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A—1* ** THURSDAY, August 4, 1949
Ungraceful Somersaults
A question of veracity rather “than edi
torial confusion is raised by Mr. Krug’s
letter, printed elsewhere on this page to
day. What has happened is that those
speaking and acting for Mr. Krug in the
Interior Department have repudiated the
sense of his agreement reached on July 1
with the District Commissioners and
Chairman Harry Wender of the Recrea
tion Board. Mr. Krug has run out on what
he said he would do.
On July 1 he said the Interior Depart
ment was anxious and willing to turn over
all local recreation facilities under its
jurisdiction to the Recreation Board. There
were to be no strings attached to the
policies followed by the Recreation Board
in its operation of these facilities. That
was the understanding of the local officials
who attended the meeting. That was
the understanding officially conveyed to
The Star.
There was one important condition. The
Recreation Board was to amend its by
laws. References to segregation would be
eliminated. There would be inserted a
policy statement pledging the board to
“every possible and realistic effort” in
removing segregation “in such sequence
and at such rate of progression as may
be consistent with the public interest.”
The board’s own unanimous approval of
these changes was subsequently approved
by Mr. Krug.
In the meantime, in a press release from
the Interior Department on July 12 (re
produced on this page at Mr. Krug’s
suggestion) a new condition was inter
posed which caught the Recreation Board
by surprise. It was that the Recreation
Board’s new statement of policy “will not
permit the imposition of segregation (by
the Board) on any facilities now operated
on a non-segregated basis.” This would
mean that the Recreation Board could
operate the swimming pools only on a
non-segregated basis. For while in theory
the Interior Department pools (operated
by the lessee, Government Services, Inc.)
have been run, under Interior Department
Instruction, on a non-segregated basis, the
first practical test of this theory closed
the Anacostia pool.
Mr. Krug does not say, in nis letter w
The Star, what he propqges to do about
the pools. Although it was the pool clos
ing which initiated the present attempted
negotiations between Interior Department
and Recreation Board, the board has been
told that the swimming pool arrangements
are not yet ready for discussion; further
more, it has been told of additional con
ditions in reference to other recreation
areas which omit all mention of the swim
ming pools.
The Star does not believe that the In
terior Department has been wise or even
candid in its continued, recalcitrant deal
ings with the Recreation Board since 1942.
It has sought to hold on to everything it
has. It has held on to the golf course
contracts, treating them as sacrosanct and
above criticism until a f Congressional
investigation spilled the beans and showed
them up for what they are. It has held
on to its deals with Government Services,
Inc., making no sincere attempt to trans
fer them to the Recreation Board. It has
Invoked the issue of segregation when the
practice of segregation was not an issue,
and when the board, under its own steam,
was making commendable progress in its
elimination.
That is one reason why it is so disap
pointing to see another good opportunity
for needed reform in local recreation
botched again, with Mr. Krug reversing
himself. For a great deal can and will be
done when local problems in recreation
are taken out of national politics and good
citizens ar6 given the responsibility of
working out difficult problems for them
selves, without the constant irritation of
double talk from the Interior Department.
Fairfax Likes Them Close
Close local election contests are getting
to be a habit in Fairfax County. For some
years the citizens of the nearby Virginia
county have enjoyed the excitement of
tight races for the county seat in the
House of Delegates at Richmond. Tues
day’s Democratic primary was no excep
tion.
While similar contests in other nearby
areas were being marked by listlessness
on the part of the voters, the battle be
tween Edwin Lynch, of Annandale, and
Lewis Leigh, of Oakton, shared interest
in the county with the gubernatorial
primary. Mr. Lynch has known close races
before. After losing the 1943 contest for
the delegate seat to the present incumbent,
Robert J. McCandlish, Mr. Lynch came
back to defeat Mr. McCandlish by 355
votes in 1945, while the latter was in the
Navy. Two years later the two candidates
ran the closest race in recent election
history in the county, a court-supervised
count making Mr. MoCandlish the winner
by one vote. An unofficial count had
placed them in a 2,853 tie.
Delegate McCandlish decided not to run
again this year. This left the field clear
for his old opponent, Mr. Lynch, and for
the latter’s rivals, Mr. Leigh and John J.
