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fSboratg S&fctr With Sander Moraine Edition. THEODORE W. NOTES, Editor. | WASHINGTON, p. C. Vhe Evenln* Star Newspaper Company. Delivered by Carrier—Metropolitan Area. wtejdra® Bates by Mail—Payable in Advance. Anywhere he United Rtotee. fpM* ’TUT' ™ Sunder Star_ ,B0 >.60 6.00 Telephone Motional 6000. •ttered at the Poet .Office. Wuhlncton. D. C at lecond-cleee mail cutter. Member of the Amoelated Press. ■JS/gSM ;assts credited to it or « tod in this m 5f*°pubu«_5a herein alio ere reserved. wwww ■*—* ♦* FRIDAY, Wawember 17, 1944 Allied Winter Drive The roar of battle is sweeping across the whole of the western front today as six Allied armies move forward in the cold and the mud in a supreme effort to knock Germany out of the war before this year ends. » The British are on the left and the French on the right. In between, from south to north, are the Amer ican Seventh, Third, First and Ninth Armies—upward of 2,000,000 men in all. For weeks and months these fighting men have lived in mud and rain, waiting for the day when the signal would come to climb out of their foxholes and get on with the war. And now, at last, the signal has been given, and the winter offensive is in full stride. It was through no choice of Gen eral Eisenhower’s nor of the men he commands that the big push has been held off for so long. This was an enforced delay—enforced by the courage and the thoroughness of the German garrisons that were left be hind in ports of France and Belgium with instructions to hold out as long as possible and to destroy all port facilities when capitulation could no longer be avoided. These men did their work well—so well that for months the Allies have had to de pend for supplies on two ports of entry, Cherbourg and Marseille. By this time Antwerp may be coming into service, but for the mountains of supplies that will be consumed in this offensive General Eisenhower has had to depend on the two open ports and the magnificent perform ance of the men who have landed thousands of tons of food and equip ment on Channel coasts of France. Presumably sufficient supplies for the opening phases of the attack are at hand, or the order for the ad vance would not have been given. But as the winter drive progresses the Allied armies will need more and more of everything. Massed artillery fire and a shattering torrent of destruction from 2,350 American and British heavy bombers heralded the opening of the advance. This was not a one-day performance, how ever. As our troops move forward this softening operation must be repeated again and again, and if the Gernftns are to be pinned down along all of the 400 miles of front, as is General Eisenhower’s evident intent, the fictories in this country and in Britain must continue to turn out the bombs and the shells and all of the rest of the ingredients of war without a moment’s letup. For the American, British and French boys that have gone into action from the Swiss border to the marshes spreading out into the North Sea, the fateful die has been cast. The battle has been Joined and they must see it through, though for them the weeks ahead will be a time of death and anguish and terrible fatigue. Those of us who remain at home are asked only to do as much as we can, to see to it that no faltering on our part im pairs the striking power of our armies. That is little enough to ask; certainly, It is the very least that every good American will want to do. The Carretta Lynching The lynching of Donato Carretta by an Italian mob last September was perhaps the most revolting crime that has been committed in any of the liberated areas. Carretta, former Roman jail di rector, was lynched after Allied military authorities had decided to postpone the trial of Pietro Caruso, former police chief in Rome, who was accused of collaborating with the Germans during their occupa tion of the Italian capital. When the postponement of Caruso’s trial was announced, a hysterical wom an demanded that Carretta, sched uled to testify for the state against Caruso, be arrested. The police did nothing and the mob seized Car retta, shouting that he had deliv ered hostages to the Germans. The victim was dragged from the courtroom, beaten and thrown un conscious into the Tiber. Regain ing consciousness in the water, he tried to swim away, but two men pursued him in a rowboat and beat him to death with the oars. The mobsters then recovered the body and left it hanging head down from one of the jail windows. During all of this the police made but per functory efforts to protect the man, and apparently none of the mob has been punished, although two of them were identified later as com mon criminals. Now it develops that Carretta was wholly innocent of the charges the mob had made against him. A gov ernment commission, appointed to investigate the lynching, has not only cleared Carretta’s name, but has reported that, while serving as Jailer, he frequently risked him own life to aid political prisoners. "The \ / . commission has established,” the report said, “that Carretta was a capable and very honest functionary inspired by sentiments of humanity toward the