The Cumberland News from Cumberland, Maryland • Page 9

The Cumberland News S. Mechanic StteRt, Time Paid at Cumberland, hi "I Cireu Member The Associated Telephono 722-46M Single Copy 'JOc Subscription rates by Carrier Per Week SUU Subscription The Cumberland News Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia lnia and of Columbia Ont Month SH.OO Six Months $27.00 One Year AU olhcr sti One Mcmu, 8 Sbc Month. One Year Mall Subscriptions accepted where a i service available Saturday Morning, June 24, 1972 Firemen Make A Generous Offer A number of city firemen, through a spokes- man at a meeting of the Citizens' Advisory Com- mittee this week, have suggested that Cumber- land operate a municipal ambulance service staffed by firemen. The firefighters point out that they have special training and equipment which would be useful in all types of accidents, and that the members of their department could readily be given even more training. At present, the firemen work two shifts, a 10-hour day shift and a 14-hour night turn.

Be- tween fire calls they have other duties around the four city fire stations, but often the hours tend to drag. Fortunately, the firemen's job is mostly one of watching and waiting. They have made it clear that their interest in promoting a municipal ambulance service is prompted by a desire to make full use of their abilities, and is not intended as criticism of the present, privately operated service. Whether Cumberland -needs a municipal ambulance service and what it would cost are, of course, questions to be answered by the May- or and City Council. For one thing, more fire- men would be needed.

On the other hand the firemen and the city planning department confirms, that there is a possibility of federal and state financial assistance for such a pro- gram. Completely aside from these questions it Is reassuring to be reminded of the firemen's interest in the well-being of their community How many employes, whether 'in government or private industry, volunteer to take 'on extra duties and responsibilities that no one has asked them to consider? Whether or not the firemen's suggestion ought to be adopted, and whether it is'indeed even a practical idea, the important thing is that they have made a generous gesture for which 1 their fellow.citizens should thank them. Jeffrey Hart AlcGovern's Frivolity The dust of claim and counter-claim is now be- ginning to settle in the month-long public argument' over the package of economic proposals put forward by George McGovern. And now, with a little per- spective, what seems most evident is not so much the danger as the utter frivolity of the McGovern package. McGovern surely scored some sort of first ui coming up with a set of figures containing a 42 billion error.

That just isn't the sort of plat- form most candidates for the Presidency choose to run on. And the rejoinder from the Mc- Govern people has a certain key charm. It isn't a $43 billion error, they object. It's only a $27 billion one. The origin of McGovern's $1,000 for everybody idea is similar in style.

It seems that way back when McGovern was stuck at about 4 per cent in the polls, Sen. Fred Harris of Oklahoma got into the race as a-Populist poor man's candidate. The McGovern camp looked upon the Harris candidacy with horror. Since Muskie then had the Democratic center and Wallace the Democratic right, McGov- ern's only hope was to consolidate the Democratic left. He put through a quick phone call to Yale economist James Tobin, and they came up with the $1,000 ploy as a way of preventing Harris from get- ting to the left of McGovern.

Small wonder that McGovern is now saying that the scheme is just one of a number of alternatives he thinks ought to be examined, and that Wilbur Mills' plan is better. Small wonder that his ad in the Wall Street Journal hinted that his program wouldn't get through Congress anyway--McGovern's point being the jolly one that you could safely vote for him in view of the fact that his program was too laughable to come into being. Moving on, consider his statement--apropos of his inheritance tax proposals that the "founding fathers" did not approve of inequalities of wealth One rubs one's eyes. George Washington had huge land holdings in Virginia, as did Jefferson. The Adams family were great Boston merchants.

Alex- ander Hamilton was well on the way to building a large personal fortune when he met his untimely death. And nothing in the founding documents or the surrounding history supports McGovern's state- ment. What kind of candidate are we dealing with here anyway? And beyond thc.se specific examples, a kind of frivolity of spirit turns up as well. If seems to me that we assume, as a mat- i fer of course and in a rough sort of way, that the money a man earns belongs to him. This dees not mean that we are against necessary taxes.

