Lexington Herald-Leader from Lexington, Kentucky • 4

Like The The Lexington Leader Monday January 20 1969 Kentucky's OMuf and larges Daily Republican Nawipapar Published By The Lexington Herald-Leader Co 229-239 West Short Street Lexington Kentucky 40507 FRED WACHS Editor and General Manager John Stoll Publisher 1914-1959 Thom si Adams Assistant General Manager Henry Hornsby Executive Editor Edward Moores Advertising Manager William Hanna City Editor Howard Mathews Circulation Manager Stephen Palmer Assistant Editor Thomas Buckner Promotion Manager The MTL Home Should Not Be Forgot IF THE MARY TODD Lincoln home on West Main Street is ever going to be saved from did age obscurity and neglect as nearly everyone says it should be then someone had better get the ball rolling soon For several years the Commonwealth of Kentucky has expressed an interest in preserving this historic home which has such fine potential as a major tourist attraction for this section of the state Two Democratic governors and one Republican governor have pledged support to something" about saving the girlhood home of the wife of Abraham Lincoln but to date nothing has been done The state now stands ready to condemn the property so that it can be bought by the state at its fair market value but the state does not have sufficient funds to make the purchase The City of Lexington and at least two major historical organizations have expressed a desire to see the Mary Todd Lincoln home saved for future generations of Kentuckians but alas like the Com monwealth they have not had the money necessary to make the purchase It appears clear to us that some sort of arrangement between public and private organizations is needed to see the preservation project through Since the state has the power to condemn die property we think it should take the lead in establishing such a group of citizens If Lexington is to remain on the Lincoln Heritage Trail it is important that we preserve and beautify the most im-portant link we have with Lincoln It is disgraceful that tourists should be brought to Lexington to see our lack of concern for the Mary Todd Lincoln Home Furthermore when the 50 governors of the nation come to Lexington in May for their annual conference they and their wives will be sorely impressed with our lack of concern for the Mary Todd Lincoln home if we have not done anything to save it The effort to preserve this fine old historic house should be started now The project should not be delayed any longer Viewpoints Of Our Readers Sen RusselVs Status Blurred By Kennedy By CLAYTON FRITCIIEY The surprising election of Edward Kennedy as the new assistant majority leader of the Senate naturally attracted great attention but the headlines obscured an interesting simultaneous event tor formal certification of Sen Richard Russell (D Ga) as the real head of the Senate For years the immensely influential Georgian has been the acknowledged of the Club" the inner circle that dominates toe institution Now however the august upper body has officially made him president pro tempore of the Senate succeeding the venerable Carl Hayden of Arizora who has retired at toe age of 91 This will not appreciably increase the pre-tige of Russell already at the maximum but it is bv no means an empty honor for the president pro tempore is among other things third in line of succession to the White House preceded onlv by the Vice President snd the Speaker id the House Unlike some of his new Cabinet appointees President elect Nixon knows what makes the Senate tick having been a member himself Young Kennedy and Mike Mansfield may have the leadership titles but Nixon is well aware that the fate of his legislative program (and much else) will finally rest with Russell and his southern followers who run ten id the Senate's 16 standing committees Russell has long been chairman of the Armed Services Committee Now he is taking over the even more powerful Appropriations Committee yielding Armed Services to his old friend Sen John Stennis (D Miss) Between them they exert almost limitless leverage on spending manpower military operations and conduct of the war Russell could have been elected Democratic leader 15 years ago Instead he backed his protege Lyndon Johnson for this post Since firs coming to the Senate in 1946 Johnson has seldom done anything without consulting his great patron A wise N'xon will do much the same As a senator toe president-elect was never close to Russell but that should not be a seven-handicap for the Georgian while reserved is gracious and comparatively free of petty partisanship Nixon could do worse then bring himself up to date on the current thinking of this quiet man lie dos not say much for public con sumption but recently he has been entertaining some international ideas that ought to Iw extremely inU resting to an incoming president The new administration will make a mistake if it assumes as many do that Russell is either a simr'e nawk on Vietnam or an Asian First zealot He has it is true supported the war but grudgipcly and because "our force' and our flag were committed" lie has felt that the should get in or get out of the war with a growing accent on Actually Ihe senator's attitude toward Vietnam and Asia has been fondamen-tally consistent ever the last two decades lie has always opposed intervention in this area whether by Eisenhower Kennedy or Johnson He pul no stock in the Theory" of all of Southeast Asia going Communist if Vietnam does From first to last he had held that the vital interests of the are not involved there In 1967 he said "We need a new policy more than new troops in Vietnam" Recently his thinking seems to have gone beyond that Apparently he has come to the conclusion that we need a new policy for all of Asia especially Communist China with whom he would now exchange diplomatic representatives There have