Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989, July 28, 1959, Image 4

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    MAIL TRIBUNE, MrfforJ, Or.
Tuesday, Jaly 28, 1959
"Iveryone Is Southern Oregon
Published Dnlly except Saturday by
MJJJ Oltli PKLNTLNU to
S3 North tli St Ph SP 2-6141
snniiiT nf nrrOT Frfitnr
HERB GREV Advertising Manager
ERIC W ALLEN JH.
Managing Kdrtor
EARL H ADAMS. City Editor
HARRY CHIPMAN Telef Editor
DTraiiin iffWMT Snnrti Editor
OLIVE ST ARCHER Women'l Editor
PALE ERICKSON qrcuianon but
En terra a serond class matter at
Medforn Oregon unaer ct ox
March 3. 1897
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
r 4 : rnnv 1 fir
n.u mr,A c.i4n1 ar SIS 00
Daily and Sunday moa. 8-00
Daily and Sunday 3 moj. 455
sunaay uniy une u
Ashland, Central Point. Eagle
Point. Jacluonvuie. ioia run.
Phoenix Shady Cove, Rogue Riv
r.iM ...A mnfnr routes
Daily and 8unday 1 year $18 00
Daily and Sunday 1 mo. 1M
Carrier and Dealers c o p y 10c
All Terms casn in aqymct
Official Paper of City f Medford
Official Papei ot jacwoa county
United Press International
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" MEMBER OF AUDIT BUREAU
OF C1KCULAT1UJI
WEST-HOLTOAY CO., INC. Of
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troit. San Francisco. Los Angeles.
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Flight 'o Time
Medford and Jackson County
History from tha files of The
Mail Tribune 10, 20. 30, 40
and 50 years ago.
10 YEARS AGO
July 28, 1949 (Thursday)
Gov. Douglas McKay ap
proves removal of rent con
mi. in Medford and Ashland,
The City of Central Point
Is served papers in connection
with the damage suit insti
tuted by the C. Scott Hamil
ton alleging that raw sewage
dumped by the city into Bear
creek damaged tneir larm.
20 YEARS AGO
July 28, 1939 (Friday)
Donald Smith, 13," of Med
ford, heads for Portland to
compete in big-league soap
box derby competition.
From Arthur Perry's "Ye
Smudge Pot" column: "Cali
fornia plans an investigation
of its nudist camps. It is al
leged some goings-on have
become uncovered."
30 YEARS AGO
July 28, 1929 (Sunday)
The chamber of commerce
plans to urge construction of
the Williams creek cut-on.
A brush fire at Shady Cove
is brought under control.
40 YEARS AGO
July 28, 1919 (Monday)
Carl Y. Tengwald returns
from military service and
plans to remain here.
The Medford airplane is to
fly to Grants Pass next week,
50 YEARS AGO
July 28, 1909 (Wednesday)
The Medford Commercial
club plans entertainment for
the marksmen expected at the
Pacific Indians meet here in
September.
Julius Perkins proposes to
help irrigate the Rogue valley
with water from the Klamath
river via Emigrant Gap at a
cost of million.
What's Your I.Q.?
Nine or ten correct is superior;
seven or eight is excellent; five oi
fix is good.
1. Two square feet contain
the same . area as two feet
square; true or false?
2 .How many ounces are in a
gallon?
3. In which city is the spec
tacular "Mummers' Parade"
usualy held on New Year's
Day?
- 4. Which is the older, Harv
ard University, or Yale Uni
versity?
5. If you had a marimba,
would you eat it, play it, or
ride it?
6. Which weighs more-dry
air or damp air?
7. Is bituminous coal a hard,
or a soft, coal? .
8. Name the brutal slave
dealer in "Uncle Tom's
Cabin."
9. Which of these is the
most malleable-gold, silver, or
platinum?
10. What is the interest cost
per month on $100, when the
annual rate is 6 per cent.
Answers. 1. False. (Two
feet square is twice the area
of two square feet). 2. 128.
