PACE 8-A
HERALD
There has probably been more sheer bal
derdash about foreign affairs printed and
spoken this year than in any comparable pe
riod since the end of World War II.
The subjects have been Cuba, disarma
ment, the nuclear test ban, the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization nuclear striking force,
the Sino-Soviet split and French President
Charles de Gaulle. Nobody really knows from
nothing about any of these subjects. That
jnakes it easier for everyone to speculate, and
in one sense this is all to the good.
Wide public discussion of controversial
issues is supposed to be the heart and life of
the democratic system. So the more "thinking"
there is on these subjects, even though few
people know what they're talking about, the
better informed everyone should be, or the
more up to date, anyway.
But the only people who really know
what's in the Cuban caves and how many So
jviet troops have been withdrawn from the
island are the Russians, and they haven't yet
told.
The disarmament and nuclear test ban
agreements that everyone was so hopeful
about the end of last year arc no nearer to
signing than they ever were.
Many military "experts" have been
wailing that NATO is falling apart because the
European nations won't accept U.S. ideas on
an international nuclear striking force. Yet
Secretary of State Dean Rusk says simply that
the President's special ambassador, Livingston
T. Merchant, is in Europe to find out what
the Europeans want and will agree to so
that their wishes on the ideas can be met.
(Gazette, - Timet, Corvallis)
A 17-month-old boy found and drank
some kerosene that the family had poured
into a barbecue fire. He died. In another fatali
ty a 13-month-old child drank kerosene which
had been put in a milk bottle. In both of these
cases the child was probably attracted to the
bottles which he associated with food.
These two examples give life or death
to the figures recently published by the
U.S. Public Health Service, indicating that
one-half million children under the age of five
are involved yearly in accidental poisonings.
The products most often involved in the re
ported accidental poisonings include internal
medicines, cleaning and polishing agents,
pesticides, and petroleum distillate products.
Right now is an excellent time to "poi-son-iproof"
your home. Check with your physi
cian, pharmacist or public health people as to
the proper precautions necessary in main
IN WASHINGTON...
By RALPH DE TOLEDANO
Now that President Kennedy
has recommended the judicious
uso of hindsight as a means of
developing foresight, it should not
be taken amiss it I apply the.
principle to Avcrell Harriman, Mr.
Kennedy's new Under Secretary
of State and foreign-policy wheel.
When Mr. Harriman was run
ning for office In the early 1950s,
ho boasted Dial he was among
the first if not the first of
tlie New Dealers to oppose Sta
lin's expansionism, and that he
had never been taken in by the
Killer of the Kremlin. The new
Under Secretary still dines out on
this reputation, and few have both
ered to check tho facts.
Well, as a well-known Senator
used to say, "I have here in my
hand . . ." the transcript of a
press conference hold by Mr.
Harriman on Oct. 23, 1944. What
he said, except for a few au
thorized quotes, was to tie kept
under wraps as part of the war
time censorship. Hut though you
would not believe It from watch
ing the late-late shows, the Nazis
have been a long time defeated
and so have all their allies. Jo
seph Stalin, however, has gone
to his reward. So 1 am violating
no confidences in quoting from
this document.
Mr. Hurrimon had just returned
from Moscow where a series of
conferences between Churchill
and Stalin had been held. Ho
was, presumably, briefing t h e
American press on Die signifi
cance of these meetings and also
giving the correspondents Mime
Insights into the character and
future performance of Joseph Sta
lin. . I think our new Uuder Secre
tary's understanding of interna
tional problems and of the nature
of Communist strategy was
AND NEWS, Klamath Falls. Ore.
Not All Is Lost
After the Franco-German treaty was
signed, international "authorities" were say
ing that the United States would have to con
duct another agonizing reappraisal and com
pletely reshape its foreign policy. Surpris
ingly, the foundation of America's postwar
foreign policy still seems to be standing very
solidly, unchanged. United States troops will
remain in Europe.
