"Eviryone la Southernreibn-
Reads Tne Mall Tribune"
Published Daily except Saturday by
MEDFORD PRINTING CO.
33 North Fit St. Ph. ITa-aMl
ROBERT W BUHL. Idttor
HERB GREY Advertising Manager
GERALD T LATHAM. Bua Mgr
ERIC W ALLEN JR. Mne Editor
EARL H ADAMS. City Editor
HARRY CHIPMAN. Teleg Editor
RICHARD JEWETT, sporia to lor
OLIVE STARCHES Women's Editor
PALK E It 1 1 H a n iii 1 1. u ! uui
An Independent Newspaper
Entered at second elan matter
Medford. Oregon .under Act of
March 3, 1897
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
By Mall in nniw.
Dally and Sunday I year lis
Dally and Sunday a moa to
n.nu I Bunrinv 3 mOS. fi
.00
00
nn
Sunday Only One year 13.
no
Single Copy (Mailed)
200
uany ana ounajr
Dally and Sunday 1 mo. t-73
Sunday Only I mo. s
Carrier and Vendors Copy too
. . i , fit.. Maafnrrf
.00
OfIiclalPapero JartoBCounty
United Prew International
5U1I bHKU
U. P 1 Telephoto Newsplcturee
- . J i.it"' onn ATI
ME" "o" ciRcSajioNsZ--ASlW
"eJ.eoKu!vi:om
ATES Ot'lcee In New York. Chi
cago. DeiTOll. Ban o " 1 i rTi4
Angeiea. sca.Mc. - - - - -Denver.
-
NIWIMM
PUILISHItt
ASSOCIATION
NATION At EOITOIIAI
Memner California" Newspaper
Publishers Anoclatlon
Flight o' Time
Medford and Jackson County
History from the files of The
Mail Tribune 10, 20, 30, 40
and 50 years ago.
10 YEARS AGO
March 26, 1953 (Thundiy)
"Congress and Interior Sec
retary Douglas McKay have
received proposals from the
bureau of land management
for a stepped up resource de
velopment program which
would result In increased rev
enue for Jackson county and
the state; county received $1,
119,284.46 from, program last
year. : .. ...
Commanding general ol
41st National Guard division
ays funds for new Medford
armory building to be avail
able after July 1-
20 YEARS AGO
March 26, 1943.tF.ldaY,
Oregon to' 'receive 45 mil-
ltn 1am nnal r.UIB tOads: if
approved b-. Congress part
will be usea to con.ipn.-io m
construction . of , the' Pacific
highway between Medford
and Eugene. ''; ,' ' " '
From Arthur ' Perry's "Ye
Smudge Pot" column: "Italy
now wants to "case out of the
war.' She stabbed a back to
get in and wants to pat a
back to get out." y v.
30 YEARS AGO
March 26, 1933 (Sunday)
Classes in placer mining for
small operation to open on
Southern Pacific lot.
Hog calling contest attend
ed by 1,500; Lem Black of
Forest Creek Is winner.
40 YEARS AGO
March 26. 1923 (Monday)
Fiends steal the ice cream
for a C. E. supper.
Record brenklng warm
spcel for Medford continues
and dust is flying on country
roads. .
50 YEARS AGO
March 26. 1913 (Wednesday)
City agitated by report that
saloons of city are visited by
minors.
Trial of councilman charg
ed with unbecoming conduct
continues before Mayor, who
Is charged with "being un
fair." What's Your I.Q.?
Nina or ten correct li superior;
even or eight it excellent! five or
lla is good.
1, Name the seaway from
the Great Lakes which allows
access to the ocean.
2. Do sponges belong to the
animal, vegetable, or mineral
kingdom?
3. In which Shakespearean
play is the line "all the
world's a stage"?
4. In what modern country
it the legendary city of Troy?
5. What is the chemical
symbol for the metallic ele
ment gold?