McLaughlin. It was a neck-and-neck
affair between Messrs. Lynch and Leigh
k
until the ballots from Annandale, Mr.'
Lynch’s home precinct, finally were tallied.
Then Mr. Lynch was pronounced the victor
by 128 votes, although he had carried only
ten of the county’s twenty-eight precincts.
By contrast, there were no contests at all
for delegates’ seats in Arlington and Alex
andria. Had it not been for the governor
ship fight there would have been little
to attract nearby Virginia voters to the
polls.
What We Cannot Afford
There may be good reasons why the
foreign military aid program, calling for
an initial outlay of $1,450,000,000, should be
modified in some respects.
The bill as drafted, especially Section 3,
would confer an extraordinary peacetime
grant of power upon the President. That
section would authorize him to extend
aid to any nation, or any group within a
nation, if, in his judgment, this would
promote the security of the United States.
One can conceive of situations in which it
might well be desirable for the President
to have such authority. The day may come
when we will wish that he had it. But
there is also an immediate problem to be
faced—that of securing congressional
approval of the essentials of the program
as quickly as possible. This problem, in
its most serious aspect, takes the form of
Republican and some Democratic oppo
sition to the broad powers which would
be granted to the President. Should the
administration insist on getting all of
these powers, the chances are that no
bill will be passed at this session. That
would be the worst thing that could hap
pen, and it is for this reason that the
negotiations looking toward some reason
able compromise are to be welcomed, both
on the grounds of wisdom and necessity.
It most certainly does not follow from
this, however, that the arms program
should be watered down to the point where
it will fail of its purpose. This is no time
for a resurrection of that abiding curse
of democratic societies—the too-little-and
too-late complex. Unless willing to risk
the needless failure of all of our past
efforts to insure a peaceful and prosperous
world, Congress should not now, in the
name of false economy, whittle down the
amount of money sought for this program.
General Marshall, who has reached a
station in life where he cannot possibly
be suspected of any ulterior motive, has
given some interesting testimony on this
point.
He told the committee considering the
arms program that he has always felt that
if his 1939 requests for military appropria
tions had been met speedily and even to
a modest degree the late war would have
been shortened by at least six months,
it would have cost some $50,000,000,000 less,
and hundreds of thousands of casualties
would have been prevented.
In peacetime, Congress always tends to
ignore the advice of men whose records
are such as to inspire confidence in their
judgment. But the illustration mentioned
by General Marshall is something for the
legislators to think about. There cannot
be the slightest doubt that false economy
in the prewar days cost us very, very
heavily when the fighting began. No sen
sible person wants to repeat that experi
ence. It is true, of course, that we ought
not to permit spending abroad to seriously
weaken our own economy. But as General
l^rshall rather aptly expressed it, this
qirestion is not merely one of how much
we can afford to spend. There is also the
question of how much we can afford not
to spend if we are to avoid truly crushing
outlays later on.
It is the function of Congress to strike
this balance. But the decision should be
a realistic one, taking full account of the
factors in our own economic situation
which suggest that we can afford to make
the expenditures requested, and equally
full account of the factors in the interna
tional situation which suggest that we
cannot afford not to make them.
Improvement in Greece
In the seventh quarterly report to Con
gress on Greek-Turkish aid, the President
has come nearer to being optimistic about
the outlook in Greece than at any time
since July, 1947, when the United States
first undertook the historic task of helping
that country save itself from being over
thrown by the Communist guerrillas and
dragged behind the Iron Curtain as a
satellite of the Kremlin.
Most of the President’s prior reports on
the subject have been generally uncheer
ful, offering little more than the prospect
of a kind of stalemate between the hit
and-run guerrillas and the regular govern
ment forces—a situation rendering it virtu
ally impossible for Greece to make any
real progress toward economic recovery,
and political stability. Now, however, the
picture appears to be somewhat brighten
Though by no means rosy, it at least sug
gests the possibility that the Greeks may
achieve internal peace in the not-too-dis
tant future.
