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Show I x i I Page Two , : FRIDAY, JUNE 1, 1962 THE SALT LAKE TIMES i3eliinL tlie Jleadfined j For at least the first half of his term, every new President must suffer the burden of com-parison with and contrast to his predecessors in the White House before he makes his own mark upon the Presidency and clearly establishes a presidential identity of his own. The latest comparison the Bil-li- e Sol Estes scandal and South-east Asian crisis have forced on President John F. Kennedy's Administration is with the last Democratic Administration that of Harry Truman. Harry Truman's personal popularity was near its peak after he won his stunning upset election victory over New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey in 1948, just as John F. Kennedy's has remained high after his razor-thi- n election margin over Republican Vice-Preside- nt Rich-- retary Freeman have, then or-dered the FBI into their respec-tive scandals to halt partisan and public demands for a clean-u- p, which only made a bad matter worse. President Kennedy feels he can profit by the unhappy Tru-man example in coping with the Billie Sol Estes-Agricultur- al sub-sidy scandal. Kennedy wishes he were as certain that he could cope with simmering "War Party" charges against his Democratic Admin-istration. As widespread as Truman's domestic influence peddling scan-dals were, most political observ-ers agree that it was a growing sense of frustration over the Tru-man Administration's failure to end the Korean War, that cost the Democrats the Presidency in 1952. ara m. mxon in iyou. It remains to be seen whether Kennedy's personal popularity will continue to grow in the Presidency as that of Presidents Roosevelt and Eisenhower did, or whether it will decline as Tru-man's did during his second term. Truman who was swept into the White House from the Vice-Presiden- cy wihen Franklin D. Roosevelt died, had no sooner sat down to his second term (the first to which he had won elec-tion) than he was beset by prob-lems amazingly similar to those confronting Kennedy today. Domestic debate raged over Truman's clashes with Big Busi-ness and later, his historic clash with the Steel Industry, just as Kennedy clashed with Steel. And just as the Kennedy Ad-ministration now is engaged in a struggle to enact a medical care for the Aged program. Truman Now, just ten years later, in 1962, the Kennedy Administra-tion warns of "other Koreas" in Laos, South Vietnam, Thailand and elsewhere in Asia. And De-fense Secretary McNamara says, as the Truman Administration did during the Korean War, that there seems "no end in sight" for the need for American troops in Asia. In all fairness, it is hardly any Administration's fault that Com-munism poses a threat of aggres-sion. The country's foreign policy is essentially bipartisan. Yet, in 1952, it was probably Candidate Eisenhower's cam-paign pledge that he would "Go to Korea" and the General's im-plied promise to end the stale-mated U.N. war that helped him most to win the election against Adlai Stevenson, now the coun-try's U.N. Ambassador. first clashed with the Doctors by first proposing prepaid Gov-ernment health insurance. Both are, at heart, politicians rather than statesmen, although every President must be a bit of both. Both Truman and Kennedy spent their formative political years in Congress, yet, as Presi-dents, had trouble making Con-gress do their will. Truman's tirades against the "No good, do-nothi- ng Republican 80th Congress," were no less than the private frustration President Kennedy has voiced against the Democratic-controlle- d 87th Con-gress. In fact, Kennedy had a right to expect more coopera-tion from his Congress than Tru-man, since it was controlled by his own Democratic party, while Truman's was not. Truman was beset by a Berlin crisis far worse than Kennedy's, since it occurred under the war-like, unpredictable Stalin and produced the actual blockade One of 1960's campaign charges made by GOP Vice-Preside- nt Nixon against Democrat John Kennedy was that the elec-tion of a Democratic President would increase the risk of war. Nixon claimed that all the coun-try's major wars (except the Civil War) began under Demo-cratic Administrations. Kennedy vigorously denounced the charge. Many Americans dis-avowed the partisan war issue. But there is no denying that it lingers in the minds of many persons, especially as "new Kor-ean Wars" threaten in Laos, South Vietnam, Thailand and elsewhere in Asia all over again. The Marine landings in the defense of Thailand were almost unanimously praised, even by "War Party" critic Nixon. But Kennedy realizes that Truman's action in rushing troops into Korea was also applauded at first, then became a partisan issue as the war went on that has thus far only threatened the West in Germany. Truman and his then Assistant Secretary of State for the Far East, Dean Rusk, were plagued by the Korean War and its polit-ical consequences, just as Ken-nedy and Dean Rusk, who now is JFK's Secretary of State, are plagued by the threat of "an-- , other Korean war" in Laos and South Vietnam. And the maze of mink coat, deep freeze, influence peddling scandals and Estes Kefauver ex-- i posures that exploded Truman's hopes for a Democratic victory in 1952, are being overshadowed only now by Kennedy's Billie Sol Estes public scandal. The reaction of each both Truman and Kennedy has t been the same. Truman first sought to