The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • 12

PAGE TWELVE THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER The Foremost Newspaper of The Two Carolina FRIDAY JANUARY 18 1946 SECTION ONE 2Ibf(EbarloHc(DIscim Litiblubed lablt Constantine The National Whirli CURTIS JOHNSON Pruidebt-PublUher Jaltan Miller Ed A Parham Aaiociata a Bonier Mana(in Editor Belle Cen Mgr A Allen See'y-Treaa MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the use for publication of all news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in this paper and also the local news published therein SUBSCRIPTION PATABLE IN ADVANCE Rates fey Mail in the Two Caroluias: I Vr Mo Mo I MO Daily and Sunday $1100 $560 $290 $100 Daily Only 9f0 460 240 85 Sundays Only 500 260 130 SO Above mail rates applicable in the two Carolines only Mail rates to other zones quoted on request Delivered by carrier in Charlotte 25c per week For carrier rates to other points contact local carrier All carriers dealers or distributors are independent contractors and The Observer Company is not responsible for advance subscrip tion payments made to them or their represents fives Subscription payments not in accordance witn established rates are not authorized Entered as second class matter at the post office at Charlotte under the act of March 2 1879 have had It also robbed his appearance and his recollection of 1941 events of their real news value The majority members who control the proceedings followed a different procedure with respect to Admiral Kimmel The naval officer's earlier evidence was first given to the press under a warning of but it was officially released for publication the next day over his counsel's protest Both men have a serious complaint against these procedures When they appeared before the Roberts board several years ago they did not have the information which has been developed since the congressional inquiry opened They did not know then of the numerous warnings of Japanese aggression which the White House the State Army and Navy departments at Washington received but failed to pass on to them Having waited under a cloud of condemnation for four years to tell their side of the story the two officers feel that they should have been allowed their day in court on the same terms that other principals in the drama especially the Roosevelt witnesses have enjoyed In short they figure that the trial has been deliberately rigged against them An administration move for a six-year program of flood control projects costing between $3500000000 and $5000000000 has apparently been killed by a fierce nonpartisan attack behind the doors of several congressional committees The promoters were also scared off it appears by the small margin by which a similar measure scraped through Congress Members have denounced Ihe proposal on and off the floor as BY RAY TUCKER XX WASHINGTON Republi-V can and Democratic members of the Pearl Harbor investigation committee have fallen to squabbling among themselves again over leaks which have perhaps were intended spoil the effect of the defense testimony of Admiral Husband Kimmel and Lieutenant General Walter Short The two officers their counsel and their friends have complained bitterly about the leaks which they blame on the majority members of the congressional body Led by Senator Scott Lucas of Illinois administration men have tried to pin full responsibilty for the success of the surprise attack on the two Hawaiian commanders When the investigators obtained copies of the evidence which General Short had given to the Roberts board the Army and Navy fact-finding commissions this was supposed to have been turned over to committee members for study so they would be prepared to examine the two officers on their personal appearance That has been the customary procedure It has been followed by every investigating group on Capitol Hill The data have always been kept confidential It is also common courtesy to the so-called defendants or official scapegoats In this case the committee members received no advance copies of General earlier testimony Instead the committee's press representative turned it over to newspaper reporters and the Army story was published prematurely and sketchily That kind of publication General Short contends destroyed the effect which a more considered and cohesive presentation of his prior testimony would barrel They declared that the huge sum was solely to maintain the wartime prosperity through Federal spending and to insure Democratic triumphs at the polls next Fall and in 1948 Under sharp questioning Army engineers testified that orders for preparing the more imposing program had come directly from the White House COSTS The bill which recent- ly got so narrowly House and Senate contemplates only 118 flood control projects but the one now blocked would raise the total to 700 The more elaborate undertaking embraces almost every dam and flood and power suggestion that has been advanced off and on for the last fifteen years Hardly a congressional district would have been neglected although the blueprints were drawn with an eye to areas where the outlay of money would have had a beneficent political effect Official estimate of the cost of the larger construction plan was only a little more than $2000-000000 But Army witnesses admitted that that figure was based on prewar costs Congressmen figured that