Evening star. [volume], August 09, 1947, Page A-6, Image 6

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With Sunday Morning Edition.
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A—6 SATURDAY, August 9, 1947
For Better Officers
The armed services promotion bill just
signed by the President represents a sound
and promising move to encourage the best
type of leadership in the Army, Navy and
Air Force. Under it, seniority no longer
will be enough to qualify officers for ad
vancement in rank. Instead, the merit
system will be applied to weed out the
incompetent and to build efficiency by
turning over command positions to men
properly equipped to fill them.
According to estimates, the new law will
cover 175,000 officers now in service. Some
of its features are to go into effect at once,
with others to become operable gradually
until the measure is working in full force
by 1951. It contains numerous incidental
provisions, including one to cut down the
present number of admirals and generals,
and another to do away with the five-star
rank during peacetime, except for the
fight men currently in that classification.
The main objective, however, is to put the
merit system to work as never before in
the military services.
This is particularly meaningful as far
as the Army is concerned. Generally speak
ing, the Navy has placed considerable
emphasis on special merit in promoting its
officers in the past, but the Army has gov
erned advancements largely by the sen
iority rule, despite notable exceptions. In
more than a few cases, this has meant
that men have been moved forward to
command posts primarily because they
have been in service longer than their
fellows and not because of having been
qualified to handle the responsibilities of
higher rank. In other words, the less
competent have been placed ahead of the
more competent, with the result that the
Army’s operations in certain spots, have
lacked the quality they might otherwise
have had. Of course, where inability has
been shown after promotion, corrective
measures have been taken, but this has
Involved lost time, lost motion and lost
efficiency. st.
iU. . 1 _]' 111
wuuvi vuv Ait w mcuiuvuuco wm
have a harder time of it. There will be
fixed standards of merit, and seniority,
will be scrapped as a controlling factor.
Promotions will be determined by special
boards of officers on a competitive basis
calculated to reward talent. Moreover—and
this tightens the Navy’s system of ad
vancement as well as the Army’s—there
will be periodic tests, and failure to pass
such tests twice in succession will mean
being eliminated from the service. For
the first time in our naval history, for
example, admirals will be subjected to a
selective system of promotion, and they
will face an examination every four years
to demonstrate that they are qualified for
their rank.
All this seems self-evidently sensible.
With the grim art of warfare undergoing
a revolution in the new age, every possible
'effort must be made to place men of the
highest qualifications in positions of com
mand^in the Army, Navy and Air Force.
Mediocre or incompetent officers, besides
Imparting inferiority to the operations of
those under them, can serve only to im
pair the efficiency of our over-all military
establishment. To the extent that it is
designed to prevent this, the new law is a
decidedly good one. It should be put to
work in the strictest sense. In its own
way, it can do much to strengthen our
national security.
Britain's Feudal Thinking
Britain’s economic plight is stimulating
widespread analysis of its causes, such as
the recent article by Russell Porter, econo
mic writer for the New York Times. Mr.
Porter, like many other critics, ascribes
Britain’s current economic crisis to sub
normal production due alike to labor and
Industrial inefficiency. But he delves
deeper than most when he finds the root
cause of the evil in what he terms “Feudal
Thinking."
This ingenious thesis cuts back of social
ist ideologies to capitalist monopoly
"cartelization.” and back of that again to
the old feudal regime of the Middle Ages,
which was monopolistic in character, with
certain trends foreshadowing the "totali
tarianism” of today. “Feudalism,” he con
tends. “in its latter and post-feudal stages,
developed into a way of life that was
« characterized not only by political tyranny
but also by the ‘mercantilist’ economic
system” in which “the absolute supremacy
of the state and the subordination of the
individual to the state was assutned. Rights
to control production were given by the
state as special favors to members of the
privileged classes. Production and dis
tribution of goods naturally were limited.”
Despite the reign of “laissez-faire” econo
mics during the 19th century, feudal think
ing persisted in England, with Its rigid
class lines and growing economic imperial
ism. The upshot was the rise of monopo
listic cartels even under Conservative
Governments, which engendered ineffi
ciency and capitalistic bureaucratization.
And that, in turn, favored the trend toward
socialization, because the two systems had
so much in common. Thus, British so
cialism is engendering the same evils, in
even more aggravated form, because of the
utopian dreams of labor to live without
hard work in the new Socialist paradise
that had been promised.
