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About The Plattsmouth journal. (Plattsmouth, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 1947)
2 fhe Plattsmouth Journal ESTABLISHED 1881 rnil.linheii si-ml-weckly, Mondays and Thur- ., at Slain Street. I'latl (iiss County, Nebraska. lattsmouth, RONALD R. FURSE ... FRANK If. SMITH Publisher Editor Thelma Olson, Society Editor. Helen E. Heinrich, News Editor. Merle D. Furse, Plant Superintendent Harry Wilcoxen, Manager Job Department . irntercd at W.e I'ostofflce at riattsraouth. Jsebrat-ka as second olaxs mail matter in ac rurdHnce with tlie Act of Congress of March SUBSCRIPTION RATE: $3 per year, cash in advance, by mail outside the city of f lattsmouth. By carrier in Plattsmouth, 15 een-ts for two weeks. EDITORIALS PREJUDGING THE RAILROAD RATE CASE Carlton A. Shively financial editor of the ew York Sun, recently discussed a curious phase ' the hearings on the railroads' application for .creased freight rates. ' At the recent rate near ly in Washington," he wrote, "no railroad shin :t came forward to oppose the request for high rates. The opposition came entirely from gov Dment bureaus and from associations and state amissions, which latter will later have to sit i judg-es of applications for increases within ates. The Association of State Commissions, for -cample, took no vote on the question, but its '.ficers apparently instructed its attorney to op ose the rate increases, which seems to have plac J the state commisions in the prejudging chair." Some writers point out that it is extremely dif Cult to justify this attitude on the part of the overnment agencies. They also take the lack of pposition by citizens committees as a lack of in vest in the pioceedings and a blanket approval f the demand cf the railroads for the rate ad justments. , This newspaper does not believe our citizens pprove the continuing spiral of prices, either a railroad rates, food prices, or any of the other housands of increases during the past few nonths. We believe it to be nothing more than Xi expression of futility on the part of the con umg public. Their protests in the past have een thundered against deaf ears ti e little fel ov has shouted loud and long, but in few in tances has his voice been heard and recognized. t The failure of the little fellow's voice to be .eard has been the determining factor in "get ing our house on fire", as one writer puts it. No lore is their consideration for the '"other fellow." lost everybody has joined in the-wild scramble 7 get their hands on everything- that is loose and hell with the wife and kids." 1 Our "house is cn fire" but we do not believe 't will burn down entirely. Some of these days jvcrr.ment and citizens will come to their senses, crkers will give an honest day's work for their ages, capital will learn that prices must be in je with the ability to pay and most of us will jw up enough to have time to worry a little cn w our neighbor is getting along. i, A severe shock will be needed to bring this X'ut but it is coming in one form or another. SECOND CLASS PATIENTS! The beauties of compulsory health insurance recently illustrated in a large western city hjch has that kind of a system in effect for urncipal employes. The director of the system sent a letter to all iftors associated with it, pleading that it is in ttincial difficulties, and making three remark V requests. .First, he asked that doctors restrict the use of bivratory tests, X-ray examinations and nor al diagnostic procedures, and substitute "reu se examinations" for careful, scientific diag osis. Second, he a-kcd that they discourage patients vith "minor ailments" from seeking professional d:cal treatment, and advise them to use home ladies. ' Third, he ordered that hospitalization be de ed to system members except in the most Cli val cases, and except on specific authorization f himself. The executive committee of the local county tdical society answered this by observing that teithor your doctor nor any reputable doctor can clear conscience agree to a demand that city iployes be denied adequate medical care and t they be treated as 'second class patients!'" ttit answer covers the ground completely. The jical result of any other policy would be what happened under socialized medicine in Erg jrt. where over-worked doctors must deal with (tssive numbers of patients and only the few ti be given really individual attention and diag-t-is. Compulsory health insurance on a national le would be a reflection of the condition in 9 western city multiplied a thousand times, ben politics takes over medicine, the standards (medical care inevitably go down. Furse's Fresh Flashes It beats all where one local woman's search for "truth" leads her it leads her to the crack in the window blind every time the girl down the street comes home' with her date. One reason