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JStetttttg JMaf With Sudsy KerningEditian. THEODORE W. NOTES, Editor. WASHINGTON, D. C. The Evening Star Newspaper Company. Main Office: 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ava. New York Office: 110 East 42nd St. Chlcato Office: 436 North Michigan Ave. Delivered by Carrier—Metropolitan Area. Radar Edition. 4 Bandars. 6 Sundays. Evening and Sunday 80c per mo. 80c per mo. The Evening Star- 60c per month The Sunday Star 10c per copy Night Final Edition. 4 Sundays. 6 Bandars. Night Pinal and Sunday 80c mo. *1.00 mo. Night Pinal Star_ 66c per month Ontside of Metropolitan Area. _ _ , Delivered by Carrier. The Evening and Sunday Star _ J1.00 per month The Evening Star--- 60c per month The Sunday Star-- 10c per copy Kates by Mail—Payable in Advance. Anywhere In United States. __ . . „ 1 month. 6 months. 1 year. Evening and Sunday #1.00 $6.00 $12.00 The Evening Star_. .75 4.00 8.00 The Sunday Star.. .60 2.60 6.00 Telephone National 6000. totered at the Post Office, Washington, D. C. as second-dags mall matter. Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press la exdusively entitled to *?r "Publication of all newi dispatches credited to It or not otherwise credited In this “i*° t6s l0S*1 news published herein. Publication of apeclal dispatches herein also are reserved, _MONDAY, January 3, 1944 The Eighth Air Force The story of our Britain-based Eighth Air Force is the story of an infant grown to be a giant within the space of a year. At the begin ning of 1943, it was able to send only 53 heavy bombers on its first attack on Germany proper. But less than twelve months later, both on Decem ber 30 and 31, it smashed at the Nazis with approximately 1,500 planes, more than half of which were our big four-engine raiders. Its vast numerical expansion, however, represents but part of the Eighth’s amazing achievements dur ing the past year. In 110 separate bombing missions, it dropped 55,000 tons of high explosives and incendi aries; it effected an estimated re duction of nearly 40 per cent in en emy plane production, and it de stroyed 4,100 Nazi fighter craft. In terms of numbers, its 1943 margin of victory was about four to one, its own losses totaling 976 bombers and 150 fighters for an overall loss of less than 4 per cent. These figures come direct from the Eighth’s own official year-end re view and from its outgoing chief, Lieutenant General Eaker, who is now assuming the top command of Allied air power in the Mediterra nean. They are particularly re markable because they represent a mighty victory over the fiercest kind of enemy defense, including the bulk of German fighter planes, near ly 70 per cent of which have been concentrated in the west. Far from being deterred by this, the Eighth has progressively increased the weight of its attacks, making a spec tacular new record last month, when it carried out ten major mis sions in which it dropped over 12.000 tons of bombs—twice its November load and almost 30 per cent more than its total load for the first six months of the year. It is significant, moreover, that in this month of its greatest blows, the Eighth lost only 2.6 per cent of all aircraft leaving the ground, a fact strongly suggest ing that the bigger our future raids, the smaller may be the casualties. In General Eaker’s words, credit for the Eighth’s amazing record be longs chiefly to the "intrepid gal lantry” of its flying crews and the “heroic drudgery” of its mainte nance men. They have written a new and glorious chapter in the young history of air warfare, striking boldly and valiantly in the clear light of day directly to the heart of the enemy. There can be no doubt that they have played a major role in turning the tide irrevocably against Hitler, and in the weeks and months immediately ahead, more powerful than ever, they will surely be a key factor in the final kill. Sir Edwin L. Lutyens Sir Edwin L. Lutyens was a great personality as well as a great archi tect. His gifts were so many and so rich that is safe to say he might have been sure of success in any field of enterprise to which he was attracted. His choice of architec ture, of course, was a wise decision. A designer of buildings sees his dreams fulfilled as few other men do, and he was one who wanted results that were apparent even to the untrained eye. Born in London in 1869, Sir Edwin’s career from the start nat urally was influenced by Wren. His autobiographical sketch in “Who’s Who” speaks of being edu cated “privately.” The fact is that he was largely self-prepared. Only nineteen when he received his first commission, at no time thereafter did he rest. His achievements in cluded the Cenotaph in Whitehall, the British School of Art in Rome, the Picture Gallery and the War Memorial at Johannesburg, the offices of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, many institutional structures, exhibition halls at dif ferent world’s fairs and a consider able number of private homes. Though a Protestant, he was se lected to design the Roman Cath olic cathedral at Liverpool. His genius as a town planner was rec ognized when he was asked to cre ate the new capital of India at New Delhi. The group of edifices erected from