Alton Evening Telegraph from Alton, Illinois • Page 4

A-4 II JLd, we think Straightening Out History We can think of few more things apt to attract IWBch Attention to the immediate area than a hot debate over historical significance of a given spot. And we many be heading into it. St. Louis has pointed to itself as the starting point of the Lewis and Clark expedition. And it is basing part of its Bicentennial celebration on this emphasis.

Moreover, it has been recognized in Congress aJ the starting point. Actually the expedition wintered on this side of the river in the Wood River area. Sftttte years ago the late Dr. H. W.

Trovillion. then chairman of the Greater Alton Association of highway committee, later to become "pilot" of the 10-statc Mississippi River Scenic Park- Way Commission, took an interest in this situation. He influenced the establishment of a small park On East Side Levee District property, facing the mouth of the Missouri river. Now an organization is being formed to promote more pronounced recognition of this park and the historical event it commemorates. Part of the recognition will include enlargement of the park so it will be more recognizeablc as a recreation area.

The organization was successful in obtaining the attention of the Illinois Conservation Department, whose representative. Donld R. Kugler, told tht group Wednesday night the bureau is "whole-heart- edly behind the project." It could have been hoped the state of Illinois would pay more attention to the historical significance of the park site on this side when the effort was being made to nail St. Louis' site of the "departure." Perhaps the state will make up for lost time now, however, by getting behind the present move. Recta and (lie Bandwagon J.

Edgar Hoover, chief of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, has charged that the E. B. DuBois clubs being started throughout the country on college and university campuses are being instigated by mandate of the Communist Party of America. James Peake, who has done much to foment needless agitation among Negroes in the St. Louis aic.i, has announced he intends to organize such clubs on campuses throughout the district.

Denying a knowledge of communism, he nevertheless commented on parallels between DuBois and Communist doctrine: if our aims are similar, it's only because the aims are good ones. For instance, if the Communist Party is for racial justice, at least one of their goals corresponds to ours." If experience of African Communist students to Moscow as Red trainees is significant, the only reason any racial justice enters into the picture is to "mousetrap" those who seek it. But Communists have been smart in one thing. They have sought, time after time, to ride a popular cause as far as they can often to the point where they install their leadership at its center and turn it to their own purpose. Often they do it to a point where the cause is confused with communism by those who oppose the Reds and who therefore take up opposition by the cause.

We trust our college students will be aware of this deceptive tactic. The DuBois cause is bound to appeal to some venturesome and frustrated souls in the area with its promises, backed up by the appeal of a now-dead but long-frustrated leader of the Negro freedom movement. DuBois, himself, eventually became a Communist. And the pattern of his life should be a warning for America to appreciate the patience and understanding of the millions of its Negroes who were not driven into communism by their fustrations. 4 Hain' in Space The Russians' latest space achievement is about in line with their usual procedure in such matters.

Apparently they have tried to outdo the United States in its space experiments immediately before we undertook our next step. The excelling was in daring drama, however, rather than in anything that might have contributed real progress toward exploration of the moon. The Soviets certainly took the prize for drama. They put one man outside their ship to float in space, itself, and perform acrobatics for 10 minutes. This was doubtless a demonstration in space of what American scientists already knew could be done from experiments in the laboratory.

Our own next test, scheduled for Tuesday, should offer greater proof of effectiveness of our apparatus. It will demonstrate our ability to steer a space ship and control its flight. Vice Whispers Into Open Mayor candidate Clyde Wiseman may have brought out into the open a campaign issue that is valid. Or it may be "hog'wash" as former Alton policeman (now Deputy Sheriff and Alderman) Louis Bowman alleges. The city might as well be confronted by the gambling and vice issue in connection with the campaign.

Inquiry among higher authorities indicates there should be little to be concerned about, either way. The state police, the state's attorney's office, and the sheriff all insist the wide open town is a dead issue. As far as they are concerned, the lid will stay on vice here and in the rest of county, as far as it. is possible to enforce the laws against it, regardless of who gets elected. Apparently they recognize the general moral tone of the county as opposed to commercialized vice.

Their statements rob the "pro" as well as the "ami'' vice groups of their issue. The Tax Rate Issue Mayor Candidate Paul S. Russell has introduced a valid issue into the election campaign. He urges that the city go all the way Us contest of the Butler-Hodge' porperty tax rate ceiling as it applies to the city when objections are filed against its 1964 levies. This year the tax objection litigation was settled area industries after there wert indications the matter would be carried all the way to the Illinois Supreme Court.

