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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (June 24, 1962)
SUNDAY. JUNE 24. 1963 MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD. OREGON Vastness of Government Makes It Vulnerable to Corruption (Editor's Not: Tht Mc CUlUn commit! of th U. 8. Sanat starts digging Into tht Billi Sol Elite cut Wednld. How will tht Eitai cat affact tha eongraisional alactiona in tha fall? Thii diipatch tracai tha history ol cor ruption in tha ladaral gov arnmant, talli why it It io difficult to ilamp it out and explains what affact scan dali hara had on political partial in tha pail.) By HARRY FERGUSON Unitad Praia Intarnational Washington - HTH - The United Slates government spends money at the rate of about $9 million an hour, Sun days and holidays included. That much sugar Is bound to attract plenty of flics, and every President - Democratic or Republican - has to live with the nightmare thought that somewhere somebody may be sticking his hand il legally Into the federal till. Corruption in government Is as old as government it self. There was monkey busi ness about grain storage in Romp 2,000 years before Pe cos, Tex., became the nation's best known small town. There are several reasons why the federal government is vulnerable to anybody who wants to make a fast buck: Siaggtring Amount -The staggering amount of money that is poured out. It ,p i:y v t ' i hm VN FEDERAL CORRUPTION Corruption In government is as old as government itself. The staggering amount of money used in government business, the vague and con tradictory laws under which federal em ployees work, and the comparatively meager salaries employees receive are reasons why the federal government is vulnerable to anyone who wants to make a fast buck. Current target of investigation is Billie Sol F.slos, left, whose wheeling and dealing has made Pecos, Tex., the nation's best known small town. In the previous administration there was Sherman Adams, center, in 1958 photo, who got into trouble over his rela tion ship with textile magnate Bernard Gold fine. At right, in 193S photo, is former In terior Secretary Albert B. Fall, central fig ure in the Teapot Dome episode, grand daddy of all Washington scandals. (UPI) is difficult for the mind to en compass the figure of one bil lion. Starting with the date of Christ's birth, a person would have to spend about $1,400 a day to be rid of $1 billion now. The federal government Is budgeted to spend more than 80 billion a year. No Prcsi- dent and no committee ap pointed by a President can make an on-the-spot check of every expenditure. Too much money is passing through too many hands too fast. -The loose, vague and con tradictory laws under which federal employees work. One man's favor to a friend is an other man's crime. President K e n n e d y has pointed out that under pres ent laws a postal clerk can be sent to prison for helping his mother file a routine claim for a tax refund. E it a cab inet officer can legally share the profits after interceding with the Federal Communica tions Commission to award a license for a valuable tele vision station to a business associate. Meager Salarias -The comparatively meager salaries paid by the govern ment. Almost any person in the top three echeloni of the government could double or triple his income tomorrow by resigning and going into private business. So many of them do that it has become a serious problem. For those who remain, the temptation to pick up some thing on the side is always present. Jerry R. Holleman resigned the other day as assistant sec retary of labor. His salary vas $20,000 a year, but be cause of the expense of offi cial entertaining, he couldn't make ends meet. Last Janu ary a friend offered Holleman $1,000 to tMe him over a crisis and it was accepted. The friend was Billia Sol Estes. There is no evidence that Holleman ever did anything to help Estes, but hi3 case points up the fact that unless a federal official has a pri vate income, he is likely to find the financial going rough. The American public first became conscious of corrup tion in government after the Civil War. A big war almost always causes wasteful spend ing and graft and from the end of the conflict until 1872 con gress passed legislation de signed to stop the leaks. It didn't work, and that i why Kennedy is urging new and workable laws today. The odd fact is that In most cases a comparatively small amount of money is involved. BLISTER RESISTANT HOUSE PAINT A major achievement In paint technology ...developed during 10 years of rigid field testing . . . Treasure Tones Super Poly-Ester Paint is the best way known to assure years of attractive appearance for exterior siding, sash and trim . . . even in extremely moist climates. Super Polyester Paint is the closest thing yet to a blister-proof paint... also resists peeling, fading, chalk ing, cracking, staining, smog, fumes and mil dew. Come in and sea tha popular new colors now available in this finest of all house paints. Why Buy Cheap TWO-COAT Paint When Treasure Tones Covert in ONE? MEDFORD PAINT & WALLPAPER STORE 6th and Holly, diagonally across from Poit Office Phone 772-9321 Grants Pass Man Gets Contract MiriiMiilnal A contract for the recon struction of eight miles of the Rogue River Trail has been awarded to Walter Elchler, 711 NE Beacon dr., Grants Pass, according to Kenneth W. Jensen, Glendale Unit forester of the bureau of land management. The portion nf the trail to be reconstructed Is located be tween Bronco creek and Kel sey creek, he said. A BLM crew reworked the trail from Kelsey creek to Mule creek last year. Jensen noted that consider able interest was shown in the contract by a dozen pros pective bidders who Inspected the trail with a BLM forester recently. Lowest of Nina Bids Eichler's bid of $2,720 was the lowest of nine bids sub mitted. He will commence work at once. Although the trail can be used safely now if care Is ex ercised, the bureau of land management plans lo com plete the reconstruction of the trail from its beginning on the Ml. Reuben rd. 2V4 miles northwest of Alameda bridge to the western edge of the Medford BLM district at Marial. Work soon will he com pleted on the Tucker Flat Recreation site where the Rogue River Trail crosses Mule creek near Marial, Jen sen said. However, it can be