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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (June 23, 1963)
k2 ' ii 131 Si 4 A ""Everyone Id Southern drum Rt.di Tb Mil Tribune" KbTLhed Daily except toUirdey W MEDKORD PRINTING CO 13 North rirSl. PS. 17-U1 ""SOBERT W RliHU-tOltof HIRB GREY Adverli.ini Manjwt GERALD T LATHAMjBu. Mir ERIC W ALLEN JR. Mnj Mtlof EARL H ADAMS City Editor HARRY CHIHMAN. Teles Editor RICHARD JEWETT SporU Ed t DALEJRICJCSONIrcutaUonMft Entered ae tecood eleae Merch S, IB7 SUBSCRIPTION RATES or ieu tn Dairy end Sunday I year JJJ Daily ana ounaay Dally and Sunday 3 moo. JflO sm.l rnnv (Mailed) 0 By Cimer And Motor Keute. Dally and Sunday 1 year Ml 00 Dally and Sunday 1 mo. I-J Sunday Only 1 mo. Carrier and Vendor! Copy 100 oTfUlaTFaper el City of MedforS 01llclalPaperJiaxkjo touoty jnjirfj n sue." full Leaeed Wire 0 P 1 Telepholo Newaplcturoo fiEMBr.Rbr AUD1TBURIAU SUNDAY. JUNG 23, 1113 MEDF0RD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD, OREGON CsofikTT'rijASSOCl, Area t,i-icw iu ' .- cafo. Detroit San franciaco. Lot Ancelto. Deauie. - Denver. . . NIWIPAPII ruiuiHiii ASSOCIATION RATION At (OITOIIAl deiter California Newipaper Publtahera AaeotlaUon Flight o' Time Medford and J.cbpn County Hi.tory from the file. Th. Mall Tribune 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 years ago. 10 YEARS AGO Juno 23, 1833 (Monday) George Harrington,. Dom Provost Jr., and Phil Getch cll, all of Rogua Valley Coun try club, won opening round matchci In the Oregon Golf association chsmplon ihip flight at Portland. ; Playing at the Esquire Theatre was the full-length feature of the "Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II." 20 YEARS AGO June 23, 143 (Tuoiday) First fire fighting parachu tists ever employed In Oregon to be used In Siskiyou Na- 4ln.nl VnrMl 4lrpjl. From Arthur Perry's "Ye c.. .an,. Ont" r-nlumn. "Hen uiiiuub " - it i. in Aavm in the Fourth of July and not a boy with a thumb shot off by a careless firecracker. 30 YEARS AGO Juno 23. 1933 (Thursday) Applegate CCC camp nears completion. Game farm here hatches 1,096 pheasants. 40 YEARS AGO June 23. 1923 (Friday) . Ted Thye-Gua 8chnoidau wrestling match at Gold Hill tomorrow night excites popu lace. - Fair; high 72, low 43 de grees; last year at this date mercury went to J 03 degrees. SO YEARB AGO June 23. 1913 (Sunday) School board deadlocked over election of Oris Craw ford or H. S. Stlne as clerk. J. L. Summers, Redlands, Calif., buys Evans Creek ranch. What's Yocr I.Q.7 Nina at ton comet Is wearier; eve er eight t ueallooti five oi ii it food. 1. Traditionally the quartar deck of a ship was reserved for whom? 2. Which Is the correct spell !ng: pcrmlssable, or permis sible? 3. Putting the shot Is con nectcd with track, hunting or sailing? 4. Is "beauty sleep" that rest obtained before, or after midnight? ' 3. In court trials, when the accused pleads "nolo con tender," doea that mean not guilty, guilty, or no contest of the cwgos? 6. Are the metatarsal bones In the wrist, back or foot? 7. Who was the first US Secretary of war? 8. What does a philatelist concern himself with? 8. Is the athletic Javelin a ball-like, spear-Uke, or disc like object? 10. Is Colorado. Nevada. New Mexico or Idaho the leading silver producer? Aniworsi I. Oilicer. I. Per miuible, 3. Track. 4. Before. 5. No contest. I. In the loot. 7. Henry Knox. 8. Stamps. 9. Spear-like. 10. Idaho. Billboards in the News Billboards are again in the news. In California, the Lecislature rejected a bil which would have completely banned billboards from most state highways. But it is still consid erine restrictive measures. In Oregon, a new law will soon go into effect which changes the administration of the bill board control law from the Labor Commissioner to the Highway Department, and which spells out certain rules and regulations. e e a e a IN PORTLAND, the Oregonian compliments the Legislature on the new law (as does the Ore eon Roadside Council), while the Journal com plains bitterly about the location of one big bill board which, the paper states, effectively blocks available to newcomers entering the city. In New York, a small army of workmen em ployed by the New York State Thruway swarmed into the dawn and took down 53 billboards which did not conform to regulations, and whose own era had refused to make the necessary changes, The New York Times