In shining contrast, Mr. Porter depicts
the sustained achievement of the Ameri
n i
can system of free enterprise, which, what
ever its shortcomings, “does produce the
goods and has done so on an increasing
scale for more than one hundred years.
This is because it has given individual
Americans freedom and opportunity to
work and produce and enjoy the' fruits of
their labor, and because it has maintained
a spirit of healthy and vigorous ‘competi
tion which has supplied the incentive of
rich rewards to the most efficient in pro
ducing.” The groundwork for the Ameri
can system was the absence of feudal
thinking, which did not survive the sea
change from Europe to a brand new
world.
This is a concept which fits in with the
gospel of “self-help” implicit in the Mar-*
shall Plan for Europe’s recovery.
World Bank Dutcfi Loan
The granting of a loan to the Nether
lands by the International Bank for Re
construction and Development marks an
other milestone in the progress of this
novel institution. Known as the World
Bank, its function, aPtly described in its
official title, is the furthering of long-range
economic objectives, in contrast to its com
plementary colleague, the World Fund,
wmcn concerns itself with short-term
measures such as currency stabilization.
The Bank’s deliberate procedure is evi
denced by the fact that this is only the
second loan granted, the initial operation
having been a loan to Norway, made early
in the summer. The Netherlands filed its
loan application as far back as last April.
The bid was for $535,000,000, the object
being the financing of a three-year recon
struction program for the homeland run
ning through 1949.
After four months of intensive study and
analysis, the bank has granted a loan of
$195,000,000, though an announcement that
it was conducting further studies on the
reconstruction program does not exclude
the possibility of supplementary credits
at a later date.
The Bank’s explanatory report on the
loan bears witness to the thoroughness
with which all applications are investigated.
This is necessary, not only that the bank
may fulfill the mission for which it was
created but also because it must sell its
debentures in the open market and thereby
merit the confidence of investors by strict
adherence to sound banking practices.
The basic factor in all cases is the
applicant’s “credit-worthiness.” And that
is determined by many considerations, in
volving not merely the current economic
situation but also the applicant country’s
financial record and general business ethics.
1 No nation has a better reputation in
those respects than the Netherlands. And
it has been enhanced by the stringent
measures taken by the Dutch government
since the war to stabilize the guilder ana
promote internal recovery, especially by
the mobilization and sale, of foreign secur
ities. Such measures are all the more
praiseworthy in that the Netherlands has
been very hard hit by the war arid its
handicaps to recovery are heavy. The lijank
itself lists them as the measure of D^tch
loan needs.. They are: (1) The necessity
for abnormally heavy imports to repair
war damage and restore production; (20
i the loss of Germany as an important cus-^
,tomer and as the number-one prewar
supplier of essential imports; (3) The “be
clouded” economic relationship with the
Netherlands Indies, a valuable prewar
source of raw materials and income. It
was these "beclouded” relations which led
the bank to specify that the present loan
be devoted “exclusively” to the domestic
reconstruction of the Netherlands itself,
none of the proceeds to be applied to the
Netherlands Indies nor for military pur
nnsps
Nevertheless, the bank considers the
loan intrinsically sound and as an “im
portant step forward in world recovery and
toward a healthy European economy.” In
cidentally, President McCloy has disclosed
that two other loans will soon be granted
—$50,000,000 to Denmark and $12,000,000
to Luxembourg. Both those applicants
have good records for “.credit-worthiness.”
Old-Fashioned Hammock
The countryman does not know all that
is wrong with contemporary society. He
has his ideas about current goings-on but
readily admits that in a representative
democracy a man is entitled to his idio
syncracies if they do not unduly sand
paper the prerogatives of his peers. After
due deliberation and comprehensive first
hand experimentation he has come to the
conclusion that one of the things this
country needs most is a renaissance of the
old-fashioned hammocks that used to hang
between trees in the farmyards.
There was something restful and relax
ing about them. After a hearty dinner
of fried salt pork, new boiled potatoes and
; milk gravy, tamped down tdth a couple
■ pieces of blueberry pie, a man enjoyed
stretching out for forty winks. An old
fashioned hammock fitted the contours
of a man’s anatomy. His head and his
feet were high enough for solid comfort.