3. Philadelphia. 4. Harvard.
5. Play it- 6. Dry air. 7. Soft.
8. Simon Legree. 9. Gold.
10. 50 cents.
The United States Patent
Office receives about 75,000
applications a year and issues
about 45,000 patents. I
Shakespeare - Tonight
Tonight is the night.
For the 19th time, the Oregon Shakespearean
Festival association will open a season of plays.
This time, there is a difference.
No longer is the theater a sort of jerry-built
firetrap. The magnificent new stage and stage
house is completed. New seats have been in
stalled. The outdoor bowl has been raised. The
old obstructing light-towers have been removed.
The audiences tonight and for the rest of the
season until September 5 will find these and oth
er improvements to the physical properties of
the festival of benefit and pleasure.
THERE is more.
1 Through the assistance of the Ford Founda
tion and the Oregon Centennial Commission, the
festival was able to attract back many .of its most
distinguished and popular actors of seasons past.
They, and a bright list of newcomers give
promise of being among the most distinguished
companies ever to play in the f esival. .
The proof of the pudding is in the eating, and
the success of the season
it gets under way. But
of bemg the best. -
.
7EW people who have
enri an onrloawrir hoira antr prrp&ntmrt nf thp
bum cm wiviwM,w
complexity of staging such an event.
A "skeleton" professional staff works the
year-round, on play selection, casting, and the
ii i i i i j mi i l ji
many otner tecnnicai aetaiis. ine eieciea Doara
of directors of the association meets each month,
to determine policies, and to make the decisions
on which the staff bases its operation. The busi
ness office functions the
ing and expanding lists
ticket offices, working
tine for procedures.
The tempo increases,
and early spring, as actual preparations tor the
summer season get under
m w m
"THERE are a thousand-and-one details to be
1 thought of, assigned,
city and advertising schedules are set up. Poten
tial actors are contacted.
are renovated and readied.
Then come the casting sessions, and the be
ginning of rehearsals.
And finally, comes
It is an exciting event
with the colorful pre-opening banquet in Lithia
park, the brief but impressive opening ceremon
ies, the lights and color and costumes of the first
Play. -
This year all these things have been intensi
fied, due to the fund-raising drive of last fall
and the hurned but well-planned construction
of the theater.
It should be a doubly
tonight is the night.
Sprague, Kennedy Agree
Quite by coincidence, statements by two writ
ers concerning the so-called "loyalty oath" now
reauired of recipients of
federal government, came
day morning.
Also c?incidentally,
site political faiths. One
editor and publisher of
Salem, former Republican governor of Oregon.
The other is John F. Kennedy, U.S. senator from
Massachusetts and a leading contender for the
Democratic nomination for President next year.
Both. - Republican ex-governor and Demo
cratic senator, are highly
thoughtful men. And both think the "loyally
oath is silly.
JJERE are excerpts from Sprague's editorial:
"After the National Defense Education bill was.
passed last year, colleges woke up to the fact that it
required students receiving loans or scholarships and
f eUowships to take a loyalty oath ... It is not the sim
ple oath pledging loyalty to the constitution and laws
but one of those abjuring oaths which have caused.
, serious commotion in academic circles professors
are willing to take oaths of loyalty , . . but dislike
swearing to some negative oath . . . Affirmative loyal
ty oaths, yes; negative oaths, no."
Senator Kennedy's views were contained in
a letter, a portion of which follows:
"... It seems to me that we must encourage, the .
development of all the best minds of our nation, re-'
gardless of student tendencies toward nonconformity
or other personal objections to signing this vague, un
workable and almost meaningless declaration. Though
there are still those who favor reverting to the age of
the test oaths that were already discredited when our
Constitution was written, it is dangerous to permit
such anachronisms in this hour when building up our .
intellectual resources has become crucial."
UE also referred to attempts to repeal the oath
"as an "important step toward the elimination
of the atmosphere of suspicion and fear that
has for many years enveloped many of our na
tional attitudes."
