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Medford and Jackson County
History from tne files of The
Mall Tribune 10. 20, 30, 40
and 50 years ago.
It YEARS AGO
Sept. II. 1M3 (Saturday)
Medford High school enroll
ment Is expected to be over MO
students when classes get under
way Monday morning.
Alter weeks of effort, finish
ing touches are now being ap
plied on the United Medford
Crusade's first joint fund-raising
drive, which will begin Monday.
M YEARS AGO
Ken, it. IMS (Sunday)
Schools report decrease of 85
students in registration.
From Arthur Perry's "Ye
Smudee Pot" column: "Sun
tner comes to an official finish
next Thursday, after which old
timers confidently predict there
will be some."
39 YEARS AGO
Sept It. 1133 (Tuesday)
Funds assured city for widen
ing Riverside ave. and Bear
Creek bridge bottlenecks.
Property owners warned to
clear sidewalks of low over
hanging limbs.
40 YEARS AGO
Sept. 19. 1923 (Wedneiday)
Henry Ford announces he will
not run for president.
Lost hunter found alive but
hungry in Mt. Pitt area.
M YEARS AGO
Sent. 11. 1913 (Friday)
County leases granite quarry
at Gold Ray. . ,
Dr. R. E. Stearns, Dr. 3. J.
Emmons elected vice presidents
er Oregon State Medical associ
ation meeting here.
What's Your I.Q.7
Nina ar tan carreer It iuetlef
seven ar eijht It aicallent; live ac
tli it foos.
1. Who were the respective
heads of governments of the
U. S. and France when the
Louisiana Purchase was nego
tiated? 2. In which slate are the col
leges of Ml. Holyoke and
Smith?
3. Is the headquarters of the
American Red Cross in New
York City or Washington, D.C.?
4. Which American public of
ficial, now retired, was known
as "Cactus Jack"?
8. Did the Golden Age occur
in Rome, or Greece?
6. California was once a part
of Mexico: true or falser
7. Senator McClellan, Demo
crat, represents which state in
the U.S. senate?
8. The famous Krupp muni-
tlons works were located In
which German city?
0. Name the French pharma-
cist that popularized the slo
gan, "Day by day. in every
way. I am feeling better and
better."
10. Is the horse a bovine
enuine. or ovine?
Answers: I. Thomas Jefferton
and Napoleon Bonaparte, t
Maitarhuietts. 3. Washington
D. C. 4. Former Vlr Preil
dent John N. Garner. 5. Greece
6. True. 7. Arkansas. I. Essen
I. Emlle Cone. 16. Equine.
Thrto Boi Litfd on
Sfof.-Prof.cfec tana
SALEM (UPI) - Three Mates
on state protected forests and
ranselands were doused Wed
nesday, the State Forestry De
partment reported.
4 A
-jjjSJ'NllWirAMR
WP-AHOCIAIIOM
SEPTEMBER It. IMS
High School
The Medford school district has yet to decide
what will be done about our overflowing high
school population. Currently, it is employing
stop-gap methods, such as temporary classrooms,
three-platoon lunch hours, staggered class hours,
and so on.
It hasn't gone to double-shifting yet, but it
is pretty close to it.
There are several alternatives, and presum
ably the final decision will not be made until
after full consideration is given them by the
advisory committee and the school board.
e e e e
THE district could build one big, new high
school, to accommodate all students in grades
10, 11 and 12 for the foreseeable future, and turn
the existing high school
poses.
It could continue adding on to the existing
plant.
It could bund another high school and keep
using the present one for
a total of two high schools both serving the luth,
11th and 12th grades.
Or and this is an
around more and more
high school for the 11th
verting the present one to
grades, and making the
7th and 8th grades.
THIS system, called the
in this area, although
various locations elsewhere in the nation.
It anpears radical at
doubtedly has some flaws and defects. But it
also has numerous advantages.