prisoners, and it has been proved in the clearest way that during the German occupation Car retta did wonders even at gravest risks to favor political prisoners." Carretta probably was not the first nor is it likely that he will be the last innocent victim of war inflamed mobs. But the manner of his lynching, and the facts which have now come to light, should have a restraining influence for the fu ture. Mob rule can never be com patible with justice, and the dis graceful murder of Donato Carretta is the clearest possible evidence of that fact. ————— • De Gaulle to Moscow General de Gaulle’s forthcoming trip to Moscow at the invitation of Marshal Stalin is an important move in the complicated diplomatic game now being played in Europe. But whatever its international im plications, it unquestionably empha sizes the rapid rise of liberated France to something like its prewar status as a great power, together with the general acceptance of the provisional government to speak and act in France’s name. l£ should be noted that Stalin’s Invitation came during the latter stages of Mr. Churchill’s visit to Paris and his prolonged conversa tions with De Gaulle. For more than a year, authorized spokesmen of British and imperial interests have been suggesting the creation of a Western European “bloc” wherein France would play the leading con tinental role in conjunction with Britain. That idea apparently did not sit well in Moscow, despite the fact that Soviet diplomacy clearly is fashioning some such creation in Eastern Europe. It therefore gen erally is understood that the British Prime Minister did not pursue the subject when he was in Paris. However, this does not imply that De Gaulle has cooled towards Brit ain: On the contrary, there is every indication that Anglo-French rela tions are on an increasingly stable basis. Presumably, what De Gaulle and his advisors have in mind is a policy of balanced friendship with both Britain and Russia, in which France would not only serve as the link between the two but also auto matically would become the head of the smaller nations of Western Europe. Such concepts have been suggested at various times by spokesmen of the provisional gov ernment as far back as the days when it sat at Algiers with an equiv ocal diplomatic status and uncertain political prospects. Besides the larger diplomatic as pect there also is France’s domestic politics to be considered. The chief uncertainty within France is the relation of the Communists and affiliated left-wing groups to the provisional government. While there are no formal ties between the French Communists and Moscow since the dissolution of the Comin tern, there can be no reasonable doubt that the French Reds take their cue from Moscow. Thus an understanding arrived at between De Gaulle and Stalin would have a tranquilizing effect on the French political situation. The Question of Asylum The Irish government has made clear that if it sees fit to do so—on the basis of justice, charity, honor or national self-interest — it may grant asylum to fugitive Axis lead ers. The memorandum handed by Prime Minister De Valera to our Minister in Dublin promises' only to keep Eire closed to “all aliens whose presence would be at variance with the policy of neutrality, or detri mental to the interests of the Irish people, or inconsistent with the de sire of the Irish people to avoid injury to the interests of friendly states.” From the American and Allied standpoint, according to our State Department, this position is not entirely satisfactory. The Irish gov ernment, of course, does not say that Eire’s doors will be open to individ uals like Hitler, Himmler, Goering and Goebbels, but neither does it say that they will be closed. Accord ingly, It is at least conceivable that one or more of these top Nazi leaders may yet fly td Dublin for sanctuary there. At any rate, judging from the Irish statement, such a possibility seems more real as regards Ireland than as regards Sweden or even Argentina and Spain, all three of whom seem to have been more def inite in ruling themselves out as probable places of refuge. In view of the De Valera govern ment’s past record of neutrality including its rejection of our Ameri can appeal to eject German and Japanese agents in Dublin—there is nothing particularly surprising in its determination not to surrender its right to grant asylum. As a sovereign nation, Eire unquestion ably has that right. So, too, has Portugal, which apparently has taken a similar position. The only question is how the Irish, the Portu guese or any other neutral or non belligerent people will respond if Hitler or Himmler or somebody of that sort asks for a safe haven. The Irish memorandum declares that there is no “comprehensive in ternational code” covering this sub ject, but actually the established practice is to grant asylum only to political offenders, not to criminals, and It Is as criminals that the Allied world officially regards the'Axis leaders—criminals who must be brought to Judgment and punished in the countries where they have committed such atrocities as the leveling of Lidice, the cold-blooded killing of hostages, and the mass slaughter of thousands of helpless prisoners. In the opinion of the United Na tions, in short, Hitler and company are not mere revolutionary agitators but murderers with blood upon their hands who deserve no sanctuary. It remains to be seen whettter Eire, Portugal and the other neutrals and nonbelligerents entertain substan tially the same view. If they do not, then the question is likely to become an extremely mischievous and deli cate one in the months ahead. 