We agree with both
- . - -
men. Disloval peorjle have no obiection to sism-
ing a perjured oath. But many honest and conci
entious people do object to the negativism of the
present requirement.
The sad postcript is
ate voted, 49 to 42, to send the repealer bill back
to committee, thus killing it for this session.
,
will be Known only as
it gives every indication
not been involved in
' - y vwivv-rw "
year around, maintain
of patrons, lining up
out an ever-smoother rou
of course, in late winter
way.
w w
and completed. Publi
The physical properties
opening night.
for those who attend,
exciting occasion. And
E.A.
educational aid from the
across the desk yester
the writers are of oppo
is Charles A. Sprague,
the Oregon Statesman in
intelligent, literate and
of these distinguished
that last week the Sen
0
E.A.
Dennis the Menace
WhN i VXK My poor ir i&m
Washington Report
By WILLIAM
FIVE ON A RAFT
Washington- Five compara
tively young and comparative
ly unknown members of the
v House of Rep-
1 r e s entatives,
four men and
one woman,
have deliber
ately leaped
from cabin
berths to a
raft that bobs
now in a wide
and dangerous
whtS political sea.
Whether they will come to
safe harbor or sink in the
next election will not be the
least important of all the tests
at the polls in 1960. For what
they have done is to take a
great risk in defense of a
orinciDle bieeer than all of
them or any party. Theirs hap
Dens to be the Democratic
party. But the . question they
embody is not partisan, nor
even ideological.
Thev have assumed, these
five people on a raft, that in
the end the voters will per
mit politicians to act on tough
national issues in the public
interest, rather than only in
some group interest. They
have assumed that in the end
Congress has an inescapable
duty to perform on such is
sues, come what may.
rnHESE five are Representa-
A tives Stewart Udall of Ari
zona, Carl Elliott of Alabama,
Edith Green of Oregon, James
G. O'Hara of Michigan and
Frank Thompson Jr. of New
Jersey. It was they who,
through five weeks of bitter,
cursing wrangling, of harsh
competing labor union and
pro- management pressures
within the House Labor Com
mittee, stood steadfast upon
analterable position:
That the committee must
bring out a labor reform bill.
That it must be a bill actually
doing something to curb labor
abuses. That it also must be a
bill that would not destroy
labor. That, above all, it must
be a bill -simply a bill- to
prove that Congress was
strong enough to legislate, not
merely to talk, in an area of
extreme pre-Presidential cam
paign sensitivity.
It is due most of all to these
five that the committee has
come through with a measure
on which -the House itself can
act. It was long touch-and-go
as to whether the extremes
within the committee would
not paralyze it beyond any ac
tion at all.
THE Labor Committee has
30 members. All have, in
one degree or another, prob
lems of political survival, con
victions and prejudices. But it
was upon this small band of
five that beat the fiercest and
Try and
"-sWsaeasejWsj
-By BENNETT CERF-
TVprW YORK COPS are used to just about everything, but one
L l traffic officer was stopped cold at the sight of an old sedan
parked on a sidestreet with four occuDants solemnlv
of its open windows. The
man in the driver's seat
furtively beckoned to the
cop, "The poor nuts think
they're going to catch some
salmon here. Fm humorinff
them by playing along."
"You're in a 'no narkine
area, buddy" intemrnted
the cop, "so you'll have to
humor your nutty friends
some place else."
"O.K.. if that's the wav
you. feel about it" nodded
the driver and pulled out
a pair of oars.
Contributed bv irhr l!.vmuM
Eke & chair with a crack in the
correctly, they'll both pinch you.
His wife came back to town.
- OJ95fcfcrSBattCii& ZMsbftBtod
i oonf www s&AINI!0O!i
WHITE
most pitiless of all the pres
sures of these five weeks. And
it was at them that the bitter
est cries of "betrayer" were
flung by labor spokesmen.
For these five are all liber
als. Most if not all - never
would have been in Congress
without labor support. In the
ordinary definition, they were
pro-labor."
