The Delta Democrat-Times from Greenville, Mississippi • Page 4

CDtrOKIAlS Of Greenville, Tuesday, May 9, 1967 Were it IcU to me to decide whether we should have a government without ncw.paj.crs or newspapers without government, 1 should not hesitate a moment to prefer Race And Military Service During World War II, Senator elements ot the 101st Airborne Di- James Eastland made a great point vision and there are the green- of underscoring what he called beret wearing Special Korces troops the inherent inferiority of Negro scattered all over South Vietnam soldiers, who served segregated units. then in and probably North Vietnam as well. He was not alone. Many south- It has been our experience that ern congressmen, seeing an oppor- Negroes--for whatever reason-- tunity to woo white voters at lit- are likely to volunteer for such tie or no cost to themselves, made units, There is the incentive of the speeches and wrote articles the prestige that comes with wearing burden which was to prove that the beret of the Special Forces or a Negro could not be a good sol- the "screaming eagle" of the 101st dier. It was a racist argument, but many believed it.

NOW that argument is dead. Perhaps Korea did not kill it. But Vietnam certainly has. The record Airborne Division. There is the $55 extra monthly pay that an enlisted paratrooper gets for his hazardous duty.

BUT THE point is that the out- of the Negro soldier in that vicious fits that the heaviest casual- i war has been magnificent, as ties in i a now are the ones General William Westmoreland given the toughest missions. These took pains to point out when he are the all-volunteer units. There- visited his native South Carolina last week. fore the argument that Negroes are being selected for Vietnam duty But another argument has de- in a discriminatory fashion is veloped now. This is the argument incorrect, of some civil rights leaders who have turned their attention to the German Gaullism Doesn't Cause Americans To Dance In Streets BONN The crowd reaction to Lyndon B.

Johnson and Charles de Gaulle at one point during the Adenauer funeral procession in nearby Cologne re- ed in a prepared statement to the Bundestag the next day. BUT MR. Johnson will be sadly mistaken if he thinks that a stubbornly pro-American predecessor as Chancellor, arc partly responsible. German politicians grumble a the President treated Erhard like an errand CL'SSIUIl 111 Jrcdiuv tj fleets in part the new interrela- quick application of the LBJ boy and agree that U. insist a 11 rtn fiprman finanr.ial SLin- war in Vietnam.

The best-known of these is Dr. Martin Luther King There is, however, the matter of draft boards in this country. There are now no Negores on any draft boards in Mississippi or Ala- Jr. president of the Southern bama. If this is not exclusion be- Ch'ristian Leadership Conference.

cause of race, then we don't know Dr. King argues that the war is what it is. immoral and that we should not The time is coining when the be fighting it. We happen to disa- federal courts, because--once again gree, but we are more concerned --the states have failed to act, will right now with a thesis used by Dr. order governors to nominate Ne- King, Stokely Carmichael of the groes for vacancies on local draft Student Nonviolent Coordinating boards.

Some of us will then fume over federal intrusion into local affairs. We will have only ourselves to blame, because we failed to act while we yet had the chance. Whitten Holding Up Food Stamp Funds In Fight Over 'Starvation' Commitllee and others who object to the war and the involvement of this country in Asia. THIS is that there is a high per- So this is the area in which the WASHl-N'GTON Despite a Senate finding of "widespread hunger in tlie Delta counties of Mississippi lhat can only be de- scribetl as shocking," one stub- centage of Negroes in Vietnam, a rantings of a Stokely Carmichael bom Congressman stands in the the action of local cf- a Jw a 0 federal aid for the states starving Negro children. see no reason to believe Ne- higher percentage than is the per- have, unfortunately, some basis in centage of Negroes in the United logic.

