The sun. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1937-1972, May 17, 1946, Image 6
THE NEWBERRY SUN. NEWBERRY. S. C
SENATORS URGE RULE CHANGE
WASHINGTON.—Ten senators—
Democrats and Republicans—got
together secretly the other day to
study that most sacred of all sacred
cows—senate rules. Behind their
meeting was the conviction that die
hard Dixie Democrats can block any
measure they oppose via the fili
buster, and that the majority must
rule if democracy is to function in
the U. S. A.
The secret meeting took place aft
er senators received a flood of let
ters both for and against the at
tempt by Way.ie Morse, Oregon Re
publican, to secure passage of the
anti-poll tax bill through unani
mous consent of the senate. Only
senators on the floor at the time
Morse attempted this strategy were
Morse himself and Republican Wil
liam Danger of North Dakota.
Liberal Democrat Warren Mag-
nuson of Seattle, Wash., was pre
siding. Had he immediately asked
senators if there was objection,
there would have been none and the
anti-poll tax bill would have passed.
Morse had identified the bill only
by number, so Magnuson did not
at once recognize it. JJut, even if
he had, probably he would have
hesitated to pass a controversial bill
without debate.
He was rescued from this dilem
ma by Senator Ernest MacFarland,
Arizona Democrat, who quickly
came to the floor and objected.
Since then, senate mail has been
strong with letters both objecting
to the Morse attempt as trickery
and supporting Morse on the ground
that this strategy was no more un
fair than the filibuster.
Regardless of the above mer
its, a bipartisan group of ten
senators has determined that
senate rules must be changed.
They seek to limit debate on
any single bill to ten days,
which would bring up the anti
poll tax bill, already passed by
the house, before the senate re
cesses. They are thinking also
of bringing up legislation to cre
ate a permanent FEPC—provid
ed they succeed in winning their
amendment to the senate rules.
The ten senators are: Democrats
—Pepper (Fla.) Magnuson (Wash.),
Guffey (Pa.), Glen Taylor (Idaho),
Huffman (Ohio), Kilgore (W. Va.),
and Mead (N. Y.); Republicans—
Ferguson (Mich.), Knowland (Cal.)
and Capper (Kan.).
* • •
FINAL PEARL HARBOR REPORT
Believe it or not, but the long-
delayed reports on the Pearl Har
bor investigation at last are being
whipped into shape. They will not
be published until around June, but
here is the inside story on how the
final verdict is shaping up.
The Democratic majority on the
committee, led by Senator Alben
Barkley of Kentucky, will absolve
the two top military leaders in
Washington—Gen. George Marshall
and Chief of Naval Operations Adm.
Harold R. Stark—of major responsi
bility. They will receive some
minor rebukes, especially for poor
co-ordination of army and navy in
telligence; but nothing serious.
Democratic members of the
committee also will absolve the
state department of any blame
and will let major blame rest
where the original Roberts re
port contended it belonged—on
the shoulders of army and navy
commanders in the Hawaiian
area—General Short and Ad
miral Kimmel.
Republican members of the com
mittee will file a sharply worded
minority report upholding Short and
Kimmel and charging (1) that Short
and Kimmel weren’t sufficiently ad
vised by Washington about inter
cepted Jap messages presaging the
Pearl Harbor attack; and (2) that
the two officers weren’t provided
with enough long - range patrol
planes to spot the Jap fleet.
• * *
PATTON’S DIARY
The war’s stormiest hero, Gen.
George S. Patton, was the center of
many a controversy before he died.
But today the war department is
still sitting on one of the hottest of
Patton’s hot potatoes—the general’s
secret diary.
Only a few people in the war
department and the Patton fam
ily know it, but the. famous gen
eral kept a careful diary all dur
ing the Normandy campaign,
jotting down his frank com
ments about the Allies and even
about his superior officers. Some
of the comments just about
burned np the page.
General Patton especially paid
his compliments to the famous Brit
ish field marshal, Montgomery,
whom he criticized with almost the
same bluntness as the soldier in the
Sicilian hospital whom he slapped.
• • •
CHIPS FROM A GRANITE LIFE
Most people have forgotten, but it
was Harlan Stone to whom the na
tion owes a debt for picking J. Ed
gar Hoover as head of the FBI.
When Stone became attorney gen
eral, he swept out Burns and select
ed a young career man. Hoover, to
take his place. No one had ever
heard of Hoover before. . . . Stone
was kicked upstairs from the jus
tice department to the Supreme
court by Coolidge when Stone dared
move against Andrew Mellon’s
alumium trust.
News
Behin
the/N:
By PaULMaLLON
Released by Western Newspaper Union.
