Evening star. [volume], September 12, 1947, Page A-8, Image 8

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

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With Sunday Morning Edition.
WASHINGTON, 0. C.
Published by
j Tht Evening 'Star Newspaper Company.
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~ FRIDAY. September 12, 1947
The Raedy Case
The conduct of our judges must be above
reproach. Judge Ellen K. Eaedy’s con
duct, since the trivial automobile accident
involving her name, raised a grave doubt
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telling the truth. That, of course, was
what made the case ifnportant, lifting it
out of any normal relationship to the
circumstances of the specific offense with
which she was charged. The denouement
in Judge Claggett’s court yesterday after
noon was touched with tragedy. For as
a judge Miss Raedy has been tried and
found wanting.__
'I Can't Say No'
General Eisenhower’s position, as seen
through the penetrating eyes of Roy
Roberts of the Kansas City Star—a version
or vision to which the general himself
•eems to subscribe in his answers to the
reporters—could be expressed no better
than by that young lady in "Oklahoma!”
who sings, in the Immortal words of Oscar
Hammersteiri—
"What you goin’ to do when a feller gets
flirty
And starts to talk purty,
What you goin’ to do?
S'posin’ that he says that your Ups are
like cherries,
Or roses or berries.
What you goin’ to do?
S'posin’ that he says that you’re sweeter
than cream
, And he’s gotta have cream, or die?
What you goin’ to do when he talks that
way
Spit in his eye?”
Right now the friends of General Eisen
hower, and there are a great many of
them in both political parties, are talkin’
mighty pretty. The general is not en
couraging the talk. Yet what is the general
going to do about it? He might borrow the
words of a distinguished predecessor, Gen
eral Sherman: "I will not accept if nomi
nated, and will not serve if elected.” But
■’posin’ they say that you have great ap
peal, that you would be a "natural” as a
candidate, that you come from the grass
roots of Kansas and the people want you,
that a president-designate of Columbia
University derives added prestige as a
presidential possibility, that while there
never has been anything like an honest
"draft” in politics, it could be. What you
goin’ to do when they talk that way-?
Income Splitting to Cut Taxes
The inequality under the Federal income
tax between taxpayers in community prop
erty States (of which there now are thir
teen) and the noncommunity property
States is the source of long-continued
complaint.
Taxpayers in the community property
States save themselves a lot of money by
splitting income (and the State laws rec
ognize the division) equally between man
onH nnfp On a sinele $15,000 income, for
example, the income tax is $893 more than
on two $7,500 incomes. On a $25,000 in
come, a husband and wife in a community
property State can split it into two in
comes and save themselves 28.9 per cent
over comparable taxpayers in a noncom
munity property State. Tfiat is enough to
mean a tax-free year, in comparison, every
fourth year. In round numbers, the com
munity property State taxpayers save
themselves $360,000,000 a year because their
State laws recognize equal ownership be
tween husband and wife of the income
no matter which one of them earns it.
Four States this year have recognized
the tax advantages and have revised their
laws—Michigan, Oregon, Nebraska and
Pennsylvania. The tax advantage is fine.
But the equal division of income and prop
erty ownership is in some cases not so
popular. In Nebraska, for example, some
opposition has followed better understand
ing of what the new property laws do to
property ownership and there is talk about
repealing the community property prin
ciple at the next meeting of the Legislature.
An amendment of the income tax laws
to permit income splitting for tax purposes
has been in the cards for some time. Such
an amendment almost got through the
Senate last spring, when the tax-reduction
bills were being prepared for the Presi
dent’s veto. Republican leadership prom
ised that one of the first revisions of the
tax laws would be a split-income amend
ment. Now the Advisory Committee pre
paring recommendations on tax revisions,
for study by the Ways and Means Com
mittee next year, has agreed tentatively to
an income-splitting provision. It would
give everybody the tax advantages enjoyed
by the community property States, without
rprmirinpr community DroDertv laws.
