The Catholic times. [volume], February 03, 1956, Image 4

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4—THE
CATHOLIC TIMES
Friday. Feb. 3. 1956
THE
CATHOLIC TIMES
Published Every Week by
The Catholic Times, Inc.
Columbus. Ohio
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11 te Times.
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This Paper Printed by Union Labor
fcThe Duly and Honor...
It is the dul) and honor of 'he press Io en
lighten, nourish and elevate minds and heaits
Such is the evaluation of the aposiolate nf the
pre-v by Pope Pius XII. His words apply to all
newspapers, not just to the religious press. No
higher honor or solemn duty could he given
to writers and publishers.
Tn give out half truths about other nations
pt even about opposing political parties is not
giving enlightenment. Receiving and publishing
as fair and unbiased news dispatches from per
tons known to he prejudiced against the Catho
lic Church is not enlightening the reader. For
instance, reports continue to come out of South
American countries and out of Spain insisting
that Protestant missionaries are being persecut
ed there by the Catholic Church First of all,
fhfsr missionaries have no business being thcic
tn disturb and take away their Holy Faith from
good, pom people Secondly, this sort of accusa
tion nf unfair treatment has been disptoved so
often, that by this time even the daily press
should recognize it for its worth Nevertheless,
the reports continue to come and continue to
he published.
Information that is instructive, that will nour
ish the intellect, that is educational, should he
the aim of the press the background of the news
is ofttimes more important than the news. Rut
the newspaper must adhere to truth, whether it
he historical 01 an explication of moral principles.
Culture and appreciation for the true and beau
tiful. can and should be on.” of the lolty aim1- of
the press.
In a day when much of the secular press
is truly secular, there is little wonder that ma
terialism and secularism cloud the minds and
hearts of men and women everywhere. What
there to counteract the materialism of the
present era.' What is there to elevate the minds
and hearts o| readers'.' There once was a time
when spiritual reading was common enough
among good people Every effort must ho made
to i estore reading of the Holy Scripture to the
family circle. The lives of saints, coming to us
fodav in splendid and attractive form, should be
giving inspiration to the active and eager minds
of youth Good Catholic spiritual literature is not
lacking in our day even attractive reprints of
nldet classics may he had, and many are already
obtainable in small inexpensive editions.
'1 he mind and heart of man are made lor Cod.
It is but natural that the pi-ss assume its proper
plate in helping man direct his thoughts in the
one area where he will find peace and happiness
This is not only the duty hut the high honor of
the prcs5 Catholics need not told that th”ir
own publications working in this aposiolate air
successful to an eminent degree.
Making Krady
For the Sou ing
Closer draws the season of Lent the forty
days of consistent prayer and penance upon
which the Church relies Io renew in her children
a realization of the sublime truths of Christian
ity. During those forty days she will sow in
their hearts the word of Gori with all impressive
ness. in order that they may be stirred to deeper
spirituality and may hr won from the distrac
tions and allurements of the world s materialism
she will call upon them to practice self denial
*n that they may gain strength foi| the hattie
against sin The spiritual gains achieved during
Lent arc Io he deep and lasting the Church will
strive with all her resources to make the sowing
a mighty one. so that the harvest may he abund
ant and life giving
Anri so it is that the Gospel of Sexagesima
Sunday, on the threshold of lenl, presents the
parable nf the sowar- telling how some of the
seed he scattered fell where wayfarers trod it
under foot or the birds consumed it how some
fell on the rock, where there was no chance for
it Io take root some among thorns, which chok
ed the young gram as soon as it had sprung
up. but how some fell on good ground so that
it germinated and produced “fruit a hundred
fold 1 .lust as the condition of the soil at the time
of the spring planting determines whether or
not the fields will be productive so, in the spirit
ual order, does our response to the sowing the
Church is about to undertake determine the
health and strength of our souls.
Unless we now make "good ground" in our
hearts the lenten sowing cannot be productive
If we arc indifferent, we shall he offering only
rock for lb" planting if we refuse to abandon
harmful habits or companions we shall he fool
ishly expecting the grain to flourish among
thorns but if we zealously cooperate with the
graces of the penitential season it is a splendid
spiritual harvest that must result.
As a reminder that we are not to let misgiv
ings nf our human frailly stand in the way of re
solving to spend lant with zeal and sincerity,
Bunday s Epistle presents St Paul's "boasting of
the hardships and suffering hr endured in ful
filling the mission to which hr had been called
Yet be asks, "Who is weak, and 1 am not weak?”