CONGRESS HAS NOT
DESTROYED OPA
WASHINGTON.—The overlooked
fact in most accounts of the house
OPA continuance was that the legis
lation proposed extension until next
March 31, nine
months more. The
way some of the
stories read you
might think discon
tinuance was im
mediate. The oppo
sition statements of
Messrs. Bowles and
Porter absorbed at
tention of the re
porters entirely.
When the extension
date was men
tioned, it frequently was presented
as I have done above, in a confus
ing way. Actually, the extension
works out to be more than 11
months from now, and nine months
beyond the expiration date of OPA
powers on June 30.
Bowles
A lot of water may go over many
dams in the next 11 months and the
continuance of the government’s
powers to act against prices for
that long a time could hardly be
Called destructive of OPA.
What angered the administra
tion to unusual bitterness
against the bill were the amend
ments. One amendment pro
posed what was generally de
scribed as “cost plus reason
able profits to producers and
handlers.” OPA contended this
would upset their ceilings on
many of the major items of
production, autos, rubber and
such. This would depend upon
whether their ceilings now deny
“cost plus profit” on these
items and it would require a
skilled mathematician a week
to figure out the involved formu
la for one item. Frankly I
would not attempt to referee
this argument.
NEARLY YEAR LEFT
FOR NEW ADJUSTMENTS
Certainly, however, the general
notion of “cost plus a reasonable
profit” does not sound like an un
reasonable invasion of the consum
ers’ rights, or what OPA is sup
posed to have been doing.
There was one amendment
which seemed to me logically
what might possibly be called
“murderous” of OPA, as one
irate Democratic congressman
termed the bill, which was ap
proved on a final passage by 205
Democrats, including himself,
and 148 Republicans. This was
the one to drop control over cer
tain articles when their produc
tion reaches the level of pro
duction of the year July 1, 1940,
to June 30, 1941—which was far
from the “peak year” it was
described to be in one of the
accounts. Production did not
reach a peak until the last year
of the war.
Now it would be entirely logical
and sensible for price controls to
be removed the moment production
reaches current demand. Of course
current consumer demand is great
er than July, 1940-June, 1941. It is
very much greater, due to the ac
cumulation of demand for consum
er goods during the war. It might
be “murderous” to OPA to impose
that new formula on cessation of
regulations, but it would be what
fairness demands. Relief of regula
tions should be timed to the period
when production can care for the
present demand, when the pressure
of shortages for higher prices has
been relieved.
HIS MODELS WERE THE TOPS . . . Flying Officer Carl Freeman,
Luke Field, Ariz., is shown with the model planes which won first and
second prizes at the model airplane meet held at Luke Field. Record
61.2 mph. The army air force has a program to encourage the build
ing and flying of model planes not only among enlisted personnel and
officers but also among civilian groups. Many aces in World War II
became interested in aviation while building model planes.
FAST FEEDING . . . Jimmy Slyter, 19, receives food through tube
from thermos bottle during his Los Angeles-Catalina island swim try.
The navy veteran was forced to abandon his attempt after two hours
and 49 minutes of paddling, approximately five miles short of the 22
mile route. He was pulled aboard exhausted. Judges believe that he
struck his head on boat which caused collapse.
The other important amendment
called for gradual elimination of
subsidies. Frankly, I have never
liked subsidies. The theory is
wrong to pay from the treasury,
which is the money of all the people
(and their debt now is heavy), a
certain portion of the price which
should be paid by the man who buys
the article. Not even Mr. Truman
has defended subsidies as a perma
nent proposition. Whether the time
limit fixed by the house would
work efficiently, again calls for in
tricate technical knowledge of the
effect of the removal on each article
at each time.
A revision of the bill by the sen
ate is being prophesied by most au
thorities, but it is not Ikely to be
a full-power lease of existing au
thority as the administration has
been demanding.
* * *
Not only have the party chieftains
exhibited confusion in a series of
ridiculous "mistakes” as to wheth
er they are running Mr. Truman or
congress this year, but they have
been building up a sideline cam
paign on the Roosevelt bier. First
one member of the Roosevelt fam
ily was trotted out as a prospective
candidate for governor of New
York; a young man without previ
ous experience or political preten
tions, who, if he wanted to start
as his father did at that age, would
run for the town council.
COLONEL SERVES SERGEANT . . . WTien Sgt. Bass H. Lewis
Jr., Columbus, Ga., went overseas he expressed the wish that
upon his discharge he could have a suite at the Astor and have
his colonel serve him breakfast in bed. He got his wish. Col.
Cecil Rutledge, Buffalo, N. Y., is shown serving former Ser
geant Lewis.
