Evening star. [volume], August 08, 1945, Page A-8, Image 8

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
c ffomttg ptm4
J I With Sunday Morning Edition.
THEODORE W. NOYES, Editor.
WASHINGTON, P. C.
The Evening star Newspaper Company.
Main Office: llth Bt. and Pennsylvania Ave.
New York Office: 110 East 42d St.
Chicago Office: 436 North Michigan Av*.
Delivered by Carrier—Metropolitan Area.
Effective October 1, 1044.
Regular Edition. 4 Sunday*. 6 Sunday*.
?vemng and Sunday. 00c per mo. $1.00 per mo.
he Evening Star- 60c Per month.
The Sunday Star 10c_per copy
Night Final Edition. 4 Sundays. 6 Sundays.
Night Final and 3unday $1.00 mo. $1.10 mo.
Night Final Star_ 75c per month.
Rates 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 2.50 6.00
Telephone National 6000.
entered at the Poet Office Washington. D. C..
as second-class mall matter.
Member of the Associated Press.
The Associated Press Is exclusively entitled to
the use for republicatlon of all news dispatches
credited to It or not otherwise credited In this
paper and also the local news published herein.
All rights of publication of special dispatches
herein also are reserved.
A—8 WEDNESDAY, August 8. 1945
Japan's Choice
The full extent of the damage
done by the first atomic bomb
dropped on Japan is not yet known
to us. But enough is known to
remove the last possible doubt as
to the nature of Japan’s choice.
For the first time in history a great
nation must surrender or accept the
literal alternative of total destruc
tion.
It has been officially announced
that 60 per cent of the built-up area
of Hiroshima was “completely de
stroyed’’ by the bomb’s blast. There
was damage outside the destroyed
area, and there have been indica
tions that the destructive conse
quences of an atomic bomb are not
limited to the effects of the explo
sion itself. It is easy to speak of
a city being 60 per cent destroyed.
But when we say this it is not merely
a matter of flattened homes and
shattered war plans. Somewhat
more than 300,000 people lived in
Hiroshima until last Sunday. Now
the Japanese radio says there is not
a living thing in the area. Whatever
the precise meaning of that, it is
more than probable that scores of
thousands of people simply vanished
In the swirling dust cloud which
sprang up over the city from the
terrible blast of the exploding atoms.
This is the fact which confronts
the Japanese today. They must
choose, and choose soon, between
the cataclysmic repetitions of the
Hiroshima experience which will
follow a refusal to surrender, and
the opportunity to survive as a
nation on the terms of the Potsdam
ultimatum.
The Japanese have been warned—
and the warning means what it
£ays—that we can and will continue
with the atomic bombing of their
country unless there is prompt
capitulation. This prospect is a grim
one. But for us, the choice is be
tween needless sacrifice of American
lives in a prolonged war and the
unrelenting use of the new weapon
which science has placed at our
disposal. In his forthcoming ad
dress, the President undoubtedly will
make it entirely clear that we do
not intend to sacrifice American
lives to spare the people of Japan.
MacArthur and Japan
General MacArthur’s assumption
of command over the Ryukyu Is
lands—his first direct control of
conquered enemy territory—comes
as no surprise. The move was fore
shadowed as long ago as last April
when our joint chiefs of staff di
vided top authority in the Pacific
between him and Admiral Nimitz.
Its main significance is that it
makes virtually certain that he will
have charge of the invasion of
Japan.
It would be inaccurate at this
time, however, to liken General
MacArthur’s position to the one held
by General Eisenhower in the war
against Hitler. Thus, although he
controls General Kenney’s Far East
ern Air Forces and apparently is to
lead the invasion, the Navy and the
strategic air forces (the Super For
tresses) still operate under the sep
arate commands of Admiral Nimitz
and General Spaatz. Moreover, the
command in China is on its own,
and in the Southwest Pacific it ap
pears likely that Admiral Lord Louis
Mountbatten will be vested with ad
ditional authority for independent
operations against Singapore and
the Dutch East Indies.
ueograpmcauy, logisucany ana
In many other respects the vast,
sprawling Pacific - Asiatic theater
differs so markedly from Europe
that unification of command—air,
sea and land—must be proportion
ately more difficult. Undoubtedly,
as General MacArthur builds up his
invasion force from the “great semi
circle base” running from the Phil
ippines to the Ryukyus, the lines of
authority for the final drive will be
more clearly defined, and the prob
ability is that an overall commander
—as urged by General Doolittle—
will be named, with MacArthur the
likely choice. But even then, owing
to the enormous distances and
widely scattered fronts of the Pa
cific, there may have to be inde
pendent set-ups —such as one for
Mountbatten—in combat zones sec
ondary to and far removed from
Japan proper.
