Evening star. [volume], April 12, 1947, Page A-6, Image 6

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

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4
With Sunday Morning Edition.
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A—6 SATURDAY, April 12, 1947
Adoption Uncertainties
“Adoption proceedings,” said the
United States Court of Appeals in a
recently decided case, “are of such
nature that the law in respect to
them should be clearly understood.”
But it is an unfortunate fact, which
the court’s comment has served to
emphasize, that tfie local adoption
law is not clearly understood by
lawyers or laymen.
The case which prompted the
court’s statement is evidence, in it
self, of the conflict and confusion
over the statute which have pre
vailed even among the judges. Dur
ing its two years’ course through
the courts the suit was decided first
in favor of the foster parents by the
District Court, then was reversed by
the Court of Appeals, retried by the
lower court and decided this time in
favor of the natural parents and
Anally affirmed by the appellate
court. Thus, after two years of bit
ter contest, a three-year-old child
has been taken from the only par
ents it has known since birth—an
act conceded by the court to be
harsh but dictated by its interpre
tation of the law.
In reaching this decision, the
Court of Appeals implicitly criti
cized the District Court for not
formulating rules that would leave
no uncertainties in the minds of
persons desiring to adopt children.
Justice Prettyman of the appellate
court pointed out that the adoption
statute authorizes the District Court
to draw up such rules, with a view
to protecting the rights of all con
cerned. It is obvious that the con
flirt. in t.hp rnnrts nvpr thp pvart.
requirements of the adoption law
has created confusion and doubt
that tend to discourage adoption of
children in this jurisdiction. There
exists the constant fear that the
courts may take an adopted child
away from ' its foster parents
through some new interpretation of
the law.
The District Bar Association, long
aware of the need for clarification
of the adoption rules, has come for
ward fcith a timely set of recom
mendations designed to eliminate
existing ambiguities. The recom
mendations, resulting from studies
made by Assistant Corporation
Counsel John J. Donnelly, jr„ would
provide the court with a basic guide
for handling adoption cases. Such
a standard guide is necessary if
foster parents are to be spared un
necessary worries and heartaches in
the future.
The Wage-Price Picture
President Truman has oversim
plified matters in suggesting that
unless prices come down, new de
mands for higher wages will be
justified. The average weekly earn
ings of the Nation’s workers have
Increased considerably more than
the cost of living. The gap in the
race between the two—between the
earnings and the cost of living—is
too wide to support the President's
view.
Moreover, even if it were justified !
—which is not the case—a labor !
drive for more pay in the immediate
future would serve to stimulate the I
vicious circle of higher production
costs, higher prices, and yet another
round of demands for higher wages.
Inflation fattens on itself in that
way, making the public as a whole—
employers, employes and consumers
alike—a heavy loser in the end.
Nevertheless the President is on
sound ground to the extent that his
statement may be read to mean that
a continuing price climb is bound to
encourage pressures for more pay.
This is especially true because of
the profit situation. Although it
cannot be said of all industries, it
may be said of many of them that j
profits during the past year have
been very large. This factor, if
accompanied by failure to check the
cost-of-living rise, must act as a
stimulant to new wage demands. ;
Accordingly, the President has
appealed again for action at one of
the key points where the present
trend can, be stopped and turned
downward. He would have industry
cut prices wherever it can. If this
could be done on a large enough
scale and if food costs (which have
risen most of all, with the help of
the Government's agricultural pol
icy, especially in wheat-buying*
could be brought down, wage
pressures should ease. In addition,
businesses now faced with growing
buyer resistance would be helped,
and our economy in general would
be healthier.
Unfortunately, however, there is
no magic formula for effecting an
overnight change for the better.
The President suggests that it may
be possible to relax enforcement of
the antitrust laws to permit con
certed price reductions by agreement
A
among competing industries, but he
is vague on this point. As far as
the Government is concerned, he
apparently feels that it can exercise
little more than moral suasion right
now. Primarily what is needed is
voluntary, common-sense action on
the part of business, agriculture and
labor to do whatever can be done in
cutting prices and restraining wage
demands to hold down inflation.
Without that our economy may well
go through the wringer.
