Evening star. [volume], April 16, 1947, Page A-12, Image 12

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

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A—12WEDNESDAY, April It, 1947
A Good Start, Anyway
We pour hundreds of thousands
of dollars annually down a rat hole
In Washington in the aimless process
of arresting and sending drunkards
to Jail. Thirty-four thousand are
arrested every year. Scores of them
have been to jail as many as fifty
times. Some of them have been sen
tenced 150 times. Such facts have
been amplified at length in these
columns, but they need repeating.
It is encouraging, at any rate, to
note House passage of the Hebert
bill, which establishes clinics for
treatment rather than wasteful,
futile punishment of alcoholics. The
amount authorized, $100,000, is only
a fraction of what we spend each
year in sending people to jail on
charges of Intoxication. The Hebert
bill, if passed by the Senate, will at
least provide an intelligent and per
haps an effective approach to what
has been called our fourth public
health problem.
But an important part or the
Hebert bill was changed before It
went to the House. The bill orig
inally placed a small gallonage tax—
5 cents a gallon, 1 cent a fifth—to
finance the clinical experiment.
There was poetic justice, as well as
sound common sense, in this tax.
Unfortunately, it was opposed by the
liquor interests and the liquor in
terests carry a lot of weight. But
the trade could have stood it. It has
created some new millionaires among
the Washington dealers and it dis
penses some 5,500,000 gallons a year
at a tax that is half the tax collected
in adjoining States.
When the Senate gets the Hebert
bill, this gallonage tax should be
restored. The clinics ought to be
supported by this special tax. The
public is not going to mind paying
a cent a fifth for the support of an
effort to combat alcoholism. Even
if Congress doubles the tax this year,
as part of the local revenue program,
a cent a fifth for the alcoholic clinics
should be earmarked. Unless this
is done, the experiment is apt to be
prejudiced at the very start by lack
of funds. Connecticut, a pioneer in
the establishment of State clinics,
has adopted such a tax and with
success. It should be done here in
Washington, in spite of the crocodile
tears which the liquor interests may
shed at the thought of recognizing,
by this tax, the logical connection
between the evils of alcohol and
the tremendous sale, in Washington,
of Its products.
Penguins and People
Some people say that penguins do
not have much brajns. That Is de
batable. What is not debatable is
that they are nice birds. In their
own way, among themselves, they
have a fine sense of humor and good
manners* Above all, affectionate
and sensitive by nature, they love
their homes and families very much.
These are points that we should
keep in mind when we try to under
stand why some of Admiral Byrd’s
Antarctic penguin^ jumped ship on
their arrival here. Perhaps it was
a silly thirtg for them to do. Perhaps,
rather than risk the unknown perils
of the Anacostia River, they would
have been wiser to go meekly with
Dr. Marft to the Zoo. But who will
presume to pass dogmatic judg
ment? Who can say with certainty
that they were not right? Who can
be sure that they did not feel im
pelled to make a last desperate
homesick break for freedom?
Despite talk about their having
weak minds, we do not really know
how or what penguins think. If we
could get inside their heads and see
the world as they see it, and feel as
they feel, possibly we would be quite
surprised. We might learn, for in
stance, that they do not relish the
idea of being shut up and gaped at
in public places. We might learn
that they infinitely prefer to live out
their lives in their own way—with
their families, among their friends,
aw a; liuin Human uemgs, ill me
great white stillness of their natural
hoqie. We might learn, in short,
that they are overcome with pro
found unhappiness and an over
whelming sense of repugnance when
they are kidnaped and brought to
a strange and distant clime where
noise and confusion abound and
where the civilization of man—now
holding the atom by the tail—tends
more and more to live in terror of
its own works.
It may be, of course, that this
kind of speculation has no basis in
real fact and that penguins are just
being nonsensical when they do such
things as they have done on the
Anacostia. Still, we cannot be abso
lutely sure. These birds are crea
tures so pleasant and admirable in
their normal habitat that it would
be ill-advised for any of us to snicker
at their conduct in these parts. - As
far as conduct goes, the world prob
ably would be better off if people
were a bit more like them.
