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A—g^_ FRIDAY, August 30. 1946
Up to Russia
If Russia persists in opposing in
ternational atomic control of the
type proposed by the United States,
It will be doing so not out of Igno
rance but with its eyes-wide open to
the probable consequences.
This is clear from facts just re
vealed regarding hitherto unpub
lished statements and documents
filed with the United Nations Atomic
Energy Commission by Bernard M.
Baruch, the American delegate, and
his scientific advisers. Thus, it has
now become a matter of open record
that Mr. Baruch, at the first meeting
of the commission on June 14,
bluntly warned that unless the world
adopted something very much like
the American plan, the United States
would have no other choice but to
manufacture bigger and better
A-bombs—and as many of them as
possible—to impress would-be ag
gressors of the future with the In
hibiting knowledge of our ability to
strike back swiftly and with devas
tating force in the event of attack
or threatened attack.
It has now been learned, too, that
after this warning was sounded
the scientists associated with Mr.
Baruch presented to members of the
commission — including Andrei A.
Gromyko, the Soviet delegate—de
tailed studies clearly describing the
unique deadliness of atomic energy
and giving irrefutable support to the
American thesis that if the world
fails to subject this preternatural
power to a genuinely effective sys
tem of international development
and control—a system under which
no one nation could be its own mas
ter in the field—every country will
find itself perilously involved in by
far the most dangerous armaments
race of all time, a situation threat
ening the whole of civilization with
a war destructive beyond imagining.
Actually, of course, as our delega
tion has told the commission, the
only complete defense against the
A-bomb and other weapons of mass
destruction must be “a system that
will avoid war.” But although our
control plan would not of itself con
stitute such a system, it would be an
indispensable part of it, a sine qua
non. With the single exception of
Russia, all powers of any conse
quence agree with this view and
support—at least in its essentials—
the program we recommend. For
reasons of its own, however, the
Stalin government has held out up
to now for the idea of a simple
treaty, a paper pledge, under which
atomic armaments would be out
lawed and each country police itself
against making or using them—an
arrangment that could not possibly
promote mutual confidence and se
curity among nations.
It remains to be seen whether the
Russians, despite the awareness they
must have of the grave dangers
Implicit in no control, intend to
adhere indefinitely to this position.
If they do, the blame will rest pri
marily with them for the catas
trophic armaments race certain to
ensue.
Electricity on Farms
Electricity for the Nation’s 6,000,
000 farms is a logical goal. That
goal seems nearer now that the
utility industry has decided to
launch a great expansion of its pow
er lines in rural areas. At present
less than 50 per cent of the country’s
farms are electrified and the private
utilities are going after the poten
tial market irrespective of action by
the Rural Electrification Adminis
tration. The utilities have set up a
budget of approximately $300,000,000
to put power lines along the Nation’s
1,400,000 miles of secondary roads
not now served.
It is a business proposition. Frank
E. Watts, director of the privately
sponsored Rural Electric Informa
tion Exchange, recently completed
a seven-year study of economic
angles of farming. He discovered
that while urbanites spend about
40 cents of each dollar earned in
manufactured equipment, the farm
family spends approximately 70
eents. In a meeting with repre
sentatives of the American Farm
Bureau Federation, largest farm or
ganization among the country's
larmers, the utility group made
plans to bring electric power most
efficiently to the greatest number
of farmers.
The research staffs of such com
panies as the General Electric Com
pany and the Westinghouse Electric
Corporation have compiled findings
that lead to the conclusion farmers
will spend $500,000,000 for the many
types of electrical equipment by the
end of 1948. It will be good business
for all concerned. Electrification of
all farms means an expanding mar
ket for manufactured equipment,
Which, in turn, means a high em
ent level. Electricity on the
will bring running water,
fcesened chores and easier work for
the housewife. It will also mean
that farm life will be more satisfy
ing and tend to keep some of the
ambitious and competent young
people in agriculture. In a Nation
of 140,000,000 people, where 90 per
cent of the food is dependent on the
production of some 3,000.000 of the
bettef farms, it is essential for the
national welfare that our food pro
ducers constitute a strong segment
of the population.
U. N. Membership Issue
The heated arguments before the
Security Council over the admission
of candidates for membership in the
United Nations reveal another deep
going issue, implicit since the adop
tion of the Charter but hitherto kept
in the background by the pressure
of other controversial matters.
There can be no reasonable doubt
that the framers of the Charter
intended that the United Nations
should have universality as its goal.
