The Charlotte News
Monday, May 27, 1957
FOUR EDITORIALS
Site Ed. Note: The front page reports that the Administration had broadened its proposals for protection of labor welfare-pension funds this date to cover all funds and to provide criminal penalties for stealing from them. The bill was presented to a Senate Labor subcommittee by Secretary of Labor James Mitchell, who said in a prepared statement before the subcommittee that findings of the Senate Select Committee investigating racketeering and organized crime influence in unions and management and other Congressional probes, plus his Department's studies, had developed the conclusion that the Administration's original proposals could be improved and strengthened. The new proposals had gone far to meet the objections of Senator Paul Douglas of Illinois, who had criticized two previous Administration proposals prepared for the same subcommittee. Senator Douglas had sponsored a bill which would apply to both union and management-operated funds and would provide criminal penalties for misuse of them. The new Administration bill would also provide for registration with the Labor Department, together with annual audits on all such funds on which tax exemptions or deductions were allowed under Federal tax laws, as well as of plans covering employees in any industry affecting interstate commerce.
In New York, the Federal Government this date dropped immediate trial of its case against John Dioguardi, known as "Johnny Dio", and three other defendants in the acid-blinding of labor columnist Victor Riesel, because two key witnesses had refused to testify. The U.S. Attorney who had made the request said that it did not close the book on the case but that an immediate trial would be inviting an acquittal. He said that the refusal of the two witnesses to testify reflected the power of the underworld, and that such gangster ethics would not be tolerated by the Department of Justice. The two key Government witnesses had been convicted in one phase of the case and were given additional sentences for contempt in refusing to answer questions before a Federal grand jury, with the U.S. Attorney saying that the Government had done all it could to compel the witnesses to testify, but would continue to press vigorously the investigation of why the witnesses had refused. Mr. Riesel had been blinded by acid thrown in his face as he walked out of Lindy's Broadway Restaurant on April 5, 1956, the assault apparently having been intended to prevent him from testifying before a grand jury investigating rackets. The prosecution had contended that the acid had been hurled by Abe Telvi, who was later killed, presumably to silence him. Mr. Dio was charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice by trying to prevent Mr. Riesel from testifying. The two recalcitrant witnesses had been tried separately, with one being sentenced to between 13 1/2 and 21 years in prison and the other to between 7 1/2 and 10 years. Each had also been sentenced the previous week to an additional five-year term for contempt.
In Guntersville, Ala., two men had been killed and at least seven others wounded this date in a picket line battle on a construction job. The police chief said that apparently the shooting had begun when non-striking workers sought to remove a barricade at the entrance to the Cotton Producers Association feed mill, being built by the Gulf States Construction Co. of Atlanta. Some of the construction workers had struck on May 20 in support of demands for recognition of the UMW, District 50 local, as their bargaining agent.
In New York, evangelist Billy Graham said that "there is something desperately and tragically wrong with the American home today." He attributed it to married couples breaking and forgetting laws governing marriage as stated in the Bible. He spoke on the topic of "Problems of the American Home" before a capacity crowd of 18,500 at Madison Square Garden the previous night. His staff reported that 547 "decisions for Christ" had been reached the previous night, bringing the total of those decisions thus far during the Crusade to 7,931. His text was II Kings, 20:1, which reads: "Thus sayeth the Lord, set thy house in order." The evangelist said that a successful marriage was based on three things, "physical attraction, mental affinity and spiritual oneness," and that unless there was spiritual oneness, the marriage would be headed for the rocks. He said marriage was a permanent relationship never to be broken, that God had never meant for man and wife to be apart. He said that absolute fidelity was one essential element of a happy home and that adultery was one of the greatest sins and could be committed by "look, thought or act—and thousands are guilty." He advised young people contemplating marriage: "Be sure you marry God's choice. If you wait for God's choice, He has just the right one. Be sure the person you marry is a Christian. If not, your house is headed for hell on earth."
