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About Herald and news. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1942-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 12, 1963)
P10C-4 HERALD AND NEWS, Klamath Falls, Oregoa Tuesday, November 12, 1961 'You're Still On Ay Team, Lvndon , .Oh, And Bring The Ball!" WASHINGTON CALLING . . Crime every kind or crime, from tjnuggings to purse snatching to bank rob bery to juvenile depredations to murder :constantly feeds the headlines and the news reports. It vies for space and attention with 'lhe other great problems that bedevil the Svorld we live in, all the way from wars to 'what to do about the tax problem. But few of us are prepared to answer the specific questions: Is crime really seriously on the increase; or is it simply being more effec tively dramatized and noticed? What kind of crime is most prevalent? Who and what are responsible? What, in the view of ex perts, should be done to oppose and control it? : U.S. News & World Report recently 'devoted a lengthy feature article to mat ters such as these, and presented findings and possible solutions. It is a sad and om inous account. For, as the magazine puts it, .''By every measure, America is on the brink of a major crisis in crime. Rise in crime far ioutstrips population increase. It shows across the board in crimes against prop erty and in vicious assaults on persons." And it is a truly national problem, in which the smaller communities and the great cities share. Actually, crime is rising faster (comparing 1962 with 1961) in towns of 25,000 to 50,000 people, where it is up 6.9 per cent, than in cities of over a million, where the rise is an even 6 per cent. Biggest increase 10.9 per cent is in the 500, 000 to one million population centers. Name any crime, as U.S. News makes "clear, and you'll find it prevalent. City streets are unsafe to walk on in city after .'city; armed" robbery becomes a comparative -commonplace; the upturn in bank robberies if "sensational;" and "The rise in crime by '.ouths spreads across the whole range of Criminal offenses." What underlies this grave situation, IN WASHINGTON By RALPH do TOLEDANO Two events, both of explosive significance, are being pondered by foreign policy experts in Washington and by Uie, portent watchers along Embassy Bow as indicators of a new trend in United States diplomacy, , The first of these events has Jieen filling the front pages of the nation: the shocking run ning story of a U.S. encouraged (if not planned) ovcrUirow of the legitimate government of South Vietnam and the murder of its leaders. The second gained little or no attention until last week and both the Pentagon nnd the State Department would have pre ferred it that way. I refer to the recent uncalled-for and un necessary retreat of tlie Allied powers in their reaction to So jUet and East German harass ment. It was this retreat which 5td to new trouble on the Berlin 5kbahn. I' It will bo recalled that the learlicr incident involving U.S. '.forces and the East German "guards along the highway to West Berlin had to do with an eflort by tlie Communists to set down their own rules. Neither tlie East Germans nor the So viets have any right, by treaty or precedent, to impose their ;own regulations. Yet they were demanding that in every move ment of troops to West Berlin, ;flie soldiers must dismoiuit from rucks or buses and be count ed. Tills, as the U.S. promptly 'rjoted, was an encroachment on Allied rights of access and no body's business but our own. Our commanders and tlie Slate Department said It very loud and clear. But what was shout ed in the world's ear was more wind than deternination. Work ing quietly behind the scenes. American diplomats convinced the British and the French that we should accede to the Com munist demand. Thereupon, tlie Allied powers notified tlie Soviets that in the future any troop convoy larger than 31 men would dismount for a count by Soviet and East Ger man guards. This was described as a "courtesy" to tlie Commu nists. As we know, this retreat from previous Allied positions has served the West not a whit The Soviets stopped another U.S. convoy made up of fewer than 31 men, demanding a count there as well. Tlie inch we were so ready to cede has. of course, begun to (Wretch into tha pro- " Crime Marches On and what needs to be done? U.S. News re porters sought answers from the FBI and from police officials here and abroad and found general agreement on four points. In summary, they amount to this: 1. As more and more people, mostly strangers to each other, crowd into the cities each individual must be held more strictly accountable for his conduct. 2. The public at large must take more interest in and give more support to law enforcement, and to the punishment of criminals. 3. Juveniles guilty of serious crimes must pay a full penalty. They must not be treated as errant children. 