But it does mean (hat we insist on per- ceiving those taxes as necessary. The assumption implicit in the McGovorn pro- posals, and the spirit pervading the whole thing, is quite different. That assumption is that the money a man earns is a resource of the Federal govern- ment, a sort of permanent Federal kitty. From this standpoint, the only serious question'is what the government shall spend your money on, not whether you or the government will in fact spend it. In the bland assumption that personal income Is really Federal income-the evident assumption of McGovern and his advisers; people like Edwin Kuh ef MIT and Wassily Leonticff of Harvard-we have a culminating intellectual frivolity.

Perhaps Me- Govern will find warrant for that one in the "found- ing fathers" too. 1972, Kins Feature Syndicate) White House Is Seeking Tougher Laws Against Marijuana Violators fcy Ul. Syndic. Be Thankful WASHINGTON-Now that the last of the presidential primar- ies have taken place the states which hold them, a start- ling assertion has been made by Senator George Aiken of Ver-. mont, who is the senior Re- publican in the Senate.

He de- clared: "After 23 numer- ous conventions--each with, their own set-of rules.and. cus- of voters are now convinced "that none of the candidates are qualified for the job." Senator Aiken' was testifying before a senate, subcommittee which.is considering.reform of the'method by which candidates are nominated for presi- dency. He said that the, voters have gone through a "season of political. confusion, bewilder- ment, unsubstantiated charges and downgrading of candi- dates." He added: "With the conclusion of. the- voting yesterday in the State of New York, the presidential primary season is behind us for another election year.

For this we should The Vermont senator is co- sponsor, along with Senate. Democratic leader Mike Mans-', field: of Montana, of a constitu- tional amendment which would provide for a single national: primary to pick the presidential candidates. A convention would be held later by each party to select its vice-presidential cand- idate and to formulate the party platform. This, is not the first time that an effort has been made to get a constitutional amendment adopted which would change the present system of selecting presidents. Wood'row Wilson, as president-elect, made public on Feb.

5, 1913,. a letter', to A. Mitchell Palmer, Democratic leader of the House, who had asked his views on the subject because the Senate early.in 1913 had passed a- resolution propos- ing an amendment that would limit presidential tenure to a single six-year term, Woodrow WASHINGTON The White House has quietly started twist- ing arms on Capitol Hill to authorize measures against marijuana violators. For months, a fierce debate has raged inside the Nixon Ad- ministration between those who want to legalize marijuana and those who favor a marijuana crackdown. The crackdown crowd has now.

won. The word has gone out from the White House to put the heat on Congress to pass two meas- ures that would assure contin- ued prosecution of marijuana users. The instructions were deliv- ered by White House aide Walt Mrnnick to Donald Miiier, chief counsel for the Justice'Depart- ment's Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. Miiler immediately called rep- resentatives from several fed- eral departments behind closed doors on June 13 to plan the lob- bying campaign. The principal measure is an international drug control treaty would obligate the U.S.

to make possession of certain drugs, i i marijuana, "punishable offenses." The other measure is an en- abling law, which would be needed to clear the way for Congress to approve the treaty. The treaty, known as "The Convention on Psychotropic Sub- stances," would empower the Justice Department to control drugs regardless of the medical a i from the Health, Education and Welfare Department. Season Over, Says Aiken By David Lawrence Wilson said in part: "There ought never' to be an- presidential nominating convention, and 'there need never be another. Several of the states have successfully solved that difficulty with re- gard to'the choice their 'gov- ernors, and federal law can solve it in the same way with to the of presi- dents. The nominations should be made directly by the people at the polls, "Conventions should deter- mine nothing but party plat- forms and should be made up of ths, men who would be expected, if elected, to carry those plat- forms, into effect.

It is not neces- sary to attend to the people's si by constitutional amendment if you will only ac- tually put the business into the people's own hands." Mr. Wilson suggested that the time would come when the President might be made erable to public opinion through both houses of Congress. He de- scribed, in effect, the parlia- mentary system in vogue in Letter-To The Editor 'Dear Sir: It is nice.to know that West- ern Maryland does indeed have a Congressman in Washington who is -willing to work for our needs. I anr referring of course to the article in your'Wednesday, a 24 edition, headlined, "Manst Assets Purchase Gets SBA Aprroval." In- it, your reporter mentioned that Western Virginia Congress- man Harley. A.