The Sino-Soviet split is still a "mys
tery wrapped jn an enigma," as new American
citizen-to-be Winston Churchill once called
Russia. So far, the two Red powers are con
ducting a propaganda shouting match in
which the outside world can only hope each
destroys the other. But the odds are that this
won't be allowed to happen in the near fu
ture, although war between thein has been
prophesied by some guessers.
The truest words ever spoken about
President de Gaulle are that nobody really
knows what he thinks. He is completely un
predictable, as he was when France vetoed
Britain's entrance into the European Com
mon Market.
That was 'the blastoff pad for many
alarmists who declared De Gaulle's action
would not only wreck the Common Market but
also wreck the new United States trade ex
pansion policy. Both seem to be surviving, and
it must be remembered that neither has been
expected to function fully or effectively for
several years.
The hardest job for any statesman or pol
icy maker in this air and space ago is to keep
both feet on the ground.
Attractive Poisons
taining a poison free home. Many interested
service organizations have joined with the
members of the health team in this week-long
attempt to educate parents to the dangers
of accidental poisoning.
They point out that it is important to
clean out your medicine chest periodically, but
it is just as important to discard these medi
cines properly. One recent case told of a three-year-old
child who found and swallowed some
tablets containing strychnine that had been
discarded in a waste can, became violently
ill and died about twenty minutes after reach
ing the hospital. This would not have hap
pened if the pills had been flushed down the
drain before the container was discarded.
Remember, children are curious, so do
not leave attractive or interesting contain
ers lying about their contents might spell
disaster.
Hindsight On Harriman
summed up in what 1 consider
a rather touching little reference.
Said Mr. Harriman In 1944: "Sta
lin, by inviting Churchill to Uic
opera, showed that he considered
him a friend. It was a damn
good healthy conference, all in
all." There you have it in a nut
shell. A night at the opera means
a friendly postwar period. Mr.
Harriman also assured the press
that Uic aim of Stalin's foreign
policy was to secure the peace,
llccaiiso of this, tile United States
could serve as an "ameliorator"
his word of Soviet-British
postwar conflicts.
Speaking of the postwar era, Mr.
Harriman urged this country to
encourage trade with the Soviet
Union. "They like our equipment,
and are willing to pay premium
prices fur It." lie said. "They are
meticulous in their determination
to pay all credits in full, with ei
ther gold or products we can use.
... It would be foolish of us to
i ui tail this trade. . . , Unlike
some people In the United Slates,
the ItUKsians have no worry
about military conflict with us."
As a kind of raving U.S. am
bassador, Mr. Harriman was will
ing to accept Stalin's statement
that he wanted the Soviet Union's
neighbors to view the Russians
with a "free eve." And he add
ed: Soviet "relations with Czech
oalovakia are the pattern for
those with other neighbors. The
well-educated and politically in
telligent Czechs." he said, "fail
more easily Into such arrange
ments than do the more backward
nations" liko Poland. '
The well-educated and politi
cally Intelligent Czechs fell as
thoroughly behind the lion Cur
tain as the "backward" nations
of Eastern Europe. Two of those
"backward" nations Poland
and Hungary were forward
Thurwlay, Marcn M. 1963
Ki
enough to buttle their Commu
nist captors.)
Discussing Soviet plans to use.
German slave labor to rebuild
Russia, Mr. Harriman said charit
ably, "I personally have a great
sympathy with their point of
view." And he demonstrated his
grasp of Soviet propaganda by
swallowing whole the Katyn lie.
"While there is no conclusive evi
dence on tho responsibility for the
massacre of Polish officers at
Katyn." he assured his press audi
ence, "1 personally am convinced
it was a German job." ( It
was a Soviet job, as the Polish
government - in - exile offered
to demonstrate at the time, and
as the Congress later proved.
Though Stalin had by then made
it clear that he would impose
Communist rule on Poland. Mr.
Harriman said, "In the Krem
lin 1 1 it-to is a sincere desire to
bring together all democratic
Poles and avoid bloodshed. . . .