After Two Years
It is an interesting fact, if not a
significant one, that Harry S.
Truman, two years after becoming
President of the United States, has
grown in political stature despite a
period of political adversity for his
party.
This is a paradox which cannot
be ascribed to any single cause. For
one thing, Mr. Truman himself is
a changed man. When he took up
the heavy responsibilities that de
volved upon him with the death of
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, he ap
peared to be obsessed with a convic
tion of his own inadequacy. Uncer
tain of himself, he seemed content
to adopt the program of his prede
cessor and follow as best he could
the Roosevelt footsteps. Then there
followed a series of egregious
blunders, no one of them especially
important in itself, but destructive
of public confidence in their cumu
lative enect. mere were also inci
dents which seemed deplorably
political in character, incidents
which appeared to stamp the Pres
ident as a partisan rather than a
national leader.
But it is a safe assertion that
through it all,- Mr. Truman was
finding himself. The indecisiveness,
the lack of self-confidence, gradu
ally disappeared, and by the time of
the railroad strike he was prepared
to act with marked firmness in the
public interest. In the field of
domestic as well as foreign affairs
he developed a program of his own.
And after the November elections,
which brought his party a stunning
defeat, the evidence is persuasive
that Mr. Truman decided to put
narrow partisan politics aside.
Today, after two years in office,
he gives every impression of being
a man who knows what he wants
to do, of being a President who is
resolved to be guided, not by con
siderations of expediency, but by
what he believes to be right.
Of course, this may not last. Hard
tests lie ahead for Mr. Truman in
his relations with the Republican
Congress, and a presidential election
is in the offing. Yet as of today
it can hardly be doubted that the
main source of Mr. Truman’s growth
and strength lies in the widely held
conviction that he is trying ms Desi
to be a President of all the people,
that he is placing primary emphasis
on doing the things he believes
ought to be done.
There are those who say that in
our political system a man cannot
pursue this course and still be suc
cessful at the polls. There are
others, however, who dissent, who
refuse to accept the proposition
that unworthy compromises and
shabby expedients necessarily go
hand-in-hand with success at the
polls and effective government.
Those in the latter group have
longed to see this tested, and it is
beginning to look as though Harry
Truman may provide the test.
Mr. Vandenberg's Role
In his eloquent speech on Ameri
can aid to Greece and Turkey, Sen
ator Vandenberg has done more
than show that the President’s pro
posed program is both sound and
necessary. In a personal sense—
and of course without seeking to do
so—he has demonstrated once again
his statesmanlike stature. Before
the war he was numbered among
the isolationists. During the war,
undergoing a profound intellectual
conversion, he came to see the world,
and his country’s relation to it, in
an entirely fresh light. With ad
mirable forthrightness, refusing to
be bound by any narrow consistency,
he lost no time in making clear that
he had moved forward—far forward
—to new ground. Today no one in
the United States speaks with
greater force or intelligence on our
towering responsibilities in the
family of nations.
Mr. Vandenberg’s role within re
cent years has' been truly remark
able. He played a key part in the
founding of the united Nations at
San Francisco. While his party was
in the minority in the Senate, his
counsel loomed large in the de
liberations of the Big Four Foreign
Ministers. As the Republican mem
ber of former Secretary Byrnes’
senatorial advisory “team,” no man
did as much as he to make our
foreign policy genuinely bipartisan
—a contribution of major historical
importance. When last November’s
elections changed the control of
Congress and raised him to the
chairmanship bf the Foreign Rela
tions Committee, he decided that
his new responsibilities would not
permit him to continue his direct
participation in diplomatic meetings
abroad. Events have since shown
that this was a wise decision. His
presence has been needed in the
Senate; it is needed now when in
ternational issues press from every
side and demand the kind of vision
and statesmanship he has displayed.
The United States is fortunate in
having this man at the head of the
Senate Foreign Relations Commit
tee. His position on aid to Greece
and Turkey is typical of his capacity
to give enlightened leadership in
matters that are at once complex
and fateful not only for our own
country but for the world as well, i
His role in this sense is of crucial
importance, bearing as it does, in ]
a significant measure, on the shape I
n
and durability of the next peace. It
is a happy thing that he has proved
himself amply equipped to play it.
