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Show j WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS Unified Transport Board Proposed; U.S. Prestige Suffering in China; Federal Tax, Debt Slash Demanded (EDITOR'S NOTE: When opinions are expressed in these columns, they are those of 'Western Newspaper Union's news analysts and not necessarily of this newspaper.) CHINA: A New Try? The situation In China appeared to be thoroughly static, although minor maneuvers would confuse the casual observer. Chinese Reds seemed easily in the saddle and likely to remain there barring some militant action from the West a wholly improbable occurrence. THE UNITED STATES and the United Nations had asked 30 countries coun-tries to join in a demand on Chi. nese Communists that U.S. Consul Angus Ward be freed, and those nations agreed. But there was little said about what would be done if the Reds declined to free the U.S. consular official. In another move, the ailing Li Tsung-jen, acting president of the practically defunct Nationalist regime re-gime since Chiang Kai-shek "retired" "re-tired" some months ago, might attempt at-tempt to form a third Chinese government, gov-ernment, independent of both the Reds and Chiang. Informed quarters quar-ters in Hong Kong speculated to some extent on the possibility of such a maneuver. FOREIGN OBSERVERS arriving arriv-ing in Hong Kong argued that it was fair speculation that Li might attempt to form an anti-Communist, anti-Chiang organization and go to the United States to seek substantial sub-stantial material aid. According to these sources, Li was expected to go to Washington soon to bolster the aid pleas of his personal contact con-tact man, Kan Chieh-hou, who has been there several months. But wouldn't Li be whistling up a drain pipe in any effort to Involve American cash in a China venture which for all practical purposes has been written off the books? If Chiang, with the Nationalist government behind him and supported sup-ported by extensive U.S. funds and arms, couldn't stem the Red tide, how could Li believe he could convince con-vince the U.S. that he could do it, especially since he'd have to split Chiang's forces and followers to get any followers of his own? EISLER: TRUMAN GETS FIRST CHRISTMAS SEALS . . . President Truman accepts the first sheet of 1949 Chirstmas seals from Dr. James E. Perkins, managing director of the National Tuberculosis Tubercu-losis association. The seal campaign was to run from November 21 to December 25 to help raise funds for the campaign to eradicate eradi-cate tuberculosis which kills nearly 50,000 Americans each year. Better Stay Put Gerhart Eisler, the balding, chunky little Communist who fled the U.S. aboard the Polish-owned ship Batory while on bail on a con-tempt-of-congress charge, had better bet-ter stay put in the Russian zone of Germany. THE UNITED STATES supreme court emphasized that advice when it rejected Eisler's appeal, a ruling which meant Eisler faced a $1,000 fine and possible imprisonment if he returned to America. Eisler had attracted widespread notoriety because of reports that he was the Number One Communist in America. Amer-ica. While on bail, Eisler left America by stowing away on the Batory. He went first to England, which refused re-fused to hold him for U.S. action, and then to Russian-held Germany. Recently he was named chief of the newly-formed Soviet zone information in-formation ministry. THE CASE against Eisler arose when he refused to be sworn as a witness before the house un-American activities committee. PANAMA: No Blood It wasn't at all like the comic opera impression of banana republic revolutions with all the shooting and the fury. In fact there was no shooting, no blood. However, everything every-thing had been, planned for the real ingredients of a. revolt, but last-minute last-minute intervention by the diplomatic diplo-matic corps, including U.S. Ambassador Ambas-sador Monnett D. Davis, prevented any violence. INSTEAD, Police Chief Col. Jose Remoii took the stage as Panama's "strong man" and forced the resignation resig-nation of President Daniel Chanis, the surgeon-politician who had held office only four months. Vice-President Roberto F. Chi-ari Chi-ari was sworn in after a night of feverish activity involving plans for a threatened police attack on the presidential palace. Fighter TRANSPORT: Policy Board Asked A move to establish a central policy board to integrate and supervise su-pervise United States programs covering air, water, rails and highways high-ways was to be urged upon President Presi-dent Truman. Charles Sawyer, commerce secretary, was the cabinet cabi-net member who would broach the matter to the President. According to proponents of the move, it would save the taxpayers a big part of the 1.5 billion dollars now being spent by the individual agencies having to do with various iorms of transportation. THE REPORT on the matter, which is to go to the President, may call for studies as to whether the government should impose "user charges" on the air and trucking lines, shipping firms and railroads -which benefit from federal outlays on highways, airports, harbor work and other facilities. It was said the commerce secretary's secre-tary's report was now in the rough-lraft rough-lraft stage after talks with all agencies agen-cies concerned. According to supporters of the move, it was designed only to effect n efficient national transportation system, with high emphasis on military mil-itary usefulness at lowest possible costs in