Russian Lend-Lease
The State Department’s announce
ment that the Soviet Government
has agreed to negotiate its lend
lease indebtedness to the United
States may come somewhat as a
surprise. For more than a year, the
department has been prodding Mos
cow for a settlement on the lend
lease account between the two coun
tries. No less, than six communica
tions have been sent to the Soviet
Foreign Office, but until now these
have either received noncommittal
replies or have been ignored. Now,
however, the department has been
informed that negotiations will start
in Washington as soon as Am
bassador Novikov returns here from
Moscow.
An analysis of the account makes
interesting reading. It shows that
we furnished Soviet Russia lend
lease aid to the value of nearly $11,
300,000,000, while Russia is credited
with “reverse” lend-lease amounting
to about $2,200,000. The magnitude
and variety of the items furnished
Russia are literally staggering. Be
sides military equipment and muni
tions, they include every sort of ncm
milltary material, from trucks and
rolling stock to foodstuffs, machine
tools and entire factories of many
kinds. These nonmilitary items are
the ones with which the negotiations
will be chiefly concerned. In ac
cordance with our policy in all lend
lease accounts, no repayment is be
ing sought for strictly military-type
goods, except that we reserve the
right to ask for the return of such
material as has not been used up in
the war Itself. In Russia’s case the
nonmilitary items form an unusually
large proportion of the total, esti
mated at about one-quarter of the
whole—a figure of somewhat under
$3,000,000,000.
Although no official explanation
has been vouchsafed as to why the
Soviet Government has chosen this
time to accede to our repeated re
quests for a settlement, intimations
are rife both here and in Moscow
that Russia will couple these dis
cussions with a renewal of its re
quest for a large loan, supposedly of
at least $1,000,000,000. This matter
was raised almost a year and a half
ago. But when our Government
took the position that a loan appli
cation would have to be coupled
with a lend-lease settlement, Mos
cow dropped the matter.
Offhand, it would seem that Mos
cow is a bit late in angling for loans
or credits from us. Originally, Rus
sia could probably have gotten such
a loan. Indeed, the Export-Import
Bank then earmarked $1,000,000,000
for such an eventuality. But when
Moscow proved recalcitrant on a
lend-lease settlement, the ear
marked sum was disbursed to other
countries and today the bank has
no funds available for tfeis purpose.
The only visible alternative would
be for Congress to act on the matter,
but with Soviet-American relations
in their present shape, such con
gressional action would be highly
improbable. Certainly, Moscow
must make an acceptable lend-lease
settlement before it can expect any
loans or credits from us.
Palestine to the U. N.
The complex and highly explosive
issue of Palestine is to go before
a special session of the General
Assembly of the United Nations. The
formal summons to the full mem
bership has gone out from the office
of the Secretary General, Trygve Lie,
after more than one-half of the
member-nations had indorsed Great
Britain’s request for this extraor
dinary action. Normally, the Gen
eral Assembly would not have con
vened until next autumn.
Technically, the order of business
indicated by the Secretary General
is limited to the simple appointment
of a fact-finding committee to in
vestigate conditions in Palestine and
make its report to the regular As
sembly meeting in September. But
the indications are that even this
piece of business will be more than
a formality.
The mere appointment of a com
mittee and the issuance of instruc
tions to it may touch off fireworks.
For one thing, who shall be on this
fact-finding body? Britain, the
mandatory power over Palestine for
more than thirty years, expects a
seat as a matter qf course, while the
five Arab states in the U. N. have
indicated that they will insist on
being included. But this at once
raises the question of Jewish repre
sentation. The Jews are certainly
as much an "interested party” as the
Arabs. Yet Jewish interests, as such,
are not represented by any state in
the U. *N. On the other hand, Jewry
is not ideologically united on the
Palestine issue. There are various
shades of opinion, ranging from ex
treme Zionists who demand the
creation of a Jewish state embrac
ing both Palestine and Trans-Jordan
to those who oppose Zionism’* politi
cal implications, for various reasons.
Over and above the conflict be
tween Arabs and Zionist Jews, there
are far-reaching issues of power
politics/ Palestine is a highly strate
gic area in the realms of both world
strategy and world diplomacy. The
British Empire, Soviet Russia, oil,
and the American policy of "con
taining” international communism,
are alike involved. All these complex
factors will undoubtedly play their
part in the Assembly’s special ses
sion and may come dramatically
into the open.