Soldiers Are Made
The War Department long has
been convinced that soldiers are
made, not born. It is more than ever
convinced of it as a result of its un
happy postwar experiment with a
telescoped eight-week basic training
course. The skeptics were right. It
is impossible to turn the average
green recruit into even a reasonable
facsimile of a professional soldier in
two months.
The Army had its doubts about
the curtailed training program from
the outset. It faced a real emer
gency, however, resulting from the
too-rapid demobilization of troops
after V-J day. The demobilization
proceeded at such a hysterical pace,
at times, as to leave our commanders
in occupied zones with only skeleton
forces to carry out our commitments
abroad. In this crisis it was decided
to rush green troops overseas after
only eight weeks of basic training.
Much of our disciplinary and morale
difficulties with occupational troops
have been attributed to the inad
equacy of their training. And the
prestige of the United States in oc
cupied areas has suffered greatly as
a result.
It is not surprising, therefore, to
learn that the Army soon will
lengthen the basic training course
for peacetime occupational troops to
thirteen weeks. This will provide
more ume ior indoctrinating re
cruits with a better understanding
of their responsibilities. As General
Jacob Devers, Army Ground Forces
commander, explains, the trainee
will be taught to realize that he is
“an ambassador of the Army.” Too
many in the past seem to have re
garded themselves as little more
than sight-seers or playboys in uni
form, to the detriment of our occu
pational program.
The Army does not contend, of
course, that a fighting soldier,
trained in the latest weapons and
tactics of war, can be turned out in
thirteen weeks. It is not necessary
that our troops on police duty in
Europe and the Far East be combat
infantrymen or artillerymen or
engineers. They should, however, be
more thoroughly schooled in their
important peacetime duties than
were the “eight-week wonders” sent
abroad in the first stages of our oc
cupational program.
Some of Washington’s downtown
traffic light arrangements on the
broader streets remind the peevish
pedestrian of the advice shouted to
the Irishman poised on one edge of
a chasm: “Jump, Mike—sure, you
can do it in two jumps.”
Beef tallow was the- standard lu
bricant for the cylinders and pistons
of early locomotives. Also, it may
be added, very frequently for the
cowcatchers.
This and That
By Charles E. Tracewell.
Templeton Jones, who along with the
rest of mankind is not as young as he
used to be, has at least determined to
try to do something about it.
He has noticed for years that many
of his older companions are being pulled
more and more toward the earth.
So he has resolved to stand up
straight.
Many persons have made the same
resolve, but they have been mostly young
persons.
Very few oldsters, Jones has noticed,
either make the same resolve or try
to put it into practice when old age or
the beginning thereof begins to exert
its deadly pull.
* * * *
This determination to stand up
straight, Jones has discovered, makes
great demands upon one.
In the first place, the pull of gravity
is tremendous.
The inclination of the head down
ward, the bending of the spine, these
are parts of a process.
The whole biology of the human spe
cies is in them.
They are what happen to one when !
middle ate comes on apace, as the poets
used to say.
What has become of the poets, Jones
asks, in a sort of aside?
* * * *
Not too many years ago the poets
were the whole literary show.
They were great bearded men. with
wise and benign eyes, who made it easy
to believe Browning when he wrote,
“Grow old along with me, the best is
yet to be, the last of life for which the
first was made."
Then something happened.
The bearded poets were gone, their
places taken by novelists.
Templeton Jones is not sure that it
was a good change, but then, according
to him, nothing has been for the better.
If you chide Jones for this, he has
but one word to say:
"Atom."
* * * *
Standing up straight, or at least as
straight as he can, Templeton Jones
looks the world in the face, bomb or no
bomb.
Why should he worry his last years,
he says, by thinking about the atom
bomb, when before it is dropped some
one else may think up ^ome other con
trivance which far outdoes it in fiend
ishness?
Jones is simply worrying about stand
ing up straight to the best of his
ability.
He says he does not want to be one of
these old men who go along all crouched
over.