minimize the scandals as Kennedy and Agriculture Sec- - Republicans are wary of mak-ing our troop intervention a par-tisan issue. The GOP has been demanding a firmer policy against Communism, especially in Asia and cannot easily criti-cize JFK when he takes it. Such logic has not stopped partisan critics in the past and may not again. That is why Pres-ident Kennedy is or should be making a major effort to broaden bipartisan support for the foreign policy risks he is ask-ing the country to take. The Billie Sol Estes scandal could hurt the country's confidence in the Administration at this criti-Ic- al time. What adds to the confusion in this space age is that prophecy gets to be history before it be-comes current news. Swope. Utah Grocers Serve As Collectors For Radio Free Europe Grocers throughout the state of Utah are giving a boost to the fund drive for Radio Free Europe this week by serving as collection stations for public con-tributions to the privately sup-ported, anti-Commun- ist network. Verl A. Walker, Vice-Preside- nt of Clover Club Foods Company, Kaysville, is chairman of the food industry phase of the cam-paign. He said that official col-lection boxes for Radio Free Europe would be displayed at check-ou- t stands of grocery stores and supermarkets through-out the state, beginning Thurs-day and continuing through the end of the month. Distribution and collection of these contribution boxes is being handled as a public service by Hi-La- nd Dairy, Cream O'Weber, and Clover Club Foods, he said. Citizens will be encouraged to make their contributions where they shop. Mr. Walker said that one dollar would buy one minute of truth over Radio Free Europe. Now in its eleventh year, Radio Free Europe depends on voluntary contributions of the American people for its con-tinued operations. It has become the most influential voice of the Free World in Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania. 80 million captive peoples in these Iron Curtain countries comprise the listening audience for Radio Free Europe broad-casts, 90 per cent of which get through despite jamming at-tempts of the Communists. Donald P. Lloyd, manager of Associated Food Stores, Inc. and state chairman of the RFE Fund, praised the Utah food industry for its adoption of the campaign as a public service project. "Man cannot live by bread alone," he quoted from the scrip-tures. For the millions behind the Iron Curtain who hunger for the truth who are fed a daily diet of lies and distortions by the Communists the truth broadcasts of Radio Free Europe are a precious gift, he said. One of the greatest assets that RFE enjoys is the voluntary sup-port of private American citizens, Mr. Lloyd asserted. RFE provides each American with an oppor-tunity to take an active, personal role in the fight (against the spread of Communism. President John F. Kennedy has stated, "Only by combatting falsehood with truth and propa-gating real values in contrast to false ones can the war of ideas be won. Radio Free Europe has made and will continue to make a great contribution to this im-portant function, and I urge all to support this extremely important work." Justice discards friendship, party and kindred, and is there-fore represented as blind. Jo-seph Addison. Golden Spike Event Seen as West's "Symbolic Hour" On May 10th, 1869 occurred one of the West's and America's symbolic hours. That was the date the United States became a continental na-tion the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans were linked by shining steel rails. For that was the date Leland Stanford, president of the Cen-tral Pacific Railroad, swung his hammer on the golden spike at Promontory Point in Box Elder County connecting east and west. It was there at Promontory Point that the officials of the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific finally agreed to have their respective railroads meet on that historic date. The two railroads had refused to meet sooner since each rail-road was awarded a huge land grant and cash subsidy by the United States government for every mile completed. The grants were ten alternative sections of land on each side of the right of way, later increased to 20 sec-tions. The government gave these grants to help finance the build-ing of the two railroads which became the first transcontinental railroad of America. The roads built their rights of way across a thousand miles of high prairie, mountain and desert. The Union Pacific used 12,000 Irishmen and the Central Pacific hired 18,000 Chinese coolies to finish the job in a record time of six and a half years. The culmination o.f this trans-continental railroad was an epic struggle. The nation was just recovering from debilitating ef-fects of the Civil War and both money and materials were scarce. On May 10, 1869, the Union Pacific engine with a tall, slen-der smokestack, touched its cow-catcher to that of the Central Pacific's bonnet-stacke- d loco-motive. Hundreds of persons clambered over the country side as Mr. Stanford banged his ham-mer against the golden spike. Today a white cement monu-ment and two short steel rail-road rails commemorate that moment in history. At Corinne, 28 miles west of Promontory Point a railroad museum recalls those early days of the coolies and the Irishmen. MORE K-M0- E1 Where Bti'a A Y T MHheYisne THE NEW KAAUR 1230 On Every Radio ayGMette Adjustable Razor 9 Settings for Superb Shaves! 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