In Hackensack, N.J., an 18-year old youth who had always carried a Bible in his pocket and had attended the Billy Graham Crusade, was charged with murder the previous day in the rape and slaying of his 15-year old classmate, whom he had allegedly strangled on a lovers' lane. The county prosecutor said that the young man had provided a confession, quoting him as saying he was making the statement to God, as he held tightly to his Bible. He had read the statement carefully and signed it late the previous night and was scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on June 7. He had been among more than 40 persons questioned since the semi-nude body of the 15-year old girl had been found in a wooded area the prior Thursday. She had left for afternoon classes at the high school on May 17 and did not arrive for classes and never returned home. When her body had been found, her white belt was knotted around her neck, some of her clothing was rolled up in a ball nearby, and a wad of cleansing tissue had been stuffed into her mouth. An autopsy revealed that she had been raped. The prosecutor said that the youth had stated that he picked her up during the late morning on the day of the murder, had driven her to the deserted area and managed to return to classes about 50 minutes later. The prosecutor provided only sketchy details of the contents of the confession, but said that apparently there had been a struggle in the car, that the boy had lifted the girl from the car and placed her on the ground, had taken her clothing from the car and placed it alongside her body. He had then stuffed a tissue gag in her mouth. Authorities said that he had attended the meeting at Madison Square Garden held by evangelist Billy Graham on the night following the noontime slaying. He was described by a minister as being very devout and president of the young people's group of the church, was a substitute Sunday school teacher and a member of the choir. Authorities had been led to suspect him of the slaying as he had not taken a customary ride in his car with another boy and girl before afternoon classes on the day of the murder. Two assistant prosecutors had gone through records after the discovery of the body and found that two girls, then ages 11 and 5, had been raped three years earlier and that tissue paper had also been stuffed into their mouths. Elsewhere, it was reported that the youth had been among 100 persons questioned in those attacks as a suspect, but had an alibi for the time when the attacks had occurred. He admitted those attacks also in his confession, saying, "I talked with God and made my peace with God and those things are wiped out." In September, he would enter a plea of "no defense", presumably the equivalent of nolo contendere, on the murder charge and would be sentenced to life imprisonment.
In Garner, N.C., a high school senior on her way to her class banquet in a party dress and wearing a corsage had been slain the previous night in what her fiancé had told police was an accident which happened when he playfully sought to scare her with a pistol. The 19-year old girl had been killed by a shot from a .38-caliber pistol in the left temple and her 22-year old fiancé was being held in the Wake County jail this date without bond, pending further investigation. The county coroner said that no charges had been brought against the young man, pending further study of the case and that he might be released on bond during the day. The shooting had occurred at a rural store owned by the arrested man's father, a wealthy merchant and farmer, as the couple and another couple were preparing to leave for the senior banquet at Garner High School. Earlier, the two couples had been at the young man's home watching television when they decided to go to the store to obtain something to eat, and after they had eaten sardines and potted ham, and drunk milk and soft drinks, the other couple had gone to the car while the other two locked the store, the male of the other couple having stated that the other male had told him he had seen the gun lying under the counter and decided he would "scare her". He pulled out the gun, according to the coroner, holding the hammer back with his finger and "waved it around", at which point, according to the statement by the young man to his friend, "My finger slipped and that was it." The coroner said that there had been no cross words between the girl and her fiancé. The other girl said that she had heard a shot and saw the young man stumble out of the door crying: "I've shot Helen. I've killed Helen. Somebody do something." The young man had recently been discharged from military service and was helping his father at the store and on the farm.
John Jamison of The News reports that the seriously wounded man who had been the victim of a shooting on Saturday by the husband of a woman who had been at home when the wounded man had allegedly burglarized the mobile home where the couple lived, had been supposed to be in jail at the time of his wounding at his place of employment, an Esso service station. He was recovering from a .38-caliber pistol wound in the back, having originally been committed to jail by the County Recorder's Court the day before the shooting, charged with the capital crime at the time of first-degree burglary and not allowed bond. The Superior Court solicitor, however, had permitted him to go free the following day on posting of a bond of $5,000, after the man's defense attorney had called the solicitor to explain some of the circumstances. State statutes did not authorize a solicitor to set bond in capital cases, according to a spokesman for the State Attorney General's office, a duty reserved for either Supreme Court justices or Superior Court judges. The solicitor said that he was under the impression that he had the authority to set the bond, and still believed that he did. The wounded man had allegedly entered a room occupied by the assailant's wife on Monday night. The wounded man's condition was described this date as satisfactory, and the assailant requested a jury trial during the morning before the Recorder's Court on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and carrying a concealed weapon.