Qualifications for membership were
made wider and more elastic than
those for the former League of Na
tions, the Charter specifying only
that applicants must be "states”
which are "peace loving” and which
"accept the obligations contained in
the present Charter and, in the
judgment of the organization, are
able and willing to carry out these
obligations.”
Until now, only one state has been
specifically named by the organiza
tion as ineligible for membership,
and that only temporarily. This is
Spain, so long as it shall continue to
be governed by the Franco regime.
The latitude in admissions is evi
denced by the acceptance of the
Ukraine and Byelorussia, even
though their “sovereignty” was
never more than technical and has,
by their subsequent conduct, been
proved to be entirely fictitious in
cuaracier.
It is most unfortunate that appli
cations to U. N. have been compli
cated by political and diplomatic
factors. The American Government
tried unsuccessfully to avoid these
complications by advocating a blan
, ket admission of all the eight appll
j cants up for consideration (Afghan
istan, Albania, Iceland, Ireland,
Mongolia, Portugal, Sweden and
Trans-Jordan), even though it had
expressed grave doubts as to the
eligibility of Albania and Mongolia,
both of which are pretty obviously
creations and satellites of the Soviet
Union. But Russia*, refusing to ac
cept Ireland, Portugal and Trans
Jordan on the thin ground that no
formal relations, existed between
them and Moscow, objected to our
proposal and thus set in motion the
blackballing and vetoing process
that has barred from membership
at this time all but Afghanistan,
Iceland and Sweden.
Considering what the Charter has
to say about membership qualifica
tions, the absence of diplomatic re
lations does not justify Russia’s use
of the veto in this instance. The
action has the earmarks of being
little more than obstruction for ob
struction’s sake—a fact tending only
to exacerbate the differences and
hard feelings already existing be
tween the western powers and the
Soviet Union on other matters.
Fountains Abbey
News to the effect that Fountains
Abbey, near Ripon in Yorkshire, is
to be restored as a Benedictine mon
astery will be received in America
with satisfaction among all classes
of people familiiar with the name
and fame of the most notable ruin
of its kind in Britain. Thousands
of visitors from the United States
have made pilgrimage to the spot
and know it with a particular affec
tion. The beauty of the broken walls
is as unforgettable to ordinary folk
as it was to the great impressionistic
painter J. M. W. Turner.
Tradition tells that the first Abbey
on the present site was an elm tree,
under which the original group of
monks ages ago found shelter from
rain and a hot summer sun. The
Gothic lines of the structure in its
best period followed the pattern of
the elm. If ever any building liter
any giew iium me gruuna, roun
tains did. But it was not merely a
single edifice. The establishment
once included, besides the church
j with its glorious Chapel of the Nine
Altars and its graceful and lofty
tower, a refectory, guest hostels,
many other dependencies. It was
the Cistercian Order, founded by
Stephen Harding, that developed
the enterprise, but the stern Cister
cian rule seems to have been dis
obeyed by the architects and ma
sons. They obviously were men who
held beauty akin to truth in religion,
and they put together a House of
God worthy of the Lord Christ, who,
according to ancient legend, once
knocked on the door when the com
munity possessed but two loaves
and a half to share and ‘‘no prospect
of more.”
Riches came to the Abbey eventu
ally. The church increased stone by
stone at a steady pace during the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
Meanwhile, the monks frater, the
j dorter of the lay brothers and other
! portions of the over-all design were
| raised. The expense must have been
| enormous. And it continued dur
ing the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries, when the infirmary, the
major kitchens and other appurte
nances were added. Ten acres finally
were occupied by the Abbey organi
zation. Supporting farms, orchards
and gardens stretched away to
1 thirty miles. Disaster is supposed
to have been the result of the Refor
I mation, and Henry VIII commonly
is blamed for wrecking the institu
tion. But it also is suggested that:
‘‘No depredation has been com
mitted on the sacred pile; time
alone has brought it to its present
state.” In any case, a thorough,
systematic restorationr—for practl
cal as well as idealistic purposes—
now is to be commenced. The proj
ect surely will be worth watching
and helping.
Party-Line Sport
The recently re-emphasized Krem
lin policy against art for art’s sake
—that is to say, against art that
fails to propagandize for the Soviet
Union—apparently Is to have its
counterpart in the realm of athlet
ics. At any rate, that seems to be the
burden of a smashing editorial just
printed in ‘ Red Sport,” a Moscow
publication whose function It is to
give ideological content and direc
tion to things like soccer, the one
hundred-yard dash, pole-vaulting
and similar sweaty activities nor
mally calling for nothing but well
trained muscles.