SLEEPY HOLLOW HAS TWINS . . . Sleepy Hollow farm at San An-
selmo, Calif., is proud of twins, Regina and Rex, foaled by mare owned
by Ella and Dick Gianinni. Birth of twins in horsedom is a rare oc
currence. This was the first set of twins delivered by the veterinar
ian in 40 years.
REAL COURAGE . . . Eddie
Kania, 15, whose legs have been
twisted by infantile paralysis
since he was two, is shown at his
position as pitcher on Carbondale,
Pa., team. He never asks favors
from opposition.
THE HAT . . . Fiorello H. LaGuar-
dia, New York’s former mayor, re
cently climbed to the top of the
wheat ladder to give the farmers
a few facts of life. At Fargo,
N. D., he asks for wheat for Eu
rope.
MARRIED . . . Remember Fred
die Batho’cirew, child star of yes
terday? Press stories tell us that
he ran away from his aunt, eloped
and married his press agent. She
is six years older than Freddie.
BIRTHS GOING UP . . . Statis
tics aren’t what David Rothman,
left, 22-months, and Marianne
Price, 13-months, are interested in.
They’d rather have action to cov
er their tiny bottoms so they can
go places. They have received
promises from the OPA officials
that they will soon be covered.
ELECTION IN MEXICO .. . Mex
ican peasant stands beside the
poster of Miguel Aleman at Mazat-
tan. Aleman is making the most
vigorous campaign in Mexican
history for the election.
Legs and Inflation
Milady’s legs have a bearing on
inflation, reconversion, prosperity
and economics. Those “gams,” it
seems, are definitely related to the
state of the union.
*
By being a little skimpy on
clothes a girl may be helping Amer
ica over the crest and hastening a
more stable economic order. The
less she wears the more she may
be lessening the burdens of the
President, his cabinet, OPA, the
Democratic National committee
and perhaps' the Big Three.
*
All of which is apparent from the
news that the subject of one inch
more or less of the female knee
has been causing huddles and de
bates in Washington. Whether or
not to lengthen skirts has been agi
tating the Civilian Price Control ad
ministration and its advisory com
mittees no end.
*
The advisory committee have
suggested that Washington permit
skirts to be an inch longer, but CPA
has been extra cautious. Even a
half inch more of leg may mean
millions of yards of skirt material.
Hence the committee sessions, ad
ministration conferences, policy
makers’ huddles and frantic de
bates among national leaders, lob
byists, congressmen, etc.
*
President Truman’s “Hold the
Line!” ultimatum may be taken as
applying to the kneecap of Amer
ican womanhood. (Harry has not
personally made any public an
nouncement of his convictions on
knees. But unofficially he is said
to believe them a good thing for the
nation.—Ed. note.)
*
But the news that they figure in
OPA ceilings, inflation problems,
etc., and that OPA and CPA are in
fact right in milady’s boudoir, and
that Chet Bowles thinks the legs of
our women are definitely involved in
the war to stop runaway inflation
comes as news to most people.
»
The United States Agricultural
Department’s Division of Marketing
and Transportation Research inci
dentally reports that the length of
skirts is a barometer for depres
sions and prosperity. Possibly along
this line:
Full length skirts . . . Hard times.
Two inches above ankles . . .
Things picking up.
Four inches above . . . Carload-
ings improve. Bankruptcies decline.
Six inches . . . Stock market ral
lies.
Eight inches . . . Splitups and
extra dividends. Republicans see
chance to get back into power.
Ten inches . . . Barney Baruch
suspends park bench deliberations.
Up to knee . . . Dangerous boom.
Golf club membership rise to $2,500
a head. War clouds in Europe.
One inch above knee . . . War.
Reconversion. Inflation.
• • •
RHYMES FOR A FOOD
SHORTAGE
Jack Spratt could eat no fat,
His wife no lean would touch;
They also cut their bread a lot;
We ought to do as much!
Sing a song of six peace,
A pocket full of rye;
Four and twenty blackbirds
Baked within a pie;
W’hen the pie was opened
The birds began to wheeze
“We’re terribly embarrassed
By pie in times like these!”
* • *
The state of New York now has a
law requiring that all new barbers
take out a license. To get it they
must submit two photographs, evi
dence of good moral character, a
certificate of health and evidence of
an elementary education. We await
the first revocation for careless
shaving. Or taking too sharp a turn
around the ears.
* • •
Yale is opening courses in civil
ization. The question whether
“Boola Boola” is a jungle cry will
be gone into thoroughly.
* • *
Add similes: As embarrassed as
a fellow who asks for French pas
try openly.
• • •»
Latest version of a bewhiskered
gag: “If I had some butter I’d have
some bread and butter if I had some
bread.”
