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About The Plattsmouth journal. (Plattsmouth, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 2, 1951)
v' -' v y j 3 6" EDITORIALS ABOUT THE BEST The American - political system has been the subject. of considerable study but it is generally agreed that the nation has enjoyed an expanding development of gov ernmental theories, which have enabled us to maintain our personal liberties so that our good fortune is envied by individ uals throughout the world. Theoretical doubts as to the wisdom of our legislative machinery disappear in the admission that the nation has enjoyed a stable government in its most trying times. This has been the result, however, of a willingness on the part of Congress to abrogate its powers and to delegate tremendous power to executives in office. After the crises have passed, the delega tion of power has been largely nullified but the habit of passing problems tb the President and the Executive Branch of the government continues. There are some improvements which should be made in our political machin ery, notably along the line of the Lodge Gossett Amendment to the Constitution which would make the Electoral College vote of a state representative of divided opinion. The probability is also that the future will develop occasions to test the power of the courts to set aside legisla tion. After all, the judicial power to de clare laws unconstitutional is not in the Constitution itself. We do not imagine that the American governmental plan is perfect but one has to admit that it has worked pretty well. Imperfections should not blind us to the excellence of its achievements or the splendid manner in which it has function ed to serve the people of the nation. While we should not hesitate to amend and to change existing structures, we should be careful that the process does not result in definite loss. DOES RUSSIA HAVE 50 BOMBS? Amid the speculation of many Amer icans as to the number of atomic bombs possessed by the Soviet Union, it might be a good idea to pass along the opinion of Dr. Harold C. Urey, one of our leading atomic scientists. ' ' ' Dr. Urey thinks that fifty might be a good guess as to the number of bombs pos sessed by the Soviet. He says that he is sure that "the Russians have the bomb" and that "they have exploded them." The scientist does not hesitate to sug gest that "if a full-scale war should break out, the bomb should be used, immediate ly and on the most effective target pos sible." At the same time, he expresses the hope that the nation will not "misinterpret border incidents." STRONGER CHECK FOR INFLATION Recommending the strengthening of the anti-inflation program, Economic Sta bilizer Eric Johnston wants the President to ask Congress for a control law that can actually stop the climb of prices. Mr. Johnston points out that price rises since Korea have increased by $5, 000,000,000 the cost to the taxpayers for the same amount of military equipment and warns that unless we stop inflation, $o0,000,000,000 of equipment needed next .year may cost the nation $125,000,000,- .The effort to stabilize prices and halt the inflationary trend presents many dif ficulties but nothing is more vital to the economic security of this country. The man who undertakes it will need almost dicta torial power and he will probably be the most unpopular citizen of the Republic before he finishes his work. THOUGHT FOR TODAY Jl'c have lived and loved Jogcthcr, Through many changing years; We have shared each other's gladness And tirpt each other's, tears. Charles Jcffcrys The Plattsmouth Journal Official County and City Paper ESTABLISHED IN 18S1 Awarded Ak-Sar-Beri Plaque For "Outstanding Community. Service in 1950" Published serai-weekly. Mondays ami Thursdays, .at 409-413 Main Street. I'teUs mouth. Cass County. N'ebr. RONALD R. PURSE Publisher harry J. cane' . Editor FRANK H. SMITH News Reporter BERNARD A. WOOD Advertising Mgr. Helen E. Heinrich & Donna L. Meisinger Society Bookkeeping & Circulation Entered at the Post Office at Plattsmouth, Nebraska, second class mall matter in accordance with tbe Ait of Coagrew of March 3. SUBSCRIPTION RATE: $3.50 per year in Cass and adjoining counties, $4.00- per year elsewhere, in advance1, by mafljOirtstde the city of Platts-n-iouth. By carrier uTPIattsniouth, 20 cents for two wcefcs; ". , Furse's A report says it costs today's baby $203.17 to be born. And there is no way for the baby to ask for a refund if he's not satisfied with the transaction. Truth may be stranger than fiction, but it will never sell for as much. In Iceland, it is claimed, there are five sheep to every inhabitant. What