Abd for the encouragement of all he cites the
Lord's promise: "My- grace is soft' lent fov thee
The tunc of the great sowing is at hand it
sounds a call to each of us (o stir up all the good
will and fortitude of which we are capable so
that the word of God about to be planted in
our heart* may find there good ground and yield
fruit in abundance
Ea*v ‘Education'
Almost every factor in the lite of the school,
the home and the community is ranged solidly
against the notion of increasing the work
load nf the secondary school student. The school,
a* currently operating, multiplies extra-curricu
lar activities in a manner that occupies nearly ev
fry one of his waking hours The record craze
and the ever-present television may hnth be
•durational hut for long periods they make aer
Ifiis intellectual labor almost impossible
The teacher, surely one to he piled in this
picture, must trim ^the
wind to the
short lamh
and make the cour’r as palatable as possible,
hoping to win out over the more glittering at
tractions of the hit record, th-? winning team,
the TV drama and the corner drug store. The
parent, confused if not totally bewildered, speaks
exclusively of a new era in which things are dif
ferent. although not prepared to admit that
the difference is principally that they are much
worse than ever before
Industry and deligence are the inseparable
companions of success and when men no longer
are interested in intellectual labor the mind
itself, like any unuseu faculty tends to atrophy.
We are witnesses to the rise of a generation un
skilled in th-? art of hard work and, unhappily,
we have found nothing to take its place.—The
Boston Pilot.
Just Among Ourselves
Passing Comment Considered or Inconsiderate
It is strange how words lose meaning and
take on new implications. Sometimes the new
meaning is the opposite of the old. Consider the
word charity. Jt is no exaggerated claim to say
that charity is the noblest noun in the language,
et to-day many people consider chanty as a
term unacceptable for the expression of human
relationships they regard the word as cold and
haughtily condescending.
The trouble is that one work of charity,
which is the giving of alms, has been allowed
to appropriate the word charity to itself. This is
a great damage to the word, and to the human
mind. Anri then the term "giving of alms" has
hern restricted to an outward gesture which
often stresses the lowly condition of the poor
and the unfortunate.
All this is sari mischance. For neither the
word almsgiving nor the word charity is rightly
used to express the cold and prideful and some
times mechanical dole that constitutes much of
modern giving. For that sort of thing there is
a word, as cold and mechanical as what it ex
presses. Indeed, there are two words apt for this
purpose: they are the words philanthropy and
u ma nitartanism.
The great word charity is really a word of
Hip
Nay, it is a divine word, lor Scripture cries
triumphantly "God is charity,” Deus caritax ext.
Think of St. Paul and his listing of indispensable
virtues: "Faith, hope, charity and the greatest
of these is charity.”
We are divinely directed to "have a constant
mutual charity" among ourselves. We are care
fully to preserve charity in the bond of peace.
We are urged Io consider the qualities of charity:
charity is patient, is kind, dealeth not perversely,
is nof pulled up, is not provoked to anger. Char
ily thinketh no evil.
Without charity, all other virtues fail and
fade, "if I have not charity, I am become as a
sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal.” 1 may
give all my goods to teed the poor 1 may deliver
my body to be burned for the noblest of causes,
but, without charity, it profiteth me nothing.
Charity is a word of Latin origin the Eng
lish language merely adopts the word (which
was once spelled charitas in Latin) and ends it
in y instead of as. English does not translate
the word it only transliterates it. But there is
a word in English, a Saxon derivative, which
accurately translates the term charity it is the
word love.
Every Catholic is familiar with those prayers
called acts. An act as the name of a prayer means
a formula in which one professes a virtue and
then says why this virtue is professed. For in
stance, an act of faith proclaims one’s belief in
all that God revealed, precisely because God has
revealed it. An act of hope declares one’s un
faltering trust that God will give aid and ulti
mate salvation to the earnest penitent. Why is
that trust unfaltering? Because God has promised
His aid, and God 'S infallibly faithful to His
promises,
And the act of charity expiesses one's love
for God, a love sovereign and supreme, because
God is infinitely worthy of all love. And here
we discern the very soul of the word charity.
First and foremost, it a supernatural virtue,
and it means the love and grace and friendship
of God which God Himself pours into the hearts
of His children 1/ they will only accept the
gift.