He. at least, will try to do something
about it, he says. But’ the determina
tion is one thing, and the carrying it
into effect quite something else.
* * * *
That is where Jones’ plan comes in.
He deliberately thinks about it, every
block, and pulls himself upright every
time he thinks about it.
While en route down town, as he
passes each cross street, he pulls him
self together, and forces his head up :
and his stomach in.
This combined movement does it, at |
least for a few feet.
The inclination to slump is powerful. |
but the mind of man is determined, or *
can be. when it wants to be.
Templeton Jones feels that he has
hit upon something.
So if you see a determined gentleman
walking along, or riding along, whose
head may seem tilted in what might
strike you as an arrogant pose, do not
be offended.
It is just Templeton Jones trying
to slide from middle age into old age
as gracefully—and a* upright—as he
can.
S • ' ~
. Letters to The Star From Its Readers
One Reader Says Art Is ‘Spinach*—Proposes a Junior Navy
Would Junk Rent Control—Too Many Radio Stations
When Art Is Not Art
To the Sdltor of The Star.
In re the letter to the editor headed
“Is It Art or Is It Spinach” may I, as
a representative of the "average man”
mentioned by Mr. Calfee, take issue
with him on his implied opinion that
said average man must appreciate or
like the monstrosities exhibited today
as modern art because (for one rea
son) a few of them have been repro
duced on covers of popular magazines.
Mr. Calfee must have realized that the
average man has no more to say about
what appears on magazine covers than
what is exhibited in the famous gal
leries.
What has become of beauty in art?
Is it no longer a prime requisite? What
has become of accurate drawing and
perspective? Why has distortion be
come so fascinating? Why should an
artist rated as "great” produce a work
that looks as if it had been done by
LOOKS Like
SPINACH
TO ME/,
an 8-year-old child? I suspect the
answer Is “One must be educated up
to appreciation of this sort of thing.”
If education is the solution, that edu
cation is down not up.
During the exhibition of “Works of
Artists of Washington and Vicinity”
at the Corcoran some months ago a
lady standing near the writer was care
fully scrutinizing one of the prize win
ners. This was a portrait of a girl
with a colorful background and cos
tuming but the face and hands were
done in pure white with grey and al
most black shadings. I ventured to re
mark that I had read that it was a
portrait of the artist’s daughter. The
lady shook her head and said, “Why,
the poor thing looks as if she'd been
dead six months.”
Granted that imagination is a lauda
ble attribute of a great picture, when
that imagination runs so amok that
the result is unintelligible to the aver
age work of art, we no longer have a
notable work of art.
And so, Mr. Editor, while The Star
is far from needing my poor support
of its opinions, I also say, “It IS spin
ach, not art.”
C. FREDERICK CLARK.
Distortion of Majority Rule
To the Editor ol The Star:
It has been reassuring to observe that
The Star, ever a local champion, is de
voting more of its limited editorial space
to the views of its readers. This is a
healthy sign, particularly at a time
when we hear so much of newspaper
monopolies. The gesture takes on added
significance in the District where the
voteless Washingtonian can voice an
opinion only through the generosity of
the newspapers. Frequently, as in the
“Daylight Saving” issue, his pleas will
go for naught but, at least, he has been
heard. There is a certain amount of
satisfaction to be gleaned from a job
well done, even though it be for a
losing cause.
Con vr ess will enntiniie to he the rtw.
tor prescribing diets that are politically
expedient, but sometimes lumpy for the
locals who must swallow them. The
reason for this unfortunate circum
stance is rather obvious—the vote of
one farmer can carry more weight
than the desires of a million Wash
ingtonians. . . . Washingtonians do not
elect Congressmen.
The “Daylight Saving" case is of little
consequence but the principles involved
go deeper. Such a distortion of majority
rule has no justification for existence
in a democracy. But it does exist, and
there is little reason to presume that
it will be altered. No Congressman
would appease a District resident at the
risk of antagonizing a constituent. At
best, we can but hope that the constitu
ents of our overseers concur in our find
ings on the more important issues.
So long as the District remains a
stepchild, many of the local taxpayers
will be especially thankful for the
generous allotment of space which The
Star has placed at their disposal.
