Evening star. [volume], August 29, 1946, Image 1

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

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94th YEAR. No. 37,371 Phone NA. 5000. D. C., THURSDAY, AUGUST 29. 1946—FORTY-TWO PAGES. ^5 CENTS
Big 4 Ministers
Meet in Effort
To Speed Parley
Session Begun After
Australia Suffers
Another Defeat
ly th» Associated Press
PARIS, Aug. 29.—The Foreign
Ministers of Britain, Russia, the
United States and France met
this afternoon in an effort to
find a way of revitalizing the
Paris Peace Conference.
Shortly before the ministers gath
ered in the office of Georges Bidault,
president and foreign minister of
France, the conference had wit
nessed another of the clashes which
have bedeviled the peace making.
An Australian proposal to establish
a subcommittee to collect factual
data on the Italian-French frontier
was beaten. 13 to 6. in the Italian
commission after a heated Aus
tralian-Russia.n exchange.
The four principal powers rfnd
nine other nations voted against
the Australian plan.
Secretary of State Byrnes. British
Foreign Secretary Bevin. Soviet
Foreign Minister Molotov and Mr.
Bidault met in the building contain
ing the famous clock room where
the Big Four of 1919 framed the
treaties which they, too, hoped
would end war.
Amendments First Task.
Their first task, it was believed,
was to devise a common ground
for dealing with the 300 amend
ments to treaty drafts which have
snowed the conference under. As
they met only the preambles to four
of the treaties had been adopted
in commissions. The conference
Itself had yfct to pass on most of
these, having passed on less than
200 of the 55,000 words in the five
treaties for Bulgaria. Italy, Ro
mania. Finlahd and Hungary.
Secretary Byrnes was the first to
arrive at the Quai d'Orsay. He was
accompanied by his advisers for the
meeting. Senators Vandenberg, Re
publican, of Michigan, and Con
nally, Democrat, of Texas, and his
interpreter, Charles Bohlen.
Mr. Molotov was last to arrive He
was accompanied by his deputies,
Fedor Gusev and Andrei Vishinsky.
A crowd of several hundred anx
ious Frenchmen and women
watched them in front of the
French Foreign Ministry'.
Mr. Byrnes. Mr. Molotov and Mr.
Bevln all appeared cheerful as they
climbed the stone steps and Mr.
Byrnes and Mr. Molotov were smil
ing.
The four ministers will devise
their own means of letting the world
know what goes on in the intimacy
of Mr. Bidault's office. The meeting
was barred to the press.
Mont Cenis Award Cited.
John A. Beasley, the Australian
delegate, took up the award of the
Mont Cenis plateau to France in
particular in his argument before
the Italian commission that a spe
cial committee should make a study
of all disputed territorial questions
connected with the Italian treaty.
Referring to papers collected on
the question bv a committee of ex
perts for the deputy foreign min
isters of Britain. Russia, the United
States and France, Mr. Beasley ex
claimed. “We have never seen these
documents.’’
“I’ll tell you more,” he stormed
“This committee of experts never
went to this place. How can they
give us any information?”
Replying to the charge by Vishin
sky that the proposal for a subcom
mittee came from persons “who
hadn’t studied” the situation, Mr.
Beasley said:
“It is because we have studied it
that we want more information.”
The vote on the question lined up
only Belgium, Brazil, Greece, the
Netherlands and South Africa with
he Australians.
Second Australian Setback.
This was the second setback to
n.ajor Australian amendments in
the Conference. Yesterday Aus
tralia was beaten in her efforts to
have Russia's $1,000.000 000 repara
tions bill against the five former
enemy states involved here set aside
ior six months and made the sub
ject 0{ a special commision study.
Another argument flared in the
military commission over a Brazilian
amendment to the Italian treaty
which provides for destruction of
permanent Italian military fortifi
cations along the French-Italian
frontier.
Gen. Angelo Mendes de Moraes
of Brazil proposed that the treaty
provide for destruction of instal
lations “able to fire on French
soil.” Presumably his amendment
would have permitted Italy to retain
some defensive installations.