Former Councilman Russell might have been deprived of his issue, however, before the city ever got a chance to act or the contest might have taken a different turn. State's Attorney Bartylak has announced he is considering advice to County Clerk Eulalia Hotz against extending the city's tax rate beyond the limitation of the act, since city authorities apparently have conceded the validity of the objector's contentions by settling the case. At that, such an action by the state's attorney could open the way to a quicker test by the city. If it went through the usual processes of waiting for an objection to fight, the city might be delayed some months in its first move. If Bartylak advises the clerk against extending the rate this spring, the city could move in with a quick action testing the basis of such a refusal.

We could hope it would receive equally speedy processing the courts. PAUL S. COl'SLI-Y, Editor Readers Forum Sweet Land of Liberties A Pat for Candy Stripers Every day when we pick up our daily paper, we read of robbery, murder, and vandalism of all kinds, committed by teenagers. I would like to call your attention to a group of dedicated girls who, in my opinion, are doing a noble bit of work. I refer to the Candy Strjp- ers who give of their time to (he sick in the hospitals.

My wife has been in an Alton hospital, and the smile and willingness with which these girls give' of themselves is something to see. Why can't we give a pat on the back to these young people who are trying to help those It's All There Now I see the ACBG is making strange noises again. Its most recent bleatings are typical of the usual propagandizing. They cry: "The further fact remains, Mr. Day was the principal factor in killing council- manager government in Alton." This is sheer nonsense! The truth is, council manager government killed itself.

Its dictatorial attitudes, is utter disregard of citizen desires, its various other unfavorable attributes were responsible for its death. Alton's citizens have seen enough of council-manager government for a long time. The attempt to place blame on anything or anyone else for the death of councD-manager government is assinine. The most significant factor in Alton's voters' kicking out the manager government was that most citizens feel their attiudes and desires on city matters (big and little) were ignored or ridiculed by an all powerful central government figure. Let's examine just what good government is.

Requirements to be met are: 1. Officials are elected by the people. 2. Officials discharge their duties to the best of their ability. 3.

AH citizens are given all their rights. 4. All citizens are given sufficient police and fire protection. 5. The government is responsive to what the people want.

6. Fiscal matters are handled prudently and honestly with purpose and direction. 7. All citizens pay a fair share Of taxes. Mayor-council form of government does meet these requirements in many communities.

It can do so here. The surest way to see that it does IK for the people to demand and to elect officials who are sincere in delivering good government. The task doesn't end there, however. The citizen must voice his opinions to their elected officials so they can have no question as to what the people want. To say that only council-manager government can fulfill the requirements for better government is absurd.

If the person or organization is truly interested in "better government." they don'l need to look any further than at the people running for office now and at themselves. It's all there to make "better government." KENNETH DICRERSON 917 Wallace St. who cannot do for themselves and where a pleasant smile means so much? The nurses and attendants have been wonderfully kind and considerate during these trying two weeks, also. LUTHER MASON Bunker Hill (ED'S NOTE: Here's the pat! two day's late for St. Today's Prayer Merciful Father, we rejoice that Thou are working out Thy will and way in our lives.

Keep our hearts tuned to love and our ears open to Thy voice, we pray. Maybe we know the power of Thy Spirit, leading us from aimless living into a life of purpose and of meaning. Forgive us our transgressions, 0 Lord, and keep us faithful to a life of service in kingdom. We pray in the name of Christ, Amen. Fred Primrose, Ogden, Utah, minister, First Congregational Church.

C-M Never Had a Chance I was fired by Mr. Baxter's recent letter stating the A.C. B.C. will not endorse any of the 11 seeking the office of mayor. I am most happy to hear that they have acted in this manner.

They now have joined the ranks of the run of the mill. Let's wait and see what happens before we move, to be sure that we get onto the best wagon. Mr. Baxter says his organization was formed to promote the Council-Manager form of government. With very little research one can see that the 50 per cent he speaks of have the Council-Manager form of government.

Alton does fall into the other 50 per cent, for we never had this form in Alton. We did, however, have one that resembled it, in name only. As I recall, it took the majority vote of the people to put Mr. Watt out of the seat of manager. This, I say, was Manager-Council form of government.

If 1 kept up with all that went on, the citizens of Alton never were told all the facts in wanting to pu( (he manager out. Enough was let out that led the people of Alton to put i in out. But I understand that there are still a few loose ends left. If you wish to put us back into that form, then I am most not my has happy that A.C.B.C. did come out in support of choice for mayor.

