'*? ) *' D. B. COFFER COLLEGE ARCHIVIST MSC, FE 3 COPIES •Circulated Daily To 90 Per Cent Of Local Residents Published By A&M Students For 75 Years PUBLISHED DAILY IN THE INTEREST OF A GREATER A&M COLLEGE Number 166: Volume COLLEGE STATION (Aggieland), Texas, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1953 Price r ive Cents FAsen h owet Bids AUGUSTA, Ga.—VP>—President Eisenhower, bidding for support of Democrats in Congress, today starts writing a reply to critics- among them who contend business is on the skids. Eisenhower was scheduled to meet at his Augusta National Golf Club office with two key aides who have responsibility for planning to avert any business downtrend. ' They are Dr. Gabriel Hauge, the president’s personal adviser on Senate Leaders Ca l l G 0 P To Work Jan. 5 WASHINGTON—UP) _ Repub lican Senate leaders today issued a back-to-work notice for Jan. 5— the day before Congress meets of ficially—and applauded President Eisenhower’s bid for Democratic cooperation. Sen. Knowland of California, the Senate GOP leader, said the Sen ate Republican Policy Committee would meet Jan. 5. That is the same day on which Eisenhower yesterday invited Dem ocratic leadei’s of Congress to the White House along with some Re publicans for a preview of his State of the Union Message. He will de liver it to a joint session of Con gress two days later. “I think it’s a good policy,” Knowland said of the plan to in vite the Democrats to hear some thing of the legislative program in advance. Chairman Ferguson Mich of the Senate GOP Policy Committee agreed. Some Democrats had been grum bling because Eisenhower invited only the GOP leaders and commit tee chairmen to his legislative conferences earlier this month. While several of them spoke kindly of the forthcoming talks to include Democrats, they said it was little more than a gesture since the President’s message to Congress would be virtually com pleted by then. “This is better than no consulta tion at all,” Sen Kefauver (D- Tenn.) said. “I hope that the pro gram has not been so permanently set that there will be no opportu nity for acceptance of Democratic suggestions.” Sen. Monroney (D-Okla) de scribed the Eisenhower invitation as a “belated recognition” that some Democratic votes will be needed to put over portions of the President’s program in the closely divided Congress. Rep. Rayburn of Texas, the House Democratic leader, said “Pll be glad to attend.” He de clined further comment. Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson of Tex as, the Senate Democratic leader, and Sen. Russell (D-Ga.) were ex pected in the capital today or to morrow. Both are among those in vited by Eisenhower. Knowland told repoi’ters he would confer with Johnson as soon as the Texan arrives. He voiced hope the Senate will get down to lawmaking as soon as possible. No business is ever trans acted until after the President’s message, but Knowland said he wants to avoid the “usual Janu ary drag” after that. economic problems, and Dr. Arthur F. Burns, chairman of the three- man Council of Economic Advisers authorized by 1 Congress after World War 11.' Hauge and Burns brought with them from Washington yesterday a preliminary outline of the eco nomic report which Eisenhower will send to Congress shortly after the legislators reconvene Jan. 6. The President arrived here Christmas Day to work on that report, the State of the Union Mes sage he will deliver in person to the lawmakers Jan. 7, and the an nual budget message. He also is writing the television-radio report he will make to the nation Monday night on the administration’s first year in office. Eisenhower’s headquarters an nounced yesterday that week from today in Washington he will give Democratic congressional leaders a preview of his State of the Union Message. Republican leaders—who already have been consulted on the message—will sit in at the session. The announcement said special emphasis at the forthcoming White House meeting will be directed at winning bi-partisan support for the administration in the fields of for eign affairs and national defense. Eisenhower aides added, howev er, that the President is just as eager for the cooperation of Dem ocrats on domestic matter's. On the economic domestic front there have, been some signs lately that the administration might come under attack in the new session. Sen. Douglas D-Ill., for example said last week that American busi ness already is in the midst of a “real recession.” In a debate with Douglas on that issue last Sunday, Hauge rejected the idea that business has slumped seriously. Hauge added that “we can still look pretty optimistically on the business situation this year and the outlook for next year.” wm REUNION—Mrs. Sum Jones of Lubbock, Tex., was re united with her son, Nick W. Woods of Houston, after 20 years on Christmas. Woods located his mother through a chance conversation followed by a long distance phone call. He is shown giving his mother a picture of her two-year-old granddaughter, whom she has never seen. Weather Today South Korea Blasts India’s 'Red Sup port’ COLD An expected cold front will ar rive sometime tomorrow and be come stationary in this area. A stronger cold front is now in the midwest and may get this far in two or three days. The high yes terday was 52, low last night 36. Expected high