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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (June 22, 1960)
0 0 o I A. MEDFOBD MAIL TIIBUNE. MEDFORD, Oil. WEDNESDAY. JUKE M. ossDOimoiry Discusses DmidlepemidleirDce 3-i img M I 5 V 1 ft. A TEACHERS Shown deep inside the Congo are two teachers -- in the Pedagogie school, Lee Green and Ferdinand Ibonga. Green, author of the Congo report, has lived in the area for ;-; the past seven years, and is school there. j Brink's Tipster Pleads Guilty ' Boston - (WD - Brink' rob bery informer Joieph (Specs) ; O'Keefe pleaded guilty today in connection with the million dollar heist Jan. 17, 1950 1 J Superior Judge Felix Forte sentenced him to three . to four years in state prison "V but gave him credit for the ': four - years he already has been in custody. ' However, O'Keefe was not TJ freed ! Immediately. He was - taken to a lower court for ap- . pearance on a probation vio? lation charge stemming from -- a- Pennsylvania warrant Zr. against him. , . , O'Keefe! testimony in 1956 ; sent eight other men to prison for the fantastic robbery of jr! the Brinks counting house X hre in January 1050. O'Keefe "i- turned state's evidence when the gang tried to cheat him of his share of the money, most v- of which never has been lo--I" eated. I West Accused of i Thwarting Talks Geneva -(UPD- Communist .- members of the ten - nation - Disarmament Conference ac cused the West today of "con tlnuing to evade businesslike 'i discussion on disarmament." "r The five nation Communist statement issued after today's '." four minute meeting was tak-- en by the West to mean that - the Russian were building ! : up a case for breaking off the i conference when American - delegate Fredrick Eaton re--j turned from Washington, D.C. He and French delegate ; Jules Moch were still in their --home capital for consulta tions on the Soviet dlsarma- ment plan. . . .. - The Communists have ac . cused 'the western powers of (tailing on presenting a coun ty terproposal to their June 2 T disarmament plan. :20th-Cenlury Nof f To Cut May Britt '-"t Hollywood -fllPD- Twentieth ."Century Fox Studio officials i Tuesday denied they plan to J drop the services of actress May Britt, fiance of Negro en-t- tertalner Sammy Davis Jr. j "May Britt I under long term contract to 20th Century- it ox ana mere is no factual basis for any story the studio terminating her contract," -.(aid production chief Buddy ; Adler. 7: Adler' formal statement followed a studio spokesman' -official announcement Tues- - day that the blonde Swedish ? actress' contract, would not Vbe renewed when its option - falls due next year. Y The couple was booed pub--"llcly earlier this month when . Devi was making personal Jappearajic in Lone. u 0 W k in charge of a mission primary Green Says Press Reports Are From Survey View Point Lee A. Green, son of Mr. and Mrs. W. L. Green, 450 Ross, lane, Medford, who is currently teaching in a mis- slon primary school in Africa noted recently that African independence is more than what news . reports have said it to be. Green reports in a letter to the Mall Tribune, ". .; . they all seemed from a survey view point and not from the grass roots level itself. Although he was an Ore- gonlan. Green has been living in the Congo area of Africa for the past seven years. He is teaching there, and is in charge of a mission school. His wife is teaching the sixth grade in the school College Graduate The local man was graduat ed from Wheaton college in Illinois and the University of Oregon in 1952 with a mas ter's degree in education. He was graduated also from Rose- burg High school The African protect is spon sored by the World Wide Grace Testimony, Milwaukee, Wis. He left on this assign ment from New York City Jan. 1, 1953. At that time he went by freighter into the mouth of the Congo river and spent five years in Africa. After return ing for a year to the u. S., he spent a year in Belgium where he studied the French language and government in Africa. Green left Belgium In July, 1959, and drove from Brlstols to Italy. Following, he re turned to the east coast of Africa and then drove to his present location, described as M E M. Kakumbu, Par Kindu, Africa, on the Congo river. Change in Africa Green also advised of many changes In Africa and. de scribes it as "... a southern Oregon forest In August . , . any spark can set off a con flagration." The missionary sums up the African condition by saying that it Is ". . . in bad shape financially and wracked with many problems, but a dlsallu- sloned populace could be the biggest problem Although April 15 has been observed as Africa Freedom day, the sprawling Congo will receive its Independence June 30. The African dispatch print ed on this page is a report on Congo Independence seen by Green. It is written at a time of chaos and trouble from the immediate area in volved. ONO WRITER DIES New York-flM-Ray Walk er, 78, composer and writer of popular ragtime songs dur ing the pre-World War I era, died Monday, Walker' songs Included "Oh What I Know About You," "Goodnight Nurse," and "That Funny Bunny Hu" Congolese View Independence With Mixed Feelings (Editor's note: The follow ing dispatch was written by mission primary school teacher In Africa on Congo independence. The area in volved ' is