It gets away from one giant high school where
individuals "get lost" among upwards of 2,000
. , i i ,i j.ii ; t ,
siuuems ; yet, u sun permits larger classes in areas
where a relatively few students are interested. It
also (and in sports-conscious Medford, this is im
portant in many minds)
"varsity" sports teams together, so one good team,
rather than two weaker
e e e
A RECENT poll of high school teachers who
Viarl had exnerience with both the 6-2-2-2
plan and the more conventional ones 6-3-3 or
8-4 or 6-2-4 revealed a remarkable majority in
dicating many favorable factors.
Some of these were:
Pupils adjust from grade to high school
more easily and quickly.
Students participate in more activities.
Rules are more easily enforced.
Teachers become
more quickly and completely.
Social controls are more easily exercised
Student leadership
quickly and by more students.
-students are better
division school.
THERE are others, including the important fac
tor that students are more likely to be recog
nized as individuals, rather than simply as statis
tics or "bodies."
We are not saying
solve all of Medford's problems, or even that it
should be adopted. But
ful consideration.
With the schools bursting at the seams, and
with no end in sight for increases in the numbers
of students at all levels, we cannot afford to
reject experimentation just because something is
new and unfamiliar.
"YTHER experiments are being tried, both here
and across the nation, although perhaps not
as widely as should be to find better methods.
These include flexible scheduling (discussed
here recently), longer school days, longer school
years with rotating vacation periods and more
intensive use of buildings, team teaching, greater
use of teaching "machines" of various kinds.
It is our conviction
education is still the skillful and dedicated teach
er. But there are many things which can be done
to make his job an easier and more effective one.
It may be that two high schools but divided
horizontally rather than
to do this. E.A.
Lucky Fire
The mild and often
this year has caused some grousing. But it was
a godsend to the area s forests, which were faced
with the most serious fire
due to the heavy blowdown from the storm of
last Columbus Day.
Considerable salvage logging of the blow
down was accomplished, and even that which
was not salvaged this year will be less of a threat
next year. It was the dry needles that caused the
principal hazard of flash fuel, and they should
be mostly gone before the 1964 fire season.
It is still possible that the return of warm
dry weather could renew
are that the worst of the
and that the forest fire
a little easier. E.A.
Apparently no one is adjust a state tax in
creaseexcept the voters. We expect the meas
ure to be soundly defeated come Oct. 15a Then,
presumably the legislators will be called into
session, to try, probably in in, to determine
what the votcrg want. As evidenced by many let
ters, they do not all want the same thing. E.A.
ft
Alternatives
building to other pur
the same purpose, for
idea that is being kicked
it could build a new
and 12th grades, con
serve the 9th and 10th
junior highs serve the
6-2-2-2 system, is new
it has been adopted in
first dance, and it un
would tend to keep the
ones, could be fielded.
e
acquainted with students
roles are assumed more
prepared for the upper
that such a system will
it certainly merits care
that the key to a good
vertically is one way
Season
damp summer In Oregon
threat in many years.
the hazard, but the odds
fire season is now over.
agencies can now breath
Bombed Out
... Communications ...
Letteri to lh Editor must bear the name and address of the writer, although under
certain circumstances the use of a pen name er initial for publication Is permissible.
The Mail Tribune reserves the light to edit all letters with a view to dariiication and
eendensatien. Letteri submitted for publication mutt net exceed 400 words. The letters
printed in this column do
contrary is oiten the case.
Wrong Title
To the Editor: This is in re
gard to your news item on Page
2-B of Thursday s paper. Your
article concerns the new prin
cipal at St. Mary's school.
Twice the news item refers to
the Rev. John J. Keane as Mr.
Keane. This is bad journalism,
bad manners and poor business
policy.
Father Keane's education as
well as his extensive adminis
trative experience should war
rant the respect of at least re
membering to refer to him as
Father Keane, never "Mister."
I myself remember this from
m y . men scnooi journalism
course. So far I have never seen
this mistake made in any other
paper.
Sorry, but l couidnt let this
go by without comment.
Mrs. George uutnne
Route 2, Box 220
Central Point, Ore.
o
Editor's note: You are right.