present day prices and wages would raise the total to almost $5000000000 Democrats have joined with Republicans in bucking the bill although the proposed expenditure would have been spread out from 1947 to-1952 covering the period of two Presidential elections The flood control program according to its critics was designed to take the place of the old rivers and harbors bill which was the ancient way in which political pork was distributed But most of the inland streams and ports have been improved so intensively in the last twenty years or more that a new device had to be invented Religion Day By Day BY WILLIAM ELLIS A BROTHER'S VISIT Last week I met the British Prime Minister and Lord Halifax and several other dignitaries I also had a good talk with my old friend Cordell Hull But none of these gave me the deep satisfaction I had in a visit from my elder brother We talked of family affairs and of personal Interests and of old times and of public matters His ripe and penetrating judgment upoi politics and the world situation made me a professional ir these fields very humble I like to think of Frank as of the best type of American citizen He is a workingman having come up the hard way of the bench to his present position es superintendent of a large factory His employers gave a splendiferous party with lavish gifts on his fiftieth anniversary with the firm The entire force were present and paid high enthusiastic tribute to the boss Quiet modest home-keeping church-going my brother has won a high place in the esteem of his community It seemed to me during this happy visit as if he were more entitled to the label of a than many a man written up in the magazines At least he is representative American in the best definition of that term Wa thank Thee Father tor all the ties that bind up in the bundle nf life and for all men and women who exemplify patriotism and loyalty to Thee Amen (Copyright 1946 for The Observer) FREEDOM IN DANGER Pointing out the problems facing America troubles at home and abroad that cry for settlement Senator Clyde Hoey in his address before the Gastonia Chamber of Commerce spoke of one of the greatest to keep America itself FREE! Free from whom? American power brought about the defeat of dictators and oppressors? it brought freedom to people who despaired ever of getting out of slavery? it brought peace in many parts of the world? It has but there is real danger that we may wake up some day and find our liberties "have been whittled away stolen from us bit by bit as we slept more and more taken as the crafty thieves grow bolder taken in the name of socialism of government overlordship of class dictation of steadily increasing regimentation of body and mind It requires no prophet to proclaim all of this The process of encroachment of handling the affairs of men because government knows best" of seizing the economic order and twisting it to the will of a few self-appointed power-crazy men is evident and becomes more so every day They do it in the name of security It has been well said that the African slave had the most perfect security the world has ever seen Criminals placed in prisons have security three meals a day clothing free medical attention living where nobody can harm them and dying free burial Farm animals have security the farmer guards them well sees to their health feeds them and watches against hurt But who wants that security that freedom from want that perfect security of body mind and soul? We must fight to keep America free! Better want rags and crumbs than servitude to the dictators who would regulate your life every minute of it tyrants who and do worst who would destroy America who would take charge of its plants and its business and finally its homes! NO CURE ONLY COVER-UP The statement of President Truman to his press conference to effect that if Congress had passed his fact-finding cooling-off legislation before its holi day adjournment the country would not now be cursed with major strikes is a gross assumption Mr Truman seems to have yielded some more to his wistful thinking in laying down such a broad and dogmatic proposition Walter Lippmann had already written for the newspapers he serves a thoughtful conservative objective article on the reasons that fact-finding as the President asked Congress to enact into law would of itself be no panacea for settlement of current wage disputes It may be that the President had read Mr convincing analysis of this thesis thoroughly disagreed with it and chose the afternoon of the day the article was generally published in the subscribing newspapers to give his curt and cryptic retort At any rate no unprejudiced mind once the Lippmann treatment of the subject had been fairly and studiously appraised could have reasonably differed with the conclusions he reached Truth is as the President knows of course no legal machinery has ever been devised that would serve as a cure-all for industrial frictions and feuds in labor-management ranks There is no basis for the President feeling so cocksure that his fact-finding formula would achieve any greater success to this end than have other invented devices to be applied to these recurrent strifes between management and labor You get peace that way no matter over what areas bitter divisions of mind exist no matter whether in the family in the community in the nation in the world no matter whether the field be