4. The courts must show more interest in protecting the law abiding population from the criminal element, rather than in zealously guarding the rights and privileges of the criminals themselves. One want in this category is a major tightening of the parole and probation system. This idea is based on fact, not just theory. U.S. News says, "In cities where there is a no-nonsense attitude toward crime and criminals, and where people insist upon law enforcement, streets are relatively safe." Meanwhile, to paraphrase an old slo gan, crime marches on. According to the magazine, bank robberies have almost tripled in 6 years, embezzlements nearly doubled since 1956, robberies are up 15 per cent since 1958, and assaults soar. And last year youths under 18 were responsible for ' C2 per cent of all auto thefts, 51 per cent of all larcenies, 49 per cent of all burglaries, 19 per cent of all forcible rapes, and so on. This, in capsule form, is the sorry story. An ending worth thinking about is provided by Chicago Police Superintendent Wilson: "Everybody seems to be organizing today to protect civil liberties. I would like to or ganize the victims of criminal assaults who have been robbed and raped in our streets." Foreign Policy Dangers verbial yard, though tlie Stale Department now insists that this will not be tolerated. The importance and signifi cance of these two events must be measured 1 1 1 as they arc in terpreted by the world, and (2) by what they really mean. There is little doubt from all the reports so far received here that both events, however they may seem unrelated, are being seen as an effort by the Unit ed States to placate the Soviet Union and "prove" Its good in tentions. Tlie once-firm Berlin policy, it is believed, has been replaced by one of preserving tlie myth that East-West tensions are re laxing. In South Vietnam, the United States lias onco again aided in the downfall of a strongly anti-Communist leader and opened tlie door to the kind of chaos which can mean Com munist victory. The Philippine government has quietly let it be known that it reads this as a furlltcr sign of an American withdrawal from Southeast Asia. If this is the appearance, at least to some foreign govern ments and tlieir representatives in Washington, what is the re ality? President Kennedy has so far not confided in the Amer ican people, and his tight-knit little group of advisers nnd con fidants has not yet begun to leak stories to the press via lav. ored columnists and correspond ents. But on tlie basis of past words and past porluininncc, it is possible to arrive at some ap proximations: 1. The President is deter mined not to rock the boat of U.S.-Sovict relations. 2. lie considers the future of world peace a bilateral respon sibility to lie negotiated by the United Stales and tlie Soviet I n ion. 3. He believes that what is most Important is tlie "big pic ture." Cuba, harassment in Ber lin, brushfire wars all lltcso are unmportant when com pared to Uie over-all goal of nuclear disarmament and an "understanding" between the Western and Communist blocs. History, and tlie Soviet reali zation Ulat a pinprick can burst a balloon far more tlfwtively and easily than a rifle bullet, may force Mr. Kennedy to give up his present emerging for eign policy. His eagerness to "go along" with the Soviets on troop movement procedures in Berlin has led to a greater prov ocation. These provocations, in lur&t fur) Jud to iii'j aifcJ an open rupture which can lead to war. That is what the record has shown in the past, and all the optimistic talk of the Prcsi tlcnl's advisers that tlie Soviets are "maturing" remains just that-tulk. Certainly the gravity of the situation in Berlin could lead to a new assessment. But so far. the President seems not aware of the peril of counting on agreements and accommoda tions with the Beds. Tetters to the EDITOR 'Fireball Citi. zen Congratulations to William Swectland. who is leaving Klamath Falls to accept a big ger newspaper job in Pennsyl vania. Congratulations to Penn sylvania upon gaining a "fire ball citizen." We at Linkville Kinanis en joyed having our Herald and News publisher as guest speak er on two occasions. All we citizens of Klamath Falls have enjoyed a lot more benefits from Bill's citizenship than any realize. Let's not just let Bill depart without recognizing through your column his tremendous contributions to our city, county and the stale of Oregon. We recall his service on the new liospital board of directors. Klamath County Chamber of Commerce, United Fund, h i s establishment of a religious pa rade emphasis at Christmas and symphony orchestra group for Klamath Falls. Bill Sweetland served our stale of Oregon on tlie Com mittee for Constitutional Re vision. A committee to deter mine tlie future of public in terest in Waldo Lake and on various other occasions. While we do not always agree with his opinions we respect his riglK to IIkisc opinions. We feel that if tliere were more citi zens that would show Uie tre mendous interest that Bill Sweet land has taken in Klam ath Falls this would be n much better community in to live. Linkville Kiwanis. Vail Bingham, President. Platforms Can Be A Fraud By LYLE C. WILSON United Press International Itecommendcd to the voters for their serious consideration is chapter VIII of former (Pres ident Eisenhower's