Thus against the violent
oversimplification which poli
tics produces on issues of pay
and pocketbook, they had to
run perils of special poign
ancy. They knew that the na
tional good, the good of their
own party and the good of
Congress as an institution of
representative government re
quired something more than
the simple either-or attitudes
of other partisans.
It is easy, as a "labor" Con
gressman, simply to say no,
no to each and every propos
ed restriction upon labor. It
is easy, as a ' business ' Con
gressman, to cry yes,- yes to
every one. But it is not easy
to draw a middle line which,
in a matter such as this, pleas
es no pressure group on ei
ther side. -
.
THIS, all the same, is where
-a. the five took their stand,
What they said to labor was
about this: We are still basic
ally for you and not "against"
you. We have no intention
to destroy you. But you will
not even listen to any real
chance of any kind, even
though we know - and you
really know, too that some
changes must be made. You
will denounce us? Very well,
if you must. But we are the
people's elected representa
tives - including yours. We
asked for the responsibility to
make the laws. We are going
to discharge the responsibility
we asked for. We are going to
do it in everybody's interest-
not the least of which is your
own interest. And we are sro-
ing to make the parliamentary
process work.
It will be interesting to see
what labor does next year to
this raft of the five that bobs
upon so wide, so dangerous
and so lonely-a sea.'
(Copyright, 1959, by United
Feature Syndicate, Inc.)
Air, Ground Search
Starts for Two Men
Fairbanks. Alaska-UPI-An
air ground, search was started
Monday for two men who dis
appeared Sunday in the rug
ged country about 50 miles
southwest of here.
Missing were Lee Slator,
64, a visitor from San Diego,
Calif., and Dan W. Taylor,
Fairbanks, a clerk with the
Northern Commercial com
pany here.
Stop Me
'
. "
seat' Because if you don't park
fey Stay restores finkScata.
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 tc
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 ea. . '
How About It?
To the Editor: How do they!
get that way? Committees sup
posedly skilled in the various
kind of arts and thereby able
to judge what is best for us
ordinary "grub-line workers to
work and strive for in a better
way of life. For instance, when
the President got a gander at
the art exhibit to be displayed
in Moscow to represent art
here in America and our way
of life, etc., he really hit the
ceiling. A.painter of real life
himself, the cadaverous, night
marish atrocities that greeted
his practiced eye, was report
ed as being really something.
There was little he could do
about the originals already
there, but there was some has
ty scurrying about to get some
real life paintings of American
life aboard the first plane for
display in Moscow, so that
they would not think us en
tirely crackpot.
Quite some years ago, a high
art committee was selected to
use the $20,000 left by a de-
Editorial
Comment
LAWYERS POLICE SELVES
Recent news stories noted
that two more Oregon lawyers
have been disbarred, removed
from the practice of their pro
fession in the future.
Disbarment is a serious pun
ishment. It's pretty tough to
tell a man who has studied
through four years of college
and three of law school and
then spent several years in
practice that he can no longer
be allowed to earn a living
in his chosen profession.
This, one might think, is
harsh medicine for the rela
tively few ills of the legal
profession. Oregon medicine
apparently is . harsher than
that of most states. But that
doesn't mean the treatment
isn't entirely justified.
Nationally, disb arments
have dropped slightly in the
past three years. Oregon fig
ures have not only stood up
-more interesting is that fact
that of all lawyers disbarred
in the United States, a dispro
portionately high percentage
considering the number of
lawyers practicing in -v this
state, seems to come from
Oregon.
Why?
Is it because Oregon law
yers are more likely to em
bezzle, to mishandle funds of
their clients, or to take ad
vantage of those with no
knowledge of their rights?
We think not.
More likely, it is because
the membership of the Board
of Governors of the Oregon
State Bar, charged with po
licing their own profession,
are more sensitive to their
responsibilities in this field
than similar organizations in
other states.
There has been pressure in
the past-from both within and
without the Board of Gover-
nors-to tighten up still further
in Oregon. It is hard to tell
if this is being done because
of lack of adequate measure
ments, but it is certain that
Oregon lawyers are not being
treated too gently.