Staggers advised the Cumberland mayor that the Small Business Administration is finally moving on Mr. 'Mang- ieri's efforts to reopen the elec- tronics firm on Decatur Street. I admit -I know nothing of-the inner workings oE gov- ernment, but I do know that the SBA is a agency and that Western Maryland does have a Congressman and he isn't Harley Staggers. The way I see it, our Congressman not West Virginia's should have been working for the Manst pro- ject completion'. However, in the absence of our own Congressman, we do owe Mr.

Staggers a debt of gratitude for getting the SBA to move on Manst, for. there are 600 eventual jobs at stake. As for our own Congressman, we owe him thanks of another kind thanks for nothing, wherever he was, THOMAS C. KIMMEL 220 Utah Avenue Rep. Goodloe E.

Byron, Sixth District Congressmen, said he has not -been osked to do anything in the case of the Manst Corpor- ation in the 18 months'he has been in the House of Represent- atives. He added that he con- siders it natural that Congress- man Staggers often is asked to help with problems in (his area, not only because of his 28 years in the HOL-JC, but because many of Mr. Staggers' constituents work in Maryland.) Sir: It is nice to see what Renewal can do in fixing up a house or property. I cite the beautiful job they did on the house on Bedford Street. Such work could restore the people's faith and trust in Urban Renew- al and Mr.

Coppa. Why.not do this to the buildings in the down- to.wn area and around the City Hall area, instead of tearing the buildings down to erect some horrible looking shopping center buildings. Urban Renewal is to be congratulated on the Bedford Street property. WANDA BENNETT Cumberland Great Britain and other coun- tries. He said that "the char- acter of the presidency is pass- ing through a trainsitional stage," but cautioned that "we do not know what it is going to work out into, and until we do know, we shall not know what constitutional change, if any is needed, it would be best to make." It was clear that, while he was not ready to recommend the parliamentary form, he be- lieved the American system was in need of some change.

The dissatisfaction with the method of nominating presidents has been manifested for years, and the idea of chossing presidential candidates by means of a nat- ional primary for each party is one that has been often urged as a substitute for the complic- ated system which now pre- vails. A nationwide primary would enable the voters to concentrate on the merits of the prospective nominees, who would be cam- paigning throughout the country on national issues. The prob- lems of the federal government would be dealt with without any relation to local contests except the candidacies for the U. S. House of Representatives and Senate.

Whoever becomes the Demo- cratic nominee now will really have to begin all over again af- ter the national convention. He will have to explain the Demo- cratic Party platform and his own interpretation of its provis- ions. The people will want to know from the new nominee what his foreign policy will be and what changes he might wish make on the international scene. The choice of the Demo- crats will have to indicate clear- ly wherein he differs with Mr. Nixon.

All this could have been better accomplished if there had been a nationwide primary campaign which gave the voters an oppor- tunity to select a candidate who had expressed himself clearly on national issues. 1972, Publiahers-Hall Syndicate Stroke Patient Faces Different Way Of Life Many people have survived a stroke (cerebrovascular acci- dent) and lived normally for months or years. But those with a marked disability due to paralysis or brain damage are less fortunate. They must learn to adjust to Grin And Bear It By Dr. Theodore Von Dellen an entirely different way of life.

All too often, they fail to recover despite prolonged therapy, peated psychological boosts, and the passing of time. By Lichty rm glve "levant information, Why prim the players on his shirt?" As a rule, strokes occur in middle life or old age and are the result of hardening of the arteries. In the past few years, have written several articles on the recognition of early CV accidents and how to prevent the progression of small strokes, A surgical treatment also is available when special X-rays show that the obstruction is con- fined to the carotid artery or its main branches in the neck. Microsurgery in the brain is also possible. But when stroke occurs, the first consideration is to save the victim's life.

By this time, the "die is cast" and recovery depends upon the extent of the damage a a physical, mental, and emotional status of the victim before the stroke. It is well to remember that brain cells depend upon an effi- cient circulation. With age, a circulatory deficit may occur and a CV accident causes addi- tional impairment of the blood flow. Therefore, we cannot ex- pect the brain to be in better condition after, than it was before, the stroke. Relatives aware of this are better able to determine changes, as they know what the victim was like when well.

