CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE March 17

the issue is squarely joined in the Senate to decide whether or not outdoor

advertising companies are to be handed,

as a gift from Congress, the bonanza of

plastering their signs along the $40 billion worth of splendid new cross-country

highways to be built from the taxes of

traveling Americans. Billboard control

has been included in this highway bill

with the endorsement of the present administration. I believe President Eisenhower himself has expressed the wish

that control could be accomplished.

Can we do less than the extremely moderate steps now proposed to encourage

and assist the States to act?

I hope that eminent leaders of the

Democratic Party, such as ex-President

Harry Truman, Gov. Adlai Stevenson,

and others may find occasion to add

their voices to the chorus demanding

that the public interest in roadside billboard control be recognized by Congress

in our highway legislation. One such

leader has already done so, Mr. President, both by action in his own State

and by public statements. The distinguished Governor of our most populous

State, Gov. W. Averell Harriman, endorsed billboard control in testimony before our Senate Roads Subcommittee.

In an article in the Reporter magazine,

Governor Harriman explained what has

been done in New York State, particularly on the beautiful New York State

Thruway, and what ought to be done

everywhere. In concluding my remarks,

I ask unanimous consent to include in

the RECORD this article by Governor Harriman, from the Reporter of March 6,

1958.

There being no objection, the article

was ordered to be printed in the RECORD,

as follows:

A GREAT GREEN PATH ACROSS AMERICA

(By Averell Harriman)

ALBANY-It seems to me that the case for

banning billboards on our new National System of Defense and Interstate Highways is

both simple and irrefutable. We have mapped out and begun building what will be the

largest superhighway system in the world.

If we keep it free of billboards it can also

be one of the most beautiful.

In the field of transportation, the American

genius for the practical has created many objects of unique utility, ranging from the Yankee clippers to the Brooklyn Bridge, which

have also been uniquqely beautiful. The divided limited-access expressway, following

the contours of the land rather than slicing

through it, is in many ways our most impressive achievement yet. The gliding, effortless grace of these vast stretches of concrete sweeping along the American countryside has given a new dimension to travel, and

thereby to life in the United States.

Three-quarters of the mileage of the Interstate System will be built over new rights-ofway, where no road has ever before existed.

Since they can be entered only at 15- to 20-

mile intervals, there will be none of the ribbon development that has grown up along

our older roads. If the billboards are also

kept away from our new superhighways the

countryside will remain untouched; in constructing a military transportation system,

we shall have built at the same time 41,000

miles of national park.

Legislation aimed at banning billboards

from the Interstate System was defeated In

Congressional committee last year. The same

bill is up for action again this session, but

If it fails again it may be too late. The

States, which are paying 10 percent of the

cost and carrying out the actual construction,

have already completed some sections. The

billboards are already going up. Once they

are up, there is little likelihood of their ever

coming down.

Toward the end of last year's battle in

Congress, Arthur Krock observed that the

public didn't seem to care what happened.

I think it might be more accurate to say that

the public didn't know what was at stake.

Perhaps it still does not. It may be we

have shouted "colossal" at one another so

often we have trouble recognizing something

really big when it does come along. In much

the way that space satellites were once looked

upon by some as just another scientific gimmick, the Interstate System seems to be

generally regarded as just another highway

program.

It is a great deal more than that. The

Highway Act of 1956 authorized the largest

public-works program in history. We are not

simply improving our road-transportation

facilities, the way Indian trails were made

into wagon routes which in turn became

highways. We are creating an entirely new

system to bind centers of population together in a vast network of four-lane, limited-access, and for the most part toll-free

superhighways. In the age of the metropolis

and the automobile, it will become the primary transportation system of the Nation. It

will take at least 13 years to complete and

will cost $60 billion-three times the total

capitalization of American railroads.

BLOCKING OUT THE CATSKILLS

Because what we are building is an entirely new system, it has become both more

necessary and at the same time more possible for us to maintain our contacts with

the strength and beauty of the American

countryside. It is wrong to let the billboards

spoil it all.