local cafes hire such small wait resses is that it makes their sandwiches look larger. Grandpa took his little three-year-old grand daughter down town here the other day for an ice cream cone. Walking back home, the girl was unusually quiet, so grandpa asked her if she didn't like her ice cream. She replied, "Yeth, but ith pity d n cold, grandpa." Too many parents blame the bad manners of their kids on their associates and not on the way they are trained at home. Cleanliness may not be quite on a par with godliness, but in a crowd we'd rather be next to a clean person than a godly one. An orator swung his arms and shouted, "Let's get rid of Stalinism, facism. socialism, bolshevism. communism!" About that time cne old boy in the back row stood up and shouted, "Let's throw in rheumatism!" Foot prints on the sands of time are not made by sit-down strikers. Flipper Fanny, our dainty little contour twis ter, says these new style low-cut dresses would just about show everything if you had anything. We don't judge a man by what he stands for. It's what he falls for, that counts. Robertsons, Mr. and Mrs. H. F. Goos, the J. W. Crabills'. Several Plattsmouth folks spent Thanks giving out of the city. Among those were Mr. and Mrs. Joseph M. Sedlak who were guests at the Clell Gansemer home in Murray; Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Vroman who went to Chicagp for the week end with Mrs. Vroman's parents, the O. L. Yorks. Mr. and Mrs. Jess Warga were at the home of relatives in Omaha; Mr. and Mrs. W. C. Soennichsen and daughter, Mary, were guests of Mr. and Mrs. A. C. Davis at Falls City; County Treasurer and Mrs. John E. Turner and daughter, Dorothy, were at Marquette guests of the C. B. Turners family. The Searl S. Davises spent the day with Mr. Davis' mother, Mrs. Mary M. Davis in Lincoln. THIRTY-ONE YEARS AGO Miss Edith Dovey entertained the Junior League of St. Luke's church at her home . . . . Mrs. E. W. Cook was hostess to the St. Mary's Guild . . . James W. Bumie elected to office of exalted ruler . xf local B.P.O.E. lodge . . . Coach Steim of Indiana and Mrs. Steim visited ever the week end with Mrs. Steim's parents, Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Douglas . . . George Schceman celebrated his 81st birthday with a family gathering at his home . . . Mr. and Mrs.John Thierolf of Cedar Creek entertained a five generation group at dinner. Guests included the Henry Dasher fam ily; the Charles Dasher family; the Byron Barr's of La Platte and Grandfather and Grandmother Tarier of Lincoln. I ''I -J Edson Arnold, Meyers' superior, was fully aware cf Meyers' book keeping practices. At one point when Patterson ordered an as sistant to make a survey of Air Corps procurement practices, Arnold and Meyers even fcught the survey and it was only by calling in private engineers that Patteison wa. able to calculae the exact status of Air Corps After tkat Meyers threw more keys in hotel lobbies. Truman on Russia : i President Truman used the clenched fist of the communists I in talking about Joe Stalin the ' other day. Discussing world i problems with John L. Golob. I national commander of the Dis- to cancel, the President recalled. "Had I used some of that mon ey to help recontruct our European friends at that time, they might not be in such cri tical shape now," he declared. He went on to explain that he Under the law of Shiah a widely followed Persian religion a man and woman can be married for any period of time they specify even an hour, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica. The Chinese Hung or Triad Society has the largest membership of any secret society in the world. It was founded in 386 A. D. to spread re ligion. Later it Dccame a political organization. Deer are game animal. Wyoming's most numerous big )0WN MEMORY LANE I TEN YEARS AGO Thanksgiving was observed in Plattsmouth ics with dinners and family gatherings, ong those entertaining- were The L. O. Min Mr. and Mrs. E. H. Wescctt, Mr. and Mrs. E. Lutz, The E. A. Webb family, Mr. and-Mrs. f its Bulin, Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Wiles, Mr. and . Michael Bajcck. Mr. and Mrs. James Yelick, !ge and Mrs. A. H. Duxbury, Mr. and Mrs.J. J Wiles,, Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Sundstrom, M id Mrs. Albert Kraegcr, Dr. and Mrs. F. L. jmmins, the Andy Robinsons. Ir. and Mia. Gloi-c Farley, the A. R. No'u'c Daily, Mr. ar.d Mrs. W. A. Swattk, the William A. MERRY-GQ-EIOUNP By DREW PEARSON DREW PEARSON SAYS: GENERAL MEYERS KEPT THREE SETS OF BOOKS ON AIR CORPS PROCUREMENT DURING WAR; GENERAL ARNOLD WAS AWARE OF MEYERS' BOOKKEEPING PRACTICES; TRUMAN VOCIFEROUS IN DE SIRE FOR PEACE WASHINGTON. Now that the Senate War Investigating committee has dipped into the personal bookkeeping practices of Maj. Gen. Ben nett E. Meyers, it might also take a good, pene trating look at the