The South Bend Tribune from South Bend, Indiana • 12

ii The Sooth Bend Tribun Sunday, February 19, 1 V78 Tribune I oico of SOUTH BEND Prepare now for next blizzard the people: opinion Published Afternoons and Sunday Mornings in The Tribune Building, Colfax Ave. at Lafayette South Bend, Ind. 46626 greatest service by reminding' us when the temperature is 90F that winter is coming and what plans have been made. Finally, the buck stops with the-, citizen, for we will get exactly what we demand. If we allow shoddy thinking and unqualified people to run our city, that is' what we'll get.

FRED HOTOP South Bend Letters of words' ore most suitable for the Voice of the People All letters are sufaecl to care ful condensation, and The Tnb une reserves the right to accept or reecl any letter for publico tion Requests that writers names not be appended to published letters will be respected, but names and addresses must be supplied to Voice of the People In Our Second Century of Service i THE SOUTH BEND WEEKLY TRIBUNE, Established March 9, 1872 THE SOUTH BEND DAILY TRIBUNE, Established May 28. 1873 Franklin D. Schurz Jr. Editor and Publisher For refrigeration there was the cellar and the well pit around the backyard pump. We also had a spring house with constantly flowing cold spring watdr.

If you lived in town you could buy slab wood (including bark) from the sawmill or cord wood from a farmer, soft or hard coal, coke and manufactured gas (both derived from coal) if you could afford it, kerosene for the same purpose as on the farm, some kind of refrigeration till some one invented the ice box. We didnt know what electricity was. Glad I do now! SATISFIED SENIOR CITIZEN Osceola EDITORIALS Haldemans version Blizzard 78 is in the record books and in our We have expressed our opinions and vented our anger about poor snow removal. Plans must be formulated to prevent the fiasco we recently witnessed. Now is the time to make conscious decisions rather than con-1 vulsive ones.

Just a few very ordinary actions will provide the answers. First, complete inventory of all the snow moving equipment, size and condition, owned by private contractors and that belonging to the city must be made. Second, investigate a. plan to place contractors on retainer fees to ensure availability of equipment. I can hear the cnes now abput wasting money, giving money away.

We have one of two choices, (a) the city must own enough equipment to meet these emergencies, noting the capital investment required, the cost of maintenance and interest on the investment, or (b) put contractors on retainers. When a comparison of cost is made, there is no doubt that using retainers would save thousands of dollars and do a better job. Third, establish priorities for clearing certain areas: Hospitals, food stores, food warehouses, mam fire runs, etc. to be updated on a regular basis. Fourth, clear out as soon as possible after a storm vacant lots that exist -in every part of the city to park cars, thus clearing the streets for plowing to make the job faster and better.

As Streets are cleared use these lots to dump excess snow. Fifth, gather information on our northern cities such as Minneapolis, Marquette, Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal to how they handle snow. Mark your calendar so that on Aug. 1, 1978, you will call, the mayor and your councilman to see what progress is being made. The South Bend Tribune, which published some fine editorials at ensis tune, could be of so abundantly? If one miner can dig one ton of coal, an hour at per hour, the ton of coal could be sold for $10 per ton, plus whatever cost to get it to the consumer, as the coal baron does not have to make a profit on the coal; it did not cost him anything.

We say water costs so much, but water does not cost anything, nature supplies it through snow and rain. We pay for the service of getting it where we need it. I feel that coal belongs to the American people. RALPH DUBBS Mishawaka In earlier days With the nation facing a power shortage Im reminded of the fuel we had for lights, heat, cooking and refrigeration when I was a kid. If you lived on a farm you had com cobs and chips from the wood pile for kindling and cord wood from the grove (dead trees) for heating and cooking.

Every kid in the family took part in keeping the big box behind the kitchen cook stove filled and some in the parlor for the heater. The biggest boys also had to help chop the wood. There was coal oil (kerosene) for the lamps and lanterns and to start the morning' ARTBUCHWALD bitter price for their conduct. When the going got tough, it was every man for himself, just as it is every man for himself iri their books. The single thread that runs through Haldemans and the other memoirs is of rivalry and selfpromotion in the presidential circle.