to receive its freedom June 30. . By LEE A. GREEN In less than a month the Congo will receive indepen dence. The whites look upon the independence with a re- signed dread. The Congolese approach it with mixed feel. lngs. To some it is the casting off of all restraints. To others the approaching date brings uncertainty, apprehension and fear. We Americans look on with amazement, for we have seen In one short year, a prosper ous well organized colony come to a grinding halt. Law and order have given away to anarchy. As one Belgian told us, ' The Belgian government has completely abandoned the Congo. Americans think of indepen dence in romantic terms. We think of a struggling nation fighting the then all powerful England. We think of George Washington and heroic sacri fices. Often we are asked about how we received our independence. It is always ended by the question: "When you got your independence was there so much confu sion?" Grass Roots Level What about independence for - African states and what about democracy at the grass roots level? Some time ago I was stand ing beside the road when a car literally stuffed with Africans came rattling by. An African leaned out the win dow and yelled "Uhuru ya Kazl" (freedom from work). Later I found that he was president of one of the local chapters of a political party. He has been preaching that Independence means less work, more pay. It means equality for all. I heard him make a political speech later where he stated that the Bel gians were the worst people on earth, that the local chief was fat and flabby because he was eating all of the peo ple's money, that the Congo lese Army won World War II, that missions, both Catholic nd Protestant, were hypo crites and that all bad white people should be kicked out of the Congo. He also stated that anyone without one of his political cards on Independence day would be in serious trouble. He was also later arrested and put In jail for stealing the money collected from selling political cards. Insecure, Coniuiod The average African is in secure and confused by the many conflicting reports he hears. Every African who can afford even the cheapest radio set ($25) has one, and listens to reports on the roundtable discussions. Often these re ports are interpreted through the eye of tribal custom, and It is fantastic how ordinary news reports can be twisted. It is not a little startling to hear American popular rec ords like "Honeycomb" drift ing out of a native hut. The radio ha opened up a whole new world to the Congolese and they are making the most of It. Can democracy work in Congo? Most of those who have lived In the Congo for many years definitely do not believe that It is possible. Here we are only two genera tions removed from the tribal wars. There are four major trade languages plus French, plus hundreds of tribal lang uages that make communica tion and unity difficult. However, the main diffi culty la In the African cul ture itself. The African lives In a culture that is more adaptable to Communism than Democracy. The Congolese have a col lective society. He Is not free Individually, for he himself Is the property of the clan, he act a the clan puts pres sure on him, his wife Is paid for by the clan, his children belong to the clan. African Gets Hat I remember giving an Af rican friend of mine a hat be cause he had none and I felt sorry for him. A few dnys later I saw my hat bobbing up and down on the head of a stranger who was strolling by my house. Later I found that he was the uncle of my friend and had liked my hat to he took it. My friend would not think of protesting. This collective toclety affects ev ery avenue of the African's life-even political thinking Recently an African came and asked for an advance on his salary. He stated that his relatives told him that if he didn't join their political group that they would beat him up, so he must join that group, although he knew nothing about it. This brings me up to this point: the greatest blunders that the white man makes is to take western ideas (we take for granted) and try to apply tnem in the African society. Most of us, because of our his tory with despotic kings, think of a one party or one man rule in dark terms. How ever, the African knows only tne strong arm rule. Recently I was talking with an educated Congolese who had just come from voting. He said, "Bwana, I have just voted, but I don't know what I did. I saw a picture and I thought that man had a good face so I voted for him heard that another man in an other picture was a distant relative of one of the village men so I voted for him. But, please explain what we are doing." , Tries to Explain I tried to explain using Ghana as an example and, of course, I warned him of a one-man rule and explained the Ghana situation to him. He beamed and said, "That is exactly what we need here, someone who can be a strong man and beat down his oppo nents." I felt that to explain our viewpoint is futile. The head of the African society is a clan head, and above that a chief. It is only natural that elections do not mean much to them. .One of the problems en countered in Congo elections was the placing of a stamp in the workbook of each African who voted. It was merely to show that he had voted, but In some cases whole villages refused