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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 8, 1959)
4 Sunday, February 8, 1959 MAIL TRIBUNE, Medford, Or., MEDFORDt JTBIBUHE "Everyone lc Southern Oregon Read The Mail Tribune,r Published Daily except Saturday by MEDFORD PRINTING CO. 33 North Fir St. Ph. SP 2-6141 ROBtP.T W RTJHL, Editor HERB GREV Advertising Manager GERALD LATHAM. Business Mar ERIC W ALLEN JB- Managing Editor EARL H ADAMS. City Editor HARRY CHIPMAN, Teleg Editor RICHARD JEWETT Sports Editor LIVE STARCHER Women's Editor DALE ERICKSON. Circul aUonMgr An Independent Newspaper Entered as second class matter at Medford Oregon under Act of March 3. 1897 SUBSCRIPTION RATES By M a 1 1 In Advance. Copy 10c. Dail- and Sunday 1 year 15.00 . Daily and Sunday 6 mos. 8.00 Daily and Sunday 3 mos. 4.25 Sunday Only One year $4.20 By Carrier In Advance Medford, Ashland. Central Point, t a g i e Point. Jacksonville. Gold Hill. Phoentx. Shady Cove. Rogue Riv er. Talent and on motor routes. Daily and Sunday 1 year 918.00 Daily and bum-sy l mo. iau Carrier and Dealers c o p y 10c All Terms Cash in Advance Official Paper of City f Medford Official Papei of Jackion County United Press International Full Leased Wire MEMBER OK AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATION Advertioing Representative: WEST-HOLIDAY CCs INC. Of fices in New York. Chicago. De troit. San Francisco. Los Angeles. Seattle. Portland. St. Louis, At lanta. Vancouver B.C. NEWSPAPER RUSHERS ASSOCIATION NATIONAL EDITORIAL S(pc5jkTl(N Flight 'o Time Medford and Jackson County History from the files of The Mail Tribune 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 years ago. 10 YEARS AGO Feb. 8. 1949. (Tuesday) Officials report city and county roads in poor condi tion as a result of snow and cold which has plagued the area recently. ; Ashland citizens postpone recall election plans for three city council seats. 20 YEARS AGO Feb. 8. 1939 (Wednesday) The Southern Oregon Hu mane society undertakes a subscription campaign to raise a $1,000 reward fund for in formation leading to the ar rest of any dog poisoner. . From Arthur Perry's "Ye Smudge Pot" column: "Press dispatches report another groom who fainted during1 the wedding ceremony, and was ruthlessly revived." 30. YEARS AGO Feb. 8, 1929 (Friday) The Legislature receives a bill to allow counties the right to regulate country dances. A "moral wave" sweeps Klamath county, causing clos ure of poker games. 40 YEARS AGO Feb. 8. 1919 (Saturday) Five pertaining to Rogue river fish are among the 525 bills introduced so far at the Legislature. Women's "suffrage is defeat ed in the senate by a single vote. SO YEARS AGO Feb. 8, 1909 (Monday) A shower of Rogue river fruit greets an excursion group from Spokane, Wash., here. . Observers believe the Cra ter Lake road bill faces rug eed riffles in its course through the Legislature. What's Your I.Q.? Nine or ten correct' is superior; seven or eight is excellent; five or six is good. 1. A British pound has how many shillings? 2. In baseball, "dusting 'em off" means kibitizing from the grandstand, brush ing off home plate, or pitch ing at the batter's head? 3. What linemen on an American football team are prohibited from receiving a forward pass? 4. Is a merganser a meas uring rod, an antitrust suit, or a duck? . 5. Did Napoleon Bonaparte die on the island of Corsica, Elba, St. Helena, or Devil's Island? 6. What ''little girl in a nursery story found herself in a house inhabited by three bears? 7. A cappella choirs have no musical accompaniment; true or false? 8. the United States gov ernment's stock of gold bul lion is kept in which of these states, New York, Kentucky, Colorado? 9. Is linseed oil made from the seeds of wheat, flax buck wheat or soybeans? 1. Twenty. 2. Pitching at batter's head. 3. All but the ends. 4. Duck. 5. St. Helena. 6. Goldilocks. 7. True. 8. Ken tucky. 9. Flax. Objectionable Most Americans are patriotic, and completely dedicated to the welfare of their nation. They abhor this nation s enemies. And many of them cannot understand why anyone would object to taking- a so-called "loyalty oath." They, in their patriotic fervor, would be will ing to raise their right hands and swear that they never have, do not now, and never will, advocate the forceful or illegal overthrow of the U.S. gov ernment. And they can't understand why anyone else would. - JET'S look at it this way: ' If they were applying for a job, and one of the conditions of employment was that they swear they have never beaten a small child to death, and will never do so, they'd probably be mad as hops. ; "What kind of a stinking bum do you think I am?" would be their rejoinder, as they stalked off in search of a job where they' could hold up their heads in pride and dignity. IT IS FOR very similar reasons that the teaching profession feels discriminated against when asked to take such a negative "loyalty" oath. They have no objection to a "positive" oath one in which they declare they will uphold and support the constitution and the laws and the ideals of the nation. : One of the most lucid explanations of this situation wTe have seen