been hints that Nixon also feels the should review its general posture in the Far East If this is so he may have the good fortune of finding a sympathetic supporter in the dran of the Senate The only men who marched up it from Texas to Abilene Kansas over a brief span of years were a few thousand cowboys herding hundreds of Another Investigation For The Judge CAPTION SHOWS BAD TASTE I believe the caption You're Up Dear" on the photo showing a wounded South Vietnamese Ranger sprawled on the ground and a peasant woman handing him a rifle has to be the worst ever in bad taste The caption makes light id the suffering which these peoples are experiencing This type of American attitude is much too common and it undergirds much of our dealings with this nasty war If it were only possible to subject calloused or frivolous Americans to the rigors id the tropical jungle for even a few days I would venture to say that they would have a different outlook RODRIGUEZ Lexington sulis Only Mtara DrtricN Navi Iha wrttff-l Hma Mw MS laWaNaia avniNar Drill Ns cam ISarari Mr psMkaNM Vis lamas may MaS Mr psMIcatian aariar cartala drtwntlancaa-ta 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TV Guide attributed said statement to a Negro TV performer in Heroes" I don't remember his name as I seldom watch TV and never have watched said program Anyway our is supposed to have said: of the men who marched up the Chisolm Trail were I was flabbergasted! That even TV Guide would have the gall to print such an outlandish statement without comment was beyond belief! The Chisolm Trail was a cattle trail for sake Inaugural Has Hope By DAVID LAWRENCE A feeling of "change" is in the air It is id course stimulated by the prospective exit of the Johnson administration and preparations for the start of a new administration next week The demand for change has been emphasized by a substantial majority of the voters and is far more than a passing interest of the American people in the gala of an inaugural For the fact is the people are aroused They want action They do nut want vague statements offering hope while providing no assurance of a solution of the many troubles afflicting the nation What is at the bottom of difficulties today in government? There is no easy answer but to one who has watched the course of history through many administrations the prime fault seems to be epitomized to a single word Too many decisions are made with an eye to votes of this or that group Rather than a positive course the temptation is to try something "in the middle of he road" Instead of dealing decisively and immediately with a plain challenge the tendency is to apply what is called a theory that sooner or later things will get better anyway The historian who examines the record of the last decade will have to write that many crises were only to precipitate bigger ones later on When a war of sizable proportions gave this country a lop sided economy appeals for restraint were substituted for laws imposing wage-snd price controls Labor vehemently opposed the latter and business too enthusiastic either President Johnson however basically appeared to be afraid of losing the 'Irtaffy Dfc tit Cswfry'i la Uasy Map' thousands of long horn cattle To my knowledge none of the cowboys were Negros If there were any in those days and Sammy Davis notwithstanding) history and western literature do not record it In that particular period of our history I venture to say there were not more than 1000 Negros west of the Missouri and most of them would have been in Texas and San Francisco So is history distorted! TAYLOR Lexington still life For New Approaches support which is mobilized politically by the labor unions The same thing occurred when a new minimum-wage law was enacted The pressure didn't come from toe workers in low-wage groups most of whom arc not even members of unions The law was passed instead because of the support lined up among the large labor unions which knew i would automatically push up all wage scales above the minimum It seem to matter th-t prices would be pushed up too As for the Vietnam War the policy of was tried It was opposed by the military The delay not only gave the enemy time to get more arms and support from toe Soviet Union and Red China but enabled the antiwar critics to gatner a larger and larger following inside the United States From a political standpoint toe Democratic administration make toe gains it expected from gradualism and the enemy got considerable comforr out of toe rise of the antiwar sentiment throughout America Policies of dilly dallying have done great harm also in the handling of the internal across this country The crime wave has risen to unprecedented heights Disorders are numerous Rebellion in the colleges has merely emphasized toe lack of firmness cn the part of those who have authority to punish misbehavior Much of tuis attitude of indifference may be related to toe demoralization of the police forces in many parts of toe land or it may have resulted from i he loose way the courts have ignored the civil rights or law-abiding citizens while criminals and demonstrators have been given a free hand But officials must have courage This means a willingness to forego the imsginary popularity which supposedly can be obtained by reluctance to use vigorously the powers of prosecution The eyes of the nation will be focused now on the new attorney general For what the federal government does can materially influence the local governments too Many prob'eirs Vietnam law and order inflation and the rigid economic controls which alone can save the country from a deep depression be tackled with a resoluteness that the American people will be able quickly to perceive and support if it is manifested by the new administration The central idea is to seek not what seems good politically but what is good for the