Evening star. [volume], August 02, 1955, Page A-13, Image 13

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

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DAVID LAWRENCE '
Red Bargainers Await Results
No Ransom Paid for 11 U.S. Airmen
But Peiping Wants Value Received
Months and months of she*
nanigans behind the scenes
have finally resulted In the re*
lease of the 11 American air
men held by the gangster re
gime In Peiping.
Hie United States Govern
ment has paid no ransom, and
the Red China government
has made no concession—
that’s what the official record
says. But the moves have been
made with a deep-seated ex
pectation that Red China will
obtain better treatment now
for her claims to a seat in the
Security Council of the United
Nations than she otherwise
would have gotten.
The release of the airmen—
whose imprisonment was un
lawful and high-handed in the
first instance—will be hailed in
Europe as a dramatic change
of attitude and as a manifesta
tion of peaceful purpose. But
actually the Americans were
imprisoned in the first place
merely to be used as pawns
in the diplomatic game which
the Peiping government has
been playing.
The pattern of behavior is
no surprise. On January 17.
not quite seven months ago.
this correspondent called at
tention to the remarks of the
Secretary General of the
United Nations, Dag Hammar
skjold, on his return to New
York City from Peiping, when
he said:
“It is not really a question
of negotiations. It is a ques
tion of where the ground is
prepared by negotiation—that
ground having partly been
prepared and partly by nego
tiations conducted by this or
that national government. But
the final decisions, I think,
will necessarily emerge as uni
lateral decisions in all those
various ticklish cases. They
will emerge as unilateral de
cisions and as part of a gen
eral development, more than
as the result of any kind of
settlement.”
Commenting on the forego
ing. this correspondent wrote:
DORIS FLEESON
84th Congress Light on Friction
Dixon-Yates and Talbott Affair
Only Hot Political Issues So Far
As the first session of the
84th Congress moves into his
tory, insurance company actu
aries could revise their mor
tality tables. No member of
either house died during the
session.
In the previous Congress 9
Senators and 11 Representa
tives succumbed and it ap
peared that being a member
of Congress was one of the
more hazardous occupations.
Lack of mortalities in the
present Congress points up an
important fact. It has been
the least contentious in recent
memory.
No filibusters kept the Sen
ate in long, wearing sessions.
There were, in fact, only two
night sessions, Saturday and
Monday, as members strove
to dispose of final legislation.
Senators McCarthy and Jen
ner, deprived of their com
mittee chairmanships by last
November’s Democratic vic
tory, were reduced to some
thing approaching impotence.
Senator McCarthy was sub
jected to one of the sharpest
verbal attacks on the floor in
years in which Senator George
declared that he would not
“perjure” himself by terming
McCarthy an excellent Sena
tor. McCarthy took it.
Hie fear that President
Eisenhower expressed in the
lrfst election that Democratic
control of Congress would
produce Government stagna
tion fell far from the truth.
THOMAS L. STOKES
/956 Election May Break 'Rule'
Teamwork of President and Democrats
In Congress Suggests Split by Voters
Analysis of the first session
of the 84th Congress offers
some basis for the speculation
heard often of late that the
voters next year might do the
unprecedented and elect a
President of one party and a
Congress of the other.
Namely, President Eisen
homer and a Democratic Con
gress It would be against all
the rules; for invariably a
President and Congress of the
same party are chosen in presi
dential election years. The
present Democratic Congress
was elected in an off-year.
1954, as. in fact, was the Re
publican 80th Congress of the
second half of the first Truman
administration.
All in all. President Elsen
hower and the Democratic
Congress have gotten along
together remarkably well. That
goes especially on foreign
policy. In fact, the President
probably has done better in
that now so Important field
than he would have if Repub
licans had been in charge of
the legislative machinery.
By their management of
foreign policy Issues, the Dem
ocratic leadership not only put
through the President's pro
gram but they succeeded in
shaking off of the President’s
back a group within his own
party, including Senator Joe
McCarthy of Wisconsin and
often the Republican floor
leader, Senator William F.
