Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989, June 27, 1963, Image 4

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    A A
THURSDAY. JUNE 17. 1(13
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD, OREGON
"""iwryone la Southern Oreeoa
llwtoTtM Hul Trtbuna
f usllitue TtTtT except Saturday br
MEDFORD PRWTUiO CO
M North fit St, Phm-14;
ROBERT W BUHL. Editor
IM CUV MvfUtinM MlMW
GERALD T LATHAM. Bui Mir
WUC ALLEN JR, Mn fclltor
CARL H ADAMS, City Editor
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RICHARD JEWETT, SporU Editor
OUVE STARCHES women Edltoi
DALE ER1CKS0N. ClrculaUonMsr
Anlndpcndent Nwppl
Enured aa second cl.n matter at
liedlord. Oregon under Act of
March 3, IS97
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MATIONAl I0ITOIIAI
What Happened to Sin?
"There are only two klndi of men; the righteous
who believe themselves sinners; the rest, sinners, who
believe themselves righteous."-Pascal.
Mem Mr California Newspaper
Publisher Association
Flight o' Time
Medford and Jackson County
Hlttory from tha tiles ol The
Mall Tribune 10, 20,. 30, 40
and SO years aflO.
"What happened to sin?" was the question
to which one of Oregon's distinguished editors
devoted a column not long ago.
Charles A. Sprague, editor and publisher of
the Oregon Statesman in balem, remarked:
"Sin used to be a very live subject of theological
discourse and for sermonizing. It is related that Jona
than Edwards, the great preacher of colonial times,
preached with such vigor in denouncing sin and the
pains of hell to be visited on sinners that some of his
auditors grasped the pillars of the church to avoid
being swept into the fiery pit. Not many preach that
gospel with such force these days."
Not only is "sin" preached less than it used
to be ; the concept itself, seems to have become
less than fully valid in the minds of many men
QIN is defined as transgression against the laws
of God, and, by extension, the laws of man.
In our increasingly secular society, with the
influences of psychology and the other man- and
mind-centered sciences or quasi-sciences, we are
much more apt to probe for motivations and for
the causes of action, than simply to label a man
a "sinner," damned to perdition.
. We are more apt to suggest psychoanalysis
than reform: more apt to seek hidden motives
than to judge actions on the basis of morality;
more apt to try to cure than try to redeem.
Tusk to Tusk
w m .i
i zj?
nAartKvajajeJI r if Tl TlaM " . ' H I
Mysterious Exile Is Political Power
In Complicated Argentine Situation
By PHIL NEWSOM
UPI Foreign News Analyst
In Montevideo, Uruguay,
across the broad River Plate
from Argentina,, a mysterious
figure once
M
R. SPRAGUE comments:
10 YEARS AGO
June 27. 18S3 (Saturday)
The first West Coast Air
lines flight from Medford to
Klamath Falls left more than
half-an-hour behind schedule
when it took off at 1:02 p.m.;
scheduled to leave at 12:30,
the plane was late coming
into Medford due to weather
conditions.
Anti-hail planes of the
Rogue River Valley Traffic
association seeded clouds
built up to 16,000 feet threat
ening hailstorms over the val
ley. 20 YEARS AGO
June 27, 1941 (Saturday)
Robcne Starcher becomes
third person to give hair tor
war effort.
From Arthur Perry's "Ye
fcmtirlffA Pnt" column: "A Mae
West story showed up in local
' giggling circles last week and
. all report it was a pleasant
change and relief from the
current epidemic of little mor
on talcs."
30 YEARS AGO
June 27, 1933 (Monday)
Prof. Henry Hartman urges
valley fruitmcn to show unit
ed front.
. Jail inmate links Jailer to
ballot thefts. '
"One might conclude that sin has been abolished,
and sinning has become popular. What has happened .'
to sin is that the former controls exercised largely '
through religion as well as the law have become less ,
binding. And society has not yet effected alternate
controls that are binding."
The moral sanctions which once applied
against gambling, drinking, card-playing and
dancing have almost disappeared. And almost
anything which is not an out-and-out crime is
condoned, if not approved.
Transgressions against moral laws, as long as
they do not affect another person, are taken to
be an individual's own business. .
DUT, Mr. Sprague concludes, there still is sin,
even though the old codes have been modi
fied: ,'''
"... There is the sin of abuse of the body by
vice or Indulgence; the sin of abuse of the mind by
neglect, by mental atrophy, by filling it with trash
or worse. There is the sin of the emotions, of greed
and selfishness and passion. There is the collective
Bin of abuse of power whether in business or In poll
tics; and there Is the greatest sin of all, modern war.
