The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1962-03-08

directly upon urban problems were
centcred in one Cabinet-levcl De-
partment.
could not go along with the ar
eument that new Department of
Urban Affairs would bypass State
governments | do not see how the
proposed Department would alter
the existing relationship with the
municipalities, the States, and the
Federal government. The cities are
the creatures of the State govern
ments and have only the powers
which the States grant to them.
Bringing existing Federal activities
into one Cabinet-level Department
would not in itself. change the
present relationship.
The proposal for an Urban At
fairs Department, defeated in the
House of Representatives on We'd
nesday. no doubt will continue 70
be presented until il is finally ac-
cepted.
Many people feel that it is in
the national interest that the two
thirds of our people who live in
cities. small and large have a
strong voice to speak for them at
the highest level of our national
government. Certainly our urban
communities must be strong if the
United States is to continue to be
a Furnishing and prosperous nation.
Senate Refuses to Discharge Its
Committee-A move to discharge
the Senate Committee on Govern
ment Operations from further con-
sideration of the proposal for an
Urban Affairs Department was de-
feated by a decisive 58-to-42 vote. 1t
was a defeat for partisan maneu-
vering and a victory for established
Senate procedure Supporters of
the proposed Department were
among the IS Senators who voted
against discharging the committee.
The move to discharge was an at
tack on the time-honored committee
system. Most of the work of the
Senate is done in committee, and
the Senate has great respect for its
committees. To have discharged
this committee. which had been dill
gently endeavoring TO compile
pertinent facts for the benefit of
the Senate members. would have
been a travesty and certainly a
cruel hoax on the witnesses who
had appeared and who had every
right to expect that the hearings
would be transcribed and made
available to all Senators before a
vote was taken. Committee hearings
are serious things. and cannot be
brushed off as needless. l voted
with the majority to slap down the
attack on our committee system.
A Hero's Welcome for John
Glenn-This week all Washington,
all officialdom and, in fact, all
America. will be honoring Colonel
John Glenn, American astronaut,
who was shot into space in the nose
cone of a giant rocket, DRIFTING the
earth three times, travelling at the
fantastic speed of 1880 miles an
hour for four and a half hours, part
of the time handling the controls
himself, and coming down exactly
as prearranged landing on target
in the Atlantic Ocean. Colonel
Glenn is indeed worthy of the praise
which is being heaped upon him
for his daring, history-making jour
ney. Also deserving of our praise
are the hundreds of scientists who
made the trip possible
They tell us that soon Colonel
Glenns trip will seem as clumsy
as the Wright brothers first flights
in comparison with the flights We'll
be taking, first to the moon, then
to other planets, then-Who knows?
Anybody who still thinks the SKY
is the limit has no imagination.
Let's Be Fair About Punta Del
Este-There has been criticism of
the Punta del Este Conference in
South America on the grounds that
countries representing 12O000,000
Latin Americans did not vote to
impose "eXclusionary provisions
on Cuba. as the U. S. A. had re-
quested. However countries repre-
senting 250,000000 Latin Americans.
over two thirds of the total, did
vote for such exclusions, and tho
others held out only on legalistic
and technical grounds, which is a
common Latin American approach.
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