MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD. OREGON
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6. I960
4
MEDFORD &TRIBUNI
"Evuryune 10 Southern Oregon .
Ren The Mitt Tribune"
Published Dilly except Saturday by
MEDFORD PRINTING CO
33 NorUiFlr JU Pll 8P 2-14t
ROBERT W RUHL, Editor
HERB GREY Advertising Manager
GERALD T LATHAM Bui Mgr
ERIC W ALLEN JR.. Mng Editol
EARL H ADAMS City Editor
HARRY CHIPMATeleg Editor
RICHARD JEWETT Sports Ed tor
OLIVE STARCHER Women'! Wttor
DALE ERICKSON Circulation Mgr
An' Independent Newspaper
Entered as second class matter
Mcdford. Oregon, under Act 01
March 3. tB97
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Flight 0' Time
Medlord nd Jackson County
Hlslory from the riii of The
Mall Trlbum 10. 20, 30. 40
and 50 vea' mo-
10 YEARS AGO
Tl AlnrifnrH cllV council
was informed last night that
the Civil Aeronautics aamin
Islratlon (CAA) has with
drawn $52,000 in funds which
had been previously ear
marked for a new administra
tion building at Medford's
municipal airport..
Medford's city water de
partment is undertaking stud
ies to determine the advis
ability and feasibility of add
ing flouride to the city's drink
ing water.
20 YEARS AGO
Herb Moore, deputy sheriff,
has denied he is an aspirant
for the Dosition of postmaster
at Ashland. He said, Instead,
(l,ni ho will he an annlicant
only if the present postmaster
vnrnlpa hla nost.
From Artliur Perry's "Ye
Smudge Pol" column: "uon
grcss will be called upon to
consider a 'selective immigra
tion' bill. There may be some
need also for a selective de
portation bill."
30 YEARS AGO
A "monster eagle" that has
roosted on Roxy Anne peak
for many years was killed
yesterday.
Due to the financial straits
of some persons, local stores
are displaying "practical"
Christmas gifts.
40 YEARS AGO
Dec. 6. 1920 (Wednesday)
Coach Otto Klum and the
Blnck Tornado football team
will be guests at a victory
banquet tonight.
Rain, sunshine, sleet, snow
and a 30-mlle-an-hour wind
have all been seen by Med-
ford residents during the past
week.
50 YEARS AGO
Dec. 6, 1910 (Tuesday)
Samuel Rosenberg, Seattle,
has purchased the Bear Creek
Orchards from John D. Olwell
for $300,000, which is $1,200
an acre.
The Rogue River Electric
company has asked the city
of Mcdford to advance them
the money to purchase and In
stall 47 new arc street lights
In the city. The city council
is expected to reject the re
quest. What's Your I.Q.7
Nine si fen cornet Is lupatler:
seven or eight ii xcellenti flva as
lis it good.
1. What state is partly di
vided by Chesapeake bay?
2, In what country is the
city of Hanoi?
3. An electric motor will
not operate in a vacuum; true
or false?
4. When you order a dinner
in a restaurant, by the dinner
are you orderln'g table d'hote
or a la carte?
5. What color shirts were
worn by Hitler's original fol
lowers? 6. Name the cjpi'ol of Ar
kansas. 7. A contest in which two
teams try to spell words cor
rectly is called a spelling ?
8. In which European city
is the Picadilly Circus?
0. Spain is bounded on the
west by the Atlantic ocean
and what country?
10. "The Flying Dutchman"
opera was composed by
whom?
Answers: i, Maryland, 2.
Indo China. 3. False. 4. Table
d hole. 5, Brown shirts. 8. Lit
11 Rock. 7. Bee. I. London,
England, 9. Portugal. 10. Rich
ard Wagner.
On Higher Education
In common with some three-score other resi
dents of the Pacific Northwest, we recently com
pleted an intensive course of study on higher edu
cation and its relationships with the federal gov
ernment. First there was a textbook a stout volume
crammed with information on the subject. Next
there was a three-day series of discussions.