a time an American stock and bond sales man could have over there. We see where the ready-to-wear stores have their new summer-thin dres ses on display. We also notice great num bers of the male population standing on street corners waiting for the sun to begin to shine. The wife is anxiously waiting for Senator Kefauver to get Mrs. Young on the witness stand. She wants to learn how many box tops you have to send in to get a pastel mink coat. You can always tell when a new dish washer is installed in the average home. The finger prints on the plates are differ ent. A girlie whose name doesn't matter, Found herself getting much fatter. She dug up a diet, Decided to try it, And now there's no place to patter. A radio commentator wants us to "Follow the stars." We're willing, but it will probably be a long trip. Alert fishenen are getting their tackle ready for the catch and their ton gues ready for their claims. DOWN MEMORY LANE I A YEARS AGO 1U The Young Men's Bible Class of the First Methodist Church observed their 35th year of continuous service in the church and community under teaching of E. H. Wescott . . . With one of the lightest votes cast in years, total in Plattsmouth reaching but 678, the electors gave ap proval to the present members of the city council W. H. Puis, John Svoboda. Ro bert Painter, O. E. Finnefrock, Evan Noble and C. R. Johnson. Frank Cloidt and E. G. Ofe were named members of the Board of Education . . . April 2, 1941 marked the 62nd anniversary of the com ing of the C. E. Wescott family to the city to become a part of the business life . . . The latest variation of the "chain letter" stumbled over the barrier of postal regu lations. A postcard mailed in this city produced an inquiry by a patron which paved the way for the ruling that the chain is. considered contrary to fraud and lottery regulations and cannot be accepted for mailing. OA YEARS AGO The Snort World mourned the death who with five ged to death Holcomb and of the winter potatoes that participate in braska area. Kotter. preventing Here's occurred at a between price try. This meeting, like most of the impor - tant-price-control meetings held in Wash ington; had no spokesman for the con sumer. The ot Charles the consumer, life in the is on leave textile firm, of how much, Fresh Flashes of famous football coach Knute Rockne others and two pilots plun in an airplane crash in Kan sas . . . Commander G. R. Holcomb. Mrs. Mr. and Mrs. Don Seivers assisted in the organization of an auxil iary to the Legion Post at Elmwood . . Elmer Meisinger brought some concrete evidence to the Journal of the mildness in this locality with some had been left in the ground which had started to sprout . . . P.H.S. sent a number of students of the commercial department of the school to Humbolt to contest of southeastern Ne The srrouD comprised Ann Kniecke, Carroll Sutton, Josephine Janda, s.ainenne riild, Eleanor Swatek, Ruth (Copyright, 1949. By the Bell Syndicate. Inc.) DREW PEARSON SAYS: SOME PRICE OFFICIALS SABOTAGE THE PUBLIC; KREMLIN IS SPLIT ON QUESTION OF WAGING WAR; LITTLE - BUSINESS HEADACHES . HAVE JUST BEGUN. r Washington. One trouble with hold ing down prices is that some . of f icials in side the office of price stabilization seem more interested in upping prices than in inflation. an example of the nublic-be hanged behavior of certain officials which recent closed-door meeting official Charles W. Carvin and representatives of the woolen indus group consisted entirely o ' wool manufacturers with the exception Carvin, the government s man Carvin, however, is not exactly a friend o having spent most of his textile industry and currently' from his own large New York Charles W. Carvin Co. During their meeting Carvin and the yool manufacturers discussed the question of a price increase the man ufacturers should get, and Carvin aston LAEF OF THE WEEK "Maybe We Should Wait It Slacks Up shed the group with this ad vice: "Go see Mike Di Salle (OPS administrator). Make him give you a decent increase. With all those demands coming m from the army for woolen uniforms, he can t turn you down on that price increase. You've got Mike over a barrel." Carvin is supposed to protect he consumer, prevent inflation That is the job for which OPS was created. However, as the meeting ended Carvin further advised the woolen manufactur ers to talk to Robert O. Huff man, his immediate superior. "Huffman s a straight thinker on prices, advised carvin. 