Show WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS nonpolitical non political 1 tour breaks precedents hits snags senate fights to recover aid slash by bill staff writer EDITOR EDITORS S NOTE when op nion an are expressed in theme columns they are those of western newspaper un uri on a newa news analyst analysts and not ly of th a newspaper newt paper V 4 laiu mg katz x via ODDS ON SECURITY seeking to end what he termed a desperate gamble with the nations security sen chan gurney rep S D left opened senate debate on the measure to draft youths aged 19 through 25 chairman of the senate armed services committee gurney here is discussing the draft bill with senators leverett sal kep rep mass and kichard richard D russell dem ga nonpolitical NON POLITICAL tour president truman s non cal swing through the west could be described as nonpolitical non political only in the sense that mr truman as a candidate tor for democratic re nomination had jettisoned many of the rules of standard party poi poll tics it was a lone wolf fight he was waging going over the heads of party leaders to talk directly to the people and most of what he had to say to the people concerned the republican publican He congress and what h termed its inaction in chicago speaking before the swedish pioneer centennial asso elation he hammered out a platform upon which he can be expect ed to base his chances for re nomination it was a platform lor for more and better democracy from chicago the president with his entourage headed for the heart of the farm belt omaha meb neb and it was as there that he was set sharp ly back on his heels he continued his lambasting of the republican congress this tima time concentrating on GOP farm policies in a speech at the ak sar ben coliseum in omaha fantastically in the coliseum which has a ca lacity of fewer than 2000 persons were present to hear mr truman ta talk this phenomenon was variously interpreted some said the prebi dents box office appeal had wilted others claimed the nebraska demo cratic machine had done a miser ably inadequate job in promoting his appearance probably closer to the truth was the plain fact that the non po lotical label of the presidential trip bad had backfired seriously he made a political speech and had expected to get a crowd of friendly democrats to fill the hall for the occa sion but the white house previously had told the democratic tion in omaha to lay oft off the po lotical hoop la and the organization acted to in compliance with those in payoff came when no body else showed up to till fill the ach ing void which the democrats ere abed by staying away it was an unpleasant blow tor for the campaigning mr truman and one that might produce grave po lotical repercussions but the president wa was resilient and in a more or less happy frame of mind he left omaha on his train and rode away into the setting sin s in in search of happier bunting hunting grounds AID SLASH less recovery sea sen arthur was fighting mad at what the house of representatives had done to his po lotical baby the world recovery pro gram by slashing nearly a million dollars from the appropriations tor for the europe asia aid bill on the republican foreign policy leader from michigan rested the ad ministrations hope of reclaiming the appropriations cut in senate be tion on the measure certainly has a more than usual affinity for global aid program since it was he who labored to steer the marshall plan to congressional approval last april what the house had done was to approve a total foreign aid eapen deture of to be spread big biggest a st eye I 1 scientists and astronomers are tugging at the leash in anticipation of the secrets of the universe which the newly dedicated inch tele scope atop mount palomar calif will reveal to them the telescopes enormous mirror almost 17 feet across will permit penetration twice as far into space as has previously been possible and may solve the ancient problem about life on mars at au out over a period of 15 months the administration had asked 8 6 as the minimum fund needed for a 12 month period secretary of state george mar shall fighting hard against the c cut ut had asserted that the smaller ap would mean putting eu rope on a relief dole rather than helping it to its feet but rep john taber rep N Y chairman of the house eions committee went right ahead and swung the ax he said the funds bis his committee proposed were all that could be spent with any degree of prudence paul G hoffman head of the eu recovery program said he certainly hoped congress would restore the cuts ERP was hardest hit in the fund cut whereas congress previously had authorized up to billion dollars in 12 months tor for that 16 nation recovery project the appropriations bill as passed by the houe knocked that figure down to 4 bil hon lon dollars tor for 15 months other reductions assistance to greece and turkey was cut from million to million dollars and aid to china cut from million to million DRAFT debatable in the waning days before ad journ ment of congress the senate had buckled down to the task of producing action on a limited re vival of the military draft the house was waiting only for the senate to dispose of the ques tion before its members waded into the tricky currents of a similar measure legislators in both houses were treading gingerly about on the issue throbbing with the knowledge that this Is an election year and further more there are any number of american parents ready to offer material objections at the ballot boi boc bo C it if their boys are called up for mil mill tary service in the face of