Evening star. [volume], March 13, 1951, Page A-12, Image 12

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A—12 *TUESDAY, March 13, 1951
Blow to Hospital Training
The Commissioners no doubt were moved by
praiseworthy economy considerations in slicing
$135,000 off the District’s 1952 budget for care of
Indigent patients in private hospitals. There is
Increasing evidence, however, that not enough
thought was given to the effect of the economy
on the hospitals concerned.
In at least one of the three hospitals which
would be cut off the indigent-care list—Provi
dence—a serious disruption of training activities
would result. The Providence training program
has been built around the hospital’s services to
indigent patients. Friends of the hospital have
registered strong protests against the inclusion
of Providence in the list of institutions to be
dropped from the list of hospitals receiving Dis
trict funds for care of indigents. Two other hos
pitals, Garfield and Episcopal, are said to be less
seriously affected by the economy move.
Health Director Seckinger, after a study of
the situation, has recommended to the Commis
sioners that the present list of eight private hos
pitals approved for care of indigents be main
tained without change. Dr. Seckinger confirmed
reports that the proposed reduction of the list
would interfere with the hospitals’ teaching and
training programs in such a way as to imperil
their standing as training institutions. That
being the case, there is merit to the contention
that the slash in the indigent-hospitalization
budget was an unwise economy step.
Moscow vs. Rome
In waging war on the Vatican the puppet
Communist regime of Czechoslovakia apparently
is trying to be less crude and more cautious than
its counterpart in Hungary. At any rate, the in
dications are that Archbishop Beran, the Roman
Catholic primate of the country, is not going to
be “tried” and imprisoned on trumped-up charges
of treason, as in the case of Cardinal Mindszenty.
Instead, it seems that he is merely to be “ban
ished” from Prague—and fined—for taking a
“negative attitude” toward the “church laws"
that the Kremlin’s stooges have decreed to make
clear to the devout that Stalin is next to godli
ness and that one had better pay attention to
him, not to the Pope, on matters of faith and
morals.
Archbishop Beran’s offense, of course, is that
he has refused to sell his soul to the Communists
and let them profane and defile his church by
making it a tool of the atheistic Kremlin. He
has sought to keep them from interfering with
the worship of God and from contaminating the
hallowed precincts of religion with their pecul
iarly unholy brand of irreligion. So they have
“banished” him and named in his place a “pa
triotic and democratic” parish priest who seems
willing to play their game—an obscure Catholic
clergyman who presumably can be counted upon
not to upset efforts to undermine the Vatican in
Czechoslovakia for the greater honor and glory
of the Soviet Union.
Thus the war between Moscow and Rome
goes on, with Moscow resorting to any and every
means to destroy the one thing that must be
obliterated if totalitarian materialism is to sur
vive and if the Kremlin is to win mastery of the
world. That one thing is man's belief in God—
the religious force of the ages, the spirit that ex
alts the individual over the state, the spark and
fire of faith in the proposition that people do not
begin or end here but are creatures with immor
tal souls and with a high eternal destiny that is
governed not by bipeds like Stalin but by an all
wise, all-just, all-powerful, all-infinite Supreme
Being beyond the comprehension of our finite
minds. The Soviet Communists cannot live with
such a doctrine, and hence the effort to wipe it
out.
Archbishop Beran—like Cardinal Mindszenty,
and like a number of Protestant and Jewish
leaders as well—has come to grief behind the
Iron Curtain not because of himself but because
he represents in his person a faith that is ab
solutely irreconcilable with, and repugnant to,
what the Soviet tyranny stands for. The war on
the Vatican, the war on religion in general, is an
inevitable and basic part of the Soviet war on the
free world. For man, as long as he believes in
God, cannot be conquered or enslaved by the
godless. The battfe has just begun, and the
Kremlin—which is waging it cautiously in Czech
oslovakia because Catholicism is predominant
there—is as doomed to failure in it as was Lucifer
when he stormed the gates of heaven against
Michael the Archangel.
Time to Calm Down
If faulty judgment was responsible for the re
fusal to permit Mrs. Pearl Buck to address the
students of Cardozo High School, Dr. Corning
has no monopoly on that human failing. Some of
his critics seem determined to match him, or even
to go him one better.
