The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 8

EDITORIALS ThE TBNNESSEAN S11LIMAN EVANS SK (Publisher. 1937-I9SS) S1LLIMAN EVANS JR. (Publiiher. 19551961) AMON C. EVANS.

President and Chief Adn.iniitrltive Officer JOHN SE1GENTHAIEK. Publiiher LLOYD ARMOUR. Executive Editof ALLEN PETTUS EDWARD FREEMAN EUGENE WYATT 'Who Knows? Maybe He's A Better Shot' Vice Preiident JOHN BIBB Sporti Editor Managing Editor RALPH SAUNDERS Treaiurer Associate Editor SULA HARDISON Secretary Wtulnosday, August 14. 11)74 President Ford Struck Right Notes for Harmony Uncle Sam's Discount Store THIS General Accounting Office, Congress' financial watchdog, has found a "disturbing" loophole in a foreign aid law that is allowing the Pentagon to sell arms to U.S. allies at discount house prices.

In years past, the Pentagon was allowed to sell "excess arms" to allies up to certain fixed dollar limits. The military could not reduce the price of the arms to less than a third of their original price tags, and this aid was outside the regular military aid program. In an admirable show of fiscal concern, Congress wrote a new aid law last year that was going to give it more control over the Pentagon's bargain basement of weapons. The selling of "excess arms" was incorporated into the regular military aid program, but the congressmen missed the fine print. The new law also allowed the Pentagon to assign an arbitrary value to the "excess arms" and dropped the requirement that weapons be valued at least at one-third their original cost.

The military wasn't about to pass up a bargain like that and they have begun letting their friends have weapons at less than 107c of their original cost. Many of the countries are receiving more arms under the new law than they did under the old one. GAO found all of this very "disturbing" and said it was even more "disturbing" in light of the discovery last spring that the Pentagon was stockpiling $1 billion worth of arms for allies, especially those in Asia. That stockpile was also the result of Congress' failure to read the fine print on the Defense Department budget. The Pentagon's shenanigans are "disturbing." but with a sucker like Congress who can blame the tionships and continued cooperation.

But if there was support for some of the policies of his predecessor, there was also some implied criticism. President Ford said. "There will he no illegal tapings. eavesdropping, buggings. or break-ins by my administration.

There will be hot pursuit of tough laws to prevent illegal invasions of privacy in both government and private activities." He spoke of public morality and said there was no need for him to preach about it. Earlier in his speech, he had said. "I believe in the First Amendment and the absolute necessity of a free press." It was a. simple statement without caveat or condition. Well, clearly things have changed.

At least they sound as if a new day has dawned in Washington. The promise of that is pleasing, and while no one doubts Mr. Ford's sincerity, new leaders, like new ventures do not always find smooth sailing. Mr. Ford's problems are enormous.

That of dealing with inflation alone is complex enough to demand most of his time. And while it is assuredly too early to predict all the methods he will use. he mentioned monetary and fiscal restraints as weapons and it is doubtful if they will work any better than they now are. However. Mr.

Ford has indicated his willingness to listen to the Congress, the people, or anybody who has ideas about dealing with the. nation's most pressing problem. He deserves the chance to demonstrate what he can do and he will undoubtedly have the support of the country in undertaking solutions and 'setting the course for the months and years ahead. IN HIS ADUKfcSS to the Congress and the nation Monday night, President Ford played most of the right notes and Congress seemed to like the music. Mr.

Ford said it was not a formal report on the state of the union, but it amounted to that. And while he found the union in excellent state, he said the economy is not. and asked the lawmakers to help him get America "revved up and moving" with a drive against inflation. The new President went out of his way to signal his intention of having harmony with the Congress by noting that his motto in dealing with it will bo "communication, conciliation, compromise and cooperation." He spoke of the co-equal role of the Congress, his love for the House and his reverence for the traditions of the Senate. The Congress, he said, would be a working partner and he promised that his door would always be open to lawmakers.

After the past years in which the occupant of the White House treated the Congress as anything but a co-et'jual branch, those were obviously welcome words from the new President. Mr. Ford used the occasion for a lit tic politicking, too. in urging voters' to support candidates "who consistently vote for tough decisions to cut I he cost of government, restrain federal spending and bring inflation under control. And he reminded his listeners, as if they needed reminding, that he is a Republican.

The President also stressed, for the nation's allies and others, that the foreign policy of Mr. Nixon will continue and that his administration will pursue the goals of peaceful rela Views Of 'Nixon Man7 Bridge Information Needed by WILLIAM SAFIRK TV Vf Wrl Timet Vwi Sfrir WASHINGTON Not so long ago. about lour out of ID adults in this country referred to themselves politically as "Nixon people." How should they react to he forced resignation of the man who lor so long embodied their Ih'IicIs and their As a card-carrying member of that group, let me suggest a few react ions both tothose who made it to the lifeboats and those who went down with the ship: First, toward Richard Nixon. Despite the frequent hypocrisy )f some of his pursuers he was not unfairly ejected. He is now America's only living former president, for good reasons.