nation even if for a time there are discomforts and some adversity Gradualism is but another word for postponement delay and confusion Decisivness commands respect and support although it always win votes right away Prayer For Today God our Father we thank Thee for Thy love shown to us in so many ways Help us to show our gratitude to Thee by our prayers and service and by our words and deeds to our fel-lowmen Amen FAYETTE COUNTY JUDGE Joe Johnson has been too lax and too secretive in investigating the case of two Fayette County policemen who were arrested last Spring in Breathitt County on charges of carrying a concealed deadly weapon and assault and battery Although Judge Johnson knew about the matter since April he has kept quiet on the matter Why? Who is he protecting? Why were these Fayette County policemen in Breathitt County with their guns? Why were the policemen allowed Nixon And The Draft By WILLIAM BUCKLEY JR There are those who hope that President Nixon wiU galvanize the country by instant action on at least something to do with Vietnam even if it is something ancillary to the talks in Paris Prof Milton Friedman writes in Newsweek Magazine that at least Mr Nixon should set a date beyond which no draftee will be sent to Vietngm Mr Friedman believes that his idea is mechancially feasible that you simply draw from the 900000 volunteers already in the army and sweeten the service in Vietnam by adding substantially to the paychecks id men who serve there It So clear that all feasible even alter Mr Friedman is dime with the argument but it is clear that his heart is as usual in the right place and that there is an unusual conjunction of pressures on Mr Nixon from both the libertarian right and the hard left to move towards the abolition of the draft The movement was morally animated by last declaration by the National Council of Churches in favor of selective conscientious objection The argument is that a young man ought to have the right to object to participation in any given war: An objection which many young men would instantly exercise in considering the Vietnam war The idea of a wholly volunteer army is very appealing So for that matter is the idea very appealing of wholly voluntary taxation a subject with which dreamers episodically dream and dreams viz Martin Luther King's can be very inspiring provided they are not mischievously deceptive Mr plan is sort of a way station to a wholly volunteer army If we need yet awhile to have draftees send them not to Vietnam but elsewhere After all two thirds of our armed forces reside outside Vietnam Interesting problems however survive toe Friedman NCC proposals Suppose that we have a draftee who because he objects to the war in Vietnam is therefore sent to oh Frankfort And there he (bills and goes through his maneuvers ard lives his solider's life as the months of his enforced service tick by But then there is a crisis in the Mideast and the president of the United States orders our The Johnson Years By BOSCOE and GEOFFREY DRUMMOND There is no need to wait for verdict on the presidency of Lyndon Johnson During his five years in office Mr Johnson has confronted more difficult crises than most of his predecessors and most id the time he has made the right decision at the right time for the right reasons A weaker less determined president might have faltered Lyndon Johnson faltered hardly at all and the result today is that in the cause of peace in the cause of racial justice in the cause of ending poverty the nation has at most points been lilted up to a forward road This just opinion without proof Richard Nixon is showing he intends to build on the innovative measures of the Johnson years carry them forward not undo them at any major point At the moment LBJ himself is tending to put a lew-key estimate on his record tried" he is saying The record is far better than that Mr Johnson not only he succeeded He has done more than any previous President to make better education available to more students from Elementary schools to college He has done more than any previous president to make racial justice a reality in America and to enable Mack citizens to lay hold of their civil rights and voting rights The antipoverty program fumbled and faltered in some of its execution but Lyndon Johnson is the first president to focus national attention on the problems of so much poverty in the midst of so murh affluence end to galvanize the conscience into beginning to do something about it The Kenn-dy-Johnson years have been marked by a longer period of sustained prosperity and high economic growth than ever before LBJ brought about a tax reduction when it was needed to stimulate the economy and however tardily persuaded Congress to increase taxes to stay on the Fayette County police force after their arrest? Did the policemen beat up the Breathitt County man? If so why? Was there a woman involved and if so was she married to the man who allegedly was beaten? These questions deserve to be answered and Judge Johnson should make a public investigation into the matter While Judge Johnson takes a special delight in conducting public investigations why has he neglected to investigate this matter? The public deserves to know How Will He React? troops to lard in say Lebanon The soldier in question let us think of him as a graduate of Harvard just to put flesh and bones on our abstraction presents himself to his superior officer and announces that as he deliberates on the subject of the Mideast he believes it would be morally wrong to land in Lebanon and under the circumstances he invokes his right to selective objection and respectfully derlines to join the airlift Those who suppose that this is caricature should remember that in the list id (Yes those are the words our young absolutists toss about these days as airily as if ordering a Coca Cola) committed