In recent days the Superintendent of Schools
has been denounced by Dr. A. Powell Davies, pas
tor of All Souls Unitarian Church, and by the
Washington chapter of Americans for Democratic
Action.
Their ire was aroused when Dr. Corning dis
ciplined two Cardozo officials who invited Mrs.
Buck to speak at the schools without obeying the
regulation which requires that such matters be
cleared with the superintendent in advance. The
disciplinary action took the form of a reprimand
and notice that their efficiency ratings for the
year would be lowered.
This may or may not have been a proper ac
tion to take. It certainly is clear that subordin
ates in the school system cannot be permitted to
choose which regulations they will obey and
I
which they will ignore. That practice, if toler
ated, might lead to incidents even more unfortu
nate than the one Involving Mrs. Buck. In all
of the circumstances, however, it might have
been wiser for Dr. Coming to have followed some
other course in this case.
Even so, there is no basis for Dr. Davies’
charge that the disciplinary action is comparable
to “the sort of thing that goes on in the Iron
Curtain countries,” or for the ADA claim that
Dr. Corning has shown such a disregard for “free
dom of expression” that he “disqualifies himself
from future association with impressionable stu
dents and American scholarship.”
This kind of nonsense tends to hinder rather
than help in dealing with a difficult situation.
It would be better if all parties to this controversy
would calm down and seek a rational rather than
an emotional approach to the problem.
Point Four and Peace
In its unanimous report to the President, the
International Development Advisory Board has
recommended that the United States, in behalf
of its own and the rest of the free world’s secur
ity and prosperity, undertake a vast, multi-bil
lion-dollar enterprise to promote the economic
advance of backward areas in Latin America,
Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Oceania. In
effect, the enterprise—though involving a much
smaller governmental outlay than the Marshall
Plan—would put the Point Four program to work
on a scale many times greater than the one
made possible by the $34,500,000 already appro
priated by Congress to improve the status of
underdeveloped regions.
Following much the same line of reasoning
as the Gray Report of last November, the board
—headed by Nelson Rockefeller and made up of
representatives of agriculture, labor, business
and other national groups—has based its recom
mendations on the conviction that they are
essential (1) to meet the immediate threat of
Soviet military aggression and subversion and
(2) to attain the long-range objective of an
enduring peace in which the free nations will
be able to prosper and feel secure. In the board’s
words, because of the imperatives implicit in this
double challenge, “The question confronting us
is not shall we help the underdeveloped areas?
The chain of interdependence is so inextricably
forged that we cannot avoid helping.”
By way of illustration, the board’s report
emphasizes that the areas involved send us more
than half of everything we receive from abroad,
including 73 per cent of the strategic and criti
cal raw materials that we must have to keep
our most vital industries going. In turn, these
areas get 31 per cent of their total imports from
the United States and 40 per cent from Western
Europe. Despite this exchange, however, and de
spite the potentialities of their natural resources,
their economies have been so poorly organized
and developed that they are gravely afflicted,
by and large, with hunger, poverty, illiteracy
and disease—a condition inviting internal unrest
and exposing them to Soviet subversion, aggres
sion and conquest.
Accordingly, to cope with the present Com
munist menace and to insure that the peoples
of the underdeveloped countries will remain on
the side of the non-Soviet world in the long
term effort to build a decent peace, the Rocke
feller board has recommended that the United
States centralize all its major foreign economic
operations in a powerful new agency with ex
traordinary authority to co-ordinate aid and
developmental programs in close co-operation
with the Director of Defense Mobilization and
the Secretary of State. The agency—which would
absorb the Marshall Plan, among other projects
—would receive about $500 million a year for
several years to put into effect a systematic
country-by-country effort to improve transporta
tion, public health, education, food production,
output of raw materials, etc.
But that would be only part of, the picture.
In addition, in collaboration with the new
agency, the World Bank would administer two
international funds amounting to about $900
million, of which some $350 million would be
contributed by the United States. These funds
—repayable in considerable part—would be used
to finance certain types of essential public works
and make loans to non-governmental enterprise
in the underdeveloped countries. Finally, over
and above all this, since the main reliance would
be on private capital, there would be tax incen
tives and special guarantees against losses to
encourage American investors to step up their
investments in those countries from the present
$1 billion to at least $2 billion.