Max Muhleman of The News reports that American automobile manufacturers were withdrawing from stock-car racing, effective immediately, apparently an organized agreement to be announced at a June 6 board of directors meeting of the Automobile Manufacturers' Association in Detroit. The AMA had refused comment when contacted by the newspaper, but there were strong indications that the move was already underway. For the previous two racing seasons, the trend in late-model stock cars had been toward factory-backed "team" cars. Major participants had been Ford and Chevrolet, with Oldsmobile, Plymouth, Mercury and Pontiac participating on a smaller scale. The manufacturer-sponsored racing had been centered on the late-model circuits operated by the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing, headed by Bill France. Mr. France had told the newspaper during the morning that the factories had gained a world of engineering experience from their participation, and although they were no longer entering cars, he was certain they would continue to observe closely their products in the races, as racing was a laboratory revealing weaknesses which could surface in no other way, resulting in better and safer cars for the public. It appeared that the cars maintained by factory shops would be turned over to the individual drivers for their use and maintenance during the rest of the current racing season. Buck Baker of the Chevrolet team had left Charlotte during the morning to make arrangements with the Atlanta shop of Chevrolet racing operations for picking up his car, saying that he would obtain an individual sponsor. Hubert Westmoreland of Burlington said that the two Plymouth cars he operated for Chrysler Corp. would receive no more factory aid as of the current week, indicating that he was awaiting word from Plymouth's Ronnie Householder, engineer in charge of racing activity, as to whether or not the cars would be turned over to him. Lee Petty, a veteran driver who during the season had handled Oldsmobile's interests, said that he was aware of the withdrawal, but that it would not affect him as much as the other "team" operators, as he bought his cars outright from Oldsmobile, along with the equipment. He said the only difference now would be that he would probably operate just one car but would still be in business on about the same scale. Most of the "team" entries in late-model racing had begun in 1956 after Carl Kiekhaefer, a wealthy Wisconsin outboard motor manufacturer, had begun dominating the circuit with his private team of cars and drivers. He had withdrawn after the 1956 season, saying that he could not compete with the Detroit-financed teams, although his cars had finished with record wins against factory competition in 1956. Team participation had germinated from factory-to-driver aid begun in the early 1950's when Hudson had backed up several drivers who were running their cars. Chevrolet, in 1955, had begun providing aid to certain drivers of their cars and had formed a large advertising campaign around racetrack success. While the manufacturers and the AMA declined comment on the situation, it was understood that the AMA believed that factory-backed automobile racing had not been in the best interests of the industry's public relations.
In Easton, Pa., a science writer and three youngsters, lost in a cave since sometime the previous day, had been found this date, emerging a little hungry but unharmed. The 42-year old man had taken his 11-year old son and two of his son's friends on an outing the previous day to explore caves in the area, and the party had entered a commercial cavern known as Carpenter's Cave, located five miles south of Easton, wherein they became lost and the man's wife reported them missing the previous night. State police, aided by volunteers and cave exploration experts, had searched the cave this date and one member of the search party had contacted the group by shouting, though unable initially to determine where in the cave they were located.
On the editorial page, "Quiet Response to a Crying Need" tells of quiet statesmanship having taken place regarding constitutional reform in the State Senate, rejecting a bill calling for the people to vote on a constitutional convention with delegates to be chosen on the same basis as the current State House, approving instead a much more desirable bill calling for a 15-man commission to make a thorough study of constitutional reform and report its recommendations by December 1, 1958.
The latter formula might require more time and effort, but thoroughness was a necessity and the commission, to be appointed by the Governor from the ranks of the state's most able leaders, would have the services of a staff of researchers. It would be much more orderly and thoughtful than leaving the planning of a new state constitution to a state convention.