'Huffman's no administration man. no New Dealer. WAR PESSIMISM Secretary of Defense Marshall hinted in a public statement last week that he was a little more worried than previously about the Soviet's warlike intentions. Insids reason for this worry is an intelligence estimate indi cating that Russia probably will not go to war this year be cause it lacks the resources and its fear of the atomic bomb. However, the analysis also warns there is a small group within the politburo talking of a "pre-? ventive 'war. Reasoning of this , clique is: If Russia waits more than two years, the western allies will be so strong that a war for Russia would be sucide. It points out the growing strength of the west, tne revolts spreading across eastern Europe, and un rest in Russia itself. Therefore it is argued by extremist leaders in the Kremlin that war is the best way to maintain Soviet domination over eastern Europe and China. It is believed, however, that this view is not held by Stalin,1 nor by Molotov, his likely suc cessor. They are understood to believe that capitalism will fall of its own weight, aided by in flation and corruption. WISE MR. WILSON The television audience missed a treat, but Deiense Mobinzer Charles E. Wilson was wise when he banned TV cameras at last week's press conference. Asked by a newsman in the course of the conference wheth er he had sold his stock in Gen eral Electric, the company which he once headed, Wilson shook his finger at the reporter. it l nad Known these contro versial questions would be asked . . ." He exploded, implying that if so he would not have agreed to the press conference only his second during lour months in Washington. Noting the mobilizers angry brick-red face, a television man sighed: "Brother what a shot that would make on color TV Note Wilson has given real impetus to defense production, though in the course of doing so, small, independent business has taken a worse beating than in war II. WASHINGTON PIPELINE A lot of good men are gettine into government you never hear about at salary sacrifices. One of the latest: Thurman L. Ber nard, who took an 85 per cent cut from advertising Ivory soap to help with state department propaganda ... It was ' New Hampshire's Sen. Styles Bridges who went to bat for Democratic Senator Kefauver 's crime com mittee in the secrecy of the GOP policy committee . . . Col. Grady Gore, who made money in plumbing fixtures and now owns Washington's swank Fair fax hotel, plans to be the next GOP senator from Maryland. Jon Jonkel, of the Chicago Tribune, the man who fixed up the smear tabloid against Sen ator Tydings, may do. a repeat as campaign manager-. . . Labor leaders, fed up with John Steel man are insisting on their own tnan in the , White House. : They claim they have nobody near the president to represent them ... Truman was so flabbergast ed you could have knocked him over with a feather when the labor leaders turned against him. He had no idea his labor relations were so bad. x LITTLE-BUSINESS HEADACHES The little businessman's head- A Little While Until A Bit aches under defense controls have only begun. The next 18 months will be even tougher on him, according to secret testi mony before the house small business committee. Military requirements for aluminum, for instance, will in crease at such a rate in 1951 and 1952 that many small firms pro ducing non-defense aluminum products may have to shut down, the committee was in formed by Manly Fleischmann, chief of the national production authority. "The only solution is getting these little companies a larger share of defense orders," de clared Fleischmann. "We hope to work that out." Forthright Congressman Clin ton McKinnon of California re marked that he would be more inclined to believe that the NPA really wanted to help small bus iness if the agency had shown more inclination in the past. "Your order cutting back the non-defense uses of, aluminum by 35 per cent was unfair to the little fellow, because he couldn't afford to take the same hori zontal cut as a bigger manufac turer," said McKinnon. "It would have been fairer if you had used a sliding-scale cut back (to protect small firms, as we did when rationing news print during the last war." "There's an argument for both sides," replied Fleisch mann. "We thought our way was the best and quickest method of getting aluminum lor the de fense stockpile." Military procurement spokes men and a witness from the general services agency, how ever, reassured the committee that little business would come in for some gravy after the current emergency if it can hold out that long. After the last war, the committee was told, between 75 and 80 per cent of surplus war assets were mer chandised by small firms. "Well, I ve heard about every thing now," exploded Congress man Joe Evins of Tennessee. "In other words, you propose to starve little