It need hardly be added that such a program
is open to many questions, and if and when the
President presents something like it to Congress,
a sharp debate will certainly ensue. Nevertheless,
whatever may be said against some of the de
tails, the Rockefeller board’s recommendations
can hardly be attacked on grounds of objective.
What they add up to is a challenge to the United
States and the entire free world to promote
human betterment of a kind that can greatly
brighten the outlook for a good and lasting
peace. If the problem is handled affirmatively,
with vigor and vision, the results will be mutually
enriching in far more than just a narrow eco
nomic sense. To ignore it would be simply to
ignore the meaning of both the short-range and
long-range Soviet threat.
Iran's New Premier
Hussein Ala has become Premier of Iran
at a moment of great tension. The assassination
of his predecessor, Ali Razmara, still fills the
country with a feeling of shock and uneasiness
—a feeling intensified by the way fanatical ele
ments continue to threaten the government. The
Communists undoubtedly are sparing no effort to
poison the atmosphere even more. Yet, though
the situation is difficult and explosive, Mr. Ala
is personally very well equipped to handle it with
firmness and courage.
Although not in the best of health, the new
Premier has deep reserves of strength in his
political popularity, his administrative skill and
his persuasive personality—all natural attributes
of leadership that should stand him in good
stead. A former Foreign Minister, he has fre
quently demonstrated the high-caliber quality of
his character, notably during his distinguished
service here as Ambassador and his eloquent
and forceful appearance before the United Na
tions in 1946, when he stood up unyieldingly
against the Soviet delegates and played a key
role in putting an end to the Kremlin’s ill-dis
guised armed eff&rt to grab the province of
Azerbaijan from Iran.
Because of his fine work in that celebrated
crisis, Mr. Ali enjoys a heroic reputation among
Iranians. That will be helpful to him in his
difficult new task. A good friend of the United
States and the Western world in general, he
can be counted upon to follow much the same
policy as the slain Premier Razmara—a strong
policy aimed at effecting internal economic and
social improvements and preserving Iran’s inde
pendence. He is not the kind of man the Kremlin
can frighten or push around.
Could Such a Plan Speed Mobilization?
To the Editor of The Star:
WITH reference to your editorial
“Wilson Is the Target,” I want
to suggest there is no need for any
one to be the target. The failure of the
conferences on the problems of “Labor
Management Mobilization and Stabili
zation” was due to the absence of a
practical formula which could protect
the economic rights of all concerned.
Yet such a formula exists.
The policy makers in the Government
could, I believe, end the confusion and
strife, and increase the production of
goods and services—yet lower living
costs—if they could find a way to apply
nationally the formula developed within
the Lincoln Electric Co. of Cleveland,
Ohio, known as “Incentive Manage
ment.”
In 55 years of continuous manufac
turing, the Lincoln Co. has not lost
one hour of production through a mis
understanding between worker and
management. In the past 15 years (the
period during which the plan has been
in effect), the individual productivity of
the workers has increased 12-fold, and
prices, in spite of tremendous increase
in cost of materials, have been main
tained at 1940 levels. No inflation here!
This record not only commands our
respect and admiration, but also our
earnest examination into the reasons
why.
The Lincoln Co. is the world’s
largest manufacturer of arc-welding
equipment. As the name “Incentive
Management” implies, the company is
managed so that workers have an in
centive to work, and are made confident
that it is worthwhile to work
Incentives for workers are not new.
The one distinguishing characteristic Of
Lincoln’s Incentive Management is "a
sincere concern on the part of man
agement to do the right thing and let
consequences take care of themselves.
The sole justification for the existence
of the company is taken to be serving
the consumer with better products at
lower prices. All other concerns, pfivate
and corporate, are secondary to this
one objective.
This positive, fundamentally right ob
jective of Incentive Management creates
mutual confidence and mutual interest
between worker and management. It
creates a different attitude in men and
women toward their jobs.
In this light, incentive means reward
ing workers in pay and recognition
solely on the basis of how well each
individual applies his abilities to the
common effort to attain the company's
—AP Photo.
CHARLES E. WILSON.
“There's no need for a target.”
primary objective. (Promotion to better
jobs must be made only from within
the organization.)
There you have the essence of Incen
tive Management. The effect of this
attitude, consciously or subconsciously,
on every action that men do every day
on their job for the Lincoln Electric
Co., produces the remarkable results
the company has. One looks in vain
for other special techniques, methods,
management controls. The operating
details of the company are those that
are found in many business organi
zations.
