4 A
i in Southern Onma
wn '. """
fubtuhetj Daily cxccntSaturday by
n North FIT St.. Ph. SPM141
nUDI.ni T . nwsu,
BKHB GREY. Advertising Manager
CIKALU T. LAlOAM, ou.
K UC W. ALLEN JTU Hnf. Editor
I 4RL H. Adams, aty to hot
m . - n v fUlDUAHJ Titan aTMirnr
OUVE ST ARCHER. Women'i Editor
"An Inrfenendent Newroaoer
Entered as second claw matter at
. x . March 3. 1897
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"Official Paper of City of iHtdford
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United Press International
run Leasea wire
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Madford and Jackson County
History from the file! or The
Mail Tribune 10, 20, 30, 40
end 50 virt go-
10 TSARS AGO
f. prU It, ltSl (Wednesday)
The Medford city council
lut night postponed awarding
contracts for construction of
a city fire station and sewer
projects because of possible
flaua In the bids.
v ater in the city's Big
But springs pipeline will He
turned off for several hours
tomorrow to allow the new
totr 'line to be cut in to the
eid Intake at the springs.
n "BARS AGO
A I li. 1M1. (Friday) (
i im Arthur Perry's "Ye
T re Pot" column: "Mush-
t hunter here have been
successful of late, both
ittrg the fungus, and
soring, same, without
tliri doctor's phone
i d considerable daav
k.e to unsmudged fruit last
sight.
T "SARS AGO
. 1 II, 1(31 (Saturday)
imbers of a Congresslonv
committee on approprla
i will visit and inspect
t Lake and park facili-
i June. v'''!':
r case of dlptheria and
i of smallpox were rev
1 In S-'-im county dur
s (ist week.
" " i i-0 ''"i
. 1 i, ) 1 Hornby) ;
r. r...uit, chairman ot
V CA Athletic league,
s'inounced the spring
ill schedule,
i an is beina boosted lo-
i to have display ot
here that are made in
ilogue valley. ,
EARS AiiO 4 '
i 1 It. 1111 (Tuesday)
age one headline: "Fruit
I i Who Heated Saved Their
t ps; Past Week Has Wlt
r d Most Strenuous Battle
.Ji rrost in History of
I ifue River Valley-For Ten
yi Vigil Has Been Kept.".
There appear to be fewer
exporters of valley apples to
fngland this year.
VM Ycur I.Q.?
Nnm t tan cerrtcl b luMrior;
ami t tlf kt It exulhiitj fhr t
hi h 4.
1. What was the relation
ship between Augustine Wash
ington and George Washing
tent h 2- When a submarine sub
merges, does the temperature
ot the air within increase or
decrease? '
3. What city is called the
Eternal City?
' 4.:- A Fourdrlnler machine
U principally, used in which
industry?
5. Is the order of calling
the roll of states in national
; political conventions alpha
betlcal,' geographical, or by
population?
6.. What Is the name of the
highest military decoration
awarded by the U. S.?
.7.-Who was Henry-Wallace'!
predecessor in the office
of vice president?
8. Name the body of land
that" connects the North and
South American continents.
' 9. In which New England
eity was Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow born? .
10. In which country Is Ran
goon? Answers: 1. Half-brothers.
1. Increase. 3, Rome. 4. Paper
manufacture. S. Alphabetical.
.. Conqrattional Medal of
Honor. 7. John Nance Garner.
. tstbaaus ef Panama, t. Port
laa4. Main. IS. Burma. '
TUESDAY, APRIL II. 1961
Sherman County Charter
The Sherman county home rule study com
mittee is the first in the state to finish work on
drafting a proposed county charter.
The document runs to less than six pages, and
is a very simple charter, providing the general
outline for county government, and reserving the
active governmental powers to a new board of
county suprvisors and, by delegation, to a full
time, appointed county executive.
Existing county officials are eliminated under
the proposed charter, but the supervisors may
appoint such officials,
tney deem necessary.