The science of sacred theology tells us that
if we get Io heaven, the measure of our capacity
lor its joy will he (he measure of supernatural
charity in our souls. We have the important busi
ness, therefore, of advancing steadily in charity.
For, while every soul in heaven has complete
fullness of beatitude in the Beatific Vision, there
are different fullnesses: a wine-glass and a gal
lon container can be equally full but they do
not hold equal amounts.
To behold God in heaven, to have a direct
grasp ot the Divine Essence Itself, our under
standing requires the divine gift and grace of
special illumination: "In Thy light we shall see
Light." And this special gift is called the Light
of Glory. Now. the measure ot the Light of
Glory imparted Io each soul in heaven is deter
mined by the measure of charity in each soul.
The unthinking people who dislike the word
chanty have, to do them justice, no notion of
its supernatural meaning. The man who cries,
"I don't want charity,” does not reject the most
essential of all virtues he merely means (hat
he doesn't wish to have a dole thrown at him
as a bone might be thrown to a dog. Yet it is
too bad that even natural and human charity
should have fallen to low estate in the current
opinion of men.
For even natural charity is essential. Super
nal urc builds upon nature. And natural charity
is the reasonable lose which a normal human
person has for his hind, because his kind, like
himself, arc the children of Gori. Charity is love.
It is not necessarily a love which finds expres
sion in an emotion it is that true lose which is
the act and habit of an enlightened good will.
We are to love our neighbor, that is, we are
to love all humankind, as we love ourselves.
This is not measure. the formula is not as much
as, hut only as. and it means that we acknow
ledge the fact that every man is God's child,
equally important with ourselves, and that we
wish lor each man the good things, temporal and
eternal, which we wish lor ourselves. Further,
it means that «e stand ready, in the measure of
opportunity, Io do our part to see that he has
these good things.
Herne charity expresses itself in prayer for
others in the corporal and spiritual works of
mercy in words and acts and attitudes which
befit a decent man in respect to his fellows. So
almsgiving appears on the scene. This is an
important work of charity, but it is not the only
one. Anri almsgiving is not even almsgiving if
it be hut a cold, material, and spiritless "dona
tion.'' It cannot hr merely humanitarian or it is
nnt even human if must hr. to rrach human
stature, a thing divintforuin.
I
WASHINGTON LETTER
WASHINGTON—The wisdom
and timeliness of the 1955
Christmas Message of His Holi
ness Pope Pius Xll is illustrat
ed here with almost each pass
ing day.
The message is the one in
which the Holy Father spoke so
forcefully on the subject of
nuclear arms and armaments
control. Disarmament has been
very much to the fore here in
recent W'eeks, and, while men
tion is not always made of the
Holy Father's words, there are
clear indications all along the
line that the message has been
well read in this capital. There
has been evidence, too, that
there was deep official concern
here over the fact that in some
quarters the Pontiff's words
were misconstrued.
Harold E. Stassen told a Sen
ale subcommittee on disarma
ment that the United States will
never disarm except on a basis
of “complete reciprocity" under
“rigorous, unremitting, thor
ough, forehanded international
inspection and control.”
This vigorous statement
might seem to dash hopes for
any early disarmament but, act
ually, it serves to recall the
words of the Pope last Christ
mas. The Holy Father did not
call for disarmament that would
be doomed to failure from the
start. He called for a workable
disarmament, and Mr. Stassen s
MONSIGNOR HIGGINS
Catholic educators in the
United States have had their
tune to time
differences from
with the National
Education As
sociation in
the field of
legislation, as
well as in the
broader and
more import
ant field of
e u a tional
philosophy. In
the final an
alysis, alt
these disputes
have centered around the fun
damental question as to wheth
er or not parochial and other
private schools are to be rec
ognized, in fact as well as in
theory, as an integral part of
the American educational sys
tem and whether or not they
are to be accorded equal status
with the public schools.
The long-range importance of
the principles and issues in
vol ed in this continuing de
bate probably accounts, to some
extent at least, lor the reluct
ance of many of us in the Cath
olic social action movement tn
criticize the NEA more vigor
ously and more forthrightly
for its outmoded position with
respect to the organization of
teachers into unions.
Over the years we have said
very little ahout this subject
for fear of being accused of
picking on the NEA in retalia
tion. as it were, for some of its
mistakes in the field of legis
lation and educational philos
ophy.
Taachars Hava This Right
Whether or not this was a
w is-? policy on our part,
the time has come, in the opin
ion of some of us, to abandon
it in favor of a policy of com
plete frankness.