to vote because they felt that the stamp had a hid den meaning, a sign that they were making an agreement. Today there are 28 major political parties and many more smaller ones. Each one is fighting for supremacy. Vot ing in many places has been accompanied by riots and even death. At present, Stanley ville, Kasongo, Bukavu and Elizebethville are occupied by the Congo and Belgian army. Some are under martial law. At Kasongo. a small town on the Congo river and the site of famous Arab-Belgian wars, a member of an oppos ing political party dropped a match down the gas tank of the enemy party. Dragged From Car At Kindu, a member of a political party was dragged out of his car and beaten to death. Such violence has put fear into the hearts of the people so that a threat from an officer of a political party is all that Is needed to put a group Into subjection. It is doubtful that even with such tactics that one party can gain control at least immediately. However, if one party does not gain control, the Congo is ripe for civil war and a collapse of civil government. Perhaps one interesting con dition is the African s attitude towards nationalities. Ameri cans so far have fared pretty well for we, by gaining our independence even back in 1776 (time means nothing to most Africans), have sort of put ourselves in kindred spir its with the African. I recently wos taking pho tos of an election. The Afri cans began to get nasty and said that they didn't want their picture taken. They ask ed me If I belonged to a cer tain political party, I replied no that I was a misionary, and came only to help the people. 1 am not interested in politics. They said, "Oh, you are an American." They gave me no more trouble. It makes one sad to see the strong feeling that has devel oped against the Belgian out- clals and people here. We know that the Belgian rule was one of the best in Africa: however, the tide of national ism ha wept over the benev olent deeds of the Belgian as though they were not there. Mineral Wealth - I have heard Africans say, Call Ken Neal-SP 3-4739 for Quality Used logging ft Dirt Moving Equipment Crtttr Ilk Mich(ary Co. xm STUDENTS Pictured at work are several Green, an Oregonlan teaching In the area, students in the Mwanga Teacher's Training ' says that this is an interesting time in school, also called the Pedagogie school. Africa. Green cites a the standing joke, Although these are signs of great advance- . "Things are sure quiet, we haven't had a riot ment in education and living standards, Lee ' in almost a week." "What have the Belgians done for us? They stole our mineral wealth." At first I would pro test that if though they had the resources, they didn't have the capital to develop them and therefore the mineral wealth was useless to them. I have given up trying to ex plain for it seems futile. It is sad to see colonial officials. with brilliant records, years of hard work in the Congo thrown out of the Congo be cause they have crossed Afri can leaders or parties, most of the time in the line of duty. Congo for a white man is a touch and go affair. It is a time for cool heads and often courage. Recently in a city near here a demonstration by the official government school teachers was put down by an official. He turned the fire hoses on them for he was afraid. The truth came out later that these teachers had not been paid for four months. The Africans have refused to pay taxes to the Belgian gov ernment. They were demon- strating for their money. They meant no harm. But, one of the women teachers was with child, and when the hoses were turned on her, she fell. She later lost her baby and the Africans angrily blamed the official He had to be shipped out of town auickly to avoid person al harm. He had had a long record of meritorious service in the Congo, but it only takes one slip and a long career is finished. Another case of nerves was when recently an argument developed at an election post. One of the political leaders became angry and got into his car and drove to the near est government post. He re ported to the government of ficial that there had been con fusion near to rioting at the election point. The government official be came frightened, and called for the Army instead of in vestigating. The official ar rived at the village with three truck loads of troops. Without asking questions the. troops beat up the opposing political leader. This very nearly caused a riot. The results were that the man who was beaten up was not held, for no charge could be found against him. He in turn be came the hero of the whole area. He has suffered for the cause. The government offi cial had to be removed for his life was threatened. TRUE AIR CONDITIONING PROVIDES COMFORT THE YEAR AROUND! ar stav I rim 1 1 J'35-f n7Jm Local Incidents These are local incidents,. but they could be multiplied many times. Congo is on the verge of civil war and anar chy with yet a month to go before independence. The Only hope is not independence, but that one party or a leader will emerge who is strong enough to lead these people through this difficult period. This will take a great deal of personal strength, patience and, yes, even love on the part of both white and colored, In the past three months many whites have fled from the Congo taking the much needed