PAGE-
HERALD AND NEWS, Klamath Falli, Oregon
Monday, October M, 1963
The Trouble Is, Doc, I Can't Tell
Whether It's A Nightmare Or A Premonition'
ditofuaI aq&
Looking Two Ways
West Germans are getting a political
education through an accident of geography.
On one side of the thriving country is desti
tute Marxist East Germany. On the other is
France, whose "economic planning" has re
sulted in painful inflation.
The main result of West Germany's
watch on its neighbors has been that it has
stuck to general policies of free enterprise
capitalism and enjoyed great economic pro
gress. A secondary result is that it has the
least socialistic socialist party on earth.
The socialists denounced Marxian ob
jectives of public ownership of the means of
production five years ago, and recently com
; pleted action on formal renunciation of gov
ernmental economic planning. (They also
resolved that strikes are an outmoded means
'of achieving gains for labor unions. This
Contrasts sharply with the attitude of Brit
ish socialists, who recently refused to give
tip plans for nationalizing several key in
dustries, and who endorsed state economic
controls.
It contrasts, too, with the attitudes of
many of our so-called "liberals" in Wash
ington, who keep nudging Congress to in
Gains In Drive To Cut
i As big as the school "dropout" problem
jias been reported to be, an intensive drive in
many large cities of the country has induced
10,000 students, who it was believed intended
to quit school, to return for at least another
year.
The figure is based on preliminary re
ports to President Kennedy from Dr. Francis
Keppel, U. S. Commissioner of Education,
which cover 20 of 63 cities and communities
covered by this drive.
, There are reasonable hopes when all re
turns are in a considerably larger number of
young people will be found to continue their
education for a while at least.
K3n
By MARQUIS CHILDS
WASHINGTON - Tho Amer
ican public has an incurably ro
mantic curiosity about exotic
foreigners who are prepared to
tell us off for the wrongness of
our ways. Filling (lie bill per
fectly, Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu
has outtalked and outshone
every attraction in recent years.
That she would compound Uio
confusion and doubt over the
American approach to tho tra
gic war in South Vict Nam was
predictable from Hie beginning.
Jler appearances, like a series
of brilliant and yet uneven vau
deville turns, have done little or
nothing to further the causo of
her country in Congress where
tho foreign aid program Is in
bad trouble. Without foreign aid
the government of her brother-in-law,
Ngo Dinh Diem, would
Quickly go under.
I Madame Nhu has been com
pared with Madame Chiang Kai
hek who in her day put on
Several spectaculars for the
;Amcrican public. Tho beautiful
;Mel-llng, one of Uic fabulous
Soong sisters, was exploited in
much the same way in her per
sonal appearances. Madame
Nhu is one up, thanks to tho
added dimension of television.
But however much the fabu
lous fortune amassed by the
Soongs much of it grounded in
.American aid to China may
have contributed privately to
I ho buildup, Madame Chiang
Jind a better understanding of
' American reaction. In p u b 1 i c
Uhe never d I r e c t ly criticized
(American policy or American
attitudes. Educated In this coun
try she knew the wisdom of
stopping short of attacking one's
host end benefactor.
Given her ignorance of tlte
United Stales and the Influence
on her of Americans wlto want
to exploit her visit to rap tlte
Kennedy Administration, Mad
ame INhu has at this halfway
point made few blunders. Ev
erything she says Is intended to
further the Diem regime and to
put over the view that tlie fu
ture of her country is bound up
'with her family. Anyone who
.doubts this is not sufficiently
anti-Communist.
; The principal witness against
;her is her father, lie deserves
a respectful bearing if only be-
cause he has no self-interest in
expressing his frank views
about the regime in Saigon and
the obstacles in the way of wag
crease central economic planning, and who
push government ownership of railroads,
utilities and other resources.
Our home grown socialists, by what
ever name they call themselves, argue that
national planning would be good, and cite
with puzzlement the apparent contradiction
that businessmen, farmers and conserva
tives make their own economic plans, but
balk when the government seeks to make
such plans.
What they overlook is that a national
plan is necessarily imposed instead of all
the private planning that is done now. If the
governmental planning did not override all
private planning, it would have no effect.
Not only producers, but consumers as well,
have to fall in with such governmental plans,
because the planners determine what will be
produced, what wages and prices will be,
and in what part of the nation production
will be allowed.