THE supervisors five
school district in the
$50 per month plus travel
The supervisors would have extremely limited
legislative authority, and the charter specifically
provides, "The people of this county reserve for
themselves the right to propose laws or resolu
tions and the right to amend the county charter."
The supervisors' principal authority would be
in the buderetinp- nrocess. in aooointment of of
ficials and in making the
addition to those rights
vided to counties.
THIS may be an excellent charter for Sherman
It does not follow that
for Jackson, or any other, county in Oregon.
The reason for home
can work out charters
situation, and what might be right in Sherman
(population 2,430, area 830 square miles) may be
all wrong for Jackson county (population 73,316,
area 2,817 square miles).
A county less than one-third the size of Jack
son, with a population
Central Point, does not
problems we do, and therefore the form of gov
ernment need not probably should not be
identical.
Without commenting
Sherman county charter,
but only academically.
proposed for Jackson county, then will be the
time to decide whether it is right for us. E.A.
Varieties of Freedorn
.. One man's freedom is another man's injustice.
And vice versa. ' , ; ;
' Sound paradoxical? It isn't, really. It is all
part and parcel of the development of rational
government, and the protection of one man's
rights from another's depredations.
Under our theory of government, all men are
free to do whatever they want just so long as
they do not infringe on the rights of others.
Thus, men are restrained from committing
murder -the ultimate crime. And, as populations
have grown and society become more complex,
the restrictions have grown and grown. They
have, in truth, limited unfettered freedom. But
freedom which injuries others isn't freedom at
all it is license. V
THIS all may sound theoretical and abstract.
Dllf in .ThMrann inimfu fnia iraai. if ion'f of oil
abstract. It is a very live issue, one which is being
debated hotly, and of which we will hear more.
The debate at the moment surrounds such
things' as county subdivision ordinances, zoning,
planning and building codes.
Yes, some of these things involve certain re
straints on unfettered action. But, in truth, if
properly applied, they result in greater not less
freedom. . . . 1 .
MAN can say :
., "This is my property. I 'own it. I can do anything
I want on my own property. And no one is going to '
tell me otherwise."
This is. fine; this is freedom up to a point.
This. point is reached when, by his use of his
own property, he begins infringing on the rights
of others, by depreciating the value of their prop
erty, by limiting their freedom.
Does a man have an unrestricted right, say,
to establish a wrecking yard on his property, if,
in doing so, he damages the property values, the
peace and quiet, the rights of privacy, of his
neighbors? .
.i t .-'.,-
WHICH should predominate in such a case?
It VbV4Wa VV AJ HO TV All Cb ill iliabld
what cost, inconvenience or loss to his neighbors?
Or .the "freedom" of his neighbors to enjoy
their property unimpaired bv up-lv scenes or
other distractions?
This is the problem,
amental aspect And the
our enure social structure, through all phases of
our community life.
AS indicated, this is more than a theoretical de
Viafa Tf la nMl mlnnnnln ni.nnli.nl aha Wn..n
wotc. ib .o an iiii.ciiocijr pi actual uue, licit:
and now.
The problem is this:
We must design our
mit a maximum of individual freedom on one
hand ; and on the other hand the safeguards must
furnish protection from the admitted abuses
which can arise out of unlimited freedom which
verges onto license when it damages others.
This is not an easy task. It is one which has
occupied the best brains of America ever since
our nation was founded. And it will be a con
tinuing task, here and everywhere, as population
continues to grow, and as society continues to
become more complicated and condensed E. A.
boards or commissions as
of them, one from each
county would receive
expenses, and that is all.
rules governing them, in
and powers now pro
it would be a good one
rule is so that counties
applicable to their , own
little more than that of
have the same kind of
on the merits of the
we find it of interest,
When there is a charter
' .
reduced to its most fund
ramifications go through
legal safeguards to per
Dennis, the Menace .
A PERSON HAS TO SET tSD TO VAWC GLASSES IF
she's eom to vzfAMOis some myj .