There is no Indication of any de
sire on Russia's part to absorb
Poland." And like Stalin, he char
acterized the Free Poles in Lon
ikin as "Polish landlords" w ho
"wanted their estates back"
'The head of live Polish govern
ment in exile was a casant lead
er .i
The topper, of course, was Mr.
Harriman's prediction that "we
can look to greater unity of ac
tion in Greece and more coopera
tion between Communists and
others." It took a bloody civil
war, in which British and Ameri
can troops were necessary, to
put down the Soviet armed and
Soviet directed attempt to put
Greece behind the Iron Curtain.
As Under Secretary of Slate.
Mr. Harriman can ponder his
past statements particularly
wlien he is preparing to blast
those who called him wrong then
and say he is wrong now.
"What's
By SYDNEY J. HARRIS
Because I wanted the car, and
it came already equipped that
way, I am now driving my first
automobile with power steering.
After a few weeks of it, I drove
another car, with manual steering,
and was annoyed at its balkiness.
The same was true with the au
tomatic shift a few years ago;
after driving it, the manual shift
seemed laborious. And I must
confess that I wear a self-winding
watch on my wrist, and would not
buy one that needs to be wound
each morning.
Now a good case could be made
out and has been made out, by
sports car buffs that an automo
bile is much more in control of
tlie driver with a manual shift
and manual steering. The big
power-operated cars tend to drive
the driver, often into catastrophe.
But tlie point is that more and
more of us have relinquished our
control over our meclianisms. We
do nothing by hand or foot that
can be done by electricity wheth
er in the kitchen, mowing the
lawn, shoveling the snow, driving
the car. and even tootling around
the golf course on a mechanized
cart.
I am not concerned here with
the "physical fitness" aspect of
this trend. What interests and
perplexes me is the growing con
tradiction between our principles
and our practices in modern
American society.
Traditionally, we greatly ad
mire the sweat of the brow; but
soon we may have nothing to
sweat over. Our Puritan back
ground makes us feel that we
should suffer, at least a little.
Fruit Cocktail
ACROSS
Palm fruit
Smyrna
Pome fruit
Gfntra o( trus
41 Improve
4 Pricej
44 Wheel of a lort
48 Baldwins or
Jonathan!
OllVfS
Huille
Masculine
appellation
S3 Range
M Undent
Sri French stream
57 Civil wrong
ftfl Number
Ml Consumes
60 Female sheep
ipli
SI Armed conflict
6: Very (Fr I
DOWN
1 Diamond
cutter's cups
2 Nautical term
3 Hip
) 4 Comfort
S W eird Sisters
S Miss I upino
7 IVanuts
S F.oual
9 Otherwise
10 W ine cuo
l,rrn
vpRplablrs
Philippine
Ki-asanl
iblic-al name
Placid
Scantiest
Compound
oilier
Swindle
Armed (lefts
Peruae
Manuscript tab
rupola
Constellation
Svinbol lor
selenium
Solar disk
Pelts- pnneel
1 2 13 1 I lb 6 7 I p 19 110 II
j
15 T? 17
is i7 " rj5T"
H 23
24 lib 26 27 j26i 29 130 31 32"
36 tfj7 r 3l
39 40 I ifj
Ti 143 '
44 15 146 47 W48 49 50 151 (52
53 54 55 56
57 5l 59
65 til iZ
on Your Minds, Cientlemen?"
STRICTLY
PERSONAL
for the goods we receive but our
whole technology is designed to
decrease such suffering to the
minimal point.
"Leisure" is not yet a respecta
ble word here; it is just some
thing that fills the interstices be
tween work. Yet everything to
day is planned to give us as
much leisure as possible, as lit
tle sweat as necessary. On the
one hand, we are urged to work
harder; on the other, we keep
changing our technics and our
economy in the direction of less
effort.
Perhaps a large part of our con
fusion, and our immobility, is due
to the fact that, like Buridan's
ass, we cannot decide between
the two piles of hay equally close
to us: the tradition of personal
effort beckons us one. way, and
the new devices for making life
easier invite us the other way.