Finally there was a half-day meeting at which
a report and summation of the discussions was
gone over, word by word, and hammered into a
shape acceptable to all, or almost all.
TTHE first thing we learned was the fact that
the federal government started giv'ing aid to
higher education in 1789 the year the constitu
tion was adopted.
And it has been doing so ever since.
The present question, thus, is not "Should the
federal government aid higher education?" but
rattier, "Snoum tne teuerai government continue
and expand its aid to higher education
It is, we discovered,
ramifications and facets,
tremely general way, cannot be answered yes
or "no." The answers tend to become ones of
degree and kind, with
WE believe that the final summation of the
ormfprenno ua nrtpnrlprl last, wpek find is a
good one, in general
wide public attention.
Meanwhile, we would like to record a few
of the impressions we
ings and discussions.
One of the strongest was the satisfying feel
iner that there are a lot of highly intelligent, sin
cerely dedicated people
concerned with higher
lems busy people, mostly, who were willing to
, 1 n 1 . . , ,1 f 1. I I L a !
tane iour days out or tneir scneauies u conuiu-
ute their own thoughts
A NOTHER impression was of the democratic
"process itself. In this context, by this we mean
people of widely differing political and economic
philosophies, sitting down
guing out their differences, finally arriving at a
general overall consensus.
The president of a big department store sat
across the table irom a tanned rancner irom
eastern Washington, and as the days wore on
their fundamental disagreements were whittled
away as their mutual respect grew.
Down the table a tew
and conservative businessman, while directly
across from him was a liberal member of the po
litical science faculty of a major university.
A HIGH educational administrative official sat
next to a veteran newspaper writer ; a college
president sat near an attorney; a businessman
technician, president of his own company, sat
next to the editor of a
And so it went.
There were disagreements aplenty. But the
exchanges, while sometimes a bit heated, were
courteous and respectful, and each man knew that
all the others were there in the sincere belief
that this business of higher education in America
is vitally important to the nation, and that it is
going to take the best efforts of a lot of people
to do the job that needs
TTHERE was general agreement as to the impor-
tance of an expansion of hitrher education.
not only because of the
of students now beginning to reach college age,
but also because of the
them who will seek education beyond the high
school level.
Education in the sciences and technologies of
today's space age is needed, in part because of
our position of leadership of the free world in
the cold war with communist imperialism, and in
part for the pursuit of knowledge for its own
sake.
In addition, broadly available higher educa
tion of high quality is important for the develop-
ment of leaders in all fields, and for the develop
ment oi rollowers in
portant citizens who keep
commerce, government,
and education turning.
FINALLY, and in the
most important, a general high level of edu
cation for all who can benefit thereby is increas
ingly vital in a world which is increasingly com
plex and interdependent.
In America, where the people are sovereign
and make the ultimate political decisions, we
must have citizens who
telligent solutions to the
today; who have sulncient background to make
sound decisions; and whose understandine and
interest extend beyond the mundane affairs of
the moment and into the future of the state, the
nation, and mankind.
The conferees were agreed on these objec
tives; it was on how to provide the needed facili
ties and personnel that disagreements arose.
THE role of the federal government in aiding
higher education, long established m legality,
in tradition, and in public policy, must change
and broaden if this challenge is to be met.
There are hazards in this. And some of the
people with the most urgent sense of the needs
of education were those
of those potential hazards.
The conference wrote no "blue print" as to
how the problems could be solved, but they did
arrive at a general consensus, which will be pub
lished here tomorrow. E. A.
a question with many
and, except in an ex
many qualifications.
terms, and deserving of
gained during the meet
in the Northwest who are
education and its prob
and beliefs.
in good faith, and ar
seats was a successrul
weekly newspaper.
doing.
vastly increased number
increased proportion of
all tields the highly im
the wheels of industry,
service functions, science
final analysis perhaps the
can and do seek for in
pressing problems of
with the most acute sense
Dennis the
- - W I
'I'm not feeun'so hot. Could i just have my
pie 'n ice cream an' go to bed ?
