The Kansas City Star from Kansas City, Missouri • 40

THE KANSAS CITY STAR 46 Forum Who Was Edgar Hoover Critics Keep Press Alert OVUTO ft FBI HEADQUARTERS I HOPE THAT YOUR TOUR OF OUR HEADQUARTERS HAS ADDED TO THE PLEASURE OF YOUR VISIT TO OUR NATION'S CAPITAL DURING OUR COUNTRY'S 'BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION CLARENCE KELLEY DIRECTOR FBI's card for visitors Continued from Page 1 has happened while so many of us have been drinking and feeding here another government fallen another bond issue crashed another highjacking another political charge or countercharge another Howard Hughes will filed As an example let me cite the complexities which we in the local media will be facing this summer I you are aware that one of our political parties will be assembling here come August The question I am most frequently asked these days is how we go about covering a political contention I am tempted to answer by citing a Will Rogers story In World War I when submarines were prowling the Atlantic in awesome number Will offered his solution We need only to heat the Atlantic to 212 degrees Fahrenheit all the subs would pop to the surface and we could pick them off He went on to say that probably someone would ask how he planned to heat the Atlantic to the boiling point Well wrote Will not going to say just a detail and a policy man But I cannot avoid detail although we have a competent news staff that has been working on convention planning several months A part of this work included a trip by a city editor to Miami to get the advice of the papers there on the problems of convention coverage Such planning goes far beyond the normal procedures of assigning reporters and photographers to a story We have of course devoted much time and space to campaign coverage already We will be sending a staff of eight to the Democratic convention in New York larger than our normal convention staff Here we will have up to 60 reporters editors and photogra phers assigned to the Republican convention and its satellite activities But more is involved and the city editor who has been at the center of most of this planning refreshed my mind last week For example We have had to obtain design and equip satellite workspace downtown in Kemper and in the exposition building We have had to work with the telephone company to set up a complicated communications network with those satellite offices We have had to scrounge typewriters portable TV sets tables coat-racks chairs and coffeemakers to make the workspace workable We have designed tables to be built by our carpenters at a height at which reporters can type We have lined up motorcyclists to transport film and copy through traffic jams to The office For a few days we even considered lining up a motor boat to carry film from Kemper to the base of Main Street until a look at the condition of the Kaw River showed the idea was a bad one We have had to work with our computer vendor to obtain electronic equipment to feed news from the news site into our if all goes well We have had to plan with production and circulation in an attempt to adjust our edition times to the convention schedules and the needs of perhaps 25000 potential new readers who will be here We have had to worry whether we would have a simple coronation at Kemper or an all-out convention contest The latter seems more likely as of now And we have had to prepare accordingly particularly in developing contacts with various state delegations that may play a key role We have planned a special pre- The de-Hooverization goes further than this however but in subtler ways Gone from the old tour for instance is a large grotesque display against Communism as presented on the old tour was the ultimate enemy against which one was led to surmise Mr Hoover and his agents were constantly battling much as two boxers in a ring Unless this writer missed it even mentioned on the new tour Yes there was a sizable display regarding silent war that never and it included a case filled with various routine things in which microfilms can be hidden but who was behind the espionage the FBI was battling so relentlessly was not mentioned Maybe Angolan tribesmen for all the tourists know The old tour also placed enor- Pl By Harry Jones Jr A Member of th Staff Bicentennial tourists to the capital are discovering a subtle but substantial effort at what might be called the de-Hooverization of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the still popular and free tour of the new block-long block-wide Edgar Hoover Building Anyone who had taken the FBI tour in years past when the agency was located in cramped quarters inside the Justice Department building across the street from the site of the new $126-million building would recognize this The old tour was to put it as nicely as possible rinky-dink as though arranged by a tired comic book writer and aimed at impressing persons age 8 and younger The new tour although it could stand some changes is at least a tremendous improvement in terms of both content and style The two tours are as different as a Dick Tracy cpmic strip and a Kojak TV show What lingers in the mind most of all after taking the new tour however is the manner in which the late Edgar Hoover is handled His existence is acknowledged only once about two-thirds of the way through the 1-hour tour Just after looking at the organized crime exhibit and a display featuring the FBI academy one encounters two photographs of one as a young man in black and white the other in his later days leaning against his desk in color Beside the photographs are a desk and a red chair Edgar Hoover was director of the FBI from 1921 until his death in a young college-age tour guide says without a trace of emotion was replaced by Clarence Kelley (Pause) Any No one in the group of 14 following this guide speaks up The guide directs his followers to an escalator that will take them to the FBI serology lab those real desk and asks the tourist who has been taking notes all along much to the apparent nervousness of the guide say much about Hoover Have