'Stadium Week' It is possible that Senator Butler’s earnestly spoken words of protest over too much “fanfare” about the stadium were based on a miscon ception of the purposes of “stadium week.” The efTort now being made to focus public attention on this needed postwar undertaking was launched in the hope of getting the ball roll ing. The Senator may not know how difficult a thing that is to do in Washington, where we have no votes or representatives in the Govern ment. This stadium project has been hanging fire for almost twenty years, partly because there was no attempt to organize and properly direct the energies of all those who are convinced of its desirability. Unless some tangible start is made, it will hang fire for another twenty years. But a start has been made. Legislation already has been pre pared which should result in a formal study of the most feasible methods of building and operating a national stadium, to be placed on Ihnd already acquired with local taxes. It is unnecessary to remind any body “that there’s a war on,” just as it is unnecessary to point out that Washington slums must be re claimed, hospitals must be built and a great many other things done to make this a better city. Exploitation now of the stadium idea and im mediate initiation of the always Slow processes by which such things are accomplished in Washington vyill show results later on. Senator Butler may have no fear that “sta dium week” has made us forget the war. The father who arrives just too late to prevent a son from making, as he thinks, a fool of himself by marrying some unknown girl, often discovers that his tardiness is the best day’s work he ever did in his life. This and That By Charles E. Tracewell. How to have a window box feeding station for the birds is explained in the following letter. “Just in case some of your readers might wish to have a window sill feed ing station like ours,” he says, “here is a pattern for them to follow. A box, 6 by 6 by 6 inches, open at one end, with the floor board 3 inches longer at the open end, that is, extended at that end—forming a porch—around which is tacked a strip of wood like a solid fence, 1 inch higher than the floor “On this fence the birds alight to peck at the food, which in fair weather is put on the porch. If it is rainy weather, I push the seed back into the box where it is protected from the rain—and they go in after it, too. “The box open end faces south. ‘‘T*16 box is anchored to the window sill by an eyelet screwed into the box and a small brass hook screwed into the adjacent woodwork, so it cannot be blown off in stormy weather; the box being made of lightweight wood of half mch thickness — plywood preferably nonwarping. “I left my box natural wood color without any painting. The box need not be more than 4 or 5 inches high, wide and deep, if one has a narrow win aow ledge. “With this simple arrangement of box, costing next to nothing, one can have a lot of pleasure watching the birds come to eat. It is a lot of satis faction as well. “Only one mocking bird has called on us,,thus far this autumn. The birds stream to our window sill feeding station by the hundreds from across the street, a park. Titmice, nuthatches, chickadees, five or six blue jays in the mornings of every day, occasionally several varieties w°odpeckers—very scary—and redbirds. ‘3t bJUe jays announce their coming with loud squawks and cries and all the other birds make way for them. These jays are bold and cunning birds; it is as good as a circus to watch them gobble down the shelled^ peanuts. ‘‘We feed them raw shelled peanuts and sunflower seeds. The latter are be coming harder to get and more expen sive than l^st winter.” * * * * There are many ways of putting up a window sill feeding station. oneUr correspondent’s method is a good Even a bjye sill will do, in a pinch. 3™B f°od which falls to the ground will be gobbled up by birds on that level, but. of course, the donor will not be able to watch thcro. Then, too, there is often some one to complain below! Complaint seems to be chronic with human beings. They are not happy unless they are kicking about something Bird friends in apartments ought to be very careful in trying not to offend others with their hobby, because it not only causes unpleasantness, but “sets” many against the birds. Care should be taken, then, to prevent food from falling, or to clean it up at regular intervals, if the birds «honifl not get it. The window sill feeding place offers the closest view most of us will get of the live songbirds. On a cold winter morning there is no prettier sight than a female cardinal at close range. Only such close inspection will reveal what a perfect marvel of beauty she is