his drawings there em braced the Parliament House, the Vice Regal Lodge and several pal aces. Sir Edwin was known in Wash ington particularly for the British Embassy on Massachusetts avenue. It is characteristic of him in that .it is faithful to the aesthetic tra ditions of his country yet contains something distinctively his own. The red brick walls with white trim and the high slate roofs and tower ing chimneys are what might have been expected, but the shielded residential unit behind the chan cery—"a modern English rural mansion” in effect—is a surprise for which only the architect was responsible. Death has come to Sir Edwin at a moment when he was needed as perhaps never before. He was the president of the Royal Academy and was serving as head of the commit tee of the academy charged with solving the artistic and utilitarian problems of rebuilding the ruined cities of Britain. Rights of Negroes The Supreme Court now has under advisement a request to reconsider an earlier ruling which, in effect, serves blunt notice on Negro workers that they may not expect equal treatment under the laws of this country. Because this is so thor oughly repugnant to our American concepts, both in its immediate con sequences and in its long-range im plications, it is most earnestly to be hoped that the court will grant the pending request for reconsideration of the ruling which it handed down early last month. The facts of the case may be summed up briefly. Forty-five Negro Red Caps in Saint Paul, Minn., voted unanimously to select a bona fide union, which for brevity’s sake may be called “United,” as its col lective bargaining agent. This was contested by the employ# and by another union, whose long name may be shortened to the “Brotherhood.” It seems clear from the record that the work of the Red Caps was such that they might appropriately have been represented by the union of their own choosing. And*it is con ceded that they not only had never chosen the Brotherhood as their bargaining agent, but that they were excluded from membership in that organization, which is closed to all but white workers. Nevertheless, upon appeal to the National Media tion Board, it was held that the Red Caps had to accept the Brotherhood. In the local District Court this ruling by the board was reversed, and the lower court was sustained by the United States Court of Ap peals for the District. The stand of the appellate court was a strong one, particularly that of Chief Justice Groner, who had this to say: “The effect of the action by the board is to force this particular group of em ployes to accept representation by an organization in which it has no right to membership, nor right to speak or be heard in its own behalf. This obviously is wrong and, if as sented to, would create an intoler able situation. That the rules of the Brotherhood make Negroes In eligible to membership is not a mat ter which concerns us, but that the Brotherhood, in combination with the employer, should force on these men this proscription and at the same time insist that the Brother hood alone is entitled to speak for them in the regulation of their hours of work, r^es of pay and the redress of their grievances is so palpably unjust and so opposed to the pri mary principles of the (Railway La bor) Act as to make the board’s de cision upholding it wholly unten able and arbitrary.” That is plain language, but it states the fact. Yet when the Brotherhood—not the board—took the case to the Supreme Court, that tribunal swept aside the ruling of Judge Groner and his associates, declaring that the Federal courts lacked jurisdiction and could not in terfere. And there, as of today, the matter stands. The highest court of the land turns its face away from the most flagrant sort of discrimination and says that it can do nothing to assure Negroes equality of treatment in circumsances such as these. Sure ly, upon second thought, the mem bers of the Supreme Court will not refuse to review this case on its merits and see that justice is done. Red Winter Victory High winter now reigns over the whole eastern front, from the Baltic to the Black Sea. This has always been the favorite season for Russian offensives, and never have the Red armies been more favored. It is therefore not surprising that the Russian counterattack made in the Kiev area of the upper Ukraine, be gun a week ago, has broadened into what looks like an extensive break through. The deep westward sal ient driven by the summer offensive which retook Kiev, though subse quently blunted by the German counterattack in December, is now more than restored. An immense Red concentration of men and ar mor, estimated at some 500,000, is pouring simultaneously westward toward the old Polish border and southward toward the Bug River and the Rumanian frontier. The Bug is the last natural defense line which the Germans possess in the Ukraine. Also, just south of the river runs the main railway from Southern Russia to Poland, which has served the Germans as their chief line of com munications. Should that be cut, the still large German forces in Southern Russia would be limited to one or two secondary rail links with Rumania and the roundabout route through the Balkans and Hungary. This of