States and that this proves that the The suppression of Overseas Weekly comes at the same time that the Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara, under One angry Senator, just back pressure from Congress, is easing up on the censorship of the A newspaper, Stars and the only state, incidentlly, which refused to help distribute federal aid to the hungry. from Mississippi, charged pri- He is bespectacled, beguiling United States is exporting Negroes groes are treated differently than ep Jamie Whitten, ficials in depriving undernourished Negroes of food "borders on genocide." to Vietnam to be killed. "Urban anyone else in Vietnam. We also hose native Tallahatchie Coun- OUR COMBAT troops in South and "genocide," Carmi- believe that most draft boards in ty is located on the edge of the Vietnam have been stripped of 7 i i i (3 Un nf tha frWVVinnC tnmj chael calls it in innumerable rallies and speeches and demonstrations. Those who make this argument sippi and probably other states as ignore a single fact that most men well Negro citizens are denied the Stripes.

Civilian operated Overseas Weekly, ot course, submits to no censorship. Nicknamed "Oversexed Weekly," by its GI readers, it is scrappy tabloid tionshlps of the Western alii- ance. When a de Gaulle's auto passed by, it was greeted by cheers and applause. But any clwors produced by the passage of President Johnson's car were drowned out by the laughter among the good burghers of Cologne, amused by the President's Secret Service agents trotting along to keep up with UK limousine. The laughter probably was inadvertent, but several members of the Bundestag (federal parliament) who discussed the incident the next night agreed it could not have happened just a year ago.

To them it was a symbol of the fact lhat West Germany is no longer the obedient vassal of Washington but is playing a subdued, discreet version of Gaullist foreign policy. THE REASONS are diffuse: de Gaulle's profound impact in promoting European nationalism, Washington's long inattention to Bonn, the new German government's major drive better relations with a Europe, and certainly not least considerations of domestic German politics. But whatever the reasons, German Gaullism is not causing U. S. policy makers to dance in UK streets.

They are disturbed, a inordinately, by the still remote prospect of a Bonn government making its own deal with Moscow. Thus, Mr. Johnson's visit here revealed a U. S. attentiveness to German sensibilities not evident for sometime.

The President was at his most convincing in his private session i Chancellor Kurt Georg Kissinger the day after the funeral. Kiesinger was thoroughly charmed by the President and quite convinced thai in the future there would be more U. German consultations. Tndeed, he ordered a last-minute elimination of an unflatlering reference to U. S.

diplomacy contain- trealment to the Chancellor restores the old relationship. From the standpoint of German politics alone, Kiesinger will keep arm's length from the i- denl. In contrast to the early 1960's when German politicians argued over who was Washington's favorite, a little tweaking of Uncle Sam's whiskers is good political tactics here today. Mr. Johnson's relations i Ludwig Erhard, Kiesinger's Quirks SHOCKED WEST I.ANGTON, England (UPl)-Farmer John Walker couldn't believe his eyes.

Almost as one, 10 cows on a milking machine in his barn toppled over dead. Later he discovered that a freak electrical storm had sent thousands of volts through the machine and the metal chain used to tether the animals. "The poor things just seemed to go to sleep," Walker said. "They felt no pain at all. It was eerie." REVENGE IANCSTER, Mo.

(UPI) -Robert Alexander Brassfield today was charged with chopping down worth of trees along U.S. 63. Brassfield is a junk dealer. The trees were part of a highway beautificatkm program. UNHAPPY ENDING PATGNTON, England (UPI)Hotel keeper Reg Spooner flew off for a holiday in Majorca on the money won for him by the one racehorse he bought two years ago for 630 pounds Through a complicated misunderstanding, the horse was cold Saturday--without his knowledge--for a third that price.

"We're trying to decide how to break the news to him," his daughter said. "It'll break his heart." ence on German financial support for American troops helped topple Erhard last autumn. In fact, Kiesinger's remarkable popularity today is in no small part a result of his exacl reversal of Erhard's role. It was Kiesinger who forced the U. S.

to back down on the troop financing question. Fate even dictated that the Chancellor would win his battle of wills with Mr. Johnson over who would i i whom first. But more than German domestic politics is involved. There is a surprising consensus a bolh Christian Democratic and Social Democratic supporters of Kiesinger's "Grand Coalition" government that the U.

S. went behind Bonn's back to negotiate the non-proliferation treaty with Moscow. is grumbling over American llwughitcssncss. as when German defense officials on their way to Washington found out from reading London newspapers lhat the U. S.

was reducing its German force by two brigades. There is pervasive bitterness here that the U. S. has betrayed Germany on the question of national reunification. THERE IS also de a Kiesinger has returned to Adenauer's policy of high priority for Franco German relations.

