4 A
UeofordJS&Tbibuni
"EvSryona in-Southern Oregon
Reada TIM UIlTrtbun2
fbiiihedafiy except Saturday by
3S North FlrJSt, PhH-eMl
ROBERT W RUHL. Editor
HERB CREV AdvertUlnj Manait
r.FRALD T LATHAM. Bua Mgr
rllC W ALLEN JR, Mn. Editor
VARL H ADAMS. City Editor
HARR CH1PMAN. Tele, Editor
RICHARD JEWETT, Sporu Ed tor
OLIVE STARCHER Women Editor
DALE ERlCKSONCIrcuUUonlg
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Zntered aa ncond claw matter
Medtord Oregon under Act 01
March 3. 1897
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Flight o' Time
Medford end Jackson County
History from the files of The
Mail Trlbun. 10, 20, 30, 40
and 50 year ago.
10 "YEARS AGO
March 25, 1953 (Wednesday)
Two military leaders arrive
here in connection with scries
of appearances with a Nation
al Guard inlormation pro
gram. h. L. Clark appointed trust
olliccr of the First National
Bank of Portland, Medford
branch.
20 YEARS AGO
March 25, 1943 (Thursday) .
Personal state Income tax
returns do not have to be fil
ed until April 15 and may be
paid quarterly; earlier dead
line was Aoril 1 and pay
ments onlv annually and
cpmi-annuallv.
From Arthur Perry's "Ye
Smudge Pot" column: "Under
mcnt rationing rules butchers
will have to shade their eyes
with their hands to see the
meat on the scales, instead of
weighing their hand too."
90 YEARS AGO
March 25, 1933 (Saturday)
Survey of county road up
Jloxy Ann is under way;
dream of Medford Lions club
for many years.
Testimony begins In circuit
court charging sheriff with
"laxity and Inefficiency."
40 YEARS AGO
March 25, 1923 (Sunday)
Copco advertises for labor
ers on Klamalh river dam;
work too far from highway;
may ship In workers from
south to speed work. '
First straw hat of the sta
tion seen on Main St.; worn
by Portland drummer.
50 YEARS AGO
March 25, 1913 (Tutsday)
"Let the people rule, Mr
Mayor," the editor demands
in an editorial; the fuss was
over who would be street
commissioner.
Censorship of movie shown
here proposed by Greater
Medford club.
What's Your I.Q.?
Nina or ton correct li superior;
even or eight it excellent; five or
lii it good.
1. Name Hie President of
Czechoslovakia who resigned
shortly after the 1938 Munich
Tact.
2. Who was Gertrude Ather
ton? 3. What sort of work does
cooper do?
4. When the sea Is reced
ing, what kind of tide is it?
A. Was the Statue of Lib
erty unveiled in 1BH8. 1020 or
1925?
6. What American woman
poet wrote a poem about the
white cllffg of Dover?
7. Who was elected Presi
dent at I he first national elec
tion In which women par
ticipated as voters nation
wide?
8. Willi what do you asso
ciate the Wagner Act of the
Federal Government?
0. Willi what subject does
the "Elkins Act" deal In re
lation to Federal regulation?
10. During World War II,
what was the OW1?
Answers: 1. Eduard Banci.
2. American novelist. 3.
Malcea barrels, ceskt. ttc. 4.
Ebb tide. 5. 1866. (. Alice
Duer Millar. 7. Wsrrtn G.
Harding. 8. Labor relation!.
9. Interstate Commerce. 10.
Oflict of War Inlormation.
tSpu,L,,HI,s
Si'Al$OCIATION
MONDAY. MARCH 25. 1963
Constitutional Articles
The Mail Tribune today betrins publication of
a series of nine articles dealing with the proposed
new Constitution for the state of Oregon.
They were written by
of constitutional law at the University of Oregon,
who was a member of the 17-member blue rib
bon Constitutional Revision Commission, which
drafted the proposed document.
Robert W. Chandler,
of the Bend Bulletin, another member of the
commission, pursuaded Professor Linde to write
the articles for the Bulletin, and has made them
available to other newspapers in the state.
ONE of these, the Eugene Register-Guard, notes
a ni'orwlont for snph. nrtlYlps. Tt. RftVS:
u y.s... --
"With due modesty and deference we note a
precedent for articles such as those. Between the time
the federal Constitution was written and the time it
was ratified, 87 articles were circulated among the
states. Written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and
James Madison, they sought to explain what the pro
posed Constitution would and would not mean. These
articles remain posterity's best source for those who
want to understand what the founding fathers had in
mind. We know them today as the Federalist Papers.