today about 52. Draft Head Den iesCha rge Of ‘Control’ WASHINGTON——Maj. Gen. Lewis B. Hershey has denied an assertion by Rep. Burr P. Hai'ri- son, D-Va, that the draft machinery in Virginia is being used to help control farm production. But Harrison, who made public today Hershey’s reply to his com plaint, said in an interview that he disagrees with the selective service director. Harrison’s charge, in effect, is that a circular issued to Virginia draft boards discourages them from giving deferments as essen tial farm workers to youths who are producing primarily crops of which there is a surplus. He said that would make selective service “an instrument of agricultural pro duction control.” The circular was issued by the Virginia state draft director, Thomas W. White. A national se lective service official said he knew of no similar circulars in other states. He said state directors are not required to send such material to Washington, “but most do as a matter of information.” The Virginia circular said that “if there is an overproduction of a particular agricultural commodi ty it can readily be seen that fur ther production thereof would cer tainly not be necessary to the maintenance of the national health, safety or interest, and to defer registrants to continue to produce those commodities where there is an overproduction would be un warranted.” Hershey, in his letter- to Harri son, said he had been assured by White that it was not the state director’s intention “to attempt to control the nation’s agricultural production.” Harrison, saying he disagrees with Hershey, commented: “I do not believe it was the in tention of Congress to put the local selective service boards in the po sition of being agricultural econo mists.” If local boards act on the basis of what they read about farm sur pluses, he added, there could be a great disparity in opinions. Harrison said in an interview that draft boards should base farm deferment decisions solely on whether the registrant is or is not necessary to farming. PANMUNJOM — ) — South Korea’s foreign minister today as sailed India for backing a report blaming South Korea for sabotag ing the explanations to balky war prisoners. “We are not surprised,” Foreign Minister Pyun Yung Tai declared, “because we know India will side with the Communists on all im portant issues.” Pyun’s attack was the opening blow of an expected South Korean thunderclap against India’s neu trality in the touchy prisoner sit uation. India, the chairman of the five- nation repatriation commission, sided with Poland and Czechoslo vakia in a majority report that accused South Korea of control ling compounds housing more than 22,000 anti-Communist North Ko rean and Chinese war prisoners. Only a small number of the anti- Red prisoners ever met Commu nist persuasion teams in the OOday explanation period. Those that did rejected return to their home lands by an overwhelming major- ity. A minority report by Sweden and Switzerland blamed Commu nist explanation teams for drag ging cut the interviews sometimes as long as five hours. Pyun told a news conference in Seoul he did not know what went on behind the prison componds in the neutral zone but added, “I do South Korea Seeks To Try U.S. Soldiers SEOUL—UP'—Foreign Minister Pyun Yung Tai today said South Korea would seek a jurisdictional agreement which would permit his government to arrest and try American servicemen. Pyun said at a news conference his government would have a draft of the proposed agreement ready soon. He said it would be pat terned after that between the Unit ed States and Japan. not think the Communist charges are fully founded.” He said Communists were back ing away from a Korean political conference because of unrepatria ted prisoners on Jan. 22 “look like a faulty procedure.” The Communist high command maintains that after a full 90 days of explanations any prisoners re maining should be turned over to the political conference for disposi tion. Negotiations toward setting up a poKtical conference are at a standstill. The U. N. Command maintains the armistice provides that all un repatriated POWs be released as civilians Jan. 22—30 days after the explanation period ended Dec. 23. Pyun said he doubted the sin cerity of “an Indian gentleman”— apparently Lt. Gen. K. S. Thimay- ya — when Thimayya said India would lose legal custody of the prisoners after Jan. 22. Thimayya is chairman of the NNRC. Pyun declared he was certain the United States, U. N. Command and South Korea will stand by the Jan. 22 release date. ★ DEATH TOLL GOES HIGHER CHICAGO—(A 5 ) _ The nation’s traffic death toll over the New Year’s weekend, the National Safe ty Council estimated today, m a y reach 360. The council said its estimate was for immediate traffic deaths only and covered the period from 6 p. m. Thursday, New Year’s Eve, to midnight Sunday local time. The council’s advice to the pos sible 360 victims was: “A wonder ful way to start the new year would be to start it!” Reports Leave Far East Shaky WASHINGTON—(A 3 )—The State Department was reported today readying a statement on the new Communist invasion drive which has split Indochina and given the Far East a new cast of jitters. And Sen. Knowland of Califor nia, Republican Senate leader, said the development poses a grave threat to Thailand, which borders on