Kiesinger shamelessly woos the General. That means, for instance, an abrupt end to Bonn's statements publicly endorsing the U. S. position in Vietnam. "Whether we agYcc with him or not," one high German official told us, "we're not going to offend dc Gaulle over anything so remote as Vietnam." The fact that this agnosticism about Vietnam might just offend Johnson doesn't Bonn.

For better or for worse, Bonn is now playing its hand. The automatic nod of approval here whenever something is said in Washington is gone, and perhaps gone forever. this nation do their work' fairly, hunger belt. He also represents one of the basic freedoms they But we also know that in Missis- the Delta counties whose offi- are supposed to be fighting for- which has often raised the hack. cials have refused to recognize freedom of the press.

know who have been in the service. Many of the outfits fighting in Vietnam are volunteer, prestige units. There is the First Cavalry Division (Airmobile). There are the existence of a hunger prob- chance to serve on a draft board lem simply because their skin is dark. As chairman of the House Ap- It is the only point along the mili- propriations Subcommittee which tary road that color remains a consideration, and it should be eliminated.

i favorite newspaper, Overseas Weekly, has been bar- les of the brass by hard-hitting exposes. It triggered a Congressional investigation, for example, by breaking the story of Letters-To-The- Ed itor Clean-Up Campaign Did Good Job red from military posts in Viet- Ma jy win John Get Out And Register This year's eleclions in Wash- plete, or the test to "interpret," ington County, in Greenville and. the requirement for good moral frcm Ta a la cnie county, in in Mississippi are crucial. How we character." vokc stick as molasses, has i vote will decide how Mississippi Virtually all that has to be given and our community go in the next is name, address and length of time four years. It could decide whether you have lived in the slate, county exaggerated, he insists sweetly, Mississippi is ever to leave the bot- and precinct.

by "publicity seekers." torn of every significant economic index. controls the Agriculture Depart-, ment's purse strings, Whitten has blocked funds for the food stamps needed by the poor to buy government-subsidized food. SECRETARY of Agriculture Orville Freeman has Whilten repeatedly, pleading with him to approve the necessary funds. But the Congressman a sticky as molasses, has denied that Mississippi Negroes need food Their plight has been If there are 21,000 voters on the hooks today, there should be a He is referring to Senators Joe Clark, Jennings Ran- nam. The reason simply is that Overseas Weekly dares to criticize the brass and speak up for Uie GI.

Only a few dozen i which can clear South Vietnamese customs and censorship, are at civilian newsstands in downtown Saigon. But the military ban keeps the paper from reaching the troops in the battle zones. Yet Defense Department distributes to our fighting men such magazines as Lady's Circle, True Romances, Woman's Day, True Love, Romantic Confessions, Better Homes and Gardens, and Fashions. Even a pub- Birch activities while lie commanded the 24th Infantry Division in Augsburg, Germany. The paper has been banned by Chiang Kai shek's government in Taiwan for unstated reasons, and the few copies that filter through commercial channels into Vietnam are heavily censored.

Pages five and six were ripped out of the paper by Vietnamese censors the day, for example, because of an expose of bribery and scandal in Saigon. Observed was one man, who was driving along Main Street and stopped his car, got out, walked to the edge of the curb, To The Editor: The emphasis placed on Clean- Up Fix-Up Paint-Up week has passed. The paint brush once again has picked up a broken bottle, drop- become motionless, the pounding pod it into a lilter barrel and sound of hammer on nail has ceased and for many emphasized cleaning is over. But the citizens of Greenville appear to have worked hard though, in improving the appear- ence of their surroundings. Lawns, lining our busy streets reflect the careful allenlion that each yardman must have put into continued on his way.

Thoughtful wouldn't you say? Letters should be limited to 200 words. They are subject to standard editing. They must be signed, but the writer's name will be withheld upon request. Noticed also were service sta- it. Public eye-sores vanished, for tkms with the clean fronts.