It was an unfortunate slip.
Educational Costs
To the Editor: I was reading
in Monday's Mail Tribune the
letter from the parents in Eagle
Point about free (?) education.
I am of the same opinion, only
we live in a different district
so the price of free education
is a little different.
Our daughter came home and
said she needed a check for
S12.S0 for entrance fees to Jun-
ior high plus $1.50 for a work
book in some class plus 30 cents
for something else. When I at
tended school, not too many
years ago, in our Freshman
year our classes were outlined
to fill in the four years; now
have no idea what children
are going to school for. I would
like to know what good music.
journalism and typing plus phys
cal ed, (which is required and
a very dirty class, inasmuch as
40 to 50 students undress and
take showers in four minutes in
a locker room where no disin
fectants are used,) are going
to do our daughter in her home
when she is grown.
What happened to the essen
tial things in life and school
ing? Not all children In the
schools today are going to be
scientists or venture into space.
With all the plus J s it costs
to put a child through school
today, besides our added taxes,
it is no wonder the people of
Oregon elected to have a re
ferral on the tax increase, and
when it comes to vote on Octo
ber 15 I am going to vote no
on tax increases. This state
doesn't need higher taxes, It
needs better supervision of the
money they already have.
Our daughter said don't sign
your name to a letter, they em
barrass us in school when you
do. Well, whoever "they" is, they
had better not. I feel sorry for
the families with common work'
ing fathers with more than two
children In school at once, now,
with all the "musts" that stU'
dents have to have. Then the
officials tell everyone how the
schools and education will suf
ter if we don't let them have
more money to get us to vote
for the tax increase.
No one will suffer through
lack of education. A few state
officials may lose their jobs or
get a cut in pay but education
won't suffer. Tha slate wants us
to think It will. If this state
needs more money once again
I say raise the price o( non
essentials such as cigarettes.
furs, jewelry, cosmetics, liquors
and entertainment, and allow
so much to be turned bark to
the State of Oregon. Those who
can afford or want non-essentials
will buy them at any price
and the working class of people
won't be hurt by higher taxes
or a sales tax which we don't
need.
Let those who want luxury
pay for it and those who want
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORO.
not necessarily represent the
to live a simple life live one.
Evelyn Thompson,
2215 Highway 66,
Ashland, Ore.
"Select Few"
To the Editor: Within the past
year we moved to Oregon and
enrolled our child in the 7th
grade.
We are greatly concerned
over Medford's so-called grad
ing system, where only a "select
few are allowed to take cer
tain subjects. Because a child
is weaker in math, he cannot
get 8th grade S.M.S.G., a course
which most certainly would do
much towards educating him to
think and to absorb. Our child
had a taste of said course and
was so engrossed she studied
very diligently and received a
C grade eight weeks later, prior
to our transfer.
Our child rates high in the
field of language and it merely
points out the fact she was
given language in the 4th, 5th
and 6th grades she had train
ing she was not born with
this knowledge. This same child
is in the A band and has had
less than one year training un
der a private instructor on the
piano. Music is a challenging
field and the new field was very
exciting so she absorbed and
works hard to increase her
knowledge.
Under your system a child
weak in math, bored by the
old add and subtraction system,
can find no new stimulant to a
field so important to his suc
cess in life. The subjects af
forded the "select few" should
without a doubt be given to each
and every student.
In the first grades you in
struct all as to reading, writing
and arithmetic. Some of course,
fall short, while others excell.
Hasn t time proven the more
training offered, the greater the
child's interest, the greater his
improvement, and the greater
his chances of success?
As noted in your "Parent
Handbook" . . . "Algebra may
be taken in the 9th grade if
the pupil passes the 8th grade
prognostic test. Certainly a
child who has not had sufficient
math instruction would rate
low on the test, but again, this
same child could excell in the
course if it were made avail
able to him. Again, wouldn't it
be more advantageous for a child
to receive lower grades and be
learning a new field than to
receive higher grades in a repi-
titious add and subtract course?