Indochina. “Any invasion of Thailand would be considered highly critical,” Knowland told reporters. “We could not stand by. If the United Nations did not take action, it could not survive.” Thailand must be protected against Communist invasion, he said, “unless the free world wants all Asia to go down the drain.” At the State Department yester day, a spokesman said it is “watch ing that Indochina situation close ly and awaiting further reports.” However, officials were under stood to be working up a response to the Christmas Day complaint by the Laotian Prime Minister soon after Communist Vietminh forces climbed the mountains and struck out for the Thailand border. The diplomatic way—the practi cal way, for that matter—is for the United States to await state ments from countries immediately affected in such cases before is suing a public statement of its own. Other than the Laotian com plaint, there have been no state ments from governments in the area. American officials watching the outbreak of fighting say official reports are lagging far behind newspaper accounts. They also ex pressed surprise at the amount of press coverage given the military push, saying there have been larg er communist drives in the past. Nevertheless, they say the dra matic manner in which the Com munists forced across a 4,000-foot mountain range in Indochina for 150 miles to the Nekong River boundary apparently has caught the imagination of American edi toi's and newspaper readers. These officials say there has been little contact between the in vading Vietminh troops and ground forces of the French Union and loyal native troops. But they say the Communists, en route for sev eral days, have been hit heavily by air attacks. They estimate the Vietminh troops number between 3,000 and 4,000. They have said the Commu nist military buildup reached its peak last year, whereas French Union forces have been continuing a buildup and seem strong enough to hold their own. There was little talk of more U. S. aid to the embattled French Union forces. The explanation was that France and the Indochinese are receiving about as much aid as they can now absorb. Victor Alessandro ★ San Antonio Symphony Next For Town Hall Tickets are now on sale in the Office of Student Activities for the Jan. 7 Town Hall attraction, The San Antonio Symphony orchestra, conducted by Victor Alessandro. Scheduled for Guion Hall, the show will be staged in two per formances in order to seat antici pated crowds. Tickets are $2.00. Tickets should be purchased for either the 7 p.m. or 9 p.m. per formance. Ducats with the 7 p.m. time will not be accepted at the 9 p.m. show. Student Activities plans to keep Dm tickets on sale for the remain der of this and next week. Rhee Asks Allies to End ‘Futile Talk’ Democrats Question Korean Troop Withdrawal WASHINGTON — (A 3 ) — Demo cratic senators today questioned President Eisenhower’s decision to withdraw two U. S. divisions from Korea. Republican Senate leaders gave it solid support. Sen. Sparkman of Alabama, the Democratic vice presidential can didate last year, said he feared “budgetary factors may have play ed a great part in the decision.” Sen. Monroney (D-Okla.) called for a “full-dress, nonpartisan in vestigation by the Armed Services Committee” of long-range U. S. defense needs. He predicted that administration defense cuts plan ned for the year beginning July 1, “will be a major issue before Congress next year.” The administration is reported to have decided on an average 10 per cent manpower reduction in the Army, Navy and Marine Corps. The Air Force would not be af fected. Sparkman, asked for his opinion on the Korea troop withdrawal de cision, said in an interview: “One thing really bothers me. That is, we don’t know what the Chinese Communists are goin to do in Indochina. But we do know that for every man we take out of Korea they can put that much more pressure on Indochina. This is a bad time for us to be weak ening our Far Eastern strength.” Sen. Knowland of California, the GOP Senate leader, said in a sep arate interview he thinks it “ad visable to reduce our forces over seas” as soon as world conditions permit. He expressed full agree ment with Korean withdrawal. Sen. Ferguson, (R-Mich.) GOP Policy Committee chairman, called the move “a step in the right di rection.” Because of Eisenhower’s military background, he said, he is certain the withdrawal would not have been ordered “if it were in the danger zone.” Sen. Wiley, (R-Wis.) chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Cortimittee, said that although he had not been consulted , on the de cision, he would not question it. Sen. Hunt, (D-Wyo.) a member o fthe Senate Armed Services Com mittee, said the withdrawal decis ion had been made by “those di rectly affected and in a better po sition to be fully informed than we are in the Senate.” Two other Democrats—Senators Humphrey of Minnesota and Mc- Carran of Nevada—questioned the withdrawal. Humphrey said: “What concerns me is that this decision may have been made because of budgetary considerations . . . This is no time to weaken our defense structure and make concessions.” McCarran said the two divisions to be withdrawn would probably have to be sent back to Korea,' with additional forces, in the near future. SEOUL —UP) _ South Korean President Syngman Rhee today called on the Allies to halt “futile discussions with the Communists” and join his nation in “the last great battle to annihilate the Red force that seek destruction of the free world.” The fiery Korean patriot, in a new year’s message to his people that echoed his previous threats to unify Korea by force, asserted a decisive war with communism is “eventual and inevitable.” A few hours earlier the aged leader pledged to North Koreans in a new year’s greeting, “We will come to your rescue just as soon as we can.” He told the people of the Com munist-ruled North “never do we forget, even in the nightmare dreams that haunt us in sleep, the tei’rible plight in which you are caught.!’ The strong statement appeared to give new life to his repeated threats in the last stages of the war last spring that South Korea would drive—alone if necessary— to the Yalu River boundary. But the recent breakoff of nego tiations to set up the conference, he said, “can be regarded as fi nal.” “If the United States continues to maintain its present strong stand, we shall never have to wait another three or four months in an attempt to prepare for a po litical conference that is fore doomed to be fruitless,” he de clared. “More, than ever we are con vinced that as long as the Chinese Communists are on Korean soil there can be no successful confer ence and no peace for our suffer- ig country.” Rhee said it was his biggest wish that “our allies come to re alize fully that the war in Korea” has a close link with their future safety from communism. “Now to make certain that these sacrifices shall not have been in vain, we call upon them to con clude futile discussions with the Communists, and to rise with us in courage and valor for the last great battle to annihilate the Red forces that seek the destruction of the free world. “Only thus can the free world prevent the launching of Red ag gression and bring lasting peace to the earth.” F Near Of Peak LOS ANGELES—(A 3 )—Mt. Wil son’s valuable observatory and tel evision equipment were still safe today as more than 1,000 men bat tled two forest fires in the San Gabriel Mountains. High winds which fanned the flames yesterday had abated, but the fire creeping up Mt. Wilson was reported near the top and in places was estimated variously as from 200 yards to one-quarter mile from observatory structures. Some 8,000 acres had been swept in this area, and another 3,000 in the second fire 20 miles eastward, below Mt. Baldy, foresters said. Approximately 2,500 persons have been evacuated from both re gions, but a recheck last night showed the number of unoccupied cabins burned to be about 33. Ear lier 136 cabins were reported de stroyed in Santa Anita Canyon. The fire now menacing Mt. Wilson started the! and spread to adjoin ing canyons. Lower edges of this fire have from time to time threatened out skirts of Monrovia and Sierra Madre, foothill communities east of Pasadena. Fire equipment from m a n y towns—as far north as Bakersfield and south to San Diego—has been moved in to aid federal, state and county foresters. The fire below Mt. Baldy is north of Claremont, and 700 to 1,000 residents in that vicinity were evacuated. The Pacific Telephone & Tele graph Co. reported its coaxial ca ble to the top of Mt. Wilson, where TV transmitters are located was still intact although in danger. Net work offici have pointed out that loss of Mt. Wilson facili ties would knock out Los Angeles area reception but would not affect network operations, which are piped East by another coaxial ca ble. Late last night observatory per sonnel sent their wives down the mountain by one remaining safe route and joined the fire crews. Valuable scientific instruments, household effects from six dwell ings and five automobiles were moved inside the double-walled steel dome that houses the 100- inch telescope. One astronomer said the 100- inch and 60-inch telescopes, in steel housings, probably would be safe but heat from the fires might de stroy the delecate alignment of other instruments if the flames ac tually reached the observatory. ' v Board Created To Stop Strike Of Rail Workers AUGUSTA, Ga.—)_ President Eisenhower today created an emer gency board to head off a threat ened strike of more than a million railroad workers represented by 15 non-operating unions. The union members all are such employes as clerks and track walk ers who don’t work on the moving trains. The dispute affects 150 railroads operating throughout the country. Creation of the three-man emer gency board means that under terms of the Railway Labor Act the 15 unions are barred from striking for a 60-day period. Eisenhower’s vacation headquar ters here said the members of the board will be named in a few days. During the 60-day no-strike per iod the board will hold hearings and recommend settlement terms. The last half of the two-month per iod is reserved for union-manage ment negotiations on the basis of the board’s findings. Eisenhower’s executive order set ting up the board said the dis pute threatens “substantially to interrupt interstate commerce to a degree such as to deprive the coun try of essential transportation service.” The 15 non-operating unions re- cenelty took a strike vote, after which it was announced that more than 90 per cent of the members approved a walkout. No strike date was set, however.