To the Japanese, however, specu
lation over the working-out of this
command problem must seem more
or less academic, if not pointless. It
is enough for them to know that the
man they 8nce drove from the Phil
ippines—the man who vowed he
would come back and who came
back.- and who then smashed them
there and cried “On to Tokyo!—is
today in control of the Ryukyus,
325 miles from the homeland. Like
Nimitz and Halsey, MacArthur has
been a very special nemesis of theirs,
and novr that it seems certain he
will be in charge of it, they say an
k
understandable thing when they
nervously admit that our invasion
of Japan "may” be successful. The
word they should use is not "may"
but “will.” Of course, it will be
successful.
Our Atomic Future
So infinite are the potentialities of
the atomic bomb, and so Incapable
is the human mini of comprehend
ing even its Immediate significance,
that any attempt to envision the
world of the future borders on sheer
presumption. Nevertheless, now that
we have fathomed the secrets of
creation and have used our new
knowledge to produce a military
weapon which, though still in its
infancy, can devastate whble cities
with a single blast, it is imperative
that. we shake off old habits of
thought and try to understand some
of the implications of a discovery
which is certain to destroy many of
the assumptions which have served
to guide us in the past.
Until a few days ago, for instance,
most of us thought that a real start
had been made toward solving the
problem of international security.
The nations which wanted peace
were going to band together and pool
their resources so that an act of
aggression, if another Hitler should
rise among us, could be crushed by
bringing superior force to bear
against him. Is this still a valid
assumption, or are its ashes to be
found among the ruins of Hiro
shima?
The atomic bomb as we know it
is in a primitive stag*. For pur
poses of illustration, it might be
compared to the crude airplane
which the Wright brothers kept aloft
for a few seconds at Kitty Hawk
some 40 years ago. What will an
other 40 years bring? Will not the
atomic bomb of that time be a vastly
improved weapon, just as the mili
tary plane of today is an almost
unbelievable improvement over its
prototype? And if that be true, as
it certainly is, what purpose is there
in arguing over the number of troops
to be allocated to the Security
Council, or in debating the question
whether our delegate on the council
should obtain the consent of Con
gress before committing the armed
forces of the United States?
We must not delude ourselves In
these matters, for the fact is that
in the atomic world of the future,
so far as we can evaluate it now,
there will be no defense against
aggression. A mere superiority of
force or numbers will not suffice
to keep the peace. For a few years
we may be able to withhold the
secrets of the atomic bomb. But we
may be sure that other nations will
discover them, and in time they will
be known to all. When that day
comes, the nature of the weapon
being what it is, any one of a dozen
countries, by resort to surprise at
tack, may aspire to rule the world.
There will be no defense against such
an aggressor except to attack him
first, and that is something which
the democratic states will not be
willing to do.
From these premises—and they are
on the conservative rather than the
exaggerated side—there are at least
two obvious conclusions to be drawn.
The first is that, in the future, any
totalitarian state—in which the
power to choose between war and
peace lies with one man or a small
group of men—will be a constant,
deadly menace to the rest of the
world. The second is that we can
no longer hope to muddle through
by overcoming force with force. If
the future holds promise of nothing
better than a competition in atomic
bombing the human race is doomed.
We must prevent another war by
organizing to eliminate the incen
tives for war. Otherwise, this fan
tastic force which we have pried
loose from the atom will destroy all
of us.
What Will Turkey Do?
The complete silence on problems
of the Near and Middle East in the
joint communique concerning the
“Big Three” Potsdam Conference
has heightened the tension in Rus
so-Turkish relations. The tension
began last March, when Moscow
suddenly informed Ankara that it
would not renew unmodified the
treaty providing for mutual nonag
gression, neutrality and co-opera
tion which has subsisted for the past
20 years and which expires next De
cember. This basic instrument was
strengthened by a confirmatory pro
tocol in 1931 and by a mutual decla
ration made early in 1941, under
which the signatories, reaffirming
their loyalty to the original non
aggression pact, pledged themselves,
in case one of them was attacked,
to maintain an attitude of complete
neutrality. This declaration, made
less than three months before Ger
many’s attack on Russia, was one of
the diplomatic bases under which
Turkey maintained its neutrality
under heavy Axis pressure. And the
value of this neutrality to the Allies
was attested by the categorical as
surances given in August, 1?41. by
Russia and Britain to respect Tur
key’s territorial integrity. Turkey's
diplomatic position was further
strengthened by its declaration of
war against Germany last February,
a month before Russia’s denuncia
tion of the nonaggression pact. This
war declaration entitled Turkey to
participate in the San Francisco
Conference and become a charter
member of the United Nations.