There was a chance for air to circulate
j urucoiu auu ai uuuu mui. jlwuuc; ui tilt:
i cooped-up feeling engendered by higlf
backed, flossy swayers and gliders.
The hammocks came in satisfying and
emphatic color combinations. There were
deep side curtains and long wavy fringes.
The ads in the mail-order catalogue told
the story with wholehearted enthusiasm.
| “The hammock is‘woven as close as the
finest tapestry. All the beauty and color
in design of an Oriental rug. Spreader
at head and foot: extra full deep curtain;
fine heavy fringe; size of bed forty by
eighty inches. Upholstered and enameled
button tufted throwback tassel bar.
Weight, five and one-half pounds. Could
not be duplicated elsewhere for $4.00.
Price, $2.51.” It seems as though we are
headed into a bright, chromium-plated
glossy era of metals and plastics, but the
countryman believes that the old knitted
and woven hammocks of yesteryear per
formed a service in helping maintain
society’s equilibrium on an even keel.
Cancer Campaign Deficit
The American Cancer Society has an
nounced that during the mpnth of August
it must raise about $400,000 to meet its
goal for the 1946-7 fiscal year. Unless
the money is forthcoming, the campaign
against "the crudtest killer of them all”
will be retarded, slowed down for the time
being. Researches now in progress in the
Nation’s scientific centers require constant
i i
support if they are to be continued. They
must be sustained consistently or they
falter.
But the financial resources needed for
the drive toward the conquest of cancer
are so small as compared with the funds
heedlessly spent for other, lesser purposes
that the deficit should be oversubscribed.
The public knows that the number of
deaths from cancer is increasing. It also
understands that 50 per cent of the men
and women stricken by cancer cannot be
saved unless or until new discoveries are
made. The whole struggle with cancer is,
in effect, a striving to find out exactly
what it is, how it operates, how to oppose
It with corrective and curative procedures
intelligent and powerful enough to stop it
cold. Granted, it may seem incredible
that mere money should govern the result;
the solemn fact is ^that progress is being
accomplished in direct ratio with the
investment In the fight.
Hence the appeal for suffici^it funds,
the plea for more than immediately may be
needed. Cancer is treacherous and ruth
less; it makes no concessions; the notion
that it strikes only the aged no longef
is tenable—it destroys young people, too;
in the form of leukemia, it kills helpless
infants. No other movement in modern
times is more important than the cam
paign to defeat the most mysterious, the
most utterly devastating of diseases.
The District of Columbia Division of the
American Cancer Society has an office in
Room 816, Transportation Building. Gifts
also may be sent to the national head
quarters at 47 Beaver street, New York
City.
Mr. Ching's New Post
The President’s selection of Cyrus S.
Ching to head the independent Federal
Mediation and Conciliation Service estab
lished by the Taft-Hartley Act should not
drawNiriticism from either management or
labor.
An official of the United States Rubber
Company since 1929, Mr. Ching has had
extensive experience in personnel and pub
lic relations work. He served as an in
dustry member of the War Labor Board,
and his work there was of a character
which puts him beyond suspicion of bias
and which establishes his competency to
take over the duties of his new post.
It remains to be seen, however, whether
competency and fairness can make a suc
cess of the new mediatory agency.
The new labor law makes it the duty of
the parties to a labor dispute .which affects
commerce to do everything within reason
to make and maintain collective bargain
ing agreements, to co-operate in arrange
ments for conciliation conferences, and to
participate fully and promptly in such
meetings.
The hitch is that the law contains no
provision for compelling any one to live up
to these obligations. To the extent that an
element of duty is involved, it is on a purely
voluntary basis.
Hence,, if experience confirms the ap
parent purpose of organized labor to dis
credit and oppose the new law at every
turn, it is difficult to see how the new con
ciliation and mediation service can amount
to much. This is the more true since it
was the apparent intent of Congress that
the agency confine its efforts to major dis
putes, rather than to less important con
troversies in which its good offices might
be more readily accepted.
It \ does not follow, of course, that Mr.
Ching will not, or should not, make a real
effort \o make the new service effective.
He will take over the staff of the old Labor
Department Conciliation Servfce, and that
staff is composed of experienced and capa
ble men. ^o some progress may be made.
