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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (June 19, 1963)
MEjSFOUD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD, OREGON WEDNE8DAY. JUNE 19, 1983 si- Your Money's Worth By SYLVIA PORTER Copyright, HjII Syndic. Inc. McNAMARA'S WAR ON WASTE "I, personally, consider you to be great Secretary of Defense": Sen. Paul H. Douglas, Democrat of Illinois, and chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Defense Procure ment, to Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara. "Yours is an extraordinary achievement": Sen. Jacob K. Javits, Republican of New York, a committee member, also to McNamara. "You're an unusual Secretary of Defense": Sen. Wil liam Proxmire, Democrat of Wisconsin, another committee member, to McNamara. Why this recent outpouring of praise from economy conscious Senators in view of the fact that McNamara has submitted to Congress for 1964 the : biggest peacetime defense budget ever? Because McNamara openly agrees with the Senators that there is enormous waste, duplica tion and extravagance in the defense budget; because he has initiated major new programs to cut the excesses; be cause programs he has launched are already producing annual savings of $1.9 billion and McNamara expects to step up the rate of annual saving to over S3. 4 billion by fiscal 1965; because he has had the courage to put through reorganizations which, in the words of an earlier Defense Secretary, are "no more painful than backing into a buzz saw." McNamara Isn't oromisina that tht defenit budget won't rise to all-iima peaks on the contrary. He is, though, trying what amounts to a crash program to curb the costs of dafanst by eliminating bad practices and malpractice in the face of stern opposition and dedi cation to the traditional ways of doing things in the De fense Department. Thus, the compliments of the budget cutting Senators. McNamara's most significant single cost-cutting move has been the creation of the Defense Supply Agency to buy, stock and sell supplies common to all the services. By weeding out excess inventory items the Depart' ment of Defense has 4 million items valued at $40.6 bil lion, of which $13 billion is excess or "long stocks" by slashing surpluses and by controlling purchases, the Defense Supply Agency, McNamara says, is right now saving $1 million a week over the previous system. A minor but memorable illustration: in 1961, each service was buying a different type of butcher smock in several sizes, a total of 18 different inventory items; today, the services stock only two types in fewer sizes, a total of seven different inventory items. Also of fundamental importance has been McNamara's drive to change the method of awarding defense contracts from negotiation and cost-plus-fixed-fee to formal or compe titive bidding wherever feasible. j In 1962, almost 87 per cent of all military purchases were still by negotiation. The estimate is that 25 cents can be saved on each dollar shifted from non-competitive to competitive buying and that shifts under way will be saving nearly $500 million a year by fiscal 1965. The changes are starting. In 1961, only 15 per cent of aircraft spare parts were bought competitively; in 1962, the per centage was doubled to 30 per cent and the trend is upward. ' The cost-cutting probe is touching the most delicate areas duplicate weapon systems, research and develop ment. As a dramatic illustration of what this can mean, basic to the now famous controversy over the TFX experi mental tactical fighter plane is not just the question of awarding of defense contracts. Basic is the fact that Mc Namara chose General Dynamics over Boeing because he insists that the General Dynamic design was closer to a "common plane" usable both by . the Air Force and Navy and that Boeing's design actually was two different planes which would have made an award to Boeing far more costly. . The Defense Department is asking today not only. "What will it cost?" but also, "Is it worth It?" and, and, "Are we buying only what we need?" This is why Douglas and hii committee are so "extremely gratified" and Douglas said a few days ago "a good beginning has at long last been made ... to make the economies which are desirable and possible." Involved in the size and content of the 1964 defense budget will be even more than our military power and economic strength. Also deeply entwined will be the fate of tax reduction-reform, for manyCongressmen really mean it when they say they'll vote against tax cuts unless there are signs the budget is being controlled. The schedules today indicate the defense budget and the tax bill will be reaching crucial Congressional voting dates around the same time which will dramatize Mc Namara's war on scandalous waste. Dennis the Menace Quotes From. the News By UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL Washington Sen. Wallace F. Bennett (R-Utah) charging that President Kennedy's program of aid to depressed areas would be used for political purposes in the 1964 election year: "I Imagine they can find a lot of depressed areas where Democrats are out of work." New York Singer Eddie Fisher, commenting on reports that his wife, Elizabeth Taylor, and actor Richard Burton plan to get married as soon as they can: "I wish them all the happiness. My plans art, and always have been, to accommodate the lady." St. Louis, Mo. Mrs. Katie Johnson, refusing on reli gious grounds to contest a speeding ticket because the sub urban court involved is held in a tavern: "I won't go into that tavern to be tried. If I go In side, they're going to have to . . . drag me In." Caracas, Venezuela A Communist gunman, regretting the raid he and others had just made on a U.S.