Last but not least, other topics
may be raised. Under existing rules
of procedure, any delegation may
propose a new topic up to four days
before the special session gets under
way on April 28. That could con
ceivably turn the session into one
much broader in scope than what is
now contemplated. All this tends to
invest the forthcoming session with
an aura of uncertainty which adds
to the interest that it will undoubt
edly provoke.
A Career Assignment
The current issue of the Army
and Navy Bulletin expresses con
cern over “the frequent shifts of
top command in Central Intelli
gence” pointing out that in its
relatively short life of fifteen
months the agency has had two
directors and is soon to have a third.
The Star shares the Bulletin’s con
cern.
As The Star has commented
editorially jn the past, one of the
major weaknesses of our prewar in
telligence system was the tendency
of the War and Navy Departments
to regard intelligence assignments
as little more than pleasant peace
time Interludes in the careers of
Army and Navy officers. Officers
were selected for these assignments
not because of any special qualifi
cations for the job, but apparently
for the purpose of familiarising
them with this type of work. But
before most of them had an ade
quate opportunity to learn their
duties well they found themselves
ordered to other stations. Even
during World War II both services
changed intelligence heads several
times.
It was expected that the forma
tion, after the war, of the Central
Intelligence Group would give to
intelligence the prestige and stabil
ity which it deserves but which it
has never enjoyed in this country.
Prom present indications, however,
the office of director of the organi
zation is proving to be Just another
temporary assignment for Army
and Navy officers. Rear Admiral
Souers, the first chief, was succeeded
by Lieutenant General Vandenberg
and now, according to the Bulletin,
General Vandenberg is to be re
placed by another admiral.
The pending merger legislation
will provide for creation of the
Central Intelligence Agency as suc
cessor to the present organization.
It might be a good idea to Include
in the proposed statute a provision
making the office of director of the
agency a “career” Job, with a tenure
long enough and pay high enough
to insure a reasonable degree of
permanency for this vital security
post.
You know the man who wants to
sit at the side of the world and
watch the world go by. But if he
,sits at the side of the world in the
next war, he will watch the world
go bye-bye.
A stamp to honor doctors has been
announced. How about another to
honor the people who pay them?
Not too many do.
This and That -
By Charles t. Tracewell.
"BELTSVILLE, Md.
"Dear Sir:
“In one of your columns recently a
Mr. R. s. B. thanks you for a formula
for catching moles.
"I would like to have this formula.
“Sincerely, s. R. B.“
The formula, as this correspondent
calls It, is not much of a formula as a
mode of action.
It requires two spades, some patience,
and then quick work.
This method has been worked out by
a nearby Virginia householder, after
many attempts to catch moles by ordi
nary methods.
Every one with a nice smooth lawn
knows the heartache, if it may be
called so, which assails the owner some
morning when he discovers what some
moles have done to it.
Despite the fact that he knows moles
are useful in eating Japanese beetle and
other Inimical grubs, he deplores the
havoc caused his nice lawn.
Those pesky moles—
Words fall him, as he ruefully looks
at what just the evening before had
been a work of art, almost.
Now look at it!
That Is the way he feels, and no one
can blame him.
* * * a
The method involves patience to
watch the runs, preferably In the early
morning. That seems to be the best
time. »
Walk out to a run where work is in
progress.
Then stand perfectly still, for as long
a time as may be necessary.
Sometimes only a few minutes will be
required, at other times maybe as much
as 5 minutes.
Then the mammal will be seen to be
going forward again, on his lifelong
search for food.
It is not always realized by the Irate
lawn enthusiast that these little ani
mals (6 inches, tall 1 Inch) must eat to
live In a peculiar sense.
Their metabolism is so fast and
furious that unless they can eat practi
cally constantly they will die. It Is
claimed that a mole deprived of all food
for 6 to 12 hours Is a goner.
Therefore, an eating man may sympa
thize with an eating mole, but perhaps
that will not deter him from his fell
work with the two shovels aforemen
tioned.