My choice for mayor proven beyond any doubt that he can manage, be a leader, and not fall before the tyrants of graft and corruption. He cannot be pressured in doing what be believes best for Alton and its citizens. My choice for Mayor says: That council-manager form of government is good, Urban Renewal, yes; "But let us keep it at home, financed by our people, controlled by our people, the people of Alton. He will work to curb the ever- increasing rate of juvenile behavior. He will enlist citizens groups, composed of businessmen, labor, and religious leaders, to help and assist in making just decisions for Alton.

He is the one who will fulfill the job as manager and leader of (he people, to put Alton back in the ranks as an All America city: Paul Russell. DEL U'ALKINGTON 3643 Aberdeen Ave, Forum ote Writers names and addresses must be published with letters to the Readers Forum. Letters must be concise 'preferably not over 150 words). All are subject to condensation. ing Features Syndicate.

Inr 1965 David Lawrence GOP Takes Up Demo Burden WASHINGTON The leadership of the Republican party in the Senate has certainly misinterpreted the function of a minority party. It has, unfortunately, relieved the Democratic Party the majority party of full responsibility for the unprecedented piece of legislation on voting rights which President Johnson has recommended for immediate passage by both houses. The President, on the other hand, was politically smart in shifting much of the burden of drafting the legislation to the Republican Party leaders. For he thus diverted attention from the split in his own party, and is able now to claim that the measure has bipartisan p- port. But history shows that bipartisan support rarely results in bipartisan credit and that the efforts of a minority party in such Instances are never ap- preciated at the polls.

If a piece of legislation is popular, it is the party that put it through Congress which usually gets the votes of approval at election time. The minority party in every representative system is supposed to criticize what the majority party proposes and direct attention to weakness in the hope that these will be corrected. But the minority leader of the Senate now has put a stamp of approval on the President's measure, which is, in fact, already being referred to in many quarters as a Republican bill. Yet the measure violates principles as well as the longstanding position of the Demo, oratic Party in defense of states' rights. There are many defects in the legislation which Mr.

Johnson has declared should be pushed through Congress in the shortest possible time. The White House is frowning upon any lengthy debate. Though the bill is a highly technical document and requires thorough consideration in com i tee hearings and full discussion on the floor of the House arid Senate, there is a crusade going on already to make it appear that any such procedure would be nothing more than a delaying "filibuster." Not since the 1930's when the late president Franklin D. Roosevelt submitted to Congress his measure to "pack" the supreme court in order to be able to appoint enough new members to the court to overturn the existing majority has there been any such extreme proposal as Mr, Johnson has just sent to Congress. The provisions for the punishment meted out to four states are a form of ex post facto legislation, which is forbidden by the constitution itself.

Allen-Scott Report Judge May Have To Explain Ruling WASHINGTON Chicago municipal judge, who has stirred up a storm of controversy in the five months he has been on the bench, may find himself doing some headline testifying before the House Judiciary Committee at its forthcoming hearings on President .1 n- son's anti-crime legislation. Committee leaders are being strongly urged to Judge George Leighton to explain two extraordinary decisions he has handed down in his brief tenure. In numerous protests and complaints, these rulings are being cited as glaring instances of "gross miscarriage of justice by a public official charged with (he responsibility of en- iorcing law and order." In one case, Leighton freed two Puerto Ricans who severely slashed a policeman when he tried to arrest them for threatening pedestrians with a broken beer bottle. In the other, Sam DeStefano, Chicago hoodlum, was granted a new trial following his conviction by a jury on charges of obstructing justice by bribing witnesses to refuse to identify a holdup man. It took 27 stitches and 23 days in the hospital for the policeman to recover.

His face will be scarred for life. Leighton released the defendants on the ground the policeman, by drawing his revolver, gave them the right to resist arrest. "The right to resist unlawful arrest is a phase of 1 f-de- fense," astonishingly proclaimed Leighton. DeStefano's conviction was set aside by Leighton, in what he described as a "Magnanimous gesture," on the contention that both he and the prosecutor had made inflamatory remarks in the presence of the jury and DeSlefano, therefore, had not received a fair trial. CommiUeemen have been told DeStefano and Leighton were close friends, and the former had consulted the judge on legal matters before he went on the bench.

SOD of immigrants from a Portuguese colony, Leighton graduated from Howard University, Washington, D.C., in 1940, and Harvard Law in 1946, Prior to his election as a circuit judge last November, he represented members of the Chicago underworld. Allen was an attorney for Sam Giancana, notorious ruler of Chicago's hi his unsuccessful suit to bar the FBI from keeping him under close surveillance. Leighton al. so handled legal affairs for Elijah Muhammad, head of the Black Muslims. Democratic, centres sion- al leaders, aft.er consulting agreed to tidriftideratioh of the anti- crime measure in the House.