It is not clear just how a Russian
can promote Stalin’s new five-year
plan with a good running broad
jump or a record-breaking shotput,
but ‘‘Red Sport” presumably will
show the way to do that in some
later issue. Meanwhile, it has merely
proclaimed the official dictum that
Soviet athletes must perform solely
for the glory of the state and not to
serve their own fame or satisfy per
sonal ambitions to be better than
anybody else in a relay race or a
weight-lifting contest. The smash
ing editorial does not mince words:
“The spiritless, Philistine attitude of
‘sport for sport’s sake’ is alien to
our physical culture movement and
harmful to the interest of the Soviet
people and for this reason cannot
exist among us.”
Thus, since a Russian poet or a
Russian writer of love stories is likely
to be ostracized if his poem or story
neglects to put in a good plug for
Soviet leadership, why should a Rus
sian athlete be allowed to get away
with an ideologically weak javelin
throw or with a broad jump that
fails to support Moscow’s claims on
the Dardanelles or some other for
eign or domestic aspect of the party
line? The answer, of cours#, is obvi
ous: Any such backslider should be
properly chastised for his nonpoliti
cal, "spiritless, Philistine attitude of
‘sport for sport’s sake.’” ' *
To our giddy western bourgeois
minds, all this may seem to be wed
ding the absurd to the ridiculous,
but every sober-sided, straight
faced, humorless and fanatical
Marxist will recognize It for what
it is—qn excellent example of totali
tarian logic being applied totally.
Police of Rock Island^111., are
allowed to talk over the telephone
with their wives for only 30 seconds
per call. Many wives are said to
be co-operating by allowing their
husbands as much as three or four
seconds of this time to say “yes,
my dear.”
This and That
By Charles E. Tracewell.
"ARLINGTON, Va.
“Dear Sir:
"Between Edison and Emerson streets
lies a broad stretch from Eighth to Fifth
north, of fine gardens, trees and shrubs,
over which one evening recently between
6 and 8 p.m. there flew a strange bird
never seen before, much like a gull in
size and movement, only larger in color.
“I watched it for an hour dive and
rise and sail off, only to return to this
end, repeat and fly to the other end.
Its movements were so swift while near
the porch where I was sitting I could
not get any definite marks. I have not
seen it since.
"The bob-whites have been missed this
past week, where some days their clear
call sounded almost in the doorway.
"Cowbirds, if they are such, have dis
placed the starlings, to whom they bear
a strong resemblance as they walk about
the lawn, though different in color.
They are newcomers.
"The two baths, kept clean and filled,
have paid wonderful dividends by the
birds ridding us of beetles and bugs,
while our neighbors on both sides have
been sufferers, indeed.
“Last week I gave the birds ground
bread, meat scraps and fat, as wild bird
seed is off the market out here.
“How I wish I knew the names of all
of the birds that visit, but they visit,
and that’s the best of all.
"Cordially, E. E. H.”
* * * *
uur correspondent s evening bird
might have been a bullbat, or night
hawk, but that would have been too
small. Note that we say "might."
Since our recent miss on bullbats, we
are careful of them.
Nighthawks are not to be tampered
with; they are marvelous flyers, ana as
fine as they come, doing wonderful serv
ice for mankind. The bird probably was
a laughing gull.
As for the walking birds, they might
have been female cowbirds, or baby
starlings. Both the lady cowbirds and
the young starlings have a sort of gray
ish hue, and both are walkers.
The male cowbird is the only black
bird with a brown head.
Two things in the above letter strike
us. One is the good word as to the
drawing power of a well-kept and well
filled bird bath.
Too often well meaning persons fail
to keep the bath either clean or filled.
Especially in the hot summer this is
necessary, if the birds are to be helped
the most.
The other matter which struck us was
the sentence, "How I wish I knew the
names of all of the birds that visit, but
they visit, and that's the best of all.”
It really makes no difference, those
names, even though it must be admitted,
of course, that it is nice to know them,
but all too often the ambitious suburban
dweller—let us say the new suburban
dweller—positively makes himself un
happy because he does not know “what
bird is that?”
After all, what difference does it make?
The bird is just the same, just as beauti
ful, just as active, just as interesting,
and, above all, just as helpful in its
consumption of insects inimical to man
kind.
The surest way to enjoy bird watching
is to concentrate on this understand
ing, rather than to worry over the pos
sible name of the creatures.
Names, at times, are nuisances. Possi
bly every one, at some time or other,
has wondered over his own name.