The commission adopted the orig
< See CONFERENCE, PageA-67)
Temperatures Dip
To 30s in Midwest
fty th» A^tocioled Press
CHICAGO, Aug. 29.—A foretaste
of autumn spread over the Middle
West today as temperatures in three
States dipped into the 30s or below.
Land O Lakes. Wl*„ reported a
minimum reading of 26 degrees, ac
companied by a light frost. Other
low temperatures included 36 at St.
Cloud, Minn., 37 at Wausau, Wis., 38
at Spencer, Iowa and 39 at Madison,
Wis.
The forecast for Chicago, which
had a low of 53 last night, was for
a minimum of 45 tonight. The
Weather Bureau said this would
represent the coolest August In the
bureau's history in Chicago. The
previous record was 46.9 degrees on
August 25, 1917.
No immediate change was in sight
as a mass of cold air from central
Canada blanketed the Nation's mid
section.
Federal forecasters said the cool
weather extended from Illinois and
Indiana northwest into the Dakotas
and Montana and the Plains States.
They said the cold mass, moderat
ing as it moves southward, was ex
pected to extend into Ohio, Ken
tucky and Tennessee.
A «
Col. Kilian Convicted and Fined
For Permitting Cruelty to GIs I
Lichfield Commander
is Fined $500 and
Given Reprimand
By Hf© Associated Press
BAD NAUHEIM, Germany, Aug.
29.—Col. James A. Kilian of
Highland Park, 111., former com
mander of the United States
Army’s replacement depot at
Lichfield, England, was convicted
today of permitting cruel and
unusual punishment of Amer
ican soldiers imprisoned in the
depot guardhouse.
Col. Kilian was fined $500 and
reprimanded by the seven-officer
military court. Tire court convicted
him after two hours deliberation at
the end of the 10-week trial.
Col. Kilian was acquitted of "aid
ing and abetting” cruelties for which
nine enlisted guards and three sub
ordinate officers hate been convicted.
The court-martial cleared him also
of charges of "knowingly” permitting
cruelties.
The colonel had testified that if
prisoners at Lichfield were mis
treated, he knew nothing about it.
The court found that Col. Kilian
had .permitted these punishments:
Striking prisoners with fists and
clubs, kicking them in the body, or
forcing them to stand nose and toes
against a wall or in other strained
positions for protracted periods.
More than a score of soldier wit
nesses. most of them former prison
ers of the Lichfield guardhouse,
testified about such punishment.
Col. Kilian received the Legion
of Merit in October, 1944, for "ex
ceptionally meritorious ’* service as
a replacement depot commander.
More than 200.000 American soldiers
had passed through the Lichfield
depot before the Battle of the Bulge.
COL. JAMES A. KILIAN.
-—AP Photo.
■
Col Kilian's former adjutant and
a former chaplain at Lichfield were
among the men who testified in his
defense.
The chaplain, Capt. William I.
Comfort, said prisoners occasionally
got “shoved around," but that there
was no actual mistreatment. He
said "any man in a guardhouse will
say he's mistreated."
The adjutant, Lt. Col. Robert
Norton of Mountain View, N. J„
testified he never saw any evidence
of prisoners being treated cruelly
at the Lichfield guardhouse.
Col. Kilian himself remarked early
in the Lichfield trials: “There must
have been something wrong at
j Lichfield which was concealed from
me. It looks like they have passed
the ball to the old man."
He is 55 years old. He was born
in Nebraska, obtained a degree at
the University of Missouri in 1914
and served as an officer in both the
First and Second World Wars. *
Russian Prejudice
On Transjordan's
U. N. Bid Charged
Australia Assails Stand
Attributed to Lack of
Diplomatic Relations
By the Associated Press
LAKE SUCCESS, N. Y„ Aug.
29.—Paul Hasluck. Australian
delegate to the United Nations
Security Council, today charged
Soviet Russia with “prejudice” In
refusing to accept Transjordan s
application for U. N. member
ship because the Soviets have no
diplomatic relations with that
country.
