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Show WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS PERSHING: Fighting Truman Gets Democratic Taps Sounds -- Alas, Poor Yorick, Capital Has Seen Its Last Theater Nomination, Gails Special Session; Barkley Selected as Dunning Mate -- By BAUKIIAGE Newt Analyst and Commentator. hurries through summer, forced to commute to Philadelphia for its major distraction, it is fated with a painful prospect of less diversion next fall. This city which once boasted of almost a dozen legitimate theaters (when it had a much smaller population) is about to have the last one that lingered on alone turned into a movie WASHINGTON As Washington By Bill Schoentgen, WNU Staff Writer- - (EDITORS NOTE: When opinions are expressed in these columns, they are those of Western Newspaper Vnions news analysts and not necessarily of this newspaper.) f WVWrrfS Wf11 I i 1 r VVfW ... , , : house. The old National theater, which opened in 193S, was burned and rebuilt four times, collapsed once. Is now about to end its legitimate days on an issue which is giving the Democratic party equal concern civil rights. The Actors Equity, to which most actors belong, wont play here because Negroes are not permitted in the audience. fU v HyiYKtjf,1 'i" a - There is talk that the old Belasco'S-theatererected in 1895 on Madison place, facing La fayette square, may be reconditioned and leased to a management which will lift the racial discrimination practice (the Belasco is currently government property and is used as a storehouse). If the Bclasco is not reopened, Washington will be theaterless. Washington's theatrical tradition began early. One of the first theaters here was the Washington theater at Eleventh and C streets. It opened in 1804 and its ads proclaiming the grand premiere added in small type: "No Segars are to be smoked during the performance." When that edifice burned, a second Washington theater, seating 700 persons, was opened in 1821. It boasted numerous improvements and innovations. Including stoves, reserved seats, improved acoustics, no liquor in the box lobbies and facilities for Facilities Negro playgoers. today wouldnt satisfy accommodations would have to be on a basis of race equality. Fourteen years after the new Washington theater had opened its doors the National theater appeared on the site of the present It Is located in the very center of what only recently has on E been called "downtown, street which meets Pennsylvania avenue Just before it bumps into the treasury building, skirts its northern front and ambles past the White House. Important clubs, hotels, and restaurants are only a few blocks from the National today but when it was built, it was, like any other point inin the young capital, well-nig- h accessible in inclement weather. When it rained or snowed, Pennsylvania avenue became a mudhole. Residential areas, except those In Georgetown, werent far from the center of town In the early 1840s, but because of the rough going (the wealthy didnt like to risk their fancy equipages out on bad nights), it cost as much as $10 to get from home to the show. Now you can ride all the way from Capitol Iliil tb what was forest and farmland In 1835 for 30 cents. The capitals greatest theatrical development began right after the Civil war and went on for three decades. By the time I attended my first show here in 1914, there was no dearth of dramatic entertainment and sometimes three original Broadway companies would be playing In different theaters at the same time. It was a good town for openings up until fairly recently. There is one theater, now a museum, which Is still a point of interest for tourists. Originally it was a Baptist church on Tenth street. In 18C1 it was converted into what was called Christys opera house. Later it became Fords theater. In the upper stage box of this theater. President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by the actor, John Wilkes Booth, There was a saloon on the corner below the theater where Booth was said to have had his last drink before he crept into the theater, shot Lincoln and leaped to the stage, tripping on a piece of bunting and breaking his leg. For many years, over the bar of that saloon, hung a crude pio ture of the assassination, and on the fioor was a metal marker where the half-ma- d actor was supposed to have stood as bo warmed his courage In preparation for his theatric crime. Washington theatergoers were well acquainted with John Booths acting but better still with that of his elder brother, Edwin, who had the greater talent. But they never saw Edwin Booth on a local stage over again. He was so heart-brokehis brothers crime that he never again played In the capital. A theatrical performance In Wash-ingto- n plays one role that It plays In no other American city. It becomes, on certain occasions, few or many according to the taste of the Incumbent president, a ceremony of state. No matter how private a president wants to be when he sees a show, he cant help being a public personage on such occasions. The secret service, responsible for movie-house-to-b- e. &? - ;r ;4 , his life, wouldnt think of letting him sit anywhere but in a box where he is separated from the crowd. This, on the other hand, makes him conspicuous. One guard outside the door to Lincolns box in the Ford theater could have prevented the assassination. The fact that there was no provision for protection by the government in the Temple of Music in Buffalo cost the nation its