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 ail letters with a view
to clarification and condensation. Letters submitted for pub
lication 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.
History and the South
To the Editor: In the re
cent editorial "We Might Be
Cave Men the author ojfers
the idea that because of in
ferior schools in New Orleans
there exist race riots. I find
this an indefensible argument.
New York has the highest
rated educational system in
the United States, yet race
riots are far from being un
common there.
He goes on to say, "If the
New Orleans schools taught
history as it is there would
be no flaunting of a pro-slav
ery flag." By this he makes
obvious his own ignorance. To
assume that all who fought
for the South under the Con
federate flag were pro-slav
ery is as erroneous as assum
ing that all who fought with
Castro are anti-American.
Therefore to assume the Con
federate flag is a pro-slavery
emblem is an invalid assump
tion,
I think the author of the
article is employing the same
sorl of ignorance he supposed
ly deplores by identifying the
presence of a Confederate flag
as any indication of current
pro-slavery sentiment. A basic
premise of Southern protesta
tion in the 1860's was State
Rights. It was for states
rights, not slavery, that many
were rallying.
Today, there is a constant
fear that the federal govern
ment is encroaching upon the
power of the stales, a trend
toward socialism. This is clear
ly shown by the government
stepping into education, a
field specifically delegated to
the states in the United States
Constitution. What's next?
Socialized medicine? Then
what?
Perhaps the people of New
Orleans were decrying the
socialistic trends of the fed
eral government with slate's
rights banners. Certainly no
one would be so naive as to
think they are advocating
slavery.
It is granted that the ac
tions of the people of New
Orleans are nothing to be
proud of, but neither are the
actions of the people of Cicero,
or Chicago, or Detroit in simi
lar situations. (People who
have very fine schools at their
disposal I might add.) Judging
the population of New Or
leans, a city of 600,000, by
the actions of a few people
is not very sound reasoning.
I do not condone what lias
taken place in New Orleans
any more than the next
American, however, I feel an
injustice has been done the
people of the South, the peo
ple of New Orleans, and the
people who read the article,
since they were subjected to
trite, groundless assertions,
loaded language, and an irra
tional argument.
J. M.,
(Name on file)
University of Oregon,
Eugene, Ore.
Overiinselfication
To the Editor: Would it not
be entirely appropriate for us
all to encourage each local
merchant to set aside a cer
tain portion of window dis
play or other advertising
space for conveying, or at
least keeping alive, something
of the real spiritual message
of the first Christmas?
From its beginning, all his
tory converged on the solstice
of the first Christmas. The
boundless joy emanating from
the celebration of this feast
centers around the manifesta
tion that man could once
again begin to share in that
life of the supernatural order
(the denial of which presup
poses the absurdity that life
has no meaning).
The ovcrtlnselfication re-
Menace
suiting from the extreme com
mercialism of today, succeeds
in distracting our minds from
the true meaning of Christ
mas. Only by concentrating
on the true message brought
by Christmas can we enjoy
a deep and everlasting joy,
rather than the commercial
and discouragingly transient
joy that is so thoroughly
"dissipated" as the "Holiday
Season" ends.
Many social evils increase
in proportion to the increase
of the materialistic approach
to the meaning of Christmas
(overcommercialism lends
greatly to this desertion of
moral purpose) whereas, when
our minds are turned toward
the Central Figure of all his
tory, these same social evils
have a remarkable tendency
to vanish, leaving unburdened
consciences and skeptical
minds to indulge in a munifi
cient love that grasps tightly
the hungry and aching human
heart, filling it with unspeak
able delight, ever increasing
its pounding, pulsating
rhythm until the whole being
reverberates with a never
ending breathlessness!
Christian Family Movement
by
Robert J. Howard
828B West 14th si.