But it woul& be foolishly optimistic not to
take note of»the probability that the new
agency will h'^ve to travel a rocky road.
ThiSvand That
By Charles E. Tracewell.
Bobbie, being 2 years old, Is still a man of
few words.
Mommie, daddy, kittie, bow-wow, hello, bye,
hi, truck and swing are some of them.
Teething is not conducive to word study, but
Bobbie manages to pick up a few new ones
every day or so.
“Bye.” however, is an old standard that came
in handy not long ago.
Next to Bobbie’s house is another house, as
is the custom in the suburbs.
There is a big Persian cat living there. This
ratter boasts the name of Smoky, given on
account of his fancied resemblance to the end
product of combustion.
' * * * *
When Smoky’s folks went away for a vaca
tion, they made arrangements with Bobbie's
folks to take care of the cat.
Smoky is a reserved fellow, not much larger
than a rat, being mostly fur.
As a ratter he has few equals.
Any neighborhood would be justified in sub
sidizing him.
He seldom brings one home smaller than
himself.
Yet he never touches squirrels or birds. He
is not above a playful rush at dogs, who stand
in awe of him.
It must be those furry hind legs, giving the
animal all the appearance of wearing leggins.
* * • •
Smoky’s family arranged that Bobbie’s
family should put Smoky in the house every
evening and let him out every morning.
Since this was the first morning, Bobbie was
vigilant.
He wanted to go right over and let the cat
out.
"Let’s go,” he said, or words to that effect.
"Not now, Bobbie,” said mother. "Daddy has
not had his breakfast. After you have said
good-bye to daddy we will go over and let the
•cat out.”
Bobbie looked over at daddy, who by this
time was starting to eat.
"Bye, daddy,” he smiled.
* * * *
Mommie smiled, too.
"But daddy’s just eating, Bobbie,” she re
monstrated. "Soon he will be flnshed, and
then we can go over and let Smoky out.”
Bobbie smiled at his father,.who conveniently
was named Bob.
"Bye, daddy,” he chortled.
"Now you eat your breakfast, Bobbie,” said
mother. “And when daddy goes, we will let
the cat out.”
Daddy was discussing some of the major
problems of the universe, by this time.
Science and government, in recent years,
have had a way of creeping into every man’s
home.
There is so much to talk about, and some
time there seems so little time at home to*
talk about them.
Daddy was going to seize time, this morning,
and talk over some of the problems.
"The British situation,” he began, “is really
bad.” •
"Bye, daddy,” said Bobbie.
"Especially in Palestine, they have got them
selves into a Jam-”
“Bye, daddy,” said Bobbie.
"The persistency of their problem is-”
‘"Bye, daddy,” said Bobbie.
"Bye bye, blacksheep,” grinned Bob, getting
up and making a grab for his hat.
"Bye, daddy!” called Bobbie, enthusiastically.
t ”■_^ *
J**
Letters to The Star
Readers Recall Memories of Guadalcanal and Put in a
Word for the National Guard.
Happy and Pleasant Experiences”
To the Editor of The Star:
Recently I tried to purchase a basket for a
percolator. The department store referred me
to the manufacturer, and the manufacturer
sent one to me with his compliments—an in
voice marked "no charge.”
I had written him inquiring the charge so
that I might send a check, and as an alterna
tive asked him to send it to me C. O. D. The
manufacturer, by the way, happened to be one
of those “soul-less corporations”—but, in this
instance, a so-called “soul-less corporation”
exhibited a fine spirit of friendliness and co
operation—in spite of rising costs, taxes, etc.,
and in marked contrast to some individuals
who are out to get every cent the traffic will
bear!
You get so many letters griping and com
plaining about this and that, one would think
there were no more fine people in the world
and that everybody was "anti” something! Why
not invite letters from people who have happy
and pleasant experience*. There really is a
tremendous amount of good in the world and
many fine people who refuse to make gold and
silver their god—people who delight in being
courteous and helpful, who seek no monetary
reward but who are satisfied with the knowl
edge that they are co-operating with a pro
gram for good and peaceful relations with their
fellow man. LILLIAN SINCLAIR LARGE.