President William McKinley. Since then, the chief executive has bad a bodyguard whether he likes it or not, and a bodyguard cant hide Its light under a bushel. Entrance and exit from a public building become a little bit of a pageant, no matter bow they are effected. Woodrow Wilson loved the theater. He liked vaudeville and was a frequent visitor at Keiths now one of our big movie houses. Edmund Starling, head of the secret service under several presidents, often talked to me about how much Wilson loved the theater. Starling enjoyed it, I enjoyed it, and perhaps together, we exaggerated Wilsons affection for the footlights. But Starling used to say that Wilson got more recreation from that source than any other. In his book, "Starling of the White House, he says Wilson preferred musical comedy and vaudeville to serious drama. That was the general impression among the newspapermen, I know. Both the Roosevelts, Theodore and Franklin, were great theatergoers. Neither of them was a blushing violet as far as receiving adulation of the crowds was concerned, but for a number of reasons, largely the hectic times of the late Roosevelts regime, the former made his attendance anywhere more of a show. Although an assassins bullet did lay low a man in Franklin Roosevelts entourage Mayor Anton Cermak of Chicago when both were visiting Miami Theodore Roosevelt was himself actually shot and badly wounded on one occasion. However, this was after he left the White House and while he was making a political speech In Milwaukee. It was the movie which drove out the later Washington legitimate theaters, but this death blow to the present-da- y National theater arises out of the growing demand to end segregation a demand which made Itself felt after World War I. and which increased in World War II. The confrequent, troversies over lifting of the segregation ban in Constitution hall, property of the Daughters of the American Revolution and one of the few available concert halls in the city, have spotlighted Washingtons segregation habits they arent laws. The manager of the National theater is not closing the theater for social reasons. He simply cant book shows if he continues race discrimination and he thinks that if he raises the ban, he cant sell tickets to enough white people to make it pay. To southerners it probably seems absurd that such a question should arise, and northerners probably will be just as surprised for the opposite reason. Washington was once a southern city, now it is a mixture of North and South and typical of neither. - s- K f Mac-Arthu- Truman WE ACCEPT! Barkley Born in Log Cabin In Vighting Mood ing senator from Paducah, Ky., for the vice presidency. The Presidents call for a special -session provided a dramatic and It the Democrats hadnt known startling climax to the 30th convention, which had been marked by before their convention that President Harry Truman was their man bitter debate over ferocious family differences. they found out on the steaming The party had been ripped by inWednesday when their political fighting between northern progresshow slammed through to a smashsives and southern conservatives ing, triumphant finish. over the issue of equal civil rights Harry Truman told them so, for of the AlaNegroes. One-hal- f after the enterprising liberal forces 26 13 of the bama delegation of the party had spent all that votes and the entire Mississippi heat in the Wednesday delegation of 22 had stormed out of convention hall proving it beof the convention amid boos, cheers yond any doubt. It looked like the Democratic and a great pushing and shoving. This was the high point of the party might have been completely d southern revolt, alrevitalized in 12 tense hours on that last day of the convention, though a rump convention was called to meet in Birmingham, ending a period during which the Democrats morale and will to win Ala. slowly had been ossifying. Discord Flares The revitalization 'came as a reDiscord prevailed long before sult of two potent factors which the 1,596 delegates from the 48 actually could be reduced to one states and territories gathered in President Trumans Influence. In the first place, In adopting the stifling, steaming Philadelphia for Btrong, positive civil rights plank the quadrennial convention. Dissident factions of the party In the platform the party not only repudiated the idea and spirit of rallied behind a concerted drive to reaction but also dealt an extremely draft Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower as the partys standard bearer. sharp and real slap to the hands however, removed himself of the southern wing which had "Ike, tried, at times almost savagely, to from the race with his third and produce a cleavage within the final Insistence that he "would not accept the nomination. party. The day after the Eisenhower That action, closely followed by the nomination of President Truboom collapsed, the New Deal efman to run for and the forts to oppose Mr. Truman with nomination of Sen. Alben Barkley Supreme Court Justice William O. of Kentucky by acclamation for the Douglas also blew up. Douglas, spot on the ticket whom the President had wanted idded another solid timber to the for his running mate, flatly refused structure that the liberal elements to be considered and also knocked of the party were fighting so hard himself out of the vice presidential to build. running. Those developments were, In After Douglas declined to enter Senator themselves, a complete and vic- the presidential