social industrial or economic Peace comes through voluntary agreements among the contending elements from within and not from without such units of society The attempt to superimpose it by the stern statutes of law which would compel men to quit their quarreling is to resort to both artificial and superficial means Such devices may temporarily cover up but will never permanently cure The People Speak hammer and sickle and the portrait of Stalin appeared everywhere It was Rosenberg who appointed Ne-grin head of the when Azana fled And this is legal democratic government of Spain that cries out from the pen of Mr Burns for the destruction of Franco As to the charge regarding education in Spain yes there is far more illiteracy in Spain than in the A and there is a higher standard of literacy in Sweden than in the A So There are many many many times double the number of schools colleges and universities in Spain than in Mecklenburg county I doubt Mr Burns' percentage of illiteracy or unwittingly" Mr Burns is falling into the Communist trsuj and is being taken in by the Reds like so many others to help spread a world-Communistic state REV PATRICK GALLAGHER Charlotte the people can't live on the wages that they are now earning so there is a picket line to cross The fellows have seen enough of such stuff Now they'd like to set-tie down in a quiet little home and rest just a bit but instead they have gone overseas and given the best part of their lives Some never made it back They did that because this great country was worth fighting and dying for The ones that are coming back are going to be surprised because this isn't the country they went overseas to defend Now it needs saving more than the little countries that Germany walked in and took perhaps not in the same manner but it's just as grave The first thing that it will take to straighten out our country is for Congress to wise up and get organized To me that seems to be country's greatest need If we haL any good men in Washington wh' don't they get to work with our President? Or they could just go home disband the Government offices and let the people form the ountry into separate unions where everyone could be himself They could give each man a gun and may the best organization win This sounds a little silly but It will amount to that in the end and there is no use beating around the bush Just as long as the government lets the various unions tell the firms what the people will work for everything will continue as it is just one big brain storm trying to out-smart the other brain What should be done is this Do away with the unions and get a few fighting men in the Government offices that are for the working class of people Let them do the investigating and determine what the wages should be then pass the laws on the results Until some sort of schedule is figf ured out this part of the world wiir be just as confused as ever S-SGT THOMAS MAULDIN Charlotte 7ASHINGTON High offi-VV cials in the State department believe that the question of interference in the domestic affairs of Iran will not receive when the Iranian delegate Seyed Hassan Taquizadeh presents his appeal before the UNO to aid in settlement of the Russo-Iranian dispute The Iranian government has been not to trouble the quiet waters of the first meeting of the council It disregarded this advice because it firmly believes in the justice of its claims terri- torial integrity was guaranteed not only by the declaration or Teheran on December 1 1943 when the idea of a United Nations Security organization was only in its embryonic stage but also by the Charter of the UNO This charter provides that all members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity of political independence of any state Although obviously is on the side of Iran the members of the Security council and particularly the Big Three do not wish to have any major disturbances at the first meeting since it is certain that the Soviet representative will use his veto power The whole matter is expected to be postponed until the next meeting of the Security council which will take place some months after the formal adjournment of the present meetings in London This at least is the opinion of officials in Washington who have kept in close touch with the London developments Such a strategy it is believed here will definitely remove the troublesome question of Iran from the agenda of the Security council DISPATCHES from Teheran indicate that the forces of the in Azerbaijan are moving toward the south and have reached Kazvin 65 miles north of Teheran These forces are reported to be well equipped and bolstered by a large number of which the Iranian authorities describe as well-trained Red Army soldiers wearing the Azerbaijanese insignia Their infiltration southward has been sltjw for the time being but may be speeded up if political considerations require their taking over the Iranian capital The army of Iran is weak It could if given a chance cope with the so-called Rebels if they were not supported by a strong power But under the present circumstances their chances of defending the capital are practically nil The who made the coup in Azerbaijan with forces equipped with only small arms and little artillery are reported now to possess tanks and other modern war paraphernalia 0 0 0 TO one in Washington would be surprised to hear within the next few weeks that the