The Fresno Bee from Fresno, California • 20

II SATURDAY NOVEMBER 2 1963 EDITORIAL PAGE THE FRESNO BEE Letters FromThe People Questions North Fulton's Treei Can Still Bo Saved Two fails have emerged clearly in the fight by Fresno City Councilman Wallace Henderson and olhera to save the irrcjdarpuble deodar trees which line North Fulton Street between Sumner and Belmont Avenues One is that there Is not the slightest justification in terms of traffic or land use for starting the widrning of North Fulton right now The other Is that projects like this tend to take on a life and momentum of their own and those who are committed to them Bre very reluctant to pause for a second lk I Frink the city traffic engineer has made it clear there is no need to widen North Fulton to accommodate traffic now there are he told the council "many other locations much more deficient from a traffic Frink's traffic projections indicate North Fulton will have to be widened some day "before as traffic picks up on the Ful-ton-Van Ness one way couplet Perhaps so Certainly there is time to wait and see A u1' 1 T- News Behind The News -V with broad Northern California support and some from the south did not propose to put their presidential contacts in Unruh's name Since then Unruh has enjoyed a choice White House state dinner and his tour What is still not clear is whether these benefices are a consolation prize or a sign of the Kennedys determination to stick by Unruh who stuck by them in 1960 The president has been slow to acknowledge that no one political technician no matter how adroit can manage his California party to its and his satisfaction It is a cross he has to carry and at times it is a real nuisance BESIEGED The heavy pressures on Governor Brown in the Engle case were reflected in his comments on his recent conversations with Mrs Engle The latter naturally seeks to protect her husband's interests by refusing to discuss his future Besieged by the ambitious who include some of his most loyal associates the governor naturally would like to know where he stands so he can resolve conflict before it starts He is extremely conscious also of the need of a vigorous senator to cope with the southern establishment which is so much more conservative than California With little time left to build a candidate should Engle find himself compelled to retire statewide officials such as Controller Alan Cranston and Attorney General Stanley Mosk probably have an edge over other sturdy party figures Among these others showing interest are Congressmen John Moss and James Roosevelt Unruh is not in this picture directly Should he work backstage for any one aspirant it would be construed as a White House choice' and envenom the contest Grin And Bear It Coup D'EUf How dors a roup d'rtat dilfrr from a Fresno A coup is a sudden chunge of government by force brought about by those who already hold some governmental or military power It differs from a revolution in that It Is effected from above while a revolution involvea participation of the masses Credit And Blame Who Is rredited with the saying: "Any party which takes credit for the rain must not be surprised if Its opponents blame it for the If Fresno Dwight Morrow American lawyer and diplomat Foreclosure Are mortgage foreclosures more frequent on higher priced GJ Fresno No The largest proper lion of foreclosures in the United States Is on homes in the $10000 to $14999 price category Grade Crossing Deaths Please give the number of casualties at highway -railway grade crossings in Selma In 1962 1244 persons were killed at railway-highway crossings in the United States Notice To assure an answer every question sent to The Bee must be accompanied by the true name and address of the correspondent Questions about school work prize contests legal matters old coins stamps and curios will not be answered Fresno Yesterdays Twenty Five Years Ago Nearly 5000 Sciots from 45 pyramids converged on Fresno for the 28th annual national convention of the Ancient Egyptian Order of Sciots Mayor Frank A Homan welcomed the delegates Rufus A Phillips announced plans for a $100000 motel immediately north of Roeding Park on a 17 acre site Carmen Hulbert an Edison Technical High School student was chosen as queen of the Armistice Day observance in Fresno Lohse executive secretary of the Fresno County Chamber of Com-m estimated $3000 would be required to construct and maintain an exhibit at the 1939 State Fair in Sacramento Forty Years Ago first football accident of the season was reported when Leonard Self 17 a Fresno High School student fractured his elbow in practice The city commission increased the monthly salary of City Attorney Simpson from $200 to $300 Gloria Swanson the movie actress en route from Hollywood to San Francisco was a luncheon guest in the Hotel Fresno Snow Was reported falling in Sugar Pine Madera County and lumberjacks began leaving the camp for the winter season Lichty From Los Angeles By Doris Flceson The yeasty California Democrats have muted their ideological differences in their enjoyment of state power but their internal fights for status are proceeding briskly Governor Edmund Brown has announced he will be chairman of President John Kennedy's campaign here next year This amounts to notice to the White House that its California pet Assembly Speaker Jesse Unruh must fall in line It is also a strong hint that Brown feels fully competent to deal with the question of a successor to Senator Clair Engle now ill if Engle is unable to run for reelection next year 'Progress' Unruh is not around to comment Right now he is explaining to the Far East how California operates its system of higher education This he is amply qualified to do as he is an astute and educated politician even though as unkind Life magazine photographs emphasized he still believes against all the evidence that calories do not count