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About Herald and news. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1942-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 3, 1963)
PAGE-4 HERALD AND NEWS, Klamath Falls, Oregon Tuesday, December J, 1961 'Wonder How Fierce HE Is?' T WASHINGTON CALLING . - T A . ,i-L cl Bill -XT m T d AUL u e (Christian Scienct Monitor) Why were the American people sys tematically misled by their government about the progress of the war in South Vietnam? ' The facts are now Indisputably avail able from the military leaders of that coun try. They directly contradict repeated state ments out of Washington. They confirm the reports of those American newspapermen in Saigon who were there long enough to uncover the facts the United States Govern ment was trying to suppress. There as an important lesson for the American democracy herein. The answer suggests that Americans need to understand when their government is caught in a position where it cannot be candid. Civilians then have to turn to the press for the facts. The answer is that a government like that of the United States tannot express nonconfidence in an allied government with which it is conducting a war until the very last moment arrives when a break is inevitable. Nor can the United States mili tary chiefs openly express nonconfidence in the local military command they are advis inguntil the last moment. All during the months, or years, when the situation is de teriorating and the government in Wash ington is debating about the facts and what to do, it ias to go on denying any dissatis faction and categorically declaring its sup port for the local regime. Anything else would at once produce a crisis before Wash ington was ready to face it. ' Up to the very end of the Diem regime, the American military continued to say that WILLIAM Back By WrLUAM S. WHITE '.WASHINGTON - Meanwhile, buck at the compound of the old GOP elephant The Republicans have now en tered a prolonged poriod-ono likely to last In reality If not in form until after New Year's Day of reflection and re examination of their 1964 Pres idential approach and possibil ities. The tragic death of John V. Kennedy and the succession to the Presidency of Lyndon B. Jbhnson have dictated a time of pause in partisan politicul activ ity of a depth rarely seen be fore In American history. 11 Is, actually, a pause with in both parties and even with in the factions of both parlies, but in tlie nature of things this long armistice is a more thought-filled armistice among the Republicans. All the principal GOP fig uresand notably all the pres ent and potential candidates (or the 1'JtH Republican Presidential nomination have entered this phase of hush and waiting with two motives. It is the right and tasteful thing to do; and at this juncture it is tlie necessa ry thing to do. As a collective entity, the Re publican parly now needs to re consider lis whole basic cam paign strategy for next year, quite apart from what is mo mentarily tlie secondary prnb lem of tlie identity of its ulti mate candidate against Presi dent Johnson. Had Mr. Kennedy lived, the Republican siratigy would have been, within limits, fairly well settled right now. While there was little prospect in any event of any all-party attack on liim on personal grounds, nearly throe years of lis occupancy of 1 1)0 White Mouse had In them selves established tlie general lines of the Republican c a m paign. ' It was to bo an attack on bis foreign policy record and not ably on what the Republicans saw as tlie shaky stale of the Western alliance this point exemplified in tlie recent sharp but not personally harsh obser vation of Gov. Nelson Rockefel ler of New York. It was to tic an attack on Mr. Kennedy's spending and taxing policies this point exemplified by Ihe whole general position of t h e Republican party in Congress. And so on. Now, however, confronting not John Fitzgerald Kennedy but ritlier Lyndon Raines Johnson in 19M. the GOP must tear up the old blueprint, if only tor the simple reason that Mr. Johnson has only barely begun Id make his own Presidential record. Any prior notions of a Re publican campaign tactic based on the presumably hostile atti- "'i People Are Misled the war was being successfully and progres sively won, despite its slow pace and the known difficulties. And that the strategic hamlet system was effective. The reporters said the contrary. Now, after it is all over: "Nhu used strategic hamlets for poli tical purposes rather than pacification," said General Minh in a New York Times inter view. "That is why the people in the villages suffered very much. In my own village the people had to flee (from the government's police terror) and to live close to the Viet Cong." The able General Don interpolated: "The population in the countryside feared both the Viet Cong and the government." Of the Buddhist crisis, General Minh continued, "There was a very deep influ ence on the countryside. We know it be cause we all have relatives in the villages. The people in the villages were very sad but they could not do anything about it." He said morale in the Vietnamese