Monday, January 15, 1962

Should Retain Division Of Powers

Congress should give careful consideration to sharp inflationary spiral threatened the economy of the matter of greater concentration of power in the the nation?

The New Mule Skinner-

-and the PZ^MULE !

executive branch of government before it decides to comply with some of the requests put before it by prudent Kennedy in his State of the Union message.

Matters of tax writing and appropriations nave traditionally been in the hands of the Congress, and it appears to us reasonable for this authority to remain with Congress. After all, the legislative body

Pajrticularly is this true with respect to the is in session most of the months of each year. If PresdhCs request that.he be given far-reaching emergencies arise when Congress is not in session, authority in the fields of taxes and foreign trade, the President has the authority to call the legislators The ends which the President wishes to accomplish back to Washington. ^

through these programs should be weighed on their

merits. But at the same time Congress should weigh carefully the method outlined by the President for accomplishing these aims.

President Kennedy asked that he be given standby authority both to lower personal income

Although the iffnher of getting things done through CongressionaT action may not be as efficient in terms of time as getting them done by executive order, when emergency arises. Congress can act rapidly. Rapidly enough, it seems to us, to cope with economic emergencies without handing over its tax

taxes and to pump money into public works pro- w'riting and appropriations authority to the executive branch even on a standby basis.

Much the same is true when it comes to economic matters in the field of international affairs. Negotiations must be handled through the executive branch of government, but the legislative branch should reserv^e to itself the right to determine whether agreements that are reached are within the limits of the guideposts laid down by it

Admittedly the division of powers botween branches of government under our domestic system do not provide as efficient a system of operation as some other forms of government. They, nevertheless, provide safeguards which have proved the very strength of our democratic system, and our democratic government. These divisions of powerand responsibilityit seems to us, should be preserved.

If the programs proposed by President Kennedy have sufficient merit, they can be realized without concentrating greater power in the hands of the executive branch. And they can be realized with sufficient speed to cope with any emergency or domesticwhich may confront this

nation.

grams if necessary to meet the threat of a recession. If it is advisable for Congress to give the President such standby authority, would it also be wise to give the President the authority to increase personal income taxes, to withdraw domestic programs if a

No Retirement

!-or Sanforc.

By LYNN NISBET

SANFORD Terry Sanford does dU intend to retire to private n(n-political status at the id of hia term as Governor of North Carolina. He confessed to DcwsimD the other day, what many of ttie newsmen had suspected; but when he said a few nights ago that he had had enough of public office and did not expect to run for anything lae. be probably oversp(^e.

He noted the drcumstancea uxider which the original re-tiremeit atatement was made. He was talking casually with outKrf-atate peoplebut in tlw presence of North Carolina newsmen. So the statement got immediate and wide publicity. It is to the Governor's credit that be has not claimed he was misquoted or misrepresented. He asked cmly not to let a casual statement about my future plana to run for office be interpreted as a diminishing Interest in North Carolina." At the same time he handed out a formal statement declaring that he plans to COTtinue to work with those who believe in progress, who have faith in our capacity, who want to make the opportunities for people in North Car-(^ina just as great as opportunities people have anywhere else in the country.

Along tint line the High Point Enterprise notes that Governor Sanford may be making a better governor and furnishing strcHiger leadership than he suspects. "One cant write his nann as high as Sanford has without expecting brickbats and dead cats to come flying his way. . . It Is far too early, even if he feels that way at the moment, for one of such promise to disavow further public service.

POWER RATES Governor Sanford told reporters at his weekly news conference that excessively high rates irf Virginia Electric Power Company was retsrding industrial development of the area in north eastern North Carolina served by that ccsnpany.

While there are other matters of importance involved in the long drawn out hearings before the Utilities Commission on the proposed sale of Nantahala distributing system to Duke, the main issue is one of customer rates, to be applicable to the far southwestern comer of the state.

Oovemw Sanford noted that not so many years ago excessive Tidewater Power rates held back southeastern North Carolina devel()ment. Pnress has been marked in that area since rates were lower after purchase erf Tidewater by Carolhia Power.

These continuing hassles over rates for electric power are reminiscent of the cemtroversy which rated during the first two decades of the Mth century over freight rates. At least two ex

tra sessions of the General Assembly were called for the primary specific purpose of adjusting freight rates. Many commodities figured in the freight rate controversy, but one of the main items was coal for the generation of steam power to run textile miles in c<npetition with electric power which was just moving into the picture.