Guadalcanal Anniversary
To the Editor of The Star:
Five years ago the advance of the Japanese
to the south and the east was halted. At a
little before 8 in the morning of August 7,
1942, a small group of men from the 2d Marine
Regiment went a.shore on the island of Florida.
Within an hour, the nearby island of Tulagi
had been invaded by the 1st Raider Battalion,
and by a few minutes after 9 o’clock the 1st
Marine Division was swarming ashore on
Guadalcanal. And at that time the advance
of the enemy was halted, finally and in
exorably.
Victories at the Coral Sea and Midway had
put a momentary stop to the threat of invasion.
The former, however, had furnished a" lesson
to the Japanese which they were not slow
to understand. Their advance toward Port
Moresby and Australia had been undertaken
while their left flank—the region of the Lower*
Solomons—was unprotected. Immediately after
the battle had been fought, steps were taken
by the enemy to seize that area and to develop
an airfield
there. In the
meanwhile,
land forces in
the amount of
two armies
___U ~ i — ~
gathered
at Truk and at
Rabaul for an
assault upon
Port Moresby.
The American offensive was undertaken sud
denly and with a minimum of preparation. It
was in the nature of a gamble. So nearly did it
resemble a forlorn hope, indeed, thkt the idea
of mounting it was opposed by both Army and
Navy officers of high rank.
The troops concerned with the landing were
not notified of plans until June 26, 1942—six
weeks to the day from the date of the landings.
Half of the division was in New Zealand,
recently arrived and expecting to be allowed
several months training,* while the remainder,
together with much of 'the materiel for the
whole division, was at sea, en route from the
United States.
The tale of the quick planning—carried out
under difficult circumstances of liaison-rand
that of the unloading and the reloading of the
transports and the supply ships has an improb
able tinge, even today. Efforts put forth by
both the officers and the men of the division
could be called Herculean. It is sufficient to
say that the plans were made and carried out,
and that the landing force went ashore on
schedule.
Thereupon began a struggle that was to last
for months. The Marines found themselves in
the precarious position of being ashore with
short supplies—less than 30 days food, for
example—and without protection by air or by
surface craft. The disastrous defeat of the
United States force at Savo Island early on
August 9 had eliminated all surface craft
protection, and Admiral Fletcher’s plans to
retire early from the scene with his carrier
force withdrew all protection against air
strikes.
The situation of Gen. Vandegrift and his
men could hardly have been darker. In an
unhealthy location, with short supplies and
with no assurance as to when they would be
increased, with no knowledge of the terrain
surrounding them and no maps whence such
knowledge could be obtained, the Marines did
not even know what enemy forces opposed
them. Little contact with the enemy had been
made, although there were signs that a sizable
force- was present.
Tire tale of the first few weeks is one of
improvisation and of desperately hard fighting.
The Battle of the Tenaru was won, and spirits
rose. The first aircraft arrived at the partially
completed field, and again there was a rise of
morale. The Battle of the Ridge, when Col.
Edson and his combined battalion of raiders
and parachute troopers turned back a desperate
attack by a superior number of Japanese, was
won, and a feeling of self confidence began to
permeate the ranks.
__ . . ■ r_i.1_ a L iL. IUa
J. 1115 1U1 UIU. v*«aaw
landing was made, the American people had
begun to look upon the Japanese soldier as
a superhuman fighting machine. Concurrently
with a feeling of amused indignation at the
constantly recurring ,phrase "withdrawal to
more easily defended positions” and as the
ominous news came from Corregidor, Singapore,
Kuala Lumpur, there began to grow in the
American mind the picture of an indefatigable
enemy who could move through the trees as
easily as he could through the pathways of
the jungle, who could subsist on nothing, who
could fight as well by night as by day, and
who was utterly and completely fearless.
As the great victories—and they were great
victories, make no mistake about, that—began
to be won, at the Matanikau, at Kokumbona,
at Point Cruz, and at Koilotumaria, and
Gurabusa, and Tasimboko, it began to be
realized that the enemy was no superman,
that he was human, not overly intelligent, and
no match, physically, for the average Ameri
can. At last, all that was left of the first
mistaken idea was the realization that the
enemy was a fearless man.