It But no one can vote who isn't leas bv he me the ctalph, D-W. Claiborne Pell, lication called Hairdo, just what i i i I third more at least, oy me lime me i- Vnnn(v everv redblooded combat soldier registered, and there are still far closed too many citizens of both races who have not gone to the court- There won't be, which means a house and put (heir name on the lot of Washington Countians won't registration books. have a voice in their state's future. D-R. Edward Kennedy, D- every redblooded combat soldier Gaylord Nelson, wants to read, is on the approv- Robert Kennedy, D-N.

Wins- ed list, ton Prouly, Jacob Javits, R-N. and George Murphy, R- But at least the South Vietnamese censors allowed the rest of the paper to be sold in Saigon. Our own Defense Department a banned it entirely from military newsstands. the most. SELDOM DID we see garbage blanketing our street, or thoughtless citizens deliberately littering the sidewalks.

would appear to many that service station naturally would be littered with oil cans and dirty paper towels, because the constant public traffic going in and out. But not so. Our service sta- 7ke This is tragic, since the state's Calif. THIS IS inexcusable. There is future will largely determine that no longer the long form to com- ot each one of us.

Only Yesterday Jhe They reported to the a that they had "heard testimony and observed, first-hand, conditions of malnutrition." They interviewed one hungry family with 13 children. "Some of the children," the Senators found, "could not go lo school bcause they had no shoes, and had distended stomachs, chronic sores of the upper GOP Should Crystalize Its Vietnam Policy fiuckteij The news is that General William Westmoreland requested, while in Washington, yet another increase in the size of his army. Now he wishes 600,000 men, a rise of 210,000 over thfl lip, and were extremely lethar- figure for early this year, and a has- kept firmly shut for lo thesa many months. WHAT, for instance, ore we doing to try to bring Asians to Vietnam to help fight the war? At the moment there are 47,000 cong? At any rate, we are entitled to know what ore the steps that have been taken. And we are left largely ignorant.

All of this is, to quote the Pentagon, "classified information." publican leadership for a Republican point of view, to which all Democrats are welcome adherents. ttons put the best foot forward and kept a neat place. Especially must we commend our local business men who labored long hours to improve the appearance of the business firm. Even though the Clean-Up Paint- Up Fix-Up emphasis is slowly fading, we can still do a lot in keeping Greenville clean by continuing to be "appearance conscious citizens as we have been. Leroy Jenkins, Jr.

Greenville Solution Advanced For Lake Front To The Editor: I am a long time of Greenville, and 1 would like to join the objectors to the mills and towing companies taking up 11 the lake front. I would like to bring in my little paddle boat and lie it up to the bank, put out a rose bush, and build a few benches for the poor f-j people who are on welfare, etc. to sit on. And on second thought, build a few more benches on a back row for the poor working people who own the mills and towing companies because they may as well relire, as it seems to be There are of course pressures unpopular to work for a living 5 Years Ago G2 son, escaped for a third time late ic evidence of serious malnutri- Port of Greenville commission- Thursday, from the state tion." ers yesterday whittled off approxi- menial hospital at Whitfield. 25 Years Ago 42 C.

C. Scoville of Greenwood gic all of which are the trag- rise of 120.000 over the figure South Koreans there performing mately $25,000 from the cost of facilities to the 115-acre industrial fill by agreeing to construct a two- THE SENATORS investigated other similar cases of slark hunger in a land of food surpluses. Yet Whitten is unwilling to ad- most recently estimated for this year. It is anticipated that President Lyndon B. Johnson will okay the request.

Meanwhile Republicans are grumbling, and for good reason. A visitor to the office of Michigan Gov. George Romncy re- lane road instead of a four-lane traveling alone the highway that any of his constituents ports that the governor is great- 1 I ti 1,, In i i A a approach road. The action was taken upon the recommendation of Michael Baker and Associates, consulting engi- arolls ed his curiosity. He paid Tuesday when he noticed float- ing tire.