6. Malta, Sicily. Sardinia,
Cyprus are islands In what
sea?
7. Is oligarchy character
ized by government by the
masses, or government by a
few?
B. Ammonia is a chemical
clement; true or false?
9. What is another name
for the Northern Lights?
10. Who wrote the drama,
"A Doll's House"?
Answers! 1, SI. Lawrence
Seaway. 2. Animal. 3. "As
You Like II." 4. Turkey. 9.
Au. 6. Mediterranean. 7. Gov
ernmtnl by a ftw. 8. Fals
(compound of nitrogen and
hydrogen), 9. Aurora Bortalis.
10. Henrlk Ibsen.
TUESDAY. MARCH i. 1983
What's Going On?
The Coos Bay World, in a testy editorial, de
clares: ,
"The time has come when we believe it is the In
terest of every citizen of the State of Oregon that he
or she seriously consider just what in the blazes Ii
going on in our state Legislature."
We have had much the same feeling one
which was not entirely dispelled by a two-day
visit to Salem last week.
Now no one is going to become a legislative
expert in two days. But by talking to various
members and observers
plus diligent reading of
legislature s activities,
of what s going on.
e e a a
THIS is not a peaceable and cooperative leg-
islature. There is jealousy and bickering be
tween House and Senate,
and the Governor, and
themselves, sometimes
times merely along personality or philosophical
lines.
Clarence Barton, the
is Speaker of the House,
view of the Legislature's
the taxation package should be ready any day
now, that it will be accepted by both House and
Senate. He also believes
functioning smoothly, and in response to a ques
tion, said that education,
cation, "is not going to be hurt by this legisla
ture." '
Others differ. One high government official,
speaking not for attribution, strongly fears that
higher education IS going
legislature, and that it will be fortunate if even
the governor's bone-bare budget for the colleges
and universities is passed
significant cuts.
THE Coos Bay World's
"At no other time in the history of this state
has there been a greater need for sound, calm, de
cisive law making. At no time In our history have
we been faced with a greater budgetary problem.
And at no time In our history has the matter of tax
ation been of such vital Importance to the state as a
whole and to each individual.
"Add to this the fact that we need sound and
careful consideration of the proposal to revise our
state's outdated constitution and you can see that
this year, indeed, is a critical one for the men and
women who represent us in the statehouse."
In large part, we agree, As to the new con
stitution, we have been
Uellenback, chairman 01 the house committee on
constitutional revision, that the chances are good
that a document will be
this year, and referred
But there is no certainty of this as yet.
THERE is one other aspect meriting considera
1
ation.
What a legislature does not do is often times
equally important to what it does do. In other
words, killing bad legislation is as important as
passing good legislation.
There have been reports of substance indicat
ing that House and Senate committees have been
inclined to let poorly drawn, inconsequential, or
bad legislation die in committee.
But there is some legislation which must pass,
if the state is to stay in business. The fiscal needs
of the state must be realistically appraised, and
the tax cloth cut to fit the fiscal need pattern.
And if that pattern does not meet certain mini
mums, the state as a whole will suffer.
I ONG ago, we predicted that this would be
" one of the most difficult sessions in a long
time, and we still think that prediction was valid.
Legislators, after voting themselves a hefty
raise in pay, are now caught between the desire
not to raise taxes or to raise them as little and
painlessly as possible and the desire to see that
state services are not starved or damaged. Ad
ditionally, they are inhibited by the strong pos
sibility or even probability that any signifi
cant tax increase measure which they pass will
be referred to a vote of
tor months any chance
revenue.
Where, then, if cuts
be made?
A NUMBER of minor
uvi v nun vrnv-tu viuuitiiuiiv biiv uuvivt nuit
some of them are being made.
But only m two places can really important
sums of money in the tens of millions of dollars
be "saved.
One is in education,
If welfare is cut materially, the legislature
will be guilty of starving
the old, and of callousness
less.
