4 Monday, March 16, 159
MAIU TRIBUNE, MEDFORD, ORE.
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AScfATlfel
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
March 16, 1949 (Wednesday)
Medford Mayor Diamond
Flynn appoints citizens to ad
visory committees for city
charter revision and airport
problems.
Harry A. Skerry Jr. is ap
pointed Ashland's new city at
torney. 20 YEARS AGO
March 16, 193S (Thursday)
Medford citizens are asked
not to molest parasitized ear
wigs released in the area to
destroy other earwigs.
From Arthur Perry's "Ye
Smudge Pot" column: "A
straw vote shows the metrop
olis in favor of daylight sav
ing, with only a few favoring
knocking the daylights out of
the plan."
30 YEARS AGO
March 16. 1929 (Saturday)
Signs of oil are reported in
Central Point, together with
rumors that drilling may be
undertaken.
Contracts are let for instal
lation of air beacons in the
valley.
40 YEARS AGO
March 16 1919 (Sunday)
Secretary of War Baker
and General March pass
through town on a train.
Elbert Coleman returns
from France.
50 YEARS AGO
March 16, 1909 (Tuesday)
An official Medford census
of 5,330, just completed, raises
Elks' hopes for a local lodge
and charter.
The Southern Pacific's
"farmers special" demonstra
tion train is due here next
Monday.
What's Your I.Q.?
Nine or ten correct is superior;
seven or eight is excellent; five or
six is good.
1. From what town in Eng
land did the Pilgrims come
to Plymouth, Mass.?
2. What war was won by
using a wooden horse?
3. Correct the following:
"The recipe calls for three
spoons full of flour."
4. Does the earth's surface
obtain most of its heat from
the sun, or from internal
heat?
5. Whom did Napoleon di
vorce to marry Marie Louise?
6. Which of these fruits has
the most calories per pound
apples, bnanas, peaches, or
avocados?
7. According to a much-told
story, what was it the Gov
ernor of North Carolina said
to the Governor of South Car
olina? 8. If three candles were
burning side by side, one red,
one white, - and one green,
what color would the light
be?
9. What was the popular
slogan of Americans during
the Spanish-American War?
10. Is strontium 90 a clean
ing agent, atomic fallout, or
motor fuel?
Answers: I. Plymouth, Eng.
2. Trojan War. 3. ". . . spoon
fuls . . .' 4. Sun. 5. Josephine.
6. Avocados (1200). 7. "If a
long time between drinks."
8. White. 9. "Remember the
Maine." 10 Atomic fallout.
We Ve Earned Leadership
For too long we have let Europe beat its chest
as the cradle of Western civilization. It's about
time we began compiling our contributions to the
world's progress.
Arthur M. Schlesinger Sr., of Harvard Uni
versity, one of America's great historians, has
begun the job with an article in this month's At
lantic Magazine entitled "Our Ten Contributions
to Civilization."
i
N SUMMARY, he defines them as:
THE RIGHT OF REVOLUTION: We were the first
to put the "all men are created equal" doctrine into
practice. From the French Revolution to the rise of the
Republic of Indonesia, our revolution has been the
inspiration for the fights for freedom.
THE PRINCIPLE OF FEDERALISM: "It offered
mankind a key to the age-old problem of reconciling
legitimate local interests with the general good."
THE CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED: "The under
lying philosophy was not that the common man is all
wise, but only that he can govern himself better than
anyone else can do it for him."
THE STATUS OF WOMEN: It was the women of
the United States who first demanded, and achieved,
their right to an equal share in government and so-
ciety.
THE MELTING POT: The world's peoples fused
themselves into one whole in this vast land and gave
the lie to those who said languages and nationalities
could never mingle.
THE PUBLIC SCHOOL: As part of the new con
cept of self-government by the people, it was deter
mined that all the public must be educated. This over
threw the idea of privately-financed education for the
upper-classes alone which had prevailed in Europe.
FREEDOM OF WORSHIP: This nation has proved
that "the separation of church and state did not in
fact weaken either but strengthened both."
VOLUNTARY GIVING: Our assistance to the
world's poor, not only through governmental foreign
aid, but through the donations of private individuals,
is unequaled in the world's experience.
TECHNOLOGY: Yankee ingenuity has produced
material marvels for the masses and led the way to
higher standards of living for the entire world.