race, torious proof that the Democrats Pepper of Florida announced his this year intended to bring themcandidacy with the backing of the selves before the American public New Deal wing, but his bid was is a responsible, cohesive party not considered very seriously. that would be striving for nothing Civil Rights less than total victory in the November election. After seven days of wrangling, a But it remained for President platform pledging the Democratic Truman to give the whole affair party more specifically than ever i significance that could not be before to work for basic constituIgnored. tional civil rights was adopted after a floor fight which proved rather tame in view of the anticipated Fighting Finish drag-ou- t battle. It was a far cry from a love knock-dowThe platform calls on congress test as the Democratic clans, feuding for many months, met in to support guarantees of: "The right of full and equal pothe City of Brotherly Love for litical their 30th national convention. participation meaning tax legislation. After three days of strife and anti-pol- l "The right to equal opportunity bickering, the conclave came to a another way of close as a fighting President Tru- of employment man triumphantly accepted his promising a fair employment pracpartys nomination for the presi- tices act. The right of security of person dency and then rocked Democrats h and Republicans alike with an Inmeaning a federal stant summons to the 80th congress law. to return for a special session The right of equal treatment in the service and defense of our naJuly 28. The convention, perhaps the tion meaning the end of segregamost bitterly divided since 1800 tion in the armed forces. The southern reand 1924, ended with a political explosion detonated by the quiet man volt, however, failed to develop from Independence, Mo. The ex- into the Dixie-wid- e proportions 22 Only Mississippis plosion startled even the regular predicted. members o( his own party who had delegates and 13 of Alabama's 26 engineered the nomination of Mr. stalked out of the convention in Truman to the presidency. protest against President Trumans The Democrats pinned their No- nomination and adoption of the vember election hopes on a ticket strong civil rights plank. of Harry S. Truman and Alben W. However, 263 remaining southern delegates registered that area's Barkley. It was the former senator protest by voting for the presidenmodest, from Missouri, who had succeeded tial nomination of Sen. Richard B. to the office upon the death of Russell of Georgia. Size of the proFranklin D. Roosevelt in 1945, for test vote indicated the Democratic the presidency. And it was the party still has a problem on Its hands in the South, compromis The PHILADELPHIA STORY Truman Barkley Before his third partys convention in Philadelphia, Henry Wallace repeated several times the assertion that he was not a Communist, that he didnt want Communist support. In fact, that he wished theyd get out of his party. For this, as some observers pointed out. Wallace was mildly spanked by the Daily Worker, mouthpiece of Muskovite communism in America. It seems to me that Wallace Is following one of Alexander Popes Remember quatrains in reverse. Pope said: n "Vice is a monster of so frightful mien As to be hated needs but to be 1 seen, Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face. We first endure, then pity, then embrace. Having embraced the Reds, Wallace seems to be beginning to back up. through pity, and now is finding that he has to endure them, whether he likes them or not. ' V .'T - s - , ' vWI? 0I's'Vil widely-heralde- n, anti-lync- d Embrace, Pity, Then Endure Gen. John J. (Blackjack) Pershwho led American troops tc victory in World War L. is dead at the" age of 87. The aged former chief of stafl had been ill since February, 1938, when he was stricken at Tucson, Ariz., by a form of rheum&tisrr which affected his heart muscles. He came close to dying at thal time, but rallied with a display eg fighting spirit which amazed hit physicians. Since then he had lived at Walter Reed hospital In Wash? ington, D. C. Death was caused by a blood clot which reached his lung. At Pershings bedside when death cams were his son, Warren; his sister. Miss May Pershing, and his longtime physician, Maj. Gen. Shelley Marietta. Long the idol of a grateful nation, Pershing held the rank of general of the armies, a title conferred on only four other American soldiers, Washington, Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan. He outranked such contemporary five-stgenerals as George C. Marshall, Dwight D. r. Eisenhower, and Douglas Their title Is general of the army, Pershing won his greatest fame as commander-in-chie- f of the American expeditionary force in World War L Appointed to that post In 1917, he .took personal command of the American troops sent to France. He almost Immediately became involved in a dispute with other Allied commanders who wanted to break up the American army and use it to reinforce the French and British armies wherever necessary. Pershing flatly refused to let his troops lose their identity. Bom Sept 13, 1860, in the frontier town of Laclede, Mo Pershing was graduated from West Point when he was 28. He became a sec- ing, d GENERAL PERSHING Last Battle in the sixth U. S. cavalry and launched a career In soldiering to which he devoted his entire life. He fought Indians in the American west, Spaniards in Cuba, Moro tribesmen in the Philippines, Mexican bandits under Pancho Villa on the