just pub lished account of his years in the White House. (Mandate For Change, Doubleday & Co.) The chapter title tells the story: "The Platform-Promises to Keep." It is a timely chap ter. A cancer in the tissue of American politics today is tlie malignant chicanery involved in the drafting of presidential campaign platforms. These ex travagant statements of par ty purpose and policy tend more to obscure than to illumi nate what actually is the pro gram of the candidates and of the political parties. Moreover, the platform writ ers knowingly write into the platforms promises that cannot be redeemed. This dishonesty is a fraud upon the voters and a disgrace to Uie American way of life. To discover this situation to exist can be a Antics with Semantics: .; He goofed; you simply forgot;' hut all I had was a "menial block." Your child's academic record indicates that he is rather on the dull side; my child's aca demic record indicates that "he isn't living up to his potential." When I require statistics to buttress my position, I remind you that "you can't argue with hard facts in black and white"; but when such statistics do not support my position, I am equal ly quick to remind you that "fig ures can't lie, but liars sure can figure." If most of the advertisements for managerial and technical help were semantically honest, they would frankly call tor "Men under 35, with 20 years of practical experience in the field." I have "initiative"; you have "brass"; lie has "the knife out." When one is getting Uie worst of an argument, the three most useful words arc "self-styled." "would-be." and "pseudo" as in "self-styled experts," "would be statesmen," and "pseudo-intellectuals." Your remark was "sarcasm." while mine was classical "iro ny." According to the company spokesman, the plant made "a seasonal revision of employ ment": according to the union BERnrs - iijC "J think oh ikouU know . . . I uit mufkt itftct t tbt Drmoeratt!- shocker to an honest man, such as Ike. In chapter VIII, he re lates that soon after his in auguration he met at tlie White House with Republican congres sional leaders. "In this first meeting," he continued, "I said first that it was my intention to redeem the pledges of the platform and of the campaign. To my astonish ment, I discovered that some of the men in the room could not seem to understand the seriousness with which I re garded our platform's provi sions, and were amazed by my uncompromising assertion that I was going to do my best to fulfill every promise to which I had been a party. "More than once I was to hear this view derided by prac tical politicians who laughed olf platforms as traps to catch voters." So it was with a honest man on discovering late in life that men who were otherwise hon orable were, also, crooked in their dealings with the Ameri can people. In the harsh Ian- STRICTLY PERSONAL. By SYDNEY J. HARRIS spokesman, the plant "laid off workers. The alcoholic I happen to dis like is a "lush"; the one I hap pen to like lias "a drinking problem." When an answer to a problem is complex, those who oppose it will call it "confused"; where as, when an answer to a prob lem is simple, those who op pose it will call it "over-simplified." A poor woman who outrag eously "neglects" her children is as likely as not to get haled into, the Family Court: a rich woman who neglects her chil dren is as likely as not to be elected to the board of directors of the social agency that hales the poor woman into court. The politician whose views I agree with doesn't change his stand because he is "consist ent"; the one whose views I disagree with doesn't change his stand because he is "h i d e bound," "dogmatic" and "doc trinaire." When a man feels the neces sity to say to us, "I'll put all my cards on the table," we may be reasonably sure that his normal procedure is to keep a few up his sleeve. It is the falsest of analogies to call the human mind a "machine" for unlike any self respecting motor, Uie tongue makes the greatest number of revolutions per minute when the brain is in neutral. jSolons May Study Sex By MARQUIS CIIILDS W ASHINGTON Not long ago Malcolm Muggeridge, that acerb criUc of British morals and manners, laced into the holier-than-thou hand-wringing Uiat has gone on over the Profumo scandal. Prune Ministers by the score, he was bold enough to say, have been adulterers. One of tlie few exceptions was Glad stone, who on leaving a late sit ting of the House of Commons made it a practice to pick up a prostitute and take her home for supper where he and Mrs. Gladstone questioned her about her wicked life. This is relevant to the effort guage of reality, these politi cians lie to tlie people to ob tain their voles. They get away with it because both major par tics and almost all politicians accept this crooked practice as normal and necessary. This dishonesty was in style long before Ike's 1952 campaign and it continues unabated. For example, both the Democratic and Republican platforms promised in 1960 to do some thing about Senate filibusters. President Kennedy himself made a campaign promise to obtain enactment of civil