* * * *
It goes without saying that he must
have taken the two shovels or spades
with him. and have them all ready lor
instant use.
The very second he sees the mole
moving, he shoves a spade down behind
the creature. \
Not in front of him, not through him,
but just behind him.
This blocks off the mole, leaving him
no place to go except forward, to one
side-r-or down.
The first spade being left in position,
the second is shoved in as quickly as
possible from the side, scooping up Mr.
Mole.
One has to be fast, though, because in
as little as IS seconds the mole can
start downward, going so quickly that if
there is any dawdling the pursuer will
see only his tail disappearing.
Quickly seize him by his stubby tail,
and deposit him in a covered basket or
bucket.
His disposition later will be according
to one’s outlook on created things. Kind
hearted persons, especially those who
marvel, will be willing to take the cap
tured moles to some forest and let them
loose.
Moles nest in the second week in
March, and bring forth four to six young
in about six weeks. The breeding places
are in the roots of trees or bushes.
*
Letters to The Star From Its Readers
Stop Littering the Streets—Would Scrap Rent Controls
Warns of Next Depression—Schoolboy’s Nightmare
To th* Editor of The Star.
William Xanten’s recent plea to the
public to help keep the streets of our
beautiful City of Washington clean is,
indeed, a timely one.
The deliberate carelessness of so many
men and women in the matter of public
cleanliness as well as a very definite lack
of jdvic pride is appalling. I live in the
Northwest section where there are many
large apartment houses. Nearby we have
a small park with plenty of trash con
tainers conveniently placed, but our
sidewalks are daily littered with ciga
rette butts, empty bottles, candy wrap
pers, ice cream cones, etc. Worst of all
are the carefully tom-up bits of letters
and other mail.
This last is most noticeable in the
morning, as both men and women start
to work (usually just after the postman
has made his rounds). Many walk along
reading their mail, then tear up letters,
etc., into small pieces' and drop them as
they go along—usually on a freshly
swept sidewalk where a long-suffering
janitor has just cleaned for the day, or
else the small pieces are thrown on some
cherished small lawn where the little
pieces must be picked up by hand.
This same habit is all too often seen
on streetcars and buses and must add
to the troubles of the driver or company
at the terminal A little consideration
in such matters would help Mr. Xanten’s
District Refuse Department, I am sure.
K. 8. O.
Seven Reason* {or Aid
Te the editor of The 8Ur.
May I submit the following seven
points which appear to be exclusive con
cerning the rights and wrongs of our
proposed aid to Greece and Turkey:
1. United States action in Greece and
Turkey is not unilateral in any sense
this word ever had before the present
controversy.
3. The governments of Greece and
Turkey, while perhaps not democratic,
are at least more nearly so than Com
munist governments which might be set
up in their places. *
*. If not democratic in our sense of
the terms, they are far less incompati
ble -with change in a democratic direc
tion than would be any Communist gov
ernments.
4. The governments of Greece and
Turkey at least are friendly to the
United States, and that is something
that cannot be said either of Russia or
of any government under her Influences;
the latter are, beyond any doubt, the
only countries which are engaged in
the obviously hostile activity of main
taining and diverting in the United
States a party and organisations aimed
at the overthrow by force of the govern
ment and constitution of the United
States. (That Russia is still engaged In
such activity there is, on statistical
grounds, no possible doubt.)
5. Even if the governments of Greece
and Turkey be totalitarian (which I do
not concede), still they are weak totali
tarianisms; and it is expedient for us,
as long as they are willing to be so
used, to oppose them to the strong to
talitarianisms; when that has been
overcome we shall be able to deal more
freely with the weak ones. From a
democratic point of view, a weak totali
tarianism always is preferable to a
strong one.
6. If the governments of Greece and
Turkey are not democratic now, it Is
possible that by giving aid we may
acquire a position from which we may
use our Influence to bring about a
regime more to our liking. It Is very
probable that If we do- not give this
aid, there will be established a regime
under Russian control and in every way
contrary to our wishes and interest.