It is good to have a name, and better
to keep it clean and good, but the natural
creatures of earth, sky and water, know
no need for names, and perhaps they are
right, after all, since the being, rather
than the naming, is the main thing in
life. Being calls for action, an action
is more than a name. It is the complex
of far reaching and marvelous changes,
chemical in nature, but buttressed by
an underlying something whose very
name, In better ages than this, was
spoken with awe.
! Letters to The Star
Public Opinion in America
Warning to Russia
To the Editor of The Star:
Our newspapers can help Russian
leaders to understand American psy
chology better if Russian representa
tives send clippings back to Moscow.
The need for a better understanding is
painfully evident, hence this letter.
One important fact that the Soviet
leaders seem to overlook is that the
U. S. A. is, really, a government by the
people. The most potent force in our
Government is public opinion, not the
Ideas of a few powerful bureaucrats.
Public opinion has been outraged and
inflamed by Tito's viciousness toward
United States citizens. Human life is
not held cheap in the U. S. A. Tito is
a tool of Russia. On all sides we hear
rumblings such as: “Use the atom bomb
on aggressors!” “What do we have the
atom bomb for, if not to protect inno
cent lives?”, “Now or never is the chance
to use the atom bomb”, "Teach the
scoundrels a lesson before it is too late!”
Russian leaders consider the princi
ples of Christianity too soft. So do
many Americans, unfortunately! Strong
arm tactics used against us arouse our
baser instincts and lead surely to war.
That is to some extent true of every
people, but especially so of a Nation
which has been proud of its freedom
and independence for centuries.
Americans feel that Tito would not
have objected so viciously to airplanes
over his teriitory If there had not been
sometnmg there which he, or Soviet
Russia, did not want seen. What is Tito
trying to hide? Now several million
people suspect the worst!
Doubtless Soviet Russia sees no reason
to treat us better than she treats her
own citizens whose ideology is not pro
Soviet, but when will she learn that
“sugar catches more flies than vinegar”?
The emperors of ancient Rome appealed
to the proletariat by feeding them.
Russia starves the Ukrainians, then
punishes their disaffection! Russia sus
pects the happy-go-lucky U. S. A. of
devious and infamous motives, and
thereby she arouses general suspicion
of her own Intentions.
Viciousness begets viciousness. Hence
the vicious circle. Going in that kind
of circle is no way to get ahead!
FAY AGASSIZ.
Decontrol Board Slammed
To the Editor of The Star:
It is evident that the Decontrol Board
has the wrong name. It is obvious that
its members believe in control even
when it has proven unsatisfactory. Why
not let the people who eat the meat
pay for it and not tax the little fellow
to death to pay subsidies so that those
with means can eat steaks and the
choice cuts of meat? When there were
no controls you could get a piece of
meat and a pound of butter once in a
while, but when controls are on they
all go to the black market people. Those
of us who have to work during the day
have not been able to buy meat, butter,
fats or any of the scarce items since
the controls first were put on through
the so-called rationing which was just
a black market racket. Millions of
hours of time have been spent waiting
in line for food and then when you get
up to the counters, “Just sold out” is
what you hear.
Throw all such bunk out of the win
dow and most of those that cry for un
American practices with them. Com
munism is at the bottom of it all.
AN AMERICAN, NOT A MAKE
BELIEVE ONE.
Court Not Respected?
To the Editor of T^ie Star:
Wmr editorial evaluation of the prin
ciples maintained by the late Justice
James C. McReynolds could have been
made more easily had one fact been
kept in mind, and included in your
statement, namely that: Until 1933,
the United States Supreme Court was
the most revered authority, on law, in
either hemisphere.
Since the New Deal packed the court,
the question is: How many years will
be required to restore the Supreme
Court of the United States to the posi
tion it once enjoyed as the most highly
respected judicial body in the world?
BURT FRANCE.
Mr. Kent Debated Again
To tha Editor of The Star:
Prank Kent, in his eagerness to be
rate the granting of terminal leave to
ex-GIs, has made certain exaggera
tions of fact that ought not to pass un
corrected. In his column on the sub
ject August 16 there are these material
mistakes:
1. Mr. Kent incorrectly states that
mustering-out pay was designed to be
in lieu of terminal leave. If that were
so, how does he explain the granting of
mustering-out pay to officers through
the rank of captain, in addition to their
terminal leave? In fact, mustering-out
pay was designed to provide a small
amount of cash to help tide the ex
serviceman over his re-entry to civilian
life, and has had no relation whatso
ever to the leave question.