Our difference of opinion
with the NEA nn this subject
can be ataled very simply. Ac-
Stolen Hat
Pon tiff’s Message unidy
remarks seem to indicate that
he knew what the Holy Father
called for.
Pope Pius said a renunciation
of experimentation with atomic
weapons, a renunciation of the
use of such weapons, and a gen
eral control of armaments must
all go hand in hand. His Holi
ness said “the sum total of
those three measures as an ob
ject of international agreement
is an obligation in conscience
of nations and of their lead
ers.” He said if only the first
point were put into effect, there
would be sufficient reason to
doubt the sincere desire to put
into effect the other two con
ventions.
President Eisenhower’s Spec
ial Assistant for Disarmament
told the Senators that a bar
rier to banning atomic weapons
is the inability to detect stock
piles of nuclear materials. 113
said no scientific device known
today could make such a detec
tion.
The Holy Father anticipated
these difficulties in his Christ
mas Message. He said various
means of inspection and control
had been suggested airplane
surveys, observation posts, and
centers equipped with delicate
and precise meteorological and
seismic instruments, devices for
chemical analysis, spectographs,
etc. He said “they would ren
der possible the real control of
The NEA and Teachers Unions
cording to Catholic social prin
ciples, teachers have the right
to organize into unions of their
own choosing and, according
to the majority of Catholic ex
perts in the field, they ought
to be encouraged to exercise
this right. The NEA, with a view
to consolidating its own position
as the dominant organization in
the field of American educa
tion, has always been unsympa
thetic. if not opposed, to the
organization of its teacher mem
bers into unions.
The NEA has taken the posi
tion that teachers’ unions are
unnecessary on the grounds
that the economic rights of
teachers can be and are ade
quately safeguarded and de
fended by the NEA and its af
filiated units.
Equivalent of 'Company Union'
The obvious answer is that
the NEA, from the point of
view of the economics
of the teaching profes
sion. is the equivalent of a
"company union." Its member
ship is made up not only of
classroom teachers hut of school
administrators—including prin
cipals and superintendents, w ho
are the equivalent, in ordinary
industrial relations terminol
ogy. of the teachers’ “bosses.”
To pretend that such an or
ganization is capaable of ade
quately representing the legiti
mate economic interests of its
teacher members is just as
naive as to pretend that com
pany unions are an adequate
substitute in American indus
try for thri 200 odd legitimate
unions affiliated with the AFIr
(10. When the chips are down
—as somebody has aptly re
marked such an organization
in the field of education is
likely to pay more attention “to
principals than to principles."
This is not a Catholic issue
as such, and it hasn’t anything
to do with the above mentioned
controxersy between the NEA
many, unfortunately not all, of
(he activities which antecedent
ly would be outlawed in the
field of atomic experimenta
tion.”
Mr. Stassen held out to Sen
ators the hope that “the force
of world opinion" might event
ually bring the Soviet Union
to agree to the “unremitting"
and “thorough” program in in
ternational inspection and con
trol that the U. S. demands as
an integral part of disarma
ment.
Senator Hubert H. Humph
rey of Minnesota observed that
“perhaps the best and most
realistic hope of the moment is
the possibility that the Krem
lin leaders may be learning, as
we in the United States have
learned, that the time may be
running out for human sur
vival.”
It will be recalled that Pope
Pius XII said “our peace pro
gram cannot approve of an in
discriminate co-existence at all
costs with everybody certainly
not at the cost of truth and
justice.”
Also the Holy Father warned
that “efforts toward peace must
consist not only in measures
aimed at restricting the possi
bility of waging war, but even
more in preventing, eliminating
or lessening with time ths quar
rels between nations which
might lead to war.”
and our Catholic educators over
matters of legislation and edu
cational philosophy. Further
more, in criticizing the NEA
lor its outmoded stand on teach
ers unions, we do not mean to
suggest that the teachers ought
to resign from the NEA. There
is, admittedly, a place for a na
tional professional organiza
tion along the comprehen
sive lines of the NEA.
To Gain and to Give
Our only purpose is to defend
the right of teachers to belong
to a teachers’ union, such as the
American Federation of Teach
ers, and to encourage them to
exercise this right in greater
numbers. They have a lot to
gain from becoming a part of
the AFL-CIO, and they have a
lot to give to the new Federa
tion. If they want to belong to
a professional organization
like the NEA in addition to be
longing to a union of their
ow n. w ell and good, but it mere
ly confuses the issue to pretend
that the NEA is an adequate
substitute for a union.