Our central problem in the
years ahead may very well turn
out to be the difficult task of rec
onciling our beliefs with our pro
cedures and learning that it is
impossible to keep both intact.
QUESTIONS
AND
ANSWERS
Q Have any U.S. governors
ever been Imprisoned?
A After the Civi' War, three
Confederate governors were ar
rested and confined as "prisoners
of stale." In 1924 Indiana's gov
ernor was jailed for misusing the
mails.
Answ.r to Previout Puzzl.
PTfaWST?
mmm
til.t.:
R E.P.E
II Slumber
li Seine
2 Limb
'J 3 Most
domesticated
24 Shank
25 Wile of Zeus
imlh )
"Jrt liireciion
1!7 Hebrew month
2$ First nun
30 Urixel
$ Prayer ending
.V Tranamil
n; Hird
40 F.xist
4 1 Viper
4:1 Diner
44 Delicacy
45 In a line
tfl Withered
47 Makes lars
49 Versifier
50 Falsifier
51 Royal Italian
family nam
52 Soap-making
frame
55 Collection of
sa
MTE A1V At
9'Dm-rEKi
KS5
B3S5
3MB:E?s1
mm
tWNI i
WASHINGTON NOTEBOOK '
'Loophole'
Offered By
Bob Kennedy
By THE WASHINGTON STAFF
Newspaper Enterprise Assn.
WASHINGTON (NEA) - Atty.
Gen. Robert F. Kennedy, an
swering questions at the Adver
tising Council's Washington meet
ing, was jokingly told by one busi
nessman that he and others were
puzzled as to how much money
they might safely spend under
new federal expense account
rules for dinner that night.
Replied Kennedy quickly:
- "I've heard from Mortimer Cap
lin, the commissioner of Internal ,
Revenue, and he tells me you can
do anything you like tonight, pro
' viding you top it off with a toast
to my brother, the President of the
United States."
Women cab drivers are increas
ing in Washington, but not in such
volume that it doesn't still create
some raised eyebrows.
One lady cabby, tired of be
ing quizzed by curious passengers,
has placed this sign strategically
inside her cab.
"I'm 28 years old, married and
the mother of three children. And
I've been driving a cab for three
years."
Roswell Gilpatric, deputy sec
retary of defense, had planned to
go to Spain for negotiations with
Generalissimo Francisco Franco,
on U.S. bases but canceled the
visit when he learned Franco
wasn't yet ready to talk. While in
Rome. Gilpatric learned that Fran
co's aide had been trying to fig
ure out what to do with Gilpatric
if he did come, since there
wouldn't be any business to talk
about. At last they came up with
a hunting trip with Franco.
When Gilpalric heard this he
said, "Tennis si, hunting no!"
A conversalion between two ty
coons meeting in Washington:
"How's business?"
"Terrible."
"What'rc you talking about?
John Kennedy says business is
good."
"Well, he has a much better
location."
Quote of the week "If it
came to a choice between having
a government without newspapers
or newspapers without a govern
ment. I'd choose the latter."
Rep. Emanuel Celler. D-X.Y ,
chairman. Judiciary subcommit
tee on Concentration of Owner
ship of News Media.
Newton N. Minow, Federal
Communications Commission
chairman, first witness before the
Celler committee, testilied that
"the advent of broadcasting has
probably contributed to the de
cline of indopond' . .ly owned news
papers." "But you don't set depth or
width of news coverage from
hroadcasling," observed Chairman
Celler
"May 1 recall tlie old Chinese
proverb that 'One picture is worth
a thousand words?'" asked Rep.
George Meader. R-Vich.
"Yes." replied the chairman,
"hot the Chinese didn't have that
one picture ' sandwiched in be
tween a thousand commercials."
Florida's Gov. Karris Bryant
nr.d San Francisco's Mayor George
Christopher have been trying to
outbid each other for tlie 14
GOP national convention.
