EPSON IN WASHINGTON . .
Automation Blamed
PACE t
HERALD AND NEWS, Klamath Falls, Oregon
Monday, July 29, 196
''You Suppose the Boys on the Hill
Will Jump for Joy?"
As Rail Culprit '
FBI, Crime And The
We have grown so accustomed to annual
increases in crime rates that it comes as a
mild surprise to learn from the FBI that in
1962 murders showed a 2 per cent decline
injnumber from the previous year.
; There seems to be no profound explana
tion, other than the fact that police work in
this field is extraordinarily good.
The FBI, in its annual report, says that
over the nation the police cleared up 93 per
cent of willful killings in 1962. These include
both murder and so-called non-negligent man
slaughter. Unhappily, that does not indicate a 93
per cent rate of conviction. Of those cases
disposed of by the courts last year, about half
resulted in dismissal, acquittal or reduction
of the charge.
Often it is complained that the courts
themselves, through the action of either judg
es or jury, are guilty of incredible softness
toward the perpetrators of crime serious
and minor.
The FBI makes no such complaint, what
ever it may feel on this score. As a matter of
fact, intelligent studies of court performance
are sadly lacking. Judge and jury act from a
wide variety of motives, only one of which may
be an inclination to "take it easy" on the de
fendant. The FBI does note that other factors, too,
help explain why a big disparity may exist be
tween the number of arrests and the number
of convictions.
(Houston Press)
The "Fair Traders" in Congress haven't
given up and a hearing on their current bill to
fix prices was held at the end of May.
:'. This year the legislation is called a "Qual
ity Stabilization Bill," for reasons which aren't
exactly obvious. But under whatever name,
this is a scheme to avoid competition in the
retail business, especially drugs, and to soak
the consumer a few extra billions.
Price-fixing in any form is obnoxious to
the American free enterprise system, par
WASHINGTON
By WASHINGTON STAFF
Newspaper Enterprise Assn.
': WASHINGTON (NEA)-ln the
Kennedy family, there is a stand
ing joke that their double Irish
heritage (Kennedy - Fitzgerald!
makes the menfolk a little fat
around the jnws. The President
especially likes to dwell on this.
(Not long ago, as a case in
point, he sent an inscribed photo
graph to his brother. Sen. Ed
ward M. (Ted) Kennedy. It is
a picture of the two of them on
the platform at a Boston Col
lege ceremony.
j The view of Teddy shows a
(harp, distinct bulge on the right
fcide of his jaw. The President's
icrawled inscription, witli a line
Brawn to (lie bulge:
' "Honey Filz" grandson stores
nuts for the winter."
When Tanganyika's 40-year-old
President Mwalimu Julius K. Ny
erere was introduced to the Na
tional Press Club In Washington,
the story was told of his resigning
a job as a tenclier in a Catholic
school only eight years ago. Ho
then walked 25 miles (o his home
to begin a new career In poli
tics. "But that's nothing," observed
Press Club President Bryson
Bash. "Wo liavo young men in
this country wlio walk 50 miles
Just to stay in politics."
T Rash also related that Nyer
fcre'a first political motto was
J'Freedom." Ho changed this lat
pr to "Freedom and Work." Ho
elaborated this with the slogan:
Trent a guest as a guest for two
ilays then givo him a hoe."
A popular lino since Defense
Secretary Bob McNamara came
to the Pentagon is, "A good ex
ecutive Is a person who goes
around with a worried look on his
assistant's face."
The reasons behind Agriculture
Secretary Orvillo Freeman's
Russian trip aro somewhat of a
mystery to Rep. Bob Dole, R
Kan. ; ; Noting that Moscow was Free
inan's first stop, Dole points out
ijiat if Freeman had a yen to
visit Moscow, he could have (rav
eled to Moscow, Kan., wilh less
difficulty.
"Many wheal farmers In that
area have questions which must
be answered Immediately," he
continued, "If he prefers anotlicr
Sometimes the police discover they were
wrong, and there is no formal charge. When
young persons are involved, special local or
state laws may dictate leniency. Sometimes,
despite police "clearance" of a case, the evi
dence proves insufficient for an indictment.
And, though this could hardly apply in a mur
der case, the victim of a crime often refuses
to co-operate in prosecution of the alleged
offender.
So it is not a simple matters of the police
doing a great job in some fields and the courts
not doing so.
Nevertheless, it is most interesting to note
that only half of the "willful killing" cases
which reach the courts results in conviction on
the original charges of murder or non-negligent
manslaughter.