was in a recent editorial in the Eugene Register-Guard, which said.: , "The idea of the loyalty oath is a direct slap at the intellectual community. It is a hang-over from the 'Know-Nothingism' that swept America before the Civil War and that recurs periodically in the form of Ku Kluxism or McCarthyism. The target, in all cases, is the educated man. "We do not think it can be shown that a loyalty oath has ever, ever, been used to trap a spy. Any spy worth his rubles will sign anything if his signature will help him in his dirty business. Those who refuse to sign have been persons of principle who objected " to being singled out as unduly suspect because of their professions. If refusal to sign is taken as an admission " of guilt-a "Fifth Amendment Communist" kind of thinking-are we to believe that any really subversive person would refuse?" . ' 'T'HE president of Reed college, Richard H. Sul- livan, recently announced the college would turn down a $3,349 grant from the federal gov ernment for scholarships, because of the fact that beneficiaries must take a form of the "negative" and discriminatory loyalty oath. Dr. Sullivan objected teachers and students as gets under my skin. lhe objections can points: - - 1. it is useless. . . 2. It is a gratuitous insult to" ah honorable profession. That is why teachers object to it, and we think they're right. E.A. Shoe Bill The proposed shoe Medford's Wilbur Gardner, and sponsored by this district's Congressman Charles O. Porter, is making sort of a "splash" in some circles. In the January issue of the trade magazine, Leather and Shoes, one full page is devoted to discussing the measure and its implications for the shoe industry, and another half-column tells of reaction by the Boot and Shoe Workers union. THE bill was drawn up at Porter's request by the federal trade commission, and specifies that the major parts of shoes be labeled with the materials they are made of. It was Gardner's idea, based on years of experience as a shoe-repairman, that people are getting gypped when they pay for what they think is leather, and it turns out to be paper, and not repairable. . It is evident that the measure will have some opposition. THE Boot and Shoe Workers, for instance, base , . their opposition "on the grounds that it would be legislation based on misunderstanding of the shoe industry's problems and it could do the con sumer serious injustice." It suggested that the shoe industry establish its own code of shoe standards, and grant ap proved labels only to footwear which qualified by meeting these standards. Rubber footwear manufacturers also are op posed, and claim they should not be covered, as rubber footwear generally is non-repairable. Some of the "technical" arguments set forth sound as though they may be reasonable, but the basic idea of the bill to protect consumers by letting them know what they're getting is a good one, and should be established in law. E.A. Leave 'Em Alone For several years now; Oregon has had attrac tive auto license plates, with sort of orangy-yellow letters and figures on a blue background.. They are clean-looking, dignified,' and satisfactoiy. If the legislature passes a bill now under con sideration, however, the Oregon licenses of the future will be cluttered up with a slogan. It. will say "Scenic Wonderland," unless a statewide contest among school students doesn't bring forth a "better" one. Let's calm down, back off and try again friends.. Let's save our money, save the good looks of our license plates, and save the time of the stu dents who have better things to do.E.A. i Loyalty Oath because singling out people not to be trusted be summed up m two Opposition labeling bill, the idea of Communications Letters to the Editor must bear the name and 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. The letters printed in this column do not necessarily represent the views of the paper; in fact the contrary is often the case. The Mexican Hoax To the Editor: Last Sun day's M.T. editorial comment ing on the outmoding of not-too-long-ago prideful high ways, brought to mind an in cident on our way back from a Christmas visit with family and friends to the north. Wheeling down the broad new free-ways that make the mountain ranges of only pass ing notice, we got quite a shock coming through Grants Pass to the arched concrete bridge spanning the Rogue river. It seemed so narrow, of near traffic bottle-neck size. It was indeed hard to believe that it was the. big new two-lane plus affair we helped celebrate ji 1926. 