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About The Plattsmouth journal. (Plattsmouth, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 30, 1948)
CASS COUNTY'S NEWSpaper SECTION 2 UNITED PRESS SERVICE NEA TELEPIIOTO The Plattsmouth Journal ESTABLISHED 1881 Put lis!w." fpnii-wpf-Ulv, Mondays and Tlmrs l:ivs. at 4 1 M:iin Street. I'lattsmontli. C:iss fount'.-. NVl-rnskn. rtONALD R. FURSE Publisher FRANK II. SMITH Editor HAROLD TUCKER ...Advertising Manager Helen E. Heinrieh, News Editor. Harry Wilcoxen, Manager Job Department SUBSCRIPTION RATE! $3.50 per year in Cass and adjoining counties, $4.00 per year elsewhere, in advance, by mail outside the city of Plattsmouth. By carrier in Platts month, 15 cents for two weeks. Knt-r-l at tlio Poster (;, nt I'la tt smou t h. .lr.ika as st'onnd l;iss mail matter in :.- with ti..- Ai t of nsrr-s of March EDITORIALS NATIONAL NEWSPAPER WEEK "Your right to know is the key to all your liberties." Thafs the theme given to National Newspaper Week to be observed October 1 through October 8 throughout "the United States. We often wonder whether our people really appreciate the fact they do have the right to know. Whether or not they appreciate all the information, the good and the bad of our national and local governments, and the hundreds of other facts that are carried in the columns of their daily and weekly newspapers year in and year cut. So many nations over the world today surpress all information they do not want their people to know. They taint the facts with propoganda and paint it up with special words and phrases to form a picture suiting their own point of view. Politically, especially during election years such as now, this often occurs in many newspapers oser our country, but on matters of public inter est you can count on your local newspaper to give you the facts and look out for the welfare of the rank and file of our citizens. Often we ourselves fail to appreciate the fact that here sitting- in front of our typewriter we are free to write anything we desire as long as it stays within the bounds of common decency and postal regulations, which are most liberal. We tan plate uu. wuuugs in uus ir. v .-(wpci emu s?nd it into thousands of homes in this commun ity. It is not necessary that we show this copy to a censor or anyone before it is published. We're the sole judge as to what will occuoy this space this, or any week. Here in America we call it "Freedom of the Press." It's a marvelous privilege come down to us from the Fathers who founded this nation. We sometimes abuse it, but more often our words are governed by the thought that our abuse of this wonderful privilege, our lack of truth and fairness, could put us out of business. National Newspaper Week is just as important to you as it is to us. It isn't a week in which you are expected to eat more apples, wear more cot ton, buy a poppy or den the fall hat. It is simply a week in which, thoughtfully and of your own free will, resolve to do everything in your power to keep the press of America free. All of us. and the children to come after us, can then be assured of a continuation of the Freedom we have enjoyed these 177 years., -fc -K NEBRASKA'S BUSINESS AND YOU The .Nebraska Small Business Men's Association observed today that basic industry in the State is running at an all-time high. The Association based its conclusion on figures showing that for the -first eight months of this year, the weeks of unemployment compensation paid to idle workers were twenty per cent less than for the corresponding period in 1947. The NSBMA also pointed to the continued high demand for labor as a contributing factor to the production high. Sidelighting the conclusion is the latest report of department store sales in Nebraska as compil- ed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. The survey shows a nine per cent g3in for the four-week period ending September 11. Figures released by the NSBMA this week show that Nebraska's farm income has increased by . more than 300 per cent in the period from 1940 to 1947. The NSBMA points out that the farmer's income is greater since farming is the State's principal industry. The increase in net per capita income for all Nebraskans for the same period was 170 per cent. Ninety-four thousand new homes grew under the carpenter's saw and hammer across the nation in the month of July. On a national scale that means the start of construction on 550 new homes per hour and nine each minute. DOWN MEMORY LANE TEN YEARS AGO Mrs. Chris Metzger, accompanied by her daughter Mrs. Neal Hall of Harlan, Iowa and Mrs. A. H. Duxbury of this city departed on a trip to the north with Canada as their destination. . . . Mr. and Mrs. W. G. Boedeker and daughter Jane were touring Europe. . . . Rev. and Mrs J. H. Steger of Columbus visited with friends here. Rev. Steger was pastor of St. Paul's church for several years. . . . Bion Hoffman, Coach at. P.H.S. was a guest at Rotary club and spoke on" athletic work in public schools. . . . Murray resi dents voted for the bond issue to erect and main tain water plant. . , . Descendants of Mr. and Mrs. Furse's Fresh Flashes