"Analysis of the proposed Oregon Constitution is
a matter of great concern right now In the legislature.
That body must submit the document, in whole or in
part, as is, or somewhat changed, to the voters for
ratification in 1964. Or it may defer action this ses
sion, reconsidering it in other years. In any case, the
question of constitutional revision will be a serious
one and a complex one until we do get a new basic
law to replace the creaking antique we have now.
"Readers are urged to read Mr. Linde's pieces
carefully. Those who really care about Oregon will
clip and file them."
WE ARE grateful to
f.hanrlW fnr mnkinrr
and to the Register-Guard for its comments
about them, putting them into an interesting and
significant context.
Jt is honed they will
the confusion which now sadly surrounds the pro
posed document. For those who wish to have a
booklet containing more detail, including the
full text of the proposed Constitution, plus com
ments and explanations of the various' sections
provided by members of the commission, single
copies are available. Your representatives in the
legislature can provide them. E.A.
Stop Fouling the Nest
As is well known to readers of the editorial
columns of the Mail Tribune and the Ashland
Daily Tidings, the respective editorial writers
do not always do not even usually agree.
But there are some
in 100 per cent agreement. One of these concerns
the Rogue valley, its beauties, and the need to
take action to restore and
The Ashland editor
1 - 1-
column wiin wmen we agree so suungiy uiu
thoroughly, we reproduce it herewith. E.A,
Before I had lived in this valley a year, I heard a
' man make a half-hour luncheon talk.
Little Inconsequential 30-minute chamber of com
merce chat.
I'll never forget it.
Perhaps he had used the lerin before but for me
that was the first time I had heard o' "livability, our
greatest asset."
As I recall II, this speaker who wasn't what you
would call a spell-binder, went on to warn those
present against "fouling the nest" of Easy Valley.
Since that time I have
at the shrine of livability.
Friend, this Is one of the lovliesl little valleys on
the face of the earth.
a
And we are in desperate danger of seeing it fouled
beyond description.
a
Our air is becoming polluted, our streams are be
coming polluted, and even our scenery is becoming
polluted.
a
All In the name of "progress."
The mills of Medford and White City belch their
unnecessary black clouds Into the sky to mingle with
the oily careless columns rising from burning auto
graveyards.
Bear Creek, for the most
foul, green, pulrid.
And our highway between Ashland and Medford
Is rapidly hemming one of the ugliest stretches of
roads in Ihcse United Slates.
On the outskirts of both cities we see haphazard
embryo Junk yards; trailers set up helter-skelter dump
ing raw sewage on the ground.
And leering over all, like the handwriting on the
wall, that other desecrealion of the landscape, the billboard:
"Drink Old Sweatsox:
member!"
People who know me will admit I am Just about
as Independent as the next hog on the skating rmk.
Thai I dislike rules and regulations as much as
the next taxpayer.
But friend, here Is a situation which demands
that we recognize the fact that Willi independence goes
responsibility; with liberty goes an obligation for the
rights ot others.
Here Is a situation that demands not only regula
tion bul the desire for regulation.
For there are those few among us who apparently
and obviously for one reason or another do not give
a Big D lor themselves or the world around them.
We must save Easy Valley not for posterity and
our grandchildren but for ourselves
We must save our Inability and stop fouling the
nest.
And we've also got lo slop the next guy from fouling
It too.
Hans Linde, professor
editor and puoiisner
Hans Linde and Bob
ihp. articles available.
do mucn to clear away
topics on which they are
preserve them.
the other clay wrote a
' 1.. k. 1
been
a devoted worshipper
part, Is an open sewer,
II Has A Flavor You'll Re-
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD,
"Look At It Thi Way, Fellows, Do We
Know Of A Better Model Secretary of
Defense?"
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 all letters with a view to clarification and condensation. Letters,
submitted for oublication 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.
Trad Goods Warning
To the Editor: I Just read
the letter from the boy in
Lagos, Nigeria, West Central
Africa.
All stamp clubs and stamp
magazines advise members
never to send anything of
much value until you find out
what kind of a person you
are writing to. And never be
the first to send, unless you
are glady giving what ever
you send as a gift.