The inequality is wrong and should be
wiped out. As long as income splitting is
permitted anywhere, it should be permitted
everywhere. But it would mean a loss of
some $700,000,000 to the Treasury. And
while there is enough pressure behind the
Income-split—some 20.700,000 families—
the question is going to be whether enough
people would really benefit uftder this
form of tax reduction as compared
with some other form of tax reduction
Involving the same amount of revenue loss.
Of the 20.700,000' married couples now
filing income tax returns in the non
eommunity property States, it is estimated
A
that about 4,800,000 are penalized to some
extent by the tax inequality and less than
a fourth of that number suffer serious dis
crimination. The explanation Is that the
discrimination does not begin to hurt until
an Income exceeds $5,000.
It Just Wants Its Own Way
The United Nations Atomic Energy Com
mission has now adopted its second report
for transmission to the Security Council.
Ten members have voted in favor of It;
only Russia, with satellite Poland abstain
ing, has voted no. It has voted no, accord
ing to Andrei Gromyko, because the report
embraces an American plan aimed at let
ting the United States boss the world, win
special economic privileges, and violate
the sovereignty of big and small powers
alike.
Mr. Gromyko has advanced this argu
ment in bitter and almost insulting.terms.
It is an argument ridiculous on its face,
but he has made it even more ridiculous
by complaining that the United States has
impeded all progress toward establishing
effective cantrol of the atom. And how
have we done this? Well, as he sees the
situation, we have done it by refusing to
accept Russia s alternative proposals. But
nine other members of the Atomic Com
mission have seen eye to eye with us and
have likewise refused. Does this mean any
thing to him? Of course it does. It means
that everybody is out of step, everybody is
disagreeable, but the Soviet Union and the
subservient Poles. In effect, as Mr. Osborn,
our delegate to the commission, has ob
served, what Mr. Gromyko really has said
is that there can be no agreement unless
every nation bows to the terms laid down
by the Kremlin. And what are those
terms? They are terms diametrically op
posed to the essentials of the plan already
adopted by the overwhelming majority.
That plan calls for an agreement that
would set up a powerful international au
thority to own, manage or otherwise
supervise any and every dangerous nu
clear-fission operation or facility through
out the world. Under it, moreover, there
would be a vetoless inspection system to
guard against the hazards of Violations and
evasions, and there would be machinery—
also vetoless—to guarantee the swift and
sure punishment of violators Finally, the
outlawry of A-weapons and the step-by
step surrender of our present temporary
advantages in the field would not precede
but would be synchronized with the effect
uation of the plan. As opposed to this, the
Russian alternative would begin with a
treaty prohibiting A-weapons and pre
sumably decreeing the destruction of
existing stocks. Then, with America thifs
obliged to disarm itself unilaterally, the
Kremlin would be willing to commit itself
to "control” arrangements without any
teetn wormy oi me name—wim no wunu
agency for ownership or management and
with the veto kepft intact to cripple ade
quate inspection and clog up the punitive
machinery. This is what Mr. Gromyko
has been arguing for ever since the Atomic
Energy Commission began its deliberations.
It is what has been flatly rejected by all
the other members—except the satellite
Poles, of course—for the simple reason
that it is a fraud.
In sum, as Mr. Gromyko has made
crystal-clear, effective control is not what
Russia wants. What it really wants is its
own way. Some day, possibly, it will agree
to follow the course emphatically favored
by the overwhelming majority as the only
one likely to protect mankind from the
threat of an ail-engulfing catastrophe.
Meanwhile, though, whatever their objec
tives, the men of the Kremlin obviously are
interested only in obstruction. The big
question is how long the co-operating part
of the world can safely allow itself to do
nothing about the atom merely because
the Soviet Union wants nothing done.
When It Pays to Comply
The bigwig politicians in the labor unions
are engaging in a lot of tall talk about
repudiating the National Labor Relations
Board and, incidentally, the duly approved
laws of the United States.
That is to be expected for the time
being, and they are not the first ones who
tried it. There is ample precedent in what
some of the bigwigs among the employers
were saying, on advice of counsel, about
what they were going to do when the
Wagner Act was approved twelve years ago.