The Council, considering eight
applications on the last day in
which it may complete action for
the September meeing of the Gen
eral Assembly, ran into a snarl
when Australia, the Netherlands,
the United States, Egypt. Great
Britain and China challenged An
drei A. Gromyko. Soviet delegate, to
explain his stand.
Mr. Hasluck said the Transjordan
application would fail now through
the veto because it does not have
relations with Russia.
Mexico Questions Stand.
Declaring that the Council mem
bers have a responsibility to all U. N.
members and not solely to then
own governments, Mr. Hasluck said:
“We cannot on grounds that
amount . to prejudice” reject any
nation.
Mexico also joined in questioning
Russia’s stand.
Mr. Gromyko replied briefly to the
delegates with the statement that
it seemed to him he was clear I
enough on his motives and that he
had nothing to add.
Gromyko Cites Support.
China and Soviet Russia today
supported the application of the
Mongolian People’s Republic for ad
mission to the U. N. and thus dif- ;
fered openly with the United States
and Great Britain on the second of .
eight applications to be taken up by ;
the Council.
When discussion on Albania, to
which the United States was op
posed, was completed w'ith a brief
parliamentary skirmish in which
the Council decided to vote on all
applications at the end of the de
bate, Outer Mongolia was taken up.
Dr. C. L. Hsia, Chinese delegate,
said China was prepared to sup
port Outer Mongolia “if we ever
come to the voting.” China orig
inally had recommended the ap
plication wait until next year foi
the U. N. to know Outer Mongolia
“more intimately.”
Mr. Gromyko cited support given
the Red Army by Outer Mongolia.
The British and United States
< See U. N., Page A-6.»
Band Leader Benter
Accused of Auto Sale
Above Ceiling Price
Former Navy Officer
Arrested by OPA Agents;
Pleads Not Guilty
Charles Benter. former leader
of the Navy Band and now direc
tor of the Metropolitan Police
Department Band, was arrested
by Office of Price Administration
agents shortly before noon today
on a charge of violating maxi
mum price regulations by selling
a 1946 Pontiac for $1,120 more
than the ceiling price.
The arrest was made by OPA
Agents Dan Jones and Marshall
Miller with deputy United States
marshals on a United States Com
missioner's warrant charging Benter
—an honorary police captain—with
making the illegal sale yesterday.
The warrant alleges that he sold the
automobile to Ensign Joseph E.
Sisler of the Maritime Service, who
is a resident of Colmar Manor. Md.
Arraingned before Commissioner
Turnage shortly after the arrest.
Benter pleaded not guilty and the
case was continued until tomorrow
to permit the band leader to confer
with counsel. Bond was set at
$500.
The automobile was sold to the
ensign for $2,300, the OPA charged,
while the ceiling price is $1,179.20.
Where Benter obtained the auto
mobile could not be learned im
mediately. The OPA said the war
rant was issued on receipt of a
complaint from the purchaser.
SS Leader on Trial
For Jewish Massacre
By th» Associated Pren
WARSAW, Aug. 28—(Delayedi —
SS Commandant Amon Goeth, ac
cused of killing 8,000 Jews in the
liquidation of the ghettos of Kra
kow, Tarnow and Pleszew. went on
trial for his life today before the
Supreme National Tribunal at Kra
kow.
Bulletin
Death Sentence Cut
LONDON UP'.—The Colonial
Office announced tonight that
the death sentences against
18 Stern gang members con
victed of bomb attacks on the
Haifa railroad yards in Pales
tine have been commuted to
life imprisonment.
(Earlier Story on Page A-6.)
Ministers Start From Scratch
In Effort to End Peace Snarl
No Hint of Proposals as Meeting Begins;
May Attempt to Trim Treaty Amendments
By Newbold Noyes, Jr.
Stor Staff Correspondent
PARIS, Aug. 29.—The question
in every one’s mind as the Big
Four Foreign Ministers’ Council
met here today was: What can
the Ministers produce by way of
a plan to speed up the work of
the Peace Conference?