Army was very low when the coup came and discipline was deteriorating. The regime had sapped its effectiveness because "political loyalty (to the Ngo family) was the basis for troop command. This lowered the quality of the officers." All through the period when this sit uation was developing the facts were con tinually denied by the United States Em bassy in Saigon, its military command there, and the various elements in Washington from the While House and the State Depart ment to the Pentagon. At such times Americans have to learn to listen, carefully and not without discri mination, to the press. S. WHITE At GOP Compound tude of business to President Kennedy, or one illustration, could not possibly bo retained, for Uie timo being at any rate, in light of a stock market's specatcualr rise since President Johnson's accession. In short, much timo will be needed before any now and gen eral Republican blueprint can be brought forward to replace the old. The position on candidates is equally confused and tentative. There are wide early assump tions that Sen. Barry Goldwa tor's candidacy for the GOP nomination has been injured. They are based on the notion that Mr. Johnson will be more acceptable than Mr. Kennedy would have been in those South ern and Western areas where the Senator is thought to have his chief strength. There have also been wide early assumptions that Gover nor Rockefeller's holies have been Improved as well they lly You have to earn tlie right to lie wrong. This statement would strike most modern ears as peculiar, if not perverse. Yet I hcliovc that unless we under stand and respect what it means, we cannot approach the works of tlie mind or the spirit with tlie proper attitude. Two qualified historians might disagree about the causes o( World War II; one might be right, and tlio other wrong. Rut the wrong one lias earned Ihe right to his opinion, for lie has studied Uie subject earnestly ami at length. Two musicologists might ar gue about the rcsoctive mer its of Bach and Beethoven: one might be right, and tlie other wrong. But here again, the wrong one has earned tlie right to his opinion, for it is based on love, diligence, and serious ness. And Uie right to be wrong ran tie won only in this way. Tlie works of tlie mind and tiie spirit history, philosophy, lit erature, tlie arts are much more than a mere matter of taste and preference. They de mand our active collaboration, our objective study, our willing ness to lay asile our preconcep tions and open ourselves to new possibilities and combinations. Tlie person who says. "1 know what I like." almost al ways stigmatizes himself as an ignoramus. We uk what we arei.used to; what we expert; may have been. To this observ erand to a good many oth ersneither of the foregoing as sumptions can be at all firm at this point, or even two or three months from now. Kor one point, Mr. Johnson has no in tention whatever to draw back from the Kennedy civil rights program, and inasmuch as t la s program was hurting the late President in the South and West, it can surely do the new President no good there, though strictly as a person he may be more popular there. What looks mure interesting now is not the precise degree of help or harm to either Gold water or Rockefeller. It is the clearly promoted possibility, in I ho new national situation, that the Republicans may now be spurred toward a decision many had in fact already been con templating: the final selection of some such third choice as Richard Nixon or Gov. Wil liam Scranton of Pennsylvania. STRICTLY PERSONAL. SYDNEY J. HARRIS what reassures us and makes us feel comfortable; what mas sages our egos and confirms our good opinion of ourselves. That is all that "I know what 1 like" really means. Every man, we say. Is en titled to his opinion, lint "opin ion" is a tricky word; it should mean a "reasoned view" or a "judgment," and not just a prejudice. When a judge hands down an opinion, it is based on somethuig more than his per sonal preference, it rests upon a tradition ami an organized body of knowledge in tlie field of jurisprudence. Not everyone, of course, can be or should lie. an cxert. But all of us have an obligation to refrain from passing off our prejudices as "opinions." If we go to a foolliall game, and do not understand what is happen ing on the field, we will not pie tend to judge the teams or the players; but if we attend a play, a concert or an opera, we are quick to ventilate our prejudices, defending them as our "opinions." Tliey are not opinions, be cause in most cases they are not based on anythuig but sub jective preference, like choosing vanilla over chocolate ice cream. And it is the most pro foundly unconscious arrogance of the common man that he can ev aluale uncommon works ith out even I ha minimum of ex pertise he would bring to a sporting event. By PETER EDSON ' Newspaper Enterprise Assn. WASHINGTON NEA) The big thing to watch in the month ahead is whether the United States Senate and House of Rep resentatives can meet Uie chal lenge thrown at their feet by President Lyndon Johnson. He calls for action where the Congress has wanted only de