davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1952-08-10
BY WiIIiom Hines

it is easy to make sterling's relation
ship with the dollar clear if you take
the cases of two men, one an Amer
ican and the other an Englishman.
John Doe, American, receives a
cablegram from London to the effect
that his great-aunt has died and
willed him a cool million pounds ster-
ling. He thinks of all the things he
can buy with $2.8 millions house,
a big car, some blue-chip stocks. But
England says no. He may convert
500 pounds into dollars-$1, ,400-but
must leave the other 999,500 pounds
in England.
Meanwhile, Richard Roe Of Lon
don gets a cable from New York
about his uncle Reginald, who died
and left him $2.8 million. Richard
likewise glories in the dreams of what
he can do with such vast store of
cash. But the British law gets in
the way again. Richard must offer"
his American holdings to the British
treasury, which gladly accepts them,
giving Richard a million pounds in
return. Like John Doe. American.
Richard can spend $1.400 abroad.
but must leave the rest of his huge
fortune on the tight little island.
But there is an alternative for
Richard. which is not so readily avail
able for his American cousin. He
can take his million pounds and in
vest it in sheep station in Australia
also a sterling bloc country. The
money his Australian farm makes can
be transferred to London any time
he wants it. The American can buy
an Australian ranch, too, but If he
does, he cannot get the money out
of Australia to support him in Amer
Evening star., 1952-08-10

Mr.. Lovett might want some legis-
lative backing in making a change
although he admitted he already had
the right to give the chairman sole
authority. Mr.. Bonner therefore in
and create an Undersecretary of De-
fense for supply management. Mr..
Lovett, agreeing there was room
for improvement" gave the bill his
qualified Endorsement.
Then a jurisdictional dispute de-
veloped in Congress. Chairman
Vinson of the House Armed Services
Committee, which handles all service
legislation, took over the Bonner pro-
posal. The bill sort of faded away
to the glee of service personnel.
0'Mohoney Moves in
But Chairman O'Mahoney of the
Senate Appropriations Military SUBJ
committee became interested. With
the appropriations passed by his
committee. the services have been
making purchases in accordance with
their own regulations, many of which
are generations old. In the interest
"of achieving an efficient, economical
and practical operation designed to
meet the needs Of an integrated
supply system without duplicating
and overlapping" the Senator in
serted rider to the appropriations
act. No funds, the rider provided,
were to be obligated for procurement.
production, warehousing, distribu-
ton of supplies and equipment, or
related supply management func-
tionS, except under the Defense
Secretary's own regulations. This
law becomes effective September 8.
This put the responsibility squarely
on Mr.. Lovett to get some teeth
into the Munitions Board charter.
Although Mr.. Lovett's new charter
for the board makes no reference
to the O'Mahoney proviso, top de-
fense officials told The Star it "re-
moved any doubt" that the Secretary
could issue regulations on produc-
ton, procurement and the overall
supply system, including ware
housing.
Why has the board been inef-
fective? Here are q few Of the
reasons:
/. The board has never had clear
charter Of its duties and response
Evening star., 1952-08-10

But-as far as the United States
Is concerned-tariffs get in the way.
We subscribe to the principle of max
ing Britain self-supporting. yet main
tain high tariff walls that make it
nearly impossible for British goods
to compete with American-made ones.
Canada does a little better by the
mother country in this respect.
The South Dokoto Dom
In spite of all these obstacles the
British muddle through, as they did
recently in-of all places-South
Dakota. The Army engineers were
building dam there, and invited
bids for rpoWer-generating equipment.
The Ferranti Co., British outfit,
underbid the lowest American bid
der by q per cent, Offering to do
the job for $1.137 sos. The Army
turned the bid down. explaining that
under the Buy American Act of 1888.
bids go to American concerns unless
foreign companies underbid sub
stantially"-a word the Army has
interpreted as meaning Is per cent.
Undaunted, the British asked the
Army to reconsider. They explained
that Is or 20 per cent Of the bid
represented duties Ferranti would
have to pay to import the equipment.
So, said the British. if you accept
our bid, you'll not only save the tax
payers 81 per cent but your customs
service also will reap large harvest
in tariffs. The Army saw the light
and awarded the contract to Fer
ranti.
Obviously, if tariffs had been lower.
the British concern would have been
able to get in under the IS per cent
limit without having to argue
about it.
Evening star., 1952-08-10
By John A. Giles