It is not an easy question to:
answer. The truth seems to be that'
they are simply going to sit down,
together and try to figure out what’
they can do to push things along.
So far as is known now, none of
them has in mind a project to sell
• to the others.
However, even a cursory study of
w hat has gone on so far in Paris sug
gests a few ideas which might pro
duce the desired acceleration. The
obvious answer—that the thing which
would help most is for Russia and
the West to agree to get along for a
while—may fairly be ruled out in
this connection. Hiere obviously is
little likelihood that Secretary of
I a
State Byrnes, British Foreign Min
ister Bevin, Russian Foreign Min
ister Molotov and French President
Georges Bidault, who have been
slugging it out for a month now at
the Luxembourg Palace, will resolve
their basic differences io a few
hours of chatting.
But it is a good guess that, in the
course of their conversation, they
will consider at least some of the
possible prescriptions for the ailing
conference which have occurred to
observers of the proceedings in
which they have played a leading
role.
Perhaps the most obvious of these
is that it would help the work in
treaty commissions a lot if the For
eign Ministers went over the list of
more than 200 amendments to the
treaty drafts which have been pre
sented by conference member states,
in order to see, even before these
'See rfOYBS, Page A-6.) 1
Stuart Reported
HeadingChinese
Coalition Move
Committee of 5 Said
To Have Chiang OK
For Peace Effort
*y the Associated Press
NANKING, Aug. 29.—General
issimo Chiang Kai-shek was re
ported reliably today to have
approved the creation of a com
mittee of five, headed by Amer
ican Ambassador John Leighton
Stuart, to* clear the way for a
coalition government taking in
all parties.
This was regarded here as the
most hopeful development in the
Chinese situation in recent weeks.
It came as fighting in the North
increased sharply in intensity, and
as the Communists announced they
might set up their own separate
"national government'’ rather than
accept any new constitution in
which they did not have a voice.
The primary objective of Mr.
Stuart's committee would be to
bring the Kuomintang and minor
parties together in a 40-man state
council which would serve as an
interim coalition governing body
until a more permanent administra
tion is formed at the November 12
national assembly.
Twaif, vans Ull OLUdl l.
Premier T. V. Soong called on
Ambassador Stuart today and pre
sented the names of the government
members—Wu Te-chen, secretary
general of the Kuomintang, and
Chang Li-sheng. Minister of the In
terior—who are slated to serve
around the same conference table
witn Communists Chou En-lai and
Tung Pi-wu.
The government choices are sched
uled to leave for the summer capital
at Kuling tomorrow’ to receive in
structions from the generalissimo.
The committee probably would not
begin functioning until early next
week.
The most difficult problem be
fore the group would be to strike
an acceptable voting balance to
satisfy Communist fears of being
dominated by the Kuomintang.
Yenan wants a veto power—two
thirds vote instead of a simple ma
jority—on all questions affecting
decisions reached by last February's
all-party political conference. These
decisions laid out the course the
nation must follow if it is to achieve
constitutional democracy.
Ambassador Stuart wras said to
be optimistic that these procedural
details would be disposed of by
"men of good will.”
Formation of the council presum
i ably would bring an end to hostilities
and give Gen. George C. Marshall
and the Communist and National
members of his committee of three
a free hand to proceed with the
military reorganization of China
and the restoration of disrupted
communications.
Kalgan Fight Likely.
A fight for Kalgan. Communist
stronghold in Chahar province, ap
peared likely as government troops
pushed their northern offensives
with feverish fury.
Government circles, meantime, ex
pressed fear that the Shansi prov
ince rail hub of Tatung, under Com
munist siege for nearly a month,
finally had fallen after withstand
ing two dozen attacks.
Communists at Kalgan were re
ported strengthening the outer de
fenses of that “second capital” in
the face of government movements
to the south. Government sources
said the Communists had taken the
initiative in fighting at Mankou,
strategic pass south of Kalgan, and
along the Peiping-Kalgan railroad.
Casualties apparently were heavy
on both sides, said the progovern
ment Peiping newspaper Hsin
Min Pao.