commented : "R. Burdell Bixby, Thruway Authority chairman, thus showed again that he meant business. At the last session of the Legislature he led a successful battle against the billboard lobby, which was trying to soften up the law. Owners of the signs had ample notice that public opinion and the law, as well as supporting court decisions, were against them. The state standards of regulation are consistent with the Federal Incentive prohibitions against signs on Interstate routes. They meet every test of reasonableness. Mr. Blxby has done his duty. He could do no less and obey the law he de fended in the interests of highway safety and scenery." e e e e e THOSE WHO oppose billboards do not neces- sari'lv onnnfifi arlvertiftinir. npr bp. Rut. fliov do object to commercialism being used to block scenic views, and to commercialism taking ad vantage of a cantive audience on hiehwavs nro- vided at public expense. We have never advocated a flat hnn nn hill. boards, for some of them are useful and mpcps. sary. But we do believe in reasonable controls. ' If these are not made and pnfnrpprl if thov are not complied with by the sign companies, and if thev nersist in blatant disrep-ard of the nnhhV interest (e.g. : the monstrosities now going up alone the freewavin Medford'). thpn the nltei-na. tive is prohibition. Under such circumstances, we are convinced a majority of the people would support a flat ban, rather than condoning con tinued abuse. E. A. a - Great Books Feature We are nleased to call attention tn n new Mail Tribune feature, which appears on this page for uie nrsi lime loaav. It Is entitled "Great Trleaa from the firnnr Books," and is written by the distinguishable Sniiosopner, educator and author, Dr. Mortimer . Adler. Tn if. he answers nuoi'i'oa fVnm vnnAm-a V,, on plying the Great Ideas from his Great Books to ine Questions, ine column nas had Drear, anpoeas throughout the country. It will appear in the Mail Tribune each Sunday. DEADERS OF THE Mail Tribune are both in 1X vited and encouraged to send questions to Dr. Adler in Care of this newspaper. Readers submitting questions which Dr. Ad ler selects as the most penetrating will be reward ed with a complete 54-volume set of the Great Books, which cover the field of ideas from an cient times forward. Dr. Adler received his Ph.D. finm Pnlnmhia University and later was associated with Robert M. Hutchins at the University nf P.hiin - - . v. v.i.viikjwt 1U t3 now director of the Institute for Philosophical uesearcn in sun t rancisco. in addition to editing the Great Books series, he is the author of several best-selling books, includinir "Hnw tn ttonrl a Book," "The Idea of Freedom," and "The Can- liausi nianiiesio. u.a. "At for Civil Rights, I Agree With Sen. Goldwater That This U a Matter of State Rights Uh Let's Finish This Speech Somewhere Else" Today & Tomorrow By Walter llppmann (el 1BB.1. The Waihlnirton Port ttppmana About Letters House Approwi 6111 On Duty-Fret Limit Washlngton-AITO-The House has approved an administra tion bill to retain for two more year the $100 duty free limit on foreign goods brought Into the United States by American tourist. By a voice vote Thursday, the House passed legislation to prevent the duty-free al lowance from rising to $500 on July 1. The Senatt 1 ex- We confess to a certain mild irritation over recent criticisms of the Mail Tribune's Communi cations policies and practices. One correspondent suspects us of unworthv motives for rejecting a letter which we considered to be libelous. Another complains in a paid ad and over a local radio station that we refused to print a letter of his. And this from one who has proba bly had more Communications space over the years than any other single individual. The fact is, uespiie ins uniounueu assumptions, mat we still have the letter on file, and may print it when space permits. Meanwhile we have been giving preierence to letters from others who have not had as much space as the complaincr. e a A S WAS stated here recently, it has been neces- sary to make certain revisions in the policies regarding Communications. We now receive more than can be fitted into available space. As a result, we are forced to exercise a bit more restrictive editorial judgment, giving pref erence to letters which are fresh and interesting. which are from those who have not been frequent correspondents, and