rights legislation early in his first White House year. More specif ically: On Sept. 1, 1960, candi date Kennedy issued a state ment which included this lan guage "We pledge action to obtain consideration of a civil rights bill by the Senate early next (1961) session that will im plement the pledges of the Democratic platform." It is fair and reasonable to believe that Kennedy meant that when he said it. It is equally fair and reasonable to report that he reneged on that promise 100 per cent. He re neged, apparently, because a civil rights bill before the Sen ate in the winter-spring of 1961 would have created civil war within the Democratic party. To renege was practical poltics. With both parties pledged on filibusters you might think something would be done. You might, that is, unless you were a practical politician. The voters can and probably will catch up someday with these practitioners of deceit. WASHINGTON REPORTS . . . Barry By FULTON LEWIS JR. WASHINGTON Bigots of all shapes and sizes have crawled out of the woodwork to defend "Christian heritage." Object of their vicious smear attacks is Sen. Barry Goldwa ter, almost certain GOP Presi dential nominee. The frenzied troopers of George Lincoln Rock well's American Nazi Parly lead the campaign against Goldwaler. who is half-Jewish. A far-right sheet published in Birmingham, Ala., by t h e National States Rights Party has received wide circulation throughout the country. The pamphlet links Goldwaler with "Jewish espionage arUsts." Bruce L. Felknor, executive director of the non partisan Fair Campaign Practices Com mittee, makes this prediction about the 1964 campaign: "Anti-Semites are undeterred by logic: they are prepared to hate on a basis of religion, eth nic background, name and even change of name; it is not nec essary for their target even to be Jewish, as witness some of the scurrility directed at Eisen hower early in 1952. suggesting that tlie general was a part of what the lunatics like to call the 'Jew-Marxist conspiracy.' "Senator Goldwaler was raised as an Episcopalian but his grandfather was Jewish. This is more than enough for the anti-Semite." Felknor predicts Uiat "placard-carrying nuts w ill be parad ing around the GOP Convention next July, handing out crudely printed tracts in streets and ho tel lobbies, defacing banners and posters." It is the more subtle iorm of anti-Semitism that most worries Goldwaler backers. It is a wor ry similar to that held by Ken nedy aides in 10 who feared Republicans would subtly raise the religious issue over and over by saving in effect, "the fact that Senator Kennedy is a Roman Catholic is not an issue in this campaign." Goldwater lieutenants now fear Uiat some Democrats mr more sophisticated anti Sem ites' will us every opportunity to make a Profumo scandal here out of homespun materials w ithout benefit of Lords and La dies whose very names are Uie stuff of headlines. No one can doubt that the ingredients are readily at hand. It would be surprising if politicians were immune from the postwar drop in moral standards reflected in the high crime rate, in mount ing divorce and in a variety of otlier less statistically demon strable ways. The Profumo scandal served a most useful purpose in Brit ain. As the sensational press fanned it up with the memoirs of Christine Keeler and others in the spectacular cast of char acters, attention was diverted from the nation's deficiencies in education, economic develop ment and other matters. It was a grand old hay ride far easier to read about than Parliamentary reports on how Britain must train more scien tists if she is to keep her place as a world power. A similar sensaUon would serve here to distract atten tion from a fumbling and falter ing Congress that now in its eleventh month has done next to nothing. Hopefully the Rob ert G. (Bobby) Baker investi gation may blossom into some thing really diverting as rum ors fly about of mysterious hous es and beautiful models sudden ly removed from the Washing ton scene. But, if the Baker case proves disappointing, a Kinscy-like in quiry into the sex life of both Congress and the executive branch must not be ruled out. After all, sex is relevant to many of the problems that law makers and policy-makers con front. An ideal chairman for a committee conducting such an inquiry would be the Senator from Arkansas, John McClellan, who combines the qualiUcs of Calvin and Robespierre in al most equal balance. This could go on for weeks in the winter and early spring and it would be guaranteed to titil late the public beyond any thought of such serious matters as civil rights and taxes. Re course to the Fifth Amendment could not be ruled out, but ob viously anyone using such an escape hatch would be forever condemned. The melancholy truth is that war is the great corrupter of morals and the destroyer of standards of conduct. A relative Is Target For Smears to feed prejudice by apparent ly disclaiming it: "It doesn't matter that Goldwater is a Jew." Several such episodes have already come to Felknor's at tention. A Democratic C o n grcssman recently wrote in a newsletter to his