Although Moscow’s demands upon
Turkey have never been made pub
lic, and have perhaps not been spe
cifically formulated in a diplomatic
note, they are reliably understood
to be twofold. The first point con
cerns a change in the status of trie
straits connecting the Black Sea
with the Mediterranean, now gov
erned by an international instru
ment known as the Montreux Con
(
vention, under which Turkey forti
fies and controls the straits, with spe
cific regulations governing and limit
ing the movement of warships and
merchant vessels through the straits
In both peace and war. Turkey con
tends that any change in the present
status must be made, not by bilateral
agreement between itself and Rus
sia, but by another international
conference. The second Russian de
mand Is reputed to be for the retro
cession of the districts of Kars and
Ardahan, taken from Turkey by Rus
sia after the war of 1878 but retro
ceded voluntarily in 1921 by the new
ly established Soviet government as
part of its policy to establish cordial
relations with its Asiatic neighbors.
Ankara is reported to be taking* a
firm stand against any tampering
with its territorial integrity and
sovereign rights, even at the risk of
war.
Legally, Turkey’s case appears to
be perfect. So, if it chooses to stand
pat, coercion would seem to fall
under the head of “aggression” as
defined in the United Nations
Charter. Of course, Soviet Russia,
under the Big Five veto clause, could
prevent the Council from taking ac
tion. But this would so discredit
the Charter in world opinion every
where that it would be a major dip
lomatic disaster. Here, If ever, would
seem to be a clear test of the Char
ter’s efficacy in keeping the peace
and promoting a new world order
based on security and justice for all.
Major Bong
To a large section of the American
public, Major Richard L. Bong came
to symbolize the best of our youth
whose courage, amazing resourceful
ness and skill have made our fighting
forces Invincible.
He was not a professional soldier.
He was a clean, fine Wisconsin farm
boy who went from State Teachers’
College into the Air Corps, won his
wings and went away to the wars.
When he first became an ace and
his astonishing exploits as a fighter
pilot began to get into the headlines,
the world smiled with him in its
discovery that he had a sweetheart
waiting for him back home. People
everywhere shared the pride of his
own family, vicariously suffered a
parental anxiety during those last
weeks in the Leyte campaign when,
already past the Rickenbacker record
of twenty-six planes, he ran his
string to thirty-eight while serving
as an "instructor,” then added two
more before sailing home to marry
the girl.
At twenty-four, he had become
one of our most decorated heroes
and his assignment as a test pilot
in development of the new jet planes
was not merely to utilize but to
preserve—out of combat—his "know
how” and skill as a pilot. In the
light of his achievements in battle,
there was irony as well as tragedy
in the manner that death, evaded
so many times, finally took him, as
if in some grim demonstration of
the price that progress exacts from
those who make it possible.
This and That
By Charles E. Tracewell.
“Mckinley place.
“Dear Sir:
“In the spring I spaded up a piece of
ground for gardening and noticed large
numbers of Japanese beetle grubs.
"I picked these up and placed them in
a quart-sized can for later disposal.
“I noticed several yellowjackets hover
ing over the can. When I finished dig
ging there was about an inch or more of
grubs in the can. I left them for awhile
and attended to other chores.
“About two hours later, intending to
dispose of the grubs, there was a swarm
of yellowjackets in and around the can.
“Not caring to start an argument with
them, I did not remove the can until
dusk, at which time the grubs had been
entirely consumed.
“I have noticed since then that yellow
jackets hover over and light upon newly
turned ground. It appears that these
winged destroyers are a possible helping
element in the destruction of the Japa
nese beetle pest.
"Your column is tope.
"Respectfully, B. A. L.”
* a a. a.
“SIVER SPRING.
“Dear Sir:
“This is one of the few times I must
disagree with you and agree with our
Falls Church blackberrying enthusiast.
My husband and I are berrying enthusi
asts, and feel that perhaps you have
never tasted blackberry Jelly, jam, pie
and cobbler, and perhaps you have never
been in a really truly blackberry patch
early in the morning when all the
meadows are fresh with dew, accom
panied by the happy songs of birds.
“Too often stress is placed upon the
negative, such as snakes, chlggers and
the like, but, oh, so little said about the
positive, of which far more abounds.
“One gets what he looks for, and we
got large, shining, ripe berries from
luxurious tall vines, and perhaps we did
get a scratch or two, but remember how
beautiful the roses are in spite of their
thorns.
“Now that I’ve had my say about our
friends the blackberries I feel I can
enjoy their jelly, etc., on hot pancakes
and waffles in the days to come.
“Yours for bigger and better black
berries, “M. B. K.”