Know land, which gave the
President periodic anxiety in
the preceding Republican-con
trolled 83d Congress. The
Republican bitter-enders, you^
“This means that each side
does whatever it does without
any apparent pressure from
the other and seemingly in
spontaneous fashion. That
way of handling it is almost
a prerequisite to success be
cause each side, especially in
the case of Red China, must
presumably not 'lose face,’
which is something of vital
Importance to Oriental psy
chology. . .
"Anyone familiar with the
resourcefulness of personal
diplomacy conducted with the
old-fashioned skill . . will
read between the lines and
come to the hopeful conclu
sion that after all the shout
ing dies down the 11 Ameri
cans will be released oy Red
China’s government.”
It may well be asked what
arguments were used by the
many go-betweens behind the
scenes. including Krishna
Menon aad Prime Minister
Nehru of India. It was clear
that the United States Gov
ernment couldn't be in the
position publicly, of paying a
ransom. It was clear also that
the Red China government
couldn't place herself in the
position of bowing to a demand.
What better way out than to
let them pass and then per
mit each government to act
on its own and seemingly of
its own volition?
The United States took cer
tain steps. It agreed to talk
with the Red Chinese envoys
face to face in Geneva. This
called for some action on Pei
ping’s part. Undoubtedly the
Red Chinese were told by
intermediaries that maybe
Washington then would con
sent to talk about other things
—perhaps the Formosa prob
lem and later on even the ad
mission of Red China to the
United Nations if the Peiping
officials showed some signs of
bending and released the air
men.
Having held the airmen pri
marily for bargaining pur
poses, it undoubtedly seemed
His first two years in office
were marred by the running
squabble between the White
House and Republican com
mittee chairmen, most of
whom belonged to the non-
Elsenhower section of the
paity. He has, in fact, fared
much better with the Dem
ocrats in power on Capitol
Hill. They gave him unanimous
support for the crowning
achievement of his admin
istration, the Geneva con
ference.
President Eisenhower bene
fited in this session by the
growing acknowledgment of
his indispensability as a can
didate in 1958. Even those
Senators and Representatives
most opposed to him and his
policies generally had the
grace to keep quiet.
Only two Issues caught fire
for the Democrats politically.
The almost unbelievably inept
handling by the administra
tion of the Dixon-Yates con
tract and the secrecy with
which it sought to cover it up
played right into the hands of
Senator Kefauver, the Sen
ate’s most assiduous investi
gator. In the matter of Air
Force Secretary Harold Tal
bott’s business interests, the
Democrats brought forth an
other hot issue.
Both Dixon-Yates and the
Talbott affair will hold over.
The administration still must
will recall, constantly were
back-biting on such issues as
Far East policy, the Bricker
amendment to shear the presi
dential authority in foreign
affairs, and such Incidental
matters as the Charles Bohlen
appointment as Ambassador to
Russia. In addition, of course,
there was the McCarthy as
sault on the State Depart
ment and the Defense Depart
ment.
Compared to the Saturday
night brawl in which the 83d
Congress frequently degener
ated on foreign policy issues,
the first session of the Demo
cratic 84th has been like the
peace of a Sunday morning
broken only by the soothing
sound of the church bells and
the hymn - singing flooding
from churches up and down
the street.
With relatively little fuas,
the Democratic managers put
through the Formosa resolu
tion asked by the President,
voted foreign - aid appropria
tions, and fulfilled the White
House request for a three-yeaT
extension of the reciprocal
trade law along with wider au
thority to lower tariffs in bar
gaining with other nations. As
for the last, the President was
able to get out of the 83d Re
publican Congress only a stop
gap one-year extension with
out the additional leeway in
negotiating for tariff cuts.
It was the Senate Demo
cratic leadership, too, that
gave Senator McCarthy what
looks like the ultimate coup
de grace. Senator Lyndon B.
Johnson of Texas, Democratic
reasonable to the Red Chinese
to release them just before the
Geneva talks on Far Eastern
affairs rather than afterwards.
It would look to the world like
a “unilateral” act. Thus the
two ambassadors who met in
Switzerland in the early part
of this week had only the ques
tion of captured American
civilians and "other practical
matters” to discuss.