bilities. It's duties have been cloaked
in the best written gobbledygook.
2. The military departments have
insisted that the board be a policy
making" or recommending agency
only-for their own guidance. In
deed, they were fully unified in op-
posing the new charter right up to
its issuance.
8. A succession of part time chair
men or acting chairmen-several of
whom were uninterested in it's func-
to handicap it.
There have been seven chairmen in
six years.
4. The chairman could not resolve
inter-service disputes effectively. The
board is composed of the chairman.
appointed by the President. and an
Undersecretary or assistant secretary
from each department. The chair
man voted only in event Of dispute,
and the members often were pleaders
for their individual departments, not
Department of Defense-wide in view
point. BY horse trading, they usually
could avoid deadlocks which required
the chairman to resolve it.
S. The professional staff of the
Evening star., 1952-08-10

already have paid for themselves,
largely because of heavy traffic dur
ing World War II. If the Bay Bridge
had not been built, it is entirely pos
sible that they would be toll-free
by now. That is the ultimate goal
OF the State for all bridges, but a
lot of work remains before the high
way system is completed.
Although the Bay Bridge is a link
between the populous areas west OF
the bay and the summer paradise
OF the Eastern Shore, traffic is not
expected to be markedly seasonal.
Through traffic between North and
South via the bridge already has in
creased over the ferry-boat days.
When summer vacation ends, fall and
winter travel to the South will begin.
And as Eastern Shore road condi-
tlonS improve, another big jump
can be expected.
Right now, the Eastern Shore is
the bad stretch for through motor
lists. But with that situation cor
rected, the quickest way from New
York to Florida undoubtedly VIII be
via the New Jersey turnpike and the
Delaware, Chesapeake and Potomac
Bridges into U. s. 301 to Richmond
bypassing not only Philadelphia but
Baltimore and Washington as we'll.
BottIeneck Threatens
So the bridges financial future is
rosy. The State appears to have adj. d
real asset to its highway system
but there may be trouble ahead in
the engineering field.
The new bridge was designed and
built for tWo-lane traffic. Mr.. ODon-
nell says that it cannot be expanded
into a four or Six-lane span.
Modern highway trends are moving
toward ultra-Wide, divided-lane de.
sign. Wherever narrow bridges appear
in the system, bottlenecks develop as
broad lanes of traffic are funneled
into narrow channels. If Maryland's
plan for superhighway through the
Eastern Shore materializes within the
next few years, coupled with the
projected Washington Annapolis ex-
pressway, there's no doubt that the
new bridge will become inadequate.
Gov. Preston Lane, who ordered
construction of the bridge in 1949,
envisioned this possibility and his
highway experts tried vainly to lay
out the structure for a wider road.
But. the bankers who financed the
bond issue weren't so foresighted.
They refused to put up enough
money for such plan.
What's the answer to this problem.
II it develops as traffic becomes
heavier?
Another bridge, highway officials
say unoficially. One Maryland expert
predicts that within 10 years, an
identical span will be built alongside
this bridge to take care Of one side
Of the traffic flow. Engineers are
watching the toll figures carefully.
They want to be prepared for another
huge construction project n it's
needed.
Evening star., 1952-08-10

When Defense Secretary Lovett
rewrote the charter of the Munitions
Board and made John D. Small the
virtual car of all military supply and
industrial matters last week. he may
have signaled the long overdue sur
render of the Army. Navy and Air
Force to the inevitability Of unifica-
tion.
What Mr.. Lovett's order did was to
remake the Munitions Board from
the Pentagon's No. / debating society
into what now well might become an
effective military supply organization
capable of saving billions OF dollars.
No longer will the board be ruled
or hamStrung-by the convention
type voting of individual service rep
resentatives jealous of their preroga-
tives. The chairman of the Munitions
Board now will have Increased pow
ers. His word will be final. He need
not even submit military supply pro-
posals to the board when because OF
the exigencies of time, they) do not
permit formal board action"
This has been a move "long con-
sidered,' in the words of the Defense
Department. But the department did
not add that it was also an action
which no Secretary, not even hard
bitten Louis Johnson, cared to take.
Only caustic congressional criti-
cisn, and a little-noticed legislative
rider to the latest multi-billion dollar
military appropriations act finally
brought this change about. For the
past six years the board has had
history of vacillation. 1t has been in
capable Of eliminating myriad and
costly Implications In the military
supply picture. Its main function has
been to act as sounding board for
the special pleadings Of the Army,
Navy and Air Force.
Mr.. Lovett has admitted some
change was necessary. He told
House Expenditures subcommittee the
Munitions Board would prove made
quate under full mobilization" to gear
up our national production and dis
tribution so that military require
ments could be fulfilled.
At that Chairman Bonner, Demo-
crat, of North Carolina, exploded:
"Are you going to wait until we have
q second Pearl Harbor to mobilize
the board?"
To the Representatives 1t appeared
Evening star., 1952-08-10
1o||y Gets Power to Unity Services Supply Syster