If education is cut materially, the legislature
will be guilty of short-changing our youngsters
and damaging the future potential of the state.
QOVERNOR Hatfield's budget of some $405
"million is a tight one. Manv think it is too
tight in some areas, particularly higher education.
If the legislature cuts away some $20 million
or so from this budget, as is now being discussed,
it will be doing irretrievable harm to the state's
ability to serve its citizens as they deserve to be
served.
Granted that being a legislator is no bed of
roses. But in seeking the job, and in accepting it,
each member also accepted a solemn responsi
bility to see that the state continues as an effec
tive servant to the people and the taxpayers.
And irresponsibility, or non-feasance, is not
a pretty charge. E. A.
1
and other state omcials,
press reports about the
one can get some sense
between both of these
within the two houses
aloncr Dartv lines, some'
Coquille Democrat who
has the most soothing
progress. He says that
that the committees are
specifically higher edu
to be damaged by this
without damaging and
complaint continued:
assured by Rep. John
passed by the legislature
to a vote of the people.
the people, thus stalling
ol needed additional
are to be made, will they
budget cuts can be made
the other is in welfare
the needy, of cruelty to
to the young and help
h
MLDrOHD
tion U, Mu.
To Pep Up
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. Letter
submitted for publication must not exceed 400 words. The letters
printed In this column do not necessarily represent the vlewi of tSa
paper. In fact the contrary is often
A REMINDER
Editor's notei We have re
ceived gevaral communica
tions which do not bear
BOTH nam and address oi
the writer. Letters for pub
lication must have nam
AND address to be consid
ered for publication. Names
and addresses will be with
held or kept on file under
certain circumstances.
Veteran's Plight
To the Editor: According to
Floyd County Sheriff Joe Ad
ams of Rome, Ga., Wilmer A.
Summerville, Who was honor
ably discharged as an Army
quartermaster sergeant in
June, 1919, was denied hos
pital care by the Veterans Ad
ministration. Then, on Dec.
20 he was released from a
private nursing home in Rome
because, it was stated, "He
was almost blind and helpless
and had to be cared for day
and night."
As he was unable to be
placed in a VA domiciliary,
Sheriff Adams took care of
Summerville in the county
jail because there was no oth
er place to go. Then the VA
stopped his pension of $78.75
because he was in jail. He had
not committed any crime. This
shows how unfair and dumb
the VA can be.
Less than two months later
this poor veteran died in jail.
II mat Isn t some treatment
to give a veteran who offered
his life to save his country.
Our Congressmen and Sen
ators should feel very proud
of themselves after giving bil
lions of dollars to foreign aid
and giving millions of dollars
to farmers to let their land
be grown over to weeds, giv
ing pensions to foreigners.
and letting this poor veteran
die in jail because they would
not build a rest home where
he could have spent his last
few days in peace and rest.
We have a Domiciliary home
near here that could be ar
ranged for Just such cases as
this one.
C. A. Krctschmer
734 S.W. Burgess st.
Grants Pass, Ore.
Letter to Durno
To the Editor and Dr. Dur
no: Will you run again for
Congress? There Is consider
able enthusiasm for you to re
gain your old scat In Oregon's
Fourth District.
Since last November, I have
made many speeches, as a can
didate from the Third Con
gressional District, before Re
publican clubs, business men's
groups, and other organiza
tions and have constantly
heard comments expressing
hope that you will run again
for your old Fourth District
seat in 1064.
It is my personal feeling
that it will be a great loss to
Oregon if you decide to retire
permanently from the politi
cal scene.
Jim Bnralotf,
Republican Candidate
3rd Congressional Dist.
Portland 18, Ore.
Next Step
To the Editor:. A good start
for my little talc of woe
should be, "What are little
Ole Ladles past 45 made of?
Prunes and rice and every
thing not so nice."
