The Algona Upper Des Moines from Algona, Iowa • Page 10

thy Uppw DM Tutftdoy, Nov. 9, 1965 Merry-Go-Round iiiiiiiniiiiniiHitHiinraninKHtiHflni By Drew Poarson WASHINGTON Members of Congress next session may face Hie unpleasant task of voting on whether men should be drafted to fight in the undeclared war in Viet Nam. This will not be the result of student protests against the war and the draft but because certain members of Congress have long and seriously questioned U. S. involvement.

One of these is Sen. Ernest Gruening of Alaska. And he is planning to raise the question early next year by offering an amendment to the first military appropriations bill that comes along to require specific Congressional approval before any more men can be inducted to serve in an undeclared war. Actually, Gruening had intended to introduce such an amendment before the close of the last session. But he made the mistake of telling President Johnson about it and Johnson, an old friend, persuaded him to hold it up.

However, Johnson told him that il the war in Viet Nam is not over by January, then he wouldn't object to having the draft question brought up in Congress and Gruening plans to do so. This will mean that the entire Congress will have to go on record for or against the draft and thus the whole question of our involvement in Viet Nam will be up for debate. Odds are that after some heated argument, in the nation as well as in Congress, the Gruening amendment will be rejected. -LBJ'S PROMISE TO BEHAVE- The President's doctors, concerned over the exhaustion that slowed his recovery from his gall bladder operation, have laid down the law to him, saying he must delegate more authority and stop trying to decide everything around the White House himself. LBJ has promised to be good and to give more responsibility to his assistants.

But knowing their boss as they do, they have their fingers crossed. This is one promise they don't expect him to keep. -CONGRESSIONAL NEPOTISM- Putting a relative on the payroll is nepotism, a practice followed by many members of Congress. They have an allowance for office help which they vote themselves but which the taxpayers get the bill for plus the privilege of appointments to certain jobs outside their own offices, la some cases, of course, the relatives do a good job, or at least they earn their salaries as secretaries or clerks in the Congressman's office. But in other cases they don't.

Congressman Tom Ashley of Ohio, for example, has put bis sister on the payroll of the House Banking and Currency mittee, at a salary of around $300 a week, which is pretty good pay. Catch is that his sister doesn't work in this committee's off ices. In fact, she lives in Cambridge, and is studying at Harvard, and members of the committee say there is no evidence that she ever has done any work for the committee. The reason nobody raises a fuss is the ancient law of Congressional courtesy; members of Congress don't criticize each other for doing what most cf them do. BRASS-- Three separate military planes flew to Charleston, S.

the other day, all at the taxpayer's expense for the very vital purpose of attending the unveiling of a monument to Congressman Mendel Rivers of South Carolina. Secretary of the Navy Paul Nitze brought a planeload of admirals to Charleston in a plush C-140 jet transport. Deputy Secretary of Defense Cyrus Vance, together with Secretary of the Army Steven Ailes and Secretary of the Air Force Harold Brown, flew in another C-140 along with various generals. The Defense Department also furnished a C-121 to fly a load of Congressmen to Charleston for the great occasion. Just why so many brass hats should fly to commemorate the unveiling of a monument to a Congressman who is one of the most famous alcoholics on Capitol Hill might be hard for the public to understand.

The secret is that Congressman Rivers voted a big pay increase to the armed forces far more than President Johnson wanted them to have. So if no wonder the top military brass flew to South Carolina to see his monument dedicated. This, Incidentally, also was all at the taxpayer's expense. -U. S.

WINES AT WHITE HOUSE- Mrs. Johnson has decided to stop serving French wines at the White House and to use American wines instead, chiefly supplied by the California wine industry. Reason is she believes American wines are about as good as the French and also, since President de Gaulle is so worried about the U. dollar outflow, it will cut down on the U. S.

dollars going to France. o- Fidel Castro's agreement to allow Cuban refugees to come to the U. by air may help, but officials in Washington are still searching for aspirin. When Castro first announced be would allow unhappy Cubans to leave, the problem of getting them to the U. did not appear great.

So president Johnson agreed to let them come to this country without figuring on all the problems involved. Transportation was only one question, Another was what to do with the refugees after they arrived; where they could be 'housed, where they could find jobs, where their children could 50 to school. Negotiations with Castro out be far from simple. Since we don't have diplomatic relations with Cuba, we had to deal through the Swiss Ambassador in Havana. This meant all notes had to go through Bern, Switzerland, which meant three translations, three codings, three decodings all time-consuming.