Communications
Latter to the Editor must bear the name and address of the writer.
although under certain circumstances the usa of a pen name or iniial
for publication Is permissible. The Mail Tribun reserves the right to
edit all letters with a view to clarification and condensaton. Letters
submitted for publication must not exceed 400 words .The letters
printed in his column do not necessarily represent the views of the
paper; In fact the contrary is often
Registered Rabbits
To the Editor: At this time
of year many people just start
ing, and some trying to im
prove on what they already
have, buy rabbits. It appears
rabbits are being sold as reg
istered rabbits because they
have tattoo markings in their
ears. These do not necessarily
mean the rabbit is registered.
More often than not this is an
Identification mark made by
the grower.
Any rabbit officially reg
istered will have a number
followed by a letter tattooed
in its right ear (always in the
right ear and always with the
letter following the number),
also .a certificate of registra
tion. The registration certific
ate should be properly filled
out on the back and signed
over by the seller at the time
of sale. The new owner, NOT
the seller, will send the pa
pers with 25c to the American
Rabbit Breeders Association,
4323 Murray ave., Pittsburgh
17, Penn. When it is done and
everything is in order the As
sociation will return a cer
tificate. No rabbit can be reg
istered till It has reached
adult rabbit weight for its
own particular breed.
In order for a rabbit to be
registerable it Is required to
have a complete pedigree cov
ering three full generations,
no ancestors missing. Of
course the pedigree is only
the basic step in registering
a rabbit. The individual rab
bit Itself besides having the
pedigree must pass all the
Standard of Perfection re
quirements for the particular
rabbit breed in question, when
examined by an official reg
istrar. It is Impossible to
squeeze these requirements in-,
to this space but 1 will say
the rabbits cannot have any
visible faults besides many
not so easy to see.
An example of error In rab
bit qualifications occurred in
a recent article In the Med
ford Mail Tribune, quote ". . ..
Growers association favor the
New Zealand white rabbit.
This large, pure white rabbit
will average 0 to 9V4 pounds."
The correct weight for New
Zealand White rabbits is does,
10 to 12 pounds, and bucks,
0 to 11 pounds. To be specific,
Irt order for a New Zealand
White doe to qualify for reg
istration she must weight at
least 10 pounds but not more
than 12 pounds. The same ap
plies to the buck within his
weight limits.1
American Rabbit Breeders
Assoc.
By H. L. Gllddon
Representative for SW
Oregon
243 South Stage rd.
Medford, Ore.
Awful Thing To Do
To the Editor: I was just
reading about the new Fed
eral building.
If the new post office is
going to be built on the site
next to the Library Park on
Holly street, it sure will put
a lot of old timers and retired
people out of homes.
These people have had
their own homes for a good
many years and to move
them would be an awful thing
to do.
It seems to me that the Med
ford Planning Commission
needs some new blood, as do
a lot of other state and city
organizations. I for one, and
a good many more of the peo
ple who live in this area, are
not going to write to our con
gressman. How would some of these
said Planning Commissioners
like it if they had lived and
owned this property for 20
or 30 years, as - have many
of these people in this area.
and then tell them they had
to move. Boy would they
squawk.
As for writing Durno who
has done nothing for Oregon
since elected, ohl of course
if he thought that It would
MEDFORD MAIL
the case.
cause someone trouble and
grief, he would sure recom
mend the bill.
What is the matter with
taking the blocks on .West
Fifth and West Sixth, Grape
and Fir streets? That big
warehouse on West Sixth, be
tween Grape and Fir streets
is sure an eyesore. Of course
it would hit a couple of big
people, but why take it out
on the little people who have
bought their homes, and are
getUng along in years, to be
transplanted? This location
that I have just mentioned
would be centrally located
and no traffic problems, as
some say about the place that
has been mentioned on South
Riverside and Central.
As for motels, well I have
seen' quite a few in Rogue
Valley and Medford, and I
have yet to see any of them
filled up winter or summer.
It seems to me they would
try to get some industry in
Medford that would do away
with unemployment prob
lems. Let's live and let live
for a change. .
