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Show 'The show must go on DESERET NEWS - And on-A- ART DUCH17ALD on nd SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH Presidential Humor We Stand For The Constitution Of The United States Dear President Nixon, This wOJ be the first of many letters I will write to you in the next four years telling you how tc nm the country. Youll be very happy to hear that there is no charge for this advice as I feel its my duty as a loyal American to help the President solve the many problems of the day. Now the first thing, Mr. President, I think youre going to have to stop is the jokes. I watched you on television making the rounds of the inaugural balls last week, and while I chuckled as much as you did at everything you had to say, my fear is that you cant keep up that high pace of humor and also perform the duties of President As Having Been Divinely Inspired UA EDITORIAL PAGE TUESDAY, JANUARY 28, 1969 THE SPIRITUAL CRISIS How Much Crime Con America Take? Assuming that it takes five minutes to read this editorial, by the time the reader reaches the end, 24 serious crimes will have been committed somewhere in America. During this brief period there will be, on the average, one robbery, two aggravated assaults, 10 burglaries, five car thefts, five other larcenies, and a forcible rape. In the next hour, someone in this country will be murdered. of the United States. ' The trouble with being President and. using witty lines is that by the third time youve told them everyone In the country has heard them, and you g .t to sound like a recorded announcement. Take these facts, shocking as they are, and multiply them by the fact that much crime no one can be sure exactly how much, but knowledgeable observers believe it could very well constitute the bulk of many crimes such as rape is never I'm not saying you shouldnt have a sense of humor in your administration, because heaven knows the country needs a laugh, but I think you could turn this problem over to your vice president, Mr. Agrsw, or if worst comes to worst your secretary of the interior, Walter Hickel. reported. To this equation add the fact that crime in America has been increasing at a rate variously figured at from seven to 10 times as rapidly as the population has been growing. Finally, take into account that 72 percent of total arrests for serious crimes are youthful offenders, and that each year the proportion grows greater. All this is why theres a sharp limit to the satisfaction Utahns can take from this weeks report that with 313 more arrests in 1968 over 1967, Salt Lake Citys crime index is increasing less than that of the nation as a whole. Like the occupants of a rowboat, we can hardly take the position that the leak in the other end of the boat is no concern of ours. The crime rate also shows that President Nixon was right when, in his inaugural address a week ago, he diagnosed what ails America as being fundamentally a crisis of the spirit. Granted that poor social conditions such as slums, unemployment, and poverty can foster despair and stir up resentments that are all too easy to express in violent, unlawful ways. But how can the increasing crime problem be explained away on this basis when by most objective standards America is growing more prosperous and its prosperity is being more widely shared all the time? Granted that police forces across the country are underand But isnt this a sympstaffed, under-paitom of Americas increasing lawlessness, rather than a cause? Granted, too, that police have been handcuffed and disrespect for the lew has beeu inspired by court decisions that have made it unreasonably difficult to obtain convictions and have freed confessed criminals to rob, rape, and murder again. Even so, how can any assessment of the growth of crime in America be considered complete without taking into account the rift in the nations moral fiber? Just ask FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, who reports that children who attend Sunday School regularly seldom become involved in juvenile criminal violations. Conversely, of 8,000 youths who appeared before one juvenile court judge, none had parents who attended church regularly, and only 42 of the youths themselves had attended regularly. Ask Harold R. McKinnon, San Francisco lawyer who has been a member of that citys police commission. On the basis of his experience in dealing with crime, he concludes that What we need is a moral revolution. What we need is character, morals, and a way of life that makes crime disreputable. Or just ask yourself if it isnt common sense that Americas overemphasis on material things creates desires exceeding any respect for laws and fundamental human rights . . . that the entertainment medias overemphasis on sensuality and brutality stimulates the weak into excesses . . . that the failure of many parents tc provide spiritual and religious training for their children leaves a void that is frequently filled by imd, over-worke- As a matter of fact, there are many people in Washington, including Congress, the Supreme Court and the Pentagon, who can provide laughs for