way he k'?pt top secret records of the Army Air Forces materiel command during the war. The Senate committee has developed the fact that General Meyers concealed hundreds of thous ands cf dollars of personal income. But if it looks thoroughly into the Air Corps, it will discover that Meyers kept three sots of books on Air Corps procurement. Even such top-flight War Department officials as then Under-Secretary Robert P. Patterson had uiuiLUiiy getting me true lacts about the Air Corps buying program from Meyers. And when Patterson finally sent several aides to see Meyers to determine whether the Air Corps was wasting Federal funds, they learned that Meyers kept three sets of books. Set. No. 1 told the true facts about the pro curement program. This was for the eyes of brass hats only. et No. 2 was for the White House and was cal culated to show Roosevelt how able and brilliant top Air Corps officers were. Set No. 2 was for the White House and was cal was designed to show Congress how hard up the Air Corps was and why it needed more money. ARMY ROOKKLLFING Patterson's tx-assistants say that General Hap procurement. j This survey showed that. Air ! Corps buying policies strongly ' resembled a man drinking cof- ; fee and eating- doughnuts. If he ' had half a doughnut left over, j he ordered another cup of cof- j fee: if he had a cup of coffee left I over, he ordered another dough- i nut thus making for an endless I cycle. , In the case of the Air Corps, when the brass hats had too i many pilots, they ordered more planes. When they had too many ; planes, they ordered more gaso- j line and pilots. When the quan- ' tity of pilots, planes and gaso- . line got out of proportion, they ordered mere air bases. Patterson finally had the 're port read to a meeting of Hap Arnold"s a'r staff, following which Arnold acidly inquired: "How many copies of that re port are there?" "Three," replied Patterson's aide. "Put them in the safe," said Arnold turning en his heels and storming out of the room. What Arnold didn't know until later was that there was a fourth copy of the report. This was tak en to Harry Hopkins by Isador Lubin, then a White House sec retary. Hopkins summoned Arn old to the White House and showed him the copy of the re port charging Air Corps waste. refrained from using his powers aWed American Veterans, Tru- I cause ne aian i want to ao any man asserted: thing that might be contrary to My life and my work is decu- j the wishes of Congress. i (Copyright, 1947, By The Bell Arnold claimed mere was no truth to it whatsoever. Meyers' Arrogance General Meyers' occasional arrogance frequently angered some of his associates. One suc cessful Washington businessman who served the Air Corps with the rank cf Colonel passed Mey ers vwj- ua ia me loooy ot a Dayton, Ohio, hotel. Meyers threw his hotel key at the Colo nel and told him to give the key to the hotel clerk. The Colonel, not used to beinc or dered around like an office boy, ! let the key drop to the floor and walked away. An hour later the Colonel, who is worth several millions dollars, visited General Meyers in his office and said: "Benny, I'm thinking of buvr ing an airplane for myself after 1 the war. "You are?'' replied Meyers. "Yes," replied the Colonel, with a bloody look in his eve, "and I'm thinking of hiring an Air Corps general to pilot it for me." cated to keeping the world at peace. I'll do everything within my power to preserve peace, but" he held up a closed fist "We are prepared to use this if we absolutely have to. "I den't want to see any mere crops cf disabled vets," Truman continued. ' We've had two huge crops from the last two wars. I Our European friends have had even greater ones. Their disabled- veterans far outnumber their war dead." The President went on to .cay that if the American people had a better understanding of the tragic condition of the countries we are trying to help, they would be even mere generous. "We must understand that these countries are made up largely of old men and cripples, women and children." Truman said, "because of the great toll war has taken in their manpow er. Therefore, we must be ail the more patient in helping these j unfortunate countries to get I back on their feet." j Dividends Fcr P3ate This, the President added, wemld pay future dividends to the United States and to the world in preserving peace, for sick nations are easy prey for war makers Truman ctidn't identify the cri- j tics of the European Aid pro gram, or say whether they were in Congress. However, he brought out that it would not now be necessary for him tj ask Cong iess for emergency relief had he used his war powers af ter V-J Day. There were about $53,000,000.