J. T. REYNOLDS.
Overlooked Freedom
To the Editor of The Star:
In President Truman’s address at
Waco on peace, freedom and world
trade, he must have overlooked the one
freedom that some folks think is most
important: That of the freedom of the
right to vote.
Some folks believe peace cannot en
dure when people in some sections of
the country have the right to vote and
it is denied to other folks.
Why can’t the residents of the city
of Washington be granted the right of
suffrage?
And why can’t some States eliminate
the poll tax?
And why can’t Alaska and the Ha
waiian Islands be granted statehood?
These things are essential for peace.
DAVID R. MIDDLETON.
Opportunity for Local Players?
To the 3ditor of The Star:
The recent letter of Dr. George Bow
erman regarding the opening of the Na
tional Theater to Negroes does not
express the opinion of the majority of
white residents of the District, and they
do not share his hysteria over the pros
pect of a dramatic desert here.
If the New York playwrights and pro
ducers decide to bypass Washington, it
could prove a great boon to us.
It could relieve us of the shoddy, triv
ial and grotesque plays that have been
fbisted upon us so long. The dramatic
monstrosity now playing at the National
is typical of the dry bones dished up in
the name of drama.
It could prove to be the beginning of
a new era of the theater in our National
Capital. We already have nuclei! in the
George Washington University and
Catholic University players' groups,
which offer excellent entertainment.
These and other groups, expanded and
stimulated, could develop a truly Ameri
can drama right here in our Capital
City.
However, the jeremiads of the New
York clique sound like a bluff to me in
the light of the following experience
which I had. With difficulty—because
the Lisner Auditorium was said to be
sold out—I obtained tickets for Ingrid
Bergman's “Joan d'Arc.” When she
launched her Philippine against the
Please be brief. Short letters
are preferred, all are subject to
editing for condensation. Only
letters accompanied by name
and address of writer will be
used, although a pseudonym is
in seme cases permissible.
.♦
white people for desiring to enjoy their
recreation with their fellow whites, I
went to the box office and attempted to
return my tickets, but was told that
there had been such a flood of tickets
returned, that the management had
called a halt and no more would fie
taken back. Thereafter ads appeared of
fering seats for sale. Obviously box office
receipts were affected by Miss Bergman’s
tirade.
These New Yorkers display incredible
cheek in trying to force their views on
a community of which they are not a
part. FIRST NIGHTER.
Shackles for Labor
To the Editor ot The Star:
Lowell Mellett is deserving of the
highest approval and gratitude for rec
ognizing and presenting his simple yet
exceedingly powerful pleas against the
onrushing, unbridled attempt of cer
tain members of Congress to shackle
labor. FRANK D. DAVIS.
Note to ‘Agitators’
To the Editor of The 8t*r.
As a former employe of the Bell Sys
tem and the wife of a telephone pioneer,
I feel obligated to mention a few of
the conditions the poor, downtrodden
telephone employes are forced to en
dure.
They are housed in modem build
ings with most careful attention paid
to their physical comfort and health.
Cafeterias are maintained for their
financial benefit and convenience, as
are most comfortable and in some cases,
luxurious rest rooms. They receive two
weeks’ paid vacation; after 15 years,
three weeks. Their sick benefits are
most unreasonable (as an example, my
husband is entitled to one year with
full pay plus 26 weeks with half pay).
This is the maximum but should give a
general idea of the plan all down the
line. Pensions are an outright gift from
the company. Countless recreational
functions are offered free of charge
from time to time. A medical staff of
highest caliber is maintained to benefit
all employes. Payroll deduction priv
ileges, loans free of interest charges in
times of need, etc., etc. Then to top it ail
off the poor souls are among the high
est paid workers in the country.
I would suggest the agitators quit
and let appreciative folks have a good
job. EDITH A. SCHULTE.
What Services Will Support
To the Editor of The Star:
President Truman allegedly has
ordered all service personnel to back up
his proposed National Security Act of
1947 submitted to Congress on February
26. He seems to intend to use his au
thority to prevent criticism even before
congressional committees. But what we
are trying to establish is co-ordination
and integration between the different
services and not unification.