To understand the alternatives, one need

only compare the New York State Thruway with Route 17, which connects with

the throughway near my farm at Harriman 40

miles north of New York City. The throughway, running up the Hudson to Albany and

from there west along the Mohawk to Buffalo and beyond, is one of the first major

segments of the Interstate System to have

been completed. In my opinion it is one of

the most beautiful highways in the world,

giving the traveler magnificent views of the

Hudson and Mohawk Valleys. Route 17

runs through equally lovely country In the

Catskill Mountains and along the southern

tier of New York counties. It is not yet

part of the Interstate System, but it is

being rebuilt to interstate specifications by

many of the same engineers who built the

throughway. The only difference is that a

State law forbids billboards within 500 feet

of the throughway whereas Route 17, which

is not so protected, Is being lined with billboards that either block out the Catskills

or distract the eyes from them.

As if that weren't bad enough in itself,

we recently discovered that crews of workmen had been sent by unknown persons

onto State property along a newly completed stretch of Route 17 to cut down

stands of trees that were obstructing the

view of some new billboards.

Banning billboards along the new Interstate Highways could scarcely be called a

heavy blow to the advertising industry.

There are 3,400,000 miles of streets and roads

in the Nation, most of which remain open to

as many billboards as advertisers are willing to pay for. The Interstate System will

add a mere 1.2 percent to the total mileage.

Moreover, the small businesses such as motels and restaurants that use billboards to

advertise their whereabouts can do so at

the exits, which are the only points where

travelers can turn off the highways anyway.

The curious-and recently discoveredargument that billboards contribute to traffic safety by keeping people awake is an admirable bit of best-defense-is-a-strongoffense strategy, but that is about all that

can be said for it. To be sure, it has not

been established that billboards actually

cause accidents on the open highways, although a study made by the Minnesota Department of Highways in cooperation with

the United States Bureau of Public Roads

indicated that the greater the number of

nonofficial signs at intersections, the higher

were the accident rates. As for the open

highways, there is not one jot of scientifically

documented evidence to prove billboards actually prevent accidents at any hour of the

day, much less at night when most of them

can't be seen anyway.

INDUCEMENT TO THE STATES

The responsibility for protecting the

beauty of our new highways is inescapably

that of the individual States that are designing and building them and will subsequently maintain them. Such is the power

of the billboard interests, however, that it

seems clear there will have to be some Federal inducement to persuade the States to

act. Last year I requested the New York

State Legislature to extend the throughway

prohibition against billboards to all of our

interstate and limited-access highways. The

bill passed the assembly by a thumping 124

to 19, only to meet a silent death in a

senate committee. I have requested legislative action again this year.

Senator ALBERT GORE of Tennessee, chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Public

Roads, is vigorously supporting a proposal to

increase by three-quarters of 1 percent the

amount the Federal Government will pay toward construction in any State that prohibits billboards within 660 feet of the interstate highway. This would add nothing

to the total cost of the highways but it

would provide a substantial inducement to

State legislators. And it is they, after all,

who must make the final decision.

THE SENATE'S MAJORITY LEADER,

LYNDON B. JOHNSON

Mr. PROXMIRE. Mr. President, I

congratulate the distinguished majority

leader on his leadership during the past

week. Last week was indeed a positive

and constructive week in the history of

the Senate. Action was taken which

will put to work hundreds of thousands

of persons who are now unemployed.

Considering the few weeks the Senate

has been in session, this accomplishment was very remarkable, indeed. In

verve and drive it has been compared by

competent journalists with the first

hundred days under President Franklin

D. Roosevelt. It certainly constitutes a

great landmark in Senate leadership.

The majority leader deserves a world of

credit for this.

As a Senator from Wisconsin, I feel

certain I express the sentiment of the

people of Wisconsin, especially those

who are now out of work, who will be

put to work by the accomplishments of

last week. I express deep thanks for a

remarkably able leadership.

CALE P. HAUN AND JULIA FAY

HAUN-VETO MESSAGE (S. DOC.