'Give 'em hell Gen. Smedley Butler was there to do the orating and cut the ribbon for waiting traffic, preceded by music and dancing on the big new bridge. ; But there was much more to it than all that. It had been grape-vined around that a delegation of big-wigs would arrive from somewhere to highlight the gala bridge opening. Sure enough, here they came, a big black shiny seven-p assenger car, top down with six swarthy mili tary men therein. At least they wore the green and black Mexican army uni forms resplendent in gold braid, especially the royal high general at the wheel. U.S.A. and Mexican colors floated grandly from each side of the shiny brass bor dered windshield. They grandly returned the smiling greetings from the cheering people. Word was rushed to the waiting welcoming commit tee at the chamber of com merce who' got outside just in time . to see them roll grandly by, smiling and waving. A hasty welcoming committee was alerted at the court house but the visitors had vanished, never were seen there again. It was told later that it was no other than the one and only, resourceful, ever ready Heine Fluhrer and boon com panions, in a pay-off for a fast-one Grants Pass boosters pulled on Medford, whatever that was. It is said they got away homeward via the old stage road, Dry-d i g g i n s, Bloody-run, Hunters ferry, Rock Point and Blackwell hill. I can vouch for what I saw, but how true the details may be, I tell 'em the same as was told to me. F. J. Clifford Route 2, Box 200F Central Point, Ore. Insurance Costs To the Editor: Why is it that so many people just sit by and let these insurance companies drain us of all our money? Auto insurance is a racket and a good one for the insur ance companies. Does anyone know what happens to the insurance dol lar? Salesman,, 10 to 30 per cent, office 10 per cent, claims department 10 per cent, legal expense 5 per cent. It seems to me that the small amount they pay out on claims don't add up to very much alongside what they take from the people every six months. Those in surance companies must be making money hand over fist. They say you should carry insurance, then if you have too many accidents they, can cel your insurance right now. My two boys have to pay 90 some dollars apiece every six months, for what? Nei ther of them have had any kind of an accident. I guess we are paying for the people that do have wrecks. No one has a right on the street anymore. Now it's a privilege. Why should it be the people pay taxes for roads? As long as everyone sits by and does nothing the insur ance companies are getting rich and each year they hike up the price to where com mon working people can't af ford to pay it. They talk about people in other countries that are forced to do this and that. What about this country? It's getting worse all the time. First thing you know we will have to have a permit to eat. Mrs. Alyce Veach Route 1, Box 52 Eagle Point, Ore. The "Egg Racket" To the Editor: In the Trib une for Thursday, Feb. 5, was the following news item: Food, Drug Administration Investigating Egg Racket." It occurred to me that it might be of value to inform our homemakers of my experience with the egg racket. During the war I worked for a while in a plant in Port land that canned poultry. One day the foreman asked for two volunteers to work that afternoon in the egg packing room. I volunteered. Each worker stood before a table on which was a box of infertile turkey eggs from a hatchery. These eggs had been held in the hatchery from 10 to 18 days at incuba tion temperature, the length of time depending upon when the plant had time to candle the eggs. On . the table also was a gallon can for the good (?) eggs and another for the spoiled eggs. The worker cracked an egg, held it to her nose, then disposed of it in the proper can. At the end of the day the good (?) eggs were frozen and sold to a firm in Portland that made salad dressings, cakes and cookies. I have never since pur chased at the store any prod uct that contained eggs. Anna M. Streed, 36 North Peach st., Medford Two-Legged Dogs To the Editor: The people of Medford are complaining of too many dogs and the wel fare of these homeless dogs. I'm all for this and also while we all have our feathers ruffled let's clean up the two legged dogs, the men in Med ford who walk the streets in sulting little girls and. decent women. How can the same man com mit the same crime-and to me it is one-indecent expos ure, over and over again. Sure these men are sick, but let's put them away where they can do no harm to little kids. There is a man who does nothing but park on the street in his car and expose himself to women. Ask me how I know, I'm just one of the many victims of this man. You can read about this one crime almost every week in the Medford paper. A little seven-year-old was his last victim. Okay, we can find a place to put poor little dogs who have very few faults, but let the other kind roam loose, without giving ; it a second thought. Please print this. Joan Hughes, 2154 Crater Lake ave., Medford TV Competition - To the Editor: It was with great joy I recently read the news of a new TV station com ing into Medford. This will greatly improve the entertainment offered the residents of this large view ing area. There is nothing so boring as having reruns, re runs and more reruns as of fered to us now. We are asked to patronize the sponsors, which we do willingly, but does the sponsor who is sold these rerun fragments get the full benefit of his advertise ment expenditure? I think not. I believe it is high time the TV viewers voice their desire to have some competition on the viewing screen that will result in an end to reruns and TRASH. P. S. Shogren, 1705 South Columbus, Medford Teen Age Facilities To the Editor: I