you been instructed not to? the tourist asks sir You remember I asked if there were any questions If there were I would have talked a lot more about people ever make cracks about Hoover on the once in a while hostile Not usually tax evasion it? But not be picky) The new tour begins on a sound note with a brief film shown each group featuring Kansas own Clarence Kelley speaking in an honest nonthreatening manner and opening with Clarence Kelley You are about to tour the FBI Clear Straight to the point Just like any Kansas City native The numerous displays on everything from fingerprinting to firearms collections are newer classier and presented with some intelligent regard to perspective Only at the end of the tour does one have that sinking feeling that the old Hoover ghost is still lingering in the big new building that was named after him (surviving congressional efforts to have it renamed something else) This is when everyone is led into a large auditorium to witness the firing of a pistol and then a Thompson submachine gun into the abdomen of a human-scale target Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat goes the machine gun was the last time an FBI agent used a submachine the nosy tourist with the notes asks the young guide know sir but they may have occasion to use he replies As the tourists complete the tour and head outside toward the balloon salesmen and row of Bicentennial souvenier vendors on the sidewalk each is handed a red white and blue card Something to take home and save it reads hope that your tour of our headquarters has added to the pleasure of your visit to our capital during our Bicentennial celebration Clarence Kelley convention section to'appear on the Sunday before the convention to give our readers all they could possibly want to know about the GOP convention This while we have been planning a special Bicentennial edition for Star Magazine on July 4 and another section for the and incidentally putting out 13 papers a week We have had to take a lot of Aspirin and will take a lot more I mention this activity as one example of the complexity of the news business My point is that in a fast-breaking business with news constantly flowing through our office we do everything possible to avoid error Our reporters are professionals dedicated to verifying and verifying again Our copy editors are equally professional as are all the individuals built into a complex system of checks and balances that is a part of your daily not only of ours but of any newspaper worth its name Certainly I have not cleared up all the misunderstandings about The Star and The Times or the press in general And I have no doubt that many of you can recall instances when you have been angered hurt embarrassed or just agree with something in the papers Some of you in this room have opened fire on The Star (or on me) or on the press in general That is your right and it too is protected by the First Amendment We need you of and your criticisms and suggestions I am aware of the tremendous responsibility of newspapers a responsibility which in its simplest definition is a responsibility to the truth We seek to live up to that responsibility to give you the truth to the degree that it is obtainable to be as objective as humanly possible in our news columns and as thoughtful and constructive as possible in our editorials Some of you may believe we fail But on Newspaper Day even if you want to shoot the editor do not lose sight of this fact: The American press today is far better far more responsible far more alert and more responsive to a changing society than ever before We try within the limitations of human and technological fallibility within the context of our own standards of ethics our experience and our professionalism to serve you as readers and advertisers in the best possible way Please accept that statement in all its sincerity Criticize us Point out our errors Be angry about the late papers Think unkind thoughts about the editor and write him nasty letters or make angry telephone calls But on Newspaper and every read your newspaper And forget not that the first defense of your liberties is a press which exists to serve you the governed and not those who govern We at The Star have and will continue to fight for a free press in chambers of government in the courts or wherever it may be threatened I pledge that there will be no letup in our vigilance For that free press is the most precious of heritages shared by no more than a handful of nations And this thing we call a free press is not my right or privilege as an editor or the right of any publisher or reporter or copy editor or editorial writer rather it is a right of the public a right to be informed a right to have someone watching constantly and vigilantly for you If nothing else on Newspaper Day thank God for the First Amendment which was not written for The Star or Times or for newspapers or radio or TV but solely for you the citizens of a free nation We Hold These Truths A Chronicle of America mous emphasis on the great old days of the 1930s when the FBI was finally allowed to carry guns (as a direct repercussion of Kansas very own Union Station massacre at that) and such scoundrels as Floyd Nelson and John Dillinger were gunning down innocents Pretty Boy Baby Face Dillinger and the Bonnie and Clyde A1 Capone Machine Gun are on display for the new tour too but their prominence is greatly diminished (Kansas Citians will be vastly disappointed by the way that a photograph of the Union Station massacre on display is from a movie not the original site) (Come to think about it what did the FBI have to do with A1 Capone anyway? The Internal Revenue Service snagged Big A1 for income Turkey Turning From the West lune 1776: A British fleet commanded by Commodore Peter Parker carrying a force of 4000 troops under Generals Henry Clinton and Charles Cornwallis assembles off Charleston South Carolina The combined force is to restore royal authority in the four Southern colonies and to turn over control of those colonies to loyalists This week General Charles