• • »
Our idea of a completely happy
hour in the great American home
(1946 model) is the one when the
handsome and flawlessly groomed
gentleman who poses for the whis
ky ads learns that his daughter
has just been chosen Miss Some
body’s Beer.
• • •
// G-Man Hoover ever writes his mem
oirs a swell title would be “The Yegg
and l.“
WONDERMAN OF 1946
A super guy
Is Chester Greater:
He got a brand
New outboard motor!
• • •
CAN YOV REMEMBER—
Away back when it was necessary for
a doctor to say “Cut out the bread and
all rich pastries? n
T'HE argument broke into a rash
-*■ concerning the easiest position
to play on a baseball team. We put
the debate up to Joe McCarthy, who
knows what it is all
about, no matter
what the position
might happen to
be.
“Why don’t you
ask a lot of ball
players,” Joe said,
“and get their
slant? After Stim-
weiss had played
third three or four
days, I asked him
how he liked the Grantland Rice
job. ‘Great,’he said,
‘but do I still get paid on the first
and fifteenth for playing third?’ ”
We accepted Manager McCar
thy’s challenge and soon lined up
the viewpoints of all the earnest
athletes we could corral.
In the concensus that followed,
the catching assignment was rated
the toughest by an extensive mar
gin. What about the pitcher?
The pitcher only works every fourth
or fifth day, and too often only toils
four or five innings.
But the catcher, the better catch
ers, get few vacations. You might
talk to Bill Dickey some time about
this and discover the beatings they
take around the plate.
Catching a hundred ball games a
year is harder work than playing
any other position for three hun
dred games. All of which leads up
to the easiest or softest job on the
team. This is where the argu
ment started.
‘Hot Corner 9 Easiest
We talked with the Cardinals,
Yankees, Red Sox, Tigers, Indians,
and several others about the easiest
position to play. From the start
the players began voting for third
and first base. The consensus final
ly settled on third base.
As one veteran expressed it—“I’ll
tell you about playing third base.
On a general average when they
slap one at you, it is either a hit
or an out—but nearly always a hit
if you don’t handle it. Yes, there
are bunts to cover, but as a per
centage proposition, third basemen
get few errors thrown into their rec
ords. It always happens in a hurry
at third base and it is all different
at short and second. They have
room enough and time enough to
move around. The third baseman
doesn’t.”
The next soft job consensus went
to first base. But a first baseman
is supposed to be one of the best hit
ters on the club. Charley Comiskey
was the first of all the first basemen
who left the safety of the bag to
cut down a few drives slashed to
wards right field. That, 50 years
ago, was a daring innovation. It
remained for Hal Chase to prove
how an artist could handle first.
But Hal was too great an artist for
his own good along certain devious
lines we won’t discuss here.
Now here is a peculiar angle.
Baseball has known more great
first basemen and more great sec
ond basemen than it has ever
known shortstops and third base-
men.
Just how can you explain this?
At first base we have had stars
from the days of Fred Tenney on,
through Frank Chance, Stuffy Mc-
Innis, Hal Chase, George Sisler,
Lou Gehrig, and Bill Terry.
Many Stars at Second
Second has the longest parade of
stars — Lajoie, Collins, Evers,
Frisch, Hornsby, Gordon, Doerr.
But outside of the enduring Hcnus
Wagner, shortstop has given the
game few outstanding names. There
have been such good ones as Ban
croft, Jackson, Jennings, Tinker,
Long, Wallace—but only a limited
list ranged below Wagner’s fame.
Third base, voted as the easiest
job on the club to hold, should be
arrayed and bedecked with great
names. The list of good ones is
fairly long. The list of great ones
very scant. Jimmy Collins, Pie
Traynor, Art Devlin, Heinie Groh,
Red Rolfe, Bill Bradjey, these were
among the best.
In order to ward off indignant
and protesting letters we’ll admit in
advance that many good names
have been left off the list, due
mainly to a zigzag memory.
The tough spot and the most im
portant spot on the infield is the
combination of short and second.
Two fast men here can take pretty
good care of the infield, especially
those of the Rizzuto-Gordon and the
Pesky-Doerr type, not to overlook
Marion and his mate on the Cardi
nals. Third base may be the “hot
corner” but it also requires less
terrain to patrol.
mm*
No Room for Alibis
The box score is a national in
stitution that has been attracting
more and more popular interest in
the United States for 70 years.
It carries compact news to count
less millions from the smaller ham
lets on to the greater cities and the
smaller hamlets furnish most of the
stars who gather their fame in big
league centers. Here it is again
with a complete record of runs, hits,
errors, strikeouts, stolen bases. It
offers no space for alibis or excuses.