So a person bom in Indiana doesn’t
know about blackberries?
Ho, ho, ho!
Out there they have always had the
best food in the world, bushels of it, and
they still do.
Some of the Hoosiers prefer peaches
and some blackberries, but they like best
hot soda biscuits and butter.
As a matter of fact, they usually like
everything in the food line. Probably
there is no State in the Union where
they like good eating so well, or know
bow to cook it so well.
Perhapa we should admit to being a bit
finicky in our tastes. Hence we prefer
peaches to blackberries. We hate spinach
and despise onions. So there.
As for chicken, we haven’t tasted a
really good one any place except in
Indiana. Those Indiana chickens are
the best in the whole world, tasty and
tender.
If you haven’t eaten Indiana chicken
you haven’t eaten anything at all. The
meat is delicate, with a taste all its own,
superchicken of the wide world.
As for pumpkin (we pronounce it
punkin) pie, nobody but the Hoosier
women know how to make it. Every pie
we have tasted elsewhere has been simply
a spice pie, or a sweet potato pie, lacking
the real punkin flavor. Maybe its the
soil and the air of our native State, and
maybe its Just nostalgia, we wouldn’t
know.
I A
Letters to The Star
Plight of Baltic Nation* Stir*
Soldier to Protest
To tho Bditor of The SUr:
Your editorial of August 4 raises this
pertinent question: “Why should peo- (
pies and provinces be bartered about
from sovereignty to sovereignty as if
they were chattels or pawns in the
great game of power politics or the
balance of power amongst the large
nations?”
Let us not overlook the fact that
Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians
are not Slavs, but are distinct peoples
who have proved themselves capable to
manage their own affairs, were recog
nized as sovereign nations by Soviet
Russia and did develop a standard of
living that was higher than in the
adjoining sections of Soviet Russia.
Besides, how can any one assume that
these Baltic peoples, who have more
in common with their Scandinavian
neighbors, are so anxious to Join the
Soviet Union if they were given a free
choice in the matter? Let us not forget
that Stalin got his sphere of influence
in the Baltic and Hitler his "go” signal
in the conquest of Europe at the time
of the German-Russian alliance, and
then when Hitler arrived at the Polish
Russian border as delineated by the
Curzon Line and attacked Russia, the
picture changed.
Soviet Russia tried to bring the Bal
tic nations into her fold by disrupting
their institutions and governments, by
exiling good numbers of the people to
Siberia and by electing to ofBce under
controlled elections Quisling puppets of
her own choosing. Then, when Nazi
Germany overran these countries, the
same procedure was followed. In both
instances there were brutal regimes.
Yes, we do want to be friendly Allies
with Great Britain and Soviet Russia
and have them in turn to be the same
with us. They wanted us to enter this
war, which we did. We gave them
enormous material help and did bring
Germany down to her knees. The least
that we can expect of our Allies is that
they shall respect the rights of peoples
who were freed from the Nazi yoke, so
that they may have free choice in their
form of governments, elect their own
candidates through the holding of uni
versal free elections, and also give the
small nations the right to establish
their own geographic, self-sustaining,
economic confederations.
We have been led to believe that this
was a war of liberation, a battle of de
mocracies to smash the Axis powers so
as to bring about in turn a better world
order, peace, freedom and economic
collaboration amongst nations, whether
large or small.
In the name of good common sense,
why should we hedge, appease and com
promise our principles? Or have we
already forgotten that Chamberlain
like appeasements will not avail us
anything, but rather eventually will
lead us to other complications?
GI JOE FROM A FIGHTING FRONT.
Indian Wars Veterans Oldest
To the Editor of The Star:
In the Sunday Star for August 4 it
is stated that Scott Hall at the United
States Soldiers’ Home la the adminis
tration building. That is not correct.
It is Just like other buildings—a dormi
tory or quarters for men. The actual
administration building is on the left
hand side of Eagle Gate entrance, on
Up6hur street.
It also is stated that veterans of the
Spanish-American War are the oldest
members of the home. But the fact is
that the oldest are veterans of the In
dian Wars in the West, now 80 to 90
years of age. There still are a few of
them at the home.
CHARLES KOLARIK.
Late sergeant, 1st Company, at Fort
Custer, Montana Territory. 1884-1890.
