. . . From Our Readers
PAGE-
HERALD AND NEWS, Klamalh Falls, Oregon Friday, December V, 1963
The $1.5 billion dollar vocational edu
cation bill signed by President Johnson
during the past week will be of no appreci
able value to Oregon Technical Institute
' the Herald and News was told by Sen. Harry
:Boivin.
"It isn't going to do very much," Boi
,'ylu, one of OTPs greatest boosters, ex
plained following a telephone conversation
with Roy E. Lieuallcn, chancellor of the
Oregon State System of Higher Education.
Sen. Boivin said the bill, which author
izes new spending to aid vocational training
'schools with emphasis on training workers
:in new skills, provides money for buildings.
"The slate puts up $2 for each $1 of
federal money. However, our science build
ings have been taken care of here. We need
' money for sidewalks, paving of parking lots
and landscaping at the new OTI campus,"
I Boivin said. "There is nothing in the bill to
cover such an expenditure."
: The senator explained also that the bill
will provide money for student loans.
Cut Where It's Needed
President Johnson's recent move to
close some 33 military establishments and
thus save $108 million a year for a three
year period, or about $318 million in all is
a good move.
It was indicated that about 8,500 civi
lian employes would be cut from the defense
department payrolls and that over the next
three years, the total personnel of the de
fense department would be reduced by
about 25,000 persons.
These economy moves are generally
applauded by ,thc American public. We
have been screaming about the cost of fed
eral government, and crying for a slash in
federal spending.
What does disturb us, however, about
the picture is that there Is talk that the up
coming budget of President Johnson will
surpass the $100 billion mark, perhaps run
ning as high as $102 billion or more.
While the slash in military spending is
good, It is only a drop in the federal bucket.
In general, the American public is not
averse to paying what is necessary for de
fense, a good adequate defense. The nature
of this defense changes, of course, and as
it does, some bases and weapons become
Succession
ny noitis 1 I.EKSON
WASIII.NGTO.N-Tllis is Wash
iuglnn and, therefore, the Presi
dential succession i.s being dis
cussed in terms of Ihc person
alities involved instead of the
principle. Thai was precisely
the trouble when the present
ait was prowsed by former
I 'resident Truman.
Tlie Truman change is serv
ing the country badly now in
that neither of the two men
next in succession tlie Speaker
of the House and the Presi
dent Pro Tempore of the Sen
ale is qualified ill the field of
loreign policy. Also, there is no
Vice President.
The most consistent and con
tradictory demands uon the
President today are in the field
erf foreign policy. That is why
tlic political comtminily is plain
("cared of what might happen.
The fact is. too. that Presi
dent Johnson has a health prob
lem as did his two immediate
predecessors. Tlie President's
doctors proclaim him in excel
lent health but lie had a severe
heart attack in I'JSj. The pace
enjoined upon heart patients is
not to be taken lightly when the
demands of Uie Presidency are
considered together with t h o
President's own driving and ag
gressive personality.
A much more relaxed type,
former President Kisenliow er.
also a heart patient, delegated
authority gladly. So did the late
President Kennedy outside the
field of foreign policy. Presi
dent Johnson does not. The
Kennedy lieallh program was
chiefly a lame back but he was
never as robust as his round
and courageously smiling face
suggested.
Both Kisenliow er and Kenne
dy had Vice Presidents to whom
they gave on-the-job training in
foreign polity.
The liistury of the Truman
Succession Act slied light on
hoiv politicians arc prone to act
and not to act in maltcrs of this
kind.
In common with most elected
politicians, Truman did not like
the liooscvelt Cabinet, then in
lino to succeed luni when in
F
Vocational Aid
"This might help the situation here,"
he said.
Another piece of new legislation, the
College Facilities Bill, will help OTI, Boivin
explained. "It was designed to assist com
munity colleges like the one at Bend, and
schools such as ours " He didn't elaborate
further.
The vocational education bill will expand
federal aid and place a new emphasis on
training in skills that arc in shortage. Some
of these skills are essential now as a result
of automation.
An amazing number of changes are oc
curring in our society today because of elec
tronic devices which have been placed in
industry. But it takes trained people to op
erate them. And to service them. The wise
young man in commerce and industry today
will develop skills being demanded by auto
mation. He will have a better job as time
goes on. The person who sidesteps this chal
lenge may find he has a problem. Plain
manual labor is almost a thing of the past.
obsolete. These should be eliminated or cur
tailed, just as has been done in the case of
these 33 bases.