federal outlays. HOWEVER, most Americans and certainly the transportation companies com-panies would see quite a great deal more in the proposal, especially in the mention of a "users' charge" plan. To tax the transportation agencies 1ot use of highways, air or sea lanes, would mean nothing more than increased in-creased cost to patrons of these -4 agencies, which would mean added tax, but under another name. With railroads already granted passenger passen-ger fare rates over large sections of the country, with air lines screaming scream-ing for subsidies and with the merchant mer-chant marine requiring subsidy if it Is to remain in action, the "users' charge" proposal was certain to meet with monumental opposition. The people, at long last, were becoming be-coming aware of the growing hypocrisy hypoc-risy in federal promises of better service and cheaper costs, by adding add-ing to the price of this or that commodity com-modity or service vital to the people. peo-ple. THEBARKLEYS:. "I Do's" Are Said The "I do's" were said, quips j were traded at the reception, the shouting and tumult were over, and Vice-President Alben W. Barkley of Kentucky and Mrs. Carleton S. Hadley, of St. Louis, were joined in holy wedlock. IT was a May and December romance ro-mance that had caught the fancy of all America. Mr. Barkley's wooing woo-ing activities were as much a part of the nation's front-page news as were arguments over what Russia was doing with the atomic bomb If she had one. Everybody wished the Barkleys well. Everyone agreed that the "Veep," as he prefers to call himself, him-self, was quite a better man physi-) physi-) cally at 71 than is the average male. His stamina and good health under the gruelling pressure of a presidential campaign and as a senate leader, eloquently attested that fact. 'His continual good humor, his 'courtly air, his genuine "gen-tlemanliness," "gen-tlemanliness," all counted high in his favor in any prediction as to how this marriage would fare. Shah Urges Peace A second distinguished visitor from the East in almost as many weeks had urged the United Nations Na-tions to bring about peace particularly par-ticularly for the smaller, weaker nations. A peace, he suggested, that would permit these nations to build toward social justice and prosperity. This second petitioner was Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi of Iran, visiting young monarch, whose nation na-tion has had nervous relations with its Gargantuan neighbor, Soviet Russia. The Shah, a personable potentate po-tentate who became popular with all the throngs who had seen him, was in the U.S. for a week's state visit. U.S. PRESTIGE: Suffers in China The prestige of the United States was suffering in China and wasn't gaining any ground elsewhere as a result of the fence-sitting policy on what to do about U.S. consul general gen-eral Angus Ward, a prisoner of the Chinese Communists. Ward and four consular attaches were being held incommunicado in Mukden on charges they beat up a Chinese workman in the consulate some weeks ago. NO ONE wanted war and there was no intention of jingoism in charges of U.S. indifference to Ward's plight and its own prestige that were being hurled generally. It just looked bad for the most powerful nation in the world already al-ready up to the shoulders in a pressure pres-sure war with Russia to let Russian-dominated Chinese hold a top consular official. As even a schoolboy knows, "face," or prestige, is a great thing in the oriental mind, and if the U.S. planned ever to do anything any-thing about recovering China from the Communists, a sustained hands-off hands-off policy in the Ward incident wouldn't aid the effort. TAXATION: Cut Demanded One figure in government, another an-other important figure, once in, now out, joined coincidentally enough in a demand for a cut in federal spending and taxation. ' THE GOVERMENT FIGURE, Virginia's Democratic Sen. Harry Byrd, declared in Washington that federal spending could be cut as much as 10 billion dollars without impairing government functions. In Biloxi, Miss., James F. Byrnes, former U.S. senator and one-time secretary of state, sharply sharp-ly criticized administration spending spend-ing and called for a cut-in federal taxes and public debt. BYRD INSISTED that the spending spend-ing slash he urged could be brought about by eliminating recent increases in-creases in "more than 30 budget items;" a two billion dollar cut-in "nonessential and deferable spending spend-ing through "prompt and effective" unification of the armed services. Byrnes declared the nation's "real trouble is debt and taxes. We cannot cure it by more debt and more taxes. We should devote to cutting expenditures some of the thought we are devoting to taxing and borrowing." These views would endear neither neith-er gentlemen to President Truman who is always less polite to critics of his spending policies. mmmmm v Dr. Tingfu Tsiangj China's representative on the United Nations, has served notice he will fight any effort by the Chinese Chi-nese Communist government to oust him from his post. IRISH: Ready to Fight The Irish, according to a prominent promi-nent spokesman, were ready to fight if necessary to regain the six British-controlled British-controlled counties of Northern Ireland. Ire-land. The spokesman was Gen. Thomas Barry, a retired Irish army officer who was in the U.S. to speak at an anti-partition rally of the United Irish Societies of Western Pennsylvania. Pennsyl-vania. The general was a hero of the Irish rebellion. |