"So there Is still abundant reason for priests and -preachers
to declaim against sin, for moral degrade
tion corrodes the Individual and brutalizes society.
And the recovery of spiritual health docs not come
from the sublimation of psychiatry but from the old, ,
old path of penitence, confession and satisfaction."
The "old, old path", is not always an easy
one to follow. It takes courage, dedication and a
lively faith to confess error and seek absolution
particularly now that the sanctions once wield
ed by the clergy have lost most of their force.
And, as Mr. Sprague remarks, no alternative
controls, save only the law and the mores of an
ever more permissive society, have evolved. There
is little indication that they will.
Communications
Letter! to the Editor must bear tha name and address of tha writer.
although under certain circumstances the use of a pen name or Initial
for publication it permissible. Tha Mail Tribune reserves tha riaht to
edit all letters with a view to clarification and condensation. Letter,
submitted for publication must not exceed 400 words. Tha letters
printed In this column do not necessarily represent tha views of tha
paper. In fact the contrary Is often the case.
No Number
To the Editor: Under the
New Frontiah, you can't even
buy a hot dog without giving
them your social security
numbah.
Everett Acklln '
Ashland, Ore.
40 YEARS AGO
June 27. 1123 (Tuesday) .
Leon Haskins, T. E. Daniels,
and Bill Hammett back from
fishing trlD near Prospect.
Grain in Sams Valley saved
by recent rains.
SO YEARS AGO
June 27, 1113 (Friday)
F. R. Hayward, assistant
manager of the Crater Lake
company, Mr. and Mrs. John
son, Mr. and Mrs. Falzner, R.
T. Goal and Robin Gray leave
Medford Saturday morning
with a wagon load of supplies
to open up the road to the
lake and start work at the
camns and on trie new inn.
Market Report: eggs, 13
cents; butter, 30 cents; elder
25 cents a gallon.
WRITING in similar vein, Harry Golden said
tho nthfir' rlav?
Whit's Your I.Q.?
Nfat et Ha serrwt Is sweatier;
aavM er eieht Is entllenfi f! at
ale b eeae.
1. A baseball playing field
Is called what?
2. What sort of surgeon
specialties In remodeling hu
man features? '
3. In which city was the
Declaration of Independence
signed?
4. In what country la Bag
dad? 3. Name the author of
"Ivanhoe."
6. Correct the following
sentence: "The aim of all his
efforts were to gain peace."
7. In which city is The Lit
tie Church Around the Cor
ner? 8. What Is a tennis playing
field called?
5. "The Star Spangled Ban
ner" was written by whom?
10. Which state has the
largest strawberry crop?
Answers! 1. Diamond. 2.
Plastie surgeon. 3. Philadel
phia. Pa. 4. Jxacj. 3. Sit Walter
leett t. "... was lo fain
peace." 7. New York City. 3.
Ceaut. 8. Francis Seen Kay.
, 10. Louisiana.
"America Is an anomaly among nations in that It
Is church-going but Its religious faith Is not very
deep. The French are anti-clerical but devout, as are
the Italians, and the English long ago decided God
rescmblod an English lord and worshipping Him in
no way transgresses against their reserve.
"Only Americans get upset about agnostics and
atheists and the reason they do Is that most church
goers don't like to be reminded of their own secularism."
Thus both Mr. Sprague and Mr. Golden find
much to be desired in today's America, the one
wishing for a broader acknowledgement of the
concept of transgression against the moral law,
the other deploring the hypocrisy inherent in
secularism and materialism among church-goers,
X7E FIND it far easier to respect an out-and-
out agnostic or atheist, who lives by his own
moral code and in harmony with his neighbors.
than to respect a church-goer who sanctimoni
ously proclaims his piety and then violates half
of the ten commandments in any given week.
One of the fallacies which has hung on for
years is that religion is a prerequisite for morality
It is not. A good Christian or a good Moham
medan may be strengthened in his observance
of moral laws by his religion. But many non
. i- ... i . i i - . i
religious pcopie live ny just as suici a moral cotie
as professedly religious people.
The concept of sin may be easier for a devout
person to comprehend and live by, but it is not
unknown to others, to whom it may mean a trans
gression of their own moral code.
GIN, then, is not outmoded nor outdated, even
in secular modern America, even though both
the word and the concept have lost much of their
currency.
To some it may mean the violation of God's
commandments, as revealed in the Dible.