Thus, in his latest report—covering the
three-month period ended last March 31—
the President has made two encouraging
points: (1) That the possibility of the Greek
government’s collapse is more remote today
than at any time since the country’s lib
eration from the Nazis in 1944; and (2)
that the strength of the Communist guer
rillas has been declining steadily despite
continuing aid from the Soviet satellites,
particularly Albania and Bulgaria. Accord
ing to the official March count, the guer
rilla forces numbered less thafh 20,000, as
against 26,000 a year ago, and there are
indications that the total is still dropping
off.
The fact that the guerrillas have been
unable to recruit enough replacements to
make up for losses probably has tended to
weaken their morale. Further, it seems
likely that tne rift between Moscow and
Tito’s Yugoslavia has increased their diffi
culties, especially if it is true that the
Yugoslav border has been closed to them.
They have been fighting to promote the
ends of the Kremlin, but after more than
two years of hit-and-run operations, they
have failed to subvert the legitimate
Athens government. As a result, along
with their Moscow masters, they may be
.growing weary of the fruitless and indeci
sive struggle—a possibility that lends added
meaning to recent Soviet feelers for a
peace settlement.
But, as the President has emphasized in
his report, the guerrillas are still in a
position to keep Greece in turmoil, and
our aid must therefore continue until they
break up voluntarily or are rendered
harmless. If we eliminated or sharply cut
down ori that aid, they would return to the
battle with renewed vigor. We must hold
fast to the course we have been following.
There is no other sound way of saving
Greek independence and preventing Rus
sia from gaining control of a strategically
vital corner of the world.
Lieutenant Chiles' 'Log'
The “log” which Lieutenant James O.
Chiles kept during his futile battle with
bulbar poliomyelitis is a human document
of vast appeal. If anything had been
needed to dramatize the campaign against
the disease which killed him, he has pro
vided it in his record of his own reactions
to his sufferings.
Lieutenant Chiles was possessed of a
trained, systematic mind. Even when
desperately sick he was faithful to the
logical pattern of his life. He gradually
ceased to be able to write legibly, yet he
did not abandon the effort as long as he
retained consciousness. His sight failed,
he could not see what he wrote, yet he
continued his endeavor to record his im
pressions. Every word, every syllable of
his notes is meaningful. How deeply he
loved his family is made clear by thd
lines: “Only thing I’m worried about Is
you” and “You should not stay.”
The young officer was thinking of the
danger encountered by his wife by her
presence at his side. He undoubtedly
thought also of his two small children as
he strove to survive his illness. But he did
not lose track of his hope that possibly
he could work with the doctors and “find
a cure for this thing.” In his desire to
co-operate with organized science he ex
emplified a great principle which con
stantly needs to be stressed. Medicine
alone cannot solve the problem of polio.
If the riddle ever is to be read, It ftiust
be achieved by collaboration between the
professional practitioners of the healing
arts and the public. This realization has
been the basis of repeated fund-raising
drives. /It has inspired lay interest in
epidemiology as a separate science. Lieu
tenant Chiles contributed toward the ulti
mate victory by his dying labors.
Pledged to the service of his country,
a pilot in the ocean of the sky, he gave
his life in a manner and fashion he could
not have visioned as little as only a few
days ago. But he will not be forgotten.
His valiant spirit under heavy affliction
will be remembered. The Navy has reason
to be proud of him.
—————————
Undoubtedly working against amity in
the world is the lack of a common lan
guage. That, however, is not what starts
fights In saloons.
Says a psychologist, the man who likes
to fish is not likely to be a criminal. Given
to misrepresentation perhaps, but of a
harmless, unfelonious sort.
This and That
By Charles E. Trace well
Mr. S. O’S. of New York city, a poet, likes
wasps.
He thinks they are much abused in popular
imagery.
"Only today,” he writes, “your dissertation
on the wasp has come to my attention.
“I have never patiently studied the con
struction activities of wasps, but when you
say that these were ‘ugly, morose types,’ I am
moved to record my doubt.
“Over many years I have found wasps to
be, uniformly, ladies and gentlemen.
* * * *
“In a country cabin which we enjoyed
for several years, there was at times a con
siderable concentration of wasps.