Mcdford
Early Season's Greetings
To the Editor: Here's wish
ing you a Happy-Fourth o'
Ju New Year, for I won't be
scribbling much, if any, the
rest of this year, for I am even
more busy than that nice ol'
polecat who bowed his head
and said "Lei us spray."
This is a timely season for
us to do some earnest praying
for if my guess is right, our
enemies must be happy about
the word-wars going on within
our country's once proud bor
ders between fast-color
darkies and unchristian off-
color whites, between trained
elephants who are trying to
push people's pet donkeys off
the earth and so on-and on.
As we pray let us thank
God that we aren't worse off
than we are, we could be, you
Know.
I want to remind you if you
want a beautiful memory of
this season to stay in sight
ever so long, buy your tree
with roots on. If well protect-
ed from air you can keep it
above ground for over a week,
then set it in the background
of your home. Not too close to
the house.
If you rent, plant it anyway
Be like Johnny Appleseed
who planted for others.
Since I joined the Fifty Plus
club and the Senior Citizens'
Orchestra I have learned a
"heap" about doing for others.
It makes all work seem like
a very pleasant game.
How about a small Colorado
blue spruce or an incense
cedar? The tree nurseries
must have them.
Better purchase a new ac
count book, too. There are so
many new year resolutions
wc ve got to jot down to erase
later.
Pearl F. Spacliman,
P. O. Box 33,
Jacksonville, Ore.
Swan Scofflaws
To the Editor: There ap
pears to be some speculative
comment concerning the kill
ing of the rigidly protected
swan3 that come to sanctuary
along the quiet and isolated
reaches of Rogue River. And
it is not all local, for word
seems to be filtering among
returning duck-hunters from
the south Klamath Lake wild
fowl gathering waters of big
white waveies shot down
there. Like the two duck
shooters near the California
line: One heard the heavy beat
Red Threat in Latin
Worse Before It Gets Better, Is
By PHIL NEWSOM
UPI Foreign News Analyst
A safe prcdiction'for 1961
is that in Latin America
things will get worse before
they get better.
The reasons are both short
and long-term.
Out of the
just - conclud
ed and closely
guarded sum
mit meeting
of world Com
munist lead
ers in Moscow
came reports
thatLatin
hiiilnewsom American
Reds had lined up with Red
China in advocating the vio
lent overthrow of govern
ments and invitations to revolt.
Washington Report
By WILLIAM
"BIG Q" .
Washington-With immense
care the coming Kennedy ad
ministration is preparing to
meet head-on
early in the
new year the
gravest prob
lem confront
ing the allies
west.
The "Big Q"
- the great
question - is
thic- Whpfhpr
William (. ..
whit to arm tn e
West's indispensable military
alliance, the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization, with a
common pool of atomic weap
ons under common control of
all the NATO countries.
The ultimate decisions
have, of course, not yet been
made. But already weighty
advice if being given by asso
ciates to President-elect Ken
nedy for taking the plunge
and genuinely sharing the
weapon with the people who
must share the dying if the
ultimate disaster of war with
the Russians should come.
Advice wholly to the con
trary is being offered to Mr.
Kennedy, or at any rate
shortly will be offered,
WHEN, after his inaugura
tion Jan. 20. he does make
the final and lonely presiden
tial determination, it will be
a determination hardly less
fateful than that made by
President Harry S. Truman
to use the first atomic bombs
over Japan.
Oversimplified a bit for
the sake of brevity, the basic
situation is this:
NATO is the one shield of
true and actual military
power, the one shield of iron
reality, of the free world. But
of NATO's 15 member na
tions only two, the United
Stales and Britain, are truly
strong atomically, each in its
own right. France has explod
ed two weapons, but has a
long way to go - perhaps even
10 years - to become a capi
tal atomic power, acting on its
own.