business now and then try to revive it following the emergency after it's al ready dead." WASHINGTON REPORT Howard 8wffe!t Congressman, 2nd Nebraska District What is behind the "fear of Russia" propaganda drenching America today?" Hitler built up the Bolshevik phobia to divert attention from his own imper ialistic scheming. Is the same trick beine used here? Or is the Red threat a buildup for a British loan? Or is it a scheme of our militarists to put over peacetime conscription Perhaps the tom-tom beating in Washington follows this Jap formula: "To make a good soldier, there must always be an immediate enemy. He must hp iPrt to believe that this enemy may strike today. He must be onnvinrod that the enemy is prepared to annihilate our coun try at the first opportunity." Before we listen too seriously to these siren voices, let's re frpsh our memory.. World War TT 0751S also advertised as a strug ri to save Western Christian Civilization. "This is a war to 'save religion . and morality in Europe,' " screamed the cocktail commandos in 1940. What was the result? ; ? a decent United Press dis patch from Poland reads, "This is a land oi DieaK uevasunuu, cold, hunger, typnus, ana aeam ThP farms and villages are abandoned, and the original in habitants hare fled . . . For mile after mile there is hardly a vestige of life.. : . This has tie rnmr tl no-man s itnu ticvytvu hv a few refugees and ma- rauding bands . ,s sis CAPITOL I NEWS j LINCOLN The Nebraska leg islature went back to work on Wednesday, refreshed after an Easter holiday and a flying junket to western Nebraska as the guests of the Gering Cham ber of Commerce. Only the labor and judiciary committees had to work Mon day afternoon. Before adjourning for the long week end, the legislature: 1. Held a three-hour hearing on the pros and cons of the controversial watershed bill, L.B. 455. 2. Heard more charges against the liquor commission in the special legislative probe. 3. Sat through another session of the committee investigating the state assistance department in which the state agency con tinued its feud with county aid oinciais. 4. Heard Chancellor R. G. Gustavson of the University of Nebraska say that Gov. Val Pe terson's recommendation of $11 million in tax funds isn't ade quate. The watershed bill hearing attracted a crowd of more than 400, probably the largest at a hearing this session. The testi mony lasted for more than three hours. Sen. O. H. Liebers of Lincoln, one of the measure's co-introducers, explained the purpose and details of the bill. Flood waters, he said, don't recognize county lines or city limits: the only way to cope with the prob lem is on a watershed-wide basis. He was backed by the other sponsors, Ed Hoyt of McCook and O. H. Person of Wahoo, and 15 other witnesses, including landowners, farmers, city busi nessmen, lawyers, farm organi zation representatives, and oth ers. Attacking the bill were a group of farmers and landown ers who protested that the bill' powers are too broad and that the bill is unnecessary since the same purposes can be accom plished by amending the old state drainage act. The committee took no action on the bill; in fact, did not even consider it as members hurried to leave Lincoln for their homes. The group meets again Thursday. Bribery rumors arose again in the investigation of the state liquor commission. A. A. Gil stad, former partner in an Oma ha tavern, appeared before Sen. Ray Babcock's probers, and charged that state liquor agents whom he identified by name had given him "a hard time" after he declined to take the advice of one of them to buy his insurance from Liquor Com missioner Blaine Young. Gilstad's Class C license was revoked for conduct unbecoming a licensee. He was charged with being drunk in his tavern. He said that a Lincoln attor ney told him to lay $1500 "on the line" if he wanted the law yer to try to get the permit back. Gilstad said he understood the attorney wouldn't keep all the money himself. The lawyer did not say the money was to be used for a bribe. The same agent mentioned by Gilstad is the one charged by Edward Trask, former agent, with taking payoffs for not dis turbing the operation of one ball machines in Omaha tav erns. The committee was expected to hear more .witnesses this week. . State assistance is always a legislative headache and the de veloping catfight between Neil C. Vandemoer's state agency and the counties is complicating the work of Sen. W. J. Williams' committee which was formed to try to find ways to cut red tape which the counties say is dou bling the cost of the program. The counties especially Lin coln and Lancaster have bit terly assailed the