7. Those who say that the present
Greek regime Is undemocratic have to
account for the fact that the observers
of the last elections who represented
democratic countries found the elections
passable; observers from totalitarian
countries are, I submit, exceedingly poor
authorities on such a question. The
Greek parties which boycotted the elec
tions thereby forfeited their claims to
be democratic; for the boycotting of
elections is an anti-democratic tech
nique aimed at making the essential
democratic Institution of elections nu
gatory. DONALD C. WHITTEMORE.
Making Russia Behave
To the Editor of The St«r. .
It is ominously clear in all the United
Nations’ and Foreign Ministers’ discus
sions, that Soviet Russia has shown no
desire for peace. Every word, every ac
tion has been a delaying one or has had
a stalling effect.
Stalling for what—and why?
To me, the answer Is crystal clear.
They want time. Time to perfect the
atom bomb. And again the question,
why?
This answer, too, becomes clear when
the past history of the U. 8. S. R„ the
character of Marx, Lenin and Stalin and
the boasted Intentions of the Communist
Party are analyzed. It may be con
densed and the answer arrived at by
assuming that the very existence of the
Communist Party, now and In the future,
Is dependent upon the overthrow and
physical destruction of all governments
that are not Communist. It follows that
what Is left will be incorporated within
the Soviet Union. Accomplished ex
amples: Lithuania, Esthonla, Latvia. And
soon Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugo
slavia, etc., will be dragged Into the
Union.
The philosophy of Hitler was intoler
able to all nations that cherished free
dom. This equally Is true of Com
munist Russia. There can be no hope
for the future so long as any government
such as Soviet Russia openly presses for
the violent destruction of all other gov
ernments.
Granting that this be true, in the new
Atomic Age, there is but one solution,
if our Nation and our civilization are to
continue to exist.
Russia ought to be told immediately
in clear language that she must: (1)
Give Into custody, through the United
Nations, the 400 or more German nuclear
physicists who are working night and
day to perfect the atom bomb for Rus
sia. (3) Open for inspection by atomic
! scientists of the United Nations all of
*
Russia, particularly those sections which
may contain uranium deposits and all
experimental plants and laboratories
working on atomic energy. (3) Comply
with the Baruch Plan of atomic control.
CITIZEN M. A. GREELEY.
Prices Must Drop
To the Editor of The Star.
“Experience is the best teacher,” it is
said, but, evidently, that is not true
insofar as depressions are concerned.
Thinking persons (and this does not
include black marketers, rent gougers,
food manipulators or greedy merchants)
shudder to dwell upon those days of the
last depression’s greatest depth—when
the United States of America narrowly
missed bankruptcy. And the four years
that preceded those black days—four
long years of misery: Factories from one
end of the country to the other boarded
up, thousands of banks and building
and loan associations closed, Fifth ave
nue looking like a deserted city, every
fourth or fifth store in practically every
Industrial city smeared with ‘Tor Rent”
signs, men and women wiling them
selves right and left, soldiers on every
street comer selling apples because
there just weren’t any jobs, the heads
of hungry families breaking Into grocery
stares to get food, the backbone banks
of New York and Chicago tottering on
their foundations—misery, want, hope
lessness and despair clutching at the
throat not only of the working class but
untold numbers of those who had
thought themselves beyond the reach of
want.
KememDer tnose days or "contusion
worse confounded" when all of the
brains of the country were stymied,
when but one man In 125,000,000 people
had any Idea of what to do about it?
Those of us who went through It will
never forget! It Is the new crop of
war buzzards which is now sowing the
seeds of a depression that could very
well rock the foundations of the earth.
Today, Europe and Asia are bankrupt.
Of all the large nations of the earth the
United States stands as the bulwark
against world-wide bankruptcy. Tor
national prosperity we need to export
goods but where is a poverty-ridden
world going to get the money to pay
us? And what’s happening inside the
bulwark? Top-heavy prices for every
thing necessary to the average family
are depleting, and fast, the savings of
that family and it now finds that it is
just able to exist on prevailing wages.
You only have to talk to any worker to
know this. Soon the demand for goods
must of necessity slow down and later
stop; manufacturers will again be caught
with too much raw material; retail
shelves will be overstocked; factories will
begin to close; unemployment will in
crease; the people of America will be
hungry once again and the food riots
will return.