But two very concrete developments of
the past few days are going to brihg the
labor bigwigs down to earth. They are
going to face the realities of things as
nno nf t.Vnncrs 155 t.hp
rank-and-file membership of their unions.
The two developments are (1) the decision
in a Texas Federal court this week, first
test of the law upholding validity of the
non-Communist affidavits, and (2) the in
decision and general uneasiness that
marked the meeting of the United Auto
mobile Workers’ International Executive
Board over the question of complying or
not complying with the law.
Employes of a Texas oil company voted
last month whether or not they wanted
the CIO to represent them in collective
bargaining. Before the ballots could be
counted by NLRB the Taft-Hartley law
took effect. After it took efTect the labor
board would not count the ballots until
the CIO complied with the requirements
for filing the non-Communist affidavits.
A test suit brought the ruling from a Fed
eral judge that the affidavit requirement
was legal. Where does this leave the
CIO's local? It leaves it without any
status before the labor board. The out- j
come of the election becomes a moot issue.
And the employer is under no compulsion
to recognize the union or dicker with its
representatives over wages and working
conditions. It is said that there are 3,000
comparable cases pending before the labor
board. •
• Over in the Glenn L. Martin plant, in
Baltimore, the CIO’s United Automobile
Workers and the International Association
of Machinists have been fighting a battle
to organize the workers. In a recent election
the CIO seems to have obtained a plurality
but lacked about a hundred votes of a
majority. There was the prospect that
among challenged votes there would be
enough to swing the election to the CIO.
But that also becomes moot. The ma
chinists union is one of the first big unions
to meet NLRB requirements and win its
recognition. The CIO leaders are still
defying the law. Unless the CIO complies,
the machinists are the victors. They get
A K
the dues, the members and the bargaining
rights. The CIO gets nothing.
In a country governed by the will and
consent of the governed, defiance of the
law is stupid. A lot of people have learned
that. It is not going to be so long before
the rank-and-file members of the unions
recognize that their leaders are heading in
the wrong direction—winning all the argu
ments, perhaps, but losing all the
customers.
The Freedom Train
First suggested by Attorney General Tom
Clark as a practical demonstration of the
documentation of liberty and law in the
United States, the Freedom Train is being
sponsored and financed by the American
heritage Foundation, a voluntary associa
tion of patriotic citizens with headquarters
in New York. The project is entirely non
partisan in character, is pledged simply
to calling attention to the basic moral and
political principles of the Nation, and has
been indorsed by groups as diverse as the
National Association of Manufacturers and
the United States Chamber of Commerce
on the one extreme and the Congress of
Industrial Organizations and the American
Federation of Labor on the other.
As planned, the train will be on tour for
a year. It will visit three hundred com
munities in all forty-eight of the States.
On display within its walls will be copies
of the Declaration of Independence and
the Constitution, original manuscripts of
the Bill of Rights, the Emancipation Proc
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dress, the German surrender documents,
the Hirohito rescript and the Declaration
of the United Nations. Every conceivable
measure, it has been explained, is being
taken to assure the complete security of
these historic papers, lent by the Library
of Congress, the National Archives and
other agencies.
What Mr. Clark and his associates desire
is that people in every part of the Republic
shall have a chance to see with their own
eyes the charters of their corporate and
individual liberty. The train will be
guarded by a detachment of Marines. Its
first stop will be Philadelphia, September
17. On Thanksgiving Day it will be in
Washington. By the time it reaches its
ultimate destination a year hence it will
have performed a mission of education
unparalleled in America’s experience. The
public assemblies of “rededication” pro
posed for the towns visited will give all
constructive forces ample opportunity to
dramatize their mutuality and co-oper
ation.
Only one organization actively opposes
the train enterprise—namely, the Com
munists. They insist that representatives
of “big business” are among the citizens
supporting the project and that those
persons are motivated by selfish, reaction
ary purposes. By way of answer to the
complaint, it need only be mentioned that
even the most aggressive radicals are free
to stage their own meetings along the
train’s itinerary. Such assemblies, so long
as they are orderly, should be welcomed.
They may aid in publicizing the whole
undertaking and thus contribute to its
success.