The Communists’ Yenan radio
broadcast the wholly unconfirmed
report that "another 9,000 Kuomin
tang troops were wiped out” on
Tuesday near Jukao, just north of
the mouth of the Yangtze where
three Nationalist regiments have
been reported encircled. Yenan
claimed one government plane was
shot down during the fighting.
Durant Conspiracy
Charge Thrown Out
' ty th« A«ociot#<J Pre$»
FRANKFURT. Aug. 29. - The
prosecution concluded today its case
against Mrs. Kathleen Nash Durant,
charged with larceny and embezzle
ment of the Kronberg jewel collec
tion. The military court granted the
defense a three-week recess to line
up its witnesses.
The court threw out the con
spiracy charge against the WAC
captain, approving a defense con
tention that evidence failed to sup
port it.
Prosecution attorneys said the
War Department had prepared to
send witnesses for the defense by
air from the United States next
week.
The defense has asked for at least
six witnesses from the United States.
Among witnesses sought are Army
officers at Fort Sheridan, 111. The
defense wishes them to testify in its
effort to show that Mrs. Durant
never was reinducted into the serv
ice and therefore is not subject to
military court-martial.
Depositions also are sought by the
defense from the defendant's sister,
Eileen Lonergan of Hudson, Wis., in
whose home jewels owned by the
royal houses of Hesse and Hohen
zollern were found. The defense
wants to show that military police
took the jewels without a proper
search warrant and obtained from
the WAC a waiver of her rights la
this respect “by coercion.”
Taylor Flying to U. S.
LONDON. Aug. 29 (IP).—Myron
C. Taylor, President Truman’s rep
resentative at the Vatican, left by
plane today for New York.
I
\
D. C. Navy Captain's Wife Killed
In Calvert Street Bridge Leap
Mrs. Armand J. Robertson Was Mother of 2;
Husband, Pacific Veteran, on Duty in Japan
<Picture on Page B-l.)
Mrs. Armand J. Robertson, 42,
wife of a Navy captain now serv
ing in Japan and mother of two
children, plunged 120 feet to her
death from Calvert Street
Bridge at 7:30 a.m. today.
The coroner’s office said it would
issue a certificate of suicide later
today.
Mrs. Robertson, whose younger
child, Jeanne, was bom at George
town! Hospital only four months ago.
left her home at 3824 Legation street
N.W., an hour before the fata.1
plunge, according to members of her
family.
Police were toid Mrs. Robertson
had been under treatment of Dr.
Robert H. Groh. 2000 block of R
street N.W., for a nervous disorder
since the birth of the child. Neigh
i bors, however, told reporters the
I attractive, red-haired Mrs. Robert
son always appeared in good spirits.
"She loved that baby girl.” a
neighbor said. "She hardly ever let
the child out of her arms."
Capt. Roberston left Washington
about three weeks ago, it was said,
to assume command of the cruiser
Chicago, based at Yokosuka. Japan.
The other child, James, 9, also lives
at the Legation street address.
.Police were unable to account for
Mrs. Robertson's movements after
she left her home at 6:30 a m., "to
take a walk." An unidentified per
son called police shortly after 7:30
a.m. to say that a woman had jumped
from the Calvert Street Bridge, but
investigators could not locate any
one who witnessed the plunge.
Commodore A. T. Sprague, hus
band of the dead woman’s sister-in
law. met Detective Sergt. J. O. Cur
tis of the Homicide Squad at the
i See PLUNGE, Page A-2. )
Rail Transport Crisis
Will Close Factories,
ODT Director Says
Lines Cannot Handle
All Freight Expected
In Fall and Winter
By Ihe A«ociat«d Presi
ODT Director J. Monroe John
son declared today that the im
pending transportation crisis
‘ will compel some factories to
shut down or curtail operations-’
this fall and winter.
‘‘The railroads simply cannot han
dle all the traffic which will be of
fered them during coming months,”
the Office of Defense Transportation i
chief said in an interview.
‘‘So when the storage facilities of.
industrial plants are filled, they’ll
just have to close down or curtail
operations until they can move their
goods.”