The FBI points out that not only in the
matter of killing but in other crimes against
the person as rape and aggravated assault,
dismissal, acquittal or charge reduction is
more common than for crimes against prop
erty. This seems to indicate a considerable re
luctance on the part of the courts to act harsh
ly or too swiftly in areas where the penalties
may be severe even unto capital punishment.
A tendency exists in some quarters to de
pict the courts as agencies of brutal retribution
eager to speed defendants toward death or
a life term. The figures do not support them.
Obviously much murder and mayhem is never
penalized at all.
They Never Sleep
ticularly so when it is designed to push prices
only one direction up.
That has been the definite effect when
ever these "Fair Traders" have succeeded in
getting states to legalize their plan.
Their apparent hope in Congress is to
keep at it until attention is distracted by
weightier affairs, then get their bill passed by
default. Any Congressman concerned with the
household, budgets of his constituents is
bound to be against it.
NOTEBOOK
Fat Jaws A Problem
slate, he can find a Moscow In
Idaho (potutocs), Arkansas (rice),
Iowa (corn), Michigan (dairy
farms) or Texas (cotton) not to
mention the Moscows in Vermont,
' Tennessee, Ohio, Pennsylvania
and Maine."
Sen. Karl Mundt, R-S.D., tells
one on roving Ambassador Avcr
cll Harriman, chief of the U.S.
delegation to tho test ban talks
in Moscow.
"At least wo'ro represented by
an optimist," Mundt points out.
"A roving ambassador hardly
stops any place long enough to
learn how bad tilings really are!"
New security restrictions at the
Executive Office Building some
times aro exasperating even to
top government officials. Visitors
must be cleared by whomever
they are seeing.
Glenn Scaborg, Atomic Energy
Commission chairman, late for
an appointment recently, was
vexed to learn that somebody
had forgotten to notify the guards
ho was due.
Seahorg produced reams of
identification to no avail. After
BW5 WORLD
' Now would Ukt to propose ipirijf tub-tub-lub-commlttn
It mak a it tidy of tbt jinHnit of
lb iptchl tub-tub commillet."
1
Courts
several lengthy phone conversa
tions by a guard, the commission
er was given a curt, "You're O.K.,
Seaborg. You can go on up."
A reporter asked the guard if
he hadn't recognized the AEC
chairman. The guard shook his
head, adding in a tired voice,
"Buddy, they all look the same
when they come through that
door."
Peace Corps Director Sargent
Shriver Jr. doesn't operate by
(he usual bureaucratic standards
Congress has come to expect. At
the end of the fiscal year, Shri
ver turned back to the Treasury
$3.4 million he hadn't spent be
cause he's behind on his training
program, instead of hurrying up
to spend the money before tile
appropriation expired.
The $108 million Shriver is ask
ing for the current year is, he
insists, rock bottom. Congress
men say to him in effect. "Come
on now, Sarge, you know you
put some padding in there so we
could mako a cut."
He shakes his head and insists
$I()U million Is his actual need.
IN WASHINGTON . . .
JFK
By RALPH de TOLEDANO
The President, if you are ready
to accept the word of his offi
cial spokesmen, is in "high spir
its." He believes that everything
is going fine. Much of this happy
happy feeling derives from his
belief that Comrade Khrushchev is
feeding out of his hand. (Others
with the same belief have usual
ly ended up minus an arm.)
On Capitol Hill, however, the
gloom is so thick it can be cut
with a knife. Democratic leaders
in House and Senate say frankly
that the present Congress may
go down as the most do-nothing in
history. In the past, "do-nothing"
was a comparative term. But
this year, at least in the House, it
is almost literally true. In close
to seven months, not a single
"must" item in the President's
program has managed to get it
self enacted and the honorable
legislators, looking back at some
500 wasted hours on the floor of
both chambers, wonder where the
time went.
Tho leadership is also in a
tremendous tizzy over what will
happen when the civil rights bills,
the tax reform measures, and oth
er controversial matters hit the
Congressional fan. In the past,
there could always be a speed
up as the heat and humidity of
Washington made a visit to the
constituencies seem like a heaven
ly escape. But "If summer's
here, can adjournment be far
behind?" no longer applies.
Sen. Joe Clark (D.-Pa.) has
been haranguing tho Senate on its
inability to pass anything more
than 14 of the 102 measures sent
up to the Hill by the White House.