NO. 83)

The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr.

CLARK in the chair) laid before the Senate the following message from the Pres4510
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE

Ident of the United States, which was

read, and, with the accompanying bill,

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and ordered to be printed:

To the Senate:

I return herewith, without my approval, S. 674, entitled "An act for the

relief of Cale P. Haun and Julia Pay

Haun."

The bill would provide that, for the

purpose of determining the Individual

liability for income taxes for the taxable

year 1953 of Cale P. Haun and Julia Fay

Haun, sole stockholders of River Grange

Co., Inc., which was liquidated pursuant

to a plan of complete liquidation

adopted on December 24, 1953, the elections of Cale P. Haun and Julia Fay

Haun to have the benefits of section 112

(b) (7) (A) of the Internal Revenue

Code shall be considered to have been

filed within 30 days after the adoption

of such plan. The bill states that the

mailing of such election was delayed,

without negligence or fault on the part of

such stockholders, beyond the 30th day

following the adoption of such plan.

Section 112 (b) (7) of the Internal

Revenue Code of 1939 provides a special

rule in the case of certain complete

liquidations of domestic corporations occurring within 1 calendar month for the

treatment of gain on the shares of stock

owned by qualified electing shareholders. The effect of this section is to permit deferral of tax upon unrealized appreciation in the value of the property

distributed in liquidation. An election

to be governed by section 112 (b) (7)

must be filed by the shareholder or by

the liquidating corporation with the

Commissioner of Internal Revenue on

or before midnight of the 30th day after

adoption of the plan of liquidation. The

bill would waive this requirement for

the named taxpayers.

The records of the Treasury Department show that River Grange Co., Inc.,

adopted a plan of complete liquidation

on December 24, 1953. The Internal

Revenue Service began an examination

of the return of this corporation on September 9, 1954, and a question arose as

to whether the stockholders had filed

an election under section 112 (b) (7).

It was found that no such election had

been filed. A representative of the taxpayers has advised that an election was

mailed on or about September 10, 1954,

which date was more than 7 months after

the expiration of the statutory period

for filing the election.

Except in the case of special circumstances, the enactment of special legislative relief for a taxpayer who has not

made an election within the time prescribed by law constitutes an inequitable

discrimination against other taxpayers

similarly situated. The primary extenuating circumstance on which the taxpayers appear to rely in this instance is

that a professional adviser, upon whom

the taxpayers were accustomed to depend in legal matters, was incapacitated

by illness 6 months prior to the adoption

of the plan of liquidation so that the

taxpayers were compelled to rely on

other professional advisers. The circumstances of this case do not seem to

justify special legislative relief.

The granting of special relief in this

case would constitute an inequitable discrimination against other taxpayers

similarly situated and would create an

undesirable precedent which might encourage other taxpayers to seek relief in

the same manner.

Under the circumstances, therefore, I

am constrained to withhold my approval

of the bill.

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER.

THE WHITE HOUSE, March 17, 1958.

WPA AND PWA

Mr. PROXMIRE. Mr. President, the

Milwaukee Journal points out in a recent

article that no American wants to return to the days of the WPA and PWA,

and that while this was an unhappy

period in American history, President

Eisenhower, in a recent statement by him

was unnecessarily harsh in criticizing the

spirit behind these agencies.

The Milwaukee Journal has never been

a New Deal paper. It has been extremely

critical of many of the big Government,

big brother implications of the New Deal.

With a sense of fairness which has always characterized the Journal, however,

it points out that many Americans have

deep gratitude toward these New Deal

agencies, which saved them from idleness

and starvation, and provided in many

cases a rich and invaluable investment in

highways, bridges, libraries, schools, and

erosion control and irrigation programs.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent

that this editorial be printed in the RECORD at this point following my remarks.

There being no objection, the editorial

was ordered to be printed in the RECORD,

as follows:

DON'T BELrrTLE WPA AND PWA

No American wants to return to the days

of WPA or PWA. The very initials bring

memories of an unhappy period in American

history. Nevertheless, President Eisenhower

was unnecessarily harsh in mention of WPA

and PWA in his Saturday statement about

the present recession.