2. Mr. Kent asserts that terminal
leave for officers is costing a mere $50,
000,000. This, of course, is patently
ridiculous, as it would mean an aver
age of $35 or less per officer. I’ll lay
Mr. Kent 5-to-l odds that the figure is
nearer one billion dollars.
3. In contrast, Mr. Kent claims that
GI terminal leave will cost at least
$4,500,000,000 (or 90 times what jt cost
to pay off the officers). If so, ft will be
only because of the prevalence of ex
aggerated and unverified claims—a pos
sibility that would have been avoided
had the enlisted man been given his
humble due from the first, at the time
of his discharge. The estimate finally
got by the House Military Affairs Com
mittee from a reluctant War Depart
ment was $3,000,000,000 (refer to Con
gressional Record of the date of House
debate). W. J. HERMAN.
A Gl’a Good-Bye
To tha Editor of Tha Star:
And so, wee Star, you’re twinkling
out? Well, you have been one good
old scout. I would not, could not, call
you back, for you have been a cracker
jack.
I’ve held you tight when shot with
pain, and read your cheery lines
again. You pepped me up when my
heart bled for my dear Mom and
tears she shed.
So now, wee Star, good-bye—good
bye. You’ll twinkle still for this GI.
TOMMY THE TECH.
A Judgment
From the Indianapolis New*.
There are times when Russia acts like
one of the neighbor’s children.
This Changing World
By Constantine Brown
Alilv ViiC vovmwmvo v* wiv
Four at Paris are wrangling over
amendments to peace treaties — and
how to shorten them—the American and
British governments are giving a good
deal of thought to the formation of a
representative central government in
Germany.
One of the decisions reached unani
mously at Yalta early in 1945 was that
Germany, after the liquidation of Hitler
and his gang, should have a central
government, elected at the earliest pos
sible moment by all its inhabitants.
That government was, of course, to
work under the control of the Allied
forces of occupation anc, until the sign
ing of peace, obey tHe Big Four instruc
tions.
President Roosevelt, Prime Mihister
Churchill and Prime Minister Stalin
agreed that the entity of the Reich must^
not be interrupted, since this would pro
voke a vacuum which could not be easily
filled and might have serious repercus
sions on the peace of Europe which the
three leaders at that time thought pos
sible. France was not then consulted,
since she had not yet been included
among the major world powers.
The proposition is said to have been
made by Roosevelt, seconded by Church
ill, and after a few objections, ap
proved by Stalin.
But after the collapse of the Reich
the Yalta decisions were not applied.
The Russians detached large slices of
the Reich and either incorporated them
into the U. S. S. R. or handed them
over to Poland. Moreover, they ad
vanced to the Elbe River and estab
lished an exclusively Russian control
throughout that area of Germany.
# * * *
Instead of creating a non-Nazi gov
ernment which was to be controlled by
the Big Four for an undetermined
time, the three other nations besides
Russia took over a slice of the Reich
end administered it according to its
own lights. A watertight compartmen
tation was established between the four
zones ana no intercourse between the
Germans living in each of them was
permitted except in exceptional cases.
The Russians developed their own
political philosophy and used their
Moscow-trained German Communists
east of the Elbe; America made a mess in
the area allotted to the American forces;
the British and the French adopted
their own plan which was to dominate
the areas placed under their adminis
tration.
a wv vvuvi at vvii.uiu vvc vt Lvmivi 111
Berlin—the one intended by the Yalta
decision to control the national govern
ment of the Reich—became a nominal
organization dealing with minor matters,
particularly attempting to clear up mis
understandings and frictions among the
four Allies.
After 15 months of hit or miss admin
istration, Washington and London have
come to realize that nothing construc
tive will be accomplished if the present
situation is permitted to continue. Plans
are now being studied to bring together
at least those two zones which contain
the bulk of the German industrial po
tential. It is possible that the French
may co-operate, although Paris intends
to annex the Rhineland and the Saar
in some form or another.
Russia for the time being has re
mained aloof. She, too. realizes the im
portance of uniting Germany under one
central government, since otherwise it
will be impossible to negotiate a peace
with that country. But Russia has
shown every indication that she desires
a united Reich with a government as
subservient to Moscow as is that of
Poland or Yugoslavia.
* * * *.
The American and British govern
ments are seriously considering the hold
ing of a free and unfettered general
election in Germany west of the Elbe
to enable the German people to elect
a parliament which will not have a re
gional character, and to select from the
best men who have played no political
role in Hitler's Reich the leaders who
will assum# full responsibility for ruling
them.