I feel convinced that the three serv
ices will support the following provi
sions in the Security Act: Joint Chiefs
of Staff; the role of principal military
adviser to the President and the Secre
tary of Defense delegated to the Joint
Chiefs of Staff; the right of appeal
directly to the President by the Secre
taries of the three services; creation of
the war council; a joint staff under
Joint Chiefs of Staff; establishment of a
munitions board, research and develop
ment board, national security council,
national security resources board and
central intelligence agency.
LEWIS KANICK.
Pro and Con on Greece
To the Editor of The Star.
A lot of very questionable assumptions
are being made to support our proposed
economic and military aid to the Greek
monarchy. We are told that Greece is a
democracy. What rot! We are told we
must protect free peoples from tyranny.
If that were our aim, we would help
pull down the monarchy. We are told
by implication that Russia is forcing
Communism on weak peoples by force
of arms. Is that true iiT France, in Italy
and other countries where Communism
is growing by leaps and bounds?
The truth is that Communism is ad
vancing all over the world, especially
where reactionary oppression as well as
poverty breeds unrest. Russia is not the
cause of capitalism’s failures over such
a wide area. E. J. ELLIS.
To the Editor of The Stir.
Thanks be that some one—in fact, the
First Citizen of these United States—has
at long last displayed the courage and
frankness to come out and, in plain
language, state the case for the United
States and against Russia. Too long have
many of our trusting, unthinking, non
reading, gullible people listened to and
believed the rosy words of Red propa
ganda.
The President is quite right when he
says that aid to Greece and Turkey will
be expensive and troublesome, but that
if we do not help them now we will,
later, experience far greater expense and
trouble.
In the thought of Patrick Henry, it
were better that destruction come to all
than for us to live under the Godless and
libertyless way of the Communists.
rxtAINA. o. XKLLLiI^CiXV.
Doubts Communist Menace
To the Editor ot The Star:
As Americans, we are moving toward
bigotry and intolerance. Already many
have committed themselves to fight
communism without first having a defi
nition of it.
Fighting communism was always an
essential part of Hitler's program. Such
a fight, although frequently disguised
as patriotism, has been fruitless; ex
cept to pave the way for tyranny, dic
tatorship, race and class hatred, and
oppression of minority or under-privi
leged groups.
Those who now decry communism
have never lifted their voice against
snantsin indeed, to their hearts they
want Hitler doctrines end practices,
A
if only they or their favorite pals can
play the put of Hitler. In order to
throw civilization into confusion and
despair, they are trying to foment
another World War.
The charge that Communists seek to
overthrow our Government by force
sounds like fiction; such as the tales
about dragons, ogres, Cyclops, genies,
witches, unicorns, etc. But if any of
the “Reds” are so inclined, it seems
that the Federal Bureau of Investiga-.
tion should be capable of handling any
and all such emergencies.
Rather than seeking another World
War, let all true Americans work for
brotherhood and the four freedoms;
viz.—freedom of thought and expres
sion and freedom from want and fear.
L. C. FARRAR.
A ‘Junior Navy’
To the Editor of The Otar.
Much thought is now focused on the
youth of this country.
Might I suggest, through the courtesy
of your columns, that the boys be given
an outlet for their energies and love of
romance by the use of some of the
Navy’s outdated ships as training ships
for these boys.
There could be a Junior Navy, in keep
ing with the idea of the junior firemen
and police, an educational work which
the latter services have begun so well.
The healthy outdoor life, away from
unpropitious surroundings, sensational
cinemas and picture papers, could be
open to any child and would be of
special value to the boys whose situa
tions in life would not otherwise pro
vide such educational opportunities.
For many years, in England, ships
where young boys could go for training
as sailors and could also learn any use
ful trade or profession of their own
choosing have proved of great useful
ness.
The boys take a pride in their smart
uniforms and in their ship and learn to
become good citizens.
I would make an earnest appeal to
those in authority here to station a
ship at Washington and so immediately
initiate this great endeavor.
The discipline on the ship has none of
the stigma of that of a penitentiary, the
healthy physical training helps the boys
control their bodies and fills their minds
with the romance of life and pride that
they are potential members of the great
American two-ocean Navy which now
helps to keep the peace of the world.