We, as parents, shall attempt
to instruct our child in the field
of S.M.S.G. from books we have
purchased. However, as tax
payers, It's an irking situation,
and a situation which all tax
payers should act on.
Mrs. William Nelson,
428 Fairmount,
Medford
The Dog and the Bone
To the Editor: With all due
respect to the subtle, anti re
refral propaganda in your edi'
torial of 9-15, this IS a tax re
volt. And the people DO know
what they want. We have been
taxed far beyond the point
where all other people in the
world have revolted. And the
majority of us "have had it."
We are full up to the neck.
You bet we know what we
want. We want our state Legis
lature to live within the income
of this state, the same as we.
ourselves, have to live within
our own incomes. It is as simple
as that. Personally, I would
thoroughly enjoy wearing $150
suits. $.15 shoes, and $5 neckties
and drive a brand new Cadil
lac. But in order to pay my
bills and preserve my financial
integrity among my fellow men.
I have to limit myself to a $45
suit. $10 shoes, $'J neckties
and drive a good, but low priced
car. And I want my state Legis
lature to use the same common
horse sense.
When the Governor Hatfield
v
OREGON
Portuguese Returning to Angola; U.N.
'Interference' Resented by Officials
Bv PHIL NEWSOM
DPI Fnrelcn News Analyst
LISBON, Portugal (UPI)-in
the panic which followed the
butchering of European fami
lies in northern Angola during
the "Night of the Long Knives"
March 15-18, 1961, many white
sett era decided to return nome.
Twenty-five hundred of them
did so.
But now, Portuguese officials
say, the tide has been reversed
and last vear 4.000 resumed im-
migration to Angola, Portugal's
lareest and richest overseas
nrovince in Africa.
Furthermore, these officials
say, terrorism which once ex
tended to 10 per cent of the
territory has now been reduced
to two per cent.
Portuguese bitterness over
what it regards as United Na
tions interference in its inter
nal affairs centers on three
main noints.
Demands for Angolan inde-
nendence do not come irom
within the province, but rather
views of the paper) In taei in
crowd took office, Oregon was
operating in the black with a
fat, multi - million dollar re
serve on hand. Taxes were rea
sonable. Now our taxes are
more than doubled, the reserve
is gone, and the "big, wild
spenders" want $60 million more
on top of that, wny wouldn't we
revolt?
Hatfield now heads the com
mittee which is telling the tax
payers of Oregon how to vote
the committee to preserve
this staggering $60 million tax
increase. This powerful tax-
lobby will operate with practi
cally unlimited funds taken from
the people. Watch them use our
money in an all out propaganda
war of false statements that will
be hurled at us day and night
via TV, radio, and newspapers
between now and Oct. 15.
This fight for votes is clearly
a battle between the "big spend
ers", the people who have been
bossing you around for years.
and the common people yuu
and ME who have been pay
ing the taxes, giving them the
money to spend. This bureau
cracy has already gotten too
powerful on our money. Let s
not let them threaten us and
scare us into paying this $60
million "blackmail". Relax, par
ents. They won't close our
schools. Attorney General
Thornton has advised Hatfield
that he cannot touch a single
dollar of the basic school fund.
And if he calls a special session
of the Legislature, they are not
going to commit political sui
cide by doing anything rash.
Fellow taxpayers, even a dog
will fight for his bone. Let's
show the "big, wild spenders "
on Oct. 15 that we've at least
got as much grit as our dog.
L. (J. Powell
316 S.E. Eighth st.
Grants Pass, Ore.
Mexican Wildflowera
To the Editor: A yesteryear
late summer bike across our
valley floor meant trousers so
tarred as to stimulate profanity.
Our native tarweeds of Mexi
can descent, however, can sur
vive 110 degrees. Thus, July
through September, they for
centuries yielded honey and pol
len for our native bees. One tar-
weed even earned a flattering
"beautiful." Botanists named it
Madia eleeans.