lay. He does not set specific deadlines. But he wants civil rights and tax legislation now not later. This is the master political craftsman of Capitol Hill speak ingthe man who is credited with believing that politics is the art of the possible but knowing belter than anyone else in Wash ing what is possible. Lyndon Jolinscn promises not to interfere with the indepen dence of Congress. But he now asks Congress to act to act wisely and vigorously, to a c t speedily. The prevailing sentiment in Congress has been all the oth er way in the few days since John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated. At first there was a belief among some of tlie more pro gressive lawmakers that Con gress would forget its petty po litical differences, unite and get on with clearing up pending bus iness. The hope was that all t h c appropriation bills could be ap proved to run the government till next July I, that a compro mise could be reached on c o I lege and vocational education bills, foreign aid authorization, and all the other half-completed measures still pending in con ference between tlie two branch es of Congress. This was the minimum pro gram. No thought was given to passing the civil rights or tax bills this year. But there also has been a more defeatist sentiment among some legislators to adjourn Con gress as soon as possible. The expressed excuse h a J been that, congressmen being only human, they are tired They have been in session all year. The work load assigned to them lias been heavy. The issues bale been controversial. The men whose job it is to write the laws wanted to go Letters To The States Stand Permit me to reply to jour recent editorial taking the At torney General's office to task (or "obstructionism." and stat ing that we "appear to rejoice in Uie role of being an 'obstruc tionist.' " You fail to tell your readers that these various opin ions to which you object were requested by seven difterent state officials and legislators plus the Emergency Board. L'nder the Oregon Constitution Ihe appropriation of money is the sole responsibility of the legislature. In making appropri ations the Legislative Assembly determines the amount needed by each department and consid ers each department to be equal ly entitled to its particular ap propriation to carry out its func tions during the b i e n n i u m. Tliere is no indication that the allotment of one agency is en titled to a higher priority or greater dignity than that of an oilier. Tins was tlie basis (or the ruling that under existing law cuts by Ihe governor in Mate department budgets must l at a umtorm percentage rate instead of by singling out cer tain departments for cuts and exempting others. Thereafter I personally as sisted in redrawing the bill to make it constitutional and is sued a legal opinion approving tlie bill which was thereupon EPSON IN WASHINGTON . . Johnson Challenges Congress To Action home and rest over Uie holi days. The hidden but obvious ex cuse has been that the oppo nents of civil rights and tax reform and aid to education and medicare and all the other un enacted programs of the N e w Frontier have deliberately clogged the congressional ma chinery so that there would be no action on any of these mea sures. Members of the House have maintained that they have done their work because they have cleared the tax bill and all the appropriation bills for tlie year except foreign aid. military con struction and public works the pork barrel bill. The Senate has been blamed for the delay because it h a s cleared only four appropriation bills Defense. Interior. Treasury-Post Office. Labor-Health, Education and Welfare. But the House has been dil atory, too. Legislation w h i c h has passed the Senate but not the House includes area rede velopment. Securities Exchange Act amendments, transportation rate changes, the wilderness bill and job training for unem ployed youth. And the civil rights bill is now tied up in a House Rules Committee slowdown w h i c h may doom it for the year. There arc, in fact, only 15 legislative days in December before the Christmas holidays, assuming that Congress holds no Saturday sessions. It is ar gued that there isn't time for Congress to clear its calendar before the year-end. The delaying tactic is to put everything off till next year. This is being attempted through a joint resolution which would enable government agencies to spend at their last year's ap propriation rate until Jan. 31, 1!IM. Tiie thought is that Congress will complete action on appro priation bills alter it comes back next year seven months too late. Into this situation the new President calls on Congress for action now. He sums it up in three words: "Let us continue." Tlie crude translation put on that for Congress is: "Go to work." passed by the legislature and signed by the governor. I would like to point oat also that I have made suggestions (or avoiding the impasse on the bill involving I h e Boardman lease. Wherever possible I have al ways endeavored to offer con structive suggestions to make the conduct of state affairs le gal and constitutional in all re spects. Robert Y. Thornton. Attorney