In Praise of the Berry mans
To th« Editor of The Star:
With all due respect to editorial and
columnist pundits, whose words, wise
and sometimes otherwise, I never fail
to read in the utterly indispensable
Evening Star, the most delightful fea
ture to me is always the Berryman car
toon. So much praise deservedly has
been spoken respecting the Cliff Berry
man masterpieces of wit and humor,
that it strikes me as timely to express
appreciation for the truly remarkable
work of Jim Berryman. His drawings
are not only significant contributions
to current events and the historical
scene, but his draftsmanship, to a fel
low draftsman, is a never-falling de
light. He is a master of chiaroscuro;
the light elements of his drawings
sparkle, while his shaded surfaces have
depth and texture. His portraiture is
amazing in its perfection of facial ex
pression, while his delineation of ac
cessories is perfect in detail and illus
trative craftsmanship. In appropriate
ness, historical significance, and sheer
wit, few cartoons will surpass Jim
Berryman’s picture of Clement Attlee
with his enormous bag of votes facing
a bemused Churchill with his little sack,
while the great ex-Prime Minister pa
rodies his moat famous epigram, “Never
in the history of political conflict did so
few receive so little from so many!”
Recent space limitations no doubt
have prevented the insertion of more of
Jim Berryman's sports cartoons. As
one who has never read a sports page
in his entire life, I yet can testify that
more than once Jim’s sports caftoons
had me in stitches. Residents of Wash
ington are fortunate in many things,
not the least of which is a great news
paper whose staff indudes two really
great cartoonists!
ROSSEL EDW. MITCHELL.
Old Soldiers as ‘Serfs’
To the Editor of The Star:
There are hundreds of activities now
being carried on by the Army which are
in no way connected with the war
against Japan. I refer to hundreds of
newspapers which are being published,
dozens of expensive and extensive sur
veys which are made, hundreds of post
exchanges which are operated, hundreds
of films produced, etc. The Army jus
tifies these activities on the basis of
morale. Let me point out that the best
thing for a soldier’s morale is his dis
charge—the sooner the better.
There is no earthly reason why thou
sands of older men with families and
children and financial responsibilities
should be retained in the Army in order
to carry on the Amy’s civilian ac
tivities. These men are wiling to fight
the war; they are unwilling to serve
•• serfs in uniform for the benefit of the
Amy's officer caste.
lots, evalyn Carlson,
i
This Changing World
By Const anting Brown
When Qen. Chajles de Gaulle comes to
. Washington the latter part of this
, month for a delayed visit, he doubtless
will have many problems to lay before
President Truman.
The head of the French provisional
government wanted to come here some
time back, but because preparations were
being made for the Potsdam Conference
Mr. Truman could not devote any time
to him. Then, recently, Gen. de Gaulle’s
constitutional projects have been turned
down by the French Consultive As
sembly, further heightening the danger
to his position.
Gen. de Gaulle is reported in dispatches
from Paris as being pleased with the
Potsdam declaration’s reference to
France’s future role in conferences on
German reparations and with France's
winning a place on the Council to write
the peace treaties of Europe.
Regardless of whatever disappoint
ment Gen. de Gaulle may have felt over
not being given an active part in the
discussions at Potsdam, observers feel
that he should now feel encouraged.
They point to his troubles with Britain
several weeks ago in the Levant, the
‘‘Roosevelt-De Gaulle incident” of sev
eral months ago, and cite the fact that
De Gaulle made a long trip to Moscow
without reaping any noticeable benefits
from conversations with Premier Stalin.
Gen. de Gaulle for a number of weeks
has been under great pressure from the
French people to take definite steps to
guarantee better conditions next winter
than prevailed in 1944-5. Although
they, of course, realized that military
needs came first, the people never did
feel that the general stood up too strong
ly for them In the matter of obtaining
food and coal. There were many hun
gry mouths and cold hands and feet In
France last winter, and the people are
determined to see that the coming
winter will not be near so bad.
- * * a a
For his part, Gen. de Gaulle is reported
anxious to confer with President Tru
man to see if he cannot obtain more re
lief from the United States immediately.
He is expected to point out that, while
it is necessary—to guard military secur
ity—to help feed Germany, a large slice
of relief must go to France from this
country if a bad internal situation, pos
sibly, even, leading to revolution, is to
be avoided.
The French elections are scheduled
for October 13 and, although Paris re
ports have told of rumors that De Gaulle
might resign, he is said to be deter
mined not to quit, preferring to leave
his fate to events of the next few weeks.
France is very anxious for an early
settlement of the territorial question of
the left bank of the Rhine, the Ruhr
and the Westphalian coal basin. Sep
aration of these areas from Germany is
vital, in the eyes of the French, and
the quicker the action is taken the bet
ter. This question is, of course, closely
tied in with France’s needs.
If Gen. de Gaulle is able to get definite
assurances from President Truman that
the United States will give more than
token assistance in the next few months,
he will return to his country in a much
better frame of mind and probably can
quit worrying about the outcome of the
elections as far as his own future is con
cerned.