The fighting went on for six months and two
days. Then a new enemy took its toll. Trop
ical disease?, notably malaria, commehced
sapping the strength of some men and sent
others to the hospital areas as surely as
thdugh they had been battle casualties. By
December, the 1st Division alone had suffered
some 5,000 reported cases, and other units on
the island were similarly affected. Long after
the fighting was over, and when members of
the 1st and the 2d Divisions had returned to
Australia and to New Zealand, the hospitals
were full of emaciated men who had lived and
fought for weeks and months in the steaming
jungle.
But the victory was won and the impetus
of that one step forward never was lost. New
Georgia was hit and seized, and Bougainville,
f
Letters for publication must bear
the signature and address of the
writer, although it is permissible for a
writer knoicn to The Star to use a
nom de plume. Please be brief.
where the bitterness of the protracted fighting
was obscured by the greater bitterness of the
struggle for Betlo. From the moment the
1st Division landed on the beach of Guadal
canal, just east of the mouth of the Tenaru
River, an advance was begun in which there
never was to be a backward step.
JOHN L. ZIMMERMAN.
A Tale About Bees
To the Editor of The Ster:
Allow me to record the following experience
for the benefit of fellow citizens and posterity.
Recently I was showing a friend around Walter
Reed Hospital. With pride born from Army
experience and with a gbod deal of gusto and
gesticulation I was glorifying the accomplish
ments of the Army Medical Corps. We sat
down on a bench near that beautiful fountain.
Suddenly overhead I heard a buzzing sound
reaching crescendo and before I could investi
gate two or
three dozen
bees swooped
down on my
head. And •
since the Lord
who gave also
took away part
of my hair, the
bees did a good
job on the ex
posed surface.
During those next lew minutes I was a busy
man trying to beat off the assault. When it
was over my friend observed, ‘T think they
were bees.” To this I readily agreed. We
walked to the emergency room where I told
the nurse. She did not exactly laugh but it
did not appear to be a forced smile, either.
When the MOD (this means the medical offi
cer of the day) arrived, he was more interested
to know where the bees came from, whereas I
wanted a little aid since a bee sting can be
painful. At last aid arrived: Several aspirin
Tablets to which, the officer said, something
had been added. They said I could use one of
their ice packs but I could not take it home.
When I was ready to leave, the MOD said
he would report the bees—how, I do not know
since he did not let me show him the battle
field. I fear that he will report the wrong
bees and that the culprits will escape extermi
nation or confinement to quarters. I am sure
those stingers were not motivated by a sense
of loyalty to the institution, because I was
describing the place in the highest terms and
purest objectivity.
The moral of the story is: When around
Walter Reed Hospital, look out for bees while
you are bragging about the place.
EDWARD K. MERAT.
Fun and Work at Gamp
To the Editor oi The Star:
Looking over the bomb damage to enemy
cities in both theaters of the last war as
member of the United States Strategic Bomb
ing Survey and hearing my buddies give first
hand accounts of what happened to Hiroshima
and Nagasaki, I realized then the need for
national security:. Now, on the annual en
campment of the District of Columbia. Na
tional Giurd at Fort Meade, I’m seeing 'still
another side of matters military.
There’s fun in this thing. There's plenty
of work, too. Col. Leroy S. Mann, C. O. of
the 260th AAA Group, says we've got to
learn all we can in these two weeks of active
duty. But this is not where the fun comes in.
From first call at 0600 (6 a.m. to you civilians)
on we're building back and leg muscles and
shining up the martial areas of our brains
However, Brig. Gen. Albert L. Cox, command
ing general of the District Guard and Col.
Mann encourage recreation along with train
ing. As a member of the Special Service de
tail, I know that if the leg energy^ J<ve ex
pended in the past three days could be stacked
tpgether it,would make quite a heap.
Just now in company with a truck driver,
a master sergeant, two corporals and a major,
I helped put a piano into a truck. We hauled
the instrument to a recreation room in our
part of camp and unloaded it. The major
didn't bass; he helped lift the piano. Now,
he has an accelerated interest in recruiting.
If we had more men for details, majors
wouldn't have to give with the old heave-ho
when pianos are loaded.
Anyway, we've got the heavy thing where
it will do the most good. Come Saturday
night, the District Guard’s 257th Army Ground
Force Band is going to put out the oom-pahs,
and our wives and girl friends are coming out
to a dance. We'll have fun then (after 1900
that is); meanwhile, the major has contracted
with me to run a help needed note. It's pretty
hard on this schedule, he says, to find time
to rub on liniment. Do any 6f you fellows
from 17 to 35 have strong backs?