EVOLUTIONARY PROGRESS: "One of our proud
est achievements has been the creation of a system of
controlled capitalism that yields the highest living
standards on earth and has made possible a society as
nearly classless as man has ever known."
The mantle of world leadership has fallen on
our shoulders not through accident, but because
we have earned the distinction through these con
tributions to the world's progress. We will con
tinue to hold that position only as long as the
world is convinced we believe in the principles
we have created. Oregon Statesman, Salem.
Situation
Harry Truman, bless
a news editor. That way,
the real news in the newspaper and keep out the
propaganda and "slanted" stuff.
We're willing to help.
cancy in the news editor
spare chair. Any time the
to drop around and work
he's welcome.
Each morning he'd
watching it bud about noon, come into full flower
early m the afternoon, and
to work the next morning. Then he d start over.
Sometimes he d feel as if
away with him.
DEFORE long .he'd marvel, not at the mistakes
in news judgment, but that so often judgment
was proved correct. He'd learn things he never
knew before about the elusive nature 'of truth.
He'd know how it felt to be almost suffocated
with information.
And at the end of a couple of weeks he'd find
himself growing increasingly crabby when some
body said he wanted to be a news editor so that
he could get the truth into the paper. Eugene
Register-Guard.
' State Takes Action
Who's on the spot, Portland or the State Sani
tary Authority? The state agency, weaiy of being
stalled, has asked for a court order compelling
the Rose City to stop polluting the Willamette and
Columbia rivers with its sewage. Portland offic
ials say they are helpless because they don't have
the money to improve the sewage disposal system
and the people have refused to vote bond issues
for that purpose.
The court can issue the order requested, but
how can it be enforced?
THE Sanitary Authority would be in a frustrat
A ing position if, after getting the backing of
the court, Portland, took the position that it just
couldn't raise the money. That is, unless the law
has sufficient teeth to force Portland to divert
the money from some other area of municipal
services in order to meet its obligation under the
pollution law.
Those living down river from Portland are
firmly on the side of the Sanitary Authority.
Smaller communities on both sides of the Colum
bia have done their part in cleaning up the river
by installing sewage treatment plants at consider
able cost. They have no sympathy with the big
gest city in Oregon when it pleads poverty as an
excuse for continuing to be a public health men
ace. La Grande Evening Observer
Wanted
his heart, wants to be
he says, he could put
We don't have a va
slot, but we do have a
former president wants
with the news editor,
till a brand new crop,
die before he returned
his tractor were running
Dennis the
THATS HOT TZUB! ffe'S BBEH TtiBRB
ABOUT TEN MINUTBS. HOT 'ALLVAV'l"
Drummond Reports
(Walter Lippman is again traveling in Europe. Roscoe Drummond
reports from Washington in his absence.)
MEET HAWAII-50TH STATE
Washington - There will
soon be 50 states in the Union
-100 Senators and one or two
more members of the House
of Representatives.
It is more than 100 years
since President Franklin
Pierce suggested that Hawaii
be incorporated into the
Union.
Now, after 22 formal hear
ings since 1935, producing
6,400 printed pages of testi
mony and exhibits, totalling
some 3,000,000 words with
900 witnesses being heard in
the Territory and in Wash
ington, the state of Hawaii
is being welcomed with open
arms.
For the first time in his
tory the Senate interior and
insular affairs committee un
animously recommended a
state for admission and Sen
ate bill 50 will make Hawaii
the 50th state with the not
able high of seven Southern
Senators joining in approval.
HERE are the principal fac
tors and facts behind this
action:
IS HAWAII CONTIGU
OUS? Hawaii doesn't touch
the continental U. S. but it is
nearer to the main body of
the nation than many other
states, including California,
were when they were first ad
mitted. In travel and in com
munication Hawaii is closer
to Washington, D. C, than
Boston and New York were
when the Republic was found
ed. Certainly the United
States must control the sea
and the air from Puget Sound
to Pearl Harbor as long as
there is a nation.
CAN HAWAII PAY ITS
WAY? It has a population of
600,000 people - larger than
the population of any state
at the time of admission, ex
cept Oklahoma. Its population
now is larger than that of
Vermont, Delaware, Wyom
ing, Nevada and Alaska. It
has a strong economy and
for years has paid into the
U. S. Treasury more taxes
than nine states of the Union.