The atomic weapons now
available to the NATO com
manders are the physical pos
sessions of, and he under the
strict control of, the United
States alone. Under our laws,
severe barriers are placed
upon handing over any of our
atomic weapons to ai.y other
nation or group. Speaking
broadly, 15 nations are pledg
ed to fight all for one and one
for all; but only one of those
nations has the right to say
when and how the big weapon
of wings ovt.head, jerked his
shooting-iron for a quick shot
upward.
His companion, not to be
outdone in whatever was be
ing shot at, swung for a quick
on. Luckily, only one of the
big black-billed birds came
tumbling earthward with wild
cries of distress.
Unfortunately, no state po
lice or game-warden was wit
ness to the illegal shooting as
the killers scampered away
from the dying swan. Just
why ordinarily decent men
will bring disgrace on the
hunting fraternity, will never
be fully explained. But it
might be well to warn such
scofflaws that the killing of
a swan brings a fine of a min
imum $25 with 30 days, or a
maximum of six months in
the county jail and $500 fine,
depending on the judgment of
the official empowered to levy
same..
F. J.Clifford,
Route 2, Box 200F,
Central Point, Ore.
Broke
To the Editor: A recent
headline in the Mail Tribune
says: "Forty million to be
spent on new freeway in the
Rogue River Valley."
In 1912. ven Aye vas driv
ing d e r old Brushvagen
around 'or Rogue walley.
Yackson county spent $44.95
taking some uf der vashboards
out of her Siskiyous and dor
cotton pickin' county vent
broke.
Everett Acklin,
Ashland, Ore.
This is identical to the line
adopted by Cuban Finance
Minister Ernesto (Che) Gue
varra in his visit to Red China
which was climaxed by an
nouncement of a $60 million
Chinese loan to Fidel Castro's
Communist controlled Hav
ana government.
The conclusion must be that
Cuba and Red China not only
see eye to eye but also that
in 1961 Castro's most export
able product in the western
hemisphere will be revolu
tion. Economic Problems
Militarily, the United States
already has taken steps to
blockade this type of Cuban
export, but there are other
factors more difficult to
counter.
Chief of these is the imbal-
S. WHITE
may be used.
FRANCE, the geographic
heart of NATO, likes this
not at all. And there is rising
resentment among some in
Britain at the American
"monopoly" of certain weap
ons, which, in case of war,
would after all be fired from
British soil, among other
places.
Now some earnestly believe
that any sharing of the atomic
weapon would only be to
spread the possibility of nu
clear holocaust. Others, of
whom this correspondent is
one, believe we must now
fish or cut bait. We must con
sent to give NATO a collec
tive atomic capability, or ad
mit that we are preparing to
let NATO go down the drain.
And if we are going to give
NATO atomic weapons for
use under its common civilian
authority, a great congres
sional battle is sure to come
over the new laws that will
be required. For these reasons
arming NATO will be resist
ed in Congress: pride in our
exclusive possession; fear of
the intentions and sense of re
sponsibility of this or that
allied nation.
BUT how long can you ex
pect to keep effective al
lies if you go on telling them
that they will be allowed to
carry the pistol while big
daddy alone will carry the
machine gun - having in mind
that most of them simply can
not make a machine gun on
their own?
Politically, the outlook is
plainly this: the sooner Mr.
Kennedy grasps the nettle the
less likely it is to sting him
overmuch. Profound legisla
tive changes such as this,
though at no time easy, will
be the harder to bring off the
longer he has been in office.
The hour to move, there
fore, will be while the nettle
is still small and the rose of
his popularity as a new Presi
dent is in full bloom.
(Copyright, 19G0, by United
Feature Syndicate, Inc.)
In the Day's News
By FRANK
As this is written, the pop
ular vote for President in 32
of our 50 states has been of
ficially counted and certified.
In the remaining IS states,
completion and certification
of the vote is near. The dis
patch containing this informa
tion adds that only a relative
handful of votes remains to
be officially counted and cer
tified. With approximately 68 mil
lion votes officially counted
and certified, Kennedy's lead
is just under 141,000.