A postage stamp has been requested in
behalf of the campaign to cut down the
number of preventable accidents. It would
be difficult to think of a more worthy
crusade to be so recognized.
Add to Roget's Thesaurus under the
heading “Negation”: No, nay, not, nowise,
not at all, not in the least, quite the con
trary, by no means, Gromyko.
This and That
By Charles E. Tracewell
“CHEVY CHASE, Md.
“Dear Sir:
“I was up home in New York State and the
cursed insects there serenaded their loves so
loudly that the human natives couldn’t slpep.
“We have been here this month, but the
insects here must be what you might call the
Southern variety. They have decidedly low
pitched, softer drawls. At any rate, there
seems all the difference in the world.
“Can you explain?
“Very sincerely yours, K. S.”
* * * *
One-year locusts or cicadas are the noise
makers of our local summer and early fall.
Their delightful music has fascinated thou
sands of music lovers.
It is much like that of the 17-year variety,
due again in 1951.
The noise is a true fiddling. It works up
from soft to loud, exemplifying the crescendo
in music.
These odd creatures show us how the prin
ciples of music are instilled throughout all
creation. They are not Just a discovery of man.
The forte, or loud, and the piano, or soft, are
elements in nature.
Similarly, one might run through the other
basic ingredients of music making and show
how some natural creature exemplifies them.
Even the roll of thunder reminds one of the
drummerman and his sheets of metal!
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in the afternoon, just as the 17-year locusts or
cicadas did.
They seem to answer to any external stimuli
of the right sort.
Symphonic music, played on the phonograph,
will excite them to do their best.
Their preference, we believe, is for the music
of Anton Bruckner.
It is a pretty name, that—Anton Bruckner.
Its owner was a strange, peasantlike Austrian
who never seemed to grow in the polite social
arts. He wore peasant clothes and possessed
the most unconventional manners.
But when it came to writing music, he Was
altogether a genius, one too little recognized
and known, even today, when four of his
gigantic symphonies may be secured for any
home with a modem phonograph.
On records may be had the fourth, fifth,
seventh and ninth symphonies.
Each one runs a full hour or more.
The slow movement of the mighty seventh
symphony is one of the greatest things in
music, but for years it has been the custom
for the musically wise to dispense with this
man’s music.
Perhaps it is because it lacks some of the
polish of the more formal and older sym
phonists.
Well, at any rate, the natural creatures of
the world like it.
Those “hot bugs” time up the moment they
hear the strains and by the time the trombones
get to work the bugs are roaring along with it.
It was curious, the other day, the way the
music and the cicadas worked up their cres
cendos at precisely the same time.
We could not help but believe that it was
the man-made music that inspired the insects.
There can be little question that birds and^
bugs (maybe bees) hear and like music from
the hous'e.
Birds seem to have a natural preference for
Latin American melodies, especially rumbas.
House cats like tangos and congas.
Dogs, being insensitive creatures, merely
bark at music. They have no natural instinct
for it.
Song sparrows sing at fever pitch when they
hear a good rumba. "Alla Baba,” as played
by Cugat, always “wows” them.
Letters to The Star
History Kepeats on Kussia
To the Editor of The 6t*r:
Below is quoted an article from the Essex
Gazette, vol. 7, No. 332, dated from Tuesday,
November 29, to Tuesday, December 6, 1774,
printed by Samuel & Ebenezer Hall, at their
printing office near the Town-House of Salem,
Mags.:
“Philadelphia, Nov. 23.
“A gentleman now in this city, who formerly
resided in Russia, declared, that if an hundred
thousand Russians could be brought to Amer
ica, and permitted to enjoy for only one month
the liberty of speaking their sentiments freely
upon all subjects, they would be so transported
with this single privilege, that they would all
cheerfully die in defending it. How much more
are Americans contending for?”
The above is sent to you since it would seem
strange that after 173 years almost the same
words are appearing in ourt newspapers.