Iranian government has been overthrown and replaced by a new "truly democratic composed of many sympathizers of the Azerbaijan regime This would be nothing new in the chameleonic picture of the United Nations It has been done in Poland and in Yugoslavia and the governments of both countries were recognized by the United States and Great Britain after some perfunctory discussions and agreements whereby the puppets of the Moscow regime gave full guarantees for free elections and democratic behavior Once the present regime which is-opposing intervention in Iran's domestic affairs is overthrown the situation' in that section of the Middle East will be cleared up The new government which if it rises to power must be grateful to Russia will not find it necessary to present the Iranian case before the Security council of the UNO After perfunctory face saving negotiations it likely will be recognized by the other powers and will take the seat now occupied by the government which is still recognized by all the other nations The UNO it is pointed out cynically in Washington is not concerned with but with people If the people of Iran or any other country decide to choose a new set of men to govern them it is not a matter to come before the United Nations Organization An investigation of the "social engineering" which brought about such changes would be too troublesome particularly Inasmuch as one of the large nations is directly involved in the operation Any such intrusion might give offense to one of the Big Three and cause a disruption of the harmony among the big powers which consider themselves the pillars of the world organization for maintenance of peace Reaches Home MATTHEWS Jan 17 S-Sgt Robert McCoy has been returned to the States after 16 duty in Europe and is visiting his parents Mr and Mrs Marshall McCoy on Rout 1 POOR MAKESHIFTS As the housing shortage continues authorities seize upon some means to relieve it use of government barracks war dwelling units that may be moved trailers anything where one may get in out of the rain and cold Deactivation of Army bases leaving a surplus of housing finds some senator or representative pleading with the War department for use of the surplus room But all this is merely makeshift having little effect on the need Huts and barracks and trailers are poor excuses for houses for men women and children and there enough of them to begin to fill the needs of population always increasing people marrying everywhere every day babies being born veterans coming back into civil life newcomers pouring into communities Some way will have to be devised to produce real honest-to-goodness dwellings and lots of them It clear who will do whether there is left anybody with sense enough to clear the way for building them but unless construction of homes starts soon on a big scale all over the country the effect will be injurious upon' the whole population And we need any fact-finding commission organized in connection with the problem The fads are plain especially to those who have nowhere to live THEIR GREATEST STATESMAN Multiple millions of Americans will give the gladdest of hands to Winston Churchill upon the occasion of his visit again to America the land of his birthplace Mr Churchill comes this time only to rest Apparently allergic to pneumonia the venerable British leader is for a while escaping the fog and fury of wintry weather for the balminess of Florida sunshine His therefore is no mission of state He has no hobnobbing to do in Washington No engagement even has been made for him to see the American President except at an event at Westminster College in Missouri where an honorary degree will be given him early in March As leader of the opposition party in His Majesty's government the grand old man is no longer to the fore in the political domination of his country and of the world As a matter of fact as old as he is now his days of major political action are probably all behind him Even so Winston Churchill has placed the civilized world enough in his perpetual debt already for his achieving and historic services as the war leader of Great Britain and as one of its most illustrious figures in public life in his generation The radicals in his country and in ours those in fact the world over their name is have him already designated in their minds as a stubborn backward-looking proud and aristocratic old Tory and nothing more But if History deals fairly with Mr Churchill it will keep aloft and forever on its lustrous pages the story of his liberalism his sane conservative constructive and progressive outlook and purpose And it will do it will say of him that in his day he had no competition as pre-eminent statesman of the English-speaking peoples ONEAVAY STREET Decision to terminate its contract with the union announced by the West-inghouse corporation because it is regarded as one-way might have been expected Just as it takes two to make a contract it requires two to carry it out and the corporation wants a contract where responsibilities are two-way-equal carried out by both parties The corporation mentions the strikes that have occurred in connection with operation of its plants a total of 127 these coming between April 1941 and December 1945 would be thought that a wage contract would be a preventive of strikes it seems actually to foster them What the corporation wants is something more than a scrap