THURSDAY MARCH 18. 1954
President Declares His
Confidence in Stevens
WASHINGTON, March 17 VP) President Dwight D. Eisenhower today declared
his confidence in the honesty and integrity of Secretary of the' Army Robert T. B. Stevens.
He said he believes Stevens, and believes in him, in the secretary's blazing row with Sen.
Josepfi R. McCarthy (R-Wis.).
Sharply calling for an end to what he termed petty quarrels and hysterical reaction
to such things as "unwise investigators," Eisenhower said it's possible Stevens may be mis-
Wable Counsel
Petitions Court
For New Trial
GREENSBURG, Pa., March 17
(IP)—Counsel for John Wesley
Wable, condemned to die in the
electric chair for a slaying on
the Pennsylvania Turnpike, ask
ed the Westmoreland - County
Courts today fora new trial.
Wable, 24, of Ohiopyle, was
convicted last Saturday by a jury
of seven men and five women for
the fatal shooting of truck driver
Harry F. Pitts, 39, of Bowling
Green, Va. The jury fixed the
death penalty.
Wable also is charged with kill
ing truck driver Lester B. Wood
ward, 39, of Duncannon, an d
woundinc , trucker John K. Shep
erd, 34, of West Alexander.
In his new trial motion, Chief
Defense Atty. A. C. Scales claim
ed Judge Edward G. Bauer erred
in allowing the state to bring• in
evidence in all three shootings.
Scales contends only evidence in
the Pitts case should have been
introduced because Wable was on
trial for the Pitts killing alone.
The state claimed it had the
right to presnt evidence in all
three shootings because the evi
dence shoWed the slaying of Pitts
was part of a scheme or plan of
Wable.
Photo Ban
End Asked
PITTSBURGH, March 17 VP)—
The State Supreme Court re
ceived a petition today asking the
court to end the news picture ban
in the Westmoreland County
courthouse and jail.
The petition was filed by David
W. Mack, general manager of the
Greensburg Tribune-Review Pub,
lishing Co.
Mack said Feb. 25 court order
of three Westmoreland County
judges banning the taking of pic
tures in the county courthouse and
jail "is in violation of the Consti:
tution of the United States and
the Constitution of Pennsylvania."
Federal District Judge Wallace
S. Gourley granted a temporary
injunction March 2 permitting
photographers to take pictures in
the courthouse corridors if they
first received written permission
from the person being photo
graphed.
President Defends
Emergency Power
WASHINGTON, March 17 (p)—
President Dwight D. Eisenhower
indicated today that he , can send
American forces into action in de
fense of the United States with
out waiting for Congress to act.
He told his news conference
that any president who delaye , i
in case an aggressor should strike
should be more than impeached
—he should be hanged.
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taken or misinformed on some
points.
But he asserted with vigor that
if he didn't believe Stevens, the
Arm y secretary wouldn't be
where he is. He underlined it .by
saying he stands by Stevens so
far as his integrity and honor are
concerned.
McCarthy, off for Chicago for a
speech, said only that forth-corn
ing public hearings "will demon
strate 'who is telling the truth."
The trouble is, said Eisenhower,
the world is suffering from "a
multiplicity of fears"—of the men
in the Kremlin and of "unwise in
vestigators " here at home, among
other things. What's needed, he
snapped, is to stop the name-call
ing and get ahead with something
that is good for the United States
—with "a faith
the destiny
America."
The WhiteHou
allowed part
th e President
admoishment
be quoted direc
ly.
Turning up
his news confer
ence in a top.
o'-them o r nin
mood, sporting
g . r ee n St. Pat
rick's Day tie,
Eisenhower swiftly w axed em
phatic and often indignant as he
declared:
The Democrats are in err or
—he paused as if he'd rather use
a str on e r word—when they
charge his tax program is loaded
in favor of rich people. And he
said the people who want to cut
income taves now are the same
ones who wouldn't let him raise
the national debt limit.
Eisenhower, with red-faced ir
ritation he made no apparent ef
fort to conceal, made it plain he
is sick and tired of controversies
such as the one in which Stevens
accused McCarthy of putting pres
sure on the Army and McCarthy
accuses the Army of trying to
"blackmail" him.
Caracas ference its Colonialism
CARACAS, Venezuela, March 17 (JP)—The 10th Inter-American
Conference today overrode United States opposition and adopted a
resolution calling for an end to enforced colonialism in the western
hemisphere.
The vote in the Political-Juridical Committee was 19-0 with the
United States abstaining.
The United States maintained
the proper place for debate on
the issue ws the UN General
Assembly; where her NATO part
ners, Britain, France and the
Netherlands, would be present to
defend their rights to the Ameri
can colonies.
The resolution,- sponsored by
Argentina which is trying to get
the Falkland Islands away from
Britain, originally called for an
end to all colonialism.
At Uruguay's insistence, the
resolution was modified to call
for an end to colonialism in those
lands where the people want the
ruling power to get out.
The majority of delegates ap
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Churches Hit
'Basic Threat'
To Freedoms
NEW YORK, March 17 (IP)
The National Council of Churches
today .condemned what it called
a growing tendency to leave to
the government to "determine
what is and what is not Ameri
can."
This is a "basic threat" to his
toric freedoms, the council said.
