DO THEY THINK IT IS RIGHT, JUST, PRUDENT?

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00001R000100260066-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 2, 1998
• Sequence Number: 66
• Publication Date: January 17, 1959
• Content Type: OPEN

CPYRGHT
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come directly relevant, and will be held up to te
light of day.
The program is not, however, without danger. If
the White community of the South coopts the Negro
elite, the mass of Negroes may be more strictly ghet-
toized than ever. No one disputes that, under the
Alabama law,, Negroes will continue to be taught in
virtually all-Negro schools. If they do so, but are
deprived of the company of the most talented and
challenging members of their own race, they are de-
prived of their most natural leaders. The academic
flirtation of the Negro student with the white com-
munity is not likely to prove more than temporary;
yet on returning to his own group, it may be as a
stranger; the Negro may find that he has been effec-
tively deracinated.
We persist in believing that the original intrusion
of the Warren Court was not merely bad law and
bad politics, but bad sociology; and that the Negroes
will suffer the most.
can Jewish Congress, ca
take a strong stand against `the intrusion of any re-
ligious holiday observance in the public schools .. .
the observance of religious holidays of whatever faith
has no place in the public school ... In the words of
the Supreme Court, "we have staked the very ex-
istence of this country on the faith that complete
separation of state and religion is best for the state
and best for the religion."'
"Do they think that it is right, just and prudent
for a very small Jewish minority to impose its will on
the vast majority of their Christian neighbors and de-
prive Christian children of what is admittedly one of
their greatest joys and a source of beautiful reminis-
cences? ...
"Suppose they succeed in banning the observance
of Christmas in the schools, will that prevent the
Jewish children and adults from observing Christmas
in hundreds of other ways outside the schools? Will
they ban the singing of Christmas carols in the
CR?R3HT1ll they do away with Santa Claus in the
Do They Think It Is I tions in Westreets, parks and other public places?
Will ik'e*y forbid their children to listen to carols on
CPYRG~Iight, Just, Prudent?
From the Jewish Newsletter, "Indepen ent Thin z
ing on Jewish Problems," edited by William Zuker-
man, Vol. XIV, No. 24, December 29, 1958:
"Christmas Observance and the Jews: The growth
of clericalism in Israel is having an unmistakable
effect on American Jews and has already resulted in
a kind of propaganda war against the American pub-
lic schools by Jewish Orthodoxy, supported by 'pro-
fessional' Jewish organizations . . . The immediate
cause of the propaganda war is the fact that this year
the Orthodox rabbis in this country, supported by a
number of non-religious Jewish organizations, have
adopted a new policy towards carol singing and the
presentation of Christmas plays by the children,
which have become part of the American school scene
and a way of life for all Americans, Christians and
non-Christians alike. Hitherto the policy of the lead-
ing non-religious Jewish organizations has been to
follow a liberal attitude toward these observances ...
This year, however, the Orthodox rabbinical organi-
zations, strengthened by the power and prestige of
the official theocracy in Israel, and supported by some
non-religious Jewish organizations under Zionist in-
fluence, such as the American Jewish Congress, the
J
th the entire nationalistic and clericalist press, have
c an e
fight against all religious observances in the public
s hools including Hanukkah and Christmas;, on the
g ound that they are unconstitutional.
"The new policy, as stated sharply by the Ameri-
"Only harm to our country and to humanity can come from
entertaining here men whose hands drip with the blood of
millions already dead, still dying or being crushed in slave
,camps." Walter Judd to Eric Johnston
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vision? .