They deem the Senate the main battleground on this legislation. Novel Till Tapper Democratic fund-raisers are enviously eying an ingenious device that has netted the Republican electioneering chest around $100,000. It is a glossy-paper 60-page magazine-ty book titled The Heartbeat of the Government." Profusely illustrated, it is loaded with of ads from defense contractors and business firms. The revenue from these ads i.s financing the activities of the House GOP Campaign Committee, already busy on next year's crucial election battle. Only hitch to the Democrats' resorting to the same device is its legality.

That question has been raised by wary members of the Democratic Campaign Committee. They have asked the Jus- lice Department for a ruling. Some of i committeemen contend the GOP publication violates Section G08-B of the Hatch Act. Enacted in 1840, this provision prohibits political committees and candidates from raising funds through publications containing paid a i se- Representative Robert Wilson, chairman of the GOP Committee, holds its booklet is educational and therefore within the law. He also cites the Democrats' big 1964 moneymaker hard-back national convention book that netted nearly $1 million.

What They Did From The Telegraphs of Yesteryear 25 Years Ago MARCH 19, 1949 The British Royal Air Force returned to the icene of a seven-hour continuous bombing raid of Germany, armed with bombs, guns, and cam- inn to wreak more havoc and record the results. Vivien R. Nelson, 87, Hotel Stratford manager for JBW yfMK, died at the family suite in the hotel. He lid Differed series of illnesses beginning with a llpOkJMt hip oo Jan. 1, appendicitis, and pneumonia, API wfaieh be flad so satisfactorily recovered that he Vil diamJased from the hospital, A two-baur test of 165 miles of rural electric lines from HiuneJ south toward the Madison-st.

OWf Cowty Uw was made, The Rev. 0. W. Heggemeier, Evangelical Church pastor, said the March 2 tornado might have increased the expediency of providing more room for worshippers. He addressed the consistory, which discussed need for extensive repairs to their building as contrasted with a building program to meet the church's expansion.

Edward Stahlhut, 55, prominent Ft. Russell Township farmer and a veteran of the World War, was killed in a head-on traffic crash a half-mile east oj Bethalto on Rte. 140. His car, and a truck driven by a Belleville man, both caught fire, charring Stablhut, who was trapped. Paul Smith.

23, of Carrollton, was admitted to St. Joseph's Hospital for treatment of severe head injuries sustained in a truck accident on Missouri Rte. (W, close to the BelJeiontaine bridge. Nominating petitions to qualify lor re-election to the Alton Board of Education were filed by Gilson Brown, president, Dr. H.

E. Middleton, and 1. L. Misegades. The home of Mr.

and Mrs. Clarion Williams of Seminary Street was damaged by fire, discovered by their neighbors while the Williams were working at Owens-Illinois Glass Co. 50 Years Ago MARCH 19, 1915 The French ship Bouvet, built in 1898, was sunk in the bombardment of the Dardanelles forts. A statement from Athens was interpreted by the British government as meaning Greece intended to enter the war on the Allies' side. Meanwhile, German and Russians were debating over destruction of cities on both sides.

Berlin admitted the Russians had sent a sortie through the German lines to Mamel and fired the village. A German order was issued to destroy Russian government buildings in captured areas, and Petrograd fired back a protest to the Kaiser. In a local reflection of the war, the Sparks Milling Co. completed an order of 120,000 barrels of flour at its Alton and Terre Haute mills. The order was enough to fill two ships carrying it to Europe, Required for the flour was 515,000 bushels of wheat.

Paul ft. Scott of Alton was a member of the Washington Lee debating team that handed Trinity College of North Carolina its first defeat in five years. The Big Four paid the city $111 in taxes it had protested as representing a 28-cent excessive township load and bridge levee. The city had been upheld in County Court against the railroad's protest the tax was illegal. The city's contention was that a city, township, Alton could levy a town road tax.

The Big Four first announced it planned to appeal, but then paid the taxes. English language services at both German churches in Alton were far outstripping German language services in attendance. The churches were the Henry Street German Methodist and the Evangelical. Vacancy in the justice of the peace office occasioned by death of Justice G. F.

Pfeiffer would remain City Clerk Barth. Kennedy said he was advised it would have to be filled at a special election if it were filled. Workmen repairing fire damage to a home discovered evidence of coal olj on the carpets and in the bedding. Insurance agents summoned the state deputy fire marshal, Hugh G. Strumpfer of Springfield to investigate..