The company uses standard job eval
uation to establish fair differentials in
rates of base pay. Workers are merit
rated three times a year to estimate
each person’s performance. Piece work
is used wherever possible to provide a
direct incentive and give a quantitative
measure of performance.
A year-end incentive payment is made
each year. Stockholders receive divi
dends amounting to 10 per cent of their
investment, and an adequate reserve is
set aside. Then all money remaining
after expenses and taxes for the year
is divided among the workers. Share is
determined according to what each per
son has contributed that year to the
success of the company. Merit rating
and regular earnings me the basis for
this share. Last year the incentive pay
ment divided among the 1,000 workers
was approximately $4 million.
Stock of the company is owned by
persons working in the company. More
than 70 per cent of the workers own
stock. An advisory board consisting of
elected representatives from each de
partment meets twice each month with
the president to discuss the operations
of the company. A suggestion system
is operated to reward workers for ideas
for improvement Basic wage rates are
adjusted up and down as the community
cost-of-living index varies.
None of these details is unique with
Lincoln. Success stems from the way
in which these common techniques are
employed, from the daily decisions and
actions of men on their jobs when the
atmosphere of operation is one of con
fidence rather than distrust.
That it is has been worthwhile to work,
needs no demonstration or argument for
the Lincoln worker. Not only is he among
the world’s highest paid industrial work
ers (last year’s average earning was $6,
700), but also he is among the happiest.
He takes great pride in the result of his
work and the success of his team.
The plan has been worthwhile to the
stockholders, who have received uninter
rupted dividends. And finally, the con
sumer, the user of welding equipment,
has enjoyed prices 50 per cent lower than
those the user of comparable equipment
has had to pay.
In brief, everybody benefits from in
centive management. It doubles the pay
of the average skilled worker, and trebles
the pay of the national average for all
labor for equal hours of service. The
formula permits anti-inflationary pricing
of products, yet yields adequate profits
to essential invested capital. What more
does labor, or management, or capital
have the right to ask?
I do not mean to suggest that all
features of the Lincoln Plan necessarily
could be applied immediately on a na
tional scale. Obviously, for instance,
ownership of great corporations exclu
sively by employe stockholders is a long
way off. But the success of the experi
ment in Cleveland has been dependent
from that aspect of the plan—or on any
hard and fast formula, for that matter.
It is largely a question of spirit and ap
proach—the spirit and approach we need
if w'e are to find a way out of our present
difficulties.
John Lowell.
, -pi , Pen-names may be used if letters carry
fn I jlTir writers’ correct names and addresses.
v,‘’ 1 v"/ ^ letters are subject to condensation.
Land of Bridges
At the outset of the Korean War, in
the waning days of June, 1950, the
American forces and the South Korean
troops began one of the most strategic
retreats in history. To hinder the pres
sing Red forces, the Allies destroyed
bridges behind them. Each day in the
paper, on the radio and by film on TV
was recorded the tremendous devasta
tion done to towns and especially bridges
as we tactically retreated. Weeks later,
out of the Pusan beachhead, our troops
began the brilliant push toward North
Korea. To hinder the retreat of the
North Koreans, our planes bombed and
destroyed more bridges, and by the
dozens.
Daily, the papers and radio announced
the great number of bridges being de
stroyed. In addition, to hinder our ad
vances, the Reds destroyed any remain
ing standing bridges behind them!
Again, weeks later, after a brief visit to
the Yalu River, the Reds, reinforced
with great numbers of Chinese Reds,
began the push back toward South
Korea. Again, the Allies blew up—what?
Bridges, of course, to hinder the Reds.
And Allied planes knocked out—what?
Bridges, naturally, before the advancing
Reds.
Now, after six months of destroying
and redestroying these bridges over the
same territory, the Allies are again
pushing back north. In this limited
offensive, I notice that our planes are
out each good day bombing bridges be
fore the retreating Reds and the Reds
are blowing up, guess what? By estima
tion, based on reports via papers, radio
and TV, an average of three bridges per
day has been destroyed.
Now, either Korea is incredibly
wealthy in bridges, or there exists a
construction firm of super bridge build
ers. In view of the lack of modem trans
portation, the eternally mud roads, etc.,
I am curious to learn more about this
fabulous land of bridges.