On the Record
By Dorothy Thompson
me Allied armies are m occupation
of the whole of Germany and the Ger
man people have begun to atone for the
terrible crimes committed under the
leadership of those whom, in the hour
of success they openly approved and
blindly obeyed.”
The plan issued from Potsdam for
the treatment of Germany is in some
respects a final peace treaty, and in all
respects will be determinant for world
developments.
It rests on the presumption of the
guilt of all Germans. This is necessary
for Justification of the sentence, for no
other could be found. That is its weak
ness. ,
Even a Judgment of guilt Is not suffi
cient to support the justice or wisdom
of any sentence, particularly if passed
on generations yet unborn and certain
to ricochet upon some, if not all, of
the judges.
The German people are without
benefit of counsel. Policeman, prose
cutor, Judge, jury and witnesses are
the same. There is not a single refer
ence to the millions of them who suf
fered in concentration camps for their
failure to approve or obey, nor for the
hundreds who died the deaths of
martyrs for active resistance.
* * * *
I do not share the concept of “parti
ceps criminis” which presumes that
state and people are one. It is bad
American doctrine. Nevertheless, It
holds a warning. If, In the moment of
success our Government participates
in what history may reveal to be a crime,
then you and I, if we openly approve,
or even blindly obey, share equally in
the guilt.
I believe that the Big Three agreement
in Potsdam may. unless modified by
practice, turn out to be a crime—against
principle, civilization, humanity, history,
common sense, the interests of Europe,
and the security and prosperity of the
United States. I find in it passages
of ineffable hypocrisy. Neither you nor
I will escape the results of it, but exactly
to what extent are we responsible?
Without public debate or discussion,
as the result of secret meetings to whose
deliberation the American press and
public have been completely barred,
without even an attempt to justify its
decisions in reason; with the exclusion
of the nations most concerned—those of
Europe—we have been committed to
a policy which we shall now have to
enforce.
We must openly approve and blindly
obey. »
In view of the Potsdam Judgment of
guilt, it is well to take note that while
the peoples through their representa
tives decreasingly participate in the
decisions of their governments, their
governments increasingly put the re
sponsibility for results upon the people.
This is absolutely true in dictatorships,
where no government falls, whatever its
errors or crimes, while the revealers of
the crimes are purged. It is becoming
so in the democracies. In one case the
critic goes to Jail; in the other he does
not go —or get — anywhere. By the
time he knows what is up it is too late
to change.
* * * *
As the people under dictatorships give
away their free responsibilities bit by
bit to the point where they cannot turn
back, so we have been giving away ours
by refusal to insist that our Government
submit its decisions to the test of pre
viously agreed on principles.
When we accepted ‘‘unconditional
surrender” we surrendered our own
chance to affect the conditions of peace.
The surrender of our enemies was no
less blind than our own.
When Mr. Churchill surrendered the
principles of the Atlantic Charter in
respect to Germany and Japan he also
surrendered them in respect to °oland.
Now nothing can guarantee a ‘‘tree and
independent” Poland, and we compound
a betrayal by the hypocrisy of pretend
ing that failure is success.
Our public life has become so subject
to political coups d'etat supported by
postpropaganda that we are becoming
afraid to utter an honest word. Thus,
though many think the Potsdam com
munique appalling, the attitude is: “The
best deal we could make.” Then why
present it as the sermon on the mount?
It is time to stop calling deals justice,
suppressions reform, grabs for power
/atonement, dictatorship democracy. One
of these days nobody may know the dif
ference, then we shall be sunk. ,
In forthcoming columns I shall an
alyze the communique in detail, in sup
port of this reaction. It has ambiguities'
and gaps that offer a little hope.
But the guilt or innocence of the
German people did not concern the
Potsdam conferees.
What concerned them was how to
avoid frictions with each other. Ger
many is the guinea pig for testing col
laboration between the great powers.
The program outlined hands, as usual,
the aces to the Soviets. One more Big
Three meeting and Russia will get
Canada.
Yet all the time we have held the
trump—American idealism — which we
chose to exchange for the wretched
deuce of “realism.” With that we have
broken the confidence of millions of
people, the strongest force on earth, if
magnetized toward a focus of liberty
and hope.
All wTe can now do is to recapture our
humanistic ideals and behave according
to American principles, leading, not fol
lowing. and refusing to gild stinkweed
and call it a lily.
The Choice Is Ours
By Moj. George Fielding Eliot
The harnessing of atomic energy to
the uses of man may well prove the
most Important scientific discovery of
all time. For good or ill it may well
alter the history of the human race.
But for the moment, the industrial and
hence the social changes which may
be brought about by this primal power
lie well in the future. With its military
uses we are immediately concerned, be
cause it is to military ends that its dis
covery is first of all being turned.