U. border and Germans in France. Throughout World War II, Pershing received a full report twice a month from General Marshall, his aide of 1917. Although old and feeble, the general followed daily developments closely from his hospital room, paying particular attention to my boys, who included Generals Marshall, Eisenhower, and George S Patton Jr. f Barring a major crop disaster, the nation will harvest another bumper crop this year, with Indications pointing to a general crop production which may surpass that of the outstanding year of 1942 and the record set in 1946. Acreage in crops is among the largest In recent years and yield prospects are good for most crops, agriculture department spokesmen said, on the basis of July 1 conditions. e An record com crop of 3.328.862.000 bushels was forecast although com, the largest feed crop, still faces such hazards as a dry, hot August or an early frost. Previous record was 3,287,927,000 bushels In 1948. The wheat crop prospect of 1,241,- 751.000 bushels represents a gain of 4 per cent from earlier forecasts. If that amount is harvested, it will rank as the second largest crop in history. Rice will set a new acreage record and nearly equal last years record output Oats and barley will be well above average crops. Bumper crop prospects are not expected to mean any immediate increase in meat supplies or any poticeable decrease in meat prices but the record harvest should mean larger meat supplies in the future. all-tim- Employment Gains VO LIMITS American Cities Are Increasing in Size brunt of many Angeles, city jokes for its limits, is not the only American city which is increasing in size. In fact, American cities are getting bigger all the time, with 293 Los communities extending their boundaries in 1947 for a new record, according to the International City Managers association. e The rush to keep up with urban expansion marked a 15 per cent increase over 1910, when 259 cities annexed new territory. Most cities seek to annex suburban land to solve their population problems. "Cities want outlying territory to equalize local tax rates and to provide uniform public services, according to the association. Very few people realize what John L. Lewis has done to white-collworkers, to old people living on government pensions and to the rest of the labor movement view of Lewis To get a birds-ey- e to go back have operations, you to the days of the New Deal when It was recognized that all old people in the United States deserved some kind of security. Accordingly the social security act was passed, pro viding unemployment compensation and old-ag- e pensions. Today these pensions have become most woefully Inadequate, and one factor helping to make them so has been Lewis and his never-endininflationary demands for wage increases and miners pensions. For instance, when Lewis gouges welfare fund a multimillion-dolla- r out of the mine operators, the operators in turn pass the cost on to the oldsters and everyone else in the country, whose pension then becomes less valuable. Thus the miners become a privileged class set aside from the rest of the American people. Not only do they get three and four times the pensions given ordinary citizens, but other citizens have to pay for the miners pensions. Thus the widow who tries to make both ends meet on a meager government pension of $30 a month, has to help pay for the miners pension of $100 a month because the increased price of coal is passed on to her. ANOTHER THING: Lewis now can bulldoze wage increases for the miners which certain other unions cant. For instance, the railroads have their rates set by the interstate commerce commission. As public utilities they are not free agents to decide what they will charge the public. Actually, coal Is just as much a public utility as the railroads. It is essential to the lifeblood of the nation. But while the railroads are regulated by the ICC; the electric power and gas companies by the federal power commission; and the radio, telegraph and telephone companies by the federal communications commission, the coal Industry remains unregulated. STILL ANOTHER THING: Private Industry cannot get together and conspire to fix prices. To do so act. violates the Sherman anti-truYet Lewis can get all the miners together from West Virginia to Utah, and from Ohio to Alabama, and present uniform demands on all coal operators, big and little, mechanized and unmechanized without violating the Sherman anti-truar st ond lieutenant CROPS: Record Output Man About Town Czar John L. Lewis Continuing the postwar upward trend in civilian employment, 1.5 million more persons were employed in civilian occupations last April than in April, 1947, it is revealed in figures compiled by the National Industrial Conference board. Accompanying this Increased employment was a decline of more than 200,000 in unemployment over the year period. st The Big Time: Associated Press chief Ken Coopers mission abroad s is so top secret this colm Sumif it is to meet J. S.? mer must be here because seven huge billboards are empty between 46th and 48th cm Times Square. . . . Some ticket agencies are forcing patrons to buy ducats for two other shows when they want "Mr. RobIf Dewey wins, locals erts. believe Byron Foy (of the Chrysler clan) will inherit an ambassadorship. . . . Former King Ferdinand of Bulgaria lives on food parcels sent to him by G. Phillips of Falls City, Nebr. ... won-der- ... Life has a new photographing technique that may revolutionize the lensing of