WHO ARE THE HAWAI
IAN PEOPLE? At least 90
per cent -of them are Ameri
can citizens. The population
consists of approximately 37
per cent Japanese ancestry,
23 per cent Caucasian, 17 per
cent Hawaiian ancestry, 12
per cent Philipino ancestry,
and 6 per cent Chinese an
cestry. They have a strong,
stable, modern democratic
form of government - offer
ing the groping peoples of
Asia a look into the parlor of
true democracy.
ARE THEY LOYAL? The
late Sen. Hugh Butler, then
Chairman of the Senate Com
mittee on Interior and Insu
lar Affairs, made this report
after an on-the-spot study:
"If there is such a thing
as a supreme test of loyalty
to an ideal, then a willing
ness to serve in battle in sup
port of that ideal is entitled
to such a description."
There were 426 Hawaiian
boys killed in the Korean ac
tion. Not one case of a Hawaiian
soldier's desertion ., to the
enemy was recorded.
Not one case of a success
ful Red "brainwashing" of a
Hawaiian soldier was- re
corded. OF THE 22 American serv
icemen who went over to
the Chinese Communists after
the Korean armistice, there
were turncoats from Texas,
Georgia, Minnesota, Louis
iana, Illinois, Virginia, Rhode
Island, Arkansas, Tennessee,
and Mississippi - but not one
from Hawaii.
WHAT ABOUT COMMU
NISM? In 1950 the House
Committee on Un - American
Activities estimated that there
were 90 known Communists
in Hawaii. Later J. Edgar
Hoover put it at 36. There are
Menace
no Communists in the Ha
waiian legislature and when
one sympathizer of Harry
Bridges' ran for Mayor of
Honolulu in 1956 he was ad
ministered the worst defeat
in Hawaiian history.
WHAT O F HAWAIIAN
POLITICS? The two - party
system prevails. It has been
traditionally Republican. In
1956 Hawaii elected its first
Democratic delegate to Con
gress since 1934 and re-elected
him last year. Recently Ha
waii has reflected the nation
al voting pattern and since
1954 Democrats have con
trolled the Hawaiian legisla
ture for the first time.
Hawaii is ready for admis-,
sion and the nation is ready
for Hawaii.
(Copyright 1959 New York
Herald Tribune Inc.)
Communications
Letters 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
Triljune reserves the right to
edit all letters with an eye to
clarification and condensation.
Letters submitted for publica
tion must not exceed 400 words
To End Pollution
To the Editor: You deserve
praise of people of the Rogue
basin for your editorial on
Bear creek pollution of March
13.
Yes, the people of Jackson
county have permitted Bear
creek to be operated as an
"open sewer" even when they
have state laws prohibiting
this and when they have a
county health officer who has
the authority and duty to en
force this law.
Oregon Revised Statute
449.110 reads in part, "No
person, or proprietor, opera
tor, agent, superintendent or
employee of any . . . sawmill
. . . or slaughterhouse or any
manufacturing concern . .
shall cast or suffer or permit
any sawdust, planer shaving
. . . or other lumber waste or
any element or chemical ex
tracted therefrom, or other
substances, which do or may
render the waters of a stream
. . . destructive of fish life .
or any oil . . . or chemical to
be . . . discharged, in any
manner, or to deposit the same
where high water will take
or carry same into the waters
of this state."
O.R.S. 449.115 reads in part,
"No person shall put or de
posit in any of the . . . streams
of Oregon, or any artificial
canal or ditch in which the
waters of such . . . streams .
or waters run, any dead ani
mal carcass, or part thereof,
manure, sewage, putrid, de
caying or deleterious sub
stance, refuse, waste or pollu
ting matter, or any matter
which either by itself or in
connection with any substance
injures fish or corrupts or im
pairs the quality of the waters
of such . . . streams . . . for
domestic or municipal pur
poses, or places any such sub
stance in such position that
it escapes or is carried into
those waters by the action of
the elements or otherwise."
O.R.S. 440.050 reads, "Pro
ceedings to abate alleged pub
lie nuisances created by pollu
tion of waters of this state
may be instituted at law, or
in equity, in the name of the
State of Oregon, upon rela
tion of the Sanitary Authority,
the Attorney General, any dis
trict attorney of any county
or the city attorney of any
municipality affected.