this country, without you having to work on your own humor. Meet The Press Perhaps the most encouraging aspect of President Nixons press conference yesterday was not so much what he said or how he said it but his promptness in holding the conference. well. Moreover, coming just one week after he took office, the press conference should encourage those who see the conference not as a favor to the news media but as a means for the President to educate the American people and to become educated himself in return as to the overriding concerns of the public. As such, the press conference is a tool that should be used regularly and frequently if it is to be fully effective. As a case in point, Lyndon Johnsons infrequent use of the press conference is recognized as being one reason for the credibility gap that plagued his administration. If President Nixon is to succeed in his goal of reuniting a badly divided America, he should meet the press as often as subpossible. Its a confident administration that regularly mits itself to the searching scrutiny of an informed press but confidence begets confidence. new Metroliner The has been operating for a little more than a week now, running from New York to Washington in the morning, and back to New York in the afternoon. The new service is good, but it is not good enough. Much more will be re--. quired, probably in I the form of mas- I sive federal sub-sidy for the laying Mr. Kilpatrick of new track, before a new day arrives of passenger Penn-Centra- ls : travel by rail. The prospect is of importance not only in the Northeast, where transportation problems grow more exasperating by the hour, but in the rest of the country as well. If a real breakthrough can be acin the New complished n corridor, or in the run between New York and Boston, the benefits will spread swiftly to at least 20 other metropolitan corridors of 250 to 300 miles. The lessons is learning are lesthat Detroit-Chicagsons for Milwaukee-ChicagSeattle-Sa- n Francisco, Kansas City-SLouis, and many others. The new Metroliner is the first harvest of the High Speed Ground Transportation Act of 1967. The act authorized a $:) million investment of tax funds in the development of two prototype trains. is investing $53 million of its own. Penn-Centr- o, t. Penn-Centr- What is there to show for the money? to please lack of zeal ; the than employes ruins the effectiveness succeeds to hard only in please usual'y man who tries too before. none existed where creating problems f A ss JAMES J. KILPATRICK : ended. ' I started to laugh at that one and then I got pretty shaken. Mr. President, do you know something we dont know? I know its gratuitous for me to dis-cuss your humor with you, but thought if I mentioned it now, it might save you time later on. No one can come up with as you did on as many good it up for four and keep inaugural night, years. Ive talked it over with my colleagues. Art Hoppe, Herblock, Bill Mauldin, Paul Conrad, and many other people in the ' political humor business and we all agreed that you should be spared the. problem of entertaining us while running the country. To paraphrase the Greyhound Bus advertisement: Go Air Force One and leave the joking to us. . one-line- Sincerely, ' A.B. six-ca- prise. The cars are attractive, the seats are comfortable, and the specially trained staff is a model of courtesy. To be sure, the view of Newark is something less than inspring, but this is At 8:55, the no fault of voice of our pilot comes over the public address system: Our speed is row 100 miles per hour. We are running on welded rails. At 9:18, there is a stop at Trenton. The train hits Philadelphia at 9:46, stops briefly at Wilmington and Baltimore, and glides into Washingtons Union Station, three blocks from the Capitol, at 11:20. The 2:50 schedule is realistic. It knocks 35 minutes off the previous best fare of $19.90 is time. The first-clas- s competitive with Eastern Airlines $18 fare on the shuttle. The coach fare of $12.75 is a bargain. Cocktails are available at $1.15. Meals range from $1.25 for breakfast to $3.25 for a dinner. Penn-Centra- L full-cour- As a working reporter, covering a national beat, I fly from sixty to a hundred thousand miles a year. And speaking for every air traveler who ever got stacked - The Nixon WASHINGTON (NANA) Administration and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee r.re on a collision course. high-spee- I resigned for reasons of policy; you quit because of a disagreement; he was fired for poor judgment. I d tippled too much; than dope is guide last night; you he got gassed. gourmet is usually little more a glutton festooned with charge cards. I am he is serious; grim. you are Public benefits are equally apparent. track can carry as many passengers per hour as a twenty-lan- e expressway, without smog, anxiety and accidents. With highways and airlines saturated at peak periods, really good rail service in major urban corridors would be a wonderful blessing. A single rail MetroBut the New liner, with deference to the government and industry men who have labored so hard on the project, simply isnt the answer. The 2:50 schedule is an improvement of only 36 minutes (on a run) over schedules of 1935. The new cars are comfortable, but they lack many of the elementary amenities of aii such as a place to stow trash. liners Later this year, when the New Haven launches 3:15 runs between New York and Boston, an hour better than todays best service, we will get a look at the new Turbotrain. That should be better yet. Count this an interim report on a project in transition. If the Congress is willd rail ing to put big money into and thats a big if on Capsubsidies a great deal more can itol Hill today be done. Meanwhile, philosophically, fasten your seatbelts. 