens programs.
The lasttWo hearings will
be closed
public.
to the press and
Stops Heart Gas
3 Times Faster
Certified laboratory rests provt BELL-AM!
tablets . neutralize 3 times as much
stomach acidity in en minute as Jtany
leading digestive tablets. Get BELL-ANS
today for the fastest known relief.
Ii Oregon "Sucker" State?
To the Editor: Here is an
other raise in living expenses
that is now scaring industry
from locating in Oregon the
auto insurance rates will be
raised.
First gas, milk, food and
now this indiscriminant raise
in insurance rates Oregon is
sucker state an industry
such as utilities, food, etc.
can raise prices mi no one
wants to live here.
Also, you will notice this
so-called Insurance Commis
sioner came to his conclusion
by data" given (slanted ob
viously) him by insurance
people.
John R. Scott,
Box 199,
Jacksonville, Ore.
of observor at METO meet
ings.
However, the United States
has joined three committees
of the alliance. After agree
ing to take part in the econ
omic and counter-subversion
committees, it accepted mem
bership, in the military com
mittee last June.
As the danger of Soviet
Russian peneration in the
Middle East became serious,
and the threat of open ag
gression arose, the United
States came up with the Eis
enhower Doctrine.
This doctrine was worked
out by Dulles, and approved
by Congress. Under it the
President is authorized to use
the armed forces of the Un
ited States if necessary to
combat Communist aggres
sion against a Middle East
ern country.
Rated Stronger
As a warning to Russia, the
Eisenhower Doctrine was
stronger than the paper
METO alliance.
But the United States has
had little thanks and much
criticism for its sponsorship
of the Baghdad Pact and its
declaration of the Eisenhow
er Doctrine.
President Gamal Abdel
Nasser of Egypt bitterly op
posed the participation of th
Arab countries in the Bagh
dad Pact, partly because it
clashed with his desire to
make himself Mr. Big in the
Middle East. Iraq, one of the
Arab nations, did join it. But
Nasser thwarted an attempt
to get Jordan in.
Today & Tomorrow
By Walter LIppmann
"Coward!"
To the Editor: To person
in black four-door Buick:
We came to your fair city
for a short visit.
You ran over our little dog,
Ming, at the corner of Fourth
and North Oakdale about 8
ajn. today (Jan. 2). You
didn't even have the decency
to slow up or stop this in
a school zone! It could have
been a child. Would you have
stopped then?!
L. J. Budge,
149 Hillside,
Klamath Falls, Ore.
Falls City Fire Levels
Business Buildings
Falls City, Ore. (IP) A
big grocery and appliance
store just east of here was de
stroyed by fire Wednesday
night with loss estimated at
$75,000. A food locker plant
also was lost in the blaze.
Firemen from Dallas and
Rickreall helped fight the
flames.
RUMORS AND DENIALS
At the week-end, Mr. Hag
erty, no doubt on instruction
from the President, came for
ward with a
denial of the
rumors that
the country is
now in dan
ger. Those ru
mors arose
from what is
supposed to be
said in the
Walter LIppmann
highly publi
cized, but secret Gaither
report. They found a wide
audience because it is known,
or at least it is not denied
that the Gaither report calls
for an increase in defense ex
penditure of many billions of
dollars a year.
The President and Mr. Hag-
erty will do well to study care
fully the reaction to Mr. Ha-
erty s denial, xne reaction
can be described as one of
great skepticism as to wheth
er the statement, which deals
with national security and is
put out by the White House
is more than a part of the
truth. It is no doubt true that
at the present time the older
deterrent weapons, which we
possess, are still more power
ful than the newer weapons
in which the Russians have a
lead. But the grimmer part of
the truth is that the-Soviet
rate of progress in. military
technology is faster than our
own, and that is the truth
which is causing such deep
anxiety among those who
know the facts.
Mr. Hagerty's half truth
will not dispel this anxiety
What it will do is to increase
the skepticism with which
Congress and the country will
read the President's forth
coming message on the state
of the Union.
TN THAT message the Pres-
A ident will "give his esti
mate of the military strength
of our country as it is now
and what has to be done in
the future to continue that
strength." The great question
is whether the President's es
timate wil be so candid and
so convincing that the coun
try will accept it whether
his estimate will become an
agreed basis on which the
Congress can act.
There will, of course, be
partisan attacks on the Pres
ident's estimate no matter
what it is. But there is an in
formed, concerned, responsi
ble and influential body of
opinion in both parties which
will decide whether or not
the Administration's estimate
is the substantial and signifi
cant truth. It is to this body
of opinion that the President's
message will have primarily
to be addressed.
UNLIKE Mr. Hagerty's
statement on the weekend.
which was addressed to the
uninformed, the President's
message must, if the coming
session of Congress is to be
orderly and constructive, be
addresed to that informed
minority who are capable of
judging these highly technical
questions.
The President, in other
words, needs to deliver not so
much a popular message as
an expert message. Only an
expert message will in the -present
mood of the country
be popular. Nothing done in
the manner of the President's
two post-Sputnik speeches can
produce anything but trouble
in the next session of Con
gress. IN PREPARING the message
the White House will need
to realize that at the political
center of the post-Sputnik cri
sis inside this country, there
is a grave impairment of con
fidence in the judgment of
the Administration. There is
evidence, which has not been
denied and is generally be
lieved, that intelligence re
ports on the real position in
the race of armaments have
somehow been ignored by the
President or suppressed be''
fore they reached him. v
As a result, the intellectual
credit of the Administration
has been seriously damaged.
If the President is to estab
lish his leadership in the next
Congress, his most important
task is to restore faith in the
objectivity and candor of the
official judgments. Much,
therefore, hangs upon the
character of the message
which is to be delivered on
Thursday of next week,
(c) 1957 New York Herald
Tribuen Inc.
Natural Gas Rates
Up in California
San Francisco (IP) The
Pacific Gas and Electric Com
pany raised natural gas rates
today to compensate for an
increase put into effect by the
company it buys natural gas
from.
The Federal Power Com
mission Tuesday granted the
EI Paso Natural Gas Com
pany temporary permission
to raise the rates it charges
PG&E.
However, the federal order
required El Paso to put up a
sufficient bond to refund all
the increase if the commis
sion disallows it.
The California Public Utili
ties Commission gave the
PG&E permission to raise its
rates to make up for the in
crease from El Paso Natural
Gas.
The increase will add about
30 cents a month to the aver
age householder's bill.
Arctic sled dogs can travel
up to 100 miles a day.
-hzL S
May the Peace which comes of Faith,
The Courage that's born of Hope,
And the Joy which dwells in Love,
Be with you now, and through 1958
IT
hapel Mortuary
Across from the Courthouse
Frank Morgan Harold Snodgrass, Funeral Directors
SI