far surpassing her mate. A few peanuts should be left in the shell for the jays to carry away. The blue Jay is a great hoarder, and does good work in helping to provide for the squirrels and smaller birds. What he hides, they find, because both their pow ers of smelling and seeing are as power ful as his. Certainly there is no more amusing creature around the city t.h,n the jay. He is at once a beauty and a clown, and comes in family groups in fall and winter. The daily visits of these big bright birds usually come in the mornings. Often they come at almost the same minute, and leave in 15 or 20 minutes, to be seen no mors until next morning at the same time. This periodicity is one of the unusual traits of almost unusual flyer. Letters to The Star Frank Kent’s ‘Apple* Column Brings Some Answers To the Editor of Tht Star: Frank R. Kent's column on “Apple Selling” marks an all-time low. Without necessarily agreeing with the verdict of the American people, it has been pretty much of an unwritten law for losers to accept defeat and speedily to put1 behind them the rancor of politi cal campaigning. Mr. Kent, however, has not seen lit to do either, but chooses instead to keep bitterness alive at a moment when, more than at any other time in our history, we need national unity. His column on campaign falsifications is a case in point. Rebuttal to his charges could be. made, buttressed by facts; countercharges of cam [feign falsifica tions could be laid at the door of the opposition party, but all of this would give his column a dignity that it does not deserve. Americans have come to regard things that are said to sway voters' emotions as "campaign oratory”—quoting the honest words of the late Wendell Wlllkie. After writing his column Mr. Kent would have been hard pressed to answer the challenge that faces each of us each day: “What have I done today to help to win this war?” SERVICEMAN. To the Editor of The Star: Let those who believe that Herbert Hoover caused the depression in the early ’30s and the aftermath of closed banks and millions of unemployed read and carefully note the facts presented in Mr. Kent’s article in The Star for No vember 13. Since Mr. Kent is not in the white wash business, undoubtedly what he said is true. Let the New Deal apologists cover up, if they can, the method used by the administration to appease Petrillo and his hi-jacking union. This coddling of Petrillo by Mr. Roosevelt is a new low in his appeasement of unions, a sell out of the masses to the privileged few. Let those millions who voted for Mr. Roosevelt not complain when the war is over and we all have to pay the con tinued high taxes which will be neces sary to finance 16 years of New Deal folly. They will get just what they voted for—political corruption, graft, bungling in Government and later on a deluge of unemployment. But human nature being what it is, these particular voters will probably be the first to criticize. JOHN J. BOUSHKA. To the Editor of The Star: Call It political fiction If you like or call it by any other name you wish, but the fact remains that millions of us during the Hoover depression were obliged to do things that were on a level with apple selling to earn an existence. I am an electrical engineer and for three long years I was compelled to sell electrical appliances to make a bare living. Hundreds of other engineers were in the same boat that I was. But we don’t expect Mr. Kent to understand how President Roosevelt gave hope to millions of us Americans. We might have been in the depression after many other countries had re covered, but the truth is that millions of people's self-respect—we might say even their mental balance—was saved by Mr. Roosevelt, and that is what counts and that is why the millions of American laboring men love and adore Mr. Roosevelt. Mr. Kent cannot under stand that, and he never will. W. R. K. To tha Editor of Tha Star: As a 14-year reader of The Star, I should like to inquire if it is not high time, now that the political campaign is over, that we be spared the tirades of embittered Columnist Kent. If you con sider his column of November 13, I am confident that you will agree that the venomous trivia indulged in by him should be denied precious newspaper sPace- E. S. MITCHELL. Criticizes Swiss Government To ‘he Ed tor of The Star: I have been reading The Star for the past 15 years, and this is the first time lam asking you to print a letter. I feel that your editorial of November 13 entitled “Switzerland Under Fire” is a gross misrepresentation of facts. It seems that you believe only what the Swiss government tells you. For you the Swiss people do hot exist. The Soviets take the people Into considera tion and not a few smart alecks, the so called “government.” borne 13 years ago the Swiss govern ment (a small group of Nazi-Fascists) made a law which fooled many people, including you. They made a law outlaw ing Nazi-Fascism and Communism. Armed with this law, they (the govern ment) instituted a reign of terror against all ordinary people, accusing most of them of being Communists. Any one who disagreed with the government immedi ately was seized and prosecuted as being