The things this boy asks
for are all costly. And what
he says he will send, my
advice is that you ask him
to send his articles first. You
may never hear from mm
again unless you do this.
These young people in other
lands do not have the money
to send all the articles he
mentions that he will send.
So if you wish to exchange
articles with him, Just write
and ask him to send any of
the items he has listed that
you would like to have and
tell him when you receive
them you will send what he
wishes of equal value.
I have pen friends In very
country In the world. I have
yet to receive a letter from
any one of them listing such
a want list and promising to
send all the things he has
promised to send in his let
ter. The public should be very
careful when answering such
letters as this one. I have a
fine pen friend In Nigeria. He
teaches at the University. I
am sending this boy's letter
to him at once, and asking
him to check and give me a
report about this "19 years of
age, five feet, six inches in
height, black and elegance in
complexion". I also wonder
about his name. I have yet to
receive a letter from any of
my pen friends that whites
the way this chap docs.
Our "People to People" pro
gram surely helps to make a
lasting friendship and let peo
ple in far away lands know
what we are like. I have
a pen friend with the Peace
Corps in Africa. He is help
ing with the teaching staff
in a school there. Many of
his students would like pen
friends in the United States.
I do hope many here in Med
ford will write him. He will
read the letters you send and
find a pen friend in his school
lo wlrto to you. His address
is, Charles R. Larson co
Anglican Grammar School,
Oraukwu via Ogldl, Eastern
Nigeria, Africa.
Again I say "Communcia
tlon may not lead to under
standing, but understanding
cannot come without com-
munciation." Nevertheless be
very careful about the pen
friend you select to commun
icate with.
Mrs. W. H. Walwyn
Southern Oregon
Philatelic Society
1138 West 10th st.
Medfard
Editor's note; Mrs. Wal
wyn's warning is timely. The
"trade goods" offer Is often
little more than a racket, and
was exposed some years ago
In a Saturday tvcning I'ost
article. It is not the Mall Trib
une's usual policy to print
letters of this sort, because
of the possibility of fraud.
The letler got Into type
through an Inadvertence.
Blow To Our Economy
To the Editor: There is
something going on that will
have a terrible effect on the
economy of our valley.
Some of the grocers who
are members of the United
Grocers association are drop-
ping our local dairies, and ! ed to a Joint session of Con
will soon be taking delivery gress that no "secret" trea
from Carnation company In ties had been made.
Portland. Mr. Kennedy pledged hinv
This means that our local
dairies will not buy as much
milk, so our local dairy farm
ers suffer. When our dairies
cut production, some of the
plant workers and drivers
will be laid off. Unemploy
ment goes up, not in Portland,
but Rogue Valley.
United Grocers claim the
milk will be bought locally.
This is not true. The milk is
bought and processed in Port
land. Employment goes up in
Portland, but not Rogue Val
ley. The milk is also deliv
ered from Portland which
means it will already be at
least two days old when it
reaches our stores, and even
older before the next deliv
ery. There is little enough local
produce in our stores as is. I
say if the grocers want to sell
Portland milk, to support
Portland dairies, let them sell
it to Portland people. We
can't afford even the slight
est drop in the economy of
our valley, and this promises
to be a great, great big drop.
: Make sure your store car
ries our own local dairy pro
ducts, or refuse to buy your
week's groceries there.
What do you think of all
this? Let your grocers know
that we should support our
local industries first. Too
many things are shipped into
this valley now, and with the
exception of our lumber and
fruit, too little shipped out.
Let's take care of our own
first!
(Name on file)
Medford
We Know Itl
To the Editor: This is not
a "ode" that I have written,
it's one I remember from a
few years past. Courtesy of a
Medford Mail Tribune writer
no doubt. Anyway, it fits the
picture about now.
Winter s on the wing
Soon it will be spring,
So say bird and poet.
Brother, don't we know it!
Runny noses, broken toes
(es). Acnin backs and income
tax.
Jean Stanton
Butte Falls, Ore.
Reiulli of Visits
To the Editor: The headline
across the top of our paper
for lhursday says J. F. K,
Pledges Greater Aid to Cen
tral America."
I do not suppose this was
a pledge to give money from
his own personal income or
fortune, but from the pockets
of the American citizens.
How can a President give
away the hard earned money
of Americans, to foreign pow
ers without the vote of Con
gress? I thought Congress
alone had the power to make
appropriations.