of paper it wants a document where the signatures mean something It is tired of being on the wrong end pt a one-way street Returned Soldier's View To The Observer: Like many other fellows have just come back home from overseas service but after taking a look at the condition of everything decided it just wasn't for this guy It was a very big dream of most of us guys to think that soon be back in the old United where there was freedom and peace where people lived together like civilized human beings and not as a gorup of organized labor unions that are only out to get what they can from every one concerned Every time I turn the radio on there is some sort of news about another strike being called somewhere It's one of the last things to expect especially after our people worked together during the war as the most of them did What is the Government doing about all this? Very little if anything In fact they are fighting almost as bad in Washington as they are anywhere else It's getting to the place that I'm afraid to go into a soda shop for a soda I might have to cross a picket line and I be surprised to see the drug stores doing the same thing We won the war so why should we worry now? Most of the people made more money during the war than they ever did before That is the ones that didn't have to go overseas They should be able to sit back and let things kinda run themselves Or the veterans can The only thing is be glad to but the unions have decided that Defense of Franco Government To The Observer: Mr Ebenezer Burns was frank to the point of becoming very blunt in replying to my letter of Sunday January sixth I therefore assume the same privilege of frankness and bluatness in replying to all the implications in his letter of January 10 The majority of those who are sorely angry with the present Franco government of Spain may be classified in two large groups namely the Comrfiunists who would like to see the power of Soviet Russia re-established in Spain the other group and I speak frankly are thole who have a blind and deep hatred for the Catholic church The remainder outside of these groups are those opposed to Franco for various and sundry reasons My gentleman opponent misses entirely the main argument in my letter of January 6 The point I made was that there should be honesty and consistency in applying fundamental principles in our international relations Recognizing one country ie regime in Yugoslavia a nation politically subjugated by Russia in which no civil liberties are permitted while at the same time proposing the cutting off of relations with and the disapproving of a government with which we are having friendly relations is neither honest nor consistent Mr Burns asserts many things: land-holding of the Spanish etc I have some facts on these points too which are neither hearsay nor fabricated Wealth ef the church: As a matter of fact the church had no wealth for the simple reason that decades before her property had been stolen from her by politicians and in 1934 when the Jesuit property was confiscated all church holdings belonged to the state To the charges of clericalism and the legitimacy of the Spanish Republic I think the following will clear the' situation It was in 1920 that Lenin set up the Spanish section of the Comintern When King Alphonso fled in 1931 falsely persuaded that he had lost an election the Soviet press hailed the opportunity to advance Communist interests in Spain behind a democratic front of various parties controlled and united by a group With strong anti-Catholic sentiments Two Comrades were then sent from Moscow to direct the proceedings and in 1932 there were only 10000 Rvowed Communists in Spain besides several hundred thousand radical Socialists who were definitely Marxist We heard little about this in the United States but we heard much of the wealth" of the church as a justification of the persecution promptly set in motion against her In 1934 there was a Soviet revolution under the pretext of a miners' strike in Asturias The Reds had plenty of ammunition from Russia and Leftist France In 1936 the Popular Front-Liberals Communists and different brands of radicals won an election by the widespread use of fraud and violence in many places destroying the ballots Immediately groups of Reds began burning churches and convents and Catholic printing establishments It was then evident that a reign of terror had begun and Franco and other Army officials decided that the time had come to defend their homes and their altars They were none too soon Immediately the Red terror long in preparation unleashed its fury all over Spain Murder squads in cars labeled and bristling with machine guns roamed the streets Twenty thousand churches were destroyed priests were crucified to church doors nuns were set on fire after their clothing had been drenched with gasoline Half a million or more helpless civilians were butchered besides 11 bishops and 11 thousand priests and nuns The aim was to destroy religion Itself all religion Nor was there any doubt as to the Communist conspiring of thii hellish uprising Almost at once the Soviet ambassador Mareel Rosenberg look command at Madrid The Red flag the Mountain Beauty Unimpaired To The Observer: I read with interest the letter written by Mrs Metta Folger Townsend in Sunday's issue January 13 As a producer of pipe blocks made out of rhododendron and ivy burls I wish