According to the reports from the
American and British authorities in the
occupied zones, there is a sufficient
reservoir of enlightened Germans from
which to draw a parliament, a cabinet
and a president. Although such a gov
ernment will represent only Western
Germany, there is some hope that it will
eventually draw in its orbit the Ger
mans in the east who at present can
see no difference between their masters
in the west and in the east.
The fact that free elections are per
mitted west of the Elbe and a regular
German government established there
would create a strong movement, at least
In Thuringia and Saxony, to join an
established government of the Reich and
will remove the danger of Germany's
becoming the most imposing and power
ful satellite of the U. S. S. R. in Europe.
On the Record
By Dorothy Thompson
Last Saturday Marsnai nto jet a cat
out of the bag in his attempt to prove
that the United States, not the Yugo
slav government, is in the wrong regard
ing the airplane incident, and that, in
fact, Yugoslavia was repelling aggression
against her sovereignty. He accused the
Americans in the Venezia Giulia area
of reconnoitering over “his” zone and
said, “These flights over our territory
• * • aim at reconnoitering those regions
in which our military units occupying
Zone B and the rest of the frontier are
situated. • • • The affair is being dis
torted abroad. • * * In fact she (Yugo
slavia) is doing nothing more than pro
tecting her sovereignty.”
„ * * * *
Now, wait a moment! What "sover
eignty,” and where?
Yugoslavia is not “sovereign" in Zone
B. She is there as an occupying power,
pending disposal of this territory by the
peace conference. The final decision on
whether Zone B or any part of it shall
be awarded to Yugoslavia will be taken,
after recommendations have been made
by the peace conference, by the Big
Four, among whom Yugoslavia is not
numbered.
None of the Big Four lays claim to
all or part of this territory which before
the last war belonged to Austro-Hun
gary, and since has been Italian terri
tory. It is, however, well known that
Yugoslavia claims the whole area and
is even opposed to such internationaliz
ing of part of it as a majority of the
Big Four have recommended. On this
matter Marshal Tito has been so un
equivocal and belligerent as to raise en
tirely Justifiable suspicions that he may
be contemplating using force if his
wishes are not fulfilled.
Until the issue is settled the territory
remains under the guardianship of the
great powers, for no one of whom Mar
shal Tito is an agent, according to his
own claims. If, therefore, Britain and
the United States reconnoiter that area
to make sure that no dirty work is
going on and no moves of force being
prepared, they are not only within their
rights but are, indeed, assuming the re
sponsibilities which are their duty.
Zone B is no more Marshal Tito’s
than any one else’s at this stage of
negotiations, and he does his case ill,
apparently revealing his real viewpoint,
when he denies the right of two great
powers to reconnoiter the area on the
ground that Yugoslavia’s “sovereignty”
is thereby infringed.
It is no military secret that American
reconnaisance photography is the best
in the world and played a role of in
calculable importance in winning the
war. With this in mind Tito’s accusa
lions mignt Dnng a smile to tne ups or
United States Army Air Force men, if
any one could be amused about the kill
ing of innocent Americans. For Marshal
Tito may be assured that the American
armies, which successfully climbed upon
“Festung Europa,” defended by the for
midable German armies and Luftwaffe,
did not do so without photographic
aerial reconnaissance, and did not un
dertake that task with lumbering C-47s
—ordinary Army transports — even by
carrying some E. Phillips Oppenheim
Turk as a passenger.
Against and despite the Luftwaffe the
United States Air Forces were able to
photograph the whole continent of Eu
rope, in hundreds of thousands of films,
but not in the horse-and-buggy manner
apparently imagined by Tito. The
United States does not operate thus,
nor thus risk the lives of its men. Its
wartime aerial photographic reconnais
sance was performed by single pilots fly
ing stripped-down fighter planes at
speeds of 350 miles per hour and at alti
tudes of 35,000 to 40,000 feet, without
even a cameraman—the cameras were
automatic and independent even of the
pilot.
We reconnaissanced North Africa and
the Normandy beachheads over and
over again in preparation for D day.
Flyers used to call the trips the “milk
run.” Only the German master-fighter,
the stripped Messerschmidt 109-G, was
even technically capable of intercepting
our reconnaissance, and seldom suc
ceeded.
* * * #
So if we have been reconnaissancing
sovereign Yugoslav territory, it is a safe
bet that Marshal Tito knows no more
about it than the Germans did. If he
thinks Army transports carrying pas
sengers are so engaged, he, a marshal,
should catch up with the war. His ac
cusations are, technically, nonsensical.