General. Prayer Support Ironically, tlie tragedy of our President's death fell al most upon Thanksgiving. This day is set aside for prayer and gratefulness to God. commem orating the Pilgrims and their fierce straggle Freedom of religion was their first objective and the corner stone of the foundation of otir nation yet there are those chip ping diligently away to destroy this. We have "In God We Trust" printed on our money. We have added "under God" to (lie lias salute. We claun one great "God" despite denomination. There is an incrcasuig laxness m religious practice and train ing statistics sltow a large per centage of crush en have no re ligious training. A furor has been created o er prayer in tlie schools. What ex By MARQLIS CHILDS WASHINGTON No one who has spent even a brief time with President Lyndon B. John son can doubt his remarkable vigor. Even for the auditor a con versation with the man who was Senate majority leader and then Vice President is a physi cal exercise. While the visitor sits beside his desk he takes not one but two telephone calls simultaneously, speaking first on one extension and then an other. He bounces up and prowls the room with restless energy. His points are made with sharp em phasis as lie speaks with machine-gun intensity. By way of underscoring what he is saying he pounds the desk and, lean ing forward, he grips the arm of his listener to accentuate the gravity of his words. The drive, the pace, as t h e last few critical and demand ing davs have shown, is unflag ging. Yet, w hen this is said, Ihe fact remains that in the cliche so often used one heart beat separates the Presidency today from Huusc Speaker John Mc Cormack. McC'ormack, w ho does not appear to be in the most robust health, will be 72 years old next month. The fact, too, is that in July. 1935, Mr. Johnson suffered a severe heart attack. It was an nounced that he would be un able to resume his duties as majority leader during the cur rent session of Congress. The acting leadership role was tak en over by Sen. Earle C. Cle ments of Kentucky. Two months alter the attack Johnson was discharged from Betliesda Nav al Hospital alter a report of "steady improvement." WASHINGTON NOTEBOOK Jif M mm By l.YLE C. WILSON I'nited Press International The lelt-wing Americans for Democratic Action (ADA which set up to maintain the princi ples of FDR's New Deal, was unjustly accused by this cor respondent of failing to remark the succession of Lyndon B. Johnson to the presidency with an endorsing statement or other comforting deed. Not so, protested ADA, and provided Ihe Washington bureau of UPI with the text of an ADA statement issued the afternoon President Kennedy died and Johnson was sworn as his suc cessor. The text was as follows: "ADA joins the nation in shock at the horrible tragedy which has cost the country a great President and the world a great leader. To Mrs. Ken nedy and her family we offer our prufound sympathy. To President Johnson we extend our oflcr to cooperate in any way which will help him carry the burdens of his office in this troubled world." That ADA oflcr of cooperation was not exactly a thunderous. 21-gun salute to the new Presi dent. No doubt it was genuine if also subject to a qualification that the cooperation probably must be on ADA terms. John son will need all of the coopera tion he can get Editor actly is wrong with listening to a prayer and learning rever ence, even if only an outward show ? There are probably thou sands of short prayers suitable for reading hi schools that will oflend no creed. It certainly could not hurt anyone to hear, each morning, a passage read from Ihe Bible, w hich has long been accepted as one of the finest works of liter ature. There need be no inter pretation, that is tlie job of the individual denomination to teach this. Even (lie most primitive recognize the need for a God in their culture. It is time we re-evaluate the foundation of our liberty and stand firm for Uie basic princi pals upon which our nation was founded. Ethel E. Zevcly, 3903 Austin BARBS It spoils Ihr fun of (inding a quarter in Ihe porkrl of a real old pair of pants when you re alize il has hhI half its value. If ou have two phones in your home and want to get some lambs, listen in on the conversation of teen-agers. A music instructor mj thai ahoul lira per real of the people can really sing. Thai leaves M per rent ho don't know It. When he had been in office only two months upon inherit ing the Presidency on the deaUi of Franklin Roosevelt on April. 