An alimony verdict was the first court plaster. A flatterer sometimes doesn't know when his line is out of order. Few girls have any particular view on kissing, reports a noted writer. It's probably because they close their e'es. Paint alone will save your hom2 reads an advertisement. Keeping up the payments will help. In these great days of prosperity, one can't even live as cheaply as one. -k M One half of the world doesn't know how- th-; other half lives, until somebody starts talking. M M ' The greatest drawback to a budding- love affair is the blooming expense. . Note to young men it's dangerous to drive with one arm. You might run into a church. - Dentists over the nation should serve on our tax boards. Didn't they major in painless ex traction? M - Tons of dirt circulates in the air around here every day. Only the scandal mongers listen to it. J. R. Vallery held reunion at Elmwood Pari; Omaha on Sept. 25. TWENTY ONE YEARS AGO Gust Foster who spent the summer in Denmark returned to Louisville following a very enjoyable visit with the mother in the home country. . . . Herbert Swanson became owner of the Sportman cigar store and lunch room. . . . Rev. Harold E. Sortor reassigned to local Methodist church. . . . City football team organized for coming season, with Harold Erickson as manager. . . . The street department of the city were kept busy following the heavy rains which wrecked the roads leading into Plattsmouth. . . . Students at University of Nebraska revived ancient Anglo Saxon game of hare and hound. . . . Plattsmouth Ad Club were arranging for corn contest for awards on best five ears of corn' Co. Agent L. R. Snipes in charg? of judging. M MERRY-30-flOUM By DREW PEARSON (Cjpyright, 1948, by The Bell Syndicate, Inc.) DREW PEARSON SAYS: MRS. ROOSEVELT WILL NOT ACTIVELY SUPPORT TRUMAN 'S RE-ELECTION; NAVY HAS A ONE-MAN LOBBY; TREAS URY DEPARTMENT DICKERS WITH GOV. EARL LONG ON TAX VIOLATION. WASHINGTON Mrs. Roosevelt has indicated to friends she will not be speaking in support of President Truman's re-election. This is going to be a big disappointment to Mr. Truman, for, way back when the United Nations was first founded and he decided to appoint Mrs. Roosevelt as a delegate, he had in mind getting her support for his re-election. At least, he told Jimmie Byrnes, then secretary of state, that he hoped this would help keep the Roosevelt family in his camp. Mrs. Roosevelt, however, has told friends that she will remain in Europe at the United Nations General Assembly until around December 1, will take no part in the election campaign. Note Mrs. Roosevelt was privately opposed to Truman's renomination. NAVY'S ONE-MAN LOBBY The Navy has an unofficial press agent on its payroll who bombards editors and congressmen with letters, telling the Navy's side in its feud with the Air force. He is Hugh L. Hanson. 9.000-a-year engineer for the Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics. Allegedly as a "private citizen," he writes what the Navy wrould dare not say officially. This one-man letter lobby, if it doesn't actually violate the Lobbying Act, certainly is contrary to Secretary of Defense James Forrestal's direc tive against bickering among- the services. Yet Forrestal, instead of rebuking Hanson, has been conferring with him in private; Hanson claims he composes the letters in his spare time, as "sort of a hobby." Yet the letters are filled with technical information that obvious ly requires on-the-job research. They are also turned out on such a mass scale that it would take considerable "spare time." In subject mat ter, the letters consistently hammer the Air Force and support the Navy line. Hanson even went so far as to write Senators against aopropriations for the Air Force's giant B-36 bombers. To Senator Brien McMahon, Connecticut democrat, he wrote; "I would great ly appreciate it if vou would tell me why wre are expending public funds on a bomber whose per formance does not seem to be any better than aircraft available Drior to the war." Hanson gave his home address as Canaan, Connecticut. However, in a letter to Senator John Bricker, Ohio, republican, this Navy employe gave a dif ferent home address this time. Columbus. Ohio. Note Now Hanson has even started writing to the president. ' LOUISIANA POLITICS ." The Chicago Tribune carried banner headlines recently accusing the Truman administration of threatening Gov. Earl Long with income-tax prosecution if he didn't call a special session of the Louisiana legislature to put Truman's name back on the ballot. Don't Take Us Too Seriously, Comrades llr w in- I . 