Much of our hot valleys' late
summer bloom is based on Mex
ican wildflowers. This is written
in August. One room in our
home is colorful with zinnia bou
quets. Some are orange, some
gold. Others are pink and red.
Yet more all purple and wnite.
Another room is torgeous with
dahlias, nine inches across. One
bed in our garden is a mass of
"African marigolds". Another is
bordered with dwarf "French
marigolds."
All four above floral treasures
originated in Mexico. The "mar
igolds" are no more "African"
or "French" than our New
World native Thanksgiving bird
is a "Turkey." Dahlia does not
cross the border but zinnia and
tagetes are found in Big Bend
National Park.
Madia elegans tarwecd has a
red spot at the base of each
ravflower. It carries much
sticky tar. Another, M. yosemi
ta, seems to be trying to climb
back into decent society. We
found this "tarweed" quite tar
less at Fallen Leaf Lake. Its type
specimen note Is "1881. foot Up
per Yosemite fall in damp
moss." Quite different envir
onment from our midsummer
rainless valley.
When statesmen stress the
Good Neighbor policy toward
folks "South-of-the-Rio Grande. '
is It not appropriate to appre
ciate our gardens' debt because
of what plant breeders develop
ed from Mexican wildflowers?
C. M. Gothe
3731 Tea st.
Sacramento 16. Calif.
Two-Cent Contribution
To the Editor: In response, to
Ralph McKinnis of Ashland
whose letter appeared in the
are pressed from the outside.
At most, the Portuguese say,
the movement receives support
only from a small segment of
tribesmen in the north who are
related to others across the ri
ver in the Congo. The revolt
could be suppressed instantly,
they say, if it were not for the
"privileged sanctuary" provided
by the Congo republic to terror
ists who cross back and forth.
The United Nations' stand
favoring self-determination for
Angola violates the U.N. Char
ter which specifically torpids
U.N. interference in a nation's
internal affairs. Carried to a
logical extreme, according to
the Portuguese, the U.N. eventu
ally could interfere in the small
est affairs of any nation.
U.S. support for Afro-Asian
demands for self-determination
in Angola, which the Portu
guese regard not only as deser
tion if an ally but as inconsis
tent with previous U.S. policy
holding that Portuguese reten
tion of its overseas territories
was essential to African secur
ity and stability.
The Portuguese contend that
some weapons captured In the
fighting cane from Czechoslo
vakia and Italy and outers trom
Irish forces formerly stationed
with the U.N. in the Congo.
It is a further source of irri
tation to the Portuguese to sug
gest that theirs is a colonial
economy dependent on overseas
possessions.
To this they reply that they
are spending more in Africa
than they are taking out, and
that the last six-year-plan for
Angola ending in 1964 called for
expenditures of $165 million, naif
of it coming from Angola itself
and the other half from metro
politan Portugal and interna
tional institutions.
The Portuguese say further
that Portuguese law prohibits
the taking of land from Africans
but rather requires new settlers
to take land not yet occupied.
Their work code, they say. is
the best in Africa, pointing out
especially that such new na
tions as Ghana, Guinea and Ni
geria all have compulsory work
laws while Angola does not.
Development in Angola, while
slow, is progressing. It has an
oil refinery and plans are in the
works for a steel mill. Small
industries also are developing.
Geologists who have been per
mitted to explore are awed by
its potential mineral wealth.
Sept. 16 communications, please
find enclosed two cents for the
help-get-Ralph-out-of-the-Coun-
try-Fund." His going would not
be our loss but our gam. We
feel this is the least he can do
for "his" country.
Mr. and Mrs. Glen Allison
1800 Myers Lane
Medford
What's Inside
To the Editor: Several weeks
ago the Editor drove by the
emergency classrooms on the
front lawn of the High School
and wrote an editorial comment
ing upon the lack of attractive
ness of the buildings, and their
qualifications as eye-sores in the
community.
While it is true that they are
far from esthetically perfect,
viewed externally, they happen
to make quite adequate class
rooms. They are well-furnished,
well-lighted, and compare fa
vorably with other classrooms at
the High School. Even the heat
is no greater than that of any
other classroom.