B. F. Smith,
. 136 South Holly st.,
; Medford
P.S.-I am in this zone and
have lived here several years
and hoped . to make it my
home from now on,, where
the Planning Commission is
trying to have the new civic
center. -
The Same Error
.To the Editor: Your error
seating Judge Main , on the
bench in place of Judge Kelly
caused me to make the same
error you did. I therefore
apologize to Judge Main.
Malemute Slim
White City, Ore.
Spare Them a Calamity
To the Editor: A recommen
dation by the County Plan
ning Commission, reported
last week in The Mail Trib
une, has caused deep concern
of the residents South of
Talent.
This recommendation, by
divided vote, to the County
Court to approve a license for
a 9-acre auto wrecking yard,
extending right up to the
back yard of adjacent homes,
shows an utter lack of con
sideration for owners of fine
residences in this region. The
courage of some members of
the Planning Commission in
standing out against foisting
this, monstrous thing upon
these residents is warmly ap
preciated. .
The writer, A teacher at
S.O.C., found old Highway
a desirable location for a sub
urban home, and he has
watched with pride and satis
faction the development and
improvement of this region
into a residential area. It is
most shocking therefore to
read that any one with con
sideration for the welfare of
the residents in this area
would recommend the estab
lishment of a junk yard near
by.
It is earnestly hoped that
the County Court will spare
the families of this region
from the calamity of living
by a junk yard.
Loren E. Messenger
Route 1. Box 33,
Talent, Ore.
Correct Solutions
To the Editor: Since your
communicants cannot agree
on the following issues, shall
squander a few moments to
give, them the correct solu
tion. UNEMPLOYMENT: C u t
wages in the middle. Fold,
and cut again. Then maybe
someone can afford to hire
help.
COLOR LINE: Free all
colored men from military
service. If unfit to eat in our
gobble-shops, why give them
the honor of protecting our
precious white hides?
HOSPITALIZATION AND
MEDICARE: This one is
TRIBUNE. MEDFORD. OREGON
Cold War
Back To
By PHIL NEWSOM
UPI Foreign News Analyst
Generalissimo F r a n c i seo
Franco is about to complete
the long, hard road back to in-
PWS ternational re-
"'gj'J spectability.
x n i 8 win
V'i have been
- 1 achieved
A1 when British
'-ir A Foreign Secre
V I tary Lord
w I Home pays an
official call on
MfJ Franco in Ma-
Newiom. drid next
month. It will be the first
time in Franco's 22 years of
power that a British official
of Home's rank has visited
Spain.
It follows a pattern set by
French Foreign Minister Mau
rice Couve de Murville, Presi
dent Eisenhower, John Foster
Dulles and West German For
eign Minister Heinrich von
Bretano. ;
For Franco it is the end of
an international quarantine
Strictly Personal
By Sidney J. Harris
(c) General Features Corp.
BE ABLE TO ADMIT
FRAILTIES
The willingness to admit
ignorance is often an endear
ing trait, and it is surprising
h o w, in so
many cases,
our pride and
vanity inhibit
us from the
frank admis
sion that we
do not know.
A noted
physician was
telling me at
dinner last
night that one of his biggest
problems in a "teaching" hos
pital is to get the internes and
residents to admit that they
are baffled by some proce
dures. '
"They seem to feel it is a
reflection on their expensive
medical education if they
can't immediately apply their
book-learning to some case,"
he said. "The most serious
blunders, of course, are made
by those who jefuse to con
fess their limitations."
In the young, as in the old,
however, such limitations
(freely admitted) can win our
sympathy and respect. Those
who commonly try to do more
than they can do are usually
motivated by vanity more
than by valor. On the racing
courses, for instance, it is al
ways the immature driver
who takes the most perilous
chances; the brave veteran
driver always has a healty
fear of exceeding his limita
tions. In his newly published
book, "A Victorian in Orbit,"
Sir Cedric Hardwicke re
Harrli
Washington Report
By William S. White
(ci United Feature Syndicate
DER ALT
Washington The extraor
dinary importance of being
Konrad Adenauer-and the ex
traordinary power of personal
character and
personal hon
or is being
curiously il-
1 u s trated in
the old West
German Chan
cellor s c u r
rent visit to
the United
States.