“The creatures frequently, in trying to find
their way to the free outdoors, crawled be
tween the over-all screeift and the window
4 frames, and were often unahle to back out,
and so after spending their little strength
in futile struggles, perished.
“I rescued scores of them from this fate
by luring them onto my hand and carrying
them, with the hand closed over them, into
the open.
“Somftimes when one of them was so
frightened as to elude all efforts to entice it
onto my hand, I picked it up bodily. I was
never stung.
* * * *
“May I ask you to reconsider the state
ment that there is ‘good choice’ in our use of
the word ‘waspish’ to denote a fierce and
unreasonable attack?
“Prom my experience I judge it to be a
particularly unhappy bit of folklore.
"And may I suggest that timorous and
blundering humans who in summer briefly
invade the countryside where the wasps—
among other creatures—clearly have prior
rights, should for'get their silly fear of these
industrious and inoffensive creatures, and
try to be as considerate, as live-and-let-live,
as the wasps?”
A A ik A
Shaemas O’S., being Irish, surely had his
tongue in his cheek when he wrote that last
sentence.
If he could see these fellows of ours, he
would hesitate before raising the window.
He must have gotten hold of wasps with
out stings, sure enough,’ since not all of
them possess stingers, by any means.
Or he handled them when they were still
lethargic from the winter’s rest.
Wasps, like humans, need a bit of wind
ing up.
The advancing season does that for them.
Once they get the cell blocks going, and
the next generation coming along nicely,
they become veritable demons.
No longer are they ladies and gentlemen,
as the poet insists they are.
When we look at those black and orange
demons in our windowsill, we have to laugh
at the very idea.
Ladles, perhaps-r-but gentlemen, never!
An unhappy bit of folklore, is it, that
wasps do sting, and hornets the same?
“What do you think of this idea, that
wasps are ladies and gentlemen?" we asked
Templeton Jones, nature lover.
Jones was all sprawled out in his big lawn
chair, something cool in a tall glass on the
arm thereof, and his dachshund at his feet,
and his big tiger cat on his lap.
"If your poet friend had been with me
last summer," Jones grinned, “I believe he
would have had to change his over-all
opinion. Or at least, his trousers and
quickly.
“This hornet flew up my trouser leg. He
was no gentleman, I assure you.
IHe stung me four times, but after the
third stingeioo I stepped out of those pants
right here in the'middle of the yard. The
action did not save me from the fourth
sting, however.
“The industrious creature bit me a fifth
and last time before he flew away. Maybe
we have hotter wasps here than they do up
in New York State. Or maybe wasps do not
sting poets. What do you think?"
We weren’t thinking. We were just
dreaming, dreaming of the day a good poet
picks up a good Maryland bumblebee, or a
nice neat hornet, or even a plain old garden
variety of honey bee. Heh, heh, heh I
L
Letters to The Star
Mr. Krug’s Own Version
Of the Recreation Issue
To the Editor of The Star:
Your editorial of today (August 2) on
the recreational problem in the District of
Columbia is thoroughly confused.
The present negotiations with the Recre
ation Board were not initiated as a result
of the Anacostia pool incident. The depart
ment has sought at various times since 1942
to enter into agreement with the board, but
in every case the issue of segregation was
a stumbling block. The current effort to
reach an agreement began in March with a
new letter from me to the chairman of the
District of Columbia Recreation Board, dated
March 23.
On July 21, the Park Service turned over
a copy of our proposed agreement for oper
ation of facilities on National Park lands
by the District Recreation Board. Today is
August 2 and we have not had a response
from the Recreation Board Committee.
The July 1 Meeting.
At both of my conferences with the Dis
trict Commissioners and representatives of
the Recreation Board on July 1 and July 11,
I said that as soon as the Recreation Board
eliminated its segregation by-law the Park
Service would be in a position to negotiate
an agreement,.as provided in the 1942 law,
for operation of facilities located on Na
tional Park lands. That act provides that
the use of land by the Recreation Board
must be in accord with agreements reached
between the board and the agency having
jurisdiction over the land. Under that agree
ment, and pursuant to it, the board would
conduct all operations and determine all
questions of general recreation operation and
policy.