Now, I haven t seen or
know of any rich "little ole"
ladles from Pasadena running
around in a Cadillac working
for pleasure. The Old Gal;
of my acquaintance are Just
trying to keep the wolf from
their door, or sending a child
or grandchild to college, and
are doing it the only honest
way they know how. by work
out out.
Say - you young whipper
snappers, have you ever tried
MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD.
We Have An Idea
Our Act"
the case.
getting a job from the bottom
and working up?
Well, these "ole gals," when
young, did, and now at 45,
you're trying to put them out
to pasture, or on the welfare.
See, they can't even collect
Social Security.
You think you have it
rough, being turned down be
cause of lack of experience.
Well, try this one on for
size. Older women past 45
looking for employment have
this cross to bear, experience
plus age.
As for "Gold Bricking,"
which was brought to light in
the Communications, you can
find In any age if they're in
clined to be lazy.
Now, I'm not trying to be
mean to you young job seek
ers, because if you have it,
you'll make it. These old gals
did but please don't put
us out to pasture, for I'm
afraid the next step would be
to shoot us.
Mrs. Irma Henderson
729 Dakota ave.
Medford.
Too Much
To the Editor: You give too
much space to Arnold Eugene
Jenny.
Evelyn W. Reith
828 East Main, apt. 3
Medford
No Wonder
To the Editor:
What underlies the skin of
man
That joys to see two boys
Destroy each other with
a lethal punch
'Til blows resound with flesh
they crunch
They pound and hound
'Til one goes down
To slay
Has pagan Rome come back
today?
No wonder
Earth shall be torn asun
der And counts the hours
To when roll of thunder
Decadent, filthy, powers
Are buried 'neath the
showers
Of hail
Their pay
James Williams
P.O. Box 441
Jacksonville, Ore.
Strictly Personal
By Sydney
fcl Field Enterprises. Inc.
WORK AND LEISURE
Because I wanted a car, and
it came already equipped that
way, I am now driving my
first automo
bile with pow
er steering.
After a few
weeks of it, I
drove another
car, with man
u a 1 steering,
and was an
oyed at its
balkincsj. The
turn same was true
with the automatic shift a few
years ago: after driving it, the
manual shift seemed labori
ous. And I must confess that
I wear a self-winding watch
on my wrist, and would not
buy one that needs to be
wound each morning.
Now a good case could be
made out and has been
made out, by sports car buffs
that an automobile is much
more under control of the
driver with a manual shift
and manual steering. The big
power-operated car? tend to
drive the driver, often into
catastrophe.
-
But the point is that mora
and mora of us have relin
quished our control over
our machanisms. W do
nothing by hand or foot
that can b don by le-
t
OREGON
Precarious Balance At Berlin Remains;
Two K's Have Other Problems at Stake
By STEWART HENSLEY
United Press International
' Washington - (UPD - Berlin
continues to be the most criti
cal issue dividing Russia and
the West, despite its' absence
from the headlines in recent
months. .
Soviet and American offi
cials acknowledge that there
can be no permanent peace in
Europe until there is a settle
ment of the problem. Moscow
and Washington live with the
constant fear that some spark
in the area may trigger World
War III.
This tacit agreement on the
potential explosiveness of the
issue, rather than any real
hope of making progress, is
what led to the resumption
this week of Soviet-American
talks on Berlin.
Neither side wants to be
Washington Report
By William
(c) United Feature Syndicate
FALLACY
Washington - The harsh
truth about Castro is that
the more inter-American con-
ferences . are
held on the
subject the
more ambigu
o u s appears
the policy- of
the United
States against
this chronic
C a r I b b e an
danger. Is it
really a hard
policy? Is it a soft policy? Is it
something in between? It is
more difficult to know in the
afterlight of President Ken
nedy's mission to the six-nation
Central American meet
ing in Costa Rica than it was
before. .