It opines that the present 1868 State Constitution badly needed modernizing, as it was a hodge-podge of amendments impeding the efficient working of State Government. It provided, for instance, a diversity of state powers, including power over local government, the chartering and regulation of corporations, the regulation of public utilities and the operation of certain economic services, the maintenance of a free public education system, administration of much of the public welfare field and the whole undefined and seemingly limitless field of police powers, that being all of the reserved powers needed for public health, safety and morals, and the power over civil functions such as taxation, revenues, suffrage and elections, civil liberties and the like. It finds that they were all worthy of the best interest and attention of the state so that they could be controlled for the public good.
A built-in problem in the old Constitution was a weak governor, without veto power or the ability to succeed himself, a reform which was long overdue. It finds that the State Senate had proposed the tools for that reform and the State House ought pass the bill.
"Pills & Pacts: The World Needs Both" finds that two groups of men working in England symbolized mankind's best hopes of saving itself from the bombs it had built. Diplomats from Britain, France, Canada, the U.S. and Russia were in London working on a disarmament pact to keep nations without nuclear weapons from obtaining them while the powers which had them searched for ways to prevent use of them on each other.
The other group was a team of research scientists working on a pill designed to protect human bodies from radiation, in case the diplomats were to fail.
It finds that assuming that both the diplomats and scientists shared the hope of success, their tasks seemed almost insurmountable, though that of the scientists seemed easier. The world had pills for almost everything except for the common cold.
But the human mind was still an enigma. Person to person, the human species would reach instantaneous agreement to ban not only bombs but all weapons of destruction, but nation to nation, the omnipresent possibility of immediate annihilation was tolerated, with the means of annihilation constantly being enlarged.
Thus of the two, it finds, the scientists had more reason for hope of success than did the diplomats, a tragedy, for if the diplomats did not succeed, conceivably there would be no one left to take the pills against radiation poisoning. It finds it reassuring that both groups were working toward their goals.
"Another Triumph" indicates that from the look of things in Formosa, where rampaging Chinese mobs had wrecked the U.S. Embassy, one would gather that another aim of the foreign policy of Secretary Dulles had been accomplished, that being that Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek had, indeed, finally been "unleashed".
"Portrait of the Huckster as an Artist" indicates that it was surprised to see actor Kirk Douglas portraying Vincent van Gogh, endorsing his prints in a picture on the back of a magazine, looking much as the Dutch impressionist had, judging by his self-portraits.
But the artist had not needed
promotion for some time and art dealers had found a substantial
market for his originals, thus making the endorsement by Mr. Douglas
of the reprints to be something akin to tennis star Pancho Gonzalez
promoting a certain cigarette. It finds that Mr. Douglas, for his
having played the role of Mr. Van Gogh in "Lust for Life"
But it finds that sort of promotion could be taken too far, imagining an album of Eddie Duchin recordings endorsed by Tyrone Power, who had played him on the movie screen, or Steve Allen promoting Benny Goodman's greatest hits, also having portrayed Mr. Goodman. Or Don Ameche plugging the next Bell book, or Paul Muni giving the pitch for Louis Pasteur, or maybe Mickey Rooney as young Tom Edison and Spencer Tracy as the older version of the inventor. It finds that the Hollywood theme could be the next gimmick of the ad men.
It concludes in that vein that James Stewart would have to make up his mind whether to plug Glenn Miller or Charles Lindbergh.
Speaking of ads, look here, we got one of them right in the garage. It's like space-age, dude, controls just like a jet plane. Goes round and round right in the winder
A piece from the Richmond Times-Dispatch, titled "The Subversive Wizard of Oz", tells of the Frank Baum book and the other 37 Oz books no longer being listed by the Detroit public library because the library believed the books were without any elevating influence or uplift.
It questions whether Alice in
Wonderland was also on the blacklist in Detroit, as it had no
uplift, that while it was "merely one of the most brilliant
pieces of imaginative nonsense in the English language", it
would be hard to derive any uplift from the oafish Caterpillar, the
timid Dormouse, the Red
Likewise, it found the verses of A. A. Milne, regarding Christopher Robin, Kanga and Roo and Tigger, not to be very uplifting, but quite amusing and entertaining. The same was true of the epic tale of the Three Little Pigs, Mighty Mouse or the heroic exploits of Br'er Rabbit. It wonders whether they were also subversive works in Detroit.