a Communist. But no one ever was ar rested for being a Nazi-Fascist. Why should they (the government) arrest themselves? If yop don't call such tactics anti-Soviet, what is anti-Soviet? If Switzerland, Spain and Portugal are anti-Hitler, why don’t they up and fight Hitler with the rest of the world? Why hide behind the fake neutrality? OSCAR L. MORTIMOR. Chinese Girl Protests To th« Bdltor of (Th« Star: Let’s start getting ready for World War III. With Ireland refusing to close her borders to war criminals who want to retire there to cook,up plans for the next struggle, with France demanding equal prestige with the United States and Great Britain in the settlement of the peace and asking for the whole of the Rhineland, and with 32,000 workers deliberately quitting the Paterson, N. J„ plants making B-29 motors so we will be forced to negotiate a peace with Japan, the end already can be foreseen. I know that my name seems un American or non-American, but this Chinese girl was born in the United States of American-born parents anh I resent our letting down at a cnictal time like this. We are behind schedule on the manufactuft of trucks, tires, shells, air planes and tanks. Our boys, according to Government statistics, are being killed and wounded at the rate of 1,000 a week ever since Pearl Harbor; and yet 32,000 workers refuse to make B-29 motors because of some minor differ ences with the management. I doubt if there are any strikes going on at the Mitsubishi bomber factory in Nagoya, Japan. Maybe they are more patriotic there: maybe they really love their flag. MISS CHIU CHUN-MUI. V This Changing World By Constantine Brown Spectacular developments on a scale approaching In fury the battles in Nor mandy are expected from the offensive now getting under way along the whole Western Front. Before the real cold winter sets In, the Allies will attempt a final drive to dislodge the enemy from his present positions and effect a breakthrough. While political leaders, such as Prime Minister Churchill, seem convinced that a winter campaign is inevitable and that the decisive phase of the Western Eu- ' ropean war will come next spring and summer, Gen. Elsenhower still believes he has an excellent chance of overcom ing the main Nazi resistance before the middle of OecMber and taking over German areas in the west from which the new final push in 1945 will be much easier. * * * * The delay in the offensive was due principally to the fact that the various army commanders along the West Wall had to wait for important con signments of ammunition and tanks. The German defensive positions are very strong. The German Army, while not as formidable as earlier, in the war, is fighting with the despair which comes from the knowledge that if it is defeated there is no hope for any body in the Reich. This determination to fight to the bitter end behind strongly fortified positions forces the Allies to use enor mous quantities of . war material, especially shells of all caliber. Any attempts of the ground forces to ad vance without a devastating barrage involving millions of shells would oth erwise be either doomed to failure or be so costly that the local successes gained in one area could not be further developed. , The acquisition of new ports—such as Antwerp—and improvement in commu nications from our landing bases to the front have enabled the assembly of the quantities of ammunition consid ered essential for a major offensive. This very difficult operation is now completed. * * * * The Germans are fully aware of the situation. In all their broadcasts the Nazi military commentators are stress ing the point that the next few weeks will be the most critical in the west and are urging the men in the battle line and the people at home to do their utmost to frustrate an Allied break through. The Nazi troops have been reinforced* for this expected major task. Troops withdrawn from the Balkan area are now being poured into the most critical areas. The German forces in Hungary, where the Russians are continuing their efforts to conquer Budapest and open the road to Vienna, are less numerous than generally believed. The main burden of the defense of Hungary falls on the Magyar Army—about 20 divisions —which is supported by not more than 50,000 or 60,000 Germans. In the recent battles around Budapest the Hungarian-German losses have been so heavy that reinforcements were needed immediately. These were drawn, however, from the forces of Marshal Albert Kesselring, who commands the Italian front, and not from the reserve pool in the Reich. Operations on the eastern* front also are stagnant. The Germans, however, are compelled to keep 140 divisions on that front in case Russia decides to open the long-awaited offensive on the soft belly of the Reich in that area west of Warsaw. For the time being, there are no indications that any such of fensive, on a large scale, is being pre pared. But the Russian strategy is unpredictable and it is possible that in order to set up the general drive on the Reich, the Red armies may strike any day. Judging by past performances, the Russians do not consider the heavy winter as a serious handicap to military