constituents that only in America could "an itinerant Jewish merchants grandson" become a candidate for President. Note: Under attack from know-nothing bigots on the lunatic right, Goldwater is hard hit by those far to his left, as well. A recent series in the nationally-circulated National Guar dian examined the Senator's "ultra-right record" and those around him. Tlie Guardian has been labeled by tlie House Un American Activities Committee a "virtual official propaganda arm of Soviet Russia." The HUAC report said: "In the pages of the National Guardian, everything emanat ing from the Kremlin is hu mane, civilized and progressive, while the United States reeks with racial discrimination, ex ploitation of labor, corruption. , war hysteria, , and whatever else good ciuzens should de test." During the Korean War. tlie Guardian ran stores accusing tlie U.S. of using germ warfare. Cedric Belfrage. editor and founder of the Guardian, was deported to England under the McCarran Walter Act for refusing to answer questions concerning Communist Party membership. Belfrage. now the Guardian s editor in exile, was named un der oath by Elizabeth Bemloy as a member of a Soviet spy ring. In January 1956. a Senate subcommittee called John T. Mc.Manus 'since deceased', sen. eral manager of the Guardian, and James Aronson. the week ly's executive director. Beth loo the Fifth Amendment when asked1 about Communist Party acUvities. Among the Guardian contribu tors have been Alger Hiss. Jo ly few men do the fighting and dying, a few women the waiting and weeping. For the rest it be comes a great binge in which restraints and inhibitions are conveniently shacked off. After World War I Warren Gamaliel Harding presided over perhaps the most squalid ad ministration in history. In Uiat discreet day it was not until af ter his death that word leaked out about his youthful mistress whom he once hid in the White House coat closet. The boozy po ker parties in tlie tittle green house on K Street went on among Uie insiders as large chunks of the public domain were plundered. After Harding's death Calvin Coolidge so bril liantly labeled by William Allen White "a Puritan in Babylon" was a handy symbol as Uie great bull market roared on to ward ruin. In the aftermath of World War 11 many instances have come to light of what declining standards mean. In 1957 a fed eral judge in Newark had sharp tilings to say about the Gen eral Electric Supply Company , for hiring call girls to "enter tain" customers at a dealers' convention. And General Elec tric was plainly no better or worse than-many large organ izations. One of Edward R. Mur row's most forthright and con troversial telecasts dealt in 1959 with "the business of sex." Murrow reported that "the use of call girls in industry is pret ty widespread at this time." With a defense budget of $52 billion, a large part of it going to industry in cost-plus con tracts with some of them in bil lions rather than hundreds of millions of dollars, the depend ence of business and labor on government for profits and jobs has become deeply entrenched in tlie economy. This has been the source of widespread abuse. While his innocence of wrong doing may be shown beyond a doubt, the foolish letters written by retiring Secretary of the Navy Fred Korth, suggesting ways to help his bank, were al most enough in themselves to condemn him. One of the few men talking about the pursuit by business of the government dollar is Edwin P. Neilan. president of the Unit ed States Chamber of Com merce. With an election year coming up he is bound to be heard. anne Grant, identified under oath as a top-ranking young Communist, and Ameil Carle bach, German Communist. By June of 1963, Uncle Sam had sent more than $670 mil lion to Indonesia's Red-lining "President" Sukarno. Some $8 million of that sum went for a recently - completed, multi laned highway outside Djakar ta, the nation's capital. Officials at the U.S. Embas sy there planned to fly the Stars and Stripes alongside the Indonesian flag as a symbol of friendship at dedication ceremo nies late last month. Nothing doing, screamed Su karno, and an embassy official took down his flag. Louisiana Congressman Joe Waggon er shot off an angry protest to Secretary of State Dean Rusk. He has received no reply. ' Al manac By United Press International Today is Tuesday, Nov. 12. the 316th day of 1963 with 49 to follow. The moon is approaching its new phase. The evening stars are Jupiter and Saturn. On this day in history: In 1920. Judge Kenesaw Moun tain Landis was appointed the first "czar" of big league base ball. In 1927, Joseph Stalin be came the dictator of the Com munist party in the Soviet Un ion as Leon Trotsky was ex pelled from the party. In 1948, the war crimes tri bunal in Japan sentenced for mer Premier Tojo and six col leagues to die by hanging. In 1951, the International Mon etary Fund gave Iran an $8 mil lion loan to meet the financial crisis caused by the loss of oil .evenucs. A thought for the day Amer lean poet Robert Frost said: "Most of the chance we think e see in life is due to truths being in and out of favor."