Freight rates <xi coal remain ' foreira an issue not as lively as (ce it was. The vital issue now is electric power rates.

The electric rate structure is more complex even than freight rates. Governor Sanford has asked the Utilities Commissicui to "lo(dc Into" the Vepco nUes with a view to correcting gross inequities if found. Meantime, because erf tl% complex system of the power cmnpany dealing m wholesale tesis with many mu-aicipalities. Vepco is making less m<xiey in North Carolina, although retail rates are higher than anywhere else.

SUB ZERO The record breaking cold weather of the past week and reports of sub zero readings in the mountains, reminds your repwter of his only experience with sub-zero tem-pen^ure. It was a long time ago on the farm in South Carolina.

By GEORGE SOKOLSKY

A ReinindiBr^nstant Writing Ikes Speeches

Alertness Is Needed

Scandal in state government in North Carolina has been so rare over a period of several decades that when a situation such as that in connection with state purchases of highway signs comes to light, it attracts more than the usual amount of attention.

It tendsas rightly it shouldto shake the public and officials from their apathy toward possible wrong-doing in state government.

Copyright, 1%2, King Features Syndicate, Inc.

Sherman Adams, In his book. "First Hand Report, tells how he went about preparing a speech for President Eisenhower. It is said that a President has too little time to write his o\Mi speeches, that he hires men who lay down the policies of state for him. It seems a very wasteful effort, for if a man really has something too say, he ought to be able to say It. As an example, he shows how a speech was prepared on agriculture:

The situation of the highway sign purchases, on the farm to south Carolina, wliich is yet to be spelled out in detail to the people .j that I would see

We lived to an old log house, of the state, should not cause officials to go on a what I could do, and immediate-chtoked with mud. but which witch-hunting spree. It should, however, cause citi- summoned the Indispensable

zens and officials alike to take a closer look at possible questionable activities that may be going on in the state government. It should make them aware that in spite of the excellent record for good, honest government that North Carolina has, there is always the po.ssibility that some wrong-doing may go undetected, and for considerable periods of time.

papa had weatherboarded and ceiled. Result was one of the best insulated and most comfortable buUdli^ to be had, both winter and summer. The heating pluit consisted of a great big stone fireplace. The water supply was a fine spring located some 300 yards from the house. No matter how cold it got, or how hot, the little folks were supposed to carry water from the spring to the house, and as soo, as they were big enough to lead the workstock to the branch just below the spring for watering. On the sub-zero occasion we found along the path from house to spring a number of doves and other birds frozen to death, as weU as small vlld life of other kinds. There were some little pigs who came along at off-time and we took them into the kitchen, wrapped them in old quilts and put them in front of the fireplace. <As I recall they made good sausage meat for the next vInter!)

Mama kept a big stone crock of sour milk and clabber on the hearth conditioning it for churning. The big jar would get so hot on the side next to the fire you could hardly touch it. and the back side would be almost like an ice block. Incidentally. the same thing happened to folks who tried to stay warm.

When folks were talking the crfher day about how cold it was here I could not forget that two-below business a long time ago.

Hauge and a few experts from the Department of Agriculture to see if we could work out a plan for a speech. In this instance we agreed to steer clear of any partisan approach and work in a world peace theme

stressing the contribution of the American farmer. A few days later we met again to study the first draft of the writing and decided that i^e: slant was right but It needed oetter brush-work and stronger treatment. So it was agreed that I should call a farm expert in Des Moines and ask him to come and help."

Then comes this shocking paragraph:

"In preparations like this. Eisenhower would not know about the plans in progress. Indeed, until an acceptable working draft had been prepared and tentative plans drawn up by myself and the staff, he would not want to know. I found early in the game that Elsenhower expected anyone who proposed a speech to him to have the reasons for making it throughly thought out, a draft on paper and the trip phased

It re-emphasizes the need for a constant vijyil tt against wrong-doing from both officials and citi- /\rXllC. zens as a wrole. It stresses the importance of a constantly operating system of checks and balances which will turn up any questionable activities at the earliest possible moment.

Other Editors Saying...

Mists

Finlands

(Richmond News Leader)

We trust the administration of Gov. Sanford, which put light on questionable activities in bidding on state contracts earlier, ,and now has revealed possible wrong-doing in connection with highway signs, will continue to look carefully into every facet of state operations.