We who have espoused the
Christian faith have always
maintained that it's "what's in
side that counts."
Clifford J. Young
Keeneway at Ridgeway
Medford
Motorbike Dangers
To the Editor: No doubt you
as well as I have been reading
with concern the useless slaugh
ter of teen-agers in cars on our
highways, truly the cream of our
crop.
Now comes the motorbike,
etc., whereby two teen-agers
often ride as those two boys who
lost their lives recently on Black-
well hill. As you know there is
no protection on these death
traps.
We go to great lengths to pick
our lawmakers to help us and
try to use some method to halt
this useless slaughter, but are
they doing anything about this?
Of course they are drawing their
pay from our tax money. But
truly what else?
Now I am going out on a limb
and suggest some method by
which some of this killing might
cease.
If we can only wake our law
makers up, or we will lose more
young men like David L. White
and Paul C. Thompson, as there
are thousands more on our
highways. Now, Mr. Lawmaker,
why not enact a law whereby it
is illegal for any teen-ager to op
erate a motorbike unless he has
passed a driver s test and se
cured an Oregon driver's li
cense. Probably this would stop
a small or large percentage of
useless killings. I believe any
worthwhile suggestion is worth
a try.
Floyd Price
Box 157
Butte Falls, Ore.
0
Editors note: It is now
against the law to operate any
kmd of motor vehicle on puhlie
highways and streets without a
valid driver's license.
Matter of Fact
cl New YorJcJJeaJdrTnuntSvndleale
VERY UGLY STUFF
SAIGON, South Viet Nam-As
an indicator of the atmosphere
now prevailing here, nothing will
serve better
than the bizarre
explanation o f
Gen. de Gaulle's
lofty, mysteri
ous recent state
ment about the
Vietnamese civ
il war.
D e Gaulle's
statement was
Alum In fact the visi
ble part of a most peculiar ice
berg. Here is the much larger,
hitherto invisible part which is
also the really ugly part, it must
be added.
Beginning, then, at the begin
ning, the time when the French
tried to remove President Ngo
Dinh Diem and replace him with
the leading Saigon gangster,
"General" Bai Vien, has long
since been forgotten by Diem
and his brother, Councillor Ngo
Dinh Nhu. In the last year, in
deed, the French Ambassador to
Saigon, Roger L'Alouette, has
been one of Ngo Dinh Nhu's
most frequent visitors.
Judging by the account of
these visits given by Nhu him
self to this reporter, they have
usually followed a rather stand
ard pattern. Hints that the U. S.
policy of support for South Viet
Nam really conceals a plan to
destroy Ngo Dinh Nhu and his
brother have been combined
with liberal doses of flattery of
a type that might have made
Louis XIV blush.
e
'THIS preparatory process for
so it must be considered
continued until the beginning of
the severe Buddhist crisis here.
The Buddhist crisis in turn
produced an almost more severe
crisis of nerves in the Gia Long
palace, where Diem and Nhu
have their joint headquarters.
Cowardice is not a characteris
tic of the Ngo clan, but both sus
picion and vanity mounted al
most to the point of mania,
where they still remain.
this was the situation in Sai
gon when the Communist boss
of North Viet Nam. Ho Chi
Minh, chose to give an interview
to the stooge Communist jour
nalist, Wilfred Burchett. Ho Chi
Minh declared that "foreign"
(meaning American) "interven
tion must cease." But in this
event, he added, a "ceasefire
could presumably be arranged,"
and relations between North and
South Viet Nam could be placed
on a new footing.
HARD on the heels of the Ho
Chi Minh interview, there
was another, most curious event.
As President Diem himself de
scribed it to me, the French Del
egate-General in Hanoi, Jacques
Debuzon, "wanted a little
change of air."
He asked if he might come
down here, which the Commu
nists used to object to," Presi
dent Diem continued. "But this
time they let him come. And
you know, that was not the odd
est thing about it, either.