itself would be a logistic dis aster. The Red triumph in the Kiev salient should not obscure other sectors on the eastern front, where Russian pressure is being effectively exerted. The first of these is stra tegically connected with the Kiev break-through. It is to the eastward at the bend of the Dnieper, where strong Russian forces are striving to pry the Germans loose from their stubborn grip on the key points of Krivoi Rog and Nikopol. The sec ond sector of Red pressure is far to the north in White Russia, where a noose is being tightened around the pivotal German stronghold of Vi tebsk. Whatever may be the extent of these specific operations, one basic factor becomes progressively clearer. This is that the Red Army now holds such a decisive initiative that any large-scale German counteroffen sive can be definitely ruled out. That means an immense’advantage for the Red Army, because the-So viet high command can throw in the full weight of its immense pre ponderance of manpower and its abundant equipment, u^ing them with calculated prodigality. No longer is the Red high command re quired to hold back large reserves to guard against German counter attacks. On the contrary, this is now what the German commanders must be doing, thereby handicapping their depleted front lines in every sector. Russian prospects are thus unprecedentedly bright. And high winter has only just arrived. Greetings From Hitler The German people will find nothing to cheer them in their New Year’s greeting from Adolf Hitler. Unlike former years, there is little in it to sustain hope of victory. Essen tially, the message is a conglomera tion of alibis for defeat anti a con fession that the German masters are unable to protect their people from the worst horrors of war. Hitler dwelt at length on the “treachery” in Italy, and he attrib uted the Nazi defeat in the Mediter ranean to “sabotage and banditry.” He conceded that “the year 1943 has brought us our worst reverses,” and he acknowledged that 1944 would produce a sterner test. All of this was in marked contrast to the boasts and promises of earlier New Year messages, and Der Fuehrer’s words must have fallen with chilling effect on the ears of his people, who, for the first time in their lives, can see the true meaning of war in their desolated towns and cities. It was in his comment on the bombardment of Germany that Hitler’s statement was most reveal ing. For the most part we have had to rely on estimates and reports from neutral correspondents for a picture of the damage done by the mounting air assaults. Now, how ever, we have it on the word of Hitler himself that the damage has been enormous. In this connnection it is necessary to remember that he was talking to his own people, trying to stiffen them for the ordeal to come. He certainly would not have exag gerated the effectiveness of the bombings, yet he spoke of the new glory that will rise from the “ruins of Berlin and Hamburg, Munich and Cologne, Kassel and all other towns, great and small, that have been damaged.” Later, he referred to German towns as “rubble heaps,” and, speaking of individual suffer ing, added: “If millions of people no longer possess anything to lose they can only gain something.” If there still be doubts in this country as to the effectiveness of the Allied bombers, these admissions by Hitler should dispel them. This and That By Charles E. Tracervell. "ARLINGTON. "Dear Sir: "Tell me if there is any best way to collect phonograph records. I have a friend who insists that I collect only symphony recordings. While I like that sort of music, I do not like it to the exclusion of other kinds. I even admit a genuine liking for ‘hill-billy’ music, and for Negro blues, and see no reason why I shouldn't gather together a few dance records. But my friend says I would be wasting my money and ruining my taste. What do you think about this? ‘‘Sincerely, M. F.” * * * * The writer here thinks so strongly upon this subject that he could willingly take the neck of this correspondent's friend, and wring it, for the universal good of all music. Music is a great deal more than sym phonies or concertos. It is folk song, too, and this good term includes the various types enumerated. The simple song is as much music as the most complex symphony. Too strict an adherence to any one type of music does nothing to the spirit of music, but it does ruin the holder’s sense of appreciation. * * * * Collecting phonograph records, like feeding the wintering birds, may be done for many different reasons. One of the best in both, we have always thought, is just sheer fun. “Just for the fun of it-” what a fine phrase, and how much it means, rightly applied! You can have a real, solemn purpose, in feeding the birds, and watching them. Scientific study of the species is ap proached in just that way.' It is one way, and it is a good way. * * * * There is another way, however, and we think it is just as good. Watch the birds for the fun of it! Enjoy them, and do not feel ashamed of your enjoyment. That is the way most people watch them, and the real reason underlying their feeding by hundreds of thousands of persons, especially at this time of year. Refusal of many good people to admit their enjoyment