QUERY California Republicans are raising the justifiable question of whether Unruh's Asian tour is really necessary The poor old state department as usual is in the middle though its Unruh sponsorship unquestionably represents a political gesture by the White House The Kennedy political aides had ample private notice that Governor Brown Arizona the right to more than 1 million additional acre feet of Colorado River water forced a speed up in the preparation of the program This water will be taken from California whose growing population and economy can ill afford the loss Local water leaders therefore were cautiously receptive when Secretary Udall first announced a regional plan that would replace the water taken from California But their smiles turned to frowns when they read of some of the ways he proposed to make up our loss Essentially the plan would bring an additional 24 million acre feet of water from Northern California Half of the Northern California water however would be pumped to Arizona! In other words California would recover the amount of water lost to Arizona but not any supply We would be right back where we started before the Colorado River decision while new water would be doubled And California of course would pay for most of the program This state has already undertaken the immense Feather River Project on its own to provide for future water needs The effect that federalizing of the project might have on its scheduled completion and on the state's jurisdiction is a matter of deep concern The Udall plan moreover is silent or hazy on the all important question of protecting existing state water rights particularly our claim to at least 44 million acre feet from the Colorado River Unfortunately Secretary Udall holds most of the cards California needs water and the court gave him authority to allocate the Colorado River downflow in times of shortage We are not so desperate however that we must agree to a bad deal The bargaining will be tough and the need for statewide water unity greater than ever ItliDr Rafferty Who Is Incomprehensible Dr Mix Rafferty Mate of public in struct inn tolit a University of San Francisco audience there can be no separation rtf education and religion and deplored what he sees a a trend to erase the mention of (ind front public schools He termed the situation "perfectly Incomprehensible" adding that (id is an American tradition The implication of his remarks obviously is that the courts have pone too far in their church-state separation decisions Hut uhit remains perfectly incomprehensible is Hr Rafferty's exact view on the matter because as usual he preferred to deal in vague generalities It is true the United States Supreme Court has ruled against organized prayers in the public schools But is Dr Rafferty specifically opposed to this decision? Here is what he had to say in his book Suffer Little Children: It distresses me to have you take some of America's churches as an example For some time now they have been bawling for school money whining for released time and pouting because Bible commentaries are not being read daily to school children This somewhat infantile display of temper has served to conceal but not to efface the fact that many of our reverend colleagues have fallen down on the job A generation or two ago they had no need to clamor for artificial respiration They were doing a job and their churches were full Today they seek a captive congregation and a privileged place the public trough In view of this forthright statement it would seem Dr Rafferty abhors the intrusion of organized religion in the public schools at least as much as the courts do What then is the basis of his objections and concern? Well he asks how can a teacher discuss a Handel musical mass without talk-ing of God? Yet the teaching about religions their history development and impact never has been ruled out by the courts In fact the courts have made it quite clear that such instruction is perfectly permissible Why then is Dr Rafferty upset? To quote his own words it really is Bully Boy Tactics Extremists of the far right having demonstrated their boorishness in a recent assault on Adlai Stevenson in Dallas Tex got back into the news column by attacking United States Chief Justice Earl Warren and his wife with placards and leaflets in New York City These outbursts go beyond the scope of proper demonstration They have verged on physical attack This form of political expression is alien to American life It is traditional and proper for Americans to express their views by public demonstration if they so desire but these demonstrations are no longer acceptable when they take on aspects of physical intimidation The throwing of placards and leaflets hitting people on the head with standards and spitting on them are reminiscent of the bully boy tactics of brown shirt-ed SA storm troopers who used physical force against political opponents even before the Nazis gained power Fortunately Chief Justice Warren and his wife were not injured And fortunately the vast majority of Americans both liberal and conservative understand you do not win political fights by physically attacking your opponent It is too bad the ill mannered minority does not understand this Those obsessed with family lineage convinced as they are their blood gives them an automatic station among men should be reminded of the truth that character and quality are conquests not bequests With so much public interest in whether it will rain the weather bureau properly might be renamed the whether bureau What ever happened to that quiet country road? Thanhs From Grange Editor of The Rre Sir Will you accept the thanks of the California State Grange for comprehensive coverage of all phases of the recent 91 si annual session of the California State Grange at Santa Rosa October Hth through 18th? The membership from the Oregon line to