Lee arrives to oversee the defense of Charleston having been ordered there by Congress from New York But preparations in Charleston have been underway for months On Island at the entrance to the harbor Colonel William Moultrie has been constructing a fort of palmetto logs and sand Asked by Lee you think you can maintain this Moultrie replies I think I The British attack on June 28 General Charles Lee Ross Mackenzie Jeff MacNellye 1976 United Feature Syndicate By Steven Roberts York Times News Service 1976 Istanbul While the foreign ministers of 42 Islamic countries were meeting here earlier this month and hailing a Turkish journalist looked up from her notes and snappe'd is the American Congress that has brought us to this The meeting symbolized an important change in Turkish foreign policy After many years of unswerving identification with the West Ankara is actively seeking broader ties with its Moslem neighbors to the south and east It is also expanding relations with its Communist neighbors to the north and west and in a few weeks the leaders of About half of the countries at the conference were once part of the Ottoman Empire When that empire crumbled during World War I rebellion swept the Middle East and there has been bad blood between Turks and Arabs ever since Kemal Ataturk then founded the modern Turkish republic as a secular state and severely curtailed the power of religious leaders Turkey continued this trend to the West by joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1952 and becoming an associate member of the European Economic Community But by the mid-1960s the Cyprus issue was driving a wedge between Ankara and its Western allies and the Turkish invasion of the island in 1974 widened the split Yugoslavia Bulgaria and Rumania are expected here for state visits This policy shift was attributed mainly to the Cyprus situation and the arms embargo Congress imposed on Turkey last year we had this strong support of NATO and the United States we had no need to look for other a Turkish diplomat said we had to do something to strengthen the position of Turkey which was so weakened by the closer relations with the Islamic world also grew out of important economic religious and psychological motives But even so the shift has not been easy Turkey today is still struggling with its split personality West and East European and Moslem modern and traditional 'Boy General' Figured in Last Great Campaign The Press and the American Revolution better move swiftly to take advantage of the chance to capture Cornwallis and his army Washington rushed off dispatches to Lafayette encouraging him to do his utmost to contain the British When 3000 French soldiers brought in by De Grasse joined the Americans besieging Yorktown task was somewhat lightened Meanwhile Washington and Rochambeau rushed southward As the Continentals moved into Philadelphia happy crowds lined the streets two days later French troops in their white coats marched briskly through the city with bands playing and townspeople cheering wildly It was now clear that the allies were determined to establish unquestionable superiority on both the land and sea near Yorktown But General Clinton at New York still seemed confident that the British army in the South was safe After the arrival of the French fleet and French reinforcements for Lafayette Lord Cornwallis was not nearly so confident He was blocked off at sea but he hoped a British fleet would soon drive the French out of Chesapeake Bay The army might be able to break through force but certainly not without severe losses And if the British did get through they would have to march through hostile territory whichever way they turned Cornwallis decided to take his chances on rescue by the British navy Soon French transports brought and men down Chesapeake Bay and up the James River to lines outside of Yorktown By late September General Cornwallis faced a well-equipped army of 16000 men about half of them French The attackers also had heavy siege guns Clearly the only hope for the British was relief from the sea and that was a remote hope When a British fleet had arrived off the Chesapeake on Sept 5 Admiral De Grasse went out to meet it after some ineffectual maneuvering the British withdrew Without much doubt now Cornwallis was doomed The allied forces strengthened their lines and shut off all escape routes by land for the enemy As the Americans and French moved closer to Yorktown their heavy artillery opened a bombardment of the town Cornwallis made several futile efforts to escape and he clung to the slim hope that help would arrive from New York General Clinton had of course become aware of the desperate plight of the British at Yorktown Although he had 7000 men ready to attempt a rescue of Cornwallis there was nothing he could do without substantial naval support When he finally set sail on Oct 17 he did not have a strong fleet How Clinton was going to force his way into Chesapeake Bay against superior French naval strength was a question never answered Before the relief expedition arrived Lord Cornwallis had surrendered defenses had been shattered by the allied bombardment Charles Stedman a contemporary British historian wrote the force of the cannonade the British works were tumbling into ruin not a gun could be fired vfrom In the face of this Cornwallis asked to negotiate Washington demanded and got the complete surr render of 'the enemy The capitulation took place at Yorktown Oct 19 1781 By Dr Francis Walett Worcester State College Ravaging the James River country and raiding the interior of Virginia in early 1781 British forces burned both public and private buildings destroyed a great quantity of commodities and captured much military equipment After relating these events the New-Jersey Gazette of Jan 31 tersely noted forces are commanded by the parricide The news from the South caused General Washington to dispatch 1200 Continentals to aid the Virginia militia Tb command the expedition the commander in chief named one of his favorite officers the Marquis de Lafayette a young French