which are short and to the point. We are delighted to receive Communications, for we are convinced that they are among the best-read parts of the newspaper. But as noted, not all can be p r i n t e d. The responsibility for n 1 An( U . . . U ' L 1. ..11 I . , ecicvbing uiurc wurti mihh ue is ours, wniners nntnnthstonrlinrr V A ,,V T, ,V,IUMIllUIJIk. tit THE PRAYER CASES In the aftermath of the prayer cases, there Is a most Important question which we must ask our selves. If the constitutional principle is so clear, why is it t h a t there are such wide spread and persistent at tempts to in troduce some kind of reli gious exercise Into the public schools? All American churches ac cept the principle of the sep aration of church and state. Only in fringe questions, where there is no self-evident rule, is there difficulty in interpreting the principle. No church Is trying to obtain con trol of public education. The reason for the experi ments with religion In the public schools is, I believe, that there is a growing dis enchantment with the results of wholly-secularized educa tion. ' "O o 'TWERE IS, HERE, much the "- hardest problem of educa lion, a much deeper problem than that of persuading the country to raise enough money to pay for good teach. lng In adequate achool build ings. It is the problem of what to teach about the nature of man and the universe around him, and how to provide the boy and girl with governing beliefs that will make them civilized. The proponents of Bible reading and reciting the Lord's Prayer are in varying measures concerned with the fundamental problem of a moral and Intellectual vac uum at the center of educa tion. It has been pressed upon tneir attention, not only by delinquency and unrulincss among the young, but also by almlessness and anxiety among adults. When they Introduce a stir rcptitlous and denatured reli gion into the public achools. they are snatching at straws. The straws will not provide the order, purpose and con trol that are lacking. But it would be obtuse to suppose that there Is therefore no real problem or that the Supreme Court haa disposed of it and that it can now be forgotten. 'TWERE CAN BE, I think, no serious dispute that the Supreme Court has defined accurately the historic mean ing of the First Amendment "In the relationship between man and religion," says Mr Justice Clark for the ma jority, "the state is firmly committed to a position of neutrality." Why? Because the neutrality of the state In the fields of religion and opinion are the terms of peace on which the religious wars were brought to an end. Only by forbidding the state to act in the field of religion could the community be saved from the bitter strug gle between groups attempt ing to seize the power of the state In order to settle the ter rible Issues which had divid ed Europe. We must remember, how ever, that the liberals of the 17th and 18th centuries who negotiated the religious peace were not themselves agnos tics. On the contrary. Includ ing the American liberals who drafied the Declaration of In dependence and the Bill of Rights, they were them selves the adherents of a public philosophy which is inherent in the central tradition of the classical unbelievers. But alt had et and Christian world. Some were Catholic, some were Protestant, some were deists, some were in their theology unbelievers. But all hd es sentially the same traditional philosophy. They had been taught and shaped in the great tradition. They saw, as Father Murray has said, that within the west ern nations there is "A plur ality of incompatible faiths." Therefore, the stale must be neutral in the field of reli gion. But It never occurred to them, it would seem, that the public philosophy which they regarded as self-evident would become lost to educat ed men, e e a BECAUSE THAT HAS hap- ikllLU, .lie CIKUIVCIIICII, of the First Amendment has a different meaning todiv than at the end of the 18th century. Those who are concerned with the content of secular ized public education (and much private education as well) should look upon the decision of the court as hav ing closed a blind alley that led nowhere. The forbidden religious exercises would not and eould not have dealt with the great moral and intel lectual deficiencies of Amer ican education. The exercises were harm less and neelisible. But had they been allowed to evolve, tney