operations. * * * * The Germans are believed to have powerful reserves on the western front well supplied with arms and ammuni tions. But in spite of this situation, Ameri can and British war-planners believe a break through the West Wall is feasible and well worth the risk. On paper the German defenses are still strong. But there is a psychological element which comes in every military action and which often proves that “paper calcula tions and paper strength" do not cor respond to reality. And this may be the case with the Nazi forces defending the western approaches to the Reich. On the Record By Dorothy Thompson In the papers of Abraham Lincoln there is an amazing passage written for no other eyes than his own, though some reflection of It is in the second Inaugural address. It was written to ward the end of the Civil War, which seemed to be dragging out endlessly, de spite the overwhelming weight of arms and power that was with the North. Lincoln noted: “In great contest^ each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be, wrong. God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time. In the present war it is quite possible that God's purpose is something different from the purpose of either party. • • • I am almost ready to say that this is probably true, that God wills this con test and wills that it shall not end yet. By His mere great power over the minds of the contestants He could have saved or destroyed the Union without a human contest. Yet the contest began And having begun He could give the final victory to either side any day. Yet the contest proceeds." If the object and justification of all great struggles, upon whose dreadful altars the youngest and purest are sac rificed. must be to discern and establish the will of God, which can only be inter preted as justice, and humane and uni versal principle, then a mystic mind like Lincoln's might say today that In this war “it Is quite possible that God’s pur pose is something different from the purpose of either party.” * * * * For certainly we have gone far astray from the purposes for which this war began. In its beginning there was a sense of the Indivisibility of the world, and of freedom and justice among all the peoples of the world. The principle of nationalism was recognized but lim ited. Liberation meant the liberation of the people within their natural fron tiers, the right of people to possess the land which their labor had built, and to preserve and deepen the culture pecu liarly their own. The drawing of new frontiers against the consent of the peoples and for reasons wholly to do with power was condemned. So also was the division of the world into great areas of “vital space" or “Lebensraum,” each under the domination of a major power. Such a concept ruled at Munich and was repudiated hy the peoples of the world. If the insight into the nature of jus-, tice and freedom which animated with its incandescent idealism the early days of this war was true insight, then it is no ■wonder that the war drags on to sheer exhaustion of one or both sides, since the catalytic agent with which the war might be dissolved into a new world concept has ceased to be visible. It burns in the hearts of men everywhere, but they find no instruments for its use. Instead we are asked to put our whole trust in ' reeking tubes and iron shards” and to contemplate "enforcing peace” instead of establishing justice. * * * * And this loss of idealism leaves us only a somewhat recut pattern of that "realism” against which the world mar shaled its youth and has spent its blood. This new policy of “realism” has not been advanced or accepted, thoughtfully and deliberately. It has grown, step by step. At the outbreak of war there was no thought of extending the fronti^s of Poland to the Oder to include territories purely German. Though the Soviets wished to establish their frontiers on the Curzon Line, ethnographic factors were considered, and it was taken for granted that Poland would be left the oil fields, which were never in Russian territory, and the indubitably Polish city of Lwow. Now there is a tendency to say that this is not our affair—not even the affair of our individual minds. Polish legions are fighting side by side in Italy with our legions, and one would think that what is their affair—their human affair—is ours, as ours is theirs. But if we have decided to divide the world into regions, in each of which a great power has sole control, then these le gions, though they stumble through the same mud and die under the same fire, are fighting for almost different planets. It all looks reasonable on the surface. But it is like the division of a country into monopolies. It seems efficient. But since these destroy the basis of society, by establishing profound inequalities, forces start seething beneath their weight which eventually overthrow them by violence, if no other means are found. The effect of the retreat from principle is not only felt in Poland; it is blowing up the whole good neighbor policy. And if, in this war, one party is crushed, without finding the solvent for those factors which produced the war, then the war will still not