I think we should have a
law to prohibit our president
from going abroad during his
lime of office. It seems to me
that we have suffered enough
in the last 30 years from the
effects of our presidents for
eign "visits."
Some of the results of
Roosevelt's "visits" to foreign
lands (especially Yalta) arc;
Russia was given three
votes in the U.N. to our one;
China was "sold down the
river "
Some ten or a dozen na
tions were turned over to Sta
lin and some 800 millions of
people were thus turned over
to the "tender mercies'" of
their Communist "liberators"
to kill, torture and enslave at
will.
All this (and much more) in
spite of the fact that Roose
velt on March 1. 1945. report-
OREGON
Foreign News: Things Quiet in
Japan Seeks European Trade; Rift Stays
By WILLIAM J. FOX
United Press International
Notes from the foreign news
cables:
Berlin Talks
Resumption of Soviet-Amer
ican talks on Berlin is not
expected to change the situa
tion in that divided city. The
Soviets have shown no sign
of concessions which would
make a Berlin settlement ac
ceptable to the West. And
the United States appears in
no mood to accept any fur
ther Soviet "salami tactics"
such as giving the United Na
tions major responsibility for
West Berlin. The United
States will go right on assert
ing its rights in the city, and
the Communists will go right
on trying to make propaganda
hay out of the situation. But
with Soviet Premier Nikita
Khrushchev quiescent on a
vacation on the Black Sea
and a West Berlin police
crackdown against over - zeal
ous anti-Reds who have been
bombing the Communist-built
city wall, things would rock
along quietly for the time
being.
Washington Report
By William
(c) United Feature Syndicate
MINORITY VS. MAJORITY
Washington - Falling fast
now Is a historic balance of
voting powers in this coun-
try which for
a temury ana
has protected,
if sometimes
overly - pro
tected, polit
ical and sec
tional minor
ities alike
from the un-
whit. just a u a in-
considered and just demands
of majorities.
For all the life of this re
public up to now the sense
of the Constitution, in politi
cal terms, has been to keep
the Identity and wishes of the
small-the small states, the
small towns, the ill-organized
rural people-from being swal
lowed up by the identity and
wishes of the large-the large
states, the vast urban centers,
the massive voting blocs of the
metropolises of America.
Steadily and irreversibly
now the Supreme Court is re
jecting the ancient concept of
qualitative American democ
racy in favor of a new con
cept of quantitative democ
racy. The old ideal was that
while the majority must ulti
mately rule, it must in the
meantime overcome the deter
mined resistance of a minor-ity-which
might just possible,
here and there, sometimes be
wiser than the majority.
THE new ideal being set up
by the court is not only
that the majority must rule
but that it must rule Instantly,
without real concern for the
wishes of the minority and
with only an absent-minded
nod to the traditional princi
ple that the power to check
lay deep in the heart of the
American system. Govern
ment by stop-and-think is to
be succeeded by government
by hurry-hurry.
The seedling for this new
interpretation of proper con
stituttonal government was
set out last spring by the
court in an unexampled ruling,
claiming for itself the right
self to "take up the torch
where Roosevelt laid it
down." So I think some law
should be passed to keep him
at home while he is President.
We have troubles enough
as it is.
John C. Stille.
Shady Cove, Ore.
r
'Qi li CAMPAIGN Bi
TOll- M FUND DIMMER RE
"It wasn't worth a hundred dollars plate, and
they're in a lynch-mob mood. Belter tone down your
blast at the Kennedys!"
Visitors to Japan
Japan is looking forward
to visits this month and next
by British Foreign Secretary
the Earl of Home and French
Foreign Minister Maurice
Couve de Murville as more
than just good will trips. Ja
pan feels that Britain and
France, and, in fact, all of
Europe, are too remote as far
as trade and tourism are con
cerned. The trade figures
show the difference with Eu
rope compared to the heavy
traffic between Japan and the
United States. Americans buy
$6 worth of Japanese goods
per capita each year, com
pared to $2 per Britisher and
35 cents per Frenchman. The
Japanese frankly feel that
there are unnecessary barriers
involved and suspect that Eu
ropean notions of the Land
of the Rising Sun in the Far
Pacific are quaintly out-dated.
So the more visits back and
forth by statesmen, business
men and just plain tourists,
the better. Home and Couve
de Murville are both in for
an eyeful and an earful when
they hit the bustling island
nation.