nobleman who had volunteered his services in 1777 Congress had made Lafayette a major general without command and the red-haired excitable enthusiastic Frenchman had quickly won the respect and affection of Washington Although command of the mission to bolster defenses seemed to offer little chance to win glory Lafayette undertook the task energetically Little did he know at the time that he was to be prominently involved in the last great campaign of the American Revolution When he arrived at Baltimore Lafayette borrowed on his own credit to buy shoes hats and other supplies for his ragamuffin men Charming the ladies of the town who gave a ball for him the resourceful Frenchman got the women to make shirts for the soldiers Soon he moved the troops to Annapolis and from there overland to Richmond all the while writing to both civil and military officials drumming up additional help When Governor Jefferson wrote him that Virginia had laws and a people not used to prompt Lafayette emphasized the shortage of supplies and declared dangers require uncommon He would take what was needed if it was not freely given While these events were taking place General Cornwallis had marched his 1500 British regulars from Wilmington NC to join forces with Arnold at Petersburg Va May 20 As more troops arrived Cornwallis had an army of over 7000 men On the other side General force was strengthened by Virginia militia including some impressive frontier riflemen The Americans were still too weak to challenge the British however Lafayette wrote to Washington: am determined to skirmish but not to engage too As the American commander called boy by Cornwallis sparred with the enemy he in time to avoid a general engagement that probably would have been fatal In June 1781 Lafayette was joined by 1000 Pennsylvania Continentals under Gen Anthony Wayne This did not give the Americans superior strength by any means but it enabled them to stay closer to the enemy and control destructive raids By June 15 Cornwallis had returned to Richmond and begun the march down the peninsula between the James and York rivers to Williamsburg He had decided to move closer to the sea where he could maintain better communication with the British in New York Lafayette followed at a safe distance Sir Henry Clinton the commander in chief of British forces in America was in New York He disliked Lord Cornwallis who operated pretty much as he pleased and he disagreed with the conduct of the war in the South The whole Virginia campaign Clinton thought as pointless and futile New York City the most strategic location in America? General Clinton believed that Washington would strike there and he felt it was his duty to hold the place at all cost When Clinton learned that a strong French fleet with many troops was sailing to America he was determined to strengthen his position Consequently Clinton urged Cornwallis to fortify a defensive position on Chesapeake Bay leave a garrison there and bring the bulk of nis army to New York Despite the wishes of his superior Cornwallis refused to follow this plan He wrote Clinton that if all the British forces were not left in Virginia none at all should be left there and he made plans to cross the James River and march to Portsmouth preparatory to sailing for New York Before he was able to carry this out Cornwallis received additional instructions from the commander in chief The latter having received advice from Britain that he should be more active in the Chesapeake area now informed his subordinate that he must establish a base on Yorktown peninsula With this word the British began to erect fortification in early August not only at Yorktown but also at Gloucester on the northern shore of the York River Lord Cornwallis idled away some two months in the heat of summer at this work hoping that reinforcements would arrive any day by sea His lordship seemed not to realize it but he was in reality waiting for combined American and French forces to surround him General Lafayette learned in early August 1781 that a French fleet under Admiral de Grasse was approaching Chesapeake Bay If he could only keep the British in Yorktown they would be in a trap Establishing a line across the peninsula near Williamsburg he vowed to Washington that he would do all he could to keep Cornwallis bottled up While these momentous events were taking place in Virginia General Washington had hardly been inactive In the early summer he had urged on Count Rochambeau the commander of French troops a joint assault on New York When he learned that Admiral De Grasse was heading for Chesapeake Bay with 3000 men the American commander in chief now saw clearly that the allies had Lafayette excitable Frenchman British troops marched out to lay down their arms between the lives of the allies the French in their splendid white linen the Americans somewhat shabby but still respectable in appearance General Cornwallis pleading illness sulked in his tent and sent Gen Charles to present his sword as custom required first offered the sword to Rochambeau who refused it pointing to General Washington The latter always careful about protocol directed Gen Benjamin Lincoln to accept the sword Throughout the ceremony the British Troops had their eyes fixed upon the French To lay down arms to French gentlemen was one thing to surrender to American peasants was humiliating In keeping with their gloom a British band played World Turned Upside Lafayette however ordered an American band to taunt the British with Demonstrations celebrations broadsides and newspapers everywhere greeted the glorious news of the victory at Yorktown As the word spread throngs cheered offered prayers of thanks fired salutes drank toasts and held banquets expressing their joy Many believed with justification that this would mean the end of the war Not to be forgotten was the Invaluable aid provided by the French in this great hour of triumph And Americans would forever remember the courageous and capable role played in the decisive Yorktown campaign by that enthusiastic volunteer the Marquis de Lafayette.