Also the Moscow and Belgrade press
need some liaison work. Tito’s claque
has indignantly attacked the American
press for referring to the State Depart
ment’s note as an “ultimatum.” Pre
sumably it does him no good with the
home folks to get an ultimatum from
that country which has been, and prob
ably still is, the most popular of the
great Allies with the Yugoslav people.
Ergo, an ultimatum is denied.
But Pravda attacks the note on the
ground that it was “unprecedentedly
sharp * • • demanding in ultimatum
form the release within 48 hours of the
interned passengers.”
For once Pravda agrees with the New
York Times—and even with the Daily
News.
(Released by the Bell Syndicate, Ine.)
Boom and Bust?
By Raymond Moley
If, as is reported, president Truman
hopes to be not another Roosevelt, but
a new Coolidge, he will have to do more
than talk and act like a crossroad
philosopher. He will have to grasp
firmly that when the Government econ
omizes and pays its debt, public confi
dence grows, production increases, and
a strong tide sets in against inflation.
It is true that the Coolidge of 1927
and 1928 neglected many danger signals
and failed to build protections against
the crash of 1929. But the Coolidge of
1923 to 1927 was an economic states
man.
Instead of courageously throwing
Government finances into a course
which promises resistance to inflation,
Mr. Truman for nearly a year has tem
porized. Prom time to time he has
dulled the confidence his budget state
ments might have inspired by recom
mending or, hinting at new expendi
tures. As late as the first of August,
we heard of new billions of spending
to cut into the big tax return which
now seems assured.
* * * *
We are in a period of national eco
nomic activity the size of which this
country has never before experienced.
Americans hate to think of this as a
boom. For a boom, historically con
sidered, is too Intimately related to a
subsequent bust. But if this isn’t a
boom, it is something greater than
what used to be called a boom.
Our employment is several million
greater than in 1929, when it ran close
to 49 million. Without cutting the
armed forces, we have passed the 57
million mark. The national Income falls
short of the Wallace dream, but it is
very high. It is at about $160 billion—
almost double that of 1929. Taxes will
yield $40 billion dollars, which is nearly
equal to the whole national Income in
the low years of 1932. Taxes will equal
half the dollar amount of the whole
national income in 1929.
Sales in retailing afre breaking all
records. Department store sales indi
cate a prospective 25-per cent increase
over last, year, wmie our manuiaciuring
plants have overcome the deadlock of
strikes, they are still unable to increase
retailers’ inventories, because the public
is buying at so great a rate.
Some optimists point out that there
will be 3 million automobiles produced
this year and twice that in 1947.
It is hardly necessary to mention the
unprecedented crops that nature is
providing.
So much for the boom. Can it last?
The bumper crop is already produc
ing lower grain prices. Big surpluses of
feed grain are appearing which, by all
past experience, will depress prices. And
foreign needs and demands for paid
food exports are decreasing.
Agriculture is likely to release two
million workers this autumn. The sup
ply of new machines is increasing, with
a consequent decrease in the need for
human hands. We have a surplus of
wool, and textiles are catching up with
demand. Housing, despite great needs,
can provide only a fraction of our total
budget of expenditures. Factory recon
version is over the peak. The stock mar
ket is hovering in a fairly small area.
* * * *
On the basis of these facts, most
sound observers feel that there will be
some recession in 1947. How far this
will go, no one will predict. Conserva
tive opinion anticipates no break like
1929 in the foreseeable future. Despite
our great spending spree, there are evi
dences that American savings will re
main at a high level. It still remains
to be seen whether the President and
the new Congress will provide in the
next year the kind of government fi
nancing which can assure private
savers that they have some aid at the
top.
For the best aid we could have in
avoiding protracted readjustment next
year would be in government finance—
economy, with debt reduction and the
assurance to investors and producers
that sometime taxes will be less of a
burden on enterprise.
(Releaud b? Auoelated Newspaper* Inc.)
Employer Talk Ruling
Of NLRB Is Assailed
Savors Too Much of Nazi Theory
of ‘Burning People’s Books’
By David Lawrence
Oliver Wendell Holmes, the great
jurist whose liberalism is universally
acknowledged, once said from the bench
of the Supreme Court of the United
States that freedom of speech is "free
dom for the thought we hate ”
But the National Labor Relations
Board, in its latest decision, in effect
takes issue with that Idea. It calls the
making of a speech about union mat
ters by an employer to his employes
during working hours a "coercive” act
and not privileged by the Constitution.
The reason given is that the audience
was "compulsory” or "captive.”