cou d have led onlv to religious quarrels. Now that we have finished with the token reform, we must turn our attention to a great reappraisal of the con tent of American education. In the Day's News r FRANK JINKINS Russia's cosmonaut 1 a n H safely - the gentlemen on his uzna orou or me earth and the ladv on her 4flth. Thr-v stayed up longer than all the rest or the world s astronauts put toEcther. ADoarenllv hnv parachuted out of thpir ni vehicles and came down safe ly on land. The OnlV mbihan nvm, in have been a bruised nose on the lady i part. THESE RUSSIANS! Meaning, of course, the common, everyday Russians and NOT their Communist overlords. Thcv work hard they seem to have good minds -and, so far as is known, they pay their way as they go and put nothing on the cuff. It might be Just as well for us to keep an Intelligently observant eye on them. Their Communist system, of course. u too bunglesome and TOP HEAVY to worry us much. But, in time, they might have the simple common sense to revolt and overthrow it and adopt the free enterprise way of life. If they should ... Well, In that event, keep an eye on them. pOOR OLD BRITAIN. She's getting her luniDS. As if she d i d n 't have troubles enough already. Princes Charlie, the 14.voar. old heir to the British throne, laces a possible CANING be cause he nipped a cherry brandy in a Scottish pub. IT HAPPENED like this: Gordontoun, the strict and correct English school that Princes Charles attends sent its private yacht, the Pinta, on a short cruise that includ ed the Outer Hebrides Islands, which are Scottish. The Pinta stopped at the Wand town of Stornoway and the Prince and three com panions went ashore, with the s e h o o 1 bodyguard, to have GREAT IDEAS... From the Great Books By Mortimer J. Adler (el 1S63. Pubtuhera Newipaper Syndicate Matter oi Fact y Joseph Altop icl New York Herald Tribune Syndicate BIRTH CONTROL Doar Dr. Adlari Birth control is a world-wide sub ject of importance today. Can you, through your knowledge of groat his torians, philosophers, and teachers, throw any clearer light on the problam than we aro ordinarily being giv onf Is this mora a problem to be solved by govern ment or religion? Many say ii is for neither to decide. They say this is personal, moral decision to bo made by the two people involved. Joa R. Tindle, 450-36ih Ave. North, St. Petersburg, Fla. Dear Mr. Tindle: Birth con trol has been practiced for thousands of years. In an cient Greece, physicians and medical scientists studied and improved methods of contra ception. The ancient Jews and Christiana knew of vari ous means of birth control, including the "rhythm meth od." Moral attitudes toward the practice of birth control have varied considerably. The Greek moralist approved vari ous methods of population control, including abortion. However, the Oath of Hippo crates includes the vow not to aid a woman to produce abortion. The Jewish Tal- mudic writers approved the use of contraceptives by the wife if she was too young to bear children safely, or if she was a nursing mother. Ortho dox Jews today permit artifi cial birth control measures by the wife - never by the hus band - when her health will be seriously endangered by pregnancy. Early Christian writers con demned all forms of contra ception. Augustine called it unlawful and wicked," even when the method is the nat ural one of confining sexual dinner. The Prince eluded the stern-eyed bodyguard and went into the bar where he took a seat and ordered, and was served, a cherry brandy. At that awkward moment the bodyguard entered the bar and read to Prince Charlie what ' the reporters describe as "a very restrained riot act - for heirs to the British throne are not supposed to do things like that. The Prince rushed away from the bar and left for a steak and potatoes dinner in the hotel dining room, yHAT'S TO BE done about Well, the jchool'i head master, who arrived from the yacht about that time, says the Gordonstoun rules PER MIT NO DRINKING. What will happen to the Prince? Headmaster Chew says: "I cannot prejudge the issue, but the normal punish ment for an offense of this nature is a BEATING or a demotion." The usual form of a "beating" is with a cane, and Is known as a caning. . He adds: "There is, of course, an alternate punishment - which is a demotion. I do not know at the moment which will be the likelier of the two." It's a