Oregon has slightly less
than one per cent of the na
tion's practicing attorneys.
Yet Oregon had nearly ten
per cent of the national total
of disbarments in a recent
year.
The law is the only one
of our professions which is
granted the sole right to po
lice and to govern itself.
. This fact alone is the best
argument for a continued
strong program of enforce
ment of ethical standards
upon members of the profes
sion, not for protection of law
yers but for the aid of their
clients and the public served
by attorneys.
It's apparent that Oregon
bar standards are being main
tained. As the executive offi
cer of the State Bar recently
said:
"The Oregon State Bar is
among the most alert, active
and conscientious bars in the
United States in the field of
admission and discipline. It is
equally cognizant that it is
dealing with the very liveli
hood of its members."
In some bar associations,
apparently, the second part of
the statement above is being
given more weight than the
first. '
This is not true in this state.
And we're all fortunate that
it's not, even if it's tough on
misbehaving lawyers. Bend
Bulletin.
PHONY MONEY FOUND
Toplitzsee, Austria-(UPD-Div-
ers Monday recovered a case
containing $840,000 in forged
British bank notes from Top-
litz lake. The notes were part
of a great quantity forged
by the Nazis during World
War II in au abortive plot
to flood Britain with fake
money and ruin its economy.
ceased capltol janitor to be
used in something honoring
the American pioneer mother.
It is impossible for a practical
minded person to imagine
what the committee came up
with. It was a bronze female
nude, very obese and so de
cea ed looking it would be
more appropriate for a slab in
the morgue: Just try to imag
ine such a thing on public
display to honor the spare
framed, long skirted pioneer
mother with her deep hooded
sun-bonnet. Such a howl went
up from an outraged public
that the the thing was hastily
shunted aside. What was chos
en to replace it or what was
done with the janitor's $20,000
is not known to this writer.
Early this spring, a commit
tee was selected to arrange
for a centennial song contest.
In an M-T news story, the
committee asked for a melody
that would live through the
years, a tune people would
sing, whistle or hum on the
street, at home at work, some
thing on the order of Beauti-
full Ohio, or Missouri Waltz.
May 15th, as I remember, the
winners were announced as
two high school teen-agers as
sisted by their musical instruc
tor. So we waited, we looked
and. we listened to band and
orchestra, we asked dance hall
people and finally a centen
nial official, who said it had
been played at the . Stockade
opening. No, he didn't know
what it was like, too busy
to listen. The record was lo
cated at a radio station. Yes,
they had played it once. Why
not more? The disc jockey did
not know. But he put in on the
air, an Oregon shouted rock 'n
roll. Who got the credit? A
Mr. Wesberg near as we could
make out.
F. J. Clifford
Ro"te 2, Box 200F,
Central Point
Editor's note: The pioneer
memorial mentioned in the
second paragraph of Mr. Clif
ford's letter has been selected
and completed. The first
choice, aj mentioned, was re
jected. The second and final
choice was a group of three
pioneers, father, mother and
son, done in a realistic man
ner. It now is in place in
Bush's Pasture park in Salem,
Credit the "Oldsters
To the Editor: A unique
thought on the eve of the
coming . "Gold Rush Jubilee"
entered our "ivory dome"
that a "picher" of all the old
prospectors past the age of
three score and ten years
would be something of his
toric significance to print in
another century of progress
"Goldrush Gazette" 100 years
hence, 2059.
One of the jokes we used
to hear was, "old prospectors
never die, they only fade
away. Perhaps some of the
few remaining old prospectors
and miners past 70 are re
luctant to pose for a group
picture for future generations
to gaze on, as a long forgotten
specimen of the pack horse
and stage coach age The first
real economy of California
and Oregon was based on the
miner production of gold. Our
guess is there will always be
an unknown quantity of gold
jet to be discovered by a
new race of finders.
, Bert Kissinger,
520 Boardman,
Mediord.