NANCY HUNTINGTON.
Appeasement of Russia
To the Bdltor ol The Star:
Take 4 cups of flour, 1 cup of poison,
and whip up a cake. You've got a
poisoned cake. That's the five-big
power United Nations setup.
Is anyone still so dumb that he be
lieves the U. N. can ever do its job
with Communists as partners? Mr.
Truman says we must use flit on the
In our Government service. But If !
commies in our Government would des
troy it from within (which they would),
so will commies in the U. N.
And they are doing just that. It’s
the same old tactic we see in labor
unions and other organizations—bore
from within, confuse, outwait, outwit,
stall, take over, destroy, object, veto,
use the organization as a platform for
propaganda, sign solemn agreements one
week and violate them the next week.
The Communist conspirators will never
join the “capitalist” countries to make
an honest peace settlement, and keep
it. They are doing now, and will con
tinue to do, all they can to destroy the
U. N., so long as we yield, appease,
compromise, and talk stupidly about
“getting along with” Communist Russia.
“The best defense is a good attack.”
Messrs. Truman and Marshall have had
the character and honesty to say so.
But Greece and Turkey are only the
beginning. We other nations should
drop Russia from the U. N. and drop
her from the peace conferences. Once
rid of the poison, we can make a sen
sible peace, and join hands to reorganize
the U. N. into a real federal world
government with a definite measure of
sovereignty and an overwhelming ma
jority of the world's military and eco
nomic power, pooled to enforce peace
and protect the political liberty of all
states from totalitarian aggression of
any stripe. The policy must be “prompt
aid and comfort to our friends and ad
herents everywhere; nothing but an
unsheathed sword to our totalitarian
enemies anywhere.”
FRANKLIN FORD.
No More Stations Desired
To the Editor of The Star.
The Washington radio dial is over
crowded and steadily is getting worse.
So the FCC should stop granting per
mits for more stations in the Wash
ington area. There now are nine
standard broadcasting stations in the
District and surrounding territory plus
two or three in the building stage.
There already is some interference
between the various stations and, it
will grow worse as the stations in
crease. A limit should be put on
frequency modulation stations (called
FM for short) before they, also, get
out of hand. There are only two in
actual operation, but there are several
going up in the near future.
For an example of how bad things
can get consider the New York City
radio stations. There are 14 stations
in New York and two more in Brook
lyn plus several more in surrounding
areas. What will more standard
broadcasting stations accomplish?
Nothing but to clutter up the dial
and make it harder to listen to a
station you want to hear.
WQQW and the two stations in
nearby Virginia and in Maryland are
only on from sunrise to sunset. But
I understand another station is to be
on the air in the next day or two and
wants to operate for 19 hours or so.
Let's have a limit now before we
end up like New York and Chicago.
All they do is play records and sing
ing commercials. Our network stations
have that situation too, plus quis
program, comedy, drama, etc.
ANTI-SOAP OPERA.
t
Republican Women
Demand More Power
Group Cheers Mrs. Smith’s Cry
- lor Greeter Voice in Psrty
\ By Doris Fleeson
Militant, public resentment against
the low estate of women In politics is
the news of a Republican regional con
ference of women here this week.
About 100 well-dressed, Easter-hatted
ladies hitched forward in their chairs
and cheered a revivalistic talk from
Representative Margaret Chase Smith
of Maine in which she:
1. Told them to take a tip from the
radio and develop a love-that-soap sell
ing technique which will arouse women
to be aggressively active in politics again
as they were when they won suffrage.
2. Denounced the “existing special
privileges and monopolies in public of
fice that men now have.”
3. Warned the Republican Party that
it is “missing a good bet if it doesn’t
encourage women to make greater use
of their voting power; losing a good
bet if it doesn’t select more women as
its standard bearers to show the wom
en of America that the Republicans
intend to give them greater representa
tion and voice than the Democratic ad
ministration.”
December Events Recalled.
“The men have clearly demonstrated
that they won’t give us a greater voice
voluntarily—it’s up to us, no one else,”
she concluded succinctly.