Plainly, under these circum
stances. the United States
couldn’t turn away from talks
on any subject once the con
ference has begun. As one offi
cial put it, “We can listen, but
we don’t have to agree to any
thing.”
The tangible thing, how
ever, is that the Red Chi
nese have made a sensational
move and have given the ap
pearance of great friendliness.
The United States Govern
ment is, therefore, compelled
by world opinion to listen to
arguments on the whole Far
Eastern problem. This is what
the British and French gov
ernments want —in fact,
they’re ready to abandon the
500.000-man army of Chiang
Kai-shek and surrender For
mosa to the Red Chinese.
The big question is whether
the United States has been
maneuvered through the use
of the imprisoned flyers into
a position where America will
be accused of obstructing
peace in the Far East unless
it lets Red China have some
thing in exchange for its ex
hibition of alleged humanl
tarianism. The airmen, of
course, never should have
been kept in prison after the
signing of the Panmunjom
agreement, which pledged the
return of all prisoners of war.
What “ransom” will Amer
ica pay in the long run for
the release of the 11 airmen?
That's a question the answer
to which only future events
will reveal. It was a “unilat
eral” act for the Red Chinese
tq release them. What "uni
lateral” act is coming next
from the American Govern
ment? That’s the real issue
now.
(KtproduetlOß Riiht* Reserved)
endure another round of “tell
ing all” about Dixon-Yates.
Senator Anderson, chairman
of the Joint Committee on
Atomic Energy, has served no
tice that he intends to follow
settlement of the contract in
minute detail. And the Senate
Armed Services Committee has
demonstrated continuing in
terest in Secretary Talbott's
doings.
Legislatively the session was
not much shakes. The Recip
rocal Trade Treaty Act ’got
a longer extension than usual.
A reduced foreign aid program
just managed to get through.
A compromise military reserve
plan was passed to make up for
reductions in the armed serv
ices which have already been
ordered or will be. The mini
mum wage was raised to a
dollar. 10 cents more than the
President wanted and about
15 cents less than the amount
labor would have found agree
able. Among the casualties
were a big national highway
program. Trucking interests
didn't like its tax provisions
and killed it with the most ac
tive lobbying seen at the Capi
tol in recent years.
In a generous mood, Con
gress raised its own pay. that
of the Judiciary, the armed
services, the postal workers
and the civil servants. The
Republicans beat down the
Democratic effort to cut in
come taxes by S2O for each
taxpayer. But 1958 will be an
election year and it is likely
that members will come back
ready to vote a little some
thing for everybody.
leader, forced a showdown on
the McCarthy resolution de
signed to tie the President’s
hands at the Geneva Confer
ence, and the Senate snowed
it under. 73 to 4. Only three
of Senator McCarthy’s Repub
lican colleagues joined him in
this adventure, contrasted with
22 Republicans who stood by
him last November, when the
Senate voted censure. Sena
tor Knowland parted company
with Senator McCarthy on the
Geneva maneuver, and has
been moving closer to the
President since.
As for Geneva, it was a Dem
ocrat, the venerable Senator
Walter F. George of Georgia.
Foreign Relations Committee
chairman, who promoted that
venture which Republicans say
—and Democrats generally
agree —is perhaps productive
of the most political value of
any act of the President since
he has been in office.
On the domestic front there
has not been the same com
radeship between the White
House and the Democratic
congressional leadership. But
there the Democrats have
given the President no more
trouble than they have in
curred themselves, as, for ex
ample, in the failure to get a
bill and a school con
struction measure which was
Included in both the Presi
dent’s program and theirs.
In general. Democratic strat
egy was to co-operate with
the President on foreign policy
and, on domestic Issues, revise
measures proposed by the
President in the social welfare
field —in which Democrats
pioneered during the Roosevelt
New Deal and Truman Fair
—to make them conform
-OUIE —By Horry Honan
POTOMAC FEVER
FLETCHER KNEBEL
Since White House announcement of the earth satellite,
Republicans have a new slogan for ’56: “Vote Republican—and
help us clean up the mess in outer space.”
• • * *
Democrats admit that this session of Congress was a bust.
They couldn’t think up a single new thing to /do to the tax
payer.