TTERE'S a thought:
" You may have wondered at
times how important, in a big
election, let's say a NATION
AL election, your single vote
can be. Maybe you're busy.
Maybe you're tired. You've
had a hard day. The polls are
due to close in just a few min
utes. Is it worth while for you
to rush down and vote?
LET'S put it this way:
At the moment of writing
this, I'm unable to find ex
actly how many voting pre
cincts there were in the
United States on the 8th day
of November, 1961. But it
was in the neighborhood of
160,000.
Which is to say:
If just ONE MORE VOTER
in each precinct in the Unit
ed States of America had vot
ed for Nixon, he would have
won the POPULAR vote for
President.
You see
Your vote IS important.
It is conceivable-although,
of course, highly improbable
-that your single vote might
determine who would be the
winner of the popular vote
for President of the United
States.
America Due To Get
ance of Latin American econ
omies. A good example is Venezu
ela, where President Romulo
Betancourt apparently has
succeeded in quelling the
umpteenth attempt to over
throw his government.
On the hillsides surround
ing Caracas and in the lush
country-side away from the
capital's gleaming skyscrap
ers and the swimming pools
of luxurious tourist hotels,
the majority of Venezuela's
population live in poverty and
illiteracy.
These people are the nat
ural targets of the Castro agi
tators and the Communists.
The Betancourt govern
ment, dedicated to preserva
tion of democracy, is trying
for a more equitable distribu
tion of Venezuela's great nat
ural wealth and has launched
a massive educaion program.
Experience Heeded
Yet, before the child can
run he first must learn to
walk.
Matter of Fact bv j0,ePh ais0P
THE NEED FOR SOMEONE
Paris - If President-elect
Kennedy does not intend to
devalue the dollar, as one may
be certain, he hardly needs to
name his Sec
retary of the
Treasury
without much
further delay.
He also
needs to name
ST - -rSTJ I the right kind
hi NwajC-f o f Secretary
I 'wpj of the Treas-
' ury. The ap
joseph Aisop pointmcnt o f
the most frequently mention
ed candidate, Under Secretary
of State Douglas Dillon,
"would half solve the prob
lem there and then," accord
ing to one of the highest
French authorities. In any
case, it is essential to find a
man like Dillon, whose view
point and abilities will com
mand the confidence of the
international banking com
munity. There are two reasons for
this. First of all, the Euro
pean central banks, and espe
cially the Germany, French
and Italian central banks, now
hold large parts of their re
serves in dollars. They are of
course in duty bound to ex
change these dollar reserves
for gold if they think deval
uation is possible. If they do
this, in turn, devaluation will
become inevitable, under the
present antiquated American
currency laws.
NORMALLY, there would
be no danger of this kind
of action by . the European
central banks. But a man is
now needed to restore confi
dence, alas, because the man
wa have has done so much to
undermine confidence. That is
the second reason for quick
action.
The impression produced
by Secretary of the Treasury
Robert Anderson in Bonn was
bad enough; the impression he
produced in Paris was even
JENKINS
THAT brings us back to the
, seeming absurdity of our
electoral college system -I
under which it is possible for
I the LOSER of the popular
jvote to be the WINNER of
I the electoral vote.
Your may wonder how the
electoral college system came
to be embodied in our Consti
tution. The truth is that the
Founding Fathers - sincere,
able, patriotic, dedicated men
-FEARED the populace.
Perhaps they had reason to.
Our Constitution was framed
nearly two centuries ago. At
that time our people-most of
them immigrants from the
Old World-had had little
training in democracy. In gen
eral, the countries from which
they had come were gov
erned by hereditary mon
archs. The average level of
education was not too high.
The educated, experienced,
patriotic Founding Fathers
feared that the people of that
day were not competent to
govern themselves.
TTENCE the electoral college
system - undei which a
smaller number of men, ex
perienced men, competent
men, PATRIOTIC men, could
handle the situation.