to reassure Mrs Townsend that the beauty of our mountains does not in the least suffer from the digging of these burls In fact the Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture approves of this digging because it helps the younger plants to develop To bo more specific only a very small peer centage of our rhododendron a Ijr ivy plants has burls suitable f(pV pipe blocks This small percentage is found among the very old plants that hardly have any bloom to them POLITICS PARAMOUNT Competent sources reveal that President recent address to the American people designed to arouse them to put pressure on Congress to back up his legislative program has made no substantial dent either upon the public mind or upon the attitude of the legislators The President will try his hand again more directly and perhaps even more sharply when he makes his report on "the state of the to Congress next week Mr Truman faces a difficult situation He has been unable to swing around to his side enough of support from his own party members in Congress which are in substantial majority in both branches to get his ideas over As a matter of fact the present of the finds both parties in Congress sharply split among themselves The strange situation has developed in which a large number of Republicans go along with the President on many of his legislative views while a large number of Democratic members particularly from the South are either indifferent or outright hostile to his program This being a year for Congressional elections which may in turn forecast the trends in the 1948 presidential election members of Congress and the President himself will keep a keen weather eye on public opinion This usually means that in legislation which might have decisive political effects a middle of the road policy will be sought by the politicians in many major controversial questions The political psychology which inspires the middle-of-the-road course seems to be that it is better to please nobody than to make somebody fighting mad In the meantime of course the public interest which would best be served by definite and positive action without consideration of political repercussions that might seriously follow if not critically suffers The longer the electrical workers remain on strike the longer it will be before you can buy that refrigerator or electric cooking range or electric iron or vacuum cleaner or other household electrical appliance which you have been needing and planning to buy The Dcbimkcr By John Harvey Furbay FhD LEPROSY 15 NOT A TERRIBLE DISEASE I honestly believe that Mrs apprehension is not justifiable because if it was the Forest Service would not encourage the digging of these burls In fact enough roots remain in the ground so that in the course of a few years they germinate again I wish it would be practicable in take Mrs Townsend through afield of rhododendron where the burls have been dug to see for herself that the beauty of it in blooming time has not at all been impaired It may be of interest to Mrs Townsend to know that this business is of great financial assistance to our farmers to utilize their spar' time to dig these burls and earn aiK additional income ROCCO CUTRI WORRY MIGHT HELP President Truman is described as optimistic over the outcome of the strike situation spreading in many directions balling up the economy and with disputants stubbornly standing against each other in what is actually civil strife He may know something that the public doesn't- If he does he should tell us all about it or at least the pleasant parts of it A little well-justified optimism would help us all As it is the general feeling is one of pessimism Fact is the public would like for the President to do a little worrying over the situation That might help Optimism can be taken too far it is not helpful toward action and that is what is needed just now Carolina Briar Corp West Jefferson Appreciated To The Observer: I so deeply appreciate the com-plimentary nature of The Observer's remarks and it is certainly encouraging to know that my work her at Washington has your approval HARRY BYRD Washington age-old fear of leprosy is without asserts Perry Burgess in his book about lepers entitled Walk There Is nothing about the disease to Justify its being accorded a special place of horror in the minds of people he writes It is not very contagious is usually not painful often has no external symptoms of affliction and seldom is the cause of a person's death It is not hereditary and most cases can be arrested if not cured when treated In time Its worst curse is its name for when a person is once labeled leper" all the old horrors people have believed about tle disease are called to mind There are about 1000 lepers in the United States and nearly 400 are in the Government leprosarium at Carville La After all these years of mystery we now know as might have been assumed all the while that the sinking of the Athcnla at the beginning of the war with the loss of 30 American lives waa the work of the llitlerized Germans The OPA is described as on the lookout for a sharp rise In meat prices Some government agency with a meat packers strike might begin to look sharply for some meat Buys Out Partner ROCK HILL Jan 17-R (Bob) Wolfe has purchased th remaining Interest of the Wolfe Greene Funeral home here front Toy Greene and will cnntiniif'' the busines as Wolfe FuneriV home.