When M. L Alouette brought
him to see me, he did not have
much to say, except that Ho Chi
Minh had quite changed his way
of talking about me. It used to
be 'Diem the feudalist, Diem the
betrayer. Diem the American
puppet, but now, the French
man told me, it is "Diem the
good Vietnamese, Diem who is
after all a patriot.' I was sur
prised, I must say."
Like a diapason following a
tender chord, the de Gaulle
statement chimed admirably
with these public and private
messages from Ho Chi Minh. The
circumstances of its publica
tion were a bit singular. As it
was privately made by Presi
dent de Gaulle to his Council of
Ministers, it resembled some
thing said by the President of
the United States to the Nation
al Security Council. But out it
came, in a government press re
lease. e e
TE GAULLE said that France
" was ready to do everything
aaaWane
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accidents II I bad for people to get angry while driving!"
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9
By Joseph Alton)
possible "to organize cordial co
operation" in Viet Nam, so that
all the people of Viet Nam might
live "in independence" (of the
Americans, no doubt) and in
"peace and amity" with one an
other. What de Gaulle proposed,
in fact, was not very far from
what Ho Chi Minh had proposed.
The follow-up of the de Gaulle
statement was even stranger
than the preceding concatenation
of events. After the statement,
the French Ambassador paid a
"short, purely formal call" on
President Diem, whose own de
scription of this meeting is here
cited. But he paid a much longer
call on Councillor Nhu, to urge
that the opportunity offered by
de Gaulle should not be neglect
ed. Possibly L'Alouette believes
some of his own compliments to
Nhu.
"He is always saying that I
am the only man who counts in
this country," the Councillor re
marked to me.
OR did the French Ambassa
1" dor's efforts stop there. "At
L'Alouette's request - and urg
ing," (again, the words are
Nhu's own) the acting Polish
member of the International
Control Commission, Dr. Mie
czyslaw Maneli, then came to
see the Councillor. Besides urg
ing upon Nhu all the arguments
already urged by L'Alouette,
Maneli carried a personal mes
sage from the Prime Minister of
North Viet Nam, Pham Van
Dong.
"Pham Van Dong's message
begged me to open negotiations
on the basis of Ho Chi Minh's
cease-fire proposal," Nhu said
to me. "Many details were
spelled out. It was almost an at
tractive offer, but, of course, I
had to tell the Pole that I could
not open negotiations behind the
backs of the Americans, when
you were aiding us so import
antly. That was out of the ques
tion. "After that we had an inter
esting talk. He told me that as
a Communist, he considered me
the only serious theorist of guer
rilla warfare in the non-Communist
world. And at the end, he
said he would wait for a differ
ent reply from me 24 hours a
day. At any time of the day or
night, he said, I could call upon
him, and he would fly that in
stant to Hanoi."
SUCH is the story, except that
Councillor Nhu also re
marked that he had not told his
brother, the President, about
this approach from Hanoi, spon
sored by the French Ambassa
dor and transmitted by the Pole.
He explained that it would have
been passed on by President
Diem to the cabinet, "which
would have caused a stir."
This somewhat astounding de
tail, revealing so much about the
real relation between the two
brothers, was confirmed the
next day during the interview
with the President. Asked about
approaches from Hanoi, he re
plied with obvious sincerity that
he had had none at all of any
consequence. There was nothing
except the Debuzon message, he
said, which he then recited. The
publication of these transactions
will no doubt cause them to be
strenuously denied by all par
ties. Yet they are here related
precisely as described by two
of the participants. President
Diem and his brother.
Allowance must of course be
made for the fact that Ngo Dinh
Nhu clearly hoped to gain lever
age by describing the French
sponsored, Polish transmitted
approach from Hanoi asking
him, as he put it himself, "to
open negotiations behind the
backs of the Americans." But
even after such allowance is
made, the facts all too clearly
point to a French intrigue the
word is not too strong rather
cleverly aimed to defeat Amer
ican policy here by playing upon
the exacerbated vanity and
manic suspicion of U.S. purposes
which now prevail in the Gia
Long palace.