On the other hand, we read that
corporation profits were up 34% in a
single year. There you have the an
swer-greed to the nth degree, a greed
that is "grinding exceedingly small”
perhaps, but the inevitable result is
written on the wall. How can business
say to labor “we can’t afford to give
you a raise”? Truly they cannot afford
it but it is not for lack of money. What
they can’t afford is the speeding up of
the ball of inflation to the point where
it will grind to pieces the technological
structure.
How can a world be spared the misery
that is creeping upon it? The answer
is Just one thing: The prices of every
thing necessary to the maintenance of
the average Amerlean family must come
down drastically and Immediately. “Ex
perience is the best teacher”? I doubt
it. WILLIAM D. GARVEY.
No Right?
To th« Editor of The Star.
It no doubt was well said in your re
cent editorial that the President "de
serves the support of his fellow Ameri
cans,” so long as he keeps his sights
trained on “what seems to be best for
the welfare of all of us.” But Is that
true with regard to the proposed aid to
Greece and Turkey?
As a member of the United Nations we
had no right "to ignore,” if not defy,
the Charter of the United Nations, by
deliberately moving to intervene in the
internal affairs of Greece and Turkey
before the U. N. had been asked to act
or been warned of our intentions.
H ftkBKHT E. PAGE,
A Young Student Protests
To the Editor of The Star.
I am very indignant about the letter
in last Friday’s Star signed by M. T..D.,
who suggested 12 months of school. I
would like very much to put him in
school for 12 months and see how he
likes it
School is bad enough in winter, but
in summer it would be torture not to
go with our families on their vacations.
That would make us really hate school.
L. L. G.
Defends Public School System
To the Editor of The Star.
I wonder who these critics of our
school system think they are fooling,
by always trying to turn back the clocks
of civilization and also bringing shame
upon the country that gave them the
only chance they or their ancestors
ever knew. It is too bad that these in
dividuals just cannot see their children
brought up under these public school
conditions. I would like to state to
the contrary of some of these critics
that right-thinking parents are not
sending their children to other schools.
People who make such statements
as there are the type who always
knock public Institutions, but they can
prescribe just the right school for
you and any one else who will listen.
I have several children of my own
and they will attend public school and
uphold the things that make their
country great. Furthermore, I know
they won’t be Communists, nor will they
be taught that other schools are better
than the American public school system.
These people, who always pretend
to be such great Americans, go around
trying to smear all public institutions
with the word "communism.” If you
ask me, the Communists have a great
rival in trying to break down every
thing that Is American. I wonder
who will get there first? E. K. a
‘There Is a Tide—’
To the editor of The Etar:
Some of us are born optimists. We
believe that man can do much to shape
the future of man. And surely no mo
ment In history has been more fraught
with need for reactions by men of good
will than the present instant.
America Is at the crossroads; a new
foreign policy has been proposed and
must be adopted.
“There is a tide In the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to
fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound In shallows and In miseries.”
We have traced the course of civiliza
tion from Its cradle in the East, west
ward through the Christian nations to
Britain. There we have seen Its ascend
ancy repose happily for some centuries,
wondering meanwhile, “How long; how
long?” Under the protection of the
British fleet, then in co-operation with
the British fleet, later assisted by the
British fleet, and now almost In the
position of sailing as convoy to the Brit
ish fleet, we have grown and prospered
mightily.
Once before there vu a "tide” like
this and .look what happened. Under
Woodrow Wilson we were brought to a
position in which we might have guar
anteed peace and prosperity forever.
What happened? Little men in Con
gress—. but you remAiber! How well
we remember!
RICHARD L. FELDMAN.
Against the Kremlin
To the Editor of The Star.
If Roosevelt had known about Russia’s
treatment of her 14,000,000 slaves, he
probably, let us hope, would have had
nothing whatever to do with such a gov
ernment. A government that will act
toward its own people as Russia is re
ported to be doing, Is not fit to control
a part of Germany, or any other country.
H. B. BRADFORD.
On the Record
By Dorothy Thompson
Mr. Churchill’s recapitulation of 1944
Greek events is timely. For it has
become our foreign policy to “contain”
Soviet expansionism in Greece, which
was Mr. Churchill’s program three years
ago. But the measures taken by Mr.