Predicting that “it will take a long
time to move the freight backlog;
which will accumulate during the j
fall and winter,” Col. Johnson
added:
“The railroads will still be moving j
this year’s wheat crop when the;
next crop ripens. There is pressure
on the transportation system from j
all sides of the economy. We're try-1
ing to build more of everythin* and
to haul lt as fast as possible—from
primary to secondary producers and
then to the consumers.
Col. Johnson said he Is preparing
an order “to compel the railroads to
handle railroad freight cars with
more efficiency.”
While ^fusing to specify its na
ture, he said the effect of the order
will be to make available an addi
tional 25,000 freight cars a week.
On Tuesday Reconversion Director j
John R. Steelman ordered several j
Government agencies. Including the
ODT, to take emergency action to
prevent “a transportation crisis.”
But Col. Johnson said today, "AH
we can do is to reduce the paucity
of freight cars, not eliminate it. We
shall be in a terrible fix in trans
portation until May.”
Charges Filed Against Two
Held for Month by Reds
By th« Associated Press
BERLIN, Aug. 29.—Two Ameri
can officers, who were held almost
a month by the Russians on ac
cusations of spying after they had
illegally entered the Russian zone,
were charged by the United States
Army today with violating an order
prohibiting unauthorized travel
into another occupied zone.
Capt, Harold Cobin of New York
City and Second Lt. George E.
Wyatt of Oklahoma City will be
tried by a general court-martial in
early September under Article of
War 96. which forbids “a disorder
and neglect to the prejudice of good
order and military discipline,” the
Army announced.
Capt. Cobin and Lt. Wyatt dis
appeared Into the Russian zone on
July 4. Despite American Army
representations the Russians dis
claimed all knowledge of their
whereabouts. On July 30, hpwever,
the Russians turned them over to,
American authorities. !
1
Senatorsto Investigate
Gifts to Sponsors of
6,,C!D. Wartime Ships
Mead Committee Seeks
How Much They Cost
And Who Paid for Them
The size of the bill for Amer
ica’s 6,000 wartime ship launch
ings. which included such items
as gifts of jewelry for the spon
sors, champagne for the chris
tening, corsages and dinner
parties, will be checked by the
Senate War Investigating Com
mittee to determine who paid
for it all.
Records of all the launchings and
the costs involved in sending this
country’s mighty merchant fleet
down the ways have been requested
by the committee from the Mari
time Commission.
Names to Be Revealed.
Maritime officials said they hope
to complete within two weeks an
itemized statement, including the
names of the feminine sponsors who
broke bottles on the prows of the
thousands of vessels, along with a
dollar-by-dollar account of the ex
penses of the ceremonies.
The Senate committee's investi
gation next month is expected to be
followed by another study of the
same costs by the House Merchant
Marine Committee.
Accounting procedures and other
fiscal methods of the commission
have been under investigation by
the committee for several months.
At hearings during July, there were
(See WAR PROFITS7Pag<TA^6.f
Commissioners Move
To 'Recapture' Part ol
U. 5.-Held Land Here
Planners Urged to Study
Sites After Congressional
Failure to Order Survey
By John W. Thompson, Jr.
The District Commissioners
today urged the National Capital
Park and Planning Commission
to initiate a study of Federal
land holdings here with a view
to ultimate “recapture"’ by the
District of such land not serving
good national purpose.
The proposal was contained in
a letter to Maj. Gen. U. S. Grant
III. commission chairman, and of
fered the assistance of the Commis
sioners and the Zoning Commission,
if necessary, to make the survey.
The Commissioners' action fol
lows failure of congressional actior
: of the last session on a joint reso
lution introduced by Representa
tive Case, Republican, of South Da
kota. to accomplish generally the
same purpose.
Case Outlined Points of Survey.
Specifically the Case resolution
suggested study of land occupied by
the National Training School for
Boys, the National Training School
for Girls, the St. Elizabeth's Hos
pital farm, the Soldiers' Home, the
lands of the Columbia Institution
for the Deaf and that part of the
former Arlington experimental farm
and Washington-Hoover Airport not
essential to the needs of the War
Department.