rough world. intercourse to the "safe peri od." Aquinas called contra ception "the vice against na ture," since it prevents the achievement of the natural end of the sexual act. Hence he condemned it as opposed to the natural moral law, as well as to certain Scriptural injunctions. Aquina's view has been the traditional Roman Catholic position down to the present day. Certain qualifications in that position seem to have been introduced with the ap proval, by many Catholic moralists, of the "rhythm method" and thoughtful "family planning." However, it should be noted that seri ous medical, economic, social, or eugenic reasons are requir ed for the use of such meth ods, and the Catholic moral ists unanimously condemn ar tificial means of birth con trol. It la uncertain whether the church will or can ap prove the recently invented contraceptive pill. ' In past ages, spokesmen for the major Protestant faiths also condemned contraception as immoral and impious. In recent times, however, they have come to approve the use of birth control as a means of achieving essential marital and family values. The Lam beth (Anglican) Conference of 1958, for instance, unanimous ly approved the use of con traception by conscientious and responsible spouses exer cising "a wise stewardship of the resources and abilities of the family," and taking note of "the varying population needs and problems of society and of future generations. The conference also stressed the mutual love between man and wife as equally important with procreation as the pur pose of marriage, and stated that the role of the family is to give "responsible security to the children born of the love of husband and wife." Catholic thinkers, such as Herbert Doms and Thomas Gllby, are in close agreement with this present day Protes tant view of marital love and procreation. Many Catholic writers have noted that canon law makes the education and welfare of children, as well as their procreation, the end of marriage, and hence coun tenances some form of respon sible family planning. One Catholic moral philospher, Frederick E. Flynn, asserts that the natural moral law requires married persons to "use sex reasonably . . . and not to dilute the care and love" for the children they now have "by overdoing a good thing." The disagreement between Catholics and non-Catholics, however, on the permissibil ity of artificial birth control methods has caused heated controversy on issues of pub lic policy. Many Catholics are unwilling to contribute through taxes to government sponsored programs of artifi cial birth control, which they consider immoral. A way out of this impasse has been suggested by Dr. John Rock, the eminent Cath olic gynecologist - for public bodies to provide "all meth ods of family planning" leav- oiao THE NIGHTMARE Washington - Behind the President's civil rights mes sage, there is a nightmare- the word is not too strong -which has increasingly troubled the minds of the Presiden t himself, At torney Gen eral Robert Kennedy, and all other members of the Administra tion high command. The nightmare was dimly suggested in the passage fore casting that "the result of continued Federal legislative inaction will be continued, if not increased, racial strife- causing the leadership on both sides to pass from the hands of reasonable and re sponsible men to the purvey ors of hate and violence (and) endangering domestic t r a n quality." Bluntly described, the Pres ident's nightmare is that the Negro protest movement will somewhere, somehow, over flow, from the sheer force of pent-up emotion, into the kind of violent excesses that will shock moderate opinion in the white community - and may even require Federal inter vention. a e THIS IS NOT a foolish night maro Am it hannpns some of the best reporting on this tragic topic has been done by the New Yorker. The other day the New Yorker had a piece describing, among other things, a Black Muslim meeting in Harlem, at which the chief speaker, a certain Conrad Lynn, triumphantly predicted that "there is going to be a lot of white blood flowing in this country! . . . We have guns and we are go ing to make our presence felt." The commentary on this outburst was then supplied by a young Negro woman, un named, who was quoted as saying, "There's going to be trouble. . . . Every night now in Harlem, there's a rumor that some white policeman has