* • • •
The vodka-toasted United States farm delegation in Russia
reports that Soviet crop production is increasing. They’re now
getting 10 hangovers to the acre.
• • * «
Republican headquarters may establish ayiew school of
etiquette and culture. Belf-improvement in Washington will
be the subject of the Harold Talbott memorial lectures.
* » • e
Red China announces release of 11 American airmen. The
Chinese Reds are getting very peaceful. They refuse to hold
any more Americans under illegal arrest unless they're civilians.
• * * *
It'll be a strange election next year. Adlai Stevenson and
his eggheads vs. Ike Elsenhower and a bunch of outer space
basketballs.
• * • *
Marlon Folsom is sworn in as Secretary of Welfare. This
department is for the benefit of Democrats only. Air Secretary
Talbott is in charge of showing Republicans how to look after
their own welfare.
Second Lutheran. Cleric
To Face Heresy Trial
MILWAUKEE, Aug. 3 UP).—
The liberal interpretations given
the doctrine of his church have
brought another young suburban
Milwaukee minister face to face
with a charge of heresy.
The Rev. John Gerberdlng. 33.
must stand a formal church trial
on specific counts of doctrinal
deviation, an investigations com
mittee of the Northwest Synod.
United Lutheran Church, voted
unanimously last night,
i Mr. Gerberdlng, whose church
is at Menomonee Falls, sat with
land tried to aid the losing de
fense of the Rev. George Crist,;
Jr., of Durham, who was con-1
victed of similar charges at a
two-day trial last week.
Mr. Crist's suspension from his
pulpit was recommended, and
Dr. Paul E. Bishop of Minne
apolis, who headed the investi
gating committee, said official
suspension was only a matter of
time.
Cases te Be Reviewed
The cases will be reviewed by
the synod conference in Mil
waukee next May. with penalty
set at that time. It might range
from a rebuke to ouster from
the Lutheran ministry.
Action of the synodical com
mittee last night came after
Mr. Gerberdlng was questioned
five hours on the nature of his
beliefs. He told newsmen he
was prepared to discuss with
authorities the manner in which
Scriptures might be read.
Like Mr. Crist, he denied that
“the Bible must be received
in a very exact and precise
way.” and declared that the
Lutheran Church has "no cut
and-dried manner for receiving
the Scriptures."
Dr. Bishop, who declared be
fore the committee decided Mr.
Gerberding must stand trial
that “we are not trying to find
fault but we are trying to recon
cile the belief of this pastor
with what the church believes,”
said after the vote that the
church trial must be called
within 30 days.
It probably will be held here
about the end of August, he said.
Aid te Be Decided
Dr. Bishop also said that the'
full executive committee of the
synod will meet at Minneapolis,
August 20 to decide what finan
cial aid should be given Mr. Crist
during his suspension.
And Mr. Gerberdlng took time
out. during the questioning ses
sion, to tell newsmen proudly he
became a father for the third
more nearly to Democratic
philosophy. Beyond that, their
tactics were to push, on their
own, such measures as lower
ing the eligibility age of women
for aid-age pensions, tax re
duction for low-income groups,
and restoration of 90 per cent
of parity on basic farm crops.
They got such measures
through the House in the first
session. They are pending in
the Senate for the second ses
sion.
Democrats talk confidently
of winning Congress in next
year’s election, however they
fare on the presidency. Repub
licans changed with directing
the Senate and House cam
paigns are acutely aware of
that danger to them. Demo
crats just missed capturing
Congress, m fact, when Mr.
Elsenhower was elected in 1952
oy a landslide. The wide gap
between public enthusiasm for
the President and for Repub
licans who run for Congress
and for State and local offices
which was manifest in 1952
still continues if we may judge
by elections since, including
the 1954 off-year election whep
Democrats regained control of
Congress and picked up seven
Governors ai:d many lesser
State, county and city offices.
■ time Sunday. The baby is his
1 second daughter.
| Specifications of the general
, accusation against Mr. Gerber
ding may be made public with
, filing of formal charges before
I his trial.