by Lyndon Johnson one almost always finds lumped together our venture in Vietnam and our venture in the Dominican Republic where President Johnson acted with lightning speed in landiing the marines In other words it is conceivable that an individual could under the projected dispensation subject every contemplated militarv maneuver to the test of his sovereign consciences and lets face it there would very likely be a lot of twitchy consciences about say participating in a November Invasion the grounds you like that we tried seriously enough to negotiate our differences with the Third Reich It will nut be easy in other words for President Nixun to absorb the principle of selective conscientious objection into any general military arrangement The final logic of selective objection is in fact to render militarily useless those who are disposed to use their right to selective objection it being more than the Pentagon can undertake to do to custom-make all military operations to the taste of individual Under the circumstances it would appear that interim solutions are unlikely to succeed If the President were to announce that only volunteers would be sent to Vietnam why should he get away with sending draftees to say Katanga to bomb civilians under the immaculate auspices of the UN as American It is a tricky problem even for the resource-soldiers were required to do under President Kennedy? ful Mr Nixon A Good Reflection when it was critically needed to restrain the economy In all of these areas and in others Mr Johnson succeeded in persuading Congress to enact the necessary legislation It was a remarkable achievement but not alone He was helped by two decades of advocacy and national debate which crystallized public support Hr Johnson inherited this public support and used it brilliantly In foreign policy the achievement to which history may pay the greatest attention is that the Johnson presidency avoided nuclear war and helped to negotiate the nuclear nonproliferation treaty It is too soon to attempt a verdict on the Vietnamese war because the wisdom of our defense of South Vietnam will be judged by the kind of peace which emerges from the Paris talks Mr Johnson made these talks possible by stopping the bombing of North Vietnam and he did so not because of the pressures from his critics at home but because Hanoi finally accepted the conditions which he said would make ending the bombing possible And he gave up running for re-electiop at a time when there was every probability he would be renominated and when most political reporters thought his chances of re-election were bettei than even He did so in the cause of peace Today Lyndon Johnson is leaving office under a cloud of animus snd hostility primarily because of the Democratic liberals who like his style and his Southern accent and because of the snti-Vietnamese war critics who felt that the United States did not hsve enough at stake in Southeast Asia to defend a small country so far away But the two greatest presidential failures of the last 100 Ulysses Grant and Warren left office in the sunshine of popular praise verdict corrected these two mis-judgments and will likely correct the other From Our Files 10 Years Ago Today Construction of a $112000 Episcopal student center at the University of Kentucky was proceeding on schedule for opening in September at 472 Rose Street The Blue Monday Bowling League had begun competition at Congress Alleys for the March of Dimes drive in local bowling alleys For two weeks bowlers were to contribute $1 to the drive along with their regular bowling foes Frizes were be given to the man and woman with the highest scores at the end of the competition LeRoy Miles was re-elected president of toe First National Bank Trust Co 25 Years Ago Today Certain xwtwar projects including the proposed rorstructim of a modern highway circling the city were described by County Judce Nichols at a Lexington Rotary Club meeting at the Lafayette Hotel Manning president of the Security Trust Co we elected president of the I-exing-ton Clearing House Association succeeding Monroe Sellers Maximum retail prices for fresh fruits snd vegetables sold in Fayette County stores announced by the price panel of the War Trice and Rationing Boards included: all varieties sizes and grades 11 cents a pound except Idaho bakers No 1 white 5 cents a pound: commercial grade all varieties five pounds for 20 cents or 4 cents a pound Kentucky farmers made a bettcr-than-aver-age record xmong farmers from manv states transported a year earlier to areas with acute shortages of labor according to Lawrence Bradford asvstant professor of farm management at the University of Kentucky S5 Yean Ago Today Walter Rehm owner of the Mitchell Baker and Smith department store was elected president of the Lexington Board of Commerce Parker manager of the Kentucky Actuarial Buieau sent a letter to Fire Chief Charles Henry praising him for his handling of the department and for the small fire loss in toe city The home building editor described a two-story six-room "cottage" with pillared porch attached garage and full basement which could be built for $5800 At the Oners House Lexingtonians could roc Tim McCoy in Rides Alone" with Silver King toe wonder dog all for 10 cents efurxn upprr and one of best known snd progressive young businesswomen died a home of bronchial pneumonia superinduci influenza Two well-known Kentuckians wen cite bravery and selected by Gen Pershim Distinguished Service Medals They were Gen Henry Allen and Brig Gen Pi Brown Noah Perkins was declared the bidder at $9325 for the collection of gai and toe conduct id the city crematory March 1 1919 to March 1 1920 Fashionable new tight skirts with to inch hems wore a problem for the ladii jjf bnih Petticoats put on silk ti Iil down and pull ui other just like Dad pulling chi his trousi 4 i i.