When he first learned that some men acting in his name committed a crime, he put the bonds of friendship ahead of his oath of office. When he had the chance to destroy all the tapes just after their existence had become known, he made the wrong tactical decision, and nobody is patting him on the back now for his rectitude in not de-stroying the evidence that proved him guilty. In retrospect, all the maneuvers his supporters considered so ill-advised in establishing his innocence gain an intelligent pattern when viewed as a means toward preventing revelation of his guilt. He knew he knew that there was proof that he "knew and all his actions for he last year, from the firing of Archibald Cox to the rejection of subpoenas to the falsely based appeal to the Supreme Court, were absolutely consistent. No wonder, then, he would allow no lawyer to listen to the tapes; he was stalling for time jnd playing for breaks, and on such a course there as nobody he could trust without making him a co-conspirator.

Nixon was never indecisive, never floundering, as so many of us had mistake. That was refreshing. Afterward, he comported himself in a difticult situation with correctness and dignitv. As President, Ford has chosen two of the best of the early Nixon supporters to be on his transition committee: Interior Secretary Rogers Morton and NATO Ambassador Donald Rumsfeld, both whom bear the scars of battle with the Nixon palace guard. Rumsfeld, a former congressman in his early forties, is espe-ially valuable.

Finally, how should the former "Nixon people" view the ecstatic political opposition, led by that agglomerate of academics, old liberals, advocacy journalists and establishment power centers so wrong about the country in 1972 and so right about Nixon in (As usual in the oversimplifications, we leave out all the uncategoriables who decide elections.) For the count ry's sake and our own. let us let them have their time of vindication without resentment. The triumph of justice is nobody's political defeat. ChurchiUV'in defeat, defiance" does not apply, because Nixon's defeat is not the defeat of the "Nixon people" nor of the causes the former president espoused, only the defeat of that misguided toughness which is a form of weakness. 01 course, "in victory, mag-naminty" does apply: if in months to come, those who justlv brought Nixon clown want to make a martyr out of him, dragging him down Pennsylvania Avenue behind a chariot we go again on another round of vin-dictivencss.

For Nixon, who might not have shown enough contrition to satis-ly everyone, in nearly his last words as President showed that the underlying lesson of Watergate had finally sunk in: who hate you don't win unless you hate them and then you destrov vourself." mguished. His plan was to protect the tapes at all costs, and their cost was all. Therefore, no torment of unfairness is due him from the Behind the Kews "Nixon people." When "Black Sox" outfielder shoeless Jackson was approached by a Ian crying "say it ain't so." the corrupted ballplayer said nothing; Nixon said it wasn't so. As we spare him our tears, we can afford him more than a little respect. He was never the, would-be dictator his severest critics have claimed, and his motives were neither noble (to make a peace that would last) or at least not ignoble (to gain the adulation that would flow from being the man who made the peace).

The people who supported him, and most of those ho worked for him. can look around now that the shelling has ceased and point out much of substance that was done in reflecting the will of the people which, lest we forget, earned such a ringing affirmation of support just a year and a half ago. Toward President Ford, the reaction of the "Nixon people" should be far different from the reaction, say, of the Kennedy people to the ascension of President Johnson. Here is no cultural stylistic usurper; Ford was not Nixon's necessary compromise, but his chosen heir, deserving of a transfer of old loyal-ies. (Nixon wound up with a lifetime batting average of .500 in picking vice presidents, better than As vice president.

Ford made only one misstep in the loyal support of the man who nominated him. when he discussed months ago the potential makeup ol his administration with a reporter on background. When I called him about that. Ford freely acknowledged having been the source and said he had made a review of several earlier fatal accidents on the bridge showed that a box-beam guard rail failed to keep the vehicles from crashing to the ground below. "Even i cursory examination of the previous 'bridge plunge' accidents described in the police accident reports should have indicated tp responsible persons that the ineffectiveness of the barrier system presented the possibility of another catastrophe on the bridge," the board officials observed.

They said the box-beam system was discussed extensively at a conference a month before the agreement was reached to install such a device on theSilliman Evans bridge; they said there was no justification for using such a system on bridges. Incredibly, there were 141 Tennessee Highway Department employes at that conference. It may be argued that the highway department cannot prevent all fatal accidents and, sadly but surely, the extensive restructuring that is now being made still is no guarantee that traffic fatalities will not occur again on the bridge. But, in the opinion of the federal safety board, the bridge apparently could have been made less hazardous by avoiding the factors that would increase the severity of accidents. Relatives of the victims of the July accident have filed a lawsuit to recover damages from the New York engineering firm that designed the bridge and from the Nashville company that built it.