On The Whole, A Good Year

The Daily Reflector

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By RALPH ROBEY

It will be some time before we have all the statistics on the year just ended. But enough are already available to prove that as a whole it was quite a period, with most business indicators making new highs.

Gross national product, which is the monetary value of all goods and services produced in the nation, has not yet been officially calculated, but is estimated by government officials as about $540 billion. The final figure may be a Uttle below this, but in any case it will be the highest in our history, and as compared with the $501 bll-Uon in the first three months reflects a major recovery.

Personal Income ended the year at a record level. The latest data on this are for November, but there is no doubt that the rise continued during the final month. Even farm income, on an annual basis, was the highest since 1952. All other categories except rents were up.

Industrial production, as measured by the Federal Reserve index, was at a new high, with durable, non-durable, mining and utilities aU setting records. Some individual Industries automobiles being an example were below previous levels, but these were the exception.

Business profits continued to advance as a whole. Again, many companies were not able to do as well as in 1960, but the aggregate will make a new peak before this move is over. It is generally assumed that this uptrend will continue to the second quarter of 1962.

Both employment and unemployment set new recent records during the year. To be meaningful these figures must be adjusted seasonally. When this is done we find that In November, the latest data available, total employment was 67.2 million, and unemployment-had dropped to 6.1 per cent of the civilian labor force.

Hourly wages continued to rise and in November were $2.36.

The weekly wage also advanced to $95.82 in the same month. This was because the hours per week rose to 40.6. It has been many months since we have seen such a long workweek.

The New York Stock Market, as measured by the Dow-Jones industrial average, made a new high on December 13. After that prices became softer, but it is generally expected that another new high will be made before we have a substantial sell-off. Dividends during the year were a shade above the previous record.

United States exports in 1961, according to the Department of Commerce, were $20 billion. This was appreciably be^r than appeared probable a few weeks ago. But the department also said that Imports were on the upgrade. The net affect of this Is that we still have an international deficit of worrisome proportions.

Business Investment in plant and equipment is slowly rising, but does not promise to pass Its previous peak, unless there is a sharp revision to the plans of business.

Private housing Is another area which is running well below a previous level. It is not depressed, but those in the industry would prefer more starts by one or two hundred thousand. Construction as a whole Is doing well, primarily as a result of Industrial and public outlays.

Business is continuing to add to Its inventories, and this will remain a positive factor for some months. The fear of another steel strike is pli^g a substantial role in this inventory accumulation.

Government spending continues to advance. For the fiscal year ending next June 30, outlays at the federal level will be $89-90 billion, and It Is anticipated that the budget for the following fiscal year wUl be some $92-93 billion.

But as stated earlier, it has been quite a year.

Hardly noticed by the rest of tlie world, Finland is waging one of her typically grim, silent, lonely battlesbloodless thus farto retain her independence of sorts from the ravening Russian bear.

This newspaper is in possession of a letter written by a Finn in Helsinki last month to a compatriot in Washington. Such is the well-justified fear of Communist reprisals upon innocent friends and family behind or near the Iron Curtain that the letter must be paraphrased rather than literally translated. But this is substantially what it says:

"The events of last November, when President Kekkonen met with Khrushchev at No-vosiebirsk anad made a deal on Finnish neutrality, should be a matter of sorrow and alarm for all Finnish patriots. This accommodation with the Soviets amounted to nothing but an adjournment of the military confrontation of the little republic and the huge dictatorship. Despite outward signs of tranquility, Finland knew at the time, and knows now, that Its fate lies with its selfish and demanding neighbor.

"We Finns must never give up. We must fight back with whatever means are available. In the present situation, we must take what advantage we can of the two elections. The one of January 16 and 16 for the presidency gives us two nominal rivals, the outright Communist party candidate

and Kekkonen who is acceptable to the Russians. The only anti-S 0 v i e t candidate was forced to withdraw rather than risk a situation which might have brought the Red Army. We must vote for Kekkonen, and not write in anay third candidate, giving the Communists an overt excuse for a take-over.

"The general elections of February 4 and 5 are a different matter. We must emulate the feat of 1948 when the Communist seats in parliament were reduced from 49 to 37. To assure a bourgeoise majority in the parliament, we must aim at pushing 50 Communists out of their seats.