To others it may mean transgressions against
a moral code based, not on religious teachings,
but on the universal command to do unto othei-s
what you would have others do unto you.
Either way, a strengthened belief in the actu
ality of Sin is something that Americans of all
persuasions would benefit from achieving. E.A.
Concerning Death
i To the Editor: Your recent
article, "The Rites of Death,"
suggested a number of ques
tions.
Shouldn't we quietly pre
pare for death, knowing that
man snares tne fate common
to everything that lives? Is not
each of us handed a combined
Birth-Death Certificate when
born?
Some relatives seem to ap
pear irom out of nowhere -to
accomplish little more than
a deepening of sorrow. Alas
that they "had no time" be
fore to pay even a simple vis-
It! Why the rush now to
wreathe flowers around the
coffin, when they didn't prof
fer even a wildflower to the
living?
Sometimes a widow "goes
to pieces" over the death of
her husband and withdraws
from life: May It not be due to
an unconscious feeling of re
morse for having previously
neglected her mate, rather
than a conscious testimony of
her undying love?
Should not the church, with
its dogma of the fundamental
ly evil nature of man, bear its
share of responsibility-along
with the "death lndustry"-for
the "maudlirt, deceptive and
Dauan practices, with trap
pings and rituals which do
little enough to honor the
dead or console the living"?
And by what criterion do
we choose tnose wormy to
have a BIG funeral? Should
such ns Al Capone, with his
$90,000 lead casket, be so
honored? Or Stalin, with his
mausoleum? How come the
great of earth are memorial
ized with "storied urn, or an
imated bust, while other
hearts once pregnant with
celestial fire" are rclegutcd to
the potter's field? May not an
imposing funeral signify little
more than an ephemeral en
deavor to prove social or re
ligious status?
I like what one minister
said recently: "I want no cost
ly stones around my gravo-
if possible, no stones at an.
And I don't want you to re
visit my grave. I have no in
tention of ever being any
where near it after my fu
neral, so 1 don't see why you
should be."
Why funerals at all? Those
blown to bits on the battle
fields of the world were never
thus privileged! And, certain
ly, if the atomic missiles fall
there will be no need to even
bury the dead!
George M. Babcock
427 Hospital dr.
Ashland, Ore.
Have You . . . ?
To the Editor:
Have you seen a field of
clover
On a lovely, warm, June day?
Have you seen the pink heads
nodding
In their quiet, lazy way?
Have you heard the lark
a-singing,
Mcloriv a-bubhling out?
From a yellow throat all
trembly?
Such a daring little scout!
Have you seen the white
clouds drifting,
Hanging low in skies of blue
Fluffy, fleecy things. Just
loafing
In the way that white clouds
do?
Heard the brown thrush
singing sweetly?
Heard the catbirds strident
call?
Watched the butterflies
a-hov'ring
O'er the Ivy covered wall?
Oh. June, you are the
loveliest
Of all the months that fall,
A happy tune, a Joyous time
For man - for nature - all.
Marv R. Jones,
428 North Holly st..
Medford .
Old Pictures
To the Editor:
Old pictures
stir nostalgia ;
for ghost places
I shall never see -
quaint faces
that will never be
included In my destiny. '
A sun-splashed
tree-lined avenue
where wagons, sulkys,
strollers pace'
al quiet tempo -and
the grace
of calm existence
lights each face.
Scarce now the sun,
trees few - and cars
. monopolize
the thoroughfare;
supercharged
and tense the air -serenity
'exceeding rare.
A lownhouse
once so proud and new ,
replaced now '
by a building tall - v
garish signs upon a wall '
whore sweet pens
use to rise and fall. :
Cattle grazing In a field
of springs, hillocks
and roses wild
crisscrossed by blacktop
and defiled
by billboards now -and
debris piled.
So sad,
that if it were not for
old pictures
one might never know
how tranquil, life,
so long ago
how exquisite
the vale below.
Thclma Carson,'
Prospect, Ore.
Subsidised Competition
To the Editor: Federal
spending for road, air and
water transport facilities in
1963 amounts to more than
half of the predicted $8.8 bil
lion budget deficit for the fis
cal year 1063, according to a
study by the Association of
American Railroads. The AAR
found the federal government
planning to spend $4.7 billion
tor these forms of transporta
tion in '63. State and local
governments will spend an
additional $10.2 billion.