How To Save the Fish
To the Editor: If I may I
would like to add my own
two cents worth to the rec
ommendations of Mr. M. H.
Williams, of Shady Cove, ap
pearing in the Tribune Sun
day, July 26, concerning the
salmon in Rogue river. I have
been along the river for some
60 years. I am not a fisher
man. I am not an engineer.
But I have watched the fish
disappear from the river.
When dams have been built,
why in the name of common
sense, were sensible fish lad
ders not provided? A trickle
of water leading around the
obstruction to a point some
hundreds of feet down river
is not a fish-way. The Izaak
Walton League are a group of
fishermen, they are not en
gineers. The people who con
struct dams are engineers,
they are not fishermen. Be
cause of this the salmon in
Rogue river are well on the
way toward extinction.
A way for fish around a
dam is of no use unless there
is a rack provided to lead the
fish to it. Such a rack should
be of steel only as high as low
water level, placed at an an
gle down stream from the en
trance of the fish way. This
rack should be made perma
nent. During flood the drift
will be carried over the rack
We Give 4W
GREEN STAMPS
CENTRAL REXALL DRUG
Main and Central
Matter of Fact bv Joseph
POLLSTERS' ELECTION
Washington - In both great
parties, the politicians' obses
sion with the public opinion
polls has now
reached an un
p r e c edented
pitch. Unless
the trend is
reversed, i n
fact, the con
test of 1960 is
likely to be re
membered as
the "pollsters'
1 Li ff
4os-ph Alsoo election.
To be sure, the influence of
pollsters is by no means a
new phenomenon in American
politics. Thomas E. Dewey lost
the election in 1948, because
he let his strategy be shaped
by Dr. G a 1 1 u p ' s inquiries,
rather than by the ordinary
rules of politics. In 1952 Rob
ert A. Taft lost the nomina
tion on the "Taft can't win"
slogan; and this slogan direct
ly derived from the public
opinion polls.
Yet these were isolated in
cidents, each involving the
fortunes of a single individual.
Today the polls influence
crops up in every phase of
the pre-convention struggles
of both the Democrats and
the Republicans. It is ' only
necesary to itemize, in order
to see how far the thing has
gone.
AMONG the Democrats, to
begin with, Sen. John F.
Kennedy of Massachusetts is
the front-runner solely be
cause of the polls. With his
youth and his Catholicism to
alarm the politicians, Kenne
dy would not even be a seri
ous candidate, if it were not
for the polls evidence of mas
sive popular support for Ken
nedy. But even an octogenari
an, openly anti-Catholic Dem
ocratic politician cannot laugh
off a contender who gets more
than 60 per cent of the vote
in New York State-which was
Kennedy's score in a recent
private poll paid for with Re-
and no harm done. All ditches
and penstocks should be
screened.
Now with this done, let us
close the river to all salmon
fishing for a period of four
years and let nature take its
course. Let us abolish all gov
ernment hatcheries, for fish
hatched in this way are not
afraid N of God, man, or the
devil, and when turned out
on their own have next to
no chance of survival.
This advice will not be con
sidered for it has nothing to
do with the fourth dimension.
I offer it only as a halfsole
to 'Mr. Williams' letter.
Joseph J. Hall,
Shady Cove, Ore.
Bike Rider
To the Editor: I was driving
along West Jz-ckson Sunday
at 4:15 p.m. and while I was
not f ar , from the Jackson
school, with cars parked along
both curbs and the street too
narrow to permit much pul
ling o er the yellow line, a
young boy on a bicycle was
riding along, going the same
direction as I was and in front
of me. He was riding with his
hands not on the handle bars
but hanging by his sides, a
"don't you wish you dared
hit me" expression on his face.
Well, I have ridden enough
miles on a bicycle to know,
and have had the experience
of having a foot slip off the
pedal when I had no hands
on the bars, and when it hap
pens I was due for a sprawl,
skinned knees and a sore
head, and God being with me
there were no cars coming
along.
About 15 minutes later I
was coming back along West
Jackson and this boy wheeled
out in front again with anoth
er ."hit me if you dare" grin.