The Nixon White House was not a happy place. Haldeman hated Colson, he and Ehrlichman were jealous of Henry Kissinger, Dean was regarded as something of a rat. and while all of them were united in doing Nixons bidding, it was not out of love for him. Nixon used them allv and willingly abandoned them one by one in his own futile fight for survival. The Haldeman memoirs will stir a fuss in our seemingly insatiable desire to find out the real truth about Watergate, and they will make large sums of money for him to spend after he is freed from prison.

They cannot pass as definitive history, however, any more than the other books by members of the Nixon crowd. In fact, Haldeman qualified some of his most sensational assertions so carefully, with terms such as I believe, that they cannot be accepted as hard statements of fact. When historians attempt to draw the genuine truth from the mass of written explanations produced by the NLxon White House crowd, and by Nixon himself, they will face a vexing, almost impossi- ble task that will have- only one certain conclusion: All the participants were guilty of shameful conduct that cannot be obliterated by written justifications. How New Yorkers spent time during snowstorm Wrong bridge I have just read Grover fictional story in Michiana Magazine about Abraham Lincoln, entitled Praine Images of Lincoln. I cant speak for the authenticity of most of the article, because I am not an Abraham Lincoln buff.

However, Brinkmans article shows a photo of the Spring Creek (or Riddle Hill) covered bridge located west of Springfield', and he states that Lincoln often crossed this bridge when he lived at New Salem. I find this statement, as will other covered bridge enthusiasts, somewhat hard to swallow. The bridge, according to the World Guide to Covered- Bridges, published by the National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges, was built in 1883, quite a few years after Lincoln was assassinated. He could not have used this bridge unless hf was guided through it by some divine light. Incidentally, this bridge, one of the few left in Illinois, was burned at Christmas time, 1977, by arsonists.

So it is no longer standing FRED BEALS Mishawaks Take over mines Why doesnt our senile government take over the coal mines as they did the railroad W.W.I and stop this suffering for energy when we have it the nitty- gritty. ly every area of military strength there has been a relative decline over the years relation to the Soviet Union. This provoked Rep George Mahon, D-Texas, to remind General' Brown that dunng his three-year tenure as the nation top military officer the Congress had appropriated $330.7 billion for national defense. Its rather discouraging to learn from you that this did not buy us the security we need," said Mahon. THE LESSON seems to be that neither country has enough money to ever buy enough security, that 17 -I -v" l.

Getting down to CARL T. ROWAN Bad intersection I think that there should be a better way to mark a dangerous intersection than one yield sign. The corner of LaSalle and Lincoln Way West should have an overhead sign and maybe pven a flashing caution light. I use LWW regularly and have had three close calls myself. The problem arises when people from out of town or someone unfamiliar with that particular intersection want to continue straight- on LaSalle They dont seem to see that yield sign stuck clear off on the right side of the street.

It is an unusual traffic pattern for the straight-through traffic to have to yield, and I think that it should be more dearly marked. I have avoided being hit there twice by being extremely cautious, but the first time I was almost hit I was just lucky that 1 had fast reflexes. And so did the man behind me, or he would have hit me. Please look into this situation before someone isnt as lucky as I have been. P.

D. South Bend Suppose the store isnt open when you got there? She told me to smash the windows and loot. But you could get prison for that." She says it doesnt matter. She says shell bring the kids up every Saturday to visit me, as long as I get her the cigarettes. Iye got to go.

Shes rifling through the garbage compactor to see if she can find a Let her do it, I said. This is the third time shes gone through it. She found all the butts on the first go-round. She won't believe there arent any left Okay, I said. And have a dice THE SECOND CALL I made was to a friend on Long Island.

Ibs wife told me he didnt make it home and was stuck at the Waldorf Astoria. I called my friend at the Waldorf Astoria. Are you all right I asked. Its terrible," he said. I tried to the 3:45 from Penn Station but it was canceled.

So I had to get a room here. I never lived through anything like this. Wait a minute, theres room Service. He went off the phone and I heard him say to someone, Honey, did you want red wine or white wine with your chicken? Then he came on again. So like I said, no one can move.