To add injury to Insult
much of the money so spent
comes from railroad taxes. If
this discriminatory "transpor
tation policy" is allowed to
destroy our railroads, the na
tion built by railroads will
fall apart with them. Prcsi
dent John F. Kennedy's re
peated transportation message
L&Ll
again Is pull
ing strings in
Argentine pol
itics. He is a
stocky, bushy
browed self
made man in
his late 40 's
whose name
is Rogelio Fri'
gerio. He de
scribes himself as a friend
of former Argentine dictator
In the Day's News
v Br FRANK JENKINS .
In ' Frankfurt, Germany,
President Kennedy tells a mil
lion cheering Germans that
the United States will RISK
ITS CITIES, if necessary, to
defend its allies. He added:
"A threat to the freedom of
Europe is a threat to the free
dom of America."
He continued:
"The Atlantic community
is indivisible. Hundreds of
thousands of - our soldiers
serve with yours on this con
tinent as tangible evidence of
that pledge. Those who would
doubt our pledge or deny this
Indivisibility - those who
would separate Europe from
America . . or split one ally
from another . . . would only
give aid and comfort to the
men who make themselves
our adversaries and welcome
any Western disarray."
QUESTION:
Whom was he talking to?
The answer is rather plain.
He was talking to a gentleman
named De Gaulle.
THIS may be taken for
granted. . .
This strange gentleman
named De Gaulle was un
doubtedly listening very carer
fully Indeed to what Presi
dent Kennedy was saying in
Frankfurt, the ancient capi
tal of Germany.
He was watching and sizing
up the MILLION cheering
Germans who greeted Presi
dent Kennedy as he arrived in
Frankfurt to make the speech
that was billed as the MAJOR
address of his 12-day tour to
West Germany, Berlin, Ire
land and Britain.
He must have been saying
to himself: "What will these
Germans do? Will they stick
with me. In my proposal of
a Surope for Europeans? Or
will they stick with - the
U.S.A.?'l . '
LETS put it this way:
If the Germans stick with
De Gaulle in a Europe for
Europeans proposal, it will
be about time for us to pick
up our toys and come home.
That s about the size oi tne
situation that is shaping up.
ON. THE lighter side:
A dispatch from Bonn, in
Germany, tells us that "Pres
ident Kennedy has flunked in
American history. In a brief
speech at Cologne, he told
the German crowd gathered
In the city hall square.
"As a citizen of Boston,
which TAKES PRIDE IN BE
ING THE OLDEST city of the
United States " As a
matter of history, the oldest
city in the U. S. is St. August
ine, in Florida, which was
founded in 1365. Boston was
founded in 1630, 65 years
later.
IT WAS a bit embarrassing,
of course. But let's not
blame our President too much
for his slip. The speech, of
course was written by his
speech writers.
That brings up another
story.
A while back, in Washing
ton, Oregon's Senator Mau
rine Neuberger sent out to
to Congress offers a satisfac
tory first step toward trans
portation equity.
K. Fritz Schumacher
Former Santa Fe "Rail''
81 West Grand View ave.
Sierra Madre, Calif.
Try and Stop Me
By BENNETT CERF
4 BRIDE THREW her arms around her husband's neck
- - when he returned from the office and told him, "I've
made your favorite dessert for tonight! A coconut cake!
Wait till you see iL"
When she brought It in
from the kitchen, he was
properly appreciative. "It
looks just perfect," he as
sured her, "but what's
that big- bump in the
middle?"
"You old rany," she
pouted. "That's the co
conut." a e a
Central Matt Rirlceu-ay
was trminisring at tha
Piltsouigh Field Clubabo-.it,
his days as s cadet at West
Point. "I rrcall tho first
aer-RMnt in my life." he said with a happy g'.cam In his eve.
He lined us tip and roared. 'Men. I want three volunteer for
K. P. duty and that means you and you sad you.' I was one of
the yous."
Juan D. Peron and ousted
President Arturo Frondizi
Right now the Argentine mill
tary have a warrant out for
his arrest if he should be so
foolish as to return to Argentina.
Which does not, however
eliminate him as a force.
Frigerio is mysterious be
cause he seldom operates in
the open. He did not even
emerge as a figure in Argen
tine politics until after Per
on's overthrow in 1955.
Bcfor that he was too busy
making money, first through
a chain of men's shops and,
later, in the textile business.
It was while trying his
hand as editor of the news
magazine Que, closed under
Peron In 1946 and reopened
In 1956, that Frigerio began
plugging Frondizi for presi
dent, a labor which occupied
his attention all through 1957.