Churchill did not succeed. Greece is
still in the throes of an unliquidated
civil war.
The present Greek government is as
representative as is possible, under the
circumstances, for a Greek government
to be. It is the result of an election held
under international supervision. ELAS
and EAM, whose Communist leaders at
tempted in 1944 to capture the state by
force, abstained from voting.
Although several times invited to do
so, the 90-year-old Socialist leader,
Themistocles Sophoulis, has refused to
join the government, unless the Com
munists also join. The government re
fuses this. Yet certain Americans are
complaining that the “base” of the gov
ernment should be “broadened.” How?
By taking in Communists, who never
enter any government except with the
object of undermining and overthrow
ing it in the interests of an entirely
different form of state?
If, as the leaders of the left opposition
claim, they represent the people, why
did they not test it at the polls? They
claim they were terrorised. If so, who
started terrorism? Terror breeds coun
terterror. Greece is a Balkan country,
and in the Balkans men avenge the
murder of their kin. Many persons were
murdered in cold blood by the Reds
during their rising. And it is certain
that many persons who were involved
and who received amnesty are not safe
for a moment in Greek villages.
A civil war has to be won—or lost.
Actually, British and American pres
sures have prevented the Greek gov
ernment from drastically liquidating the
rebellion. ELA8 negotiates as though
it was a sovereign power within the
state. Seeing that the government lacks
authority, many persons who had aban
doned the underground war—thinking
it lost—have rejoined the insurgent left
ists. This is the result of an indecisive
victory.
Yet the issue is precisely one of au
thority: The authority, or lack of au
thority, of a legitimate state. If the
legitimate state cannot exercise full
authority, the result is anarchy. The
rebellion continues, with intermittent
truces; the state, failing decisively to
win the conflict, abdicates its powers
to counter-vigilantes; the struggle then
becomes one between two lawless bodies;
and in the end, the choice is between
two sets of usurpers.
* * * *
No government, however well-mean
ing, can establish a sound economy or
greatly improve social conditions in the
midst of a civil war. The war augments
misery which, in turn, feeds the forces
of rebellion. First the state must dem
onstrate Its authority, utterly quell the
rebellion, dissolve its organizations, and
punish its leaders. Then, and then only,
can it allord to be generous to the rank
and file of rebel followers; and then,
and then only, can it establish a liberal
social order. There is an order of pri
ority. It is quite out of the question for
any state to be generous with armed
enemies or negotiate with them until
the question of authority is absolutely
settled.
Without current first-hand knowledge
of the Greek situation, and confused by
highly conflicting reports, it is never
theless possible to reduce the question
to some basic principles of politics.
And unless we recognize principles
and back them unequivocally, what we
shall be promoting in the world will not
be democracy but anarchy, with what
Inevitably follows anarchy—dictatorship
of right or left
qtoi*M*d br tbs a* s snuiiut* mo
G. 0. P. Beaten Before
In Labor Legislation
Omnibus Bill Veto Would Mean
End of Action This Session
By David Lawrence
The House of Representatives has
heretofore passed Just as drastic legisla
tion restricting the activities of labor
unions as is called for in the pending
bill, but the public seems to have for
gotten all about it because the labor,
union lobby smothered such legislation
in the Senate Committee' on Labor.
Representative Howard Smith, Demo
erat, of Virginia has led the fight for
a fair deal for employer and unions
under the National Labor Relations Act,
but every time he succeeded in getting
a majority of the House, he was check
mated by the unions and the New
Dealers who controlled the Senate. All
the bills died there.
The Case bill vetoed last year by
President Truman was the first piece
of legislative reform affecting labor
unions to reach the White House since
the Wagner Act was passed in 1935
and now the labor-union lobby is try.
lng hard to defeat all legislation again
by a presidential veto.
G.OJ*. Determined to Aeu
The news that President Human
really has agreed to the arguments of
the labor lobby and will veto the bill
has resulted In a strengthening of the
determination of the Republicans to
present him with one bill. Until Labor
Secretary Schwellenbach’s testimony on
Capitol Hill, which indicated that Presi
dent Human had already reached a
decision to play along with labor and
veto the bill, there was some prospect
that a series of bills might be passed
and that all the reforms would not bo
lumped in one measure.