The military uses of atomic power may
be considered under two heads: (1) Its
immediate application to the Japanese
war; (2) its effect on the maintenance
of peace by the United Nations or
ganization.
Its effect on the Japanese war seems
likely to be in proportion to the degree
to which it can be brought to bear on
Japanese targets. In the first use of a
new weapon, a decision always has to
be made as to the time of its employ
ment against the enemy. The conten
tion on this point is always between
those who want to begin experiment as
soon as the thing is at all usable, and
those who want to wait until a suffi
cient stock is in hand to gain a great
advantage if it works as advertised, thus
reaping to the full the effect of sur
prise.
On the one hand, it is always urged
that laboratory experiment is never as
good a test as actual use in the field,
so that the earlier field experiment
begins, the more rapid the subsequent
application of the new weapon will be;
on the other hand, it is always con
tended that the first use gives the enemy
information of what is in store for him
and he begins at once to work out coun
termeasures.
* * * *
Whether this latter contention has
much validity in the present case is to
be doubted, for it would seem a matter
of great difficulty, if not impossibility,
for the Japanese in their present straits
to work out any worth-while defenses
against the terrible weapon with which
they are now being assailed. Hence it
is quite possible that we ham made a
small beginning, which is indeed further
suggested by the fact that the first im
portant test in the United States took
place on July 16, and the first atomic
bomb was dropped on Japan only about
three weeks thereafter (August 5, Ameri
can time).
It looks as though the atomic bomb
attack on Hiroshima is a part of a
scheduled operation directed against the
will to fight of the Japanese people
first the three-power ultimatum, then
the Japanese refusal, then the scheduled
bombing of Japanese cities “by roster,”
then the Potsdam communique outlining
the fate which the German people
brought upon themselves by obeying
their war lords to the bitter end, now
the announcement of the atomic bomb
and its first use against Hiroshima.
We may assume that the atomic bomb
will hasten the end of the war, at least,
if it does not terminate it abruptly.
What then?
The free peoples of the world now
have in their possession a weapon so
terrible that for the present, at least,
nothing can stand against it. The sav
ing grace in this situation, the outward
and visible sign of God’s merciful prov
idence, is that this weapon is in the
hands of the American, British and
Canadian peoples, and not in the hands
of a Hitler or a Japanese war lord.
* * * *
In this connection, the closing words
of President Truman’s statement are
of immense significance: “Under present
circumstances it is not intended to di
vulge the technical processes of produc
tion or all the military applications,
pending further examination of possible
methods of protecting us and the rest
of the world from the danger of sudden
destruction. I shall recommend that
the Copgregs consider promptly the es
tablishment of an appropriate commis
sion to control the production and use
of atomic power within the United
States. I shall give further considera
tion and make further recommenda
tions to the Congress as to how atomic
power can become a powerful and force
ful influence toward the maintenance of
world peace."
The immense responsibility which now
lies on the shoulders of those peoples
whose representatives must make the
decisions suggested by the President can
hardly be overemphasized. We must
realize what this responsibility means.
No scientific discovery, no mere instru
ment will save us from ourselves if we
are false to our duty, if we are as a
nation too stupid, too hesitant or too
indifferent to make use of what we have
for the benefit of mankind. In the last
analysis, the basic faetor is still the
human factor.
Free we are, and free we are deter
mined to remain. But we can not re
main so Just by saying so. We have
seen the sacrifices which our freedom
has demanded of us in two great wars
because we had not the wit and the
energy to take the steps which might
have prevented them. We have had
our lesson, we have paid a bitter price
for it, and now we have a new and
awe-inspiring opportunity to establish
peace and to defend it. But to do that,
we must rise superior in our hearts and
our souls to the frightful forces our
minds have unleashed on this shrinking
planet—forces which may be turned to
our use or to our destruction. The
choice is ours.
(Coprrisht, ms.)
U. S. Seen Reluctant
To Destroy Jap Cities
Hopes Bomb Discovery Will Give
Nipponese Leaders a ‘Way Out*
By David Lawrence
There is no sense of jubilation or even
of triumph here over the development
of the atomic bomb. There is a sense
of horror and of reluctance to use the
weapon to destroy'Japan.
The hope is that the Japanese mili
tarists will see that the discovery really
gives them a way out of their (fflemms
and that negotiations leading to ths
occupation of Japan may be begun soon.
But nobody here seems able to fathom
the possible reaction of the Japanese
leaders to the bomb. Its destructive
power sounds so incredible that it may
be that several more bombs will have
to be dropped before the Japanese real
ize that the broadcasts are not as fan
tastic as they must sound.