'WHAT ALLTkE &$A&OuT? fit -o 'CAN'T WE HAVE A TUhl IP V.E WANT TO?" z2 9 mi w Real fact is that Governor Long does have an income-tax case which has been hanging fire for some time, but his arm was j not twisted into calling- the spe- cial session. The amount of mon ev involved is not great and there was never any question of criminal prosecution. However, when the U. S. Treasury assessed a fraud penalty of $1,200 against Long some time ago. he howled , like a stuck pig, said he didn't mmd paying the penalty, but didn't want it labeled a "fraud" penaltv. The Treasury is still dickering with him. Reason for the rumor about the Truman administration bulldoz ing Long into calling a SDecial session was the secret tactics of Peyton Ford, assistant to the at- . torney general, who eased into ; New Orleans very quietly and j had someone else register for him at the Roosevelt hotel. Ford, whose middle name is "Secrecy." operated in such a hush-hush 1 manner that everyone suspected the worst. MERRY GO-ROUND Senator Owen Brewster of Maine spent $1,752 to print cop ies of his speech attacking How ard Hughes. That doesn't include secretarial service and mailing charges which the taxpayers paid for Brewster due to the fact that he has free franking privileges . . . A long ljst of new Jersey lawyers have petitioned the Jus tice department to investigate the very serious charges I have made ag-ainst Congressman Par nell Thomas of New Jersey . . . Four days after he returns from the west. President Truman will hit the road again in the oppo site direction. This time he will speak in large eastern cities Philadelphia, October 6; Newark, N. J., October 7; Syracuse, N.Y., October 8; Buffalo, the same day; WHY LOCK THE BARN AFTER 4 "O the horse has bolted? Order your coal now. Have it ready for use when the first cold wave comes. Being sorry doesn't keep you warm. Being prepared does. ; Plattsmouth Lumber Go. Dalton's Scranton, Pa., October 9. Then back to the White House . . . Winston Churchill will spend next winter in Palm Beach. He will arrive in New York early in December to speak before the National Association of Manufac turers, then head south. TEXAN'S ROW OVER TRUMAN When President Truman re ceived his typically Texa recep tion in San Antonio the other day, he was blissfully ignorant of the fact that Truman Demo crats and Dixiecrats had staged a terrific battle over him just a short time before. San Antonio gave Truman just about the biggest reception of his trip. But if he had come a little earlier he might have step ped into another battle of the Alamo. A few weeks ago a lot of Tex ans said they wouldn't go around the corner to see Harry Truman. Reg-ular democrats were out to defeat him. and Jesse Jones' newspaper later did come out against him. But a group of Roosevelt Texans, led by Tom Miller of Austin, Maury Maver ick, Woodville Rogers and Bond Davis, all of San Antonio, led the fight for Truman and won. They succeeded, among oth er things, in kicking out bitter anti-Trumanite Wright Morrow as democratic national commit teeman. But by the time the democrats met in San Antonio to prepare for Truman's visit, he was on the i upgrade in popularity and even some of the Dixiecrats were ready to embrace him. In fact. the regulars didn't even admit County Chairman Bond Davis and State Executive Committee man Woodville Rogers, the men who pioneered for Truman, into their meeting to prepare for Truman's reception until Mrs. Maury Maverick raised a rump us about it. , So when the Truman special ! rolled into town his onetime j critics were so full of honeyed j phrases that Wright Morrow was j right at the head table, snuggl j ing up to the man he had cussed out in unprintable language. VETERANS HOSPITAL PROBE Rep. George Bender of Ohio is probing charges that Negro pa tients at the Tuskegee, Alabama, Veterans hospital are living in "filth and neglect." Bender plans to get to the bot tom of reports that the hospital's mental and nonmental patients are huddled together in the same wards; also that there are only 10 psychiatrists to care for 1,500 mental cases about half the number needed for minimum re quirements. Another case deserving Bend er's investigation is the condition of white patients at the Veterans Administration hospital at Perry Point, Maryland, a short distance from Washing-ton. f HE PLATTSMOUTH, NEBRASKA, SEMI-WEEKLY JOURNAL Thursday, September 30. 1943 PAGE ONE WASHINGTON COLUMN Gl Homeseekers Got a Jolt From Hike in Interest Rates BY DOUGLAS LARSEN NEA Staff Correspondent WASHINGTON (NEA) When the information leaked out that Veterans' Administrator Carl Gray was considering hiking the; interest rate on GI home loans, veterans who had applications in the mill got a nasty jolt. And so did the government effort .to check inflation. -The curious part of the whole business is that Gray apparently didn't want the power to raise the interest on guaranteed mortgages from 4 to per cent which the special session of Congress gave him. He certainly didn't ask for it. And it's obviously contrary to the ' President's announced policy of trying to hold the line against in creasing prices at every possible point. Yet Congress barely got out of town before it was out of the bag that Gray was seriously con sidering using that power which would add to the inflationary spiral. AGITATION to increase the interest rate on GI home loans began many months ago. The sale of homes to veterans constituted a large hunk of the nation's housing business. The banks and agencies which were financing the sales naturally wanted more interest on their money. The 4 per cent rate fixed in the GI Bill of Rights was quite a bit lower than the regular non-government loans