S/SGT. JOHN C. MAYHEW, JR.
Hq. Det., D. C. N. G.
V
Tlvjnl/c FP.amn fThaifmfln
To the Editor of The Bter:
We noted in reading The Star that four
scholarships from your Camp fund had been
awarded to campers to be sent to Camp Clar
issa Scott. We appreciate very much your
thoughtfulness and generosity and hope that
through your fund another year even greater
benefits may accrue.
ELFRIDA K. TAYLOR,
Chairman, Camp Clarissa Scott, Phyllis
Wheatley, YWCA.
Objects to Lights at Hearing
To the Editor of The Star:
Whatever else might be said for or against
the procedure of the Senate War Investigating
Subcommittee, its manner of subjecting the
witnesses and the public to the blinding lights
and the almost continuous flare of the photog
raphers’ lights constitutes a third degree which
I think would not be approved by our courts
even in a criminal case.
There would seem to be no good reason for
punishing trie witnesses in this manner. These
brilliant lights must be injurious to the eyes
of the witnesses and the public and the con
tinuous milling around of the photographers
is very distracting and disagreeable to the
public as well as the witnesses. If the pur
pose is to make every one uncomfortable, this
method of proceeding is ideal. H. B.
High Union Fees
To the Editor of The Star:
There should be a law against unions charg
ing such high initiation fees. I have nothing
but a common laborer's job, yet I had to pay
the union the staggering sum of $100. Lacking
a skilled trade and needing work to meet the
high cost of living and to help pay for my
home, I was obliged to take the first job that
came along after I was laid ofT from my Gov
ernment job. As a combat veteran who risked
his life to help make this a strong and free
country, I think that I should get a better
break than to have to pay a union such a large
sum for less than an ordinary Job.
A VETERAN.
*1
The Political Mill
Brewster-Hughes Charges
Should Be Sifted to End
Episode Seen Blow to Prestige of
Senate Committee
By Gould Lincoln
The country has been treated during the last
two weeks to an amazing series of charges and
countercharges by Howard Hughes, million
aire aircraft manufacturer, and Senator
Bi ewes ter of A£aine—in the press and before
a Senate War Investigating Subcommittee. It
is now told the two main actors are tired of
calling each other liars—and to call it a day.
In view of the seriousness of the charges,
it is up to the Justice Department or to the
Senate committee, acting through the United
States Attorney, to silt the thing to the end.
Mr. Hughes accused Senator Brewster, who is
the Republican chairman of the full War In
vestigating Committee, of having offered to
call off the committee inquiry into the Hughes
wartime contracts for a big flying boat and for
reconnaissance planes for the Army, provided
Mr. Hughes would go along with a merger of
Trans World Airlines, in which he is the big
gest stockholder, with Pan American Airways.
Senator Brewster, branding the Hughes charge
a lie, asserted that Mr. Hughes sought to in
timidate him in order to end all inquiry into
the Hughes contracts; that Mr. Hughes em
ployed Hugh D. Fulton, a former counsel of
the committee, and that Mr. Fulton came to
him. Senator Brewster, last April and warned
him if the inquiry was continued it might
cause brickbats to fly.
Two Courses Possible.
Two courses might be taken—a suit for
criminal libel, which Senator Brewster has sug
gested to the Justice Department, but which
he admits it may be very difficult to get the
department to initiate, and an indictment for
perjury before the Senate subcommittee. The
latter course, if followed, would be initiated* by
the committee Itself.
The entire episode has been detrimental to
the prestige of the Senate committee. Mr.
Hughes, it is true, was not able to substantiate
his charge that 'Senator Brewster had offered
to make a deal to call off the inquiry into the
Hughes contracts. The airplane manufacturer
at first intimated that a man he took with him
to see Senator Brewster—Edward J. Heffron—
could substantiate the oharge. But Mr. Heff
ron flatly denied that he had heard Senator
Brewster make any proposal of a deal to Mr.
j Hughes or that he had heard any mention of
| Pan American Airways. Mr. Hughes, however,
again and again flouted the committee and
j charged he was not being given a square deal
; —and the scene in the committee room became
at times almost farcical. A ‘‘Jim" Reed or
! ‘‘Tom" Walsh of earlier Senate investigations
would have made this impossible.