The Japanese, of course, don’t know
whether we have one bomb or a large
quantity and they cannot be sure
whether the whole thing isn’t Just a
means of inducing their surrender and
thus avoiding an invasion by our forces.
But in due time the Japanese will dis
cover that there are plenty of bombs
to continue the destruction.
Weeks Now, if Not Days.
So it may be that the end of the
Japanese war is merely a matter of
weeks now, if not days.
Certainly the frightfulness of the
bomb has produced already on this side
of the ocean psychological repercussions
that make one wonder whether the de
vice to end all wars, so long predicted,
has not Anally materialized. When a
war weapon becomes so easy to manu
facture that it can be used by either
side there is apt to be nonuse. Thus
gas was used in the World War, but not
in this war. It was not out of any
humane consideration that gas was not
used by Germany or is not being used
by Japan. The belief that the other
side can use it with equal destructive
ness causes hesitation.
The fact that the United States would
not use gas, but has used the atomic
bomb, disposes of any argument that
humane considerations prevented the
Use of gas by us in the PaciAc war. It
would appear now that the United
States believed the Japanese would use
*as in China, where the latter’s armies
are not equipped to Aght it, and that
•the rise of gases might be detrimental
10 our own forces on such small islands
as Iwo Jima because of changing winds.
Whatever the reason for nonuse of gas,
the atomic bomb emerges as far more
deadly than any gas bomb ever in
dented.
. American public opinion at the mo
ment is quick to insist that any or all
measures be taken to end the war
against the Japanese. But a sober, sec
ond thought will come eventually and
the responsibility for using the atomic
bomb will weigh more and more heavily
as time goes on.
Another Ultimatum Seen.
The belief prevails that the United
States and Allies will perhaps issue
another ultimatum and will not use the
bomb extensively until absolutely neces
sary to force the submission of the
Japanese. In other words, the United
States would rather be in the position
of employing the weapon as a coercive
measure rather than for actual destruc
tion.
As a matter of fact, the bomb is so
|iew and the test in this country was
jso recent that nobody knows just what
'damage the first one did in Japan. It
is believed, for instance, that the Jap
anese themselves do not know what
struck them and possibly all communi
cation with the affected area and all
persons within it have been destroyed.
Hence the whole world is left to guess,
along with the Japanese, as to what the
jpower of the weapon really is, though
ho one doubts that it can do damage
beyond any one's imagination.
The problem for the Japanese military
leaders has been simplified, however, by
,the atomic bomb. They have the choice
[of permitting the Japanese Empire and
[many of her people to be killed for the
. 'honor” of their country in a sort of
r: suicide spirit of of surrendering and
t building the hope that some day the
* Japanese Empire may be strong again
rand perhaps invent its own atomic
’bombs as a measure of self defense, if
hot offense.
■■ Clearly the atomic bomb places upon
mankind a greater responsibility than
: has ever faced to find 'means to use
sason instead of force to settle inter
ational disputes and to curb the greed
nd selfishness which feeds the eco
omic unrest out of which so often has
ome the urge to aggression.
(Reproduction Right* Reserved.)
*
f Morale-Maker Fulton
from the St. Louie Ster-Timtj.
Representative James G. Pulton of
Pennsylvania has suggested that the
Government permit servicemen to take
their wives and children with them
0!"erseas. It would, help morale, he says.
.. Imagine, if you can, Pfc. Joseph
Soakes starting his day from Quonset
f ut 768, Base 435, APO 917, San Fran
f SCO. His wife is in tears—homesick,
tittle Mary, about to cut her first tooth,
fe wailing in her crib, and Johnny, the
»$y, is hobbling about with an Infected
»s. As Joe finally breaks away he
allzes he's 15 minutes late and in for
trouble with his sergeant. But Joe
t?>esnt mind. He’s got morale today,
Sid he trudges off through the mud
ady for anything the fortunes of war
ijay send his way.
> Don’t blame Representative Fulton.
He’s a bachelor.
Boy in August
4 small boy is sure to be broum as a
berry
When August winds blow and fox
grass is high
And days are hours longer fust so he
can tarry
With brown elbows akimbo and face
to the sky.
The sky is a pasture and white clouds
are sheep
And the boy is their driver and sings
them a song, *'*
Herding them toward a hiU cloud that
i is steep.
With his favorite lambkin heel-tag
ging along.
Tht street that he lives on is one block
■ away
And if he raised up he could see the
. brick school
Bui he is a westerner for this one day
And his road leads direct to a heaven
’ blue pooL
With seven-league boots he leaves the
fox grasses.
A A* yet he is still sprawled out on the
ft ground,
A M all boy turned laxy to any who
I passes,
Nm herding a flock, nor making a
r~ —