Covenanter Witness Vol. 53 - Rparchives.org

circle"Current EventsBy Prof. William H. Russell, Ph.D.WESTERN UNIONThe Paris agreements, by which West Germanywill berearmed within a Western European Union, are alreadybeing ratified. Denmark was the first country to completethe process. The British House of Commons followed closely,approving the agreements by a vote of 264 to 4. Most ofthe Labor Party abstained to avoid the embarrassmentof voting with the Conservatives. Chancellor Adenauer haspersuaded his cabinet to approve the pacts despite misgivings over the Saar arrangements, and parliamentaryratification by West Germany now seems certain. PremierMendes-France, while visiting Washington, has assured ourgovernment that the French National Assembly will ratifyby the end of the year. Our own Congress will take up theParis agreements in January.Soviet delaying tactics, such as their request for anew East-West conference, have thus failed. The Reds maygo ahead with their own meeting for Eastern Europeansecurity, but they can hardly create any stronger unionthan they already have behind the Iron Curtain. Theremay very well be a Big Four conference next spring, afterthe Paris pacts are ratified. We would then be in a muchstronger position to discuss such questions as an Austrianpeace treaty or the unification of Germany.SOUTHBOUND FACTORIESA subcommittee of the AFL has asked that Congress dosomething to slow down the movement of industry to theSouth. Cheap non-union labor in the Southern states hasled many plants to move from New England and the MiddleAtlantic states. One example is the hosiery industry ofPhiladelphia, which has nearly all gone South. Philadelphia'shosiery employment has dropped from 13,000 to 1,000 withinthe past ten years. New England has lost a large part ofher textile business. Another case, now in hot dispute, isthe movement of a steel mill from Follansbee, West Virginia,to Alabama. The AFL subcommittee calls for a boost in thefederal minimum wage, from $.75 to $1.25 an hour. Thiswould force the South to raise wages and cut down itscompetitive advantage. It is also suggested that localgovernment bonds, issued to subsidize new industries, beno longer exempt from federal taxation.ECONOMIC PICKUPPublic interest in the 1955 automobiles runs high, asseveral makes come out with their lines completely restyled.The general trend is still toward longer, lowerlines and more horsepower. Ford, Chevrolet, and Plymouthall offer more power than Cadillac or Packard had sevenyears ago. Employment in the automobile centers is booming, and the output for November and December is likelyto set new records for those months.The automobile activity is leading a revival of the steelindustry, which ran at less than two-thirds of capacitymost of this year. The housing boom is still growing, andother fields are also reviving. Industrial stocks have reached their highest point since 1929, and maysoon pass thatmark. The stock market took a sharp rise after the elections, though the cause is disputedDecember 1, 1954whether the business-men were glad for the Democratic victories, or relievedthat the Republican losses were no worse.FREEDOM FOR HISSAlger Hiss is beingreleased from federal prison. Hewas convicted of perjury for denying his Communist connections before a federal grand jury. His five-year sentencehas been automatically reduced to three years and eightmonths for good behavior. Hiss has never admitted anyguilt, and remained silent during his imprisonment. Soonafter his conviction, he and his friends developed an elaborate theory to show that he had been "framed." This hasbeen disproven by an overwhelming weight of evidence,but a more recent explanation is that he was actually inthe Red network as a counter-spy for President Roosevelt.He will probably write a book explaining all thisat leasthe may be counted on for some kind of a book if Americanpublishers show their usual enterprise. The Senate InternalSecurity and House Un-American Activities committees mayseek to question Hiss, for they believe he could still givevaluable information on Communist infiltration in theState Department and U. N. Secretariat. But there probablyis no way that they can compel Hiss to testify.POLIO VICTIM DIESDeath has finally taken America's most famous iron-lungpatient, Fred B. Snite Jr. Stricken with polio eighteen yearsago while in China, he spent the rest of his life in an ironlung, or smaller chest respirator, which did the work of hisparalyzed chest muscles. He became a symbol of the willto live in spite of overwhelming handicaps. Fortunately hisfamily was wealthy his father is said to have spent $1million for his son's care. He was also sustained by hisreligion, beinga devout Roman Catholic. He always remained cheerful, and eventually married and had threechildren. His fine spirit was an encouragement to poliopatients everywhere, and to victims of other cripplingdiseases. Finally, however, his heart wore out from thestrain put on it, and he died in his sleep.POLAR FLIGHTSScandinavian Airlines has begun the first scheduled commercial flights over the Arctic. The route goes from LosAngeles to Copenhagen, Denmark, with stops at Winnipegand on Greenland. Four trips a week will be made, two ineach direction. The polar route saves over 500 miles, andabout four hours, over the conventional trip by way ofNew York City, and there is no change of planes. It isconsidered safer also, for most of the trip is over landand the planes are never more than two hours from anemergency landing strip. A new gyro-compass makes accurate navigation possible near the North magnetic pole,where ordinary compasses go haywire. The weather is generally clearer than over the north Atlantic route, and theU. S. and Canadian military operate many radio aids. Thismay be the first of many new air routes taking advantageof the shorter "great routes in high latitudes. Forexample, the travel time between Europe and Japan couldbe cut in half by a flight making stops in Greenland andAlaska.339