According, to a story denied
by Frondizi but claimed by
Peron to be true, it was in
1957 that Frigerio went to
Caracas, Venezuela, and sign
ed a pact with a Peron repre
sentative guaranteeing the
Peronisla votes that led to
Frondizi's election.
'At any rate, Frigerio be
came Frondizi's all powerful
social and economic czar after
Frondizi's landslide victory in
1958.
He is the figure credited
with being in back of Fron
dizi's reluctance to break with
Cuba. .
Strictly
Personal
- By Sydney J. Harris
fc- Field Enterprises. Inc.
PERSONAL PREJUDICES
Nothing is easier to be
proudly humble, passionately
chaste, and dogmatically skep
tical; when one pursues a
virtue to its extreme, it be
comes at last a contradiction
in terms.
What is important In his
tory is not so much "what
happened," but what peo
ple made of it, how they
thought about it and used
it, for noble or perverted
reasons of their own; and
any history that is not in
terlarded with some social
psychology is nearly use
less tor study.
Family structure hasn't
changed much in the genera
tions since Chekhov remarked
so. trenchantly: "When chil
dren appear, we justify all
our weaknesses, compromises,
snobberies, by saying: 'It's for
the children's sake.' "
Nothing is more fatal to
reform movements than suc
ceeding: it is the destiny of
reform always to be the
party of opposition, for as
soon as it sweeps into pow
er it begins to be over
thrown by succumbing to
the same vices and defects
it so successfully inveighed
against. "
Barbarous societies punish
their satirists by imprisoning,
exiling or killing them; but
civilized societies, approach
ing decadence! punish their
satirists much more effective
ly by laughing, lazily agree
ing, and simply ignoring the
truth behind the shafts.
The most dangerous man
is not the bad man; it is the
' one with just enough good
in him to appeal to our
sense of justice, and just
enough evil te appeal to our
instinct for revenge.
Once the dancer has leap
ed higher than ever before,
we quickly become disconten
ted with such leaps, and de
mand that they be ever higher
and higher; thus audiences in
evitably bribe and blackmail
art into acrobatics, trickery,
showincss and a competition
for setting meaningless rec
ords. - To a shrewd observer,
what a man displays in the
breast pocket of his coat
jacket is usually as good an
index of his taste and tem
perament as anything -whether
pen and pencils
are clipped on, or whether
a square handkerchief with
monograms is peeping out,
or simply a pair of glasses,
can tell ua volumes about
a man's private image of
himself.
Some personalities make a
lifelong career out of being
disappointed in people, which
enables them lo satisfy two
disparate desires at once - to
feel superior, and at the same
time to rationalize their con
tinual failures in personal re
lationships.
On of the most ominous
signs of disturbance in mod-
r n American society Is
that wives, by and large,
are more mature and leu
content than their hus
bands: and a social order
can flourish only when the
men are mature and the
women are content.
her ghost writer for a speech
It started off like this: "When
I was a BOY. things were
quite different in our coun
try" The ehost writer didn't
know that Oregon's Junior
senator is a woman.
He is also credited with be
ing the man responsible for
the ouster of Roy Rubottom,
U. S- ambassador to Argen
tina and former assistant sec
retary of state for . Latin
American affairs.
But he also is the man
credited with Frondizi's ap
peal to Fidel Castro to break
off with Russia, and with the
decision to invite foreign in
vestment and aid in the de
velopment of Argentina's oil
industry.
He is, to say the least, con
troversial. Within recent months he
has conferred with Peron in
the latter's Spanish exile.
As an individual, Frigerio
is big business and speaks for
big business - but Argentine
big business. He likes Presi
dent Kennedy but dislikes
Wall Street.
His objective Is to bring
three million isolated follow
ers of Peron back Into the)'
country's political life in a
union with the middle class
followers of Frondizi. I
The purpose, he said, is to"
give the masses greater bene,
fits and to spur the nation's
economic benefits.
The United States has en
dorsed the popular front idea
and hopes the Argentine mili
itary will permit truly free)
elections next month. Such,
would seem to assure a vic
tory for the combined Fron.
dizi Peronlsta forces.
At the moment, as Argen.
tina drifts and its economy
disintegrates, military decrees
forbid either a Peronista can.
didate for president or a can
didate openly supported by
Peron Istss.
And whether Argentina
(.would benefit by the return
of the U. S. hating Peron of
his policies is at best ex
tremely "iffy."