Only two of those 14 ratification
of a coffee agreement and a feed
grains bill went beyond the rou
tine. The log-jam is so bad that
many federal agencies have not
had their appropriations approved
and so are living in effect on bor
rowed time and money.
Some Democrats hope that the
President can pass off the blame
for this notorious inactivity on
the Republicans, and that Mr. Ken
nedy's two-lo-one preixmderance
Almanac
By I'nlted Press International
Today is Monday, July 29, the
210th day of 1963 with 155 to
follow.
The moon is approaching its
full phase.
The morning stars arc Jupiter
and Saturn.
The evening stars are Saturn
and Mars.
Those born today include Benito
Mussolini, founder cf fascism and
a dictator of Italy, in ltua
On this day in history:
In 1588, Queen Elizabeth I. lear
f ill of a Spanish invasion of Eng
land, traveled to Tilbury to spur
on her troops.
In 1734, the first international
boxing match took place. The
British champion knocked out the
French contender.
In 1014. a successful telephone
conversation between New York
and San Francisco heralded the
building of the first American
transcontinental telephone line.
In 1045, an armada of Ameri
can bombers dropped 3.500 tons of
bombs on six Japanese cities. The
bombings follow ed a warning
broadcast.
Believes 'All Fine'
in Congress can be obscured by
a steady stream of attacks on
GOP "obstructionism." But this
tactic has begun to wear thin.
It is clear to those who bother
to read a newspaper that the
Republicans in Congress couldn't
pass a resolution in favor of
motherhood without the sanction
of the Democratic leadership. The
GOP vote counts only when a
substantial number of Democrats
oppose a piece of legislation.
The Republicans are hardly to
blame and it would be rank in
gratitude for the President to be
labor the GOP's Senate leader
ship. In fact. Senate Republican
Whip Thomas Kuchel of California '
is considered a kind of crypto
Dcmocrat by many of his col
leagues. On the theoretical and
practical levels he differs from
his opposition in almost noth
ing. The Minority Leader, Sen.
Everett McKinley Dirksen, makes
anti-administration noises from
time to time, but the most chari
table thing to be said about him
is that he is ineffective.
Why, then, the utter torpor
in Congress? Senator Clark,
who has most of the endearing
qualities of a Harold Ickes,
blames "antiquated' Congression
al procedures. This is nonsense,
for Congress can move rapidly and
Rayburn Death Proved
Bad Blow To Kennedy
By LYLE C. WILSON
United Press International
It is President Kennedy's bad
luck that Sam Rayburn died and
that it was deemed necessary to
put Lyndon B. Johnson on the
I960 Democratic presidential tick
et to hold the Deep South.
"Mr. Sam" and Johnson were
congressional leaders who knew
how to lead. That cannot be said
of the leadership of the 88th Con
gress. The Democratic Party en
joys majorities in the House and
Senate. Democrats chair the
committees, occupy the seats of
power. The President in tlte
White House is a Democrat.
With all of that going for the
New Frontier, the Kennedy ad
ministration is unable to move
its legislative program. The U.S.
Congress does not function much
beyond the routine of convene
recess - convene - recess again,
more a vegetable than a living
organism of government.
Leadership Complicated
The President has complicated
more than simplified the leader
ship problems of his legislative
agents. For example: There are
at this moment before Congress
three major Kennedy proposals,
each with an A-l priority.
They are: tax reduction and re
form, civil rights and railroad
strike legislation.
This is the seventh month of
the 88th Congress. All but two of
the routine appropriation bills
await action. Fewer than half a
(Uen major bills of any kind
have been enacted in this first
seven months. The President re
cently reported himself content
that he had got the country to
moving again. If so. it is time he
turned his attention to lite Demo
cratic 88th Congress.
No economy nor system of gov
ernment nor political administra
tion can long endure an absolute
stagnation of public business. If
decisively when it wishes. The
answer lies in the kind of lead
ership the Congress is getting
from the White House.
Relations between any Presi
dent and the Congress are always
a touchy matter. The New Fron
tier has aggravated this in two
ways:
(1) It has pressed much too
hard for legislation that had no
chance of success. This has cre
ated antagonisms that carry over
to proposals which could have
been pushed through. ,
(2) The President has relied
far too much on Attorney General
Kennedy to "win over" recalci
trant legislators. Young Bob Ken
nedy is hardly a popularity con
test winner in the Administration.