- I 000 cf unused appropriations for trie war program on V-J Day, all of which he asked Congress Syndicate, Inc.) For LOAN'S and INSURANCE see Mutual Loan Si Finance Co. THE PLATTSMOUTH, NEBRASKA, JOURNAL Monday, December 1, 1947 PAGE SEVEN EDSON'S WASHINGTON COLUMN BY PETER EDSON NEA Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON, D. C. (NEA) Text for today will be from' the' words of Sen. Robert A. Taft of Ohio, candidate for President in 1948. Quote: "The President recommends that we extend and strengthen export control. Why, he has had power to control exports rteht along, only he hasn't exercised it in any effective way." End of quote. This seemed like a challenging statement, worth looking- into. Has the- Truman administration failed to control exports? Does it have all the authority it needs? If not, what more power does it want? The situation stacks up about like this: Authority to control all exports is given the ad ministration in the Second Decontrol Act of 1947. It was passed last July 15 and became effective next day. It expires Feb. 29, 1948. Main thing Truman wants is to have the act re newed. It's as simple as that. Since it nsnallv takes Congress several months to act on a measure of this kind, it seems entirely proper for the President to ask for extension now. The second part of Taft's charge, that the President hasn't exercised export control authority in an effective way is a more complicated story, but worth a look. During the war there were approximately 3000 commodities under export control. Before an exporter could ship any of these items out of the country, he had to get a license from the government. In extending export control authority last July, Congress laid down the policy that the government should "eliminate emergency wartime controls of materials except to the minimum extent necessary .w a result cf this mandate from Congress the number cf com modities under export controls has been steadily reduced. As of Oct. 1, only 352 items were under export control. Congress took one other step to make sure exports were decontrolled as fast as possible. It cut the appropriation of the Export Supply Branch m Department of Commerce, which administers this program. During the war. Office of Export Controls had some 800 employes. It was cut to 120 last July, but now has 190. It can't employ more because it hasn't the money Congress appropriated $675,000 to wind up the work by next Feb. 29. Of this. $135,000 must be used to pay terminal leave of employes. That leaves $545,000 to operate on. On one day last month over 5000 applications for export licences were filed. On three other days the number was over 3000. What Truman apparently wants is appropriation for enough of an organization to do the job it is supposed to do. A big change has come over this export control business. Up to a year ago everybody exporters, foreign buyers and the government all wanted to get rid of export controls fast as possible. Now all the pressure brought on Department of Commerce is to tighten up controls and stop the outflow of scarce materials. TJP to now, export controls have been applied only quantitatively and without regard to price or destination. Exporters were given licenses to export certain quantities cf goods to any country they chose, in line with prewar trade patterns. Effect of these exports on U. S. supply and domestic price levels was not a factor. Under the President's proposed anti-inflationary program, these factors will be given more weight. More consideration will also have to be given to charges of profiteer ing in exports. A license now gives the exporter a virtual monopoly. He can charge the buyers any price he can get If importing countries are to be financed with U. S. tax money under the Marshall Plan, it will become all the more necessary to control prices on American export items, both at home and abroad. From now on it is expected there will be more emphasis in regulating the flow of exports to specific countries where need is greatest and U. S. foreign policy interests will be best served. There is particular 1 pressure from Congress to limit exports to Russia and her satellites. Even Taft will probably approve of that. ! and Mrs. John Conis, who is attending the University of Nebraska, was heme over the week end to visit i his parents. Mr. and Mrs. Georse I daughter Conis and his brother, Tommie. ' ola, Nebraska. Guests at the Warren Scharf enberg home Sunday were Mr Mrs. Earl Ossenkop of Lincoln visitor in Plattsmouth was a George Berck nd i over the week end, a guest of Sharon Lee of Osce- Mr. and Mrs. Louis Baumgart' and enjoying a short outing-. PLATTSMOUTH ASHLAND f Dt Will PuuVihl to rlfl 1 1 W m .ohm mv I" U ft I 1 f 1 1 I CSEENW909 " I & I I 1 MUR00C I EST FJ5 .a MAN LEY ELMW00O V MURRAY WEEPING WATER EAGLE ALVO POPULAR PRICES CLEAN. PLENTIFUL STOCKS NATIONALLY ADVERTISED PRODUCTS FRIENDLY. PERSONAL SERVICE LESS TRAVEL. Avoca " o NEKAWKA VNIOM .eava Bundles at . . . 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