White
S e v enteen
years ago
this very spring
American and British troops
were marshaling all over the
island of England for the
greatest invasion in history
against the most bloody-minded
enemies in the long story
of warfare, the Nazi Germans
dug in on the soil of France.
This spring, the leader of
the free Germany which emer
ged from the defeat of the
Nazis is here in the United
States as an honored and
trusted indeed an almost rev
ered guest.
TT IS true, of course, that
American self-interest and
high politics as well as senti
ment have given the heads of
an ex-enemy land this high,
peculiar status among us. For
he leads the free world's out
post in Europe, the West Ger
man republic; he is an in-
simple. Refrain from getting
sick or injured.
STRAY CATS: Since hu
mans cannot agree on this
issue, why not leave it to the
cats? They might see eye to
eye.
HOME RULE: Agree with
the wife from the start. Your
jaw will never stand the argu
ment hers will.
SMOG: If you can grope
through the murk to the mail
box, I'll leave this one to you.
Jack Fincl
3710 Hilsmger rd.
Medford.
Realignments Bringing Franca
Respectability Among Allies
dating from his joining the
Berlin-Rome-Tokyo axis short
ly before the beginning of
World War II.
Shifting Attitudes
Neither the United States
nor its European allies have
forgotten the fanfare with
which Franco greeted a tri
umphant Hitler after Nazi ar
mies overran France in the
fall of 1940. Nor his outspo
ken hope that the Axis pow
ers would win the war.
Nor, no doubt, has Franco
forgotten the repeated Allied
snubs after the war, the fact
that he was barred specifical
ly from United Nations and
from receiving Marshall Plan
aid.
' But although neither side
has forgotten, time brings
changes.
As Russia and its former
allies became Cold War en
emies, Spain's strategic posi
tion overlooking both the At
lantic and the Mediterranean
became of paramount impor
tance. '
counts the most moving mo
ment he has ever seen in the
theater.
It was seeing Ellen Terry
when she was close ' to 80,
playing in the trial scene in
"The Merchant of Venice." As
she approached Portia's "qual
ity of mercy" speech, her face
suddenly became bleak and
lost. She struggled vainly for
a moment, then moved down
to the footlights.
"I am a very silly old lady,"
she said, "and I cannot re
member what I have to say."
.
Almost to a man, Hard
wicke recalls, the audience
shouted the lines and cheered
as she smiled her thanks and
returned to her place. She
played the rest of the scene
to an enthralled audience.
A 'lesser actress (and a les
ser person) might have tried
to bluff her way through, or
might have collapsed in panic.
But Miss Terry did not mind
confessing her lapse of mem
ory, and she was not too
proud to call upon the good
will of the audience, which
always responds to such ges
tures of human frailty.
It is our strength that may
attract people to us, but it
is our weakness that makes
them like us. We do not feel
comfortable even with the
great unless they reval some
flaw, some common touch of
human weakness, some link
with our own inadequacies.
And, by an iron law of
psychology, the desire to seem
always strong and knowing is
a symptom of some structural
weakness in the personality.
The doctor who needs to play
God is the furthest removed
from Him.
dispensable watching ally
against the Russian hordes
just to the East. . '
This, however, is by no
means all of it. For more im
portant even than his position
in the allied jpower structure
is his nature as a human1 be
ing. A man who always fought
Hitler and what he stood for,
Adenauer has personally since
then reclaimed the decency
and integrity of the German
people.
An unshakable friend of
the West, he is also an un
shakable enemy of his own
homeland of that odd infec
tion of savagery which so
often in the past cursed the
Germans in Germany. He is
more than a great political
leader; he is an example, at
its very best, of that thing
called European civilization.
A little while ago, his prin
cipal political rival, Mavor
Willy Brandt of West Ger
many, was also here. He, too,
was welcomed everywhere.