This Is the Senate committee which did ad
mirable work during the war—and is probably
responsible for great savings in expenditures
to the Government and the taxpayers. It was
as the he*d of this committee that President
Truman, then a Senator from Missouri, made
an enviable reputation and leaped into the
spotlight—eventually landing the vice presi
dential nomination at the hands of the Demo
cratic National Convention in 1944. Over
Democratic opposition in the Senate, the in
vestigating committee was gven new life at
the opening of the Republican-controlled Con
| gress last winter.
newsier lco
Senator Brewster made the fight for con
tinuance of the committee and was made
chairman. To have him left now under sus
picion—as will be thp case should the dogfall,
name-calling episode before the committee be
allowed to stand—will help neither Mr. Brew
ster nor the committee over which he pre
sides. *
The charge is made, too, that the commit
tee has engaged in a partisan political fishing
spree, in an effort to show that Brig. Gen. El
liott Roosevelt (he held the rank during the
war) h4l been bought by favors of Mr. Hughes
and hisVompanies to use his influence to have
the Hughes company awarded a contract in
volving $22,000,000 for reconnaissance planes.
Mr. Roosevelt, before the committee, stoutly
' denied that he had been so influenced, or that
he had uted any pressure on his father, the
late President Franklin D. Roosevelt, to approve
such a contract.
However, fhere was unfolded in the commit
tee hearing a story of lavish expenditures for
entertainment, charged to the Hughes com
pany, which raises the question: How many
thousands and millions of dollars may have
been so used by companies seeking war con
tracts—money which eventually came out of
the pockets of the people? While Mr. Roose
velt and the committee parted company with
the utmost good feeling expressed on both sides
—this episode, too, leaves a bad taste.
The committee is finally getting down to the
job of finding out why the $40,000,000 involved
in the Hughes contracts has so far failed to
produce successfully either flying boat or re
connaissance planes (one of the latter was
wrecked with Hughes at the controls). It looks
as though red herrings have been drawn across
the trail.
Questions and Answers
A roader cm obtain the answer to any question
of fact by writing The Evening Star Information
Bureau. 310 I street It.!., Washington 2, D. C.
Please Inclose 3 cents for return postage.
By THE HASKIN SERVICE
Q. How many soldiers were sentenced in gen
eral courts-martial during World War II?—
R. I. M.
A. According to figures released by the' War
Department Advisory Board of Clemency, 84.
000 were sentenced in general courts-martial
during the war emergency period up to Decem
ber 31, 1946. Of this total, 42,000 were restored
to duty.
Q. Is permanent waving the principal busi
ness of the beauty parlor?—M. D.
A. In a survey made before the war, it
was found that permanent waving accounted
for about 55 per cent of hairdressers' busi
ness. Shampooing represented about 15 per
cent, manicuring 4 per cent, fingervaving
25 per cent, hair cutting, hair coloring, i -is
and miscellaneous the rest.
Q. Why is the Hubbard squash so named—
J. E. K.
A. Credit for its origin goes to James Gregory,
a seedsman of Marblehead, Mass, who had the
first variety called to his attention by an old
washerwoman named Mrs. Hubbard.
Q. please give the names of some noted per
sons who though blind did not allow this handi
cap to interfere with their work—C. B.
A. Among the famous blind persons of history
are Fanny Crosby, the hymn writer; Adam
Geibel, the composer; John Milton, statesman
and poet. Miss Helen Keller, who is blind and
deaf and who was for many years unable to
speak, is one of the most outstanding of those
persons handicapped by blindness. Nicholas
Murray Butler, who recently retired from the
presidency of Columbia University, has carried
on the affairs of Columbia despite the handi
cap of blindness.
Q Who was the Southern Representative w>~
once introduced a bill to prohibit women from
smoking?—N. R. T.
A Representative Paul Johnson of Mississippi
introduced HR. 7252 to prohibit female persons
in the District of Columbia from smoking
cigarettes in any public place and to prohibit
owners of public places from permitting female
persons to smoke on premises controlled by said
owners or lessees and prescribing penalties
therefor.
A