The journey was an un
doubted diplomatic success
for the President, as the lead
er of the United States. There
is a greater, if somewhat
vague and generalized, friend
ship between those nations
and ours. '
TUT IT seems fair lo say --
after careful examination
of what happened and did not
happen, and why - that inso
far as this conference con
tributed toward reducing the
capacity for evil of Sovietized
Cuba it was a small mountain
that produced only a fair
sized mouse.
We have all come out of it
pledging various steps against
the export of Castro Commu
nism into Latin America. But
most of all we have come out
chanting the same tired old
slogans about meeting the
military menace of interna
tional communism by social
reforms and economic im
provements. The six Central
American nations-Costa Rica,
El Salvador, Honduras, Gua
temala, Nicaragua and Pana
ma - are represented as
pleased at the results.
Still, the fact remains that
at least two of these - Guate
mala and Nicaragua - had
hoped for strong affirmative
actions against Cuba going far
beyond any amount of eco
nomic aid and social reform.
The fact also remains that the
United States went to Costa
Rica determined to play down
Cuba, leaving all that to La
tin America as a whole, and
to talk instead of these very
points of economics and re
form. J. Harris
trrcity whether In t h
kitchen, mowing the lawn,
shoveling the snow, driving
Ihe car, and even tootling
around the golf course on
a mechanised cart.
I am not concerned her
with th "physical fitness"
aspect of this trend. What
interests and perplexes me
is th growing contradiction
between our principles and
our practices in modern
American socieiy.
Traditionally, we greatly
admire th sweat of i h
brow; but soon w may
have nothing to sweat over.
Our Puritan background
makes us feel that w
should suffer, at least lit
tle, for th goods we re
ceive but our whole tech
nology is designed to de
crees such suffering to th
minimal point,
"Leisure" is not yet a re
spectable word here; it is just
something that fills Ihe inter
stices between work. Yet ev
erything today is planned to
give us as much leisure as pos
sible, as little sweat as neces
sary. On the one hand, we
are urccd to work harder; on
the other, we keep changing
our technics and our economy
in inc direction of less effort.
Perhaps a large part of our
Whit
confusion, and our immobili-1
I
out pf touch too long, lest mis
calculation spark a conflict
erupting into nuclear holo
caust. '
Russia had another reason
for suggesting resumption of
the discussions, which were
broken off at the time of the
Cuban missile crisis last Oc
tober. The Kremlin needs to
make a show of doing some
thing to appease the Commu
nist East Germans, who have
been promised that someday
all Berlin will be theirs.
President Kennedy and So
viet Premier Nikita Khrush
chev both have been treading
water on this and other East
West conflicts since the
Cuban missile crisis. Each
has troubles within his own
camp. Neither seems anxious
to undertake diplomatic cold
war initiatives which might
upset the precarious balance.
S. Whit.
AND A third fact also re
mains: All the planning
undertaken in Costa Rica to
ward the isolation of Cuba
will not accomplish much so
long as Mexico remains an
open gateway to the south for
Castro agents - as it does.
Having said all this, how
ever, it is necessary to say
also that there never was any
hope that the Costa Rican con
ference could do a n y thing
substantial toward that total
isolation of the left-wing dic
tatorship in Cuba that was
achieved by total inter-American
action against the right
wing Trujillo dictatorship in
the Dominican Republic.
The reasons are not far to
see. The big leftest powers in
Latin America - Mexico and
Brazil in particular - are not
with Central America, or us,
in this affair. This being the
bedrock reality, the United
States could not sensibly have
offered any hard and effect
ive anti-Castro plan in Costa
Rica, even if it had one -which
it does not. For the
real powers of Latin America
were not in attendance.
NO TRUE Pan American
front truly to cut off Cuba
will ever be formed until the
Mexicos and Brazils can be
brought into it.'
There is no sign that they
are going to come in any time
soon. In the meantime, to at
tempt to make a grand strat
egy against Castro resting
solely upon the weakest coun
tries in Latin America would
be as pointless as preparing
such a design against the So
viet Union within the West
ern Alliance based, say, upon
Portugal and Holland but
not Britain, France and West
Germany.