It is just such planning which keeps so
cialist nations and their citizens short of
food, shelter, clothing and every other sort
of consumer goods.
The West German socialists, looking
two ways, have seen the light.
Educators and public officials have been
deeply disturbed by an apparently growing
tendency of boys and girls in school, for a
variety of causes some for economic rea
sons, some because they had become dis
heartenedto quit. Lengthy experience has
proved that youngsters who leave school too
soon doom themselves for life to low-paying
jobs; many to chronic joblessness.
At least, so far, it has been shown that
friendly persuasion can make some, of these
drifting young people change their minds and
go back to classes. Every advance in this di
rection is a big gain all around.
WASHINGTON CALLING . .
Madame Nhu's
ing a war with an unpopular
and repressive government in
power.
Tran Van Chuong resigned as
ambassador in August after his
son - in - law, Ngo Dinh Nhu,
cracked down on the Buddhists.
Highly respected as an ambas
sador who had done his best to
try to coordinate the policy of
his government Willi that of
Washington, Willi his resignation
ho gavo up everything his po
sition, his country, his personal
relationship with his daughter
and her family.
There is tho fact, of course,
that tho former ambassador is
a Buddhist while his daughter
became a convert to Roman
Catholicism. But his public ut
terances have not dealt with the
religious issue in South Vict
Nam, which may very well
luivo been exaggerated as Mad
ame Nhu has claimed.
He is saying that the war
cannot bo won under a repres
sive regime with little popular
support. Chuong contradicts the
optimism of the MeNnmara-Tay-lor
report to the effect that vic
tory Is in sight by il!5. This
'And, So's My
Dropouts
Visit Futile
shows a high order of courage.
It comes from one who has fol
lowed the whole course of the
war at close range.
But, as so often in the past,
Americans seem likely to over
look America's own enlightened
self-interest. While Madame Nhu
lias been perfectly happy to ex
ploit every publicity outlet she
can get access to, the popular-.
ity rating of this silken beauty
is Irrelevant.
America's enlightened solf-in-lercst
Is to deny South Viet
Nam to the Communists. To lose
the war in order to save face
for President Diem and his fam
ily would be incalculable folly
and a waste of all the billions
this country has poured Into In-do-China.
Weighed in this balance Mad
am Nhu is seen to be singu
larly unimportant. Perhaps for
the moment the Administration
has no choice but to continue
with the Diem Nhu operation.
But if and when a choice comes
it should be made objectively
and not on a buildup of t h e
Madam as the Joan of Arc of
television and press luncheons.
Old Man'
Kfccvz' . ii
'Look, Rocky, I'm Right In
The Middle Of A Debate'
By PETER EDSON
Washington Correspondent
Newspaper Enterprise Assn.
WASHINGTON (NEA) A
more active Kennedy adminis
tration role in considering all of
the 25 major U.S. railroad mer
ger applications now before the
Interstate Commerce Commis
sion has just been indicated by
Undersecretary of Commerce
for Transportation Clarence
D. Martin Jr.
Speaking before the Transpor
tation Association of America at
Ponte Vedra Beach, Kla., Mar
tin, as chairman of the admin
istration's Interagency Commit
tee on Transport Mergers, maps
out the government's new plan
to create four competitive rail
systems in the northeast.
This had been outlined briefly
when Asst. Atty. Gen. William
H. Orrick Jr., in charge of the
Department of Justice antitrust
division, appeared before an
ICC examiner in his final week
of hearings on the Pennsylvania
New York Central case to op
pose their merger.
This action served to keep the
case open indefinitely.
Martin's follow-up speech pre
sents arguments that four ma
jor railroad systems in the
northeastern U.S. will olfor the
best service to the public, the
most competition among the car
riers and the greatest stability
for all.
The (our systems would be
built around the New York Cen
tral with Boston & Maine, the
Pennsylvania divested of lis Wa
bash holdings, the Chesapeake
& Ohio merged with Baltimore
& Ohio, and finally the Norfolk
and Western merged with Nick
el 'Plate, Wabash, New York,
New Haven and Hartford.
Inclusion of the New Haven
now in receivership came as a
complete surprise to railroad
management. It is justified on
the grounds that New Haven
has good connections at May
brook Junction, N.Y., with Eric
Lackawnna, which would also
have to be included in this sys
tem, not NYC.