To instill optimism in a person with a complete stroke, mi- nimize the lost faculties, and encourage him to make the most of what remains. This is espe- cially difficult if there is diffuse brain damage or the individual is handicapped by arthritis, dif- ficulty in breathing, a previous heart disorder, low i pressure, or is highly emotional. FATIGUE AND MINERAL OIL M. L. writes: I am a healthy woman of 60 who is unusually tired.

I take mineral oil before each meal. Could this be respon- sible for not getting the full value out of my food and in turn cause the tiredness? REPLY Mineral oil absorbs the vi- tamins A and in food and since i passes i through the intestines, the vi- tamins are then lost to the body. This is not true of vegetable oils which are absorbed by the intestine. This may be responsi- ble for fatigue, but it is unlikely because other signs of vitamin deficiencies would coexist. Fur- thermore, there are so many causes of fatigue, a complete physical examination is in order.

Send stamped, self-addressed envelope for leaflet on fatigue. VITAMIN B12 T. V. Do vitamin BI2 tablets elevate the pressure? REPLY No. This vitamin acts as a tonic when taken in large doses.

is of questionable value if the diet is adequate and the individual is otherwise healthy. 1972, By The Chicago Tnbane) By Jack Anderson This would directly contra- vene a drug abuse law, enacted by Congress two years ago, giv- ing HEW the power to decide which drugs are dangerous. A number of HEW officials are dismayed over the White House action. They believe HEW, as the scientific and med- ical arm of the government, should rule on dangerous drugs. The President's own National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse has recommended that penalties for personal pos- session of marijuana be abol- ished.

BNDD officials, however, are sternly opposed to relaxing any of the laws against marijuana use. Their views were under- scored in a recent speech by John Ingersoll, the hard-line BNDD director. He told a group of California policemen that the legalization of marijuana and other drugs might mean the fight against drug abuse was "lost altogether." He added: "It is our duty not only to protect the public in the streets from vicious criminals but to protect the public from harmful ideas." Footnote: HEW officials be- lieve the White House deliber- ately began lobbying for the drug control treaty on the eve of the election campaign, figur- ing it might be difficult for of Congress to oppose it in an election year. But Min- nick explained to us that the t-ming had been determined by the Senate Judiciary Commit- tee's schedule. The committee must process the enabling legis- lation.

Bluecoats vs. Redskins It has been many moons since the faluecoats won their last skirmish with the redskins hi the struggle for the West. But the federal government is still crowding the Indians. Back in 1865, the government signed a treaty with the Winne- bago tribe granting them land "for use and occupancy for- ever." As late as 1944, the Army Engineers descendants of the bluecoats pledged" that they would never appropriate Indian lands without prior tribal con- sent. But now the federal authori- ties want to build a recreation project on Winnebago land in Iowa and Nebraska.

Without re- gard for past treaties and pledges, the government took the iand away from the Indians for the Oxbow Lake project. Not that the friendly Winne- bago mind opening their land to their white brothers for fishing and picnicking. But the tribe would like to retain the title and collect the from park concessions. Congressional sources tell us that a House Appropriations mittep may settle the issue, strictly for budgetary reasons, by turning down the $750,000 appropriation for the Oxbow project. FBI And Alinsky Saul Alinsky, the self-pro- claimed "professional radical 1 died earlier this month.

He would have been dismayed over, the eulogies that appeared in several newspapers. His popularity with more re- spectable reformers caused him. recently to reassure his staff: "Don't worry, boys, we'll weath- er this storm of approval and come out as hated as He would be comforted to know, however, that the FBI at least regarded him as a men- ace. The G-men kept him under regular surveillance and tried to paint him red. But the FBI file on him isn't convincing.

Despite Alinsky's rabble-rousing, he was hardly a routine revolutionary. "I love this country," he kept saying, "and we're (the com- mon people) going to take it back." Even the FBI had to acknow- ledge, in a typical entry, 'that Alinsky was as anti-Communist as he was anti-establishment. An agent, quoting a speech Alin- sky made in Claremont, Calif wrote: "Alinsky claimed that he has nothing but scorn for political and religious dogma, and his comments about religion were generally sarcastic. He claimed he has nothing but contempt for -Communism and for 'pro- fessional (Darted Feature Syndicate) they'll Go All Out By Joseph Alsop WASHINGTON Privately, both President Nixon and Dr. Henry A.