Many Americans have a deep gratitude

toward those New Deal agencies, which saved

them from idleness and starvation. Furthermore, accomplishments of those depressiontime, made-work programs are still with

us today, 20 years after the agencies were

liquidated.

What did the WPA (Works Progress Administration) and the PWA (Public Works

Administration) do?

Between 1934 and 1943, the WPA and

predecessor agencies pumped almost $15 billion into the economy. Jobs were provided

for more than 8 million Americans on 11/2

million projects. There was some waste,

some leaf raking. However, WPA contributed

643,000 miles of highways, roads, and streets;

77,000 bridges and viaducts; 54,000 new public buildings; 5,832 schools, libraries, auditoriums, and gymnasiums; 1,650 parks, 3,000

playgrounds; 285 new airports; 944 sewage

treatment plants; and hundreds of flood and

erosion control, irrigation, and conservation

projects.

Here in Milwaukee, the WPA improved 900

miles of roads and streets, erected 43 bridges

and viaducts, reconstructed 91 schools, installed 222 miles of street lighting, and built

many miles of storm and sanitary sewers.

WPA and CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps)

-labor developed and improved much of the

county park system. It made Whitnall

Estabrook, and Lincoln Parks the beauty

spots they are.

The PWA constructed 34,524 projects, rang- ing in size from a 1-room school in Arizona

to a $60 million sewage disposal facility in

Chicago. At its peak, it employed 650,000

men on construction sites and an estimated

1,200,000 off the sites. Total cost of PWA

construction was $6 billion, of which roughly

a third was contributed by benefiting com- munities.

In the Milwaukee area, PWA helped build

the filtration plant and the Cherry Street

bridge, nearly $4 million worth of school improvements, and $3 million worth of sewer

repairs and extensions. The Parklawn housing project was a PWA development. Most

of the suburbs built schools, sewers, and

streets with PWA aid.

To apply such words as "schemes" and

"dubious activities" and "unsound" in blanket indictment of WPA and PWA seems uncalled for and unjustified.

It may be, of course, that Mr. Eisenhower

didn't have an awareness of the need or accomplishment of WPA and PWA. All of that

time he was sheltered in the Army, much of

it serving as General MacArthur's aide in

the far-off Philippines.

ECONOMIC DECLINE

Mr. PROXMIRE. Mr. President, of

course public officials do a great disservice to our country when they create a

dangerous psychology of pessimism by

exaggerating the seriousness of the economic decline.

On the other hand, they do a similar

disservice by remaining silent or by exaggerating the optimistic trends in our

economy.

I feel very strongly, Mr. President,

that it is desirable for public officials to

speak out and, on the basis of the most

responsible and authoritative facts they

can find, to indicate exactly what is the

status of our economy. With this in

mind, I call the attention of the Senate

to two excellent articles which appeared

recently. Mr. John G. Forrest, of the

New York Times, reported yesterday

that there are serious danger signals

with regard to our Nation's economic

health. The Department of Commerce

and the Securities and Exchange Commission have said, according to Forrest.

that business spending this year would

fall 13 percent, or $5 billion below that

of last year.

Forrest also reports that at the same

time, the Federal Reserve Board describes in its latest survey of consumer

spending a spreading pessimism about

the economic outlook, and more seriously, a cutback by consumers in plans

to buy major products. Forrest reports

that home building last month dropped

to the lowest annual rate since 1954.

He calls attention to slumping exports

and the prospect that these will be substantially below those of last year.

In a similar article by Mr. Harold B.

Dorsey in this morning's Washington

Post and Times Herald, Mr. Dorsey predicts that the annual rate of business

capital expenditures for the first 6

months of this year is likely to show a

year-to-year decline .of at least $6 billion, and expresses his personal opinion

that the decline will be much larger.

He also points to the drop in the annual

rate of exports of from $2 billion to $3

billion a year below last year, and expresses concern that Government moves

1958 4511