would ap preciate being able to write a few words in your column concerning teen-agers, and the hornets nest started up some little time in the past. Being the parent of two teen agers and more or less on a speaking acquaintance with them, I feel that perhaps I am a little closer to their problems than some. The recent letter by Orville Bunn was needed.. Admitted ly he was a little on the salty side, and perhaps he trod heavily on some toes that didn't deserve the rough treatment; however there were some of the things he hit squarely on the nose. After reading the letter over carefully, it seems that he was not interested so much in placing blame, nor was he bemoaning the loss of these activities, but seemingly he was trying disgustedly to bring to the attention of Med ford and surrounding areas some of the shortcomings in sofar as the activities for all teen-agers are concerned, not only in Medford, but all the surrounding towns and the valley as well, but as other people wrote in to the paper in reply it developed that quite a number of -people that should have been old enough to be considered as adults, proved by their words that they were more short sighted than the flightiest of teen-agers. Since those articles were written I have been very pleased to note in the Trib une articles concerning the contemplated erection of fa cilities for the activities and pleasure of young people in several different places and diversified activities. I think the Tribune de serves a vote of thanks for its interest, and treatment of Dennis the GO.MDi 1 TUB Today & Tomorrow By Walter McELROY'S TROUBLES In the swirling controversy over the Eisenhower-McElroy budget the inquiring by stander must, I believe, ac cept the fact that the basic issue is not one which can be settled definitely There is a race of armaments. "Rut xr Yi n ic Walter ,., uppmann ahead now, and who will be, "ahead" two years from now is not some thing that can be measured quantitatively, even if there existed perfect intelligence with exact and . complete knowledge of the quantity and quality of all the wea pons on both sides. What statesmen really have to esti mate is what is likely to be the judgment of other states men about the existing bal ance of the power. In making these judgments they have to listen to the calculations of the experts in various spe cialties. But they must be able to make the necessary discount in these expert cal culations, remembering that they are essentially about war games and not about the whole Teality. For these calculations are invariably theoretical ab stractions w hat, for ex ample, would happen if there were a war in which one side had X number of missiles and the other had X plus Y mis siles? At bottom the argument between the Administration and Sen. Symington is whether the balance of power should be calculated in terms of intercontinental missiles or whether it should be judged in terms of the whole com plex of armaments and of the international political situa tion. "IfY POINT in all thLs Is not "Mo say that Mr. McElroy and the Administration are right. I think they are very wrong. But I do not think that they are deliberately th different ideas. it is not my intention to kick a sleeping dog, so to speak, but it is my hope that this letter might help to keep the thought of improvements that are contemplated fresh in the mind's eye of the peo ple who have made state ments that they intend to do something about it, and to re mind them that these activi ties are still needed, and maybe they will get the job done. Larry Turner Route 1, Box 383 Central Point, Ore. Any Ideas? To the Editor: Just wanted to write this letter to find out how many of your readers have had the same trouble we have had in regard to col lecting from people on "wel fare." We rented to this party, but before I did, I called the Jackson County Public Wel fare and was told this wom an's check would cover the rent, electricity and fuel. After the first month we had to ask her to move because the neighbors complained of parties and fights. The house was left in a mess, a broken window and a torn up window-screen, and she owed two months for electricity. When I called the Welfare office I was told they were sorry, but they couldn't do anything and that the party had moved again and they couldn't tell me where as she hadn't left a forwarding ad dress. Anybody got any good ideas? Mrs. James Hayes 263 North 5th st. Central Point, Ore. Menace - t L I QMS AAST KV Lippmann misleading the country. What they have done is to argue their case so badly that they are losing the confidence of the public. The fatal error lies in the decision of the President to make the paramount issue of the present time a Federal budget balanced at the exist ing level of taxes, along with a promise of a reduction of taxes before the next Presi dential election. We are ap proaching one of the great climaxes of the cold war and the President's decision about the paramountcy of the budg et reflects a failure to under stand the nature of the cold war. It makes suspect all the military estimates in the budget. For it is no part of the law of the land, or of that moral law