Matter of Fact By Joseph Alsep
(c) New York Herald Trlbuna Syndicate
Si
TO THE NEW SPECIAL
RELATIONSHIP
Washington-The warmth of
President Kennedy's welcome
in Germany is a significant
political fact,
in and of it
self. It is
bound to give
added impetus
to a h 1 g h 1 y
important
new trend of
thought
among the
American pol-
Aisnp icy-makers.
The trend Is towards the
formation of a new "special
relationship" comparable to
the rather time-worn U. S.
British relationship and in
some degree replacing it. And
the people on the receiving
end of this new special rela
tionship are to be our prin
cipal enemies in the last war,
the Germans.
The growing feeling that
this is a good idea is highly
important, precisely because
such a German-American re
lationship, if formed, will be
so important. To be sure, it
is bound to be a bit amor
phous: relationships of any
kind, whether personal or in
ternational, are always hard
to blueprint.
VET CONSIDER THE im
mense role played by the
Anglo-Amarican special . rela
tionship in' its period of great
est -intimacy! and fruitfulness
-which was the period before
President , Eisenhower and
P.rfl m e Minister Macmillan
came to power.
In that era, the British and
American policy - m a k e rs
worked together almost as
though they had been serving
the same masters. Their col
laboration influenced every
development, whether within
the Western alliance, on in
the West's unending contest
with the Eastern bloc.
Very nearly the same de
gree of intimacy with the
German government is now
being advocated by men with
great leverage in the State
and Defense Departments and
in the White House. There
are at least three reasons for
this high level support for
such a major new departure.
which was first proposed only
a couple of months ago by
former Secretary of State
Dean G. Acheson.
piRST OF ALL, Gen. de
V Gaulle' has perhaps un
intentionally sent German
stock soaring on the interna
tional market. If the Ger
mans follow ocuaulle, an ex
clusive, inward-looking Gaul
list Europe will become a pos
sibility. But if they are given
the chance, as Dean Acheson
suggested, the Germans will
almost surely prefer partner
ship with President Kennedy
to partnership with dcGaulle.
Secondly, the former spe
cial relationship with Britain
is by now pretty frail and
under-nourished, being all but
entirely limited to exchanges
of nuclear data. Even with
Prime Minister Macmillan,
the Anglo-American policy
disagreements currently out
weigh the policy agreements.
If Harold Wilson becomes
Prime Minister, the position
is likely to deteriorate)
further.
Finally, there Is also a more
and more pressing need to re
cast the structure of Western '
defense on a more realistic
basis, or perhaps one should
say a less fraudulent basis.
THE GERMANS, WHO are
matrinir tha mnl ,.a...
defense effort of all the Euro
peans, will also be the most
affected by any changes in
the existing defense structure.
Hence they are the obvious
partners of the Americans in
this vital but delicate task. "
The task is delicate because
certain things are plainly go
ing to need doing, which may
cause disquiet abroad, and '
particularly in Germany, if
they are not thoroughly dis.
cussed and completely under
stood before they begin to be
done.
For example, there are the
steps which will be necessi.
tated by Secretary of Defense
Robert McNamara's pledge to
reduce the burden on the bal
ance of payments of the U. S.
armed forces overseas, from
the present level of $1.6 bil
lion to a maximum of $1 bil
lion. For tills purpose, super
fluous bases will to be closedj
superfluous bodies will have
to be brought home, and so on.
VI7HATEVER happens, Gen
eral de Gaulle's propa
gandists will then surely
point to the steps being taken
as proofs of the U.S. Inten
tion to "abandon" Europe -which
is what General de
Gaulle hopes we will do. But
the propaganda will not mat
ter - it will fall on deaf ears,
in fact - if the American plan
has been carefully staffed out
with our other allies, and
especially with the Germans.
A great many overseas ba
sis of most of SAC's B-47
bombers, for instance, have
long been entirely super
fluous; and they also place a
heavy burden on the pay
ments - balance. The supply
and support system of U.S.
forces in Europe can also ba
much slimmed down, from
its present plethoric condi
tion, without reducing U.S.
fighting strength In the line.
Further economies can ba
made in the Far East, as well.
There will be nothing to
alarm anyone In all this, it
the needed steps are merely
understood before they are
taken. But this is only the be
ginning of the problem. When
the NATO Secretary General.
Dirk Stikker. completes his
Ottawa-ordered hard look at
p r o s p e c tive NATO forca
levels, something will have
to be done about the balance
sheet Stikker presents. And
once again, whatever needs
doing can best be done by
German - American collaboration.
M A
"Wonder U a beard would Improve mr aeeearsnct?"