Tlie theory is that if the Pcnn
Central merger wure approved
there would be only three sys
tems in tlie east, Penn-Cenlial
would dominate the other two.
If they could not compete, all
would have to be merged into
one system, which would create
a transportation monopoly.
With four systems in opera
tion, if any of tliem could not
make a go of it, there could be
mergers into two rystems.
TOM LITTLE, NASHVILLE TENNESSEAN
EPSON IN WASHINGTON . . .
Proposed Railway
Mergers Complicated
which would still provide compe
tition. The desire to create a fourth
strong system is believed to
have influenced tlie administra
tion's decision to approve tlie
B&0-C&O merger. This was a
complete reversal of the admin
istration's position last March.
Department of Justice was then
considering court action to block
ICC approval,
Martin declared that the four
system plans effect on employ
ment was fully considered. But
Railway Labor Executives Asso
ciation chairman, G. E. Leighty,
backs the government's disap
proval of the Penn-Central mer
ger while condemning its new
approval of the B&O-C&O and
other mergers.
Railway labor is backing bills
, in Congress to ban all mergers.
But since tlie death of Sen. Es
tcs Kefauvcr, D-Tcnn.. a prin
cipal sponsor, passage is uncer
tain. To railway management, the
Interagency Committee under
Martin is a group of young,
eager beaver boys w ith no ex
perience in transportation.
Oilier members arc Asst. Atty.
Gen. Orrick, Asst. Labor Sec.
James J. Reynolds, Dr. John P.
Lew is of the Council of Econom
ic Advisers and E. Barrett Prct
tyman Jr., of the White House
staff. Its technical experts are
Commerce Department career
transportation men.
But this committee is going
to be of increasing importance
in Washington. Its creation was
first announced in President
Kennedy's transportation mes
sage to Congress. Since the leg
islation he asked for is bogged
down, it is apparent that more
emphasis will be put on admin
istrative action.
To railroad management, the
saving grace in this situation is
that the Interstate Commerce
Commission doesn't have to pay
any attention to Interagen
cy Committee recommendations.
If ICC turns them down, the ad
ministration would have to take
its case to court in opposition
to the established agency which
now has legal authority to make
the decisions.
QUESTIONS
AND
ANSWERS
Q Why are the Blue Laws so
railed?
A The name originated in the
Connecticut colony which printed a
set of firm statements of what to
do and what not to do and bound
Ihem in a blue paper cover.
By RALPH de TOLEDANO
That Sen. Barry Goldwater
and Gov. Nelson Rockefeller
have said that former Vice Pres.
ident Nixon is running for the
GOP Presidential nomination
proves little. Mr. Goldwater.
clearly, would like to smoke out
the Nixon forces. And Governor
Rockefeller wants to encourage
them, on the theory that they
will hurt the Goldwater candi
dacy and therefore help him.
Both camps are watching the
Nixon speechmaking peregrina
tionson the Goldwater side
with a certain exasperation, on
tlie Rockeieller side with a glim
mer of hope. On his part, Air.
Nixon says to all and sundry that
he is not a candidate and that
nothing can dispose him to be
come one. He has not offered
his paraphrase of General Sher
man's disclaimer "I will not
accept if nominated; and will
not serve if elected" but he
lias presented what on the face
of it seems like a reasonable
facsimile.
Like all facsimiles, however,
it is not legal tender. If you
read Mr. Nixon's language care
fully, he is simply saying that
he is not actively seeking the
nomination and, categorically,
that he docs not intend to en
ter any of the Presidential pref
erence primaries. The second
point is the real kicker. Mr. Nix
on is a practical politieian.He
knows that any hopes he may
have that lightning will strike
again could not survive a pri
mary battle. These are won by
organizations, and most of the
working politicos are already
spoken for.
With all due deference to Mes
sieurs Goldwater and Rockefel
WASHINGTON REPORTS
By FULTON LEWIS JR.
WASHINGTON Mixing meta
phors. Sen. Steve Young lashed
out the other day at a "low
down skunk" who stood "lower
than a snake's tail in a wagon
rut."
The good Ohioan was referring
to my able young associate, Bill
Schulz, who had committed an
unpardonable sin. He had ques
tioned the ethical standards of
John Fitzgerald Kennedy's
grandfather.