I was sick when I saw the
traffic, not sure if others were
all slowing down, or going to
pass me and hit the boy.
Now who is to blame?
(Name on file.)
Medford i
Counsel With ...
Mr. Insurance Fred Brennan
M.J -, n.nTH,jiMiiiiiii)JJiy,ti,
Fred Brennan
or call
Mr. Friendly
Bill Fish
Phone SP 3-7343
MEDFORD
INSURANCE
AGENCY
27 NORTH HOLLY ST.
publican money.
By the same token, Kenne
dy's whole strategy is keyed
to the polls. He is planning to
enter the Ohio primary
against the wishes of Gov.
Mike DiSalle's powerful state
organization. He dares to do
so because the able poller pat
ronized by the Kennedy high
command, Lou Harris, got
such favorable results in a
careful poll in Ohio.
By the same token, Kenne
dy is counting on securing the
big New York and Illinois
delegations, largely because of
the polls. He rightly believes,
for instance, that Carmine Di-
Sapio is almost sure to end in
the Kennedy camp, if next
May's New York poll results
are the same as the astonish
ing results cited above.
AMONG the Republicans,
the situation is more com
plex, but it can be even mora
poll-influenced in the end. In
brief, Vice President Richard
M. Nixon would already be
absolutely certain of the Re
publican nomination, if it
were not for the polls. Nixon
has always been frankly fear
ful that the polls would pin
tne "can't win" label on him;
and he has latelv received
something of a body blow in
ine lorm oi Dr. Gallun's last
poll.
In this poll, the Democratic
ticket was headed by Adlai
Stevenson with Kennedy in
second place, while Nixon led
for the Republicans with New
York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller
in second place. The almost in
credible result was 56 Der
cent of the vote for Stevenson-
Kennedy, and 44 per cent for
Nixon-Rockefeller.
The Nixon forces reeard
Stevenson as one of the weak
est Democratic candidates.
Thus they incline to attribute
Gallup's poll-result to Kenne
dy's presence in the second
place. This is perhaps true,
since Kennedy ran more than
10 percentage points ahead of
Stevenson in the Republican
financed New York poll above
mentioned. In any case, Nix
on's outwardly impregnable
position will gradually become
fragile and vulnerable, if Dr.
Gallup produces many more
results like his last.
As Nixon's public image is
so solidly established, there is
little he can do about the polls
except hope for the best. In
the camp of Gov. Rockefeller,
in contrast, it is thought that
something can be done, and
there is already much argu
ment about how and when to
do it.
THE Rockefeller problem Is
simple. After riding very
high at the time of his great
victory in New York, Gover
nor Rockefeller dropped be
hind Vice President Nixon in
the Gallup and many other
polls, when he presented his
program to increase New York
State taxes. Still running sec
ond, he cannot exploit the
"Nixon-can't-win" slogan. If
he waits to make his presiden
tial bid until next year, as his
plan has- always been, it may
be too late because he is run
ning second in the polls.
Hence the Governor is now
being pressed to abandon his
ostentatious preo ccupation
with his own state, and to
make speaking and baby-kissing
forays into other states.
The admitted purpose is to
raise his standing in the polls.
If this plan is adopted and
succeeds, and if Dr. Gallup's
results on Nixon do not im
prove, the whole Republican
picture can be changed over
night Such is the polls influence.
To this reporter, it seems a
pernicious influence, since the
polls only describe the cur
rent state of opinion, and ig
nore the influences that may
alter men's minds. Yet they
are also fascinating. In fact, it
may as well be admitted that
this reporter is now going off
to do a little doorbell ringing
himself.
(c) 1959, New York Herald
Tribune, Inc.
IT'S TRUE -
The Many Pay for the Few!
Insurance provides a method
whereby the unfortunate few
have losses paid by premiums
of the many. We sincerely be
lieve there is no shortcut to
this method. Today's preferred
risk may be considered sub
standard tomorrow.
Bill Fish
f
I 1