"Can they stop the observance of Christmas by
Jewish adults to whom Christmas and its spirit of
good-will, gaiety and generosity is the most beautiful
symbol of America in contrast to the Old World of
prejudice and hatred from which they fled? ... Both
Seventeen Standards for Pupils
Under the Alabama Law
"In the assignment, transfer or continuance of
pupils among and within the schools, or within
the classroom and other facilities thereof, the fol-
lowing factors and the effect or results thereof
shall be considered, with respect to the indi-
vidual pupil, as well as other relevant matters:
1. "Available room and teaching capacity in
the various schools;
2. "Availability of transportation facilities;
3. "The effect of the admission of new pupils
upon established or proposed academic pro-
grams;
4. "Suitability of established curricula for par-
ticular pupils;
5. "Adequacy of the pupil's academic prepara-
tion for admission to a particular school and
curriculum;
6. "The scholastic aptitude and relative intel-
ligence or mental energy or ability of the pupil;
7. "The psychological qualification of the pupil
for the type of teaching and associations in-
volved;
8. "Effect of admission of the pupil upon the
academic progress of other students in a par-
ticular school or facility thereof;
9. "Effect of admission upon prevailing aca-
demic standards in a particular school:
10. "The psychological effect upon the pupil
of attendance at a particular school;
11. "The possibility or threat of friction or
disorder among pupils or others;
12. "The possibility of breaches of the peace
or ill-will or economic retaliation within the
community;
13. "The home environment of the pupil;
14. "The maintenance or severance of estab-
lished social and psychological relationships with
other pupils and with teachers;
15. "Choice and interest of the pupil;
16. "Moral conduct, health and personal stand-
ards of the pupil;
17. "The request or consent of parents or
guardian and the reason assigned therefore."
NATIONAL ize Approved or a eat
the religious and nori-religious J
are basing their fight against the observance of Christ-
mas in the public schools on the principle of separa-
tion of church and state. But at the same time, in
Israel-a country which all these public bodies hold
up as a model of perfect Jewish life, to be emulated
by all Jews in the world-this principle is despised,
banned and violated in the most flagrant manner ...
If the separation of church and state is so vital that it
determines the very existence of a democracy, why
is it forbidden by law in Israel? ... Will such tactics
help the Jewish `defense' agencies in their defense
of#merican Jews against antisemitism which their
n actions are sure to bring about?"
CPYRGh&eave Home
We are informed that Richard M. Bissell is about to
be made ut Directo oT the Central Intelligence
Agen y, the new chief of what are perhaps CIA's
most significant activities in relation to the country's
security and survival; that Robert. Matteson is to be-
come a member of CIA's top intelligence unit, the
National Estimate Board; and that Archibald S.
Alexander is to be named head of the Free Europe
Committee, an influential and much publicized posi-
tion over which CIA exercises control.
Here""men of good repute~wi re ords of public
service. But do these traits qualify them for appoint-
ment-by a Republican President, moreover, in a
nation supposedly governed under a party system
-to three critical jobs of the most delicate and dif-
ficult order? Consider.
Mr. Bissell took one of his university degrees at
the London School of Economics in 1932-33, the hey-
day of avowed Marxist Harold Laski, from whom, his
entire career indicates, he learned his lessons well.
From 1948-51 he was assistant and then acting Ad-
ministrator of the Economic Cooperation Administra-
tion ("foreign aid"), where he stood for uncondi-
tioned largesse to all nations. He is consultant to the..,
Social Research Council, which has financed so many 11 hundreds of left-wing ideologues,, Mr Bissell , a Wash-
ington resident, is socially linked to the Washington
Post set; and Mr. Bissell is a Democrgt.
Robert Matteson is, it is true,'
rue, a Republican: a
Stassen Republican. For nearly two decades, until
Harold Stassen's departure from Washington a few
months ago, :r. Matteson was his aides confidant
azid brain truster. As such, he performed one of his
last and typical services as Mr. Stassen's assistant at
the incredible London conference on disarmament.
Archibald S. Alexander is a wealthy and socially
prominent New Jersey resident. He has had a num-
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er of Washington assignments, including Under-
Secretary of the Army. He also is a Democrat: twice
(1948 and 1952) the unucessful New Jersey can-
didate for the U.S. Senate; chairman of the New
Jersey delegation to the 1948 Democratic Convention;
director of "Volunteers for Stevenson and Kefauver."
xander wants to use the publicity attached to
the Free Europe appointment -to help "build himself
up to run in 1960 for governor of New Tefgek, where
by state law Mr. Meyner cannot succeed himself.
Not one of these three men has the knowledge,
training or aptitude to meet the exacting require-
ments of his new post.
And because of the `excuse of "security," none of
these appointments comes up for Senate confirmation.