all this the senate nevertheless was trying to do some kind of a job its measure pro vided for the drafting of men 19 through 25 in sufficient numbers to bring the armed services up to their authorized strength the bill would permit 18 year olds to volunteer tor for a years training thus disposing of a universal military training act for the present among the side issues that arose during the senate debate was the old bugaboo of civil rights after an abortive two hour filibuster by southern democrats the senate voted 37 to 35 to outlaw the poll tax as a requirement tor for voting in federal elections so far as members of the armed forces are concerned actually it was a minor issue in asmuth as most of the seven southern poll tax states still have in effect wartime suspensions of the tax for members of the armed services under the senate measure the draft would be authorized for five years but the program is left elext ble enough so congress each year could raise or lower both the regu lar and reserve forces to meet shifting world conditions drafted men after completing two years of service would have to serve in the reserve tor for five years or as a matter of choice volunteer tor for an additional year in the regular service services or two years in the national guard LATEST in bombers army air force Is developing an other new long range jet bomber which will use propel propellers lors driven by jet turbines it is called the 52 the experimental plane depre another effort by designers to overcome the high fuel tion and resulting limited range of jet let bombers but still retain the jets jet high speed jet driven propellers propel lors kiy m ty provide a partial r isber MINE TALKS more alore snags As usual john L lewis was mm min ing the channels of possible agree ment in the latest series ol 01 con tract discussions between him and representatives of the soft coal mine operators the explosive the chiet chief planted this time was a demand that the operators first guarantee wel fare aid for distressed miners be tore fore they can expect bis his union to sign a new contract thus the lewis situation in th united states was being brought to the tore fore again already the possessor of enough government injunctions to paper the den of his springfield ill home lewis received another one before he would consent to bargain with the operators on a new 1948 49 con tract the old contract expires june 30 U S district judge T alan goldsborough issued the latest in unction junction ordering lewis to bargain with the southern coal producers association the mine chief pre had refused to bargain with the association because the 14 mem ber her groups were being represented at the contract taus talas by just one man however lewis bowed to the in junction and agreed to talk in the course of this talk one of the first things he did was to call the mine operators tat fat cats and then wave an arrogant club at them with these words we assume that you would de cle alore any impairment of your ab normal income after july I 1 such an assumption would seem to be a logical predicate for the making of a new wage agreement before that date briefly it looked as though lewis was determined to strike again de prided of one snag he immediate y grasped another As a result th first round of contract talks was fruitless transition fl 1 gen dwight D eisenhower in the manner of all old 0 rs probably will remain a soldier at heart till the end of his days de spite the fact that he has discard ed his military trappings for the cap and gown of an educator ike has settled down as president of columbia university and the only kind of president he wants to be he says new GERMANY plan pivotal point of a healthy and prosperous europe germany long has been under scrutiny by the al bed led powers who have been search ing for a way to return it to the world family of nations without starting another squabble zonal partition of germany per haps has been the biggest hind ranee rance to the formulation of such a plan and russia consistently has ha objected to re establishing an auton auto n amous german government now however a new plan was afoot the U S and five other friendly powers britain france belgium luxembourg and the netherlands revealed a scheme for self government in western ger many at the same time notice was served on russia that occupation troops will remain there until the peace of europe is secured the plan calls for international control of the ruhr and for step steps toward convening a german con assembly in the three west era ern zone zones to prepare a cons titu tion for or approval of the parti cipa ing states that was the skeleton of a pro gram which might put germany back on its feet reaction in the U S was favor able the state department hailed it as a major step toward recovery in europe and it also was regard ed as a body blow to russia in th cold war but although the plan asserted with some vehemence that ger many must not again be permitted to become an aggressive powers power there was some worry as to whether france would approve it does the decision to go ahead with the political rehabilitation of western germany to the exclusion of russia s eastern zone mean that the defeated nation Is finally and irrevocably split U S officials don dont t think so the theory is that although it was rua rus sia itself which forced the western power powers to act without russia th new program does not preclude the participation of the rest of germany in the new self governing federal federation ion if and when the people of the sov let z lone one want in irl pt L |