used now by trail travelers and persons who drive to the site via the Kelsey and Marial roads from Grants Pass or Glendale. Motor vehicles are not allowed on the Rngue River Trail. tr J&hr ton -JK '4' Sherman Adams, assistant to President Eisenhower, resign ed when the facta came out about his relationship with Bernard Goldfine, a New Eng land textile magnate. They were long-time friends and Goldfine presented Adams with a vicuna over coat, paid some hotel bills for him and loaned him an orien tal rug for his Washington living room. The whole thing came to less than $5,000, and it is doubtful whether Gold fine got anything for his money. No Preferential Treatment Adams did make a few telephone inquires at various departments here, but insisted he never asked or received preferential treatment for his friend. The man who got really hurt was Goldfine be cause the publicity focused the attention of the authori ties on him and he finally went to prison for other rea sons. All the facts are not in yet, but most of the talk in the Billie Sol Estes case has been about his offers to buy cloth ing and shoes for persons in the department of agriculture who were in position to help him. But that was enough to cause a flurry of resignations and firings in the department because a congressional elec tion is coming up this fall and the Democrats are going to do everything possible to deprive the Republicans of a political issue. Adams, incidentally, might have survived in the White House but for an election in Maine in the fall of 1958. Stood Behind Adams Eisenhower stood staunchly behind Adams, but a Demo cratic victory in Maine was interpreted by some Republi cans as being caused by the vicuna coat and the hotel bills. The pressure on Adams to get out was irresislabie. Like the gentle rain, charges of corruption fall on Demo crats and Republicans impar tially. John Maragon, a White House hanger-on without any specific job, got the Truman administration into trouble. He wangled permission in 1945 to make a trip to the restricted areas of Europe in behalf of a perfume manufac turer. The owner of the com pany gratefully sent seven deep freezers to prominent residents of Washington, in cluding Mrs. Truman, Ma). Gen. Harry Vaughn, Truman's military aide, spent many hours before congressional committees denying that he used his White House influ ence to further the interests of private industry. ' t Whenever corruption charges are brought there is an immediate cry of "another Teapot Dome." This was the granddaddy of them all, and involved some real big mon ey. The damage actually was done when Warren G. Hard ing was president and too pre occupied with poker games with his cronies to keep a sharp eye on what was hap pening in the executive de partments of the government. The facts came out after Harding's death when Calvin Coolidge was in the White House. The Navy had oil re serves in the Teapot Dome area cf Wyoming and Elk Hills '.n California, worth a total of $200 million. Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall pursuaded Hard ing to transfer jurisdiction of the reserves from the Navy Department to Interior. Then, without competitive bidding, he leased the reserves to pri vate oil organizations. Ed ward L. Doheny got Elk Hills and Harry F. Sinclair got Tea pot Dome. All Three Acquitted All three were acquitted on conspiracy charges in which it was alleged that Fall re ceived $100,000 from Doheny. It also was charged out of court that Fall received $300, 000 from Sinclair. Fall then was brought to court on a separate charge of accepting bribes, was convicted and sen tenced to a $100,000 fine and one year in prison. It is difficult to say whe ther the voters remember federal corruption when the time comes to go to the polls. Teapot Dome did not hurl Coolidge or the Republicans. They won an easy election in 1924. Truman survived sev eral Investigations and the Alger Hiss case to score the political upset of the century by defeating Thorras E. Dew ey In 1948. Tightening The Laws Kennedy has urged a tight ening of the laws to prevent corruption and conflict of in terest in the federal govern ment, Rep. John Lindsay, R N.Y., has introduced a bill that would make it fairly clear what and what not a federal employee should do. But it still will be diffi cut for a man to determine whether he was being bribed. If you buy a friendly drink for a senator or a cabinet officer, are you bribing him? The only man in Washington who has attacked the problem head-on is Sen. Paul Doug las, D.-Ill. "If a man sends me a pres ent worth more than $2 50," he said, "I send it back to him." ON TRAIL A group of prospective bidders inspected the Rogue River Trail recently In preparation for submitting bids on widening and making other improvements. Here, prospective bidders are shown hiking along the trail to be improved. for . . . FINER FURNITURE P. I S26 EAST MAIN STREET " MEDFORD. OREGON Ncit lo Winnlt's Styla Salon ttaiLcuti Eat Main 5trt PRESTONS Convenient New locationl ft IPj The boys and girls in Medford and the Rogue River Valley are out of school now to enjoy a summer of fun. PLEASE help them to keep enjoying it! Youngsters will still be going to school play grounds and playing at home . . . they are apt to dash into the street anytime . . . into the path of YOUR car. The Medford Traffic Safety Council urges YOU to make SAFE DRIVING a very person al responsibility. Have your car thoroughly checked for safety . . . be doubly careful to observe traffic signs and regulations . . . watch out for children everywhere and give them the right of way! a juan tjjiui.. 1 1 1 ! Published in cooperation with (he Mealfer! Traffic Safety Ceuecil y The Mail Tribune $OBBING $IMS $UMMER SAVING$ E!""n ) GYM-DANDY fcS) P7 As Shown '. 24.88 Without Slide 17.88 LARGER SET WITH 3 SWINGS SLIDE AND SKY SKOOTER 29 88 ITOPMTOB SAVE!. !..mm.kAMi' SAVE!! VS I SAVE!. Sfsv5 andBuy Made of super itrong Polystyrene. It is durable, withstands rough treatments. Sanitary and practically non - breakable. Corrugated carrying case. FOR this new thrifty way! : Now . . . you can beat the heat for pennies a day J Enjoy years of refreshing, washed, filtered COOL air anywhere in your home, office. No special installation, just plug into ordinary household outlet. 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