Kern County have complimented The Sacramento Modesto and Fresno Bees on the accurate reporting of the day to day happenings particularly those on resolutions af feeling California and national interests To show you the effectiveness of The Bee coverage this office has been besieged with phone calls personal visits and mail relative to one release in your October 17th issue of The Sacramento Bee and we presume corresponding printings of The Modesto and Fresno Bees relative to Grange action on agricultural price supports The Granges In California endorse price supports for agricultural products whenever needed hut for years we have contended that the methods now In vogue are unwieldy and have resulted in the accumulation of $8 billion in food and fiber crops with storage charges close to $1 billion annually The California State Grange suggests that instead of the present system of a federal agency purchasing these commodities they be allowed to flow to the markets in their natural channels: that a price support that is not too high but would constitute a bulwark against disaster be set on commodities having an annual national output of $25 million or more The producer markets his output in normal channels and takes a receipt At stated intervals the receipts could be presented to the federal agency and if there is a difference between his actual returns and the price set against disaster then the producer can collect the difference in a direct cash payment from the federal agency This similar program Is now in effect with domestic wool production and the wool growers seem enthusiastic over the results This direct compensatory payment is not perfect but we believe it worth a trial on one presently supported crop and one crop not supported for at least one year If not desirable it can soon be replaced The California State Grange adopted resolutions to this effect at Santa Rosa with the provision that the total compensatory payment by the federal agency should not exceed $12500 to any single producer in any calendar year I believe your readers will appreciate your clarification of the California State Grange stand on this phase of agricultural price supports QUINN Master California State Grange Sacramento Losing Landmarks Editor of The Bee Sir: My husband and I have moved to Fresno within the past two months We noted two beautiful and outstanding things the first hot afternoon we arrived the lovely courthouse and the trees on Fulton Street These two things are all that distinguish Fresno from all the other valley towns and cities Now both distinguishing landmarks are to be tom down Why? It seems to me that Fresno is tearing down the very things that make Fresno the capital of the valley: The courthouse gives dignity to our city and the trees add a greenness and freshness that many larger cities envy and try to create by planting trees Tear down the trees and you make a desert of the downtown area Could not another street be widened? Could not the trees be saved? DISTRESSED Fresno Notice Every communication intended for publication in The Letters From The People column must carry the true name and address though pen names are permitted at the discretion Letters of fewer than 250 words will be given preference All letters are subject to condensation Poetry Is not published in The Bee Dependant Wife Editor of The Bee Sir In his recent letter Old Sarge Mates that pensioners are compelled to live In "flea and subsist on hot dogs 1 just wish to say that the Stale of California is the most liberal of all the states with the aged The purpose of old age assistance is to provide needy older persons with the necessities of life and such other services as are required to promote their social and physical well being the end thnt they may as much as possible remain active participating members of their community It Is also recognized that it is the right of every retired person to live in clean sanitary and comfortable surroundings and maintain his dignity While the pension allotment is no fortune it is adequate for the food rent utilities clothing and incidentals if properly managed However there Is one problem that has received little or no attention It is the plight of the wife of the retired man In most cases the woman is younger and not eligible for pension at the same time her husband is and suddenly the income is only enough for one person Very few women of around 60 can hold down job or even get one There are restrictions on how she can earn her living It must be done outside the home in which the pensioner lives There are conflicts in laws regarding this situation to the extent that some couples have found it necessary to separate at the time of the man's retirement just at the time when he needs his wife most This is a matter that needs prompt and serious attention in the state legislature to the end that some provisions be made for the dependent wife of the retired man Contrary to the belief of many people a woman does not receive a state pension at age 62 DULCIE BROWN Fresno Game Management Editor of The Bee Sin We cannot understand why the self styled from Visalia did not sign his name if he Is so sure of his facts about doe shooting We wonder if he ever stopped to think about his statement "The department of fish and game has sold California sportsmen down the river by depleting the deer from the mountains" Did he ever stop to think that when the deer are gone so will the jobs of the men in game management be gone? Did he ever look at the records of other states and compare their hunter success ratio with California? Did he check other counties in California which have had no doe shoots? We are sure he did not or he would find their numbers are down comparable to the counties that have had doe shoots the past several years We do not deny that deer numbers are down but we do not believe that it is due to the