She didn't mention names. But frail
in the minds of her audience were the
events of last December when Republi
can National Chairman Reece asked
Assistant Chairman Marion Martin to
rAcicrn offpr chp haH rallpH fnr nt. 1 oowf.
200 influential women delegate* to the
National conventions and not as orchid
wearers only.
’Miss Martin’s successor, Mrs. Robert
Macauley, a chic and pretty young
bride, lacks the force and experience
of Miss Martin who had been pa
tiently 1 organizing women from both
sides of the tracks since 1936, but she,
too, took the Martin cue.
Women leaders, she said, must take
on the job of advancing more and more
qualified women in public office. "We >
must see that women are adequately
represented at the national conven
tion,” she insisted..
The immediate reaction to Mrs.
Smith’s stirring call to arms was all
that she could ask. Also encouragingly,
the women showed less interest in a
routine "we’re wonderful” party speech
from Congresswoman St. George of New
York.. But what they will actually do
and how far they can get in a party
organization largely dominated by the
Old Guard is speculative. Rebellious
men—Harold Stassen, Senator Mdrse—
aren’t getting far.
Reece Might Dodge Clash.
Mrs. Macauley can hardly stand up
to Chairman Reece as Miss Martin did;
yet she has the great advantage that
he thoroughly disliked the publicity on
the Martin affair and might be hesi
tant to risk an open breach on the
distaff side a second time.
As a victim of the discrimination she
attacks, Mrs. Smith will probably con
tinue to speak her piece, in the as
signment of committees last January
her seniority was rudely ignored by
Chairman Taber and his associated
hardshells on appropriations; they kept
her off and added five newcomers with
Fless service.
In the House since 1940, she is a
successful and industrious representa
tive whose friends hope she eventually
will attain the Senate. In herself and
in her career she strikes a golden mean
—she is a former businesswoman, a
widow, attractively middle-aged and al
ways with a fresh flower in her lapel.
An applauded climax in her reason
ing before the conference was her ar
gument that women were ideally suited
to politics; as rulers of the home they
legislated, administered and interpreted
the laws of family life, keystone of any
Nation.
The Democratic women are almost -
as interested in the Republican touch
of civil war as their opposite numbers.
They are fighting for greater party rec
ognition. They, of course, had farther
to fall since they once knew Mrs. Roose
velt in the White House and Miss Per
kins in the cabinet.
No Witch Hunt
From the Providence Journal.
Announcing President Truman’s order
to the executive agencies to guard
against infiltration by subversive per
sons, the White House has assured the
Nation that there is no intention to em
bark on a "witch hunt." That is a wel
come reassurance. While we do not
doubt the necessity for the security
measures decreed by the President,
neither do we believe that the Federal
establishment is loaded with persons
disloyal to the United States. It would
be next to impossible, however, to set
up standards of political loyalty or
methods for searching out subversive
individuals which were not susceptible
of abuse. Certain sections of the Pres
ident's order, we believe, could be mis
used with relative ease.
Teacher's Wasted Talent
From the Arkansas Gazette.
The only resident of Noah’s, Ark., able
to fill out an income tax blank properly
is the school teacher, and she doesn fc
have to fill out one.
Connecticut Avenue—
Easter Monday
No peach tree in its rosy bloom
Was ever gayer than the plume
That danced above the horse’s head
As down the avenue he sped.
The cart he drew was light and small;
Its driver, arbiter of all
His little world, rejoiced to see
The impact of this finery
Upon the disbelieving eye
Of many a startled passerby
Whose mind was slow to grasp the link
Between an ostrich plume of pink
And horsq that trod with mincing gait
The street named for the Nutmeg State,
Where fashion news was one time made
By Easter Sunday’s bright parade.
When socialites and diplomats
In splendor crowned with hig i silk hats
Escorted ladies who outshone
The flowers April calls her own,
Here went a horse and humble cart,
Of Master Monday’s work a part;
A small survival of the day
When carefree pageantry held sway;
And who shall say, without disaster,
Which was the prouder, horse or mastert
ALICE BOORMAN WILLIAMSON.
r