of many good deeds is a part of their heritage. It comes down from a time when intellectual honesty was not as much esteemed as it is today. * * * *e In making a collection of modern phonograph recordings, it is just as well to begin by realizing that there is no one “right way” for everybody. The man who plays in a symphony orchestra might well begin by collecting the albums of the great masterpieces in that form. Not many of us are symphony players, however. We like music because—well, because we like it. Not much of a reason, perhaps, in one way, and yet a very good one in another. It is possible that the whole approach of most persons to this problem is wrong, because they put the accent on the music, instead of on the recording. * * * * This comes about because there has been a tacit agreement to pretend that all discs are more or less on a level. Despite the advances made, chiefly through electrical recording, no two records have the same quality. Many old sets, made 10 to 15 years ago, are superior to many being turned out i today. Letters to The Star Wants Manpower Commission To Remember Workers in Transit. To the Editor of The Star: That recent War Manpower Commis sion ruling placing a restriction op Na tion-wide employment of white-collar workers certainly has played havoc with professional workers who were in tran sit from one State to another State when the decision was enforced. These workers found it difficult to get placements in the professions at which they have been skilled for a number of years. It was difficult enough trying to find rooms in any of the crowded war plant cities without the War Manpower Commission issuing this latest edict. Had the War Manpower Commission only issued a pre-enforcement warning of what was to come, professional work ers would have reconsidered making plans for transfers. As it is now, some professional workers who cannot easiiy take up manual labor for which they have not been trained in the past may be forced to return to the States from which they were given clearance. This is what occurs in my own case. Fortunately I have funds with which I may return to the State from which I received clearance to Califor nia. But I know of other professional men who staked their last pennies on the hope that they would be successful in obtaining war work in California's expanding industry. These men are now in a fix, due to the new ruling. It is true that the war can be won only through the co-operation of all and through sheer manpower alone, but these professional men have something to offer, too, and they should not be de nied that opportunity, even though they may have been wrong in seeking trans iers from the States in which they for merly were employed. May I suggest that the War Manpower Commission hereafter give some fore thought to transients who may be en 1° nfe*' -I0*55 » other States before they start issuing edicts that prevent them from obtaining those jobs’ Los Angeles. F. G.F Corrects Error in Authorship Of Santa. Letter To Virginia. To the Editor of The Star: When Lewis stone read “There Is a Santa Claus” over the air on Christmas day, he said it was written by “the editor" of the New York Sun.” But inasmuch as the date of the letter to Virginia O’Hanlon was 1897, it is more than probable that “editor of the New York Sun” signifies to most people Charles A. Dana. During the 30 years Mr. Dana controlled the Sun, said Mr. Dana was “editor.” However, as he died two months before Christmas, 1897 obviously the letter to Virginia O’Han lon was not written by Mr. Dana, it was not w'ritten by his son, Paul, and not w'ritten by Edward P. Mitchell, Dana’s successors as editor of the Sun! The letter actually was written by one Of the associate editors—Frank P Church, known to many as a kindly and generous soul and a brilliant WTiter. But he w'as not "the editor of the New York Sun.” As it is probable that for years there will be readings similar to that by Mr. Stone, and as the letter is something of a classic <ot Yuletide literature), it would seem only fair and just that in future Mr. Church be given credit for his work. J. w_ NAGLE. Editors Note: The Christmas letter to Virginia was written by Francis Pharcellus Church, a native of Rochester, N. Y., born on Washing ton’s birthday, 1839, and educated at Charles Anthon’s Latin School and Columbia College. He was editor of the Galaxy Magazine and, in asso ciation with his brother. Col. William Conant Church, of the Armv end Navy Journal and the Internal'Reve nue Record. His editorial contribu tions to the New York Sun began in 1874 and continued until his death, April 11, 1906. Twits Mr. Wallace About “Those Pigs." To the Editor of The Star. If the lack of food were the “root cause' for the “desperate totalitarian which produced Mussolini and Hitler,” as Vice President Wallace con tended in a recent issue of the news paper magazine “This Week,” then what was the “root cause” for the desperate ism or whatever else it may be called, tt hich produced the Japanese militarists1 Furthermore, if the lack of food is likely to bring about totalitarianism, then wouldn’t it appear a point of wis dom for some of our world trouble shooters to give a little attention to India, where, according