With respect to the question oi racial
segregation, the Recreation Board has prom
ised to “make every possible and realistic
effort toward the removal of racial segre
gation in public recreation.” It has never
been In doubt about my position that the
agreements negotiated could not permit
backward steps in the move to eliminate
segregation. In its letter to me of July 14,
advising me of the new by-law to be sub
stituted for the old segregation by-law, the
chairman of the board said the board con
sidered not only my proposal for elimination
of its segregation by-law but also my state
ment on the recreation problem in the Dis
trict of Columbia issued on July 12. I inclose
a copy of that statement which I believe you
should print with this letter to provide your
readers with the whole picture.
It was clear to the .board and the District
Commissioners as well as the Interior De
partment, that our negotiations would be
premised on two things. First, it is desir
able to get into the hands of a local agency
those recreational facilities which are used
primarily for local and neighborhood recre
ation. Second, it is desirable to make all
possible progress, with no backward steps, in
effectuating the President’s Civil Rights Pro
gram both on park lands now administered
by the Park Service and on all other public
recreation facilities in the District of Co
lumbia.
Restatement of Objectives.
We adhere to these objectives. If we fail
in getting these local facilities into local
hands, it will not be because of lack of
effort on our part to do so.
The Anacostia pool was closed, not be
cause I was "scared ... by organized young
demonstrators,” but because tense racial
frictions stimulated by excited citizens and
newspaper coverage which emphasized the
racial aspects of the problem, threatened to
erupt into serious violence. We closed the
pool to ease those tensions. Had we adopted
a compulsory rule excluding colored people
from the pool, the surrender to hoodlumism
would have encouraged hoodlumism through
out the city.
The press coverage of the incidents lead
ing to the closing of the Anacostia pool was
frequently irresponsible and contributed to
rather than minimized racial tension. This
same treatment is now being extended to
editorials on what you admit are “delicate
problems of race relationships” in Wash
ington.
In the elimination of the Recreation
Board’s segregation by-law, we have made
very substantial progress. I think we have
a good chance of making even more progress
in the current negotiations between the Park
Service and the Recreation Board. That
chance is not helped by editorials such as
yours of today. J. A. KRUG,
Secretary of the Interior.
The press release referred to in Mr.
Krug’s letter follows in full:
STATEMENT ON RECREATION PROBLEM
IN THE DISTRICT OP COLUMBIA
Tuesday, July 12.
Secretary of the Interior J. A. Krug today
released the following statement:
On July 1 the Interior Department offered
to turn over certain facilities under its
jurisdiction to the Recreation Board pro
vided the Recreation Board eliminated com
pletely its by-law requiring segregation in
the use of public recreation facilities in the
District of Columbia. The language worked
out with the co-operation of the District
Commissioners at a second meeting to re
place the by-law is:
“Section 2.2. The board will make every
possible and realistic effort toward the re
moval of racial segregation in public rec
»reation in such sequence and at such rate
of progression, as may be consistent with
the public interest, public order, and effective
administration. The board by majority
vote of the whole Board shall from time
to time issue instructions to the superin
tendent to implement this policy.”
This proposal will not permit the imposi
tion of segregation on any facilities now
operating on a non-segregated basis and
will foster steady progress toward the eli
mination of segregation in all other public
recreation areas.
I have refrained from releasing the
Interior Department’s proposal until the
Recreation Board met, as it is now doing,
out of courtesy to those members who were
not present at the conferences which I
have held with the D. C. Commissioners,
the chairman of the board, and a com
mittee of the Recreation Board appointed
by its Committee on By-Laws, Rules and
Regulations. Since that meeting is now in
progress, the release of the Interior De
partment proposal will not interfere with
the board’s consideration.
In proposing this change the Interior De
partment sought to make progress in the
President’s Civil Rights Program, not only
on park lands administered by the depart
ment but throughout the City of Washing
ton generally. If the Department had in
sisted on administering its own recreational
facilities separate from the other recrea
tional facilities administered by the Rec
reation Board, it would have continued
a dual recreational system, with the prob
ability that no progress would be made
toward elimination of segregation on'non
interior lands. The proposal permits a
single, unified system on which all remain
ing segregation can be eliminated as soon
as possible and practical.