tive, no matter how strong, will not
bring order out of chaos. Although
Mr.. Small will have hammerlock on
the board itself, the several hundred
lower level committees, unless
changed, will remain with individual
service representatives and no over
riding chairmanships.
Supply Corps Needed
Therefore, it will be necessary to
build up supply corps in the Num-
tions Board with trained permanent
personnel loyal to it, who know the
overall objectives and service mis-
sions and who realize the importance
of economy and efficiency. Mr.. Small
then will be able to get at lower-level
problems through these experts.
Top board officials, military and
civilian, will have to be selected for
their cooperative and objective at
titudeS as well as for technical COM
petence.
Then the board may be able to ac-
complish some of the things it was
established to do. These include:
/. An intensive and continuing
program Of Standardization of forms.
processes, reporting. specifications.
cataloguing, regulations. Technology.
etc., to provide larger savings without
going aground because of technical
differences in operation.
2. Elimination of unnecessary ov-
erlapping and Implications in sup
plying military end items.
8. Establishment OF inventory con-
troll systems so stock can be better
managed and cross-Serviced, and SO
that net requirements can be COM
puted after consideration of guam
titles available at all depots, posts,
camps and stations.
4. Speedup studies to determine the
feasibility of one service purchasing
and distributing classes of common
items to all services. This would
eliminate expensive competitive serv-
ice bidding on which House group
under Rep. Hebert, Democrat, of
Louisiana. focused the glare Of pub
licity.
S. Development Of unified overseas
logistic organizations and methods.
Remoteness from public scrutiny and
criticism engenders empire builders.
A central control like the Munitions
Board could help eliminate them.
Evening star., 1952-08-10

come from investments overseas.
London managed to keep a favorable
trade balance for the United King
dom.
The staggering cost of the war,
however, and the rising tide of ma
tionalism in overseas territories-in
places like India-deprived the Brit
ish of much of their export potential.
Imports increased and exports de-
creased. Finally. the unthinkable
happened. The world no longer
leaped at the chance to get sterling.
The United States became the lead
ing "have" nation. The dollar was
the sought-after item.
DevoIuotion
And since the war, Britain has been
unable to get enough dollars to buy
all the things it needs. Her despera-
ton was made clear three years ago,
when the pound was devalued from
its wartime rate Of $4.0312 to $3.50.
Whether the pound is in fact worth
even $3.50 is a question; it's value
at that point is maintained by peg
ging and strict control over trading
in sterling and dollars.
The so-called sterling area
which developed over period of years
was strengthened after the war.
Now Britain, its dominions Except
Canada. its colonies and dependen-
cies are tied tightly together in an
economic bloc that trades in sterling
and keeps tabs on incoming and out
going dollars. Headquarters for the
sterling area is the Bank of England,
in London.
To explain how the sterling area
works in international trade is to get
deep into financial complexities. But
Evening star., 1952-08-10
Drouqhts Political Impact Gives G. O. Cause for Worry