The argument for separate measures
was that Mr. Truman could sign on#
or two bills and veto others and that
some legislation would be enacted any
way. But as soon as the “left wing”
press indicated that President Human
was going to veto any or all legislation
anyhow and renew his plea for a joint
committee to give further study to tho
labor problem, the strategy of the Re
publicans changed.
Now the plan is to write the kind of
bill the majority in both Houses want to
see passed. In the House a large num
ber of Democrats will vote for the legis
lation. In the Senate a substantial
number of Democrats will also vote for
the measure. It is probable that the
Senate bill will be a softer measure than
the House bill, from the viewpoint of
labor unions, but in joint conference
the House will insist on its major
provisions.
Veto Will Block Action.
When the bill goes to the White House
with an all-or-none problem for the
President to decide, a veto will mean
the end of labor legislation for the
present session. Congress is expected to
adjourn by July 1 under the new re
organization law’s advice. It will prob
ably be June before the labor bill reaches
the President for consideration, jmd if
he vetoes the measure it is not likely
to be passed over his veto. There is
a two-thirds vote in the House to over
ride a veto, but not in the Senate. At
such a late stage of the session, it will
not be practical to start all over again
and enact separate bills. The chances
are Congress will adjourn without any
legislation on either the strike problem
or on the employer-employe relation
ship.
This means that the country will be
subjected to a series of strikes and more
labor-management trouble in the second
half of 1947 than in the first six months.
It also means that appropriations for
the Labor Board and the Conciliation
Service will have harder sledding, be
cause the appropriations require only a
majority vote of both Houses. If a
tug of war ensues between the Presi
dent, who uses his veto power to kill
labor legislation, and the Congress,
which uses the power of the appropri
ation bill to answer back, the country
will suffer from the stalemate and
the issue will be carried into the 1948
campaign.
It begins to look now as if the 1948
contest will be the battle of the cen
tury, with President Truman lining
up on the left-wing and pro-labor
side and the Republicans arguing for
some form of restriction on labor
union monopolies. Incidentally, the
President may be faced with an even
more restrictive bill regulating labor
unions early in the 1948 session than
he will have before him this year.
More labor strife in the autumn will
stir up demands for action in the 1948
session of Congress.
(Reproduction Right* Reserved.)
Burton Wheeler's New Task
Prom the 8t. Louie Poet Dlepetch.
Former Senator Wheeler of Montana
has a job cut especially to his talents.
His selection by the Senate War In
vestigating Committee to go into charges
that the Navy is paying exorbitant
prices for Arabian oil recalls inevitably
the splendid work which Mr. Wheeler
did as a freshman Senator 25 years ago
in helping reveal the extent of the Tea
pot Dome scandal.
James A. Moffett, former Federal
housing director and an oil man in the
business world, says that in his opinion
the Arabian-American Oil Co. and the
Califomia-Texas Oil Co. have "deliber
ately defrauded the United States Gov
ernment.'’ Whatever the truth may be,
such a charge certainly warrants most
searching inquiry.
Mr. Wheeler knows frauds from long
experience in exposing them in the
Senate, and the new head of the old
Truman committee, Senator Brewster,
is no mean Investigator himself. They
will be expected to get all the facts for
the country.
As for the complication that certain
papers bearing on the case are tied up
in the hands of executors of the estate
of the late President Roosevelt, that can
and should be ironed out forthwith.
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s state papers are
public property, to be used as needed in
the conduct of governmental affairs.
Interval of Expectancy
At, in a newly darkened theater,
The tardy one, forgetting cold and
mow,
Gropes through the dimness, teeing but
a blur
Of facet lined up, row on pallid row,
And does not try to tee what friend 1$
there,
Being too rapt in hit expectancy
Of pleasure when the lowered footlights
flare
To search out any one?s identity;
So I, in this dull interim, now wait
Blindly, anticipating that warm hour
When young and lovely April wiU create
Her deathless role, mesmeric in its
power,
I hear flute twitterings . .. a violin ...
Ring up the curtain! Let the play begin!
XXiOISS WADS HACKSTT.
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