As it is war time and conservation of rubber is stressed, a Negro fanner 75 cents to wade coul( check for him- ly opposed to indefinite escalation by degrees. George Aiken with Agriculture Department of- of Vermont, the senior Republi- ficials, Whitten demanded the names of the hungry Negro fam- BUT even more than the participation of foreign troops in Vietnam, the Republicans should ask reassurance that any agreement by Johnson to furnish the additional troops carries with it an implicit agreement to But what about the Thais, who augment the pressures on North have only 250 men in Vietnam. And is it really so that the Vietnamese would resent participa- magnificently. There ore a mere 2,000 Filipinos. The Australians have weighed in with 5,600 and even isolated New Zealand has a couple of ambulance drivers in Vietnam.

on individual Republicans to arrive at differing positions if only to appeal lo one or another group within the party. Goldwater, for instance, is the hawks' hawk. At the other end there is Charles Percy, who has taken the Robert Kennedy line (invite the VC to tea, and ask them to stay on in the government). and clutter up the city with their places of business. Name withheld by rcquesl.

15 Years Ago 52 out in three feet of water and recover the tire. "It looks like a Charles Ferguson, an 18-year- stolen tire lo me," he said. It was self on the "true facts." The department dutifully furnished him some names, but skeptics old Negro, once identified by Mrs. in good condition but the brand expect the local authorities to Ruth Dickins os the slayer of her name had been cut off. mother, Mrs.

Idclla Long Thomp- Us identity remains a mystery. HOODING CARTER Fublishcr HODDING CARTER III Editor JOHN GIBSON General Manager rustle up food for these spotlighted families in order lo a i they are not in need. Last year, the Agriculture Department was able to distribute food stamps in Mississippi only because the Office of Economic Opportunity give the department $2 million out cf its own can senator, voices his objections to any categorical approval of Johnson's conduct of the war. Johnson, feeling now the closeness of 1068, is more ami more aware of crystallizing Republican criticism. Because it is criticism which one day soon he will not be able to overpower by simply asserting executive authority.

He needs to persuade the majority of the people that he knows what he is doing, and that means that he will have to open his big mouth which, on tion in the war by Formosans? Or is it lhat General Chiang Kai-shek, as has been whisper- Vietnam by means that do not call for large human commitments. is the same old story: the unblocked port of Haiphong, the undamaged irrigation tems, the unbombed ganglia of ed, has refused to "waste" his military and aerial power. Why troops on a peripheral engage- should the Republicans, in the name of bipartisanship, agree to so sharp a rise in the Ameri- Romney, after much agonizing, a considerable part of it public, came out in favor of all necessary measures to win the Mars and Jupiter, war, and now he has the opportu- Bom on this day in 1800 was abolitionist John Almanac By United Press International Today is Tuesday, May 9, the 129 day of 1967 with 236 to follow. The moon is new. The morning star is Mars.

The evening stars are Venus, ment, saving them, even as they grow old and grey, for the main round which he hopes will be can military force until fought on the Chinese mainland. Why is it inappropriate to ask nity to clarify, by saying that it is one thing to take all necessary measures to win the war, another to take half measures. budget to administer the food- other than purely general consid- a have been used to achieve the same result, which is the temporary incapacitation Japan for sokliers? If French of Nortil Vietnam to make war? and German troops can barrack together as they have here and there done over the past years in Europe, can't Japanese and Vietnamese troops, 20 years It is overdue for the Republicans to come together on the beginning of a line of criticism. The bitterness in the after the last war, make com- fighting, the haunting American stamp program. Mississippi was erations involving Vietnam, he mon a against the Viet- casualty figures, argue for Re- rune that he should speak now.

A i a Brown. On this day in history: In 1502, Chrsilophcr Columbus Richard Nixon is not exactly set out for his fourth and last in between his position much trip to America, more closely resembles Goldwater's a Percy's. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the old soldier, has already spoken: he is in favor of winning the war; but he is not much listened to nowadays. It is Nixon who is the best qualified to develop the Republican line, and it is oppor- In 1926, Commander Richard Byrd ard Floyd Bennett became the first men to fly over the North Pole.

In 1046, Italy's King Emanuel HI abdicated, yielding his throne to his son, Crown Princt Humbert. In 1966, Red Chirm set off third A-bomb..