226-mil- e - high-spee- ERNEST CUNEO With Semantics a at LaGuardia, or Policy Debate Shaping Having Fun The difference between sheet and an investment about $50 a copy. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR trudged the endless mazes of OHare, I can say that in some ways the new rail service is better: No agonizing drives to a distant airport, no takecff delays, no landing delays, no ramp delays, no seatbelts, no hostesses ordering you to get that seat in an upright position for landing. up r in point of fact. The Metroliner, carrying 308 passengers on a typical manifest, now pulls out of Pennsylvania Station in New York at the stroke of 8:30 every morning. If you tend to think of rail travel in terms of dirty and rough cars, rude conductors, roadbeds, youre in for a stunning sur- A good deal, SYDNCY HARRIS d The foreign policies of Presidents William McKinley. W.xidrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt precipitated the bitterest Great Debates in American history. All had as their basic question, to isolate or not to isolate. The fury of these great debates are such as to dispel easily the idea that the Americans are a phlegmatic people. From President Wilsons acid observation that "a little group of wilful men were suffering freedom to die, to Senator Burton K. Wheelers savage charge that to plough under every FDR planned third American boy, the presidential-senatoribrawls have been about as restrained as a bowie-kniffight on the old al solemn; e is capital invested Risk capital after all risk has been minimized in every possible legal and extra legal way. frontier. Educational television cannot flourname for bself that is ish until it finds less redolent of institutional dullness. there. American policy on Vietnam has resembled more a compromise on a congressional bill than a foreign policy. It is as if a number of doctors could not agree on whether or not to operate, and compromised by permitting the surgeon only an Incision one inch in depth. By analogy, this compromise results in useless shedding of blood without effecting the result desired. For this reason, a great many of the hawK senators have turned dove. They hold that unless the American forces are fully free to use their tremendous strength, they should be withdrawn entirely. These senators, now dove, may be expected to rally to President Nixons position, but only paradoxically enough, The connotation of some words often turns into the opposite of their denotaedible denotes tion; as an example, whatever is fit to be eaten, but it connotes that which is barely fit to be eaten, and tc call a certain food "edible is to mark down its gustatory value. What we stiffly call "hegemony" when the Russians do it is what v call the Monroe Doctrine when we do it the practice of protecting customers from our competitors. Over-eagerne- . Rtniiiiiiiiiimnniiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinniiiiiiiiiiiiininunniiinnniitmmi Notes On The New Metroliner namely, Afterthoughtof more s, r A To say this is not to downgrade the other aspects of what was by all accounts an impressive initial performance. Mr. Nixon began the news conference without an opening statement, and stood alone behind a single microphone without any lectern or prepared notes. Yet his answers were clear and sharp. Here was a man who plainly had done his homework prec-dent- and I doubt if youll find six humorous things either one of them said that people are still quoting. I must admit you had a few beauts on inaugural night. That one about Spiro Agnew marrying above himself was a rib tickler, and the one about someone giving you the key to the White House and you thought you better go there was . good enough for Laugh-InThe only one I didnt understand was the joke about Guy Lombardo. You said at the Smithsonian that you and Pat had danced to Guy Lombardos orchestra on VJ night, and you hoped Guy Lombardo would still be playing when the next war P.S. How could Guy Lombardo still be d. proper influences. Crime in America is too big a problem for the task of cleaning it up to be delegated entirely to Congress or the courts or to the police. Rather, it Is a task that should be shouldered by each of us as parents and as responsible citizens concerned with guarding this land of ours against the decay that results when men walk in fear of each other. my mind that you could do it, I dont feel Calvin you have to. Warren Harding and as tremendous did jobs Coolidge our My favorite semantic flight of fancy for the month