I 1
Musician Killed
In Traffic Dispute
CHICAGO, Aug. 3 UP). —A 35-
year-old musician was fatally;
beaten last night by two motor
j ists at a streetcorner on the West
Side, applrently in a traffic dis
pute.
Ray J. Kenyon, 35. a pianist
and arranger with the Frank
York Orchestra at the Sherman:
Hotel, died a short time later of;
a skull fracture at the Garfield:
{ Park Hospital.
| Steve Tallanko, a witness to
the beating, told police he was;
standing at the intersection of|
Kedzie avenue and Warren boule-j
vard with a woman when an I
auto with two white men in the!
front seat and a Negro in the
back seat pulled up.
Mr. Kenyon's car, immediately
behind the first car, also stopped.
Mr. Tallanko said. The white
men Jumped out of the car, he
said, ran back to Mr. Kenyon’s
car and struck him three times.
He said Mr. Kenyon got out of
the car and was knocked down.
He said the men then got back
into the car and drove away,
leaving Mr. Kenyon unconscious
on the pavement alongside his
I
Tuck in Hospital
With Bruised Toe
Br th« AuocitMd PrtM
A bruised toe has placed Rep
resentative Tuck, Democrat of
Virginia, in Bethesda Naval Hos
pital.
Somebody stepped on Mr.
Tuck’s toe at Friday night's
baseball game between Wash
ington and Chicago. He is ex
pected to be released from the
hospital soon, perhaps today.
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& AMERICAN AIRUNES
For reservation*, see your travel agent or roll American at (Xecutive 3-2345
CONSTANTINE SHOWN
Negotiators With Pointed Pistols
Recent Shift of Soviet Planes to China
Clarifies Peiping Attitude at Geneva
The Soviet government has
shifted much of its air power
from Europe to Communist
China in the last f ew months
since the Chinese Commu
nists have completed con
struction of a number of mod
ern airfields from North Ko
rea to Canton.
The Peiping-Moscow axis is
really stronger than in the
past, notwithstanding the es
timates of some optimists that
it is no longer as firm as dur
ing the Korean war. The
Kremlin is giving every kind
of help to its Asiatic partner
in an effort to break once and
for all the United States’ re
maining influence and pres
tige in the Far East.
It is in this atmosphere that
the Geneva negotiations be
tween Ambassador Alexis
School Revision
By States Seen
Bj the Sued*ted Prera
The Office of Education said
today State after State in the
next few years will have to re
organize and revitalize its school
’ administrative machinery to
keep up with “an ever-increasing
population and an advancing!
civilization.”
The office made public a 175-
jpage report on “The State and
.Education.” The report was de
-1 scribed as showing progress made
by the 48 States from 1945 to
1955 in improving the structure
and control of public education.
It made no mention of segre
gation.
Samuel M. Brownell, Commis
sioner of Education, announced
release of the report in a state
ment, saying:
“This study was undertaken
to provide information for States
faced with the task of teorgan
izing and revitalizing their ad
ministrative machinery for the
1 improvement of public educa
: tion.
[j “The report shows the results
of efforts to extend public edu
cation to larger numbers of
children and adults, and also to
improve the quality of educa
tional offerings, with renewed
emphasis upon control of pub
lic education by the people in
; their own communities and
; States.”
The report said:
“The State structure of edu- !
cation is extremely important.!
for it is the avenue through!
: which control of education is
exercised.
“Over the years certain
changes, almost unnoticed, have
{tended to nullify popular con
trol of the educational enter
prise in certain communities...
“If the will of the people is to
be retained as the foundation
of our public educational system.!
its structure must be continuous
ly modernized so as to protect
i and facilitate free expression ;
by the people.”
Loretta Young Ends
Long Hospital Stay
; OXNARD. Calif.. Aug. 2 UP).—
Loretta Young checked out of
St. John’s Hospital yesterday
after a 3 Vi-month stay during
which she was treated for peri-!
tonitis and underwent surgery
for abdominal adhesions.
The actress' husband, Tom;
Lewis, took her to their home in!
nearby Ojal, where she will con
tinue her convalescence. The
couple plans a long rest in Hono
lulu when Miss Young is able to
; travel.