major events. Takes pictures by remote control and by pressing a button locates famous people anywhere in the auditorium. Broadway Confetti: Jack Kramer, the net champ, has made $90,000 since turning pro last year. . . . The New Amsterdam theater, home of the Ziegfeld shows and once the proud queen of 42nd street, is having its face lifted. . . . U. S. intelligence will be completely overhauled. . . . John Foster Dulles brother, Allen, has nixd Mr. Truman's bid to become ambass to France. . . . Isnt phone tapping the same as entering a persons home without a search warrant? . . . Henry Luce didnt give the GOP $50,000. He donated only $1,000 to the Repub state committee in Connecticut Manhattan Murals: The West 40th street place which calls itself Coffee The hack driver quenching teria. bis nags thirst by filling his own battered silk hat with water from a nearThe rowboat by park fountain. policeman chasing kids taking a dip in ... ... the park lake while the ducks look very bootblack satisfied. . , . The at 49th and 7th. . . . The chorine with sun specs. one-arme- d lace-edge- d Stage Entrance: These are the dog days along Bway. Soaring temperatures are causing spirits and biz to droop. Several shows are ready to surrender to the humidity while others are managing to ducats. . . . hang on via cut-rat-e A glance at the backwoods gives the lie to the wailing about the decline of the thittir. Hill and dale sectors are clogged with summer playhouses. There are more actors In the country than mosquitoes. . . . Incidentally, the hayloft circuit used to serve as an Incubator for new shows. But most of the plays now being unveiled there are reclicks. crepe-hange- 8Ct PREDICTION: 1. The Supreme court in a year or so will reverse Its previous ruling and make labor unions subject to the anti-trulaws, 2. Congress, recognizing that the coal industry is just as much a public utility as the railroads will set up a commission regulating both coal wages and coal prices. In other words, Lewis will kill the goose that laid his golden eggs. st Special Session Some White House advisers are strongly urging the President to call congress back for a special session. They tell Mr. Truman that he should insist on enactment of major legislation, such as the public housing bill, which, though blocked in congress, was indorsed In the G.O.P. convention platform. Friends tell Mr. Truman that if G.O.P. leaders continue to block housing during the special session, he then could charge them with failure to carry out platform pledges. Other advisers, however, have told Mr. Truman that it would be wiser politically not to call a special session, but to let these Republicans stew in the juice of their congressional mistakes. Since the President plans to make congress his No. 1 campaign issue if renominated, the latter Is probably what he will do. Ill-Fat- ed Venture Harry Truman has taken a lot of ribbing about that failure in the But the haberdashery business. other day the President told on himself the story of how he had had still another business experience as an oil prospector. He told the story to Frank P. Douglass, able boss of the national mediation board, who called at the White House to report that he had nothing to do with efforts of friends to get him named secretary of labor. "I can understand your position, replied the President. "You know I was once In the oil business myself on a limited scale, Truman grinningly related how he had had an interest in two oil wells, both of which proved dry on the first drilling. "The project went broke and my partners and I were forced to sell out, he added. Midtown Vignette: Two women of cafe society came out of a night club and went for a stroll In Central park. "Oh, look! said one, "isnt that a sweet baby? They went over to adore It. "Good heavens! exclaimed the same woman, "It's my own daughter! Her Are surprised friend gasped: you sure? "Oh, yes, was the reply, "I recognize the nurse. The Airistocrats: The reason you flip a dial without coming across a giveaway: Kilocycles are crowded with about three dozen treasure hunts. . . . The nonsense medal for politeness goes to the y who thanks the singer after spinning a record. . . . ABC newscaster Harrison Wood has the type of sinewy tones that gives the paprika touch to news bulletins. . . . The compliment swapping of after appearing on a dramatic show Is a molar-grinde. . . NBCs "Serenade to America offers a tasty dish of musical meringue. cant disc-jocke- Holly-woodi- tes r. Israel Is having Internal difficulties. But it should be remembered that other nations whe fought for freedom also had domestic troubles. After the Revolutionary war commenced 25,000 Americans enllsed In the British army. The Intelligentsia: A book that will rip the small town school system wide open Is The Hickory Stick by Virgil Scott, to be published this fall by Morrow. School-boarprobably will fire any teacher caught reading It. (Author is a teacher at Michigan State college. East Lansing, Mich.) . . . Oscar of the Waldorf has retired to write his autobiography, which will be called "From the Cradle to the Gravy or "From Alphabet Soup to Nuts. . . . Artie Shaw, the former bandleader and of "Forever Amber, is joining the literati with a vengeance. Has a novel, a musical comedy book and a straight play in the typewriter. ds George Long is a songwriter who has to eat. His latest three ditties are titled: "Eisenhower, the Jlan of the Hour," We Want Truman Four Years More and Well Do It With Dewey," |