which the Presi dent frequently invokes, that the existing structure cannot be raised and should be lowered. To insist on such a dogma about taxes is to tell the people and the world that national defense is not the first but only the second ary consideration in this gov ernment. From this it follows inevi tably that Secretary McEl roy's assurances about our over-all strength are quite un convincing. For nobody is prepared to believe that by a wonderfully lucky coinci dence the money needed for national defense is just the amount of money we can af ford to spend if the budget is to be balanced without raising taxes. rpHIS initial error about the - budget has forced Mr. McElroy into making the dis astrous announcement that the United States has with drawn from the missiles race. He may well be right that with fewer missiles there will stttl be an over-all balance of power. But it is not good for the Russians and it is bad for our allies to be' allowed to think that the richest nation on earth is unwilling to pay what it costs to stay in that part of the race of armaments which has the most horrible prospect. Secretary McElroy's announcement is a most la mentable way to prepare for the impending negotiations which Secretary Dulles is now dealing with in Europe. WHAT Should be done about it? It should be said in no uncertain terms that defense has the first pri ority. If the President will not say it, perhaps Congress itself should say it by resolu tions. There should then be a substantial increase in the military appropriations, an increase sufficient to put us back into the missiles race. Then an increase of taxes should be voted in order to balance this larger budget. I am aware that the extra money invested in making more of the existing missiles may be "wasted" - wasted in the sense that these missiles will soon . be obsolete and good only for the junk pile. But the race of armaments is in the same sense inherent ly wasteful since the objec tive is to make weapons which will never be used and will soon be obsolete. Nevertheless we are in a race of armaments. It would be a great day for mankind if it could be ended. But if the race is to be ended, this will be done only if and when we are able to reach general poli tical settlements with .the Communist powers. The' race of armaments cannot be end ed or suspended merely be cause we wish to balance the budget without raising taxes, or because it would be good politics to reduce taxes be fore the next election. Copyright 1959 New York Herald Tribune Inc. , (By M-T Staff and Contributors) The newspaper is often used as a sort of living ency clopedia, expected to provide answers to almost any ques tion, from batting averages to the name of the prime minister of Canada. We try to dig up the answers, and usually are successful. One out-of-the-ordinary re quest last week nearly stopped us, though. A highly- respected Medford profes sional man called to say that he is the president of an organization, and could we please tell him who the other officers are? We had a clue, for just a day or two before the secre tary of that organization had come in to the office, saying that she knew two men were president and first vice-president of the group, but she wasn't sure which was which. With this lead, we dug into the old files of the paper, found the story of last year's election, prepared a roster of the officers, and got everyone straightened around we hope. Aside from the names and proceedings of the various 4-H clubs in the county, we find the best source of in teresting names in some of the sports leagues in Med ford. The game scheduled yesterday in the high school recreational basketball league was between teams named the Bony Five and the Buzzards. Sort of appro priate, somehow. Potluck editor:. Overheard in the Groce teria, where a very small boy and his mother were "sam pling" the sausage on dem onstration: "Mamma, get the wecipe." Once in a while a picture will particularly strike the fancy of editors across the country and throughout Matter of Fact Joseph auoP THE FIRMNESS PEDDLER Washington No one has made very much of John Fos ter Dulles's latest journey to London, Paris, and Bonn, maybe because perpetual mo tion is now expected of the Secretary of State. But this ic not iiist. an other Dulles trip. This is a crucial, even desperate ven ture, "ihe truth is that the loud ly proclaimed Western unit ed front on J(isDh AIsi.d jdciiui is uy m l i means as firm or as united as it has been made to seem Dulles has gone off to peddle Western firmness and unity amid some pretty somber omens. The Soviets, to begin with, have been using language about Berlin at the Commu nist Party Congress in Mos cow that is even more menac ing, if anything, than the lan guage Nikita Khrushchev used before the NATO meeting in Paris. The threats to Berlin have been underlined by Mar shal Rodion Malinovsky's pub lic brandishing of the new Soviet intercontinental mis siles. As a further gesture, just as Dulles departed, an American military convoy was denied its guaranteed right of free passage on the Berlin-Helmstedt Highway. THUS there has been no sub stantiation of the