However, over the past five years, de
fense spending has remained pretty static.
The budget increase has come in non-defense
spending. This area has yet to feel
the Presidential axe.
Expenditures in the space race continue
to rise. These, again, the American public
feel are justified as we move deeper into the
space age.
However, the areas of federal govern
ment that need the sharp-blade treatment
have thus far remained safe from the spend
ing slash.
Spending for many government proj
ects continues at an alarmingly high rate,
and unless curtailed will lead to economical
disaster.
It is this type of non-defense spending
whjch is leading the nation down the social
istic path.
We commend the President on his econ
omy moves in the military, but until he
moves to slash the non-defense spending of
the federal government, we refuse to be
lieve that his sole interest is economy.
Is A Serious Concern
April, 1JV13. he inherited t h e
Itoosevelt mantle. It was not
thought becoming in wartime to
find fault with the President, and
the restless Congress heaped its
obloquy on Secretary of Slalo
Edward K. Rletlinius. Treasury
.Secretary Henry Morgonlhau,
and others.
Truman, fresh from Ihe Sen
ale, promptly replaced Stoltin
ius, though it Is interesting that
not long afterward be fell out
wilh his chosen Stettinius suc
cessor, James F. Byrnes, who
had been Ti nman's Senale sen
ior. Tlie real grievance: Byrnes
was usurping Truman's foreign
policy prerogatives.
Other Itoosevelt Cabinet
choices were promptly axed.
Truman then sent Congress suc
cession proposals which he said
were more in line with the idea
of the first Congress, ideas
which lasted until 183,1 But his
sense of history got lost because
he did not like the then Presi
dent Pro Tempore of the Sen
ate, the late Kenneth McKcllar
The Making Of A Presidential Successor
Bill
of Tennessee, who came first in
Uie early law.
He loved anil admired t h e
then Speaker Sam Kavhurn so
he calmly put the Speaker Inst.
This was the more plausible be
cause Kavburn was obviously
qualified as McKcllar was not.
A Democratic Congress still
refused to make the change hut
it was palatable to the licpub
, lican Congress elected in PWl
by the war-weary voters lie
cause it gave llieir leaders the
nod.
The irony was that Truman
had liltle use lor those licpub
hcan leaders and by that tune
bad handed llie Stale portfo
lio to the I. ile Gen. George C.
Marshall, whom lie thinks the
greatest American ol his time.
Probably only a great wave
of public awareness of the grav
ity of the problem as it exists
lod. iv will spur Ihe Congress to
forget its lun and games long
enough to consider the mutter
with the seriousness it deserves.
Letters To The Editor . . .'
Challenge Not Gone
It seems it has become fash
ionable in our society to ridi
cule rather than appreciate our
neighbor, our community, our
government and in so doing our
wonderful country. More and
more we have heard criticism,
condemnation and even hatred
of the men and women whom
we have elected to the highest
positions in our land. Seldom do
we hear praise for a certain in
dividual's achievements. These
public servants are constantly
belittled and maligned by peo
ple who know little or nothing
of the issues upon which they
take such strong stands.
I'm certain good, upstanding
citizens are by far in the ma
jority and yet these same citi
zens will listen to any radical's
opinions of our officials. Off col
or stories are all too frequently
circulated about our presidents
and oilier members of our gov
ernment. We sit and listen and
dutifully smile or laugh even
though we don't appreciate
them and know they are of the
poorest taste.
In this atmosphere of toler
ance, hate groups are born to
'
K9m . s
IN WASHINGTON
By BAI.I'II de TOl.EDANO
Buried away in a recent mag
azine poll of opinion on Presi
dent Lvndon Johnson versus all
lie publican comers was one sig
nificant statistic. If it marks a
trend it proves what supporters
of Senator Barry Goldwatcr
have been saying ever since the
assassination of John F. Ken
nedy. That is, that by the time
the 1W4 election rolls around
President Johnson will be as
unwanted by the South as was
his predecessor.
The poll gave Mr. Johnson
considerable strength around
Ihe country and showed a de
cline among all the licpublican
potential candidates. But it also
showed that between ihe time ot
the assassination and the poll.
President Johnson's strength
had slipivd 4 per cent south of
the Mason-Dixon Line.