On the Hill, this is worse be
cause there are many who re
member him when he was coun
sel to the McClellan Labor Rack
ets Committee. At the time, one
important Senator said to me,
"The only time Bobby talks to me
is when he shouts orders. But
Jack protects him." These per
sonal considerations would not
matter very much if the Con
gress felt any enthusiasm for the
President's program. Being reluc
tant to start with doesn't help
when the blandishments and the
arm-twistings begin.
Republicans would knock off
fighting among themselves long
enough to consider the stagnation
now prevailing, they might dis
cover the delights of lining up to
gether to fight the Democrats.
Republicans should be the last
to forget that a lost and hope
less cause produced a political
miracle in 1948 when Harry S.
Truman directed his presidential
campaign exclusively against the
Republican 80th Congress. HST
called the 80th the worst. On its
record so far, HST might want
to revise his estimate in favor of
the 88th Congress.
Session Draws On
This session probably will con
tinue through Thanksgiving to
Christmas. President Kennedy
made an effective I960 campaign
complaint that President Eisen
hower had failed to provide the
nation with leadership. That in
vites attention now to the
situation in Congress where the
Democratic leadership does not
lead and the Democratic majori
ties reject the leadership of Pres
ident Kennedy.
This situation, of course, will
change considerably in tlie final
weeks of this session. Then there
will be a hurricane of legislative
activity. Congress will be on a
day-and evening scheduled to en
act vital legislation. This will be
accomplished by short cuts, half
baked debate and consideration.
Emerging is likely to be a great
deal of ill-considered legislation.
That is the environment,
for example, in which the Senate
probably will be compelled to
consider the test ban treaty. The
sossion-end legislative traffic jam
will not permit time for intelli
gent consideration of a test ban
treaty although tlie fate of the
human race may be written be
tween the lines of that document.
Too bad Lyndon and Mr. Sam
can't lake over again.
By PETER, EDSON
Washington Correspondent
Newspaper Enterprise Assn.
WASHINGTON NEA For the
long haul, the most important
part of President Kennedy's spe
cial message to Congress on the
railroad crisis may be his pro
posal for handling all technologi
cal unemployment.
This would make "automation"
the key word in the rail dispute.
It would replace "featherbed
ding" and "compulsory arbitra
tion" as the catch phrases nam
ing the issue up to now.
The President's proposal to turn
the case over to the Interstate
Commerce Commission may or
may not be accepted by Congress.
If Congress does pass the pro
posed joint resolution before July
29, and if the ICC can then im
pose temporary work rules, the
trains will be kept running fur
at least two years.
The hope is that in this period
the railroad employers and their
on-train employes will settle their
differences by collective bargain
ing. But they already have bar
gained unsuccessfully pn the work
rules issue for four years.
Since the dispute is bound to
get worse instead of better, there
is little reason to believe it will
be solved permanently by tem
porary measures.
If it is not solved, then the
whole rigamarole will have to be
gone through again under Rail
way Labor Act and National Me
diation Board proceedings.
So, for the long-range solution,
the President proposes tackling
all the complicated problems of
automation the displacement of
workers by labor-saving technolo
gical advances.
He falls back on the old stand
by gimmick of bureaucracy. He
will appoint a committee to study
the problem. This one will be
called the Presidential Commis
sion on Automation.
Its job will be to identify and
describe the major types of work
er displacement likely to occur
in the next 10 years. It will rec
ommend just what private busi
ness and organized labor should
be responsible for in solving the
problems caused by automation.
It will recommend what state and
local governments should be re
sponsible for.
And then finally you guessed
it it will recommend specific ad
ministrative steps which the fed
eral government should .take to
WASHINGTON REPORT .
Popularity Rating .
Looms For Kennedy
By FULTON LEWIS JB.
President Kennedy, admittedly
fearful that his popularity has
badly slipped in recent months,
will get his first real clue with
in 48 hours.
Voters in Pennsylvania's 15th
Congressional District will go
pollward Tuesday to elect a suc
cessor to tlie late Francis Wal
ter, the revered Democrat who
won 16 straight terms in the
House.
Despite tlie fact that Walter
won re-election easily last fall.
Republicans feel they have an
excellent chance of victory. The
15th is a "swing" district. While
Walter picked op 57 per cent of
the vote last November, Republi
can Bill Scranton carried the
district in his successful race for
the governorship. Also carrying
the 15th was Democrat Joe Clark,
who won re-election to the Sen
ate. The GOP candidate is Bob Bart-
lett was nominated in a district
and civic leader making his first
run for public office. A good-looking
graduate of West Point, Bart
ielt was nominated ina district
wide convention attended by Re
publican workers from each of
the district's four counties.