Florida seemed to have the edge
Railroad Dispute Poses
Labor-Management Tilt
By ED TOWNSEXD
(Labor Correspondent of
The Christian Science Monitor)
The railroad work rules dispute
is nearing a climax. The parties
expect to make new efforts to set
tle their differences through col
lective bargaining. If they fail, a
showdown would bring the Ken
nedy administration into the dis
pute again and Congress might
not be far behind the White
House. The following questions
and answers may help in under
standing one of the most complex
and unconlroversial disputes in
labor-management history.
Q. Who are involved in the
work-rules dispute?
A. All the nation's Class 1 rail
roads and five operating brother
hoods representing such on
train workers as engineers, loco
motive firemen and enginemen,
conductors and brakemen, rail
. road trainmen, and switchmen.
The brothel hoods represent about
200,000 workers, or about 27 per
cent of total railroad employment
now. The Association of American
Railroads is the institutional
spokesman for the carriers, the
Railway Labor Executives Asso
ciation for the unions.
'Featherbedding' Called
Basle Issue
(J. What is the basic issue?
A. Carriers contend it is the
excessive cost of operating due
to "featherbedding" practices of
the unions that is, practices
requiring the roads to hire more
employes than they need and to
pay for work not actually done.
The carriers demand changes
that would save them about $1,
600,000 a day or $592,062,000 in a
year. The brotherhoods deny that
featherbedding practices exist
and defend present rules as nec
essary for the safe and efficient
operation of trains.
Q. What are these work rules
the parties argue about?
A. Contractural provisions de
veloped through the years, some
of them four decades old, dating
back to slow steam-engine days.
There are thousands of rules in
the industry, many varying from t
carrier to carrier. They cover
such things as the wok to be
done by an employe, the size of
train crews, the complex meth
ods of paying crewmen, and the
length of runs.
' - Carriers have demanded for
, years that old rules be revised
to take into consideration to
day's changed operating condi
tions and faster trains. They
want, for example, the elimina
tion of a pay formula that re
1 quires wage payment on the bas
is of mileage covered and hours
worked. This plan was set up
when a slow 100-mile trip was
considered to be a fair day's work
and the basis for a day's pay.
Many rail workers still think of
100 miles as a full day's work
even though trains now travel
much faster and make fewc
stops. Roads want to pay crew
men on either a time or a mileage
basis whichever would be the
more advantageous for the em
ploye but not on the old dual
basis.
Carriers Want Longer Runs
Also, the carriers want to
lengthen runs. Seniority districts
set by old work rules limited runs
without crew changes to about
100 miles. Although trains may
now go 200 miles in the time for
merly taken for 100 miles, it's
still necessary to change crews
at 100 miles under some rules.
And. perhaps the most contro
versial of all. carriers want to
eliminate firemen on diesels in
freight and yard service. The em
ployers say the firemen perform
no necessary duties now that
there's no coal or boiler fires to
handle.
These are only three of a long
list of proposed changes more
dramatic examples than, say,
rules that bar roadmen from
switching in yards, yardmen
from switching on the road. .
Q. How would workers be af
fected by rules changes?
A. Many might lose jobs. Oth
ers would be required to work
more hours or to travel a
greater distance lor a day's
pay. In human terms, the impact
could be severe. However, car
riers have offered to cooperate to
ease the hardships through grad
ual cuts ip employment, to let
natural attrition (retirements and
quits 1 carry much of tlie burden.
Q. What have the parties done
alxnit work rules in bargaining?
A. Practically nothing; up to
now, there has been very little
real give-and-take bargaining on
work rules at bargaining tables
since tlie Issue became a serious
on cash offers, so California's
Christopher began talking of such
fringe benefits as his city's "na
tural air conditioning'' in summer
time. Bryant and helpers opened their
full bag. een sucsesting '.hit Mi
ami Beach would be a great spot
from which to impress the he.
Icauucred Cubans with the won
ders of democracy at work.
They halted their little came
of "upping the ante" before the
Flondians could call into plav the
ace comment of former Gov.