That amount of slippage in a
period of alwut two weeks is
rather startling. And it belies
ihe argument of those who sa
that (he South will remain on
President Johnson's side he
cuuse it believes that lie lavors
civil rights legislation only out
of necessity and not conviction
A corollary of the Southern
statistic is the gams he has
made in the urban northeastern
section of live country. Some of
the Kcnncdv image at leas!
political!;. has begun lo attach
to the energetic man in the
White House.
The sigiulicancc of tiie 4 per
cent slippage is less in the nu
merical decline than in what it
savs of the South s feelings It
is significant, too, in (he context
ol President Johnson's dilemma
as he tries to win over tlie lib
erals in his party and still hold
on to the conservatives
In tlie lirsl davs a. tor the
Kennedy assassination, thee e
was a widespread teeling among
many SoutlH-rners that Mi.
Johnson would represent a sum;
to the right This, pin- the nor
mal shock at the terrible crime
sotlened Southern anlagoniMn 10
the national Dcmoci.uic P.uiv
But flic President's" .....
to Congress s W
O " e
O u
thrive and grow and spread the
venom we are all too well ac
customed to hearing. The mem
bers of these groups are all too
frequently unhappy individuals
who have nut matured enough
to realize happiness is earned
by oneself. These misguided
misfits of society glory in prej
udice of all kinds and in gronos
they band together to spill the
twisted thoughts of their sick
minds out to a gullible public.
Today a nation and world
grieves for a beloved President
and a man whose only fault was
his unquenchable desire for the
betterment of man.
Is it wrong to want peace on
earth'.' Wrong to want our el
derly citizens to live out their
few remaining years in security
and dignity, wrong to want hope
for (lie mentally ill so they may
someday be free of the hope
lessness they now experience,
wrong to want the stigma of
mental retardation erased, and
wrong to want all men to be
equal no matter what his race,
religion or color'.'
These people who lean to the
far right or to the far lclt are
1
Shape Of Future Events
rights and resuscitating the
moribund federal-aid-to educa
tion and medicare measures
came as a shock. So, too. did
Ihc retention of some Kennedy
aides whose names are anathe
ma lo the South.
But this was to be expected.
And it has now convinced those
Southerners who tended to sup
port Mr. Johnson that he-is Ihe
prisoner of his party machin
ery. The n o r t h c r n liberals,
though most on his side, remain
suspicious. Kvery moVt he
makes will be scrutinized wilh
care. Among the Harvard intel
lectual group, there is some
overt hostility, drummed up
by such men a- Professor John
Gaihraith. who was President
Kennedy's ambassador to India.
The dialectics of the situation
as our left-wing friends used
to say conqvl President John
son to swing ever more strong
ly toward the liberal-labor-ietl
to maintain his position in the
industrial Ninth. Where Mr.
Kennedy had the trust and de
votion of the liberals, intellec
tuals, and civil rights propon
ents. President Johnson must
fight continually to hold their
support. Where Mr. Kennedy
could make compromises on the
civil rights issue ami carry
them off without loss of the de
votion he engendered President
Johnson must hew undoviating
ly to a tough line
This is a matter of political
logic that lew can deny It is
.1 matter of experience that as
lie develops bis program after
the first of tlie vear. Ihe ideo
logical clashes that drove the
Sooth into the Goldwatcr camp
will resume and increase in in
tensity. This is what the Goldwatcr
forces have been predicting. If
it is true, then there can be no
doubt that tlie Arizona Senator
will win the nomination and the
election. For President Johnson
w.ll emerge as another Kenne
dy without the charm and the
manner which won feminine
he.ii t and stilled liberal vocabularies.
the Lee Oswalds of our nation
and we in our complacent alti
tudes are guilty of Uieir very
existence.
At a lime when paUiotism
seems passe, our forefathers
would certainly feel that their
efforts to give us a land of plen
ty were not worth the sacrifices
they so gallantly made. Tlie
tragedy of President Kennedy's
death has restored, momentar
ily, that patriotism that so many
have fought and died to pre
serve (or us.
Where on this earth is there
a government of the people, for
the people and by the people so
well defined hut here?
Let each of us who have felt
a personal loss in our noble
President's death cast aside pet
tiness and dedicate ourselves to
blotting out prejudice, bigotry
and hatred wherever it exists
and let us remember that what
a day gives also a day may
lake away. Let us assure our
children that a Nov. 22 may not
take away a man of such high
esteem as John F. Kennedy.