Local Democrats had little to
say about the man who now bears
their standard. He 'is State Sen.
Fred Rooney, handpieked by
Philadelphia boss Bill Green for
tlie race. Rooney's nomination
was approved as routine business
by members of the Democratic
State Committee, meeting behind
closed doors in Harrisburg, 90
miles from Uie district.
Boss Green, a Congressman
himself, is apparently trying to
regain the vote he lost in Pennsyl
vania's Democratic delegation
when the legislature reapportioned
one of his Congressmen out of a
job.
Democrat Rooney has pledged
himself to support of the Ad
ministration program. He repeat
edly boasts that President Ken
nedy has endorsed his candidacy.
Republican Bartlett has made
foreign policy a major issue. He
has ripped the Administration for
what he calls its do-nothing poli
cy in Cuba. Laos, and South Viet
nam. Deploring the disintegration
of NATO, Bartlett savs. "Nations
meet its responsibilities "to share
tlie costs and alleviate the losses
of automation job-displacement."
All this is to be done "in such
a way as to assure both the con
tinued advance of our technology
and the continued well-being of
our people."
The Presidential Commission on
Automation will have until the
end of 1964 to study and report.
Tlie effect is to sweep the whole
problem under the table till after
election.
Nobody knows yet who will be
on live commission or what it will
find to report, but the indicated
course is to set up another fed
eral government welfare pro
gram. Surplus people those displaced
by automation would be handled
something like surplus crops.
They would be kept at govern
ment expense until they can be
reprocessed or retrained so some
body can find some use for them.
The extent to which the govern
ment would bear the costs of
technological displacement for
both management and labor is
spelled out In an earlier para
graph of the President's message.
There are no dollar figures men
tioned, but the total would be
millions.
"The nation as a whole, which
shares in the benefits, also would
bear part of the burden imposed
by advancing railroad technolo
gy," says the President.
To the extent that retraining
benefits are now available to rail
way workers under the Manpow
er Development and Training Act
of 1962, the carriers would be re
lieved of this obligation, the mes
sage points out.
Under the proposal submitted
by the carriers to their on - train
employes, the employers them
selves offer to give displaced
workers substantial dismissal pay,
preferential rehiring rights, or
liberal allowances to retrain for
new skills.
But now the government seems
to be preparing to relieve rail
way management of these costs,
while promoting more automa
tion. "The unfairness of placing the
entire burden of readjustment
costs upon either the carriers or
the workers is an additional rea
son why legislation is particularly
appropriate in this case," says
the President,
This legislation has not yet been
" drafted to apply to the railroads,
but look out for it when it comes.
will follow us and people will
respect us only when we begin
to act like a leader,"
Rooney's lieutenants, who in
clude 30 high-priced union "stra
tegists" brought in from out
side the district, have attempted
to smear Bartlett, a moderate
conservative, as a "right-wing
extremist." As proof, they point
to an article favorable to the
GOP candidate carried in Hu
man Events, the leading anti
Communist Washington weekly.
Exclaimed one Rooney backer
over Radio Station WAEB in Al
lentown: "Human Events Is de
scribed by every political col
umnist and analyst in the coun
try as being to the right of the
John Birch Society."
The statement is absurd. And
nobody would have known that
better than "Tad" Walter, who
himself wrote for Human Events.
A long-time subscriber, this is
what Congressman Walter said
about the publication that Roo
ney's men now claim is to the
"right of the John Birch Society":
"I look forward each week to
Human Events' timely and inci
sive presentation of the news.
In m; capacity as chairman of
the House Committee on Un
American Activities, I particular
ly appreciate its courageous op
position to the threat presented
by tlie Communists and their al
lies." Rooney's aides have charged
that Human Events is bank
rolled by oil millionaire H, L.
Hunt, whom they call a "notori
ous radical rightist."
Hunt has contributed no funds
to Human Events, save $9 a year
for his subscription. Other sub
scribers include Sens. Hubert
Humphrey, Mike Mansfield and
Claire Engle, all key Administra
tion supporters.
QUESTIONS
AND
ANSWERS
Q Which of our statei in
known as commonwealths?
A Massachusetts, Pennsyl
vania, Kentucky and Virginia.
Puerto Rico was made a free
commonwealth associated with
the United Slates in 1952.