But to this observer there is
a great difference neverthe
less in Washington's response
to the middle-aged and clever
Brandt and to the massive
and laconic 85-year old Ad
enauer.
TJOTH evoke respect here.
But Adenauer perhaps
because of the somber dignity
of his years and achievement
and perhaps because of a per
sonality having the weathered
strength of a great old tree
draws a special regard. It can
be seen more easily than it
can be described.
He seems to represent some
quality of timelessness; of a
traditional, patriarchial lead
ership; some strange and rare
victory of age over youth
rather than of youth over age,
as it usually goes.
Nowhere in all the chan
cellor's official rounds here
was this more plainly true
than in his brief appearance
before the United States Sen
ate. This, too, is a traditional,
Political objections, once
enough to touch off anti-Franco
demonstrations in the
streets of Paris and London,
receded in the face of the new
danger.
In 1953, the United States
and Spain signed agreements
providing for U. S. construc
tion and use of air and naval
bases in exchahge for U. S.
economic and military assist
ance to Spain.
That U. S. aid to Spain now
totals more than $1 billion.
In 1955. Spain joined the
United Nations. '
Britain and France, once
bitterly opposed to Franco
Spain's membership in NATO,
now travel to Madrid to dis
cuss western defenses with
Franco. ,
Still Not in NATO '
Spain is not now, nor will
it be in the foreseeable future,
a member of NATO. .
But it seems almost as much
by Franco's choice as any other.
Matter of Fact By Joseph AUop
- (c) New York Herald Tribune Syndicate
WARNINGS APLENTY
Saigon In the spring of
1959, the Communist leaders
of North Vietnam and their
senior part
ly..! ners in the
t.ZjS is.remun n a a
oeen waning
1 fr over five
, V years, with in-
J creasing impa-
Pected weak-
Ij ness and divi-
" " sion to bring
Auop South Viet
nam into their grip, Instead,
the South Vietnamese govern
ment 'of President Ngo Dinh
Diem had been making solid
progress. On May 13, 1959,
the Central Committee of the
North Vietnamese' Communist
Party therefore gave the
watchword after a meeting in
Hanoi. The time had come,
said the Committee, to "strug
gle heroically and perserver
ingly to smash" the govern
ment of President Diem.
Except by a very few, this
warning was almost wholly
ignored. But towards the end
of August in that same sum
mer, the first open attacks
were launched - not in South
Vietnam but across the border
of Northern Laos. This first
invasion of Laos was not
pressed home, but it quickly
produced the desired result.
The incursions across the
northern border quickly drew
into the northern provinces
almost all of the small, ill
trained Laotian army. South
ern Laos, which borders on
South Vietnam and Cambodia,
was thus left quite unguarded.
Communist infiltrators then
made their way down the so
called Ho Chih Minh trail, to
establish rear area guerilla
bases for rest and supply
purposes, both in the Sara
vane and Attopeu regions of
Southern Laos and the border
provinces of "neutralist" Cam
bodia. IY THE autumn of 1959,
" the time was ripe to call
up the members of the Com
munist underground who had
been left behind in South
Vietnam when the country
was partitioned by the Gene
va Accord of 1954. Few south
ern , Communists who had
gone north were now sent
back to the south. After their
first-hand experience of the
"people's paradise" the great
a timeless, a patriarchial kind
of body. And here "der alt"
(the old one) was most per
fectly at home.
His little talk was received
by the Senate with a warmth
rarelv eiven to that of anv
man. Some who most applaud
ed him had lost sons to Ger
man fire in the war; some had
themselves gone through Ger
man fire.
A LL the same, if a strictly
confidential poll had been
tanen as, of course, it was
not-this correspondent would
have had no doubt of the
result. "Der alt' would carry
any popularity contest in the
Senate above any other allied
statesman, not even excluding
British Prime Minister Harnlri
Macmillan.
.Macmillan would run ahead
in such a private poll among
the southerners and perhaps
among the old-Yankee tvnes
of easterners. But he would
finish second among the mem
bership as a whole.