So what docs it all come to?
All solutions for Cuba remain
unsatisfactory - but some are
more unsatisfactory than
others. And the United States
seems committed all over
again to the appealing, but up
to now wholly fallacious, no
tion that armed and militant
communism can be stopped
by "improving the living stan
dards of the people."
Sylvia Porter
Receives Award
Sylvia Porter, whose col
umn distributed by the Hall
Syndicate appears daily in the
Mail Tribune, has frequently
earned awards for the colum
nist, has two new honors.
She was to receive the Ap
plause Award, the most im
portant award of the Sales
Executive Club of New York,
today. This honor will be giv
en as "applause to Sylvia
Porter for giving the public
a better understanding of our
free enterprise system and
especially of the vital role
played by marketing and
salesmanship."
Her other current award
was presented March 19 by
the Central Business District
Association of Detroit - their
National Award for Outstand
ing Performance in Commu
nications.
TIME'S A'WASTING
Chicago - lOT - The Lief
Erickson society said today it
is planning a "tremendous
party" for the 2003 in "over
due recognition'' of the 1000th
anniversary of the founding
of America. '
"Final arrangements have
not been completed," Prcsi
dent W. R. Anderson said.
ly, is due to the fact that, like
Buridan's ass, we cannot de
cide between the two piles of
hay equally close to us: the
tridition of personal effort
beckons us one way, and the
new devices for making life
easier invite us the other way.
Our central problem in the
years ahead may very well
turn out to be the difficult
task of reconciling our beliefs
with our procedures, and
learning that it is impossible
to keep both intact.
i
Khrushchev is beset by the
split with Communist China,
which is having its reprecus
sions among Communist par
ties all over the world. He is
grappling with economic dif
ficulties at home stemming
from the necessity to divert
more resources from agricul
ture and housing to military
preparations.
Kennedy is plagued by un
certainty over the fate of
NATO in the wake of French
President Charles de Gaulle's
refusal to cooperate in plans
for nuclear defense, as well as
the economic reprecussions of
the French veto of Britain's
bid for European Common
Market membership.
Matter of Fact
(c) New York Herald
ELYSEE-OLOGY
Paris - Talk to four dozen
Frenchmen, all of them in
high responsible positions in
w n a i mignv
be called the
French politi
cal commun
ity. You will
then get '47
different opin
ions about the
current plans
and parties,
although not
about the ulti
Alsnp
mate aim of Gen. Charles Hp
Gaulle.
Such has been this report
er's experience, at any rate.
The two among the 48 who
agreed with one another were
both anti-Gaullist. They offer
ed the diagnosis that de Gaul
le's judgments of Europe, and
of the United States and of
the Soviet Union, have been
abnormally warned bv oride
suspicion, and success.
When each of these two
lonely persons speaking with
a Common VOicp WHS infnpmoH
that his diagnosis had support
irom me otner man, both of
them were downright furious.
But Gen. de Gaulle con
fides his plans and purposes
to no one at all, conspicuously
including the chief member
of his own cabinet.
IT CAN then be seen that
1 "Elysee-ology," as an at
tempt to read the mind of th
chief tenant of t h e Elysee
faiace is beginning to be call
ed, is even less exact science
than Kremlinology. Nonethe
less, this reporter is now con
vinced that he has earlier
committed a grave efror.
wnicn nad better be corrected
now.
From the ancle nf vici
of Washington, it appeared
that Gen. de Gaulle's quasi
coup d'etat in Europe really
must have behind It a nlan nf
rabid, further action. What de
Gaulle did was clearly direct
ed to establishing a kind of
Gaulist hegemony of the na
tions of the European Com
mon Market.