If this is adopted by the Recreation Board
without any qualifications or amendments,
the National Park Service Will be in a posi
tion to negotiate with the board for the
assignment of its facilities to board control
as provided in the District Recreation Act
of 1942. We have never contemplated that
such assignments would be offered to the
board without complete assurance and a
clear stipulation that all areas now operating
Letters for publication must bear
the signature and address of the
writer, although it is permissible for
a writer known to The Star to use
a nom de plume. Please be brief.
on a non-segregation basis would remain
non-segregated.
Non-segregation remains the firm policy
of the National Park Service and the Interior
Department. There will be no backward
steps of any sort. There will be constant
forward steps. We shall continue to serve
the vast bulk of the citizens of the District
of Columbia with steady progreSs toward the
goal of complete non-segregation. I want
to compliment the level-headed members
and leaders of both races who have co
operated in avoiding incidents at our swim
ming pools.
With the Interior Department and the
District Government united on a sound
program for steady progress In eliminating
all segregation in public recreation, there
will be no chance for either extremists from
any group or for individual hoodlums to
interrupt the public recreation program for
the District of Columbia. The Park Police
will co-operate with the Metropolitan Police
to see that the majority of citizens anxious
to make use of our public recreation facili
ties may do so without either mob inter
ference or surrender to vicious prejudice.
Sees Times Demanding Training Of
Talented People for National Service
To the Editor of The Star:
yfhen Federal Government decides to in
ject itself into the field of general education
(which traditionally has been a local con
cern though under State control), it would
seem that it should be done in such a way as
to promote the national good. To supply
funds indiscriminately to local groups would
tend to produce an increase in waste and
graft, which in turn would produce an at
tempt by the central Government to control
the expenditure of the money provided. This
control conceivably could be extended to
over-all Federal control of schools.
Now, I believe that the educational re
quirements of the local schools are best de
cided and controlled by people who, being of
the community, know its needs and can se
cure the major educational emphasis to be
placed in the most appropriate sphere.
The public school system (including the
parochial schools in this general class) serves
this purpose reasonably well.
The most serious weakness of our school
system is that it has no provision for special
progress for the most talented pupils. In a
day when the national good requires that we
secure and maintain a position in the very
forefront of science, industry, etc., we still
have no way (except for a few isolated ef
forts) to help the outstanding student to
push along to complete his formal educa
tion quickly and thoroughly, so that he will
be in a position to make those advanced
studies upon which pre-eminence in special
ized fields depends.
To use the physical sciences as an ex
ample, it is required of the scientist today
that he be a mathematician (where calculus,
differential equations, and vector analysis
are to the mathematician as addition and
subtraction to the certified public account
ant). He needs a good and comprehensive
knowledge of physical and chemical theory
where electronics, high vacuum technique,
and dynamics (fluid, thermo, etc.), are as
indispensable as a plumber’s wrenches. All
this mass of learning must be familiar and
easily used to be really useful. Familiarity is
gained only by prolonged use. Yet, the stu
dent who could be well into mathematical
analysis before his eighteenth birthday is
just completing high school with only a
knowledge of the most elementary algebra
and trigonometry, because the only schools
available to him are designed for his less
gifted fellows who will make their life In a
factory or other occupation not requiring ex
tensive education.
Here is the field in which Federal aid can
best be used in the national (in fact inter
national) interest. The Federal Government
should establish (say in each congressional
district) a non-graded school in which the
most talented could find the opportunity and
incentive to use their special abilities (with
out exposing themselves to the conspicuous
position of the bright kid in the normal
school, who becomes a butt if he doesn’t
hold himself to the same pace as his slower
witted classmates).
This is the work that really needs Federal
help. Leave the public schools in 8tate and
city hands. Open a school system that can
develop the reservoir of exceptional minds,
minds that the country needs if it is to pre
serve itself in the period to come, a period
when a few months delay in making a dis
covery or solving a problem can lead to final
defeat. JOSEPH F. WOODS.