Fuller Warren-
"It s harder to fail in Florida
than it u to succeed in most
places."
one in November, 1169. Tlie car
riers proposed changes then. Tho
brotherhoods rejected them. When
a serious deadlock threatened
problems for the future, then La
bor Secretary James P. Mitchell
oroposed a tripartite study of rail
work rules; the parties welcomed
the plan, and in. October, 1960
President Eisenhower named a
presidential railroad commission
of five members each from th
roads, the brotherhoods, and tlie
public.
The commission studied the
ork rules for- 15 months. Pub
lic members traveled tens of
thousands of miles, observing
crewmen and their problems. Fi
nally, early last year, the com
mission wrote 575 pages of con
clusions distilled from 15,000
pages of testimony. Brotherhood
representatives dissented strong
ly as the commission called for
substantial changes in what they
called "archaic" work rules and
pay practices.
Carriers Agree
The carriers agreed to the
changes, although they were con
siderably less than the roads
sought. The unions balked. After .
two months of bargaining, the Na
tional Mediation Board (NMB
entered the dispute under the
Railway Labor Act. Some 22
meetings were held, without suc
cess. The NMB urged arbitration.
The carriers accepted this propo
sal: unions rejected it.
In July of last year, the car
riers notified the unions that they
intended to put commission rec
ommendations into effect unilater
ally; later they said that, instead,
they would put their original and
more extensive changes into ef
fect. The unions threatened to
strike, meanwhile sought and got
an injunction against rules
changes.
The fight has been a legal one
since then, with the carriers win
ning successive decisions the
most recent and probably final
one in the Supreme Court. They
can make changes now.
Q. What are the proposed
changes those suggested by
the presidential commission?
A. The most controversial
would reduce the number of fire
men in diescl freight and yard
service; 13,000 with less than 10
years seniority would be dis
missed with three to 12 months
notice and severance pay up to
35 months at 60 per cent of last
pay; 27,000 with more than 10
years seniority would be kept on
the job until eliminated by natur
al attrition: no new firemen
would be hired.
Age To Be Lowered
The retirement age would be
lowered gradually until all em
ployes not just firemen
would be required to retire at age
65 in 1967. Unions contend that
this rule change would cost
65,000 railroad jobs in the next five
years one-third of all operating
employes now. Carriers deny this.
The commission also proposed
a modernized pay basis that it
said would create more uniform
ity and raise wages for about 75
per cent of those employed, cut it
for the remaining 25 per cent.
Unions challenge this. They com
plain "monstrous wage cuts"
would result up to 37'j per
cent.
Technical Changes
And the commission urged the
lengthening of runs to "modern
operating capabilities" and the
easing of old "ritualistically held
dividing lines" on switching dut
ies, along with many other
changes generally technical.
Not all were against unions. Some
would improve employe benefits,
reduce maximum hours on duty,
require overtime pay at time and
a half, provide more holidays
and require pay at premium
rates on holidays.
Q. What is the situation now?
A. In effect, tlie presidential
commission held that the car
riers have the right to eliminate
unneeded jobs and put into effect
technological changes provided
they ease impact on employes,
by displacement and retraining
allowances.
The supreme court of the Unit
ed States has refused to upset a
lower-court decision confirming
this right. The roods may make
changes at will.
However, if they do. the unions
undoubtedly would strike. This
would bring further White House
intervention through the fact-finding
processes of the Railway La
bor Act and would block a strike
or changes in work conditions for
60 days.
Rills in Hopper
There is nothing in the statute
bonks now that could be used to
bar rules changes and a strike if
the dispute should outlive the 60
day period. But Congress already
has bills in its hoppers that would
require compulsory arbitration in
transportation strike situations.
Aware of probable White House
and congressional actions in the
event of a showdown, the unions
have indicated more willingness
to bargain seriously. If they do,
the rules dispute may be nearing
an end. Privately, brotherhood
spokesmen concede that the num
ber of firemen jobs actually at
slake now 13.000 initially is
hardly worth the risk of a' poten
tially larger setback possible at
the hands of an aroused Congress.