to news re ports, more than a million people re cently have died of starvation? It is to be regretted, indeed,' that our Vice President did not realize the im portance of food in preventing totali tarianism back in the days when all those pigs and cereal foodstuffs were being destroyed, and when Herr Hitler was just beginning to gain momentum. It seems that the politicians always can manage to think of panaceas at the opportune but rarely at the right time. _J. J. SPERRY, Radio Listener Awaits Relief. To the Editor of The St»r: The soap having agreed with my skin, and having learned that a few million more persons have purchased that spe cial brand, and having heard the latest news, I now relax until a few minutes before noon, when I shall hear how grease may disappear from pots and pans, a prelude to a gasoline announce ment concerning what has happened since the soapsuds subsided. Later on another soap, perhaps several will alternate with so-called music and alleged wit, and then, from New York, will come comments upon what has oc curred, followed by tragic moments, as men and women moan over the air while they impersonate characters who have supplanted Booth and Barrett, likewise the Divine Sarah. Then comes the hour when The Eve ning Star falls on my doorstep, and at last I can settle down to learn what this unhappy world is doing. CLAUDE WETMORE. Praises Performance in Ps As Pleasant and Pointed. To the Editor of The Star: Permit a poor producer of phrases to pen a pint of praise for your panting paragraph on “P as in Puzzling.” Perhaps presidential prerogative sup plies impunity from such pricking peri phrases; or again, peradventure, the point of your printed plaints penetrated the political pundit’s placidity. Probably plenty of people perused the repetitious play on “P” with pure and pearly pleasure. Pray repeat the per formance! J. W. HAYWOOD, Jr. Her Choice Her Pa said, "Jim.'has a cabin With a puncheon floor to boot, He’s cleared and burnt his new ground All free of stump and root, He has a field of Burley And a red roan mule named Beck, Jed has only feet for dancing And a banjo around his neck.” The girl was still as wind at sunset, And silent as fern-laced hush, For a dove’s three-noted signal Would call from the red oak brush. She’d forget a wind-tight cabin With a tidy fence and bars, Her love would be in balsam All quilted over with stars. ALMA ROBINSON HIQBEE. This Changing World Constantine Brown Tne favorable news from all the mili tary fronts Is somewhat obscured by re ports from Europe where the United Na tions front—at least as far as some of the minor members are concerned — is becoming increasing ly shaky. Total victory and peace in the Pacific will be obtained when the Japanese military power is smashed. A liberal American - B r i t ish policy in that area will make it pos sible to re-establish order in the Far East. But a complete triumph oven the Germans will not bring order in Europe if Internal strife, born of a difference over ideologies, develops on a scale where it will be necessary for the American forces to remain and po lice the countries where such strife may flare up. Ancypven now—before we have brought the Nazis to their knees—there are definite indications of internal strug gles within the countries which form the United Nations group. The situation in Yugoslavia, for in stance, offers a good example of what may come in the future. There are two factions in that country which are as interested in exterminating each other as they are in defeating the Germans. Leaving out the ideologies involved in the struggle between the Partisans and the Chetniks, the trouble goes further in the animosity between the Serbs and the Croats. The Croats are guilty of having joined the Nazis in 1941 and showing extreme cruelty toward the Serbians. Gen. Draja Mihailovich is a Serb and while he rep resents King Peter and the Yugoslav govemment-in-exile, he is suspected by the Croats of fighting for the domination of Yugoslavia by the Serbs. The recent abandonment by the American and British governments of their support of Gen. Mihailovich in fa vor of the Moscow-supported Partisan leader, Marshal Josip Broz (Tito) has certainly not helped to clear up the hodgepodge. The Partisans are operating mostly in non-Serb territory. The Chetniks, who are stronger than generally believed, are keeping their powder dry—their leaders are depressed at what they call the be trayal by their allies and should the war end as of this year we might have to reckon with a first-class civil war in Yugoslavia. A similar situation is likely to develop in Poland, if the Poles after losing part of their country which the Russians in sist belongs to the Soviet, are presented with a government “ready-made” in Moscow. The Poles have fought the Germans because their sovereignty has been threatened; in the past they have fought the Russians for the same reason. There are many factions in Poland and they all hate each other. But they be come temporarily united when the mat ter of the sovereignty of their country is at stake. A similar situation, though less fraught with danger, exists in Greece. And so we have the disturbing spectacle of at least two governments-in-exile— the