Although not federally - owned
land, the territory of the Home for
the Aged and Infirm and the In
dustrial Home School for Colored
Children at Blue Plains were in
cluded in the Case proposal. The
Commissioners also informally rec
ommended inclusion of the National
Arboretum.
Engineer Commissioner Gordon
R. Young said the Commissioners’
proposal to the Park and Planning
Commission, of which he is a mem
ber, was- not limited necessarily to
the properties specified in the Case
measure.
Action in September Urged.
Despite the absence of congres
sional action, Gen. Young said it
was within the legal authority of
the Park and Planning Commission
now to make such a study. He said
Corporation Counsel Vernon West
hao looked into the statutes and
was satisfied that the commission
could act without further legislative
authority.
_The Conunissioners urged the
(See LAND, Page A-6.)
French Vote War Probe
PARIS, Aug. 29 OP).—The Con
stituent Assembly voted today an
investigation into the events of
1933-45 to fix responsibility for the
defeat by the Germans and to pro
pose “political and judicial sanc
tions.’’ Leftist parties and President
Georges Bidault’s MRP joined in
approving the proposal.
GIs Used Opposition's Tactics
To Win in Poll Tax Skirmish
McMinn Veterans Built Up Nonpartisan
Support by Paying Levies for Voters
Competition in the purchase of poll tax reecipts preceded the
Athens (Tenn.) election battle of August 1 which startled the
Nation. A Star reporter, sent to find, the causes of the Gl armed
revolt which, forced the party in power to concede the election,
tells in this second article of a series how the Gl Nonpartisan
League of Athens played practical politics and outbought the
opposition.
By George Kennedy
The Athens incident recalls a
fiction serial that attracted much
attention in a popular weekly
magazine just after World War I.
It was written by Samuel G.
Blythe, a brilliant Washington
correspondent of that day. That
was in the aftermath of the
muckrakers. when the Tammany
Tiger and Lincoln Steffens’ “The
Shame of the Cities’’ were much
on people’s minds.
Good government groups com
pared their cities to “Philadelphia,
Corrupt and Contented" as they
debated whether the commission
form of government or the city
manager plan was the better cure.
Mr. Blythe’s story told how a group
of clean-cut and upright dough
boys returned from Prance to a
city of about 300,000 population
rv
and threw a corrupt political ma
chine out of power.
Mr. Blythe wrote his .story as a
blueprint for action. It described
[the techniques of raising campaign
[funds, getting out the vote and
enlisting public interest. It 'was a
hangup story ending with fist
fights at the polling places as the
ex-soldiers, husky and athletic from
their military training, punched the
noses of the thugs trying to steal
the election. It remained fiction.
When the doughboys came home
nothing like that happened any
where.
Athens did happen. The veterans
of McMinn County had no political
experience but they learned fast.
Three of them held a meeting with
three businessmen in Athens, the
county seat, in April to plan a con
teat for the five elective county
(Continued on Page A-4, Column 1>
5,075 Civilians
Lose Army Jobs
Here October 1
War Department Cut
In D. C. and Field
To Total 53,079
An estimated 5,075 War De
partment civilian employes in
the Washington area will lose
their jobs October 1 as the result
of President Truman's economy
directive, it was learned today.
In all the War Department has
ordered its civilian personnel staff
reduced by 53.079, according to fig
ures released by Maj. Gen. C. H.
Bonesteel, president of the War
Department Manpower Board.
The dismissals were ordered to
balance raises granted to a civilian
force of 672.579 on the pay rolls
July 31. The new ceiling after
economy cuts was placed at 519.500
workers, including those in the field.
Ground Forces Hardest Hit.
A total of 3.937 civilian employes
in departmental offices in Washing
ton and an additional 1.138 em
ployed by the Military District of
Washington are slated to lose their
iobs.
The Washington Military District,
one of the separate Army areas, had
, 4,304 civilian employes on its rolls
j July 31. The reduction of 1,138 will
i leave it 3.166 civilian emploves.