killing of does We sincerely believe that deer herds have to be managed and their numbers kept in balance with the available forage We agree with that some of the cattlemen who run their cattle in the mountains would like to get rid of the deer We believe also that if they thought the killing of does would accomplish this they would go all out to support game management The fact that they do not support game management is proof that they know killing of does under a management program will not eradicate deer Proper management of our deer herds will also force the proper management of cattle in our mountains JOHN KECK Porterville Fair Offerings Editor of The Bee Sin We have finished up the 1963 Fresno District Fair or should we say carnival and horse racing? If these things must be a part of the lives of decent citizens let us separate one in spring and one in the fall of the year Ask the children growing up take a poll and see They have fixed in their minds a carnival not what people and the countryside areas are doing and have to offer I for one as a mother and former Scout leader feel these other things are why we have juvenile halls and jails I only ask for fewer of these kinds of attractions for the sake of the future nation What we rear in minds will govern us NORMA STEWART Fresno Is This The Answer On Water? From the Lni AngriM Timet California water experts Court decision giving The health of the deodars has been established by the parks department which says the trees "show no sign of Public Works Director Carozza who deplores this noise about says the health of the trees would be relevant only if they were "planted in the right Since the trees antedate the widening project by a half century or so statement is a classic example of how values can be distorted when officials get rigid and defensive about a project When the council approved the widening last June it was redeeming commitments which date back to the mid 1950s The project is part of the Golden Mile Inc's vision of commercial development on North Fulton and North Van Ness between Divisa-dero and Belmont The merchants who formed the Golden Mile have acted in good faith but their dogged campaign to widen North Fulton has become something of a holy war which has ignored change The Golden Mile idea was conceived before the city had its downtown plan before Fulton-Van Ness became a one way couplet before the proposal was made to cut through the area with a new Highway 180 freeway There are 10 days left before work on the widening project is scheduled to begin It is time for both the merchants and the council to take another look at the wisdom of destroying a row of superb trees the natural asset for a traffic scheme which is at best premature Gain Against Secrecy The defense department has instructed military policemen not to use force against reporters and news photographers covering plane crashes or other accidents occurring outside military reservations The directive followed protests lodged by Congressman John Moss of the third Sacramento County district chairman of the house freedom of information subcommittee that newsmen had befiti manhandled by military personnel The high handed tactics were employed even though the MPs did not know whether there was any classified information involved The defense department directive instructs MPs in such cases to seek the assistance of civil authorities in recovering photographs or sketches presumed to contain classified data and to ask the cooperation of superiors of any offending news media representatives Of course newspaper representatives will cooperate with the military where national security or bona fide classified information is involved That always has been the case What Moss objected to is the strong arming of the press the eyes and ears of the public especially in cases where security is not involved Such tactics represent unreasonable censorship backed up by muscles and bayonets Congressman Moss and the defense officials are to be commended for ending them are giving some serious second thoughts to Interior Secretary Udall's proposed regional solution to southwest water problems Many wonder if the remedy may not be more drastic than the ailment In fairness to the secretary he has admitted that his vast $4 billion plan was drafted in haste and that he welcomes "constructive The US Supreme Fallout And Fallup From the St Louie Poet-Dispatch In its anxiety to win ratification of the test ban treaty the Kennedy administration appeared to agree that giving up tests in the atmosphere can only be made tolerable by testing as extensively as Eossible underground We ope that assumption will be reexamined in the light of new scientific testimony on short range fallout in the vicinity of the Nevada test site Speaking for the technical division of the Greater St Louis Citizens Committee for Nuclear Information Dr Eric Reiss of the Washington University school of medicine told a congressional subcommittee that a number of local populations in Nevada Utah and Idaho have been "exposed to fallout so intense as to represent a medically unacceptable hazard to children who may drink fresh locally produced Dr Reiss was not arguing against nuclear tests He was arguing for better methods of monitoring fallout by the atomic energy commission and for taking sensible precautions to counteract short range fallout hazards The test ban treaty permits underground explosions even when they produce fallout so long as the radioactive debris is not deposited on another soil But our government can hardly take the position that poisoning the atmosphere is acceptable when only American children may be the victims With or without a treaty by underground or above ground tests we ought to quit poisoning the atmosphere at all "My aptitude tests show I am ideally suited to be a rich son so all that remains is for you to get cracking.