state depart ment and now Vandemoer is us ing the hearings as a chance to tell his story. The counties will get theirs later. Here's a sample of what Van demoer is telling the Williams committee: "There is need for some legal method whereby statutory pro visions covering the state as sistance program will be made mandatory upon the counties without penalizing those persons on the assistance rolls." - "If ineligible persons -are cer tified to the state, then the lo- Certainly Russia has carried out vast "territorial aggrandize ment." But how much of this brutal imperialism was okayed by our government by secret agreement? At Yalta, Teheran, and Potsdam, our leaders, unlike Pontius Pilate, were parties to the crimp. The people of Amer ica' were not consulted ... " . . . Some of us. have long been alarmed about Communism. But I have' never been, afraid that brutal atheistic communism could conquer us from without. Communism here bores from within, as in. France. -'Today as always, .the danjger to America from communism - is within inflationary spending, industrial strife, and governmental cor ruption. THIS COLUMN WAS NOT WRITTEN LAST WEEK IT WAS MY WASHINGTON . RE PORT OF MARCH '28, 1949, OVER FIVE YEARS AGO. THE PLATTSMOUTH, NESRA8KA, 8EbU-WEKLY jOUShiAf; PAGE FOUR Monday, April 2, 1951 Don't Expand Energy on Useless Worry WHEN JAMES W. POLSIN, Saginaw, Mich., was 17 years old he . was left with a family of eight to support. Two years pre viously the big crash of '29 had hit the country, r At that time pictures were frepiently shown of the starving people in the Ukraine. What more natural than that he should visualize those for whom he was respon sible soon presenting (he appearance of those emaciated Ukrainians? - Those pictures and his own situation worried him so that he couldn't relax. Nor could he sleep at night until exhaustion forced i j.uen, iiaiurany, u was a resues: sleep. He was working in a meat market. Business was poor at this time and customers fw, so he was left to himself much of the time. Added to his other worry, he worried about what he would ' do if he lost his job. Jobs were few and far be tween in those days and in order to get something other than apples to eat, people were selling apples on the street to others who already had aDDles. So he staved whprp ho ten years of a living hell, he says. Carnegie Eventually ha became ill with spastic colitis, and the doctor said the first thing he had to do was to rid himself of the source of his trouble v.ojry. If he didn't he could not hope to get any better. Since nothing remains static, he knew if he didn't get belter s would get worse. He knew too that as long as he remained so much to himself, his worry would continue. So he gave p his job and got one with a crew repairing a railroad track. He had to help tear up the tracks, replace the tics ( and then relay the tracks. The ties had to be imbedded in crushed rock. Hard, physical labor, so hard that when he went to bed at night he was so tired physically that he became as motionless as one of those rocks on the nile and he slept. Busy all day, he didn't have a chance even to think, much less worry. Now he looks back with regret to those 10 years in the meat market when he spent his energy on useless worry. cal county assistance committee had been remiss in their respon sibility. They should know that their assistance staffs are doing the job as it should be done. They should supervise their as sistance staffs so that they know the type of work these staffs are doing." At the end of the second hear ing which lasted till after 6 p. m. Williams remarked, "This is really an education." Nobody disagreed. Nebraska " U. is carrying through with the budget' strat egy laid down when the gover nor knifed their request for $13, 500,000 in tax funds to $11,000, 000. It was simply to go before the budget committee of the legislature and try to do a bet ter job of convincing the law makers the boost was needed than had been done on the gov ernor. The chancellor said that if the school gets only the amount recommended by the governor it will be unable to grant .pro posed faculty salary increases. He called the salary situation "critical" and said pay hikes are "a jnust." Proposed salaries- would put the faculty more nearly on a par with other Big Seven institutions, he said. The only cost of living increase granted faculty members was the 10 per cent raise given four years ago. Dr. Gustavson said. Meanwhile, k Chairman Arthur Carmody, said the budget com mittee hopes to have the appro priation bill ready for the floor in about two more weeks. Sidelights on the legislative scene: Sen.'Dwight Surney's