That's about the long and
the short of it.
Pope Plans Annual
Message on Dec. 22
Vatican City-IUPD-Pope John
XXIII will broadcast his
Christmas message to the
world the night of Dec. 22,
earlier than any other year,
for the convenience of the
press and public.
An announcement Monday
niu me rupe will read niS
speecn ai n a.m. trai) over
the world-girdling Vatican Radio.
View
The peasant unacquainted
with modern agricultural
methods will not learn over
night even though he be given
his own land and his children
are sent to school.
In the next four years, the
government plans to spend
nearly $1 billion on agrarian
reform. It also is pressing a
large industrialization pro
gram.
But these are long-range
plans, while part of the prob
lem is immediate.
Betancourt recognizes the
"ferment of discontent"
among the millions of the
poor and the "skilful exploi
tators" by the Communists of
the financial ills inherited
from the recent dictatorship.
He has called for and prob
ably will receive additional
U.S. financial aid.
But to demands that he out
law the Communist party,
Betancourt replies that it
would be contrary to the
ideals of democracy.
worse. As Anderson made his
presentations here before
very large groups, word of his
apparent panic has spread far
and wide.
Add to this such symptoms
as the recent article in "Le
Figaro," by the brilliant yet
sober Raymond Aron, discus
sing dollar devaluation as a
definite possibility. The end
result could be a real crisis
of confidence.
Although such a crisis is
still unlikely, the risk is ser
ious enough to demand
prompt preventive a c ti o n.
The simplest action is for Ken
nedy to confer effective re
sponsibility "on someone who
does not seem to have lost all
confidence, both in his cur
rency and in himself." In that
event, according to the same
high French authority already
quoted, "The dollar problem
will soon cease to be dra
matic." CURST of all, there are all
sorts of technical meas
ures that can be taken, with
Important short term effects.
These range all the way from
firmer handling of the Lon
don gold market, to closer co
operative . arrangements be
tween the central banks con
cerned. And there are also
longer term technical meas
ures which can be very useful
indeed, like the reform of the
American currency statutes
recently advocated by the
senior partner of the Mor
gan Bank, Henry Alexander.
Then too, it is obviously
possible to make rapid, confidence-inducing
cuts in the
American government's swol
len expenditures overseas,
without doing any political or
strategic damage at all, A
vast, enormously costly mili
tary aid group in Bonn is not
really needed to teach the
Germans how to fight. Nor
is it really needful to fly the
children of American depen
dents a couple of hundred
miles a day in a special air
plane to. teach them their
ABCs in extra comfort. Other
examples might be cited.
The more permanent and
far reaching remedial meas
ures that may be required are
too complex for discussion
here. But it should certainly
be noted that the real cause
of the dollar crisis is a change
in American business habits.
American exports are current
ly "adequate" to pay for all
American imports plus all
government e x p e n d 1 1 ures
abroad on a very big scale;
and this capital outflow, plus
the outflow of hot money and
money seeking higher interest
rates, are the real causes o
the present trouble.
lOR President-elect Ken
nedy, this trouble can be
very grave indeed - if it is
unwisely neglected. One o
his most urgent political tasks
is to revive the spirit and the
hopes of the Western Allies,
now at an all-time low. And
besides all its other embar
rassments, a neglected dollar
crisis will sadly limit Ken
nedy's power to lead the West
for the crudely practical rea
son that America's wealth is
the fount of America's power.
As Raymond Aron sug
gested in the article already
cited, the devaluation of the
dollar is by no means un
avoidable, "but the American
authorities are working hard
to render it unavoidable."
Aron went on:
"Will the President-elect
resign himself in advance to
this result for which his pre
decessor will really be re
sponsible? I cannot believe it.
But in that case, it is an ur
gent task to dissipate all
doubts."
The first step that must be
taken for this purpose had
already been indicated,
(c) I960. New York
Herald Tribune Inc.