Just why American citizens must be
protected against opinions they may not
like and must be protected by the full
force of the law from listening to an
opinion w-ith which they may differ,
seems difficult to explain unless per
chance it is that trade unionism in
America cannot stand on its merits
and that workers must be prevented
at all costs from hearing a view other
than that which the union organizers
may present to them.
Suspicion Created.
The latest Labor Relations Board de
cision creates the suspicion that maybe
the employers occasionally do have an
argument which may be persuasive with
their employes, but the workers must
not be allowed to hear it. This is not a
decision that will enhance the prestige
of the National Labor Relations Board,
nor will it tend to improve employer
employe relations in America. It savors
too much of the theory so prevalent in
Germany under the Nazis that the way
to educate the people was to bum their
books and keep them from reading any
literature except that which a totali
tarian authority, protected by law, per
mitted them to read.
Here Ls an excerpt from the board *
decision in the case of Clark Brothers,
a manufacturing establishment located
at Olean, N. Y.:
“We are also of the opinion, and find,
that the conduct of the respondent (the
employer) in compelling its employes to
listen to a speech on self-organization
under the circumstances hereinabove
outlined and as more fully revealed in
the intermediate report, independently
constitutes interference, restraint, and
coercion within the meaning of the act
(the Wagner Labor Relations Law). • * •
“The board has long recognized, that
‘the rights guaranteed to the employes
by the act include the full freedom to
receive aid, advice, and information
from others concerning those rights and
their enjoyment.’ Such freedom ls
meaningless, however, unless the em
ployes are also free to determine
whether or not to receive such aid,
advice, and information. To force em
ployes to receive such aid and advice,
and information impairs that free
dom; it is calculated to, and does,
interfere with the selection of a repre
sentative of the employes’ choice. And
this is so, wholly apart from the fact
that the speech itself may be privileged
under the Constitution.”
The decision apparently doubts the
capacity of American citizens to listen
to a speech and disregard it if they like.
Something must be wrong with the
minds of American workers that an
official board in Washington declares in
effect that, once having listened to a
speech, the listener is incapable of re
jecting its argument and must be pro
tected by law aganist a thought he dis
likes.
Vigorous Dissent.
Gerard Reilly, retiring member of the
Labor Board, wrote a vigorous dissent In
which he declared that the Supreme
Court of the United States had settled
the issue in a case known as Thomas
vs. Collins and in another ruling in the
American Tube Bending case.
“This board,” writes Mr. Reilly,
“eventually acquiesced in this decision
and for a time ceased to set aside elec
tions or to issue cease and desist orders
against employers who made antiunion
speeches or circulated antiunion litera
ture, if they refrained from threats or
Intimidatory conduct. Recently, how
ever, there has been a disturbing tend
ency by the board to return to its old
line of decisions on the theory that be
cause there was some minor aspect of
interference, a speech should be viewed
as part of a ‘pattern of coercive con
duct,’ even in cases where it was clear
that the offending speech was only co
ercive or ‘inextricably intertwined’ in
the most highly metaphorical sense.’
Such ffndlngs have been made even
where employers were confronted with
highly inflammatory union literature,
although one of the foremost labor
lawyers in the country recognized, in a
recent article in the official organ of
the A. F. of L., that ‘if freedom of
speech is to survive for trade unions and
their members, it must not be denied,
directly or indirectly, to employers'.’’
The Clark case is likely to be made
the basis for legislative action when
Congress reconvenes, though it is puz
zling to figure out how Congress can
safeguard by law the right of free
speech which is already guaranteed by
the Constitution but is now flagrantly
disregarded by a Government board.
(Reproduction Rights Reserved.)
Hot to Handle
From the Abbeville (Oe.) Chronicle.
At the time of going to press, they
hadn’t decided what to do with the
atom bomb. Ain’t that a peculiar situa
tion—we are afraid to keep it and afraid
to let anybody else have it. Kinda like
a fellow with a mean, but good-looking
wife. He can’t live with her but Is afraid
somebody else will.
Make Us Remember
Dear Lord, make us remember the sharp
taste
Of chaos, where the gray tanks, line
on line,
Moved, in the dusk across a barren
waste.
Make us remember orange skies,
ashine
With flames diffusing into smoky light,
And let us not forget how we looked
out
Through the immediate engulfing night
And hoped that peace, the ever«
dreamed-about,
Was being formed within the pregnant
air.
Let us not lose, in this calm after
* hour,
All memory of the hurtling bomb’s quick
flare
That bloomed in blackness like c
monstrous flower.
For not again must mankind ever know
Those pits of night where helTs red
roses glow.
PRUDENCE K. GEARET.