two per cent sales tax bill is up for hear ing this Thursday. Observers say it doesn't have much chance, but its co-introducer, Sen. Chris Metzger of Cedar Creek, is a member of the revenue committee which will hear the measure and he may put up a tough fight in committee. On Friday the government committee will hear Sen. Hugh Carson's proposal to put the question of outlawing parimu- MAYBE TO YOU the word scrap book means limp dance pro grams, brownish gardenias, and "Central High Beats Westside" In bold type torn from the school newspaper. But a scrapbook needn't be like that. And if you give your children a few hints you can help them make scrapbooks a fascinating hobby. Just use im agination, discretion in selecting, purpose in mounting, and label everything. Suzle, for example, collects national parks! She has a scrapbook full of them. Some day she plans to "see America first and visit some of the breathtaking parks of onr conn try. In the meantime she's col lecting all the pertinent infor : nation that will make ber trip more Interesting p 1 c t ti r e s, maps, ronte data. In ber book there's a chapter for each park; ' and each, chapter is divided into sections "How to get there," "What to. see there,", "Where . j to stay," '"What to bring," and "Special attractions." V . There are endless scrapbook sub jects, covering all interest fields music", art, sports, drama, home-making,- fashion, science. ' On and cn a list could go. And that's not even mentioning specific things like the "Diary of a Dog" in vhich a friend tit ours recorded the antics . of his Scotlie. And then there's the place we love to be invited for din ner, because the hostess keeps a " U " 11 JJIHI ,111 1 I V Li. ! I . l.U.I I.I I I M I.U, I IIEEHIIIFll tuel betting on the 1952 general election ballot. Observers were surprised to see how quickly the revenue committee killed Carson's soft drink tax bill. Everyone thought that since the price of pop had gone up and many places were already charging a dime, that the bill had a better-than-av-erage chance witn the state tak ing part of the difference be tween the old nickel price and the new 10 cent tag. Glen Todd Is Omaha Shipper Last Week A Cass county feeder. Glen Todd, had high-selling fat steers at the Omaha market last week. 20 weighing 1243 that sold at $38. On a light supply Monday at Omaha, fat cattle sold steady to 50 cents higher, hogs 15-50 cents up and fat lambs up a Quarter. Army Reservjists Will Be Screened The Department "of the Army announced that a Service Evalu ation Program will start the first week of April, 1951. It is to furnish the Army with accurate and up-to-date infor mation on all Reserve person nel, as to their eligibility and availability for recall to active duty. Colonel Hardin C. Sweeney, Chief of Nebraska Military Dis trict stated that all Reservists in the state will be contacted. LIFE IS AN ADVENTURE MILWAUKEE Kenneth Gardner, aged three, leads a hazardous life. He caught his hand in a washing machine wringer, was treated at a hos pital and released. The same day he was back in the hospital for treatment of head injuries. He had fallen from a porch. A 3,800-acre memorial forest will be preserved in perpetuity in North Carolina in honor of Joyce Kilmer, author of "Trees." scrapbook called "Foreign Flavor in which she collects rare recipe from all corners of the earth. Scotch tape ii the scrapbook maker's best friend. It comes ia different colors even printed de signs. Colored and metallic papers from greeting cards can be pieced together patchwotk fashion to make an unusual cover for your child's book. The inside story Is up to the scrapbook maker. It can consist largely of pictures or there can be a great deal ef writing. Divide it into chapters, or make it contin uous, or date pages like a colorful calendar. Some things the child will want to be able to take out of the book from time to time. Use photo mounting corners; or try this trick. Cut envelopes in half horizontally. Scallop or shape the edges as you wish, and paint or decorate the lower half. Paste this resulting pocket on the scrapbook -page. Tuck papers, picture, letters in side for cfiective display, and easy removal."; j.'-' -? i . Arrange the SnattrEal ? si' that' when the book is open", the pages facing each other have harmony and balance." Avoid making it necessary for a reader to turn th book r round; mount all material vertically or horizontally. And give the bock a dramatis ending. Don't let 1: ran down like a tired phonograph; Use a striking picture, a chart, a summary or a Uicky verse. ti jr. 4-. & ', , p . .. - in , . 'A'. V .. . ' A - I 'j t- ' & .... 1L . . -' ...:v vv. -y-o