Department in Washington hasn't
made an estimate.
On Friday. however, the first Of
f1cial report on this years cotton
crop indicated that yield-per-acre in
five drought-hit Southern States
would run perhaps II per cent below
a year ago.
Not q Catastrophe
This is a substantial cut, but not
catastrophe. With the West now
producing so much cotton, the dip
in the South will not drag down the
national production far.
Probably the worst-hit crop in the
South was corn-the kind that is fed
to animals. The South's corn pro-
duction is estimated at less than half
normal. But the South produces
only five per cent of the Nations
corn. Crops in the corn belt have
been thriving. So there will be
plenty of that commodity.
Tobacco, too, has suffered. But
price rises have made up for much
Of the loss in production.
Truck gardens Shriveled. But
farmers can raise more than one
crop per year, SO their work for the
season is not total loss.
Government officials studying the
drought often have said that lack
of greenery in dried-up pastures is
forcing farmers to send their cattle
to slaughter. This would drive down
prices of meat and hides, causing the
farmers to lose.
Some Forced Movement
Drying ranges and pastures re-
suited in some forced movement of
cattle during June" said an Agricul-
ture Department report on Friday.
1t said weather conditions will in
fluence slaughter during the rest of
the year, although even without the
weather factor, slaughter will be up
because of mounting numbers Of
cattle on farms"
The Governments hay-buying pro-
gram is designed to head off any
forced selling of cattle, but how ur-
gent the overall need is. nobody
knows.
The uncertainty was emphasized
last week in contrary statements from
Price Stabilizer Ellis Arnall and Sec
retary of Agriculture Brannan.
Mr.. Arnall said the drought will
cause prices to go up appreciably.
Secretary Brannan denied this. He
said the South is not big food
producer. so losses there will not
boost food prices.
At the weekend, this left consider
able confusion about the economic
impact of the drought now ending.
But the political impact was clear.
Republicans didn't like it.
Evening star., 1952-08-10
Bay Bridge
Business Is So Good Officials Foresee Need
For Another Span Alongside in 10 Years
BY Hugh Humphrey

Eleven days ago, when Maryland's S
50-year dream of bridging the
Chesapeake Bay became reality,
Gov. McKeldin opened the Sandy
Point-Kent Island Bridge with the
cry: Lets start rolling in the
dough-"
AS most Maryland voters know,
their chief executive seldom Shrinks
from super-optimistic predictions. But
even the extroverted Mr.. McKeldin
didn't realize. on July 30. how fast
the dough was going to roll in.
Within hours after Omero Catan of
New York drove up to pay the first
toll. Maryland highway engineers be-
gan raising their estimates of antici-
pated traffic and revenue. In 1948
traffic experts predicted monthly
average of $4,000 vehicles for the prU-
posed bridge. In the first week Of
operation the toll-takers passed Co.
OTIS through the gates.
Plans for paying off the bridge
bonds were based on the 60,00O-a-
month figure and on an average toll
charge of So. Not only is the traffic
rate far higher than the advance
estimates, the average toll actually
being paid is higher than the 81
guess.
It will cost about 100000 year
to operate and maintain the bridge.
The original estimate envisiOned a
net of about $1.2 million-just about
enough to cover 40-year amortization
of the spans $44 million cost.
OrieinoI Estimates Out
The first weeks experience, of
course, seems to jettison the original
estimates. Maryland's toll bridge di-
rector does not believe the present
rush will continue unabated. Part of
the current travel is born of curiosity.
That will slack off-and with it the
bridges income.
But to what extent will bridge
travel slacken? Mr.. ODonnell now
inclines to a daily average of 5000
tolls and an annual gross revenue Of
81 million.
Many motorists, after their first
trip across the span, have registered
mild complaints about the steep toll
charge. A car with driver and four
passengers-the typical Sunday load
has to surrender total Of $3.50
on round trip. Mr.. ODonnell ex-
plains that some fairly reasonable
figure had to be set before the bridge
was built, but within two years. there
will be a sharp reduction in the
charge. The bond issue terms pro-
vided for a substantial cut in the
toll within that time. but at the cur
rent rate of income, it's possible that
the cost may be cut in half.
Two Others Help
And while the Bay Bridge rolls
in the dough-" Maryland's two other
big spans are helping to pay for
the new project. Completed in the
early 194Os, the Potomac River
Bridge on U. 8. sol and the Sus-
quehanna River Bridge on U. 8. 20
Evening star., 1952-08-10
By jones E. Roper