In that way, the role of those private contractors may provide part of the history of the bridge's construction. However, regardless of the outcome of that action, the people of Nashville and Tennessee deserve a full explanation from the state highway department through which public funds were authorized for construction and purchase contracts. WHEN OFFICIALS closed the northbound span of the Silli-man Evans Bridge for major repairs early this year, many safety-minded Nashvillians breathed a sigh of relief. For 25 persons, who had been killed in automobile accidents there, the decision clearly came much too late. For too many years, citizens here have sensed there was something wrong with the bridge where so many motorists had plunged to their deaths.

Now, the National Transportation Safety Board has pointed to officials in the Tennessee Highway Department and charged that they could have identified the danger spots when it may have been early enough for everybody. In a shocking conclusion to its study of Nashville's worst single-car accident when eight persons were killed last July after their car left the bridge the federal agency, said state officials should have known a supplemental barrier system was unsafe before it was ever installed in 1967. The board's report was critical of the highway department here for failing to pinpoint highway locations that were especially hazardous and accident-prone. The agency said a Questions Quotes By Hugh Waller Q. What was the Domesday Book? A.

A survey of all the lands of England, made in time of William the Conqueror. It was written in two volumes, each page having two columns. Principal passages and some capital letters were written in red ink. Letters to the Editor but the old type receivers are available for use in homes and offices of customers with hear- Hearing Problems Known to Bell To the Editor: Recently you published a letter from Mr." John C. Forbes protesting the introduction of an improved telephone receiver by the Bell System.

The letter may have left the impression that the new receiver is incompatible with all hearing aids and that the Bell System is not sensitive to the problems of our customers with impaired hearing. This certainly is not he case. From the days of Alexander Graham Bell, whose work with the deaf led to the development of the telephone, who owned hearing aids of this type So. the Bell System advised the Hearing Aid Industry Conference in 16. eight years ago, and offered the design of an adapter to counteract the problem at no cost to the manufacturers.

However, the hearing aid manufacturers did not generally agree to so modify their units. Since it would bo inefficient and thus unfair to the vast majority of our telephone users not to take advantage of the improved, lower-cost receivers, we arc using them in all the new Trimline Design Line telephones, and coin telephone operations. We are gradually using them in more telephones mgaids that will not operate with the new receivers. Mr. Forbes suggested that the Bell System install a special coil in every telephone so all hearing aid users could use any telephone.

Certainly, as inheritors of Alexander Graham Hell's concepts, we ant to meet the needs if the liard-of hearing but Mr. Forbes's suggestion is not economically practical. We are currently "field testing" some modifications to the new receiver on some coin telephones in an eastern city. Should the trial prove successful, we will consider using it on all new coin telephone installations in Tennessee. These modifications cost approximately 51) cents per elephone.

This seemingly is a small amount but the Beil Sys-' tern manufactures altout million telephones a year. This additional cost of approximately SIT. 5 million annually would he at the expense of all our customers. We do not leel that his would be right. As an alternative.

have designed and are producing a portable adapter. It is small and light so it can hi slipped into a pocket or purse. And it can easily be fitted to and removed trom the ear-pieces ol telephones. It is needed only on telephones with the new typi receivers, and thinonlv for less than one-half hearing aids man ulactuicd. It is provided by the Bell System on a non-profit basis.

The cost is presently $7. Having given the hearing aid industry at least six years ad vancc notice of a potential problem, olfei ing technological help tocounteract it. providing an idapler at cost. I believe tin public will agree that we have been more than lair in this mat til 1J.T. HANKY' District Manager South Central Bell PO.

Box ir.4 Klh Avenue. North Nashville we have had a compassionate concern for the hard of hear-ing. A new receiver unit that is smaller in size, lighter in weight, greater in reliability, and lower in cost is now being used in some of our telephones. One of the improvements eliminates an electromagnetic leakage that is present in our older type receivers. This leakage is utilized for amplification, by Jess than one-half of the hearing aids manufactured.

While the new receiver was still in its developmental stages, our Bell Labs recognized the po-ential problem that would be encountered by telephone users ASI im award will Ix' made for a we wrfei Idler. designated by thnv stars, and does not indicate or disagreement with the writer's point of view Letters should be addressed. Letter Id the Editor. "nd must sinned and Irar the address of the nter. which will lie printed nonymmis letters will not or considered (or publication letters will Ir edited if lor space limitations.