Let those of us who have
grieved do this as our personal
living memorial to our beluvcd
President's memory. Let us re
new and keep the Eternal
Mr. Johnson is a highly effec
tive politician and an astute
man, but public speaking has
never been his strong point.
This is one reason why he has
been advised to discontinue Ihe
televised press conference, and
why he will probably refuse
to debate his Republican oppon
ent. At present, the business com
munity is ready to give Presi
dent Johnson every benelit of
the doubt. But as the New Fron
tier changes w ith Johnson, those
benefits will be withdrawn. It is
this belief that has brought a
new surge to the Goldwatcr
forces as they recover from the
effects of the Dallas tragedv.
Al
manac
By I'nited Press International
Today is Friday. Dec. 27, tlie
3Slst day of 1!X3 with four to
follow.
Tlie moon is approaching its
full phase.
The evening stars are Jupiter.
Saturn and Venus.
On this day in history:
In 1822. the French biologist
Louis Pasteur was born. His
work pioneered the development
of antiseptic surgery.
In 1SU2. the largest indoor
theater at the time was opened
in New York City and was
called Radio City Music Hal!.
In UWl. the Japanese bombed
the neutral city of Manila in
the Philippines.
In I'Mi. the I'nifod States.
Great Britain, and Russia an
nounced they would govern Ko
rea ;s joint trustees (or five
vears then give it independence.
A thought for tlie day The
French novelist Stendhal said.
' One can acquire even thing in
solitude except c'vuracter "
Flame of patriotism forever in
our hearts. Our history records
many noble men and their
deeds. Let their words always
live for the generations to come.
In an era where we as par
ents strive with such fcrvancy
to give our children the mate
rial substances of our times, we
so often neglect or ignore com
pletely the more enduring gilts
of cultural refinements: of the
moral or intellectual faculties
of man; the arts with their pow
er to transcribe the beautiful or
aesthetics! qualities of nature:
history wilh its ability to teach
and let us relive the great and
Ihe tragic moments of the past.
These gifts, given to our chil
dren now, can help preserve
our democracy forever. The
most learned men of the ages,
the philosopher, the poet and
Ihe historian have always re
minded us that these spiritual
and fundamental needs must
continue to be taught to assure
man's survival.
The challenge of the New
Frontier is not gone only the
gallant man who had the cour
age and wisdom to challenge it
has left us. It demands that we
answer its call. So let us have
Ihe courage and dignity, that he
so magnificently exemplified, to
continue the tasks that our mar
tyred President began.
As the poet Horace so ably
stated many centuries ago:
Dare lo be wise; begin! He who
postpones the hour, rightly, is
like the rustic who waits for the
river to run out before he cross
es. Mrs. Albert Burns.
4:1(14 Laverne.
In Whom Trust?
In reference to Mrs. Thom
son's letter. 'Stand Okay, Dec.
lo1. I would like lo carry her
thought a little farther.
She wrote that our govern
ment has its roots in the sanc
tity of Almighty God. The Su
preme Court begins each ses
sion with a prayer, so does the
Congress. Why then, is God be
ing taken away from the chil
drcn of this nation attending
public school?
The Supreme Court ruled that
prayer in public schools is un
constitutional. This is true only
for the atheists, and because
our country is supposed to be
Christian, atheists ought to be a
minority. Therefore, since Ihe
majority should rule, not the
minority, why deny the consti
tutional rights of Ihe many
Christians, so the few won't
have their "rights" stepped on?
Our country's motto is "In
God we trust," when God is
gone, in whom shall we trust
then?
Kathy Weaver.
Begs The Question
In her Dec. 15 letter, Eleanor
Thomson argues that saving we
Purely Personal Prejudices
The child wanls all its wishes
to be granted; and what those
adults who remain children
have failed lo learn is that if
all our w ishes were granted, ful
fillment would be as common
as dirt, and. losing the desire to
wish, we would die of boredom
and satiation.
If you cannot understand the
opposite of your position, then
you cannot understand your
own position; this is why blind
hate is always self-destructive,
and eventually topples the very
cause it presumes to serve.
' The people who want lo be
both popular and right are no
more deluded than those unhap
py souls who believe that be
ing unpopular is a tuken of
their Tightness; all the great
prophets were unpopular but
so were all the prigs and mis
anthropes, for very good rea
sons. Education in itself can never
persuade a fanatic to change
h;s mind; as Oliver Wended
Holmes Jr. superbly put it:
"Tlie mind of a bigot is like
tlie pupil of the eve; the mote
light you poiu- upon it. Ihe
more it will contract."