"And now (the writer goes on) for the purpose of this letter. Every ballot is important. We are asking all Finnish nationalists in the USA to cast absentee ballots. This can be done at the consulates in San Francisco and New York, during business hours, at any time prior to the election dates. It can also be done at the Finnish Embassy in Washington. Please, go to one of these places and vote. It Is our only chance of preservation."

Thus the letter ends in this pathetic but courageous appeal for Finns to use the last vestige of their democratic powers to grasp for a vanishing freedom. Perhaps there are hundreds of such letters In the U, S. mails. We hope so. We hope they are heeded. This last-ditch fight for an independent national life Is in the valiant and intelligent Finnish tradition.

Mor

Soare

Time

into his calendar so that it did not disturb other commitments. What is it that needs to be said? Eisenhower would say. I am not going out there just to listen to my tongue clatter!' Hall and I and the rest of the staff learned that we had to have a finished draft in shape and in the Presidents hand at least two weeks before it was to be delivered so that he could put it into his desk draw'er and brood over it at his leisure. The preparation usually meant days, sometimes weeks, of staff work. Since, in the meantime, anything could happen to change the picture, we learned to keep our own counsel until we had plans in, apple-pie order. Then Hall and I, probably with Persons and Hauge, would tell Tom Stephens that we wanted fifteen uninterrupted minutes with the President. Before such a conference took place, Hall, Persons and I would decide who was going to carry the argument. If I was chosen to take the responsibility for the project I would start out by telling Eisenhower the purpose of our appointmeiit and ask Hall, in the example I haye cited, to sum up quickly the state of affairs in the farm belt.

So, we come to the moment when Eisenhower actually sees the speech. This is the way Sherman Adams described It:

"Eisenhower would glance at the speech, read a few lines, and ask a question or two about the reasons why Hall had reported such distress with the Benson farm program. I dont belie.3 for a minute the farmer wants the government to be his boss, Eisenhower would say. tossing the draft Into his desk drawer. I knew the discussion was over and that the President wanted to mull It over. A few days later, the President would call Hauge or myself into his office. The speech would be on his desk. This moves along pretty well, he would say, handing back the draft, but It seems to labor too much In trying to meet a lot of picayune criticism. After all the farmer wants to understand his role In America and in the world today. A farmer is like any other American. When he understands his responsibilities he will meet them as well or better than any other citizen. Cant we get the feel of that more Into It?

"That would mean'more hours of brain-racking and writing by Hauge. Finally, Elsenhower would sit down at his desk alone and think about what he wanted to say. marking up the revised draft himself and dictating to Ann Whitman the changes he was making.

Put together, one can only say that these speeches were written by committees. I do not know how President Kenne-(Contlnued on Page 6)

By ROGER BABSON

BABSON PARK. Mass. -Only a few years ago-automation was little more than a trickle within the economy, but today it Is a river and tomorrow it will be a flood. The greiU question is whether its "obvious benefits will be outweighed by the problem that it raises such *1is mass unemployment.

AUTOMATIONS PROBLEMS WILL BE SOLVED

I have said before and I will say again that there has never been any indication that more machinery means fewer workers. Look back over the industrial history of this country, and you will find that there has been an unending outflow of more efficient machines and yet employment has soared from one nbw height to another simultaneously.

The sheer volume of machines to run machines Is today almost Incredible, and still employment keeps reaching ever higher. For the most part, our Joblessness Is due to an exploding population,- a rather impressive group of people who would rather live on charity or unemployment Insurance than work, and a reluctance to develop swiftly-paced programs to retain and relocate woricers displaced by the advance of technological improvements.

WE ARE MOVING RAPIDLY

The influx of automation has been so unexpectedly rapid that many have been frightened; they think we are moving too fast for our own good. Some wish they were living b a c k a hundred years ago so they would have fewer complications; others say they wouldnt want to be around a hundred years from now with things changing at such a pace. Even the labor movements which has some pretty fast-moving men Is frightened by automation, and some laborites are crying aloud that there may not be any Jobs in a few years. Let them be assured that there will be plenty of jobs, but many will be very different jobs.

FACING UP TO CHANGES

The change-over to automated production is going to spread on and on, and certainly nobody will deny that a great many workers will have to move to other jobs. This is a fact and must be faced. Farsighted experts have often warned that, without automation, we would soon find we would not have a sufficiently large labor force to accomplish our w'ork, introduce new products, and maintain our prosperous standard of living.