It suggests that rather than the
standard being whether it was sufficient to afford a few hours of
entertainment to children or adults, it now appeared that all books
for young people had to be elevating and inspiring. "In other
words we are asked to swap the Oz books, Uncle Remus, and Alice in
Wonderland for Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and such Horatio
Alger masterpieces as Luck and Pluck and Tattered Tom.
Include us out
Drew Pearson indicates that the President's official family were heaving a sigh of relief at the exit of the most powerful member of the Cabinet, Secretary of the Treasury George Humphrey. The reasons were that Mr. Humphrey had made his unprecedented statement about the budget causing a depression which "will make your hair curl", starting the problems which the President had with the budget in Congress, more so than any President in recent years, especially in the wake of his landslide victory of the previous November. Additionally, Mr. Humphrey's tight money policy had raised interest rates so high that the Government had trouble floating its own bonds. He had permitted the Treasury to degenerate to the point where it was presently offering Government bonds at the highest rate in modern American history.
Democrats in Congress had been considering the possibility of initiating impeachment proceedings against Mr. Humphrey on the basis that he had one of the greatest conflicts of interest in Government, as revealed by Congressman James Roosevelt of California during the weekend, when he had described Mr. Humphrey as "a very potentially dangerous influence. I think if something isn't done about it, and the country isn't told about it, we may have a repetition of what we had under Andrew Mellon," which he indicated would be another depression. When asked for specific examples of Secretary Humphrey's errors, Mr. Roosevelt had pointed out that the Secretary had refused to sell his stock in the M. A. Hanna Co. and that his son had signed a nickel contract in Oregon, just a few days before his father had become Secretary, under which contract, the Government built a plant with taxpayer money and then turned it over absolutely free to Hanna. Mr. Roosevelt had said that they had been guaranteed a profit without taking a risk, and yet a few days later, Mr. Humphrey had become Secretary of the Treasury. He had also pointed to the Arabian-American Oil Co., owned in part by Standard Oil of New Jersey, which was in part owned by Mr. Humphrey's firm. Mr. Roosevelt said that Aramco had once paid taxes in the U.S. before working out a phony deal with the King of Saudi Arabia whereby, instead of royalties to him, they paid taxes to him, and now, instead of paying millions of dollars in taxes to the U.S. Government, they had not paid a penny in taxes in recent years, instead the taxes going to Saudi Arabia, working to defraud the U.S. Mr. Roosevelt said that Mr. Humphrey had approved that arrangement, which was reviewed in the Treasury Department. He also pointed to the case of Mr. Humphrey's competitor, Cyrus Eaton, who, along with Mr. Humphrey, owned properties in Canada. The Treasury had sued Cyrus Eaton's company for two million dollars in back taxes and, despite the protest from Canada that it was double taxation, the Treasury insisted on pressing the suit, until the Tax Court of Appeals had thrown it out. That had involved a direct competitor of Mr. Humphrey, and Mr. Roosevelt suggested that it showed that there was one law for the friends of the Secretary and a different law for his competitors.
Doris Fleeson indicates that the foreign aid bill was off to a much faster start than the budget, but was not yet home. The Appropriations Committees of both houses were running the Congress and some of their most influential members were seeking a substantial cut in the President's budget.
She finds that in one of his better speeches the previous week, the President had done a good job in advocating for the foreign aid program, but was defending and promoting also the idea that disarmament and a relaxation of tensions were possible, thus somewhat undercutting the amount sought for foreign aid. It placed Secretary of State Dulles out on a limb seeking help to maintain allies, and might soon force him to retreat into the realm of disarmament. To get the foreign aid package, the Secretary was trying to promote fear in Congress, while disarmament was promoting hope.
The members of Congress disliked abrupt changes of pace, which they would have to justify to their constituents. Some Democrats believed that they had made a political mistake in following the right wing on the economy, which was helping the President's position. The Democrats argued that the Republicans would get credit for any economy measures, and they saw Democrats as acting out of character in failing to defend social welfare principles, which also accounted for their success. Politically expedient members of Congress were beginning also to feel that they had made an economy record by this point and could relax.