It was not the first time those
standards had been questioned.
The House of Representatives,
on Oct. 13, 1919, expelled John
Francis Fitzgerald for election
fraud.
That "Honey Fitz" was a col
orful politician of the old school
is not denied. That "Honey Fitz"
was simon pure is denied by
competent historians.
What touched off Sen. Young's
blast was an article in "Human
Events" by Mrs. Schulz, who
revealed that the United States
Information Agency was distrib
uting around the globe millions
of copies, gratis of the John
Kennedy Comic Book.
Tho multi-colored tract, de
signed to win friends and influ
ence half-wits, is replete with
factual errors. The little boy
boy who would grow up one day
to be President is shown at
Craiuldadcly's knee, in the Bos
ton City Hall, learning "much
about life, government and
statesmanship." Actually, John
Kennedy was not yet born when
Honey Fitz toiled as mayor.
Another panel says Honey Fitz
By SYDNEY J. HARRIS
' A college student in Wiscon
sin writes to suggest that 1
should stress the great need
for "logic" in all areas of think
ing. He took a formal logic
course last semester, and was
dazzled into veneration by the
precision and economy of this
intellectual tool.
I recalled my own similar in
troduction to the elegant sim
plicities of formal logic more
than a quarter-century ago. Aft
er learning about the "undistrib
uted middle term," the various
fallacies, and the real difference
between "contraries" and "con
tradictories." I wanted to make
logic a eompulsory course for
all students everywhere.
My instructor, however, was
wiser than 1. He knew all too
well the limitations of formal
thought. "A logic course in it
self is not of too much use," he
said sadly. "It's in their basic
assumptions that most people go
IN WASHINGTON . . .
Nixon Rides Again
ler, I would suggest that my '
judgment (or instinct) where
Richard Milhous Nixon is con
cerned is of somewhat more val
ue. I have known htm well for
a decade and a half. I h a v e
seen him relaxed and in action.
Most important of all, I have
watched him in the midst of po
litical maneuver. On the basis
of this experience. I would say
flatly that Mr. Nixon is up and
running.
This is not one bit surprising.
Since 1949, to my knowledge,
the idea of the Presidency has
lurked like a bright little halo
around Mr. Nixon's head. Since
1953, it lias been a very ac
tive thought. Everything he did
in his eight years as Vice Presi
dent was related to this fresi
dential hope. Even when he
said "go hang" to politics and
spoke his mind he was thinking
in terms of 1960. He lost to
John F. Kennedy, but he knows
that if all the votes cast for
him had been counted, he would
now be sitting and sweating in
the White House.
The California defeat in 1982
rankles, of course. But he en
tered that race at the behest
of such men as Sen. Thom
as Kuchel, who p r om p 1 1 y
dumped him when the going got
rough. That gubernatorial race
is a stumbling block to Mr. Nix
on's 1964 candidacy, but he has
managed to make it an asset. It
gives him a perfect excuse for
staying out of those career
shattering primaries.
At first, Mr. Nixon thought
that the Goldwater - Rockefel
ler confrontation would result
in a deadlock and a call from
the convention for its last standard-bearer.
Then he decided
Honey Fitz Was
"once served as Mayor of Bos
ton and later as a U.S. Cong
ressman." Actually, Honey Fitz
served three terms in Congress
before he was elected mayor. It
was the fourth term that USIA
historians would have you for
get. Honey Fitz relumed to Cong
ress for his fourth term in early
1919, clutching in his hand the
official certilicate of election.
Close on his heels was Demo
crat Peter Tague, whom Honey
Fitz claimed to have defeated by
50 votes. Tague insisted the elec
tion had been rigged.
A special committee of the
House investigated Tague's
claim and found that Honey
Fitz had won thanks to "fradu
lent votes of the liquor dealers,
bartenders and city job-holders
illegally registered in (oncl war
and the padded returns of al
leged residents in the cheap
lodging houses."
It recommended Honey Fitz
be denied a seat in Congress.
The House of Representatives
agreed and Honey Fitz was sent
packing Oct. 13. 1919.
Disclosures of all this greatly
angered Young, who wrote to a
curious constituent: "You may
tell the lunatic right wing auth
or of the statement regarding
President Kennedy's grandfath
er being kicked out of Congress
that in the first place he is a
liar. In the second instance,
those who write such trash in
Human Events are lower than a
snake's tail in a wagon rut . . .