The huge church organization
also . called for a merger of pres
ent congressional efforts in the
investigation of subverSive activ
ities. It said there is wastage of
effort and undue rivalry between
various groups doing the same
job. •
The council represents 30 de
nominations, including the bulk
of the nation's Protestant and or
thodox church members.
Its views on congressional and
government activities were con
tained in a statement adopted by
the council's 125-member General
Board in a meeting here. There
were only two dissenting votes.
Sec'y Stevens
The statement called for an
eight-point reform in rules of con
gressional committees to prevent
"procedural abuses," and urged
formation of a single joint com
mittee to probe subversive activ
ities.
This, the statement said, would
stop the present "wastage and
duplication of effort."
GOP Gains in Tax Fight
WASHINGTON, March 17 (EP)
Republicans appeared to be
gaining •ground, steadily late to
day in a House floor battle against
a Democratic drive to give every
body a new income tax cut.
parently agreed that the confer
ence could not impose independ
ence on any people who preferred
to maintain their ties with an
other.
Guatemala, however, insisted
there could not be any people
who would not prefer independ
ence.
The Argentine resolution also
Battle
Continues
HANOI, Indochina, March 17 (?P)—The French slashed the at-.
tackers of Dien Bien Phu today with murderous artillery and air
assault renewed under sunny sk
munist-led rebels appeared shapi
French fortress in northwest Indo-
It was still too early to say that
victory had been won. But French
army sources estimated that 12,-
000 Vietminh—the strength of an
entire division—had been put out
of action thus far in five days of
battle.
Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap, the Viet
minh commander-in-chief, still
has an estimated 36,000 men in
the hills around Dien Bien Phu.
The question was whether he
would send all of his forces into
one gigantic attempt to smash the
defenses of the French fortress.
Late today the Vietminh was
bombarding French positions in
the fortress with 75 and 105 milli
meter guns from hill emplace
ments five to six miles away, pos
sibly presaging a mass infantry
attack.
The French replied with a pow
erful counterbarrage from Ameri
can supplied 105 millimeter guns
and full scale air assault.
Taking advantage of clearing
skies, French fighters and bomb
ers ranged over the hills and
plains around Dien Bien Phu,
hammering Vietminh gun posi
tions and planes smashed also at
long lines of coolies, trucks and
other vehicles bringing up war
supplies to the Vietminh. Poor
weather had hampered the air
arm yesterday, but did not pre
vent the parachute drop of ad
ditional troop reinforcements.
Never before in the 7-year-old,
Indochina War has the Vietminh
risked so many men. Apparently
they want to rack up a big vic
tory and strengthen the Commu
nist hand before the forthcoming
Asian talks in Geneva late next
month to consider possible steps
for ending the war.
Medics to Aid Japanese
TOKYO, Thursday, March 18
(IP) —Three U.S. doctors fr o m
Hiroshima—A-bomb target in
World War ll—today were direct
ed to help treat 23 Japanese
fishermen burned by radioactive
ashes from an atomic or hydrogen
blast„in the Pacific.
distinguished between European
colonies such as the Nether
lands West Indies, French Guiana
and British Jamaica—and what
it called European occupied ter
ritories.
It defined those occupied ter
ritories as places held by Euro
pean powers but claimed by
American states. Two of them are
the Falkland Islands in the South
Atlantic, now British but claimed
by Argentina; British Honduras
in Central America which is
claimed by both Guatemala and
Mexico.
of Dien Bien
in Fifth
es. A big victory over the Corn
g up in the fierce struggle for the
Democrats Hit
TV Industry
On impartiality
WASHINGTON, March 17 CO
—The Democratic national com
mittee today questioned the "fair
ness and impartiality" of the tele
vision industry "in its treatment
of the two major political par
ties."
Chairman Stephen A. Mitchell
said in a statement the TV net
works provided a "virtual dim
out" of last night's Democratic
reply to President Eisenhower's
tax speech Monday night.
Mitchell said all four TV net
works carried th e Eisenhower
speech defending the administra
tion's tax program and his "par
tisan attacks on the Democratic
position" as a live telecast Mon
day night. He added Eisenhower
was heard over an estimated hun
dred odd TV stations.
"In contrast," Mitchell sai d,
"only the Dumont network car
ried the Democratic broadcast by
House leader Sam Rayburn, Sen.
George and Rep. Cooper as a live
telecast the following night. Only
five stations accepted the Du
mont program.
"The only other television time
given to the Democratic party was
provided by NBC, which carried
a delayed kinescope of the pro
gram but only over its New York
and Washington stations.
Washington Post
Buys Times-Herald
WASHINGTON, March 17 (/P)—
The Washington Post purchased
the Times-Herald from Col. Ro
bert R. McCormick for an undis
closed sum today and the first
edition of the combined news-,
papers hit the streets of the capi
tal this afternoon.
The new "Washington Post and
Times-Herald" will carry most of
the features of both publications.
Toy Gun ,:audits
Get Lost in Store
1
NEW YORK, March 17 (W)—
Two bewildered young toy gun
bandits held up Hearn's before it
opened today, then got hopelessly
lost in the block square depart
ment store. They finally surren
dered in confused despair with
$11,452 in loot.
• It was a comedy of errors from
start to finish. Alarm bells jan
gled when they shouldn't, cops
popped up where they weren't ex
pected, and the woebegone ban
dits turned blindly amid a sea of
showcases like little boys in a
carnival maze of mirrors.
PAGE THREE
Phu
Day