Yugoslavs and the Poles—not being on speaking terms with one of the main pillars of the big three, the Soviet gov ernment. The French situation is even more obscure. The Committee of National Liberation at Algiers is not recognized as a government by the United States and Britain, but it is recognized by Russia. Gen. Charles de Gaulle seems to pay little attention to what is being said by the sponsor of his movement, the British government, and the United States, which is creating tne French armies. He has told us that he intends to take over the government of France as soon as France is liberated. He misses no opportunity to show his disdain for the United States. Moral values as are known in the United States are fast disappearing in battle and strife-ridden Europe. There was scant astonishment in offi cial circles here when Algiers dispatches reported that a wreath was placed at the tomb of the assassin of Admiral Darlan, whose murder was denounced severely at the time by President Roose velt and the State Department. It also was with little astonishment that the news was received that Admiral Gervais de la Front was retired and is likely to be brought before the "purging committee” at Algiers because he per mitted a mass for the memory of the murdered commander in chief of the French Navy. As far as the people of this country are concerned, Admiral Darlan did a good job for the United States when he ordered those under his command to cease fire, thus saving the lives of thousands of American soldiers. Europe has been a problem grand mother for us. It is likely that it will remain so regardless of the military vic tories we score in the near future. The Great Game of Politics Frank R. Kent If there is a more effective means of bolstering the weakened cause of our enemies than the poisonous anti-British propaganda which recently has been pouring from vari ous spigots in this country it is difficult to name it. Perhaps the costly strikes fostered by unctuous labor bosses who publicly parade their no-strike pledges will run a fairly close second. But this strange stream of insinuations against the British, some of them venomous and some just silly, is easily first. They have been channeled through the press and over the radio. They have been voiced by Senators and members of the House and they are loudly mouthed by irresponsible and unbalanced per sons. Though no man of real standing has for a moment countenanced these suggestions, nevertheless they have gained such currency that they can hardly be ignored and responsible men on both sides are disturbed. Usually, anti-British talk in this country, like anti-American talk in England, isn’t worth noticing. It means little and gets nowhere. But this, for several reasons, is different. First, because of the character of the stuff; second, because of the timing; third, because of the volume. One form which it takes is absurd stories that the British are accepting lease lend material from us which thev then sell to smaller nations: that the British outtrade us and are too smart for us; that the British are using our war alli ance to secure economic advantages in various ways. The changes on these charges are rung in various newspa pers, magazines, speeches and broad casts. Another and worse form is the assertion that in the scheduled invasion of France, the brunt of the battle will fall on us; that more than 70 per cent of the troops will be Americans, less than 30 per cent British. The insinua tion here is that the British are craftily shifting the bulk of the burden on us, and not pulling their weight in the boat. All of these suggestions are as ignoble as they are unintelligent, as baseless as they are shameful. Yet, they continue to be spread and the combined chiefs of staff, after Senator Wheeler had given the percentage business publicity, issued a denial pointing out that per centages had not been determined, that the Germans would love to have that information but would not get it; that percentages were unimportant because of the great basic fact that we are going to hit them with everything we have from every source. This ought to be enough but it isn’t. Thoughtful people, of course, did not need that sort of statement to know the suggestions were without foundation, but it is the thoughtless people who ought to be reached on this and the staff statement did not reach them. These stories have in them the seeds for real harm. If not planted by enemy agents it is difficult to know their origin. Clearly, they promote distrust and sus picion, create friction between ourselves and our natural, indispensable and most valued ally and friend. Resentment among the British against such stuff is natural and inevitable. If British and American amity and good faith diminish the war may be prolonged and the right kind of peace imperiled. Nothing could be worse. Particularly, nothing could be worse at this time when we are on the eve of launching the greatest military operation in all history, upon the full success of which hinges the future of the world, and one result of which will be death lists beyond any we have known. What makes all this the more de grading is that in England, in Africa, in Italy and the South Pacific—wherever, in