All we can do is wait it out. I could be here for days. Hold it will you? Honey, turn down the TV set, you? Youre lucky you arent here. I wouldnt wish this on anyone Not too much Ice, Sweetie Ill never forgive the Long Island Railroad for what they did to me last night." Well, at least youre safe," I said. If you call sharing a room at the Waldorf Astoria with a salesman from Syracuse duruig the worst blizzard in 20 years being safe, then you dont know anything about snowstorms, Listen, I have to go now my turtle soup is getting cold.

THE LAST CALL I made was to my sister in Kew Gardens. Edith, are you all right? Im fine. Hows Harold? I wouldnt know." Why, where is he? Hes right here." If hes right there how come you, dont know? We. havent been talking for two days. As long as youre on the phone tell him that dinner is jeady if he wants some.

Harold came on the phone, I said, Edith says dinner is ready. Tell her Im not hungry, he re-' plied. Edith came on the phone. I told her, He says hes not hungry. She said, Tell him thats too damn bad.

Hey, listen, Im calling long distance. I just wanted to find out how both of you were. Wonderful, she replied. Being stuck in your apartment for two days in a snowstorm with your husband is the next best thing to having a second honeymoon. Copyright 1978 From his prison cell, former presidential chief of staff H.R.

Haldeman has spread whitewash all over himself in his book about what happened in the Watergate scandal. He wasnt one of the bad guys at all, despite: what the public thought if you believe his literary testimony, that is. There were plenty of bad guys around the White House in his book, starting with his leader, President Richard M. Nixon, and while absolving himself Haldeman aims abundant venom at them. Since he is a convicted perjurer, his version of Watergate events must be recognized for what it is, a titillating but extremely self-serving account.

Undoubtedly it contains substantial truth, but it is slanted to make him look as good as possible. John Deans earlier book took the same course, intended to make the former White' House counsel appear pure and well-intentioned. So did John Ehrlich-mans fictional version, designed to purify Ehrlichman. Charles Colson found his out by getting religion. Nixons book will be published in May.

We can be certain that it will be just as loaded with selfjustification as those by his under- lings. Even more loaded, probably, since, Nixon has proven himself a master at interpreting events to put himself in the best possible light. What else could we expect from these books? All of these men were carried away by the power they wielded, forgot honesty and ethics in their fight to remain in. charge, and variously have paid a Bailor The Postal Service will probably fare no better and no worse as the result of the resignation of Postmaster General Benjamin Franklin Bailar unless the philosophy and operation of the system charged with delivering the mail change. Bailar, who rose to his post through an attempt to place mail delivery on a business-like basis, is leaving to become executive vice president of the U.S.

Gypsum Co. in Chicago. Among his contributions was the proposal to establish a 13-cent citizen rate stamp for letters mailed by individuals and a business fate stamp of 16 cents. From time to time we have pointed out the absurdities sure to arise if such a measure is ever implemented. Bailar, who has headed the Postal Service for three years, -Another License politics From the Richmond Palladium-Item 'For far too many years the two major political parties in Indiana 1 have had a virtual free hand (one might say a blank check) in running the states auto license branches.

A tall now pending in the state legislature would apply a much needed measure of control in the form of full disclosure of branch finances. Mark Russell- Heres a modem day version of Mother Goose: Dear me, said Chicken Little, the Sky lab is falling! NASA experts estimated that the orbiting space station Skylab, all 85 tons of it, will come crashing to earth later this year. They are going by the, scientific equation that what goes up must come down-except maybe the national debt. Although Skylab has power steering, power brakes and a sticker price of $294 million, they cant pinpoint the landing which must be a thrill for the folks in Yellowknife, Canada. A NASA spokesman, Orson Welles, has estimated that Skylab will drop into either the Sahara Desert or the Loop in Chicago.

Security, like love, cant WASHINGTON How did people cope when they were stuck in their homes during the blizzard? In order to find out I made several telephone calls to friends in New York during the recent snowstorm. The first call I made was to Bob Simon who lives in Monsey. Mrs: Simon answered the phone. Hes outside. Ill call him.

Ten minutes Simon got on the phone huffing and puffing. What are you doing? I asked him. -v" Shoveling the driveway so I can get the car YOURE NOT going to drive today? Got to. Got to get to the store if it kills me. What for? My wifes out of cigarettes Shes afraid shes going to die if she doesnt get a cigarette," That bad, Shes sucking on a strand of raw spaghetti now, but she says it isnt the same thing.