We would like to make it
very clear—for the sake of rec
ord—that we are not giving a
blanket endorsement to the
American Federation of Teach
ers. Catholic educators have had
serious differences of opinion
with the Federation, and with
one of its locals in particular,
on legislative and philosophical
matters.
Furthermore, even from the
trade union point of iriew. the
Federation as a whole and some
of its locals in particular are,
in the opinion of many ex
perts. open to serious criticism.
As a matter of fact, some of its
locals have been accused of
slipping into the very “com
pany union” practices which
they rightly criticize in the case
of the NEA. This problem is
one that ought to be faced up
to very honestly hy the lead
ers ot the AF of T.
At his first
Inquiry Corner
Father Healey
Q. Why does bt. John speak
of the crucifixion as happen
ing at '‘about the sixth hour”
when St. Mark has it at the
third hour? (John 19:14: Mark
15:25).
A. The Synoptic Gospels
(Matthew, Mark and Luke) fol
low the older method of divid
ing the day (i.e. the daylight
hours) into lour three-hour per
iods, called the morning, third
hour, sixth hour and ninth
hour. In St. Mark the third hour
would mean that period from
9:00 to 12:00 a. m. The hour as
a time measure was not com
monly used by the Jews. St.
John, however, consistently
uses (1:39: 4.6 4:52) the divi
sion of the day into twelve
hours, so his ‘sixth hour” means
the period from 11:00 to 12:00
a. m.
Q. What is a mental reser
vation? It sounds to me very
much like a lie—as I heard it
explained by a friend of mine
who attended a Catholic col
lege.
A. A pure mentai reservation
by which we adG some expres
sion secretly to ourselves which
changes the meaning of a state
ment is a lie. There is some
misunderstanding of this mat
ter even by those who have
studied it in Catholic high
schools or colleges. An evasive
reply is similar to a mental res
ervation and it is permitted for
a proportionate reason. By it
we avoid telling what we know
(or at least all that we know)
by giving an ambiguous or
equivocal answer. An evasive
reply must be capable of being
understood two ways: one way,
which we hope the inquisitive
and troublesome quest i 0 n e
will accept and retire without
further trouble and without
having his feelings hurt: the
other way would represent the
whole truth, which we do not
think it proper to reveal at this
time. A common example is the
expression: Mr. is not “at
home.” The unwanted salesman
can understand the expression
as meaning that his potential
customer is not present or he
can guess that he is present but
does not wish to see him. It is
especially appropriate when
someone is seeking information
which can do great damage to
someone’s reputation, to the
JOHN C. O'BRIEN
Will He,
In th.? current speculation as
to whether President Eisen
hower will seek a second term,
one guess is as good as another.
No one knows
which w a y
the President
is leaning,
not even pro
fessional Re
publican poli
ticians who
are boldly
predicting he
will run
again.
with the
Washington press corps since
his heart attack, Mr. Eisenhow
er said he still was weighing
all the considerations that
would influence his decision
when the time com-ss to make
it. Again, he made it clear that
the question that is troubling
him the most is whether in his
present state of health he would
be justified in offering himself
to the American people as a
candidate for reelection.
Some Light
It so happens that this re
porter is in a position to throw
some light on how sincerely
Mr. Eisenhower feels that it is
the duty of a candidate for the
Presidency to be frank with the
voters on the matter of his
health. This is not a conviction
that grew out of the situation
that now confronts him. It is
one that he expressed to a
group of newspapermen dur
ing the 1952 campaign.
On a cold, dismal day in Oc
tober of that year, Mr. Eisen
hower flew from St. Paul, Minn.,
to New York to make an ad
dress to the executive commit
tee of the American Federation
of Labor. In mid afternoon he
emplaned lor Rock Island, ill.,
where he made a speech at a
political meeting that evening.
Mr. Eisenhower usually travel
ed in his own plane. On this
particular day, for some rea
son. he chose to return to Rock
Island in the newspapermen s
plane. When he came aboard,
his aides shooed him forward
into a cabin behind the
pilot’s cockpit and thrust a
sheaf of papers in his hands.
But in a moment or two, Mr.
Eisenhower, who dislikes soli
tude, tossed the papers aside,
framed himself in the doorway
leading to the main cabin and
started tu grin.