5. White
to determine whether an indi
vidual state had "fairly" ap
portioned its legislative seats
as between urban and rural
voters.
This seedling has now
grown into a full tree in the
court's decision the other day
knocking out a Georgia sys
tem which admittedly gave
greater weight to rural than
to urban votes to state-wide
elections. This decision rested
upon the superficially appeal
ing but historically baseless
notion that one vote must in
each and every circumstance
be precisely equal to one
other vote.
TT HAS, of course, been
greeted with loud hurrahs
by those who quite honestly
believe that the issue here
was only a simple one of
"Justice" and that the state
legislatures and congress had
long been "tyrannized" by
rural legislators given a math
ematically undue voice by
this deliberate inbalance in
favor of the small against the
large.
Of course, on examination
the question is infinitely less
simple, if one believes there
has been some merit in nearly
two centuries of a Constitu
tion which cooly and know
ingly was based on the con
clusion that democray can
not rightly be defined as a
mere momentary head count
-or a postcard poll.
Every free society which
has thus far endured has ac
cepted some check upon in
stant majority rule; has never
accepted it as holy writ that
most of the people are neces
sarily and invariably right
instantly. AFTER all, the whole Bill
of Rights protects the ulti
mate minority of one, even
if the majority be 180 mil
lion to 1 against him.
This columnist is deeply
convinced that we are throw
ing out the baby with the
bath water. In order to cor
rect undoubted voting injus
tices here and there against
the majority we are altogeth
er destroying the proper right
of resistance by minorities.
And we are blotting out the
singular glory and unique
gift to the world of the Ameri
can system-its capacity to let
"Majority Rule" be tempered
by what, sometimes at least,
may surely be minority wis
dom in a pluralistic, a mixed,
American society.
Will the end of it be some
great, loutish "Democracy"
which asks only one question:
"Who has got the votes-right
here and now?"
Political Relations
Observers look for the bit
ter French-British rift to sim
mer on. with no indication of
a change for some time to
come. But, conversely, they
look for a gradual improve
ment in relations between
two members of the Commu
nist camp, Bulgaria and Yu
goslavia. On the London-Paris
rift, British efforts to "talk
it over" have been rebuffed,
with the French evidently try
ing to duck any direct high
level contact in the near future.
In the Day's News
By FRANK
Up in Salem the other day.
Representative Clinton Haight
of Baker county arose in his
place in the room where the
planning and development
committee of the so-called
lower house of the Oregon
legislature was meeting and,
with his tongue stowed care
fully in his cheek, made what
the legislative reporters de
scribed as on IMPASSIONED
PLEA for his bill to establish
lepus townsendi as Oregon's
official animal and artemisia
tridentata as Oregon's state
flower.
It might be just as well to
explain here that lepus town
sendi is the scientific name
of the jackrabbit and arte
misia tridentata is the Sunday
name of the shrub that we
know as sagebrush.
The beaver (castor canaden
sis) is Oregon's present un
official animal, and the Ore
gon grape (which the books
describe merely as one of the
fruit-bearing flowers) is Ore
gon's official state flower.
REPRESENTATIVE Haight
told his colleagues that
Oregon's unofficial animal
"cuts up fields, gnaws down
trees and dams streams." And,
he added, "let me remind you
that many beaver coats are
made of the hide of lepus
townsendi."
' "Besides," he went on,
"what other animal than the
rabbit lays eggs on Easter?"
WHAT of artemisia triden
tata? Over on the east side of the
mountains, at least, we'll
agree that the sage is a won
derful shrub. Especially along
toward evening, when the sun
slants low along the horizon,
casting us rays across the
wide flats. The colors at that
hour have to be seen to be
believed. We have a warm
spot in our hearts for the pur
ple sage and the riders there
of. TJUT-
11
There's a road-block, I'm
afraid, in the way of making
artemisio tridentata the state
flower of Oregon. Our neigh'
bor state of Nevada is known
as the Sagebrush State. It's
ofucial tiower is the sage
brush. Two sprays of the
grayish-green sagebrush are
shown in the upper corner of
the Nevada state flag.
One fears there might be
an unholy ruckus if we tried
to steal the sagebrush from
Nevada.
A WORD here as to Repre-
sentntivp Haityht
He just MIGHT be spoof
ing.
If so, he comes by it hon
estly.