J. Kennedy.
'How America Feels'
I read with interest your editorial in
The Sunday Star, March 4, entitled
“How Europe Feels.” How about an edi
torial on “How America Feels”? All we
read these days, it seems, is how Russia
feels, or how every one else feels. Noth
ing of how the average American feels.
Seems like a one-way street. We furnish
the money, air power, sea power and
munitions—and now we are asked to
furnish the land armies.
I an» sure M. Spaak is a great Belgian
statesman, and that the other Atlantic
Pact nations also are blessed with emi
nent statesmen, at least with statesmen
who think of their respective countries
first. I fervently wish we had more such
statesmen in office here.
George F. Stockett.
It Helps to Be Paid
In The Star of March 3, there was
an article quoting Lady Astor as saying:
“The reason so many people go to psy
chiatrists and psychoanalysts is because
they like to talk about themselves. And
there is nothing more boring.”
Granted! I should like to say, how
ever, that these people do pay. and very
generously, for the privilege of boring
the poor old psychoanalyst. Millions of
so-called normal individuals, on the
other hand, talk quite as incessantly
about themselves to any one who can
be cornered, with no chance of escape,
and never think of offering a penny’s
compensation.
M. T. S.
One-Man Team?
An Associated Press story in The Star,
on March 5. noted that Adm. Robert
B. Carney is being considered for the
job of Mediterranean commander for
the North Atlantic Pact nations, and
that the appointment “is likely to dis
please the British for the second time
in recent weeks.”
It is true, of course, that all of the
Atlantic Pact countries, including the
United Kingdom, have smaller navies
than has the United States. However,
it seems that we unnecessarily lay our
selves open to attack when we take on
all of the top jobs in the organization.
With General Eisenhower command
ing the North Atlantic Treaty Organiza
tion land forces. Admiral Fechteler com
manding the joint NATO sea forces,
Admiral Carney heading the Mediter
ranean fleet, and the possibility that
an American general wjll be named to
head the combined air group, every mis
take that the organization makes as a
group' will be dumped squarely in the
lap of the United States. Futhermore,
how can the other Atlantic Pact na
tions be expected to participate whole
heartedly in the joint endeavor if they
are to be relegated in every instance
to subordinate roles?
Even if all the other Pact nations
were insistent that United States officers
occupy the top jobs, we should insist
as adamantly that there be an equitable
distribution of leadership.
The whole organization can be likened
to a college sports program, where the
president of the university is the foot
ball team’s quarterback, the baseball
team's pitcher, and the basketball team’s
top-scorer. The rest of the players are
bound to feel eventually that they are
along merely for the ride. Such feeling
will naturally become more inflamed if
an opponent (Russia) taunts them with
“Ya only got one player in your school?”
G. W. Student.
Turnabout
I was not particularly interested in
“Bewildered Bachelor’s” complaint, nor
in the.replies to it. I am too old to
complain of my failure to get the
woman I want to accept me either as
husband or friend. The subject under
discussion, however, gives me an oppor
tunity to say something related to it.
In these days of women’s economic
emancipation, when many of them get
larger salaries than men, they should
pay their own expenses when accom
panied by male escorts. The custom
which compels escorts to pay the ex
penses of unmarried women adds up
to a gigantic steal perpetrated upon
men by women. The alimony racket is
another injustice which women inflict
upon men.
Nothing is too good for the worthy
mothers who bring us into the world
and there is no denying that worthy
mothers and wives deserve support,
with proper safeguards for the husband
from the alimony racket and other in
justices. But in our society, where
women already own around 80 per cent
of the wealth, my proposition should
be openly faced.
Modernist.
It Was a Pleasure
Your newspaper merits a commenda
tion for your article on the front page,
March 8, concerning the case of the
harassed Federal employe in this new
decentralization program initiated by
the Bureau of the Budget. The article
was very well written, to the point, and
expressed the viewpoint of the average
Federal employe in regard to the decen
tralization of the various Federal agen
cies to other cities. It is very seldom that
the individual Federal employes con
cerned have an opportunity to present
their case and the many problems which
confront them in such a move.
Many thanks for devoting space to
this subject. I am sure that thousands
of Federal employes appreciate your in
terest in their welfare. It is hoped that
the Senators and members of the House
of Representatives had an opportunity
to read the article.