Mr. Lewis said she will not
resume her television career un
tll after the first of next year.
Joan Crawford Back
HOLLYWOOD. Aug. 3 (/P).—;
Joan Crawford and her new hus
band, Alfred Steele, returned
from a European honeymoon
yesterday. The actress, who
starts work in a movie today,
said they will build a home here;
and commute to New York.;
where Mr. Steele heads a soft
drink firm.
THE EVENING STAR, Washington, D. C.
TUZSBAT, AUGUST S. IMS
Johnson and Communist Am
bassador Wang started. Mr.
Johnson, who has been away
from Washington for 18
months in Prague, received a
thorough briefing during his
short stay here. And China's
. air power, provided by the
USSR, is said s to have
entered into the briefing by
his superiors. According to
some informed sources here,
the negotiations, which are
the only concrete results of
the “summit” conference, will
take place in a “pistol-point”
atmosphere.
The Chinese Communists
are expected to be as smiling
at Geneva as the Russians but
even more determined to gain
their ends. These can be
summed up as: Immediate pos
session of the Nationalist
held offshore islands; partial
withdrawal of the 7th Fleet
from the Formosa Strait;
recognition of the Red regime
by the United States; and a
place in the United Nations.
Besides the direct support
of the ÜBSR, Peiping is as
sured of the moral support of
Great Britain and France,
America’s alleged principal
allies in the struggle against
world communism. As a matter
of fact, it was Prime Minister
Eden who at the Geneva
meeting last month threw his
whole weight behind the Rus
sian proposal for direct Amer
ican-Chinese Communist par
leys and carried the day.
As in 1954 when we went to
Berlin to discuss with the Rus
sians only the German and
Austrian problems and ended
by agreeing to a conference
on Indo-China at Geneva, the
latest conference of the Big
Four ended with smiles and
no tangible results on the
European and arms limitation
problems. But it brought us
once more face to face with
the wily Chinese Communists
in “jinxed” Geneva.
Our appeasement of Red
China is expected to take place
in stages. This explains the
super-secrecy imposed by the
State Department on Ambas
sador Johnson’s negotiations
with Wang. There will be much
popular rejoicing in the coun
try when the news comes after
the liberation of the 11 airmen
that the rest of the Americans
detained in China are to be
freed. Such "concessions” are
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A-13
already regarded by our for
eign policy makers as sufficient
“deeds” to permit a meeting
between Secretary Dullee and
Premier-Foreign Minister Chou
En-lai where the real settle
ment of the Far Eastern ques
tions will be arranged.
The stern warnings of the
past that “one does not reward
a kidnaper or a bank robber
who has returned the loot”
have been shoved into the
background to be forgotten.
Those on the fringes of the
July conference at Geneva say
the Chinese have bear defi
nitely assured through the
Russians that their first step as
liberating the American prison
ers would be amply rewarded.
The. “peace in our time”
policy adopted by the top
echelons of the administration
will be further facilitated by
the fact that Congress is ad
journing until next January.
Thus the loud opposition to
the abdication of our vital
security interests in Asia will
be muted.
There is no question that
some policy makers in the
State Department, ineluding
Secretary Dulles, are aware of
the great danger which faces
the free world from the
ascendancy in world af
fairs of the USSR and Com
munist China, achieved merely
by changing their frowns to
smiles. But they feel helpless
in the face of the determina
tion of our allies in Europe to
liquidate as quickly as possible
everything that stands in the
way of a full resumption of
trade with the countries be
hind the Iron Curtain. And
their willfulness has strongly
affected President Elsenhower’s
White House foreign policy
advisers, who in many cases
are more influential than the
Secretary of State himself.
"The USSR is a land of
unlimited possibilities," wrote
Joseph Goebbels in his diary
in 1942. “The dividing line
between Europe and Asia has
been drawn arbitrarily. Bome
parts of Asia will at some time
be joined to Europe. That new
political-economic mass will
then have to settle scores with
the United States." The Nazi
propaganda chief may not have
realized how prophetically he
spoke. But the contour of a
firm Chinese-Russian bloc, to
which may eventually be added
a Germany neutral of her own
free will, is definitely taking
shape.