earlier State Department story about the Kremlin being "impressed by Western firmness" and therefore wanting to "get off the Berlin hook." For just this reason, the new State Depart ment line is that the Kremlin now plans to "test the West's unity to the utmost." Perhaps, therefore, it is an even worse omen that .prime Minister Harold Macmillan apparently decided to accept the Soviet invitation to discuss the Ber lin question in Moscow, with out bothering to consult the American, French, or West German governments about this fairly vital step. The Macmillan decision to go to Moscow must be doubt fully regarded, simply be cause London is the center of Western disunity one might almost say the center of West ern softness on the grim Ber lin issue. The London attitude was most clearly manifested in the talks about the Berlin problem that have been held here between Deputy Secre tary of State Robert Murphy and the British and French Ambassadors, Sir Harold Cac cia and Herve Alphand. Brit ish objections to a firm and clear "contingency plan" for Berlin brought the talks to a virtual impasse. Here, in truth, is the main cause for the latest Dulles journey abroad. j j..:iu jiii i urn the world, for that matter. It happened here a few years ago when Carl Lan dis' picture of Medford high school boys in bermuda shorts was printed in papers across the nation and In many foreign countries. The same thing happened to Staff Photographer Bob Vroman's picture of last September of Bruce and Barbara Barnett of Medford peering out of a "castle", built of firewood. We still are getting a few dippings of that picture from distant papers. The most recent was sent us by Mrs. P. A. Tracy of Central Point, who re ceived it from her brother in Detroit, Mich., who had found it in the Valley Sun of Calvert City, Ky, Inci dentally, Photographer Bob drove by the Barnett s' house the other day to see if any of the castle remains. It doesn't. There are some occupations in which men and women are "on duty" or "on call" 24 hours a day. The workers take it pretty much for grant ed, but often their wives take a dim view of it. The wife of a newspaper man, for instance, never knows for sure how soon her husband will be home for dinner, or when a sudden news-break might break up an evening. The wife of the operator of the Medford Ambulance serv ice, likewise, is used to emer gency telephone calls at any hour of the day or night and also she never knows when a paper or radio station will call for information about an ac cident. The other day she called the Mail Tribune to inform us she was going to bake bread and would have her hands in dough for the next two hours. And she didn't want to be dis turbed! A CONTINGENCY plan is a detailed program of what we will do and when and how, if the Soviets start actively preparing a renewed Berlin blockade by their East German puppets. Such a plan is now doubly necessary. It is necessary, first, as the only possible proof that the West ern allies really are firm about Berlin. It is necessary, second, because the West can not safely begin to negotiate with the Soviets about Ger many, without a solid prior j understanding about the meas j ures to be taken if the Soviets put the heat on Berlin in mid conference. Since the Soviets have in stalled radar-jamming mech anisms all around the threat ened city, it is no longer pos sible to sustain Berlin by air lift for more than 18 months. Secretary Dulles and the American Joint Chiefs of Staff have therefore quite unanimously concluded that the air lift expedient is a dead-end street. They have decided that any threat of a new blockade of Berlin must be met head-on,: by sending an armored convoy 'if need be. In the bland, homogenize atmosphere of Eisenhower Washington, remarkably little attention has been paid to this deeply solemn decision. which is in fact a decision to risk a big war if need be. IN LINE with the Dulles de cision, Deputy Secretary Murphy has been trying to get our allies to agree on a contingency plan embodying use of an armored column. Because of Gen. Charles de Gaulle, the French attitude has been as firm as Dulles and Murphy could wish. West Germany is not technically one of the Berlin guarantors, so the West German Ambas sador has not been included in the talks led by Murphy. But Chancellor Adenauer has of course been consulted, and he too is firm. There was a moment when the British also seemed ready to be firm. This was more than a fortnight ago, when London accepted a French formula committing the Ber lin guarantors not to abandon any access-route to Berlin, whether by land or air. But when this fact was published, the Foreign Ofice passed out the strange word that the com mitment just given did not foreclose abandonment of the land routes and resort to the dead-end expedient of an air lift. The talks here were also marred by some fairly un pleasant scenes; and Secre tary Dulles has therefore hur ried off to use his own influ ence to secure unity. Meanwhile, the Defense De partment is continuing the cuts in the armed forces, and the President has gone quail shooting with George Hum phrey. (c) 1959 New York Herald Tribune Inc.