abused a Negro. On a hot summer night. It wouldn't take much to set off a riot not isolated violence, but a kind of revolution. "Five years ago, it was still a problem for social workers -jobs, education, housing. . . . Now something will have to be done on an enormous scale, or there's going to be murder." TOE ALARMING explosive L atmosphere described by ing the choice of proper meth od to the religious faith or conscience of the individual client. (You can win a 54-vol-umo set of the Groat Books of the Western World by writing a letter, not to ex ceed 150 words, incorporat ing a question oi general interest for Dr. Adler to consider for inclusion in this column. Each week he will select as first priia winners the letters of the lhroo boat letters. He will use ONE of these letters as a baiii for a future column and will answer it in terms of the intellectual heritage oi the Groat Books - 443 works by 74 authors, span ning 30 centuries oi thought. Address the letters to Dr. Mortimer J. Adler, in caro of this newspaper. this young Negro woman is also being reported to thaj Justice Department by its in. formants throughout the country. The main cause of the explosiveness, it must be added, is not the fact that the Schools and Dublic farilitiee of the state of Alabama are still segregated. The main casue is, rather, the fact that in the Chicago Negro community, for in. stance, nearly one in every five able-bodied workers is out of a job. As the young negro woman in the New Yorker also remarked. "Thai families of some of these peo pie have been on relief for three generations; they have energy and no work to spend it on." Small wonder, then, that the situation is exdosive. Tha sudden increase of explosive ness is not hard to under stand, either. Precisely be cause the cause of equal rights has begun to gain a little) ground, the old passive ac ceptance of their lot by th great mass of American Negroes has quite abruptly oeen transiormed into a nev militancy. e e e QJUCH, THEN, is the com. bustible raw material which may too easily explode) into excess bv the Neernen in one or another American community. Except for tha Negroes themselves, nn nn has more to lose by such an explosion man the President. n wm be bad for the country he leads, bad for him nersnn. ally, and bad for his party as wen. . Yet he is renorlpdlv our!. ously philosoDhic about it u does not blame the Negro leaaers tor the competition in militancy that hac h .. n among them. He certainly uoes not i a m e the Negro community for th sironoih and bitterness of the emotions that are beginning to well up; instead, ne Diames the injus' tices which cause the emo tions. The one nninl thai hdU 41,. President and Attorney Gen eral Kennedy are endlessly stressing to all who discuss "e subject with them is, characteristically, a practical point. If Neero milifanrv m too far, it will Inevitably pro- voxe an answering reaction in the white community in a reaction which mav h stronger .in the Northern cities man in the South. In that case, the Negroes, being the minority, will be the chief sufferers. e e fTHIS IS THE kind of prao x t i c a 1 i t y which caused . James Baldwin and the other Negro leadere whn mot .uu Attorney General Kennprlu in New York to go away com plaining that he "did not un derstand." The trouble is that he did understand and they did not. What they did not unHpr. stand is that the whnllv insti. fiable Negro claims for equal treatment in all fields will never be met solely because they are justifiable. In this harsh world, alas, justice is not automatic. The Negro claims will be met. in fact, in decent. Chris. tian white ooininn also rnn. ' tinues to insist on these claims being met. And therein, of course, lies the danger to the - Negroes, as well as to tha country, of the kind of ex cesses that may too easily (and one must add, too under standably) occur as the pres ent crisis develops. British Scandal Has Roots in Change By ERIC SEVAREID Miss Christine Keeler is not likely to stand in the big league with Claudia the Ro man or Mad ame Pompa dour or even Lola Montcz but she, too has affected the political command over millions of people and. like Claudia, Serareld she will have her page in history because of a parliamentary convulsion, even though the accusatory orations of Harold Wilson In the fogs of Westminster are not likely to stand with those