Voters' Right to Know
It was obvious that he wanted
to talk, and this reporter, who
happened to be sitting in the
seat nearest the doorway, asked
him how he was bearing up un
der the fast pace of the cam
paign. Mr. Eisenhower replied
that he was not finding it in
any way exhausting. He was
feeling just fine.
Then he volunteered the in
formation that he believed
very strongly that the voters
had a right tn know what slate
of health a candidate for the
good of the community or to
the Church, etc. Men in pub
lic office must protect them
selves and the public welfare
by certain formal statements
which can he called evasive re
plies. They may not be used
when the person asking has a
clear right to know the full
truth, nor is this in any way
permission to tell a direct lie at
any time for any reason.
Q. Is 12:00, 12:30 or 1:00
o'clock the time from which
one should fast for Holy Com
munion in the Columbus dio
cese?
A. The most obvious and nat
ural time for the Eucharistic
fast (and for any reckoning of
midnight) is 12:00 o’clock. Or
dinarily there would seem tn be
little reason’to use any other
time. The Church docs permit
her members to use any varia
tion of time that is accepted
locally, however, so we can fol
low local mean sun time. That
this is not unreasonable is
evident for we know that nur
time zones do not indicate real
time but are simply convenient
compromises. In Columbus
when a person’s clock shows
12:32 it is midnight by Incal
mean sun time, so a person may
begin at that time the Euchar
istic fast for the next day.
There seems to be at present
no reason for 1:00 o’clock as a
variation of local time, espec
ially since th.? diocesan synod
of 1952 which stated: Izgal Re
gional Time in the Diocese of
Columbus is Eastern Standard
Time.
Q. In regard to fasting does
the obligation bind until a per
son is sixty years old or is it un
til you're fifty-nine.
A. The law of the Church
states that the law of abstin
ence binds all who have com
pleted their seventh year (i.e.
from the seventh birthday an
niversary). The law nf fasting
binds from the completion nf a
person’s twenty-first year
(again, from the twenty-first
birthday) to the beginning of
hi.s sixtieth (i.e. from the fifty
ninth birthday). (Canon No.
1254).
Send questions to Father Ed
ward F. Healey, Inquiry Cor
ner, The Catholic Times, Box
636, Columbus (16) Ohio.
Won’t He?
Presidency actually was in H»
said ihat within the past 10
days he had had a thorough
physical check-up. He would he
glad to make the doctors’ re
port available to the report
ers. Moreover, he added, he
thought they owed a duty to
the public to publish it.
In the light of what Mr. Eis
enhower said then, it seems to
this reporter that the import
ance he seems to be attaching
to the state of his health in
his present deliberations takes
on a special significance.
One Term “Erosion''
It is only natural, to he sure,
that the matter of health should
have dominated his thinking
since the heart attack. Rut hp
had been concerned about it
long before that.
As far back as last March, at
a news conference, he mention
ed his health as one of the
considerations that would in
fluence hi.s decision as to his
future political plans. Even
then, when he had no reason to
believe that he was not physic
ally sound, he seemed to he un
certain whether a man of his
years, having undergone the
"erosion” of one term in of
fice would be justified in ask
ing for another.
In recent weeks, of course,
Mr. Eisenhower’s doctors have
been issuing most reassuring
statements about his recovery.
The upshot of these reports
has been that the state of health
need be no bar to his seeking n
second term if he wants one.
Providing Issue in Quotes
Mr. Eisenhower could have
gone along with the doctors.
But to the utter dismay of his
supporters, he bluntly warn
ed the American people that
he would never again be able
to exert himself as fully as he
had done in the first three
years of his term in the White
House.
From all this, it would he
folly, of course, to jump to the
conclusion that Mr. Eisenhower
will not be a candidate again.
But for a man who wants to be
reelected, he has made admis
sions that his opponents can
use against him. For a long
time th.? Democrats have been
pondering how they could make
the President’s state of health
a campaign issue. Mr. Eisenhow
er solved their problem: now all
they have to do is quote hi«
own statements.
By now the president is
shrewd a politician not to have
realized the implications of his
press conference diagnosis of
his condition. But apparently he
still holds to the conviction he
expressed on the airplane in
1952. Then the doctors found
him sound: today his own ver
dict is that he cannot expect
to regain the health he had
four years ago.
Either*way, hr seems Io feel,
the public is entitled to know.