AS crops withered, politics bloomed.
Down through the Old South.
farmers mournfully scuffed through
dusty fields where corn or truck crops
were supposed to grow. They watched
cattle scramble for scarce pasturage.
In Maine and Massachusetts,. too,
crops turned temporarily brown.
This was billed as the worst
drought since the 1930s, when "Okies"
fled the dust bowl Of the Southwest.
This time, the drought was neither
as severe nor as extensive.
But the Administration so vigor-
ously ba1lyhooed the drought-and
what the Government was going to
do about it-that Republicans feared
Washington wanted to harvest votes
rather than crops.
Perhaps the Administration was
after both. Undoubtedly many farm
erS suffered as their land dried under
bliStering sun. The Administration
just capitalized on the situation.
How Bod?
How bad was the drought? Off,
cialS at the Weather Bureau chuckle
privately over some of the Agriculture
Departments cries of alarm. But the
non-political statistics revealed a
dangerous drought in some regions.
The Weather Bureau said the
critical area" included Tennessee
and the parts Of Mississippi, Alabama
and Georgia just to the South.
Circling this critical" area was a
"very dry" region that covered parts
of Kentucky. Virginia, the Carolinas,
Florida. Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas,
Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri.
Some spots in Maine and Massachu-
setts also were described as very
dry"
All the Southeast was short of
rain-not only last month, but the
month previous and the month be-
fore that. In the critical area"
July rainfall in Tennessee and Mis-
Sissippi was SO per cent Of normal:
in Georgia, IS per cent. and in Ala
bama. 80 per cent. Abnormally high
temperatures dried and caked the
soil.
In With q Flourish
At this point. the administration
moved in with flourish. The Agri-
culture Department proclaimed that
q disaster had struck.
The department listed the disaster
areas" as Maine, Massachusetts, and
all or parts Of eight Southeastern
States.
This made the farmers in those
areas eligible for special disaster"
loans from the Government. Under
this plan, the Agriculture Depart
Evening star., 1952-08-10

eigner. The British Embassy is par
ticularly tough with violators.
If the police have what they feel Is
a serious Casa person who is
tagged frequently or who threate.s
to spit in the cops eye-they notify
the State Department. State. in
turn, speaks firmly to the ambassa-
dor. That's usually enough.
But once in a great while another
step is necessary. The State Depart
ment notifies the ambassador that
the culprit is no longer acceptable"
as a diplomatic employe and asks the
ambassador to kindly remove him
from the diplomatic list. He's re-
moved.
The action in Hooks case showed
the State Department was really fed
up. Hook had been tagged frequently
usually he paid the fine without
claiming immunity, and Saudi Ara
bia didn't show any signs of calling
him on the carpet. So State itself
took Hook of the immunity list.
That closed another incident in
the long history of diplomatic immu-
nifty which, as mentioned, goes back
even as far as the Old Testament
kings. In those days. when King A
had something to say to King B, he
packed his bag and went in person.
Out of courtesy, King B would ex-
tend to him all of the rights and
privileges King B himself possessed,
and King B could do no wrong. There
fore King A was immune from arrest
or criticism for any law he might
break.
But the kings found that when they
were of visiting some friendly mon
arch, the folks back home had a
tendency to remove the incumbent
from office and install a new king.
These revolutions convinced other
kings that they should let messen-
ger, having the Character" of
king, do the travelling abroad. They
were the first ambassadors, and by
custom, they were extended the same
privileges as king.
A Russian Storted 1t
This immunity was first put into
law in 1708 when the Russian Ambas-
sador to England was thrown into a
London jail for failure to pay debts.
Queen Anne was shocked at such
treatment of man who, in court
eyes, had the character" of king.
She called on her Lords Spiritual and
Temporal and on Commons to pass
law giving ambassadors, their fami-
lies and their servants immunity from
arrest under all circumstances.
The law is still on the books in
England, and one of the first laws
passed by the American Congress tin
1900 was almost identical to Queen
Annes law. It has since been codi-
fed and modified by court inter-
pretations, but essentially it still
stands.
1t is unchanged because we want
our diplomatic representatives abroad
to have complete freedom of action
and movement and we can't get that
freedom unless we extend the same
here. There's bit of give and take
with 1t. Russia confines our Am
bassador to small area around
Moscow. so we restrict Soviet repre-
sentatives to 25-mile radius around
Washington.
Most Of the time diplomatic i'm.
munity works quietly and smoothly.
The only time we hear about it is
when something goes wrong.
Evening star., 1952-08-10

ease drought damage, Mr.. Truman in
his best whistle-stop mood-declared:
'There was time when such dis
asters were shrugged off as local mis-
fortunes. We have come to under
stand in this country that the whole
Nation loses in these circumstances
and we must all pitch in to do what
we can to help"
A farmer could hardly miss the
political implications.
The Agriculture Department began
organizing to buy hay in Wisconsin.
Illinois. Michigan, Iowa and Indiana.
The Agriculture Department. using
its So million emergency fund, will