CPYRGHT
Ring in the New?
General Fulgencio Batista gave up the fight in the
dawning hours of the New Year. From the Kremlin
to Times Square, the world rejoiced at the fall of
yet another Latin American dictator. And the United
States was immediately pressured to purge itself of
its suspect softness toward strong-man governments
south of the border by immediate recognition of the
new regime and massive financial assistance. (Two
hundred million was the figure Representative Adam
Clayton Powell, Jr., himself a notoriously reluctant
taxpayer,, proposed.)
We are skeptical that the quality of life in Cuba
will improve. We have no brief for Batista, though
we insisted that his attitude toward Communism was
the matter of principal diplomatic relevance.
Now we have the unknown Fidel Castro, a 32-year-
old bearded revolutionary. That Castro himself is
a Communist is doubtful. His brother Raul probably
was, and in his close entourage there are at least
five men with records in Communist operations: Vic-
tor Trapote and Alberto Bayo Giroud, who helped
train his guerrillas, and are veterans of the Spanish
Civil War; Candido Gonzales Morales and Santiago
Dias Gonzales, who have long records as Communist
agitators in Cuba; and Guevara (Che) Serna, pos-
sibly Castro's closest associate, who was an officer
in the Spanish International Brigade, served in the
Arbenz government in Guatemala (which he still
claims was not a Communist-dominated regime) and
has been involved in Communist terrorist activities
in both Panama and the Dominican Republic. Despite
the insistence of the press that the Cuban revolt
was not a Communist operation, Guevara's first pub-
lic statement on arriving in Havana was that "the
Communists have earned the right to be recognized
as one of the legitimate political parties in Cuba." As
for restoring democracy to the rebellion-torn island,
the only gesture toward so doing to date has been the
ost ritualistic announcement of an election 18
mNnths hence. Meanwhile Provisional President
Urrutia and his government will rule by guns and
by decree.
CCMzrket Heads for the Moon
The Wall Street professionals say, "You can't argue
with the market." In a very important sense they are
right, of course. The market price of common stocks
reso s such a host of incommensurable variables-
yi , earnings, safety, prospects, moods, manage-
ent, judicial decisions, national politics, world de-
velopments-that it is hardly possible to conclude
anything further than that stocks are worth what in
fact buyers will pay and sellers take.
Even so, one cannot help feeling that in the second
If of 1958 the stock market got ahead of itself,
t1at its breathless rise was at a rate beyond what
c n be objectively motivated in basic economic terms.
e average common stock yield dropped by the end
o the year to nearly a percentage point below the
a erage yield of high grade bonds (3.24 per cent
a ainst 4.10 per cent), a relation that in the past has
a ways foreshadowed a dramatic market decline.
For this 1958 market advance the analysts offer the
e :planation of "inflation psychology"-a term that is
t unrelated to "speculative frenzy." There is an-
I her, and novel, factor that may this time have a
nsiderable influence. It seems possible that there
today in the United States a shortage of shares
stock in the same literal sense that there can
a physical shortage of shoes or cigarettes. The
tuber of consumers of common stocks has shot up
i a moon-missile curve. Broadened pension, trust
a d annunity funds, insurance companies, mutual
nds and foreign institutions have been added to the
illions of new individual stock purchasers (about
elve million today against perhaps half that many
decade ago). But the number of available shares
s increased comparatively slowly, partly because
t e tax structure favors financing by bonds (the in-
t rest on which, unlike dividends, is defined as a
st of doing business) rather than by stock shares.
e relative scarcity of the commodity brings a
rce competition for existing shares, especially for
ose of the highly publicized growth companies
BM, Polaroid, General Electric, Minnesota Mining,
e c.) whose presence in a mutual fund portfolio makes
a persuasive and almost indispensable "window dis-
p ay" to pull in the mass customers.
If new money keeps pouring, directly or indirectly,
issued, the average price has got to keep rising,
st like the booming prices of the paintings that
sfxit the current public taste. At that, even for fram-
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ing, an IBM certificate, even at $550 a share, may be
a better buy than a Picasso at $200,000.