fact, our troops fight along with the British—in the air, on land or on sea— there exists a harmony, an understand ing and esteem greater than has ever existed before between allies. This is true of the men in the ranks as it is of those at the top. Under the circum stances, to create dissension at home with false intimations seems the most vicious kind of fifth columning, espe cially when we are so close to the great joint offensive against the Germans, which will cost the lives of so many American and British fighting men. Soon, the President is to make another radio talk. He could serve the Allied cause in no better way than by a ring ing repudiation of all these sinister and stupid allegations and intimations. They have gained proportions that Justify his notice. The country needs that sort of statement from him. It would clear the atmosphere, scotch the snakes, restore our balance. It is to be hoped that he, or some one speaking for him of suffi cient importance to reach all the people, will do this job. The OWI has neither the prestige nor the weight—nor appar ently the understanding—to do it. And it needs to be done. I’d Rather Be Right Samuel Grafton a number of editorialists are beginning to talk about the famous pendulum swing theory of politics again, forward and backward, tick to tock, Democratic to Republican They like that theory, because the pendulum swing makes politics seem nice and automatic, and so you do not have to knock your self out thinking too hard. The pendulum swing theory allows the defeated party, no matter how black ened its eye, how broken its neck, to come back in due course. It does not need virtue; all it needs is time. Under the pendulum swing theory, the country blows now hot, now cold; now liberal, now conservative; it does not do it for any particular reason, but only because it has been doing the other thing for a while, and the time has therefore come for a change. Forward and backward, rock-a-bye baby; it is a ceaseless motion, like the tides, but somewhat less meaningful. Even Walter Lippmann, who most of the time knows better, has adopted this method for computing history on a slide rule. He recently suggested that the real reason the Republicans are com ing back is that 12 years have elapsed since they were last in. This conception is especially grateful to those who like activity without change; it makes poli tics a healthful exercise, like running in place, without the distressing obliga tion of going anywhere. A few refinements of the theory ought to enable us to predict the outcome of elections by radar. My own conception is different; I do not believe we are fleas riding on a pendulum. My feeling is that we are creatures climbing a sort of spiral stair case, so that while there is considerable side-to-side movement, the general direction is up. My theory allows for pauses, and occasional full stops, and even for falling downstairs, all of which adds up to a richer and. more meaningful abstrac tion of human political behavior than that absurd pendulum. If you go at all, on the spiral stair case, you must go up. You can sit down on any one of the steps, if you want to, and cry, like some of our isolationists. But Senator Wheeler, for some reason, never makes me think of a pendulum, vigorously swinging. He makes me think more of a stopped clock. I believe that Wendell Willkie, for example, has some notion of this need for upward progress. He shows it in his appeal to the younger elments in the Republican party, in his tentative overtures to labor, and, above all, by his great daring in the field of foreign policy. Mr. Willkie prefers to be kind of over to the right, like; but he wants to sit on a step at least 10 feet higher than the one on which Mr. Hoover brooded for so long. The spiral staircase illustration ex plains, I think, what is in Mr. Roose velt’s mind when he says that the time has come for the win-the-war slogan to replace the New Deal slogan. To drop the New Deal slogan is to move to the right, economically. But we do have to win the war, or lose all hope of progress. And on a spiral stair case, you can move up while moving to the right. But not on that silly pendulum, which is alwavs in a hurry to get to where it can't stay. I will drop the fancy figure now because if I carry it any further it will become sort of Elizabethan, and my rugged and simple prose style isn’t suited to elaborate conceits. But don’t let anybody sell you on that “return of the pendulum to the same place ” it doesn’t, return, and if it did, the place wouldn’t be the same anymore, anyhow Year of Decision Maj. George Fielding Eliot We stand on the threshold of the year of decision. In this New Year 1944, the blows will be struck that should bring to an end the bloody and ter rible struggle be tween Nazi Ger many and the free peoples which Nazi Germany sought in vain to conquer. As this year be gins, it will be well for Americans t o pause for a moment, to think of the trial by battle which lies before them, to re dedicate themselves to the solemn duty and the mighty responsibility that is theirs. ' The forces of the United States con stitute the last reserve of freedom. Our Allies have borne and are bearing their part of the