A few months ago I went
to Jackson county health of
ficer and reported that the
two slaughterhouses on Bear
creek below Medford were
dumping their sewage into
Bear creek. I asked for en
forcement of law. I also took'
up the matter with State
Sanitary Authority's . repre-
Washington Report
By WILLIAM
CAT BEING SKINNED
Washington - An Israeli di
plomat here put the case with
great plainness. "There are
no Middle
Eastern e x -perts,"
he
said. "There
are only ob
servers ' with
differing d e
grees of ignor
ance." "As for me,"
this Isrs pli
j . William S.
friend went white
on with a smile, "I come from
a land where prohpets (mean
ing the ancient Hebrew pro
phets of the Bible) have been
much honored over the cen
turies. But personally I feel
no desire to attempt to be
come a modern prophet about
the Middle East."
No one in the Washington
diplomatic community most
directly concerned pretends
to understand each and all of
the implications of the re
newed churning of events
from the top of the Nile to
the Persian Gulf.
Premier Abdel el-Kassem
of Iraq, where less than a
year ago a kingly regime was
destroyed by a murderous
pro-Communist uprising has
now himself put down a re
bellion. This one was a revolt
by Iraqi officers in sympathy
with, if not necessarily di
rected by, the United Arab
Republic (Egypt and Syria) of
Gamal Abdel Nasser.
NOW, Colonel Nasser, who
dreams of an Arab em
pire, is crying out against the
Communists in Iraq who
more closely surround Kas
sem. But Nasser himself has
gained his own power large
ly through Kremlin support
and Communist - supplied
weapons.
It is, therefore, a case of a
very sooty kettle, the United
Arab Republic, shaming a
pot, Iraq, for being black.
It is no doubt many other
things as well. It may mark
the beginning of a new chaos
in the Middle East that would
serve the world aims of the
Kremlin as every such in
stance of chaos has served,
no matter who started it or
how it might end. It is even
possible that some elaborate
Russian double play is at
work here to set off more
sentative at Grants Pass. They
were both already aware of
this pollution. To date this
pollution has not been
stopped.
Killing of steelhead in Bear
creek by dumping of orchard
spraying materials in waters
running into the stream is
nothing new.
Paul H. Weiland,
2431 East Main st.,
Medford.
Porter On Cuba
To the Editor: Senator
Morse and I agree as to the
importance of due process of
law. I do disagree with his
contention that there have
been mass executions in Cuba
without fair trial, although I
recognize that many of the
trials do not . reach the stan
dards of Anglo-Saxon juris
prudence. However, as I have
pointed out before, Castro and
his men are not bloodthirsty
but are decent, moral people.
Furthermore, there has
been a free press in Cuba
ever since Castro took over
and not one allegation has ap
peared in the press, to my
knowledge, that an innocent
man was executed by the Cas
tro soldiers. The accused war
criminals are men on whom
evidence has been gathered
for a long time. They are po
licemen, members of the no
torious Masferrer "tiger"
army, whose terrible deeds
match those of the Nazis.
As the American public has
become better informed about
the extent and depravity of
the tortures, they have under
stood better the importance of
these trials.
I want to make it clear that
from the very first I have
urged Castro and his ministers
to improve their procedures.
Most recently I have protest
ed the retrial of the 43 airmen
in Santiago accused of "gen
ocide." I have great respect for
Senator Morse's leadership in
Latin-American affairs, a re
spect shared by Latin-American
leaders everywhere. His
protests as to the procedures
carried great weight and had
much to do with the improve
ment in procedures.
Where we disagree is as to
the implications of the pro
cedures used and from my
personal observations on two
trips to Cuba I am convinced
that Castro is acting in good
faith.
Charles O. Porter,
as sy?
3 Times Faster Relief
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tablets neutralize 3 times as much stomacn
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digestive tablets. Get BELL-ANS today for
the fastest known relief. 35e at druggists.
Send postal to BELL-ANS, Orangeburg, N. Y
for liberal free sample.
S. WHITE
trouble in the Middle East
just as the crisis over Berlin
aproaches climax.
rkNE dreadful thing, howev-
er, is perfectly clear.
whatever the Russians are do
ing or not doins in the Mid
dle East. This is that whatev
er now happens will not be
in tne western interest. Any
major disorder will inevita
bly become a distracting fac
tor to our side, and especially
to the British. They could not
long tolerate any cutting off
of Iraq oil. They could not
long live with any widening
vacuum into which Soviet
power could readily move
against worldwide British
communications, in this
swinging gateway between
East and West.
For the plain truth is that
the Soviet Union has two
sticks with which happily to
beat us in the Middle East.
One is, of course, the conven-
tional trouble-making sub
versive apparatus of interna
tional communism. The other
stick is Colonel Nasser.