1945, Harry S. Truman sent a special message to Congress on tlie Presidential succession. The succession act, which had not been amended since 1888. pro vided that following Uie Vice President the office should pass to the president pro tempore of the Senate and then to Uie Speaker of the House. Third in line would be the Secretary of State, with the other Cabinet of ficers following in the order of Uieir rank. The then president pro tern of the Senate the majority member with the longest serv icewas Sen. Kenneth McKel lar of Tennessee. McKellar, who concealed his age. had begun his service in the House in 1911, in the Senate in 1917. His in creasing irascibility and arbi trary exercise of authority in key committee posts led many to believe he was suffering from senility. Truman proposed Uiat Uie or der of 1886 be reversed and the Speaker of the House put first in line with Uie president pro tern second. Speaker Sam Rayburn was then 63 and re garded as one of the w isest and most knowledgeable men in the entire government. One of his principal allies in the House was a rising young Texas Congress man named Lyndon Johnson. L'nder the Truman plan a suc cessor would hold office until the next Congressional election or until a special election had been called. The House, eager to endorse this tribute to Ray burn, adopted the Truman pro posal almost at once, omitting live special election provision. essage Pleased Many It is not reasonable to believe, however, that Jolinson can drive the Democratic donkey both right and left at the same time. John F. Kennedy could not do that nor could Harry S. Truman nor FDR. Soon, therefore, Presi dent Johnson will need to hoist his colors and to call the roll of his troops. Johnson's address last week to a joint session of Congress merely postponed that difficult day. There was something for just about everybody in the new President's message. Its most notable feature, however, was the President's call and effort for unity. If Johnson can unify (he Democratic party he will have accomplished the almost impossible. His magic probably is not equal to that task. But, if any Democrat could do it, Johnson would be the man to make the party lions and lambs lie down together. Johnson's message had more for some than for others. ADA and Uie party leflwingers should be content with John son's pledge to carry out the Kennedy program with special emphasis on the tax bill and civil rights. Sen. Harry F. Byrd iD-Va.l and his economy minded associates found some goodies in the message. They were commitments to frugality and a due regard for the sound ness of Uie U.S. dollar. But these commitments were merely words. The message, overall, was in step with tlie big spending Democratic tradi tion which, itseK. goes back to the late Harry Hopkins' recipe for political success. Spend and spend. Harry said, tax and tax and tax and elect and elect. It has worked well, so far. BERRY'S WORLD I've got an idea, George to you if you'll stoo Not until June 27. 1947, did I reluctant Senate follow suit. Jealousy, sentiment, indiffer ence have stood in the way of any realistic and far-reaching action on the succession. The issue has been cloudy and con fused from the beginning. The Founding Fathers were unhap py with the succession act ap proved in 1792 when many of the authors of the American system were still in Congress or the Executive branch. The president pro tern of tlie Senate today is Sen. Carl Hay den of Arizona. He is 85 years old. Neither McCormack nor Hayden has had any experience in foreign policy. Surely they must both feel a sense of dread that the Presidency in a time of earful responsibility and ex traordinary peril might by some tragic mischance devolve on them. Surely, therefore, this is the time to adopt a carefully thought out plan of succession. Congressional committees have piled up reports on tiie subject and political scientists galore have analyzed it. A broad range of proposals is at hand. They could be considered without lengthy committee hearings. "You assume." a wise foreign observer once remarked, "that your Presidents arc immortal. In view of the record it is a false assumption as well, in view of tlie need for continuity of government, a dangerous as sumption." So much is conveniently ig nored, including what happens when a President is disabled. Woodrovv Wilson lay paralyzed for a year and a half and tlie government, too. w as paralyzed. The risks today are infinitely greater than Uicy were then. The congressional budget bal ancers will await the develop ment of Johnson's program and his new budget due in January before accepting as substantial the now President's belief in economies in government. They may find some comlort of a negative kind in the (act that Johnson did not extend his hles'sing nor his objectives to the wide horizons bounding Uie 11W0 Democratic platform. On the many extraordinary promises contained in that doc ument, the Democratic party is as divided as it is on the best publicized issue of civil rights. But, if Johnson develops a ten dency to flinch away from the platform, the Democratic lefties will tend to flinch away from him. Al manac By I'nited Press International Today is Tuesday, Dec. 3. the 337th day of 19fi3 with 28 to follow. The moon is approaching its last phase. The evening stars are Jupiter, Saturn and Venus. On this day in history: hi 1818. Illinois entered the Union as the 21st state. In 1948, Uie nation learned that microfilm of secret U.S. documents had been found in a hollow pumpkin on the farm of Whittaker Chambers. A thought for the day The J British statesman. Sir Winston ' Churchill, said: "There is no liner investment for any com munity than putting milk into babies." . . . ' ifop writing memo writing memos to me"