C'h"ely Gallic
The significance of de Gaulle's austerity measures
for France is that the nation seems to be taking them
with only token resistance. Unions have marched in
the streets in protest-but at a gesture from the
gendarmerie they have dispersed without violence
and gone home in peace. Two eminent Socialists,
former Premier Guy Mollet and Eugene Thomas, gave
notice on December 2 that they were quitting the
de Gaulle cabinet-but, politely, they hung on until
de Gaulle was installed as President on January 8.
The Left talked of being compelled to take the brunt
of the Gaullist subsidy cuts, tax increases and. wage
freezes-but with the government promising a remis-
sion of taxes to industries which shared gains in profit
and productivity with their workers, nobody on the
Left could really maintain that de Gaulle is anti-
labor.
So the Left, in France, goes out not with a bang
but a simper. Morality becomes the new fashion-
and the patient, tired of sugar pills? decides to take
the strong medicine of deflation. The mood is not
merely Gallic-it extends to the Argentine, where the
Frondizi government is imposing measures designed
to halt an inflation which has been going on since
Peron's time. In Germany it looks like total currency
convertibility before spring. Even in America, the
politicians sense something in the air: witness the
current Democratic uneasiness about being tagged
the spending party. No, the mood is not merely Gallic.
And despite the quacks who have insulated the Eisen-
hower Administration from its promptings, it will
still manage to find its American symbol, sometime,
somehow, somewhere.
ennfa& and Caido&
From National Review to Mr. Sulzberger
to a Reader ... and Back
NATIONAL REVIEW, December 6, editorial: "The pub-
lishing firm of Devin-Adair endeavored to advertise
one of its recent books in the New York Times. Most
of the ad copy consisted in an extended quotation
from a review of the book published in NATIONAL
REVIEW. The reviewer summarized Mr. Reuther's
career, as depicted in the book by Eldorous Dayton
(Walter Reuther: Autocrat of the Bargaining Table),
in language the New York Times found unfit to print.
The ad was returned to the publisher.... The re-
viewer? John Chamberlain, who once served as daily
book columnist of the New York Times...."
From Mr. Arthur Hays Sulzberger
to an Inquiring Reader
The incident did happen. Actually, however, there is
another side to the story of which you should be
advised.
ing, particularly with regard to libel, and in this case
proached. We were discussing changes in the adver-
tising with the advertising agency which would have
eliminated our fear when the advertisement was
suddenly canceled.
I have deliberately gone over the matter [my-
selfl....
From the Reader to National Review
... For the Times to be fearful of a libel suit seems
a little far-fetched-but not beyond the bounds of
possibility. Was the proposed change so important
that the withdrawal was in effect forced, or was it a
voluntary withdrawal?
From National Review to the Reader
cc: Mr. Sulzberger
No proposed changes were made to the advertiser by
the Times and none by definition would have been
satisfactory given the fact that the advertiser's in-
tention was to reproduce a published review by a
famous literary critic. Mr. Sulzberger's contention
that the offending passages "rather too closely ap-
proached" libel rather too closely approaches non-
sense to serve as a satisfactory explanation for what
was an act of pure censorship. We had published the
statement in question, in NATIONAL REVIEW, and no
subpoenas were rattled, and none will be for the
very simple reason that the generalizations about the
meaning of Reuther's program by John Chamberlain
are eminently defensible and clearly fall within the
realm of fair comment. There is, finally, the matter
of a free press, about which you will no doubt con-
tinue to read a great deal in the New York Times.
Our contributors: WILLARD EDWARDS ("The Senate
Stirs to Life") is an ace Washington correspondent of
the Chicago Tribune. . . . WILHELM ROEPKE ("A
Dream") is the internationally famous Swiss econ-
OmiSt.. . . EDGAR ANSEL MOWRER ("The Education of
James Agee"), distinguished foreign correspondent,
columnist and broadcaster whose career has spanned
both world wars, is at present American Editor of
Western World.... K. S. TEMPLETON ("Clio's Tattered
Robes") is a writer on history who formerly taught
that subject at the Kent School. . . . MORTON CRONIN
("In Praise of Injustice") is Associate Professor of
English at Los Angeles College.
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