She tried to make a cigarette out of oregano leaves, but they wouldn't stay in the newspaper." be bought there is no end to this dreadfully wasteful arms race. Perhaps we are all in the grips of the Frankensteins pf science, those who produce new weapons, new horrors, because they can be produced and because prestige, and glory go with being the first to produce them. It is hard to think of anything so gruesomely lethal that someone in the Pentagon or the Kremlin would not want to add to the arsenal. That is why the strategic arms talks (SALT) are so important and perhaps so ill-fated in the long run. We shall never be able to invest the trillions that now go to arms into the production of food, the eradication of disease, the education of people unless we agree that we will say to the scientists: Concoct whatever new death rays, poisons, tidy neutron bombs you wish, but we shall not build them.

Well take our star wars only in the theater. BUT THERE IS so much fear and distrust that such a limitation on such ghastly arms may never be possible. Many Americans dont believe that any Soviet agreement is worth a grain of salt. They smirk at our scientists claims that they can detect cheating by the Soviets. So the Soviet-American arms race goes on and on and on and on.

And China, Israel, Brazil, Pakistan, South Africa, Great Britain, France either go along with the madness, or struggle desperately to become part of it. It is hard to believe that a species that has gotten itself so hopelessly trapped in a self -perpetuating race to destruction is really smart enough to avoid the ultimate tragedy. Copyright 1978 out joined the service as its chief financial officer in 1972. He was in charge of administration before he was elevated to deputy postmaster general in 1975. Denying he was under political pressure to leave, Bailar claimed to have operated what I believe is the most service-oriented and effective arm of the federal government.

Those are fine words, but the country would be in real trouble if they were true. i When the post office of a new nation was launched under the direction of Benjamin, Franklin, it embarked upon a course that indeed did win recognition for service and effectiveness. Sadly, under Franklins namesake, it has only plodded along as it had ever since the decision was made to take it out of" politics, offering ever higher rates as the panacea for all of its ills. Opinion Whether the bill goes far enough may be the chief question Hoosiers have. Indiana Is one of the few remaining states, perhaps the only one, in which patronage politics control so closely a service with which every citizen must do business.

From a purely partisan standpoint, the system is defensible and its even defended by some reform-minded persons on grounds that its a lot cleaner to have political finances in- stitutionalized like this so under-the-table financing isnt so tempting. The system is not so nice, however, for citizens in general who would like to know whats going on in a patronage agency with which Indiana law forces them to deal. Branch books now are closed to the public. Under the proposed reform, the present system would be kept intact. All that would be changed is that managers of the party-run license branches would have to make a full disclosure of branch financial operations how many transactions, how much collected in fees, how much spent on overhead and how much given to the party.

We do not believe such disclosure will hurt the political parties, nor do we think the excuse that license branches operate as private business, should prevent the public from learning about money collected in the name of legally-, required license firansactions. WASHINGTON Not many things have depressed me more in recent, months than the congressional testimony of Defense Secretary Harold Brown. First he wants almost $4 billion more in defense funds to counter the, Communist threat, and then he says-that the U.S. must double its expenditures for space weaponry because the Soviet Union is leaving us behind. The inclination of some is to assail Brown, to ask how a defense secretary chosen by Jimmy Carter, who vowed to cut defense spending, could be so audacious as to propose such increases.

But I dont fault Brown. I say that he would be irresponsible if he stood mousily wedded to Carters campaign rhetoric rather than responding to the realities of what our most powerful potential foe is doing. STILL, THERE IS an air of tragedy about it all. We responded to the Soviets, and they to us, in the 1960s to the extent that together we spent a thousand billion dollars on arms. That, in- this town, is referred to casually as a trillion dollars.

Out of mutual fear, the. two great superpowers will spend more than two trillion dollars in the 70s, The worrisome truth is that at the end of the 60s, with one trillion down the drain, both the U.S' and the Soviet Union felt less secure than a decade before! It is a certainty that after blowing two trillion in the 70s, fear of the other country will remain the 'dominant force in determining the military budgets of each society. The pathos of the situation was illustrated the other day when Gen. George S. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, issued a farewell report contending that in near.