Bi-Partisan Supreme Court
Traced Back to President Taft
To the Editor of The Star:
Democratic leaders were the .first within
my knowledge to raise the question of a
two-to-one ratio in the personnel of the
Supreme Court to protect the minority.
President William Howard Jaft was the
first President in recent times to nominate
(within' a short term of four years) a ma
jority of the court. I was representing the
New York Sun, reporting Supreme Court
proceedings. President Taft, through his
secretary, Charles D. Hilles, requested me
to execute a mission for him. This matter
disposed of, he asked me to remain for two
hours, discussing Supreme Court vacancies.
The President told me that Senator Joseph
W. Bailey of Texas, leader of the Demo
cratic minority in the Senate, had informed
him that the Senate had long had a rule
that at least three members of the court
should always be from the minority party.
He intimated that under its constitutional
power to "advise and consent" the Senate
had the power to enforce the rule. The
President told the Democratic leader, Sena
tor Bailey, that he had never heard of the
rule but, if the Senate attached so much im
portance to it, he would be glad to observe
it with respect to a pending vacancy to be
filled. The next day he offered the nomin
ation to Senator Bailey, who promptly
declined it.
President Taft nominated two Democrats,
Horace H. Lurton of Tennessee, with whom
he had served on the Sixth Circuit Court of
Appeals, and Joseph Lamar of Georgia and
promoted Associate Justice White to be
Chief Justice. President Harding nominated
Pierce Butler, a Democrat.
JERRY A. MATHEWS.
Winchester, Ind.
Readers Commend Article
On Barden Discussion by Mr. Lincoln
To the Editor of The Star:
I want to express my appreciation for
the manner in which Gould Lincoln last
Sunday presented his impartial, objective
views on the recent controversy concerning
Federal aid to education. Other local papers,
it seems to me, have been a trifle biased
merely because of the personalities involved.
T. DONOVAN.
To the Editor of Hie Star:
I think the Barden bill controversy has
been very ably covered by Gould Lincoln
in his Sunday column. ‘ „ . ,
I also think the whole question of Federal
aid to education should be carefully studied,
lest we find ourselves enmeshed in the toils of
an over-centralized system of education.
RAYMOND H. KRAY.
The Political Mill
Byrd Victory to Hearten
Conservatives of South
His Constant Demands for Economy
May Form Campaign Issue
By Gould Lincoln
The fact that President Truman was able
to carry Virginia in the race against Gov
ernors Dewey of New York and Thurmond
of South Carolina last year did not mean
that the Truman Pair Dealers could de
feat the Byrd organization in the guberna
torial primary on Tuesday, even though the
Truman Fair Deal candidate, Francis
Pickens Miller, faced a divided opposition.
The Byrd candidate, John Stewart Battle,
won handily, with a lead of approximately
25,000 over Mr. Miller.
Mr. Truman not long ago declared there
are “too many Byrds’’ in Congress—voicing
his dislike of the conservative Senator Harry
Flood Byrd, who has been a thorn in the
side of the Fair Dealers, just as he was in
that of the Roosevelt New Dealers. The
Senator, who himself was an outstanding
Governor of Virginia a score of years ago,
has been a constant foe of big and extrav
agant spending by the Federal Government
—spending that has been dear to the heart
of both the Roosevelt and Truman adminis
trations. He has strongly opposed, too, some
of the New Deal and Fair Deal legislative
proposals which would take the Federal
Government more and more into control of
the every day lives of the American people.
Senator Byrd does not believe in the so
called welfare state—which he calls statism
—into which Mr. Truman and his advisers
would lead the country.
Never Deserted Party.
Never, however, has Senator Byrd deserted
the Democratic Party in which he believes—
the party of Jefferson, Jackson and Wilson.
Although he disapproved of many things
sponsored by the late Franklin Delano
Roosevelt and by President Truman, Senator
Byrd never stepped off the Democratic reser
vation to throw his support to the Repub
lican Presidential candidates against them.
The new Byrd organization victory,
therefore, is patent evidence that Virginia is
still sticking to the Byrd brand of democ
racy, notwithstanding the efforts of Presi
dent Truman and those who are preaching
the doctrine of the “New South”—a radical
South. And, nothwithstanding the efforts
of the CIO and labor organizations gen
erally.