were bring ing, and cost the vet from one-half to one per cent less than the gov ernment's FHA guaranteed loans. , While the lending agencies fought the increase, they were also putting considerable pressure on veterans to make special combination VA-FHA loans. This type guaranteed the lender 100 per cent cf his money. The straight GI loans only guaranteed 50 per cent cf it up to a maximum guarantee of $4000. On a $10,000 home under the straight VA plan a vet ended up paying about $14,311 for it, including interest. Under the combination plan he eventually paid about $15,513 for the same house. This whole situation of lenders tending to shy away from straight GI loans was presented to the recent special session as a "drying up of the GI loan market," caused by the J jw 4 per cent interest rate. On this basis Gray, without asking fc it or wanting it, was given the power to increase the rate a half of per cent. TJECAUSE Gray hadn't sought the power, it was logically assumed that he wouldn't be in a hurry to use it. But Gray immediately wrote to the heads of the 70 regional offices asking them to investigate whether the increase was actually needed to spur on the loan program. And, as is his habit, he also wrote to the big veterans' organizations asking their opinion. He must have known, however, that every one, of them had just gone on record opposing it. The letter-writing let the cat cut of the beg. As soon as the lenders got wind of the fact that Gray was seriously considering raising the rate, most of them naturally stopped negotiation on loans at the itsser rate, many of which were in the final stages of approval. Eefore this happened, however, many of the reports from the VA regional offices had shown that the GI 1oe:i market was far from drying up. But the damage was done. The very situation which the rgitators for the hike wanted automatically came into being. The market virtually did dry up. And it practically placed Gray in the uncom fortable position of being forced into raising the interest rate. Only an order of President Truman himself to Gray could keep him from doing it. And immediately it became apparent that the opposition to the hike would be licked. The Veterans of Foreign Wars national encampment quickly voted approval of report which read, "We recommend with reluctance this necessary evil cf the home loan guarantee program." At-the time the bill was passed giving Gray the pov. erto make the increase it was sagely remarked that it would put the aamiiiisiration " neatly over the barrel. OVERSEAS PLANE WINS IN DIAPER DERBY . GENEVA, Switzerland (U.R) ' Man-made wings are faster than the stork's. Flying an emergency layette ; shipment from New York to Ge neva, ? Seaboard & Western Air lines DC-4 Air trader touched down the winner in a diaper derby half-way round the world, beating the stork by a -margin of hours. The cargo, unique in air freight history, was landed in answer to the appeal of the prospective father. The plane carried every thing to outfit the anticipated newcomer, from booties to bon- ; nets and including several dozen diapers. The expectant parents, Mr,.. and Mrs. Charles Alexander, two American writers touring Europe, were delayed in their , return to the United States be- i yond the stork deadline. Crime Detection Motorized CHICAGO (U.R) Two scientific ally equipped laboratories now roll to the scenes of Chicago crime. The station wagons are fitted with cameras, fingerprint equipment, devices for extracting and examining bullets, and con tainers for fragile clues that must be removed to the regular laboratory. 'Sell It Thru Journal Want Ads. Use Journal Want Ads Registered Durocs Announcing Our "Penaway Boar Plan" YOU visit the farm or phone to make your selection. WE feed them free until Octo ber 20. Try us first if we don't have what vou want we'll help you find it! RICHARD D. SACK Ph. 5016 Murray, Nebr. 1 mile west and 1 mile north " rr-- BUT your electric rates cro actually Jover than Let ore tke war. Yes, an ricrtric pole ilia! fol approximately $1 1.30 in 19.19, !o!ay rosl ap-pro-vin:cU-I? In ice that much and e must buy plenty of them to keep ;csr e!;-ctrle senice at it let. But high prices are no news to ;ou because living rusls in priieral have increased over 70 and some items as much cs 200' since 1939. Yes, those ere hard cold facts hard on jon and hard on ue. t, lilt all of these increased costs, your electric rnles have not increased. In fact, t';cy are actually lover tliait before the war. That means that ve nova provide yo-:r tleclric wrviee at below pre-war rates even with the high cost of materials t inlay. We have tried to do evervthinjr possible to keep electric rates clown have ntaJe THREE GETS Ell A L KATE REDUCTIONS since 1939. Increased use of le: trinity and more business have helped to partially offset these increased costs. Cat, frankly, with need for expanded facilities to serve growing requirements snd cniivtaully increasing costs, we cannot help wondering how long we can hold the line. From state news release 673 48 based on Bureau of Labor Statistics. ' k. m. m a w m. m m a l T. SERVING OVER 360 NEBRASKA COMMUNITIES.