Though he now seems to be
threatening a break with
Moscow there is great doubt
here that he could go through
with it even if he chose.
HIS regime is infiltrated by
Soviet "technicians"; his
power rests on Soviet-bloc
arms. But even if he could
and would part with the Rus
sians his capacity for making
a continued difficulty for the
West would hardly decline.
For what Nasser represents,
at bottom, is a determination
to drive the last of Western
influence from the Middle
East. This is precisely the
Kremlin's own purpose. The
job could be done just about
as well by a "new" Nasser
shouting curses at Moscow
every 15 minutes, so long as
he was simultaneously de
stroying Western positions in
the Middle East in the name
of "nationalism."
There is, as the old saying
goes, more than one way to
skin a cat. And the skinning
of our cat in the Middle East
was begun long ago. It was
begun when we took up the
great postwar clamor against
"colonialism" and assisted in
driving all Western power,
notably that of the British,
from the Middle East.
For this, we got "self-de
termination" in the Middle
East. And for this we got "na
tionalism" in place of bad
old colonialism; we got Nas
ser's kind of "nationalism.
(Copyright, 1959, by United
Feature Syndicate, Inc.)
In the Day's News
By FRANK JENKINS
We've been reading and
hearing of the JOY -UNRE
STRAINED with which the
people of Hawaii greeted the
news of their admission to the
Union as an American state.
It seems not long ago when
we were listening to similar
outbursts of joy from the peo
ple of Alaska - for the same
reason.
WHY are they joyful?
In an effort to answer
that question, let's do a little
supposing.
Suppose we hadn't bought
Alaska at the right time.
Suppose we hadn't annexed
Hawaii at the right time.
LET'S do some more sup
posing. Suppose Russia had KEPT
Alaska.
Suppose Russia had- swept
down into the mid-Pacific and
had TAKEN the Sandwich
Islands.
WELL
In that event
The people of Alaska and
the people of Hawaii WOULD
BE FAR LESS HAPPY NOW.
They would have very little
to be happy about, for they
would now be a part of the
communist system.
As a part of the commu
nist system, they would be
little better than slaves.
THE boiled-down conclusion:
The UNITED STATES
OF AMERICA IS A PRETTY
GOOD PLACE TO LIVE.
It's little wonder that the
people of Alaska and the peo
ple of Hawaii are so happy.
WHAT of Hawaii's history?
The Islands are gener
ally supposed to have been
discovered by Captain James
Cook. Captain Cook was a
famous English navigator. He
mapped the Saint Lawrence
river and the Newfoundland
coast. Then he tackled the job
of mapping the South Pacific.
In the course of this job, he
theorized that there must be
Do FALSE TEETH
Rock, Slide or Slip?
FASTEETH. an improved powder to
be sprinkled on upper or lower plates,
holds false teeth more firmly In place.
Do not slide, slip or rock. No gummy
eooev. pastv taste or feeling. FAS
TEETH Is alkaline (non-acid) Does
cot sour. Checks "plate odor" (den
ture breath). Get FASTEETH at any
drug counter.
Matter of Fact
MOLOTOV'S OLD PLAN
Washington - A short year
ago, any major defeat for
Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser
would have
delighted the
great major
ity of Amer
i c a n policy
makers. To
day, however,
there are
very long
faces indeed
in the govern-
4ospb Aisop mental inner
circle, because of Nasser's
serious defeat in Iraq.
As the reports from the
scene have been fragmentary
and confusing, it may be well
to summarize the story of this
defeat, before trying to ex
plain the long faces it had
caused here.
In brief, the Iraqi revolu
tionary government of Brig.
Abdul Karim Kassem has
been increasingly Communist
influenced, if not Communist-
dominated, since the first set
back of Iraq's pro-Nasser
group last summer. Nasser is
pledged to expel all foreign
influence from the Arab
world. Hence he has reacted
boldly and rather sharply to
Iraq's transformation into a
Soviet bridgehead.
LAST WEEK, moreover,
propaganda was abandon
ed in favor of overt action.
Egyptian agents had previ
ously established contacts
with the brigades of the
Iraai army stationed m the
north, around the oil town of
Mosul. At least one and per
haps two of these dissident
Iraqi army brigades revolted
last week. Supply lines for
the rebels were reportedly
opened from Nasser s Syrian
province; for a "Free Mosul"
radio was set up on Syrian
territory, where it broadcast
until the rebellion was
quashed. The rebellion none
theless failed, because com-
a new CONTINENT some
where in the South Pacific
region. It wasn't until a cen
tury later that discovery of
Australia proved him to be
right.