More power to you.
Bewildered Federal Employe.
This and That . . . By Charles E. Tracewell
“Dear Sir:
“Did it ever occur to you that we
have a strange situation for the medical
annals of our generation?
■ “Not knowing who could elaborate
best on this bit. I decided to place
it before my favorite philosopher.
“We have a condition today wherein
a patient is too sick to get out of bed
to go to his doctor but on the other
hand he is not sick enough for the
doctor to come and see him.
“Ergo: What to do?
“Sincerely, E. R.
“Newton street, N.E.”
* *
This is one of the modern problems
caused by our eternal too-muchness of
everything.
Consider the poor doctor.
He is “run to death,” as the country
saying has it.
Like the old woman in the shoe, he
has so many patients he doesn’t know
what to do.
They call him day and night. Now
that, of course, is not new. The famous
country doctor went day and night, too
He did not have, however, so many
patients. Even a county-wide practice
did not give him a fourth as many as
a successful city practitioner has today.
| * *
It is this ceaseless demand for their
services that tend to get the modern
city doctors down.
Only the medical man himself can
have any idea how many of his calls
are needless, but a fair and honest
minded layman realizes that they must
be many.
For one thing, consider the psycho
logical side of doctoring.
Every one knows that the very sight
and sound of a good doctor is en
couraging.
Doctors know it, too.
They should realize, and mostly do,
that their very presence is soothing.
They want it to be that way. Being
human, however, they must at times
resent calls in which nothing but their
hearty good will is needed.
Yet to the patients, this psychological
medicine may be what they need most.
To the doctor ,it at times must seem
to be just a lot of stuff. At least, they
may feel that the patient could get
along without sight and sound of them,
in order to let them spend that much
time with a patient who needs the
other services, such as diagnosis, more.
* *
The pressure on our modern doctor
is terrific.
Some of them, we understand, have
considered getting together, and run
ning their work on a sort of business
or what might be called a “fire house”
program.
That is, one will stay at the office,
on a certain day, to take office calls,
while another will go out on calls. And
so on. t
By rotating the jobs, as it were, no
one man is constantly on the go, day
after day, night after night, to the
final deteriment of his own life and
spirit.
This is strictly a modern city condi
tion, and one which every patient must
do his best to comprehend.
The modern doctor wants to do as
much as he can, but the individual
patient is too often too willing to forget
about the other demands and to fee!
that only his own count.
Modern medical practice must be
both a back breaker and a Spirit breaker
It seems to be making demands no one
man can fill. »
The patient has his problems, too, as
our correspondent’s note shows. What
to do, indeed? He should insist on
getting a doctor to come to see him,
and if he cannot get the one of his
choice, to call on another. There is
no ethical reason why he should not,
if a doctor refuses to come. What may
be called the in-between patient, too
ill to go to a doctor’s office, but not
sick enough for a doctor to call, has his
own dilemma, and one which will be
come acute, if compulsory medicine is
every put into force. So keep after
them, my friend. As long as they are
for hire, you have a right to hire them.
I
The Political Mill
Fulbright Probers Show
How Money Is Made
Influence Peddling Reaches
Mammoth Proportions
By Gould Lincoln
Trafficking in influence in Washing
ton, the National Capital, in mammoth
proportions is Anally being disclosed
through congressional investigation. The
“5-percenter” inquiry conducted during
the last Congress apparently merely
scratched the surface. The Fulbright
subcommittee of the Senate Banking
and Currency Committee, in its curreift
investigation, particularly of political
and other influence exerted on the Re
construction Corp. for big money loans,
has delved far deeper. But like the
earlier “5 - percenter” investigation
which revealed gifts of free deep freezes,
distributed through the courtesy otMaJ.
Gen. Harry H. Vaughan, military aide
to President Truman, the Fulbright
committee’s inquiry has turned up, in
its lighter moments, a free mink coat,
valued at $9,450, paid for by an alleged
trafficker in influence, belonging to a ‘
White House stenographer. The “fur
coat” administration—what next?
Further, Donald S. Dawson, one of
the President’s administrative assist
ants whose wife is employed at the
RFC, has been mentioned by the Senate
subcommittee as having been a notable
exertion of influence on the RFC Board,
which passes on big loans—and little
loans—of Government money. Mr. Daw
son, though invited by Senator Fulbright
of Arkansas, chairman of the commit
tee, to appear and answer questions, has
so far ignored the invitation.