Those radical right wingers are
not only low down skunks, but
STRICTLY PERSONAL
wrong, not in their reasoning
processes."
It took me a long lime to ap
preciate the truth in his modest
disclaimer of his subject. I was
infatuated with tlie idea that if
only people could be made to
understand the syllogism and
the principles of legitimate de
duction, most fuzzy and emo
tional thinking would disappear.
He was perfectly right, of
course. Logic can help us go
from A to B to C; but it cannot
by itself establish the Tightness
or the truth of A, And most of
the basic controversies of man
kind begin from different start
ing points that cannot be veri
fied in logic.
The writers of tlie Declaration
of Independence, for instance,
held certain truUis to be "self
evident" that all men are cre
ated nial and endowed by
their Creator with inalienable
rights, such as life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness.
Now, "self-evident" means in
that Mr. Rockefeller was too
far ahead to stop, so Mr. Nix
on pulled up stakes and moved
to New York at the behest of
the Eastern liberal wing of the
GOP.
At present, Mr. Nixon has de
cided that Senator Goldwater is
the man to beat. Therefore, he
continues to present himself to
the public as a good Republican
w ho wishes to see his party tri
umph in 1964. By disclaiming
further ambition, he does him
self little harm. But he knows
that inevitably the public and
the politicians will get the mes
sage: "I am the only Republi
can around whom the impossi
bly outpointed other hopefuls
can rally. I alone can stop
Goldwater."
He can maintain this .position
only if he is not decimated in a
primary battle. For he must go
into the convention as a man of
great following who is ready to
come to his party's rescue for
the sake of the party. In the
next weeks and months, there- ,
fore, Mr. Nixon will run with
both the hounds and the hare.
His move will not come until
tlie attrition of the pre-conven-tion
campaign has rubbed the
bloom off Mr. Goldwater.
I do not believe that Mr. Nix
on has a chance. The Goldwa
ter steam-roller has picked up
so much momentum that only a
first-class explosion can knock
it off the road. Nevertheless,
politics is full of its little sur
prises. The Goldwater people
have not written off Mr. Nixon
nor do they intend to. They
are examining his every speech
for clues. This is hardly neces
sary. All they have to do is
watch Mr. Nixon's eyes.
No Hero
in addition it is evident they are
lacking in arguments against
President Kennedy."
Note: John Cutler carefully
researched Honey Fitz' record
as Mayor of Boston. In his
friendly biography, Cutler writes
that Honey Fitz' superintendent
of sewers was a whitewasher
who delivered a 1 1 important
voles.
A saloon keeper displaced a
physician on the Board of
Health. The wire commissioner
ran a saloon. So did the super
intendent of public buildings.
Before Honey Fitz, there was
no city dermatologist, a $4,000-a-ycar
post filled by the unquali
fied son of Ward Six' long-time
Democratic leader. Five local
politicians became public vet
erinarians. Bartenders and un
dertakers were among the 11
new deputy tax collectors.
Reformers uncovered vast cor
ruption in Honey Fitz' Depart
ment of Weights and Measures.
Officials of tlie department,
which had prosecuted only one
case in four years, took payoffs
from cobblestone peddlers and
industrial tycoons. Wrote muck
raker Lincoln Stcffcns:
"Beginning at the bottom,
where peddlers are allowed to
use short weights because of po
litical pull, laborers and clerks
are given jobs for political rea
sons, coming up to contracts by
city officials to themselves, (cor
ruption i extends to the Public
Service corporation, which uses
city officials to do its private
work, and up finally into the
region of big business."
capable of proof. You either see
it, or you don't. If you don't, no
"proof" can ever make it evi
dent to you. There is no logic
in the world that can convince
you, no argument on a strictly
rational basis that can demon
strate the "truth" of this belief.
Such convictions are "supra
rational." They cither resonate
in the inner core of us, or they
strike no response whatever. If
two disputants start from oppo
site views about the nature of
man. both may proceed with ut
ter logic and come out with
completely different conclusions.
Like a mathematical equation,
there is no more in the end
than you start with in the begin
ning. Logic makes a fine servant,
but a poor master. It can be
used to "prove" almost any
view, so long as its basic prem
ise is accepted. What men feel
about one another is. ultimately,
more important than how they
think.