IN 1776,, he tackled the
fabled Northwest Passage
job and proved by his explora
tions that there was no direct
route by water from the Pa
cific to Hudson Bay. It was
on his return trip to England
that he stumbled onto the
island group that has just be
come the State of Hawaii.
He named it for Lord John
Montagu, the fourth Earl of
Sandwich. Hence the name
Sandwich Islands. He then
headed for home.
ITHAT Cook is generally
" credited with the discov
ery, it is fairly certain that a
Spaniard named Juan Gae-
tano was the original discov
erer. He was wandering
around out in the Pacific in
1555 - some 200 years before
Captain Cook's day.
He is believed to have
sighted the island group that
has just become an American
state, but he had learned by
then that the Pacific Ocean
was speckled with islands,
and it didn't seem likely to
him that there would be any
GOLD there - in those davs
Spain (like a lot of people
now) was chiefly interested
in the Quick Buck - and there
seemed to him to be little like
lihood of any Quick Bucks in
the form of gold on the vol
canic islands that loomed up
off the bow of his Spanish
Galleon.
So he made an entry in his
diary, and went on his way.
Reasonable Funeral;
(Priced for Everyone)
l 25 tip
FRIENDLY,
Bv Joseph AIsop
panion-uprisings did not take
place as expected, in the
Iraqi army brigades in other
parts of the country.
In short, Nasrer has now
made a final, fairly desperate
gamble on unseating Kassem,
as predicted in this space; and
Nasser's gamble has gone
badly wrong. The Iraqi re
sponse has been ultra-violent.
Nasser was even hanged . in
effigy in the streets of Bagh
dad. Equally, Nasser respond
ed to his own failure by mak
ing the most brutal and di
rect attack on Kassem and
the Iraqi Communists that he
has ever made, in a speech
at Damascus.
OUCH, THEN, was this grave
& defeat of Nasser, which
has caused so many long faces
here. One reason for the long
faces is the simple fact that
Nasser, as is his habit, will
probably go all out for a
quick, cheap victory, to com
pensate for his defeat. Rela
tions between Nasser and
brave young King Hussein of
Jordan have lately been im
proving rapidly. It is possible
that the victory will take the
form of some sort of associa
tion between Jordan and Nas
ser's United Arab Republic.
In view of Nasser's new anti
Communist stand, such a de
velopment would cause no
pain herej It is rather more
likely, however, that Nasser
will seek his victory nearer
home. Neighboring Libya is
tiny, close to chaos, and
lately proven to be rich in
oil. Hence Libya is a tempting
prospect. Equally, the polit
ical balance in the Sudan has
been shifting in Nasser's fav
or; and an association of the
Sudan with Egypt is one of
Nasser's highest priority ob
jectives. A Nasserite coup,
whether in Libya or the Su
dan, would create grave prob
lems. Yet the main reason for the
long faces in Washington , is
the effect of Nasser's defeat
in Iraq itself. The Communist
influence in Baghdad has now
been boldly challenged by a
military uprising. The Com
munists have met and over
come the challenge. Thus the
lingering hope that Brig. Kas
sem would somehow free him
self from the clutches of the
Communists has now dimmed
to the absolute vanishing
point.
LONG AGO, the honeymoon
period of the Soviet-Nazi
pact ended because of a dis
cussion of the post-war divi
sion of the expected spoils of
Britain and France. Molotov
then staked" out a Soviet
claim to Iraq, Iran, and the
head of the Persian Gulf, as a
sphere of Soviet power and
influence in the Arab lands.
This claim Adolf Hitler
thought excessive - and well
he might, since the Soviet
claim comprised most of the
proven Middle Eastern oil
producing areas of that per
iod. Nasser's defeat too plainly
means the realization of the
first stage of this old Molotov
plan. The bridgehead of Com
munist power in Iraq will in
turn permit a great intensifi
cation of the pressure on Iran
- which is under severe pres
sure already. Pressure on the
oil sheikhdoms of the Persian
Gulf will no doubt begin later
on.
We have reached an odd
stage of insensitivity, when
such a major Communist tri
umph in the most strategical
ly vital part of the world
attracts so little attention and
causes such limited concern.
(Copyright, 1959, New York
Herald Tribune Inc.)
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