It secretly flatters us to read
all the Faustian legends and to
imagine ourselves selling our
souls to tlie Devil for some im
mense gratification on this
earth: and it rarely occurs to
us that most souls ate not
boldly bad enough to interest
even the Devil, who would have
no use for our weak, watery,
indecisive sort of self - indul
gence. All the elaborate psv civ -metric
tests are not nearly as ac
curate a means el reading
character as simp'.y observing
a person walking his dog m
bis attitude toward the animal,
toward lawns, and toward ether
dogs, one can gam an enormous
knowledge of the walker's feel
ings about himself and others
My recent paragrarhaho't
o
O
must slop all haling to curb
such violence as President Ken
nedy's assassination is harmful
advice. However, Ihe remainder
of her rather lengthy letter
merely begs the question.
I certainly agree that extrem
ists who denounce all hate as
wrong are in error. To conquer
the evil of communism, ;
Americans must not be apathet
ic, but hate the doctrines of
Marxism and atheism. But those
who blame hale for John Ken
nedy's death do not mean the
usual hate of things, but the
caustic hate of oilier human be
ings, for all too many forget to
hate the sin, but never the sin
ner. Therefore, communism did
not distort Oswald's mind, for
as his former psychiatrist has
testified, he had psychopathic
tendencies from childhood. In
stead, it is the hate in society
that produces such warped indi
viduals as Oswald. Americans
surely cannot deny the ugly big
otry and malignant hate which
would strip the Negro of his hu
man dignity. And what individ
ual does not harbor petty hates,
is not guilty of cruel remarks
and biting gossip? It lis ft so
ciety festering with such hate
multiplied eight million times
that is to blame for what took
place in Dallas.
However, it i.s easier for us
Americans to deny the pres
ence of any hale and lo trans
fer all guilt to communism, a
handy scapegoat. Yet in Amer
ica, we have traditionally taken
not the easier course, but the
right one. And while acknowl
edging Ihe need for active war
fare against Marxism, we
should also, ,1s President John
son has urged, "banish rancor
from our words and malice from
our hearts: to close down the
poison springs of hatred and in
tolerance . . . for God made
all of us. not some of us, in His
image. All of us, not just some
of us, arc His children."
Toni Negus,
Rtc. 3, Box 1051.
Great Deeds Taught
I am a history student of
Mrs. Bucna Stone at Fremont
Junior High.
In our history books, Our
United States, arc recorded not
only the great deeds done by
American heroes, but many of
their famous sayings as well.
In addition to this, all of Mrs.
Stone's classes have a section
in their notebooks reserved for
the purpose of writing down
famous sayings and then look
ing up the authors. As we cor
rect these, we discuss not only
who said them, but where,
when, and why.
At least in Mrs. Stone's his
tory classes, we students arc
becoming well acquainted wilh
America's hemes.
Cynthia Currin,
i'MO Lawrence.
STRICTLY
PERSONAL.
By SYDNEY J. HARRIS
repentance often being a kind
of credit we extend ourselves
for future transgressions re
called that line aphorism of
Josh Billings: "It is much easi
er to repent of sins we have
committed than to repent of
those we intend to commit."
Speaking of dogs, it is foolish
to hold up the "loyalty" of dogs
as an example of what human
beings should be and are nol
for a dog is not loyal to his own
kind, to other dogs, but only lo
humans and to his master: it
is tlie essence of his peculiar
domestication that he prefers
people to canines.
QUESTIONS
AMD
ANSWERS
Q W ho i.s considered the
world's first known artist?
A The Cro-Magnon Man.
J What mollo was inscribed
on the first I'.S. coins?
A "Mind Your Bu.-inc.-s''
appeared on coins minted in
ITftT. "E Pluhiius I'num" was
ued in 17U5 and "In God We
Trust" was not inscribed on
coins until 18M.
l Is the tide Prince o(
Wales hereditary?
A-No.
Q Is the moon receding
from the earth?
A From the way the moon
rotates, and Irom tiie gravita
tional pattern between earth
and tlie moon, astronomers
foe! certa.n that tiie moon is
nnv farther away from us than
it was at an earlier time, and
is drawing farther away vear
by vear.
r How many eggs ran an
ovslcr spawn?
A Five hundred million c;;i
in one vear.