Yet it was eauallv rlearlv
impossible for Gen. de Gaulle
to be first in Europe, so long
as, under NATO, the U. S.
was still first in the defense
of Europe. Hence it seemed
necessary to assume that Gen.
de Gaulle had a nlan fnr linnl.
dating the American military
person in turooe at a fairlv
early date.
TTERE was the error. De-f-spite
the marked differ
ences in diagnosis offered by
leading Frenchmen, there is
one central fact that can be
synthesized, so to say, from
the mass of conflicting testi
mony. The fact seems to be
that Gen. de Gaulle has an
aim, but he does not have a
plan. ,.
In the case of the Algerian
war, for example, de Gaulle's
aim from the start was cer
tainly to heal this cancer on
the French body politic. At
first he tried prosecuting the
war vastly more efficiently,
while offering the rebels a
"peace of the brave" on con
d i 1 1 o ns attaching Algeria
closely to France.
M 1LKW 2
"Cub. Cuba. Cubal I'm sick of questions on Cuba!
Sick, do you hr me, tick, sick, sick, tick, tick ... I"
Kennedy's handling of th
Berlin crisis since his Vienna
confrontation with Khrush
chev in June 1961, has
brought the issue to a point
where U. S. officials believe
danger of war by miscalcula
tion has been reduced as
much as possible.
Khrushchev's brutal verbal
assaO.lt on Kennedy at Vienna
indicated his belief he could
terrorize the new President
into concessions on Berlin,
Kennedy responded by in
creasing U. S. forces In Eur
ope, launching a new U. S.
military buildup at home and
hammering away at his firm
resolve to fight if need be to
stay in Berlin.
By Joseph Alsop
Tribune Syndicate
When this did not work,
he evidently concluded it
was necessary to do what ha
had said many scores of times
that he would never do. Ha
concluded it was necessary
to hand Algeria over to tha
F. L. N. rebels. And that was
the final outcome.
In the present instance,
Gen. de Gaulle's aim is once
again quite clear. It is a
"European Europe," standing
on its own feet, in no way de
pending on the United States
but linked on terms of com
plete equality with the United
States in a transformed West
ern alliance.
AS IN the former case, the
aim is not unintelligible. It
is both sensible and fully in
accord with the long swing
of history. And at this point,
one recalled the remark of
one of de Gaulle's former
closest collaborators that the
General is "with regard to
the past infallible; in the fu
ture prophetic; but in tha
present often detestable."
De Gaulle is "detestable"
in the present precisely be
cause he does not pursue his
long-term aims by any coher
ent scheme of action which
can be argued about or even
successfully opposed. He will
certainly stop anything hap
pening which he thinks may
block the subsequent attain
ment of an aim, just as he
stopped the British from en
tering Europe "as an Ameri
can Trojan horse," as he put
it.
Yet in circumstances like
the present circumstances in
Europe, saying "no" when
he js able to do so is de Gaul
le's major form of action. Be
yond this he maintaips a pos
ture - in the present instance
the posture of the leading ad
vocate and potential leader of
a European uncontaminated
by American influence.
IIE ALSO indulges in the
ll- strange pin-pricks of prec
edents and table placements,
which seem so widely odd to
Englishmen and Americans,
but help him, in his opinion,
to maintain his chosen pos
ture. And in addition, while
waiting for history to justi
fy him, he merely takes ad
vantage of tactical opportu
nities which may come his
way by accident or by the fall
of his adversaries.
Hence what we have to
worry about is not what
seems So worrisome in Wash
ington. There is no immedi
ate prospect of a Gaullist at
tempt to destrop NATO, or
to force American withdrawel
from Europe. What we have
to worry about, rather, is
how to avoid faults of our
own which will play too far
into Gen. de Gaulle's hands.
For although de Gaulle's
aim of an equal Europe is en
tirely sound, the trouble is
that he wishes to achieve this
aim against the extra-European
members of the Western
alliance, and quite largely at
their expense. Hence the
method can prove to be pro
foundly dangerous, even
though the aim deserves our
sympathy.