AWAY back in 1908, his fa
ther, riinlnn P Haioht
fresh out of the law school
of the University of Oregon
landed in Canyon City with
the idea in mind to hang out
his shingle as a lawyer.
But, unfortunately for his
design to become a legal
eagle, a half interest in the
Blue Mountain Eagle came
up for sale about that time.
He bought It. Later on, he
bought the whole works. He
had a talent for pithy humor,
and in the course of time he
became one of the nation's
most noted paragraphers.
There were times when
about half the contents of the
Reader's Digest would be ex
tracts from the editorial col
umn of the Blue Mountain
Eagle. One suspects that the
Digest's editor would have
liked to fill up his whole
magazine with more of Editor
Haight s stuff and call it
day-secure in the knowledge
that in such an event he
would make a hit with his
readers.
TTERE'S a thought, Clint:
11 Your father was also
known as one of the nation's
leading authorities on the
coyotes-which he professed
to regard as the easiest and
perhaps the most intelligent
of the animals. If you have
trouble with the legislature
over lepus towns-endi. maybe
you could induce the boys to
switch to canis latrans, of the
family of camdae.
But there's possible trouble
in that quarter also. South
Dakota is the Coyote State.
One can't just go barging
around stealing one's neigh
bors' emblems. That would
Berlin;
Canadian Politics
If the indicators are correct,
Canada will elect another mi
nority government April 8.
But the general view at this
stage is that the Liberals will
replace the present Conserva
tive regime with a division
of about 120 parliamentary
seats for Lester Pearson's Lib
erals to approximately 100
for Prime Minister John Die
fenbaker's C o n s e r v atives,
with the remainder spread
among the Social Credit and
new Democratic splinter par
ties. JENKINS
lead to trouble, and, in one
way or another, there are
troubles enough in the world
already.
ANYWAY
This word in conclusion;
If the sagebrush, . for rea
sons already cited, is out of
the question and you can't
endure the Oregon Grape as
the state flower of Oregon,
how about the TUMBLE
WEED?
Over on this side of the
mountains, we could go for
the tumble weed. Tumble
weed and jackrabbits go to
gether like ham and eggs.
Note for Western Oregon
readers:
(These words are written
over in the Klamath coun
try.) Strictly
Personal
By Sydney J. Harris
(c- Field Enterprises. Inc.
NAME CHANGE
An electronic firm has de
veloped a monitoring system
for critically ill hospital pa-
tients. The
machine
keeps track of
a p a t i e nt's
pulse, temper
a t u r e, heart
rate and blood
pressure -and
relays this in
formation to a
console in the
narrt central ; nurs
ng station. According to an
electronics industry official,
mis device is being resisted
by doctors in most hospitals,
oecause "tney are afraid it will
infringe on their control of
the patient."
What most interested me
in the news item about this
device, however, was the com
ment that it was rejected by
all physicians when it was
named "Medical Monitor."
When the company changed
the name of the device to
"Nurse Alert," it was wel
comed by some doctors who
had previously resisted it.
This seems to me a fair
Indication that what the
doctors resented was not so
much losing "control" of
the patient, bui losing his
esteem and respect. A
"medical monitor" dimin
ishes the importance of the
doctor, but a "nurse alert"
merely improves the pres
ent system of nursing at
tention. Actually, even the nurse
today has lost the impor
tance she had a few years
ago. before the develop
ment of antibiotics. A nurse
was indispensible in those
days, and often did much
to save the patient's life,
if a doctor was not read
ily available.
Today, most of a nurse's
duties consist of adminis
trative paper work, keeping
records, and performing
acts that a mere nurse's aid
could just as easily do with
a little training. I expect
to hear loud screams of pro
test from the nursing asso
ciations, but my physician
friends all agree that this it
in fact the case.
During my occasional stays
in hospitals, I have received
better and more friendly at
tention from the aides than
from the nurses themselves
who always seemed more in
terested in the charts, the
records, the rigid chain of
command, and the interns,
than in the patients them
selves. Not all, of course
just most of them.
We can but hope that the
new "Nurse Alert" will really
alert the nurses to the needs
of critical patienls. 1 know
of a young woman who died
in a hospital recently be
cause the "right" nurse could
not be found to get the
"right" doctor.
Bureaucracy in government
or business is piddling com
pared with bureaucracy in a
large hospital, where the pa
tient often seems the least
important factor-indeed, only
the necessary evil that pre
vents a hospital from running
"efficiently."