comes from the who defined the French phrase pas de deux as the 'xther of twins. Actually, the great debate on Vietnam is long oyerdue. Failure to air the issues may be the cause of our difficulties if it is sufficiently hawkish. The powerful Democratic senatorial doves have long insisted that President Johnson unconstitutionally backed tho country Into the war by extending the Gulf of Tonkin resolution. Practically all voted, however, for the appropriations for the armed forces once they were committed to battle. However, a very considerable number of senators thereafter brought all possible argument and pressrn to bear on limiting or stopping the bombing. They took this extreme position pursuant to a dedicated view that this additional risk to American fighting men was justified in a desperate attempt to effect a peace. Equally dedicated senators, as well as the American generals and admirals, earnestly told them they would increase casualties five fold. It is all but certain that the Nixon administration will not accept this continuing rate of American casualties. Obviously, Nixon will attempt to fix both responsibility and blame for the loss of American life on the Senate doves. GUEST CARTOON aiuuiiuiiiiiiiniiiiiniiiiniiiinniniiiiiininiinnuiiiiiiiiniiuniiiiiiuniiauiuimik 'Misleading' Chart On the front page of the Jan. 23 issue of fee Deseret News, a chart was published showing tax rates in fee western states. The property tax column indicates that the tax is figured on the per cent relationship between taxes paid per year and fair cash value of the property. It is impossible for a chart like this to be accurate for any given area because tax rates 'Will vary up and down the state, not only in Utah, but in Nevada and other states. Therefore, this gives a . " colored picture of the whole situation. As an example, under the law, a $100,000 property located in Salt Lake City would be taxed at ; . $2,000. In actual fact, however, it is taxed at about $1,850. The tax would vary in Salt Lake County depending on district, and would run all the way from $1,500 to $1,800. In Provo fee tax would, be v less, in Ogden it would be higher. Taxes in Nevada are supposed to be uniform' throughout the state because the law says that the total tax rate is applied per $100 of assessed valua- - ' tion. Assessed valuation is a full 35 per cent of cash value. The tax rate, by the Nevada Corfitu-tio- n, ' is limited to not more than $5 per $100. in a Reno, This being fee case, $100,000 building Nevada, would te taxes at $1,750. According to your chart, the tax would be $1,460. I suppose the , variance comes because, as stated in the law, :nof ' more than $5 per $100 and, I would imagine, that there are certain parts of Nevada where they are not up to the $5 figures. The point of all this is that a chart like this is ' read by companies who are comparing Salt Lake City to Reno, Nevada, to open new warehousing and manufacturing plants. At this writing, we have four such companies and all four of them are undoubtedly subscribing to the Deseret News as this is one of the first things they do when they start looking a city over. Now, because of this misleading chart, it is going to be necessary to write the four companies and explain the situation to them. We can explain to them, but what about the others we dont know about who will pick up the same misleading information? , . --A. KYLE BETTILYON, 445 E. 2nd South Editors note: The chart was printed verbatim from the budget message to the Legis- lature. 'No Tax Hike' t i ' The following letter bearing over 40 signatures has been forwarded to the three representatives and one senator representing Cache County in the State Legislature: ' "We, the undersigned voters of Cache County, are opposed to any and all tax increases that mdy be proposed in the Legislature this year. We feel our tax burden at this time is higher than K needs to be if governments would just make better use of the money spent We oppose any expenditures or increases in money allocated to education until " proof is provided that full use is being made of present facilities and educational personnel are weeks at the job they have ' working full been hired to do. I would like to add this thought. We are not opposed to education or better education but we do not feel that the aiuuunt of money spent deter ' mines the quality of education received. Since education receives over half of the state budget, surely this is one area in which savings must be made. --L. D. ALLRED Logan It's No Gravy When Commissioner Blomquist announced the dollar federal grant (which no Republican should ever apply for) to be used for beautification projects by the city and the county, he termed the grant award of the multi-millio- n gravy. On Top of the Situation Will someone please tell Commissioner Blomquist that federal grants come from taxes and ai;e not gravy, in any sense of the word or ws he subconsciously giving the slip to what he really thinks of public moneys? I am sure the taxpayers and the Department of Housing and Urban Development would like to knew. -R- ICHARD A. DAVIS 1453 W. 3rd South OilctM Duly Nw J , |