capital with them However, a workable agree ment between white and black must be found for the Congo needs white people to day more than ever. -Even though the Congolese do not realize this today, it is the hope of everyone that some day they will become aware of that need. But, in the mean time, the adjustment will be a difficult one. The Congo needs help as never before, it needs Ameri ca. As one African put it re cently, We hope that Amer ica will help us, but if they don't, we will ask Russia," Northwest Gas Stock Sale OK'd Salem -(UPD-Northwest Nat ural Gas company Tuesday was authorized to issue and sell 60,000 shares of its cumu lative preferred stock at a par value of $100 per share. Public Utility Commission er Jonel C. Hill said the stock will be sold to a group of un derwriters headed by Lehman Brothers of New York. The estimated $5,800,000 in net proceeds will be used in part to finance Northwest's I960- Willamette valley con struction program. There's a big difference between air conditioning and air cooling. True, modern electric air conditioners can cool the air if you want it cool. But air conditioners also purify the air you breathe, control humidity winter and summer, clear the air of your home of odors, and remove pollens and other harmful elements 'm June or January! DON'T WAIT TIL IT'S TOO LATE When hot weather arrives in southern Oregon and northern California, air conditioning equipment is often at a premium. See your favorite CalOre Electrical Dealer now for Immediate delivery, and .. , : " i Trail Youth at JESSI at Corvallis Corvalli - Richard J. Wil son, Trail, is now participat ing in the fifth annual session of the Junior Engineers and Scientists Summer .institute sponsored by ; Oregon State college. He is participating with some 150 boy from Oregon, Washington, and Calfiomia who have . demonstrated out standing promise in science and have been recommended for the special program by their instructors and princl pal. . , , ,. Course work covers all feilds of engineering, mathe matics, physics, chemistry. zoology, geology, bacteriology, botany, and oceanography. In addition, students . visit the various campus research lab oratories and observe opera tion of the college's training nuclear reactor, . cyclotron, electron microscope, electron ic computers, and high volt age laboratory. , . . i ' The JESSI program was started in 1956 at Oregon State and has since been adopted by other schools and areas across the nation. Co-sponsor of the program is the Scientists of Tomorrow, Portland. Accident Reported M To State Police . " A complaint for failure to yield the right of way to on coming traffic will be filed against Clair Maud Plummer, 3722 Alley lane, Medford, ac cording to state police. A c a r operated by Mrs. Plummer was involved In an accident with a vehicle driv en by Jesse Merit Taylor, 4479 Hamerick rd., Central Point, at Hamerick and Head rds., Central Point, police said. MEDFORD PAINT . and Wallpaper Store trti t Holly Diagonally Acroti from Poat Office PHONE SP 2-9321 ' W Give 1 SIM eescM mux j j jj'j in j i , , , , Pauling Risks Contempt Charge ' Wahington -Wt- Dr. Linus Pauling risked possible con tempt of Congress citation to day by vowing to keep secret the names of the scientists who helped him circulate his petition demanding an imme diate end of nuclear testing. .The grey -haired scientist, long a leader in the movement for disarmament and a per manent ban on nuclear test ing, said he would not comply with the Senate internal se curity subcommittee's request that he divulge names. . After questioning the Nobel India Heat Wave Takes 395 Lives New Delhi, India - (UPD - A killer heat wave with tempera tures up to 116 degrees has brought death to at least 395 persons in northern India since June 1, the- All India Medical and Health' Associa-. tion reported today. The Weather Bureau re ported the monsoon is advanc ing into central India with cooling shower and is expect ed to reach the stricken areas within a few day. P' w&mmmmmM fcnui II . mlWfinui i (IHln.il M-Vf;'... laMlMiWalln. --v attL -4 A This hnnlr malroc Tiic y - CURRENT DIVIDEND RATE 4 PER ANNUM " Investment Made by the 10th Earns From the First FIRST FEDERAL Savings & Loan Assn. of Medford 29 North Ivy Street Robert F. Kyle, Manager AIR CONDITION ! Prize chemist Tuesday, tht subcommittee gave Pauling until Aug. 9 to change hie mind and appear again with the list of scientists. The subcommittee want the names of the cientite who helped Pauling collect more than 11,000 signature" on the petition. It was filed with the United Nation la 1958. CmOI MOXET iT loirrun' -wirli'i ant fiiiitltl tiirt ehirglno mnir tl about Ilk barging anything tlaa-you fetrrtv M naw, pay far It latar. riciric FTiriiiiei 16 S. Central SP 3.530S Boh Griffith, Manager . . (All loans madt under the ' Oregon Industrial Loan Act) Opan Daily a.m.-J .. Mondays Till .nu . CloHhd Saturdays college education possible A young man needs many books for a college education. But the most important of these is the book that makes it all possible ... a passbook for a savings account with us. Why not open an account for your chil dren's education? Start it while they're young and add to it regu larly.. .it will earn excellent return. Stop in and see us today 1 . o o 0 o 0