I notice that a good deal of human effort is still needed even in Industries and offices where the most completely automatic processes have been installed. It is said that a factory could be built so that ev^-ery step from raw material to final product could be turned out by a handful of people at pushbuttons. Keep in mind, however: Human brains must still work out the entire scheme, and human hands must build, set up, start, tend, repair, and maintain and sometimes stop! these "automatic machines.

AUTOMATION MEANS MORE SPARE TIME

It doesnt seem to me that we are going too fast, everything considered. It cannot be denied that we In America are materially and spiritually better off than the people of the backward nations who have not yet had any such machines. It might also be said that no workers in the worlds history ever had more healthful and attractive working conditions or received better pay than our workers today. It is the machine that has helped to bring about this prosperity, and newer and more amazing machines will bring still more in the years to come.

I am particularly Impressed by the fact that high-velocity and machinery and all forms of automation mean and will continue to mean steadily more spare time for workers. There will be a greater opportunity for enjoyment of the home and the family, for plea*;-ant and healthy do-it-yourself pursuits. Even more Important: Perhaps we can all employ some of this increasing spare time to cultivate the spiritual values which we may have been neglecting while buUding up purely material prosperity 1

Taxpayer With No Deductions

By ELMER ROESSNER This is the apocryphal story of Wunderbar von Garfinkle who, ipaklng out his 1961 Income tax report early, discovered that he was probably the only person in the United States not entitled to any deductions.

He Is single, so he could not use the split income provision, which cuts the tax in half for most others in his Income tax bracket.

He has no dependents to deduct for. He has 20-20 vision, so he could not take the $600 blind deduction. He is under 65. BO cant take the old-age deduction.

Wunderbar gave freely to bums and to help friends In need so much so that he had nothing left over for organized charities. But he got no deductions for his gifts. '

NO INTEREST SUBTRACTION Wunderbar is a cash-on-the line buyer: he owes on no mortgages. He had no interest deductions;

Wunderbar, who is a scrlpter by trade, owns no real estate and so pays no deductible real estate taxes. He doesnt have a car and so cant deduct gas. oil and license taxes. He pays some state taxes on cigarettes and beverages, but he doesnt keep records of pennies here, pennies there, and so cant deduct them.

Wunderbar has had no disaster losses. He owns no machinery or plants so he cant deduct for depreciation. He has no oil or mineral Investments, so cannot charge off a depreciation allowance.

(jur boy is a member of no union, 80 cant deduct for union dues and assessments. He knows his Job and there Is no reason for him to take technical courses or buy educational journals. No deductions.

He had no unreimbursed expenses. Every time he was away overnight, his employer paid the bUl, giving the employer. but not Wunderbar, a deduction.

NO TAX FEES Wunderbar made out his own tax return, so he couldnt even deduct a fee for tax assistance. Of course, if he had, his tax consultant might have found dozens of deductions, real or imaginary.

Our boy noUced ^that In lieu of deductions he could subtract 10 per cent of his adjusted gross Income, up to $1,000. But this didnt seem fair to him. Taking a blanket deduction in place of deductions he was not entitled to seemed wrong morally, even If legal.

And when Wunderbar von Garfinkle realized that he was the only man In all America not getting a little legal kick-back from the government that he was the only one not getting a little lawful squeezing he did what any honest man to that position could do: he shot himself.

SUCCOR AT I.AST But Wunderbar bungled that much as he did his tax work.

He missed his head and the bullet ricocheted, taking off his little left toe.

Now. for 1962, Wunderbar is a member of the club. He is getting a deduction for his medicines; another one for his medical expenses and his doctors fees. Furthermore, as long as his boss keeps paying his sal-^ while incapacitated, tha first $l(X) a week la tax free.

SHORT k SIGNIFICANT BUSINESS NEWS BULLETINS Department store sales to 1961 Were 3 per cent above those In I960. The biggest rise, 6 per cent was in the Boston Federal Reserve district. . .Consumers owed $290 bUlion at the end of the ,year, a Newsweek ^udy shows. This Includes $175 billion in home mortgages. . . C^arette sales in Thailand hit high last year. . .Howard Johnson estimates that one-, third of all money spent by Americans eating out goes to roadside restaurants. But probably not at this time of year.