burden nobly. But the Rus sians and the British are now fully en gaged. There is little more that they can add to their present enormous total of sacrifice. In great part, it will be the accumulated weight of American power, made ready during these past two years, which must bring Germany to her knees. We must face that fact— and all that it implies—steadily and resolutely. We who remain here at home, for whatever reason, must understand that we are still as much a part of the fighting power of America as the young men who are dying, and who being still living must still die during this year, on our far-flung battle fronts. This is something that has been said so often that it seems scarcely worth repeating. Yet I venture to repeat it now, for it is of vital consequence that we all understand what it implies. There is an unhealthy glow of opti mism throughout the land which seems to be born of wishful thinking. We have tended to exaggerate out of all proportion the successes we have already gained over the Germans. We have tended to depreciate out of all propor tion the remaining German capacity for resistance. In November I took a trip around the country, and everywhere I found men and women of real Intelli gence and wide knowledge who were convinced that the Germans would “col lapse" by Christmas. Even those who did not hold this view had the feeling, most of them, that our invasion of Western Europe would be a sort of tri umphal march to take over a nation in which the fires of resistance were dying to cold ashes. This is a terrible delusion. It could easily become a fatal delusion. Many factors have contributed to it. We have, for example, been told by wishful think ers that the Germans would be bombed into submission. So many bombs would be dropped upon them, we have been assured, that the invading armies would merely have to occupy territory and mop up a few scattered snipers. The facts of recent experience in Tunisia, Sidly, South Italy and the Pacific islands do not seem to weigh against this happy conviction. We have been told that the Russian "steamroller” was about to sweep into Poland and Eastern Ger many, and be in Berlin long before we could get there. Disappointment after disappointment to the contrary notwith standing, there are still those who seem to thnk that this will come true some how, like little children wishing for red fire engines on Christmas morning. We have been told that the German home front will collapse any day now, though every day brings us word of a firmer hold on the civilian morale and the civilian will by the Gestapo, the party and the army. Meanwhile those who would seize upon any stick with which to beat the present administration are making dark prophecies of evil things to come and are evidently preparing to charge the administration with every sort of mur derous blunder at the first sign of heavy battle losses, are only too obviously will ing to use the deaths of our soldiers as political ammunition. They quote (with slight variations! the reasonably established proportion of fighting power which we must furnish for the decisive western theater of war in Europe, as though somehow the President and his advisers were, in agreeing to what is necessary cm the very face of estab lished facts, betraying the Nation and assuming too great a share of the burden. These statesmen are not villians. £ think they are just men who think! there is no harm in seeking political! advantage, because the war's as good as! won anyway. I think the same is true! of the capitalists who are rolling up! their profits. I think the same is true! of the labor leaders who are threatening strikes in order to get higher wages for; their men. I think the same is true of all who are, in one way or another,! following courses of selfish advantage without due regard for the national safety. These are all Americans. They! would never act in such fashion if they thought there was any real danger.! They think the war is won, and they; cannot be convinced that they are en dangering the country by what they do.! We dare not enter this year of grim decision in such a spirit. Let me quote! a distinguished British military author-! ity, whose words will bear the most thoughtful and indeed prayerful con-J sideration by us all: “However brilliant the military genius! of commanders, they are completely! dependent on the mental attitude of their officers and soldiers, and they (as! the Germans know only too well) are*, directly influenced by the atmosphere! in their own homes. If we were to! enter into a stark, bloody campaign in 1944 with British and American homes light-heartedly assuming that the liberation of Europe was going to be a sort of triumphal procession, that , vital thing—the will to conquer at any cost—would wilt and slacken at the first touch of bloody adversity, malaise, would spread through factories and* mines into politics, and so to the fight ing forces. We may fail. If we do, that will be the reason.’’ (Copyright, 1944, New York Tribune. Inc ) _ Island by Island From the Topeka Capital. The Japs are making advance prep-i aratlons to “depopulate” their large cities. Mac Arthur and the rest of our men are engaged in depopulating the entire Jap empire.