-affiliated accounting firm: "What a pityl We wasted our time. There art no Amtricant here." Dancing in the) Streets A 3 Nesting Place of Bristle-Thighed Curlew Discovered 15 Years Ago By DICK WEST Washington-UPD-ln writing about a "protocol course" to be offered at Southwestern University here this summer. I noted that it w o u 1 d in clude a lec ture on the use of "party props." A par ty prop Is an obscure news item that can be used to start a conver- wtit sation at par ties. As an example, I cited the fact that 1963 Is the 15th anniversary of (lie discovery of the nesting place of the bristle-thighed curlew. It occurred to me latcf that, because of the context In which it was mentioned, some readers may have gotten the impression that I was treating the anniversary frivolously. It so, I want to clear that up at once. I fully recognize that the discovery of the curlew's nest was an ornithological mile stone. Perhaps it will make us all feel better if we pause for a moment and pay hom age to this remarkable achievement. It was, as you may recall, on Junt 18, 1948, that word of tht discovtry rtachtd tht waiting world. Tht news was flashtd by Dr. Arthur A. Allen, htad of an expedi tion that tht National Geo graphic Socitty had sent to Alaska to starch for tht ntii. "We have found the cur lew's nest," Allen said sim ply. It was a signal for rejoicing and dancing in the streets, for It cleared up a mystery that had battled man for 163 years. Ever since 1785, when man first realized that there was such a bird as the bristle thighed curlew, man had won dered where the darn thing nested. By 1948, the curlew was the only North American bird whose breeding grounds and summer home remained undetected. Things like that are what drive men crazy. 25 Per Cent Cut In Foreign Aid Seen by Morse Washington -(UPD- Sen. Wayne Morse (D-Ore.) says he thinks President Ken nedy's $4.5 bililon foreign aid request can be cut "in the neighborhood of 25 per cent." Morse made the statement to newsmen after Secretary of State Dean Rusk appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to an swer quetsions about the re quest. The Oregon Democrat is a member of the com mittee. Morse told Rusk at his ap pearance that he was advis ing constituents that he planned to "cut where it is safe to cut." He also told Rusk that the U.S. should be Insisting that its West European allies pay a larger share of the bill for assistance in such areas as Africa. Pressing Vigorously Rusk replied that the U S was pressing vigorously for the allies to expand their aid programs. Morse also was critical of U.S. trade policies. He told Rusk that he has just about given up hope that U.S. nego tiators will retaliate under tariff and trade agreements against foreign governments discriminating against Amer ican poultry and fruit. Rusk testified that such ac tions as those against U.S. poultry were difficult to com bat because retaliation, which might help other commodi ties, does not help poultry itself. The reader is perhaps won dering why the National Geo graphic expedition was sent to Alaska rather than say, Minnesota. Well, Allen had a hot tip that some of the birds had been sighted off the Alaskan coast. Had he gone to Minnesota he might be searching yet. For tht btntfit of thost who havt n t v t r teen a bristle-thighed c u r 1 1 w, I shall attempt to dtscribt ont, even though I may bt accustd of trying to pull your leg. It is between 16 and 18 inches long and has brown feathers, some of which stick out from its sides like bristles. It spends most of the year in the South Pacific, but goes to Alaska each spring, "Why these curlew should want to leave the warm, lux urious shores of Tahiti and other South Sea islands, fly 5,500 miles over the open sea, and arrive at one of the most forlorn stretches of tundra in North America, deserted by all other birds and still large ly covered with snow, just to lay four eggs, is hard to un derstand, Allen once commented.- My guess Is that' they do it for publicity, uiuu uonw casurru. wotuwoa Love me BEEHIVE AUTO LEASE St Darrtll Millar to Ltast Your Car or Truck All MAKES AND All MODEISI 301 South Central Gall 773-8208 I o J : j then leave me. If you don't like to take bottles back to the store, try Rainier in the economical 16 oz. no-deposit, no-return bottle. Pours two full glassesof smooth, light Rainier. Quenches tall thirsts. 0M t Downtown Medford J NOW! EVERYONES FAVORITE LINGERIE! 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