Hardest hit of all branches of the
j War Department is the Army Ground
j Forces which will suffer a reduc
tion in the field of 34,527 by October
1. At AGF headquarters, however,
civilians will be increased from 1.297
;to 1,498, which means that 201 em
ployes are being added to the pay
roll.
Second Army Cut 8,600.
A decrease of 8.600 civilians has
been ordered on the payrolls of the
; 2d Army which has its headquar
; ters in Baltimore and includes
Maryland and Virginia in its area.
Reductions in other components
j of the Army Ground Forces are as
i follows; 1st Army, New' York, 8.174;
i 3d Army, Atlanta, 3,976; 4th Armv,
i San Antonio, 3,339: 5th Armv, Chi
i cago, 4,361; 6th Army, San'Fran
; cisco, 5,140.
Departmental decreases in the va
i rious agencies headquartered in
j Washington include the following:
| Army Air Forces. 464; Adjutant
j Generals Office, 2.000: Ordnance,
i 239: Transportation, 121: Finance,
16; Chemical Warfare Service. 132;
j Engineers . 553: Quartermaster
j Corps, 32: Signal Corps, 80; Judge
' Advocate Generals Department. 34:
Provost Marshal General, 8, and
j Chaplains Corps. 6.
Smaller Air Forces Drop.
Reductions ordered for the Army
.Air Forces, recently announced as
■ 32,000 by the end of this vear.
j actually will total only 26.166, which
includes the 464 severances in
j Washington.
Field services of practically all of
the Army branches except the
Quartermaster Corps are slashed in
varying degrees.
The Quartermaster Corps, due
principally to the work of the Amer
ican Graves Registration Services,
i will increase its field force by 6.349.
That means a rise from 39.546 to
48.895 in the field.
! The adjutant general’s depart
ment, although cutting its Wash
ington staff severely, will increase
jits Held force from 5,595 to 7.632, an
increase of 2.055.
i Field force cuts. in other Army
branches include Chemical Warfare
‘Service from 6,772 to 6,626: Engi
jneer Corps from 23,859 to 22,083, apd
'the surgeon general's office from
20,679 to 15,415.
Signal Corps Increase.
The Signal Corps will make an
unexplained increase in the field
from 10,990 to 14,172, although it
made a very slight drop in the de
partmental staff.
The Ordnance Corps will decrease
its field staff from 77,272 to 76,305.
(The Transportation Corps will lose
5,874 field employes, the drop being
from 33,766 to 27,892,
Another increase of 2,057 has been
'authorized for the Finance Depart
j ment in the field. This will increase
its staff from 10.545 to 12,602. This
Is accountable chiefly for the work
of the St. Louis headquarters in
connection with terminal leave pay
ments.
_In other miscellaneous branches
(See EMPLOYES. Page A-6.»
Major League
Games
AMERICAN LEAGUE
At New York—
Cleveland .. 010 000 0 —
New York 000 022 —
Batteries—Gromek. Lemon C!th) and
Heran; (Sumpert and Robinson
At Boston—
Detroit. 104 0 —
Boston _ 012 —
Batterie*^-Benton and Tebbetts. Ferrisa
and H. Warner.
Chicago at Washington. 8:30 P.M.
(Only Games Scheduled)
NATIONAL LEAGUE
At Chicago—
Brooklyn ... 000 00 —
Chicago - 001 0 —
Batteries—Melton and Edwards: Borowr
and Livinrston.
At Pittsburgh—
Philadelphia 001 —
Pittsburgh - 00 —
Batteries—RalTensberrer and Seminiekt
Bahr and Lopez.
At Cincinnati—
Boston .01 —
Cincinnati 0 —
Batteries—Wricht and Padrett: Walters
and Mueller.
At St. Louis—
New York... 00 —
St. Louis_ 0 —
Batteries—Kosto and Cooper, Pellet and
Klottz.
Today's Home Runs
American League
Gordon. New York (6th), 1 on,
Williams, Boston (3d >, 1 on.
4