How to Make Money.
How really to make money in Wash
ington when you know the ropes—and
have influence, too—has just been spot
lighted by the Fulbright committee. The
case involved former Representative
Casey, Massachusetts Democrat. Mr.
Casey, an attorney who has in the past
frequently represented clients seeking
loans, or having loans, from the RFC.
The committee stumbled on a trans
action which Mr. Casey had with
the Maritime Commission, during Mr,
Casey’s appearance to reply to charges
he had been engaged in wrongful in
fluence peddling and had taken into
his employment an examiner of the
RFC after the examiner had been in
strumental in obtaining a loan for a
Casey client.
Mr. Casey told the committee, under
examination, how he had negotiated
the purchase of five tankers in 1946
from the Maritime Commission, a loan
from an insurance company to purchase
the ships for $7,500,000—half what they
cost the Government—how he had set
up the American Overseas Tanker Co.,
and a twin corporation, the Greenwich
Marine Co., a Panamanian affair. The
tankers were chartered to the Standard
Oil Co. of New Jersey, which paid the
Panamanian company for the use of the
tankers. In turn the Panamanian com
pany paid off the loan of the insurance
company, which amounted to $10 million.
After four years, the tankers were sold
to another company and the investors in
the American Overseas Tanker Co. made
profits running up to something like
$2.8 million. These profits were treated
as capital gains, on which a mere 25
per cent tax is levied. The company
had only a capital stock of $100,000. Mr.
Casey had put up $20,000, and when the
transaction wras completed he had $270,
000. on which presumably he paid the
25 per cent tax, leaving him a profit of
some $200,000. Incidentally, a tax rul
ing of the Treasury Department helped
pave the way for this transaction. ,
Standard Set Here.
“Nothing illegal” is the standard set
in Washington—and apparently the only
standard—when it comes to exerting in
fluence to put across financial deals.
One thing the Senate subcommittee has
been striving to determine is how much,
if any, pressure has been put upon the
RFC by men in public office, and whether
it actually goes to the White House door,
through any activities of Mr. Dawson.
The committee has succeeded in show
ing that attorneys here have received
big fees for engineering RFC deals—so
far they have not turned up anything
"illegal.” But they have had testimony
before their committee which may lead
to charges of perjury, and this testimony
has been turned over to the Justice
Department and it will go before a Fed
eral grand jury.
The grand jury itself may throw
additional light on what goes on in
trafficking in influence.
Questions and Answers
The Star’s readers can get the answer ts
any question of fact by either writing Tha
Evening Star Information Bureau. 1200 I street
N W Washington ft. D C and inclosing 8 cent*
return Dostage or by telephoning ST. 7363.
By THE HASKIN SERVICE.
Q. How accurate are lie detecting
tests?—D. K.
A. According to some authorities such
tests are correct about 75 to 85 per cent
of the time. However, some years ago it
was found that the lie detector was
wrong in about 30 per cent of cases re
ported by the scientific crime detection
laboratory of Northwestern University’s
School of Law.
Q. Who was the South American who
made a record long distance swim?—
M. P.
A. Pedro A. Candisti of Argentina
swam 281 miles nonstop in the Parana
River, in 84 hours, in February, 1935.
This record was 11 miles under the world
record record for the longest swim, made
by John V. Sigmund in the Mississippi
River.
Q. What Latin American countries
were once empires?—L. D. A.
A. Brazil, Mexico and Haiti.
God of the Machine
My neighbor is a hard man. 1 could tell
Tales of his harshness, his Homeric fight
To wring his living from his acres. Well,
I watched him once, when his plow point
drew away
The turf, and underneath it lay
A field mouse with her suckling brood.
Everything stopped. Tall Zeus climbed
down, and stood
Swearing and debating. Then
He scooped up nest and small pink mites
and all,
And stalked across the field and tenderly.
Oh, very gently, laid them in a wall.
The sad thing was, he saw me. Scowlin9
and rough,
He roared his engine through the fall
ing sod.
He was shouting mad. A mouse had
called his bluff,
And I had seen him smile, and play
at God.
Bianca Bradbury
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