be won, for the struggle will still not be resolved. • Released by the Bell Syndicate, Inc.) Great Battle Is On By Maj. George Fielding Eliot The great offensive against the west ern defenses of Germany has begun. After a series of preparatory moves, each of which contributed to the major aim, Gen. Eisenhower has launched the American 1st and 9th Armies side by side in a great drive for the Rhine. In succession previously he had thrown forward the 7th American, 3d American, 2d British and 1st French Armies, strik ing one after another at various por tions of the front. Now six Allied armies all told are in action, the 1st Canadian and 1st Allied Air-borne Armies are still to be heard from, but they will surely have their parts in the great task of breaching the German defensive “crust” along the Rhine. For days we have been watching the unfolding, step by step, of another Eisenhower master plan of battle. We have watched the successive attacks on widely separated fronts, we have noted the reluctance of the enemy to meet these attacks by the swift counter action which has hitherto been so characteristic of 'the German tactical scheme, and we have realised that this steady pressure was absorbing the enemy's energies and attention while giving a strong indication of his shortage of mobile reserves and his determination to conserve these forces against a day of greater need. All this we have seen before on a small scale in Tunisia, on a greater scale in Normandy. We hardly needed to be told what was coming next—what has now happened: The terrific blow at the chosen sector of attack in over whelming ground strength and preceded by a mighty concentration of air power. This is the way that Dwight Eisen hower makes war. This is his well tested and proved pattern of victory. * * * * * Of bourse, the enemy knew what was craning, too. He may have guessed where; he could hardly have known when. The best he could do was to urge forward! with desperate haste his prep arations to meet the blow when it fell; the most important of these prepara tions being, not the digging of trenches and the construction of pillboxes, but the training of mobile troops for coun terattack. Here is his chief deficiency. There can be no doubt that Gen. Elsenhower Is making his major effort with the American 1st and Stir Armies, apparently striking first of all toward a front defined by the German towns of Heinsburg, Julich and Duren, mov ing toward the Rhine in the area Duisburg-Duesseldorf-Cologne. The 1st Army has had a long period to refit and regroup; the 9th has not been previously reported in action on this front and comes fresh to the battle. This is not to say, of course, that the other armies will not have their parts to play, and very Important parts. We do not, for example, know yet to what extent the tempo of the offensive will develop to the northwest, where the British 2d Army and the Cana dian 1st Army . may drive once more toward the last, river barrier which was' almost breached at Arnhem two months ago. Gen. Eisenhower disposes of suffi cient troops to keep extending the front of his attack to any extent the terrain permits. The Germans do not dispose of sufficient troops to oppose a major attack on a wide front, and considering our numerical ground su periority and our air superiority, It would seem as certain as anything can be in war that they must give way somewhere. * * * * The objective of the attack on the 1st and 9th Army fronts is undoubtedly first of all to push the Germans to the Rhine, and then to break across the Rhine into the open plains of North ern Germany. If these two tasks are successfuly ac complished, the extent to which the breakthrough can be exploited will be governed In part by the weather and In part by the success which the enemy has had In his efforts to create a counterat tacking mass of maneuver. The weather is uncertain, but it cannot stop us al together on the open plain, and it would seem that the enemy has not been given time to do very much in the way of preparing mobile reserves. Thus the great battle—the greatest In American military history, one of the greatest in the history of the world— opens under conditions as favorable to Allied success as could be expected at this season of the year. (CovrrtsM. sees.) Writer Urges Parley Of 'Big Three' in U. S. American People Would Like to See Stalin, Says Lawrence * By David Lawrence If there Is one thing that the recent election settled It is that a majority of the American people feel President Roosevelt is indispensable to them at this moment of crisis in our history. Yet the President is being invited to go overseas and take the risks of travel in war areas. Press dispatches from abroad are predicting a meeting of Messrs. Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt to be held somewhere in the Middle East. This means either a ship or a plane journey for the President. The last time he went to Teheran he picked up a germ which bothered him for a long time and caused him to lose weight. It started more serious rumors about his health which, of course, were un founded. During the campaign an issue was built around the possible interruption of Mr. Roosevelt’s leadership for health reasons, and many Republicans argued that a vote for Mr. Roosevelt in the last election might turn out to be a vote for Senator Truman. What the argu ment really did was to emphasize the indispensability of Mr. Roosevelt. Puzzling Complacency. What seems puzzling at the moment, therefore, is that the American people seem so complacent about a trip abroad by the President. Possibly it is because he has made such trips before and has come through without accident. But it does seem as If more journeys overseas are bound to raise the question as to whether it is wise for Mr. Roosevelt to take further chances. The President said when he accepted the nomination that he would serve in the office if he were “so ordered by the commander in chief of us all—the sov ereign people of the United States.” Nobody in the Government is going to tell Mr. Roosevelt that he ought not to make the trip. Only the American people can advise him against it. There is no good reason why Mr. Roosevelt should have to go abroad if a meeting of the "Big Three" is planned. Marshal Stalin has never been to the United States. The American people would like to see him. He ought to see something of this country in order to understand its peaceful purposes and the American people’s friendship for the Russian people. Prime Minister Church ill has been here before and would be welcome again. There are plenty of places in the United States where the “Big Three” could meet liV* seclusion. Or they might even meet at Quebec. Reason for Parle; Here. There Is an especial reason why the other two heads of state ought to come to Mr. Roosevelt. Entirely apart from the fact that the United States Is supplying the principal manpower on the western front today and L* furnish ing the tools from this arsenal of democracy, the fact remains that Mr. Roosevelt does not get around easily. If he were in an airplane and some thing happened, he would' be at a serious disadvantage because he does not have the free use of his legs due to the ravages of infantile paralysis many years ago. If something happened to his warship at sea Mr. Roosevelt could be transported therefror* more easily to a small boat than from a plane. But even if all the factors were such that his safe return could be as sured, there still remains the danger of moving around in the Middle East where last time he picked up a flu germ. The fact that a trip by the President Is being spoken of publicly by the Euro pean press indicates that there is such a plan in the making. It means that Mr. Roosevelt is considered by his physician to be in good enough health to make the trip. But the question is whether he should make it. Surely if Messrs. Stalin and Churchill cannot come to this side of the At lantic, then there ought to be some training of a second man in the Gov ernment to take the President's place in these foreign conferences. Senator Truman, the Vice President-elect, doesn’t take office until January and is free to go on a special mission for the United States Government at this time. Along with him would go the United States chiefs of staff, who are, of course, familiar with all th$ problems that would be discussed at the coming con ference. Mr. Roosevelt could be kept in touch by telegraph and telephone. The country would probably breathe more easily if the President were not traveling around In the Mediterranean, where German weapons of venegeance are by no means as yet completely exterminated. (Reproduction Rights Reserved.) Up to the Parents From the Baltimore Bun. Most educational authorities agree that the major reason for the decrease (in secondary schools) was the fact that many young people left school to take war Jobs. Thousands of them, having gone to work in the summer, simply kept on working and failed to return to their classes. What those young peo ple should have realized, and what those in similar circumstances must re alise, now that reconversion is in the air, is that their education is frequently more important than any immediate aid they can give, as workers, to the war effort. Here in Baltimore, as elsewhere throughout the country, the local de partment’s campaign deserves praise. But the primary obligation rests with the parents. They have the best oppor tunity and the most direct responsibility to impress upon their children ndw of high school age that they represent the future for which we are fighting and must prepare themselves for it. Signature This is the summer’s end, beneath a , flame-blue sky: The golden sycamores rich with a softened light And one hawk poised as if transfixed forever there Regarding with casual cold eyes the season’s flight. And now the drying meadow grass, ash gold In pallid sun, Ripples its tarnished silver waves beneath the last warm wind, And one by one and silently the weed seeds drift away. The fire of golden rod expires. Its yel low fronds are thinned. Bronzed butterfles still hover by the smoke-blue thistle stalk, The oak leaves are still firm upon gnarled bough; Only their secret weary whispering implies the end, A summer’s end, but summer was never loveUer than now. nUEDXRICK KBRIOHT.