Beyond doubt there is an
irony here here in a pnnntrv
founded by British men and
resting upon British law and
British-made institutions of
freedom and speaking the
great tongue of the British
race. Anynow, tnere it Is.
PsrhaDS it is because dpr
alt has done so much against
such great odds. And perhaps
it is also because he has con
quered age in the eyes of a
forum where age is a far more
common thing than youth.
r.O .data
n
The Spanish government
feels that this country is in
directly linked with the West,
ern defensive system through
its treaties with the United
States and, consequently, does
nc; need to be a member of
NATO.
Further, there is among
Spanish official circles even
a reluctance to join the de
fensive organization.
This springs from the lack
of support Portugal received,
primarily from the United
States, in the recent United
Nations attacks on her policies
in Portuguese Angola..
In any. event, Home's visit
Is expected to be a big step
toward improving relations
between Britain and Spain.
Another important visitor
soon will be Germany's finan
cial expert, Ludwig Erbard.
From this may come Spain's
integration in the European
Common Market' - another
step toward respectability.
majority were no longer trust
worthy; -
Instead, small numbers of
hard .core northern training
cadres were used to form the
first of the new South Viet
namese guerilla battalions.
These first battalions seem to
have been formed in the
trackless depths of the Plaine
des Jones, conveniently close
to both the Cambodian and
Loatian support bases.
Before Christmas of 1959,
the guerilla war on President
Diem's government was start
ed in deadly earnest. The first
battalions ready in the Plaine
des Jones moved secretly into
their assigned provinces; they
applied the familiar pressures
of mingled terror and per
suasion; and thus they spawn
ed additional companies and
sections in each province. The
caches of arms, also left be
hind by the Communists in
1954, supplied equipment.
By the winter of 1960 much
of the countryside in many of
the provinces was already in
Communist hands, at least by
night. Further bases, like that
in the Plaine des Jones, had
also begun to be established
in other especially impene
trable areas such as the Ca
mau Delta and the forested
region not far from Saigon
and just beyond the town of
Can Tho. -
In September, 1960, a North
Vietnamese Communist Party
Congress reiterated t the ear
lier declaration of under
ground war by the Party's
Central Committee. Almost si
multaneously, the attack on
Laos was renewed, this time
with open Soviet logistic sup
port. The Communist Pathet
Lao forces, previously defeat
ed by the Loatian Army, soon
gained the upper hand after
being greatly stiffened by bor
der crossers from North Viet-'
llEANWHILE the formation
of additional battalions
began in the Camau Delta,
the Plaine des Jones and the
other difficult areas where the
Communists had their South
Vietnamese bases. The scale
of the effort may be gauged
from one of these bases which
President Diem's paratroopers
recently discovered and de
stroyed. Besides mess hall, lecture
hall, makeshift infirmary and
other main buildings, the
base in the jungle clearing
had close to 300 palm-huts-or
accommodation for some
where between 600 and 1,000
men.
At the present juncture,
therefore, the Communists
have at least three, and more
probably six, new battalions
which are ready to move out
of their jungle protected train
ing bases and join the guerilla
war. In addition; a ceasefire
in Laos, if and when it comes,
will probably release three to
four thousand border crossers
for potential use in South
Vietnam. i
The fact that these large
Communist reinforcements
may soon enter the strug?'e
in South -Vietnam is triDly
significant in view of another
fact. In a few provinces, like
Kien Hoa where this reporter
spent some days with the
courageous Colonel Thao, the
Communists have lately bewi
losing ground. In many others,
the struggle is evenly bal
anced, and in some areas the
Communists have been gain
ing. Overall, you miaht say
that the South Vietnamese
army is like a bottle just large
enough to contain the existing
Communist strength. But let
the Communists pour in much
more strength, and they may
not be contained.
If the record is surveyed,
it will be seen that there have
been warnings aplenty since
1959. most of which were
blandly ignored by the Amer
ican government until very
recently. But a further warn
ing is in order now, for this
can become a supremely dan
gerous situation in painfully
short order.