The State Department tried to speed things up by telephoning our replies to Bern, but it didn't help much. Many Cubans were so anxious to get out that they wouldn't wait for the diplomats and started crossing in small boats, very dangerous in bad weather. So the President had to let the Coast Guard help, even though some of our laws were being violated. The more the U. S.

protested that these crossings were unsafe, the more Castro encouraged them. Obviously he didn't care about what happened to Cubans who preferred to leave. Now that he has agreed to let planes bring the refugees to the U. the transportation problem may ease but officials still have to find the answers to housing, jobs and schools. In the meantime, many of the refugees are heading straight for Miami, already overburdened with earlier refugees.

The last session of Congress was marked by the outbreak of a new disease "canalitis." This is a rare malady, frequently contagious. When it strikes, the victim has a difficult time recovering. The first Congressman smitten with a severe case of canalitis was Rep. Mike Kirwan of Youngstown, Ohio. Perhaps because of his age 79 the disease affected Mike in one of its most virulent forms.

It caused him to advocate a canal from Lake Erie to Pittsburgh, Pa. Naturally the outlet of the canal was to be at Mike's hometown, Youngstown, and the canal was to carry coal, iron ore, between Youngstown and Pittsburgh. After the disease struck Kirwan, he talked to the Army Engineers, and in deference to a powerful member of Congress, they pronounced the canal feasible though at a cost of over a billion dollars. Mike's colleagues in Congress immediately dubbed the project "Mike's billion-dollar ditch." The two Senators from Pennsylvania, Joe Clark and Hugh Scott, who seemed to be immune from canalitis, opposed the ditch, and it was ditched. However, the contagion has spread.

The next man to come down with an attack of canalitis was Rep. Albert W. Johnson, the Pennsylvania Republican, who was smitten with the disease in the most virulent form. He proposed a canal from Lake Erie, beginning near Erie, to Franklin, Pa. He also proposed using the Allegheny River, deepened and widened, to reach Pittsburgh.

The Army Engineers have not yet made an estimate on how much Johnson's rampant case of canalitis would cost the taxpayers before it's cured. Meanwhile, he has put his Pennsylvania colleagues on a tough spot. Since they opposed Mike Kirwan's ditch in neighboring Ohio, they can't very well go to bat for a ditch in nearby Pennsylvania. They just wish that Congressmen would be less susceptible to the new disease of canalitis. Ex-Fenton Man Dies In Calif.

FENTON Glenn Kluss, 68, a former Fenton resident, died Oct. 18 at Richmond, Cal. Services were held at Richmond. He was born in 1897 near Fenton. He was a graduate of Fenton high school and attended Coe College.

He later taught at Haifa and Ayrshire. He was married to Leola Kellogg who survives as as one daughter, Luanna, two brothers and two sisters. LuVerne Student Wins I.S.U. Honor Douglas Holmes, LuVerne, pre-veterinary student at Iowa State University at Ames, participated in the "Little International Livestock Show" at Ames, Oct. 23.

He took 1st. in the Shorthorn Heifer showman class and Reserve Champ- ion Shorthorn showman class. Tills is an annual affair. Dougles and his wife, the former Linda Clark of LuVerne, and their son Jeff moved to Ames Sept. 13.

Linda works in the Agricultural Administration Building at the University. THANKS Thanks to Blue Cross and Blue Shield, thousands of individuals and families have peace of mind about health care bills. They trust Blue Cross and Blue Shield to be there when needed, and with all the many benefits which the membership certificate promises. You, too, will be happy and thankful to have the worry-free, realistic health care protection that comes with every Blue Cross and Blue Shield membership. "AMERICA'S NUMBER ONE GET WELL CARD" BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD For Individual Enrollment See or Write HERMAN KLEEN Gilmore City, Iowa Proclamation WHEREAS, The men and women who served in our Nation's armed forces have contributed immeasurably to the preservation of America's freedom; and WHEREAS, American men and women, through their service with today's armeri forces, continue to demonstrate their unselfish willingness to meet the challenge of an aggressor seeking world domination; and WHEREAS, The Nation and the free world are eternally grateful for all of these contributions to the advancement of the cause of world peace witli honor; and WHEREAS, It is fitting that we set aside a special day each year to honor our veterans and give a nationwide expression of our esteem for them; and WHEREAS, The Congress of the United States has declared the eleventh day of November of each year to be a legal holiday and designated it as VETERAN'S DAY in honor of our veterans and as a day dedicated to the cause of world peace with honor; NOW, THEREFORE, William J.

Finn, Mayor of the City of Algona, do hereby call upon all of our to observe Thursday, November 11, 1965, as VETERAN'S DAY, and ask that the day be observed with appropriate ceremonies in honor of those who the burden in the defense of our freedom. I further call upon all of our citizens and business firms to mark this day with the proud display of the American flag as a reaffirmation of our national unity and a rededication of our support to our Nation in her defense of the cause of freedom throughout the world. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused to be affixed the official seal of the City of Algona, this 4th day of November, 1965. WM. J.

FINN MAYOR.