Kissinger have warn- ed congressional leaders that they still expect the Soviets to make a "maximum" effort of strategic weapons development, within the limits of the SALT agreement. "They'll go all out," is the quoted assessment on this high- est' of all levels. If this is the message that Moses-Nixon has brought down from the mountaintop in Mos- cow, a serious question arises. The question is why it is sensi- ble to sign a SALT agreement aimed to halt the arms race, which will admittedly do no such thing. The answer comes in three parts.

First, the SALT agreement writes into a treaty and the ac- companying executive agree- ment what seem like great ad- vantages for the Soviets; yet the Joint Chiefs of Staff were strongly favorable. The JCS are favorable, in turn, because they believe that in the existing sit- uation the United States will be worse off without the SALT agreement's extremely modest limits on Soviet weapons de- ployment. In other words, the Joint Chiefs judged that if we start from scratch, where we are now, and the Soviets go on at their present tempo, the Soviets will be even further ahead five years from now without the SALT agreement This is the bitter result of the follies com- mitted since 1966, when the United States began to neglect the nuclear-strategic balance. Second, no sort of change in the basic pattern of Soviet be- havior is promised by the Nixon-Kissinger warning, "They will go all out." But there is a real chance of this kind of change if the United States also does what needs to be done about the nuclear-strategic bal- ance in the vital interval just ahead. We got a SALT agreement, such as it is, because we re- jected the advice of the wise fools who favored unilateral dis- armament.

Conceivably, at this strange stage in history, we may get something like endur- ing stability for this weary world if we just do a bit more to keep our guard up in the years immediately ahead. Third, however, that last "if" is certain to be decisive. There is zero room for maneuver if the U. S. government's optimists (who include the people in the White House, for once) prove to be as wrong as usual.

One thinks of 1949, when the great Dr. Vannevar Bush had to tear a whole chapter from his forthcoming book because the Soviets had just tested their first nuclear weapon. (In the chapter he had said Jhis could not happen for 15 years!) One thinks of 1949, in turn because the White House has also bought the view of the Bush-like people in the U. S. intelligence community, these people hold the Soviets are "more than five years behind the United States" in multiple warhead technology.

There is no doubt that the Soviets are somewhat behind on MIRV technology because they took the wrong road to begin with. But in numbers of mis- siles, in warhead weight and in all other respects one can think of, the Soviets now have every advantage that a MIRV technologist could ask for. They also have excellent scientists. If the Soviets are going to go "all out," therefore, they should be MIRVing their SS-9 missiles, and also the still big- ger missiles they will soon be deploying. They may even mul- tiply greatly their MIRVing capability by adapting the "cold launch" technique of our -Po- laris Poseidons to their SS-9 missiles.

The calculated risk in short, is an immensely big risk. If we do not want the most disagreeable kind of sur- prise, we. have to do three things, regardless of cost. We have to go ahead, full speed, with the-ULMS or Tri- dent program. We have to go ahead with the B-52 replace- ment, the B-l bomber.

Above all, we have to go ahead with maximum improvement of the Minuleman system-- which can more or less true up the nu- clear strategic balance in a fairly short time. This will cost a lot of money. The arms race will not end, as the White House warned the congressional a That leads to the real criticisms of the President. First, he did not directly ask the country threa years ago for the kind of maxi- mum effort that might have prevented the present imbal. ance.

The President did not do this because he thought he could not defeat the Democratic opposi- tion in Congress. Against the background of the SALT agree- ment, however, the President will again have great difficulty with Congress in doing what needs (o bo done now. One has to conclude that he is gambling probably quite shrewdly, on a much more pliant Congress after Election Day next No- vember. Los Angetej Daffynitions By Paul H. Gilbert CHIROPODIST: A man who makes money by going to the dogs.

SILENCE: Wisdom in dead storage. WEALTH: i that gives a person more dependents than Independence..