A letter writer objects to the State Legislature not having passed the automobile safety inspection law, which would get the "junk heaps" off the roads, as some accidents were caused by faulty equipment, causing the deaths of several people each year in the state.
A letter writer from Pittsboro says that he shared the newspaper's editorial view of apprehension of censorship of obscene and lascivious literature and in what appeared on the stage and television, for that censorship would inevitably be abused, that what was obscene and lascivious was not adequately defined, and probably could not be. He indicates that with the aim of protecting the young people, censorship would only run into a dead-end. He suggests that the Protestant Churches of America and the British Isles had combined to destroy the racial identities of men, "which is immoral and offensive to all sense of decency. If the God of us all had wanted only one race of men, He would have made it one race; instead He created racial species just as He did as to foul, fishes, beasts and reptiles, with the Divine instinct to reproduce after its kind. I have accused our Negroes of having no race pride and unwillingness to accomplish and excel in matters distinctly their own; now I find that our major problem is not the Negro, but the white racial renegade who wants to destroy the racial identity of the white man." He says that he had heard one of those persons, a minister, who had "ranted and snorted at the white man's assumed superiority over the black, brown, yellow and red races who in the aggregate constitute three-fourths of the earth's population." He finds that not to be the point as every race, regardless of being a minority, had the right and will to fight against the elimination of its racial identity. He says that 90 percent of blacks in the country did not favor integration of the races, as it would defile themselves in the process. "We have Negroes who are decent, clean, moral and upright and the very souls of honor and integrity. I talk to them frequently. They know I am their friend, and I am ready now and have always been to help the Negro find his place in the sun, and in my argument and thinking all I have ever asked him to do to get my unlimited support morally and financially is that he eschew all ideas of racial amalgamation and let's have two races working each in his own way as to family life and propagation of his kind and working together in matters of government and things of equal concern to them. I am no extremist. This is the only approach to a humane settlement and in keeping with God's will as exhibited in nature…"
How he got from censorship to his favorite topic of "amalgamation of the races" from integration, we leave for the reader to fathom. Again, he was born in the Nineteenth Century.
A letter from the chairman of the Albemarle Centennial thanks the newspaper for publicizing their celebration.
A letter writer from Brevard, who had written many times to the newspaper from Phoenix, says that after 40 years of absence from his native state, he was now back home, visiting his old home county of Cleveland and would then go to Charlotte, where he had lived in 1921-22. He indicates that while he had not gotten any riches in Arizona, he had regained his health and now, at 67, believed he was good for another 25 years. While Arizona was twice as large as North Carolina in area, its population was only just over a million and it had grown by less than 400,000 in 40 years, now experiencing, however, rapid growth. While there had been much beautiful scenery there, it did not compare to western North Carolina, and while there were many good people there, including many North Carolinians, they did not exhibit the same friendship and hospitality as the people back home. The newcomers to Phoenix were cutting down all the shade trees, causing him to want to retreat to good old North Carolina. He says that he was finishing his book, "Tar Heel Boy in Arizona", about his journey to Arizona with a busted lung and within a year had become a policeman, though not a very good one, presently weighing 220 pounds, "and can lick any two men twice his age—that is, those I know that age in Arizona—I wouldn't tackle any of those old Tar Heels."
A letter writer says that she had read about the many souls being saved at Billy Graham's Crusade in New York, finds that it was God's work and not that of the Reverend Graham, who was only God's messenger. She said she had heard an evangelist say one night that he had met a drunk on the street and the man had asked him whether or not the evangelist recalled him, as the minister had saved him recently, to which the minister had said that it looked like his work sure was not God's. She wonders how many church members were interested enough about going out to win lost souls, that God instructed followers to go into the byways and hedges and find the lost and win them for Christ.
A letter writer from Gastonia wonders how many readers had noticed the strange "defense" made by the editor of the Gaffney Ledger in South Carolina to the textile union charges that some Southern newspapers had joined in corrupt anti-union conniving with employers, police and local politicians. The editor had said that it had been the newspaper's understanding that newspapers had the right to accept or reject news or advertising. The writer wonders whether other editors or newspaper publishers in the Carolinas intended to make editorial comment on such a distorted concept of freedom of the press as practiced in Gaffney.
Framed Edition
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