The Byrd victory will give heart to other
Southern Democrats who will seek election
either to Congress or as governors in other
Dixieland States next year. The congres
sional elections are of extreme importance.
On their outcome will depend, perhaps, the
trend of the Nation toward or away from
state socialism for years to come. Since the
present 81st Congress still maintains a ma
jority in opposition to the Truman heavy
spending and more or less socialistic pro
gram, largely due to the fact that Southern
Democrats have been unwilling to support
the program, it is clear that the Fail*
Dealers, the CIO and others intend to make
a desperate effort to break into the ranks
of these conservative Democratic members
of Congress. Mr. Truman’s complaint about
“too.many Byrds” in Congress was inter
preted as a forewarning of an attempted
“purge.” The Truman organization will have
to determine whether it is going ahead with
such a plan next year—or whether it will
draw in its horns.
ZVx Years Yet to Serve.
Senator Byrd himself has three and a
half years to serve before he comes up for
re-election. He has not indicated finally
whether he will be a candidate to succeed
himself, although there have been rumors
he may desire to retire then from public
office. He is not a man, however, to be
driven out of politics—and Mr. Truman’s
casual remark may have changed his whole
frame of mind.
By his ever constant watch over Govern
ment expenditures and his constant de
mands for economy, the Virginia Senator
gradually awakened a feeling of alarm, not
only on the part of many of his colleagues
in Congress, but among the general public.
This demand for governmental economy may
yet become one of the major issues in the
campaign next year.
The Truman Democrats are at present
striving to build up new pro-Truman Demo
cratic organizations in the Southern States
which gave their electoral votes last year
to the States Rights Democratic presidential
candidate, Gov. Thurmond of South Caro
lina—Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and
South Carolina. They are wielding the Fed
eral patronage club with perfect abandon.
But they still have a tough road ahead of
them. What happened in Virginia is going
to encourage the States Righters.
* Mr. Miller, the defeated Fair Deal can
didate, made it entirely clear, however, that
he and his friends, encouraged by the show
ing they made in Tuesday’s primary, will
fight on to take command in Virginia. His
was, indeed, the first real challenge to the
Byrd organization in years—although one
Democratic candidate for governor, opposed
by Senator Byrd, was elected many years
ago.
Questions and Answers
A reader can set tbe answer to any question of
fact by writing The Evening Star. Washington,
D. C., Information Bureau. 318 Eye St. N.E.. Wash
ington. D. C. Please Inclose 3 cents for return
postage.
By THE HASKIN SERVICE
Q. Are the majority of United States am
bassadors and ministers career men or not?
L.P.
A. As of December 1948, about 69 per cent
of ambassadors and ministers were appointed
from the career Foreign Service. Formerly
ambassadors were appointed to larger for
eign countries but now size or importance no
longer necessarily determine whether the
chief of a mission is an ambassador or a
minister.
Q. Which is the largest single organ in the
human body? S.J.T.
A. The liver, which averages 57 ounces in
weight and represents 2.75 per cent of total
body weight, is the largest. Next in size is
the brain, weighing about 49 ounces.
Q. How many garments is a member of the
Needlework Guild required to contribute each
year? W. T.
A. Each member must give, once a year,
two new articles of clothing or household
linen, which go to an accredited welfare or
ganization for distribution. The articles must
be new for the sake of morale, and there must
be two so that one can be washed while the
other is in use.
Q. What color are the rays that come be
tween the ultraviolet and infrared? J.F.B.
A. In the solar spectrum the ultraviolet
and infrared regions’are separated by the
visible region. In this visible region there are
the colors, violet, blue, green, yellow,
orange, and red, and their intermediates. It
is this visible region to which the eye is sensi
tive, and all visible light is made up of some
mixture of these spectrum colors.
Q. What fishes have both eyes on the same
side of the head? TH.
A. This is characteristic of halibuts and
flounders. At birth, like all fishes, they have
an eye on each side of the head but as they
grow older they swim on one side and one of
the eyes migrates to the side that is going to
be on top. .,
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