of Cicero tn the hot sun of the Roman Senate. Mark down a net loss for posterity. e e For the present, all manner of thinkers are trying to find "social significance in this current example of the sexual ingredient in high politics. and one joins the effort with trepidation. But what recurs is a remark made to me by a well known English writer at a London dinner party not long ago "My friend, you'll discover one day that right under the surface, this is a nation of sex maniacs." Beneath this remark, over stated for effect, lies a consid erable cargo of meaning. There is no doubt that what has been going on in London since the war, especially among the teen-agers and the social upper classes, is in violent contrast to the middle class stereotype of a puritan ical ethos. There is no doubt that, as so much English lit erature attests, the British were a dancing, singing, hard drinking, lusty people until the industrial revolution simultaneously produced a middle class, the necessity to keep the working class sober and punctual, and the smug and forbidding visage of Vic toria as the public symbol of the new puritanlsm. There is no doubt that the supposedly direct relationship between poverty and crime and vice is very much to be doubted. Marx, alas, preceded Freud, and only recently have British socialists frankly faced the fact, so painful to their doctrines which reflect ed little knowledge of human nature, that affluence and full employment have brought more, not less, crime and pros titution. One suspects that the reason is simple enough: There Is more easy money around for the having. Then is no doubt that a large segment of the British upper class, like a large seg ment of Hollywood, has long considered itself exempt from the accepted rules of personal conduct. Indeed, the public in both countries has encouraged this, as if most morality-bound people in their routine lives need an escape hatch, how ever vicarious, for their un conscious longings to bust loose. In New York, thou sands seek tickets for "Cleo patra," chiefly motivated by Miss Taylor's uninhibited sex life; In London, the popular press virtually makes its liv ing on sex and is now engaged in wholesale pandering with the Profumo case, whatever its piously hypocritical editor ials may say. . e e What gives this case its cutting edge, of course, is the security aspect a Minister of War has shared a call-girl with a Soviet officer-spy and it is here that I would, somewhat hesitantly, add an other interpretation to the many already offered. It seems to me that the social and psychological effects of a sudden loss of national power in the world are akin to those of defeat in war. I would not equate London today with the cesspool that was Berlin in the early twenties, but in Britain, even in the realm of government, certain stays and fastenings have surely come loose. Neu rotic resentment against America is part of this insta bility in a people once famous for their steadiness. I think there is also a general slack ening of efficiency and per sonal dedication in British government. This was probably Inevit able for the simple reason that what British leaders do. say and think no longer af fects the whole world; they are no longer an example for everyone. Bereft of a great role, the severe standards re quired of greatness must wither; the best men of a gen eration must relate their lives to something bigger than themselves if they are to ba big; where the puddle grows small, the frogs, with few ex ceptions, will shrink in size. This is the core of tha malaise in the British "estab lishment," whose very reason for existing is vanishing. A Wellington, whose class as well as whose fame was secure, could say, "Publish and be damned" to a black mailing ex-mistress. No Brit ish leader today could do that, e Even twenty years ago a Profumo case would not have happened not this way. The man would have been in stantly out, or the case suc cessfully smothered and the damage repaired in private; too much would have been at stake. There would never have been this bumbling and fumbling, with events getting entirely out of hand. The wrong mistresses In the wrong place have shaken the gov ernments of various comic opera Ruritanias. If this is something new for Britain it is because this is a new Britain. (Dittributed 1983, by The Hall Syndicate, Inc.) (All Rights Reserved) '