L. J. CASEY.
‘No Peace in Arlington*
To the Editor of The Star:
No peace in Arlington. The people of North
ern Arlington are very indignant over the
hideous noise created by the huge four-motor
planes just clearing the tall trees as they
wing their way
over our homes
day and night.
People are
startled out of
sound sleep at
all hours, even .
Letters for publication must bear
the signature and address of the
writer, although it is permissible for a
writer known to The Star to use a
nom de plume. Please be brief.
half, the hapless buyer of today will have to
stick to his bad bargain, or lose his home. Is
the rent administrator protecting tenants when
he forces them into this?
The rent administrator admitted in a re
cently published statement that the Washing
ton housing picture is “worse than ever"—after
six years of his administration.
Perhaps the District Commissioners are too
engrossed in the social aspects of their
glamorous positions to notice what the rent
administrator is doing. Or perhaps they just
don't give a darn what happens to a tenant.
A FORMER D. C. TENANT.
Private Relief to Europe
To the Editor of The Star:
Is the Marshall Plan the real answer to
European troubles? It could be if we American
people reirtforce its one weak spot. If we fail
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of world destruction.
The Marshall Plan will take six months,
perhaps a year, to even begin to function. It
will take more years to produce satisfactory
results. But Europe is hungry now. Haven’t you
heard their cries? Europe needs clothes now.
Haven’t you seen their thin and poorly clad
bodies? Europe must have food now in order
to have the physical strength to work and help
provide for themselves. Had you stopped to
think of this? But the Marshall Plan halts
our Government's aid to them. Can they wait
to eat? Can they wait to be clothed? No!
So American people must rush to the rescue
as private citizens at once. If not, we lose the
peace. If not, we lose our present civilization.
So we will help them. For God has given us so
much and they have so little. If we concentrate
our gifts under one head, distribution can be
made uniform and efficient. American food and
clothing stamps might then be issued so every
one can share alike. Our unfortunate neighbors
would then know who shared their food and
clothing with them.
It is our chance to do the will of God. Read
Isaiah, lviii.6-12. Give your gifts of money or
clothes to your church, American Legion or
lodge. From there they can be sent collectively
to a central distributing agency. Beware of
giving to false-front organizations which would
use your donations for destructive purposes
rather than peace. FRANCES RAY.
Ralston, Wash.
Loyalty Requires Efficiency, Too
To the Editor of The Star:
The word “loyalty” is one to conjure with.
How it could possibly be applied to the rank
and file of United States Government em
ployes is beyond the comprehension of the
writer. There is no cheap panacea, there is
no mechanical scheme, or no law which can
turn'this dis
loyalty into jjfp. _ ,
loyalty. It is as '$y) ^ •'*' .
vast as the or- iy
ganization it- XL
the house dogs
start barking >
as they go over.
Radio pro
grams are en
tirely cut off for a time. It is impossible to
carry on an uninterrupted conversation on
the phone.
This horrible nuisance is getting worse all
of the time. Our nerves have been shattered
during the war, having had members of our
families wounded and killed and having en
dured other hardships. Now, when the war
has ended and we long for peace and quiet,
we are tortured by this monstrous imperti
nence from the air lines. It is unbelievable
that such conditions could exist almost within
hearing of the Capital. These planes could
be compelled to circle the airport for altitude
before leaving for their routes.
Arlington, Va. MRS. G. T. MUNFORD.
Gomment on ‘Exodus’ Editorial
To the Editor of The Star:
As a subscriber and regular reader of your
interesting paper, I write to express my shock
at your editorial on “Hamburg and Europe's
Jews.”
When an administrator or executor violates
the provisions of a trust and the instructions
and interpretations of the trustees, it is he who
is “illegal” and not those who are trying to
exercise their just rights under the trust.
The League of Nations set up the Palestine
Mandate. The Permanent Mandates Commis
sion of the League were the trustees. The
British were the executors.
It is passing strange how those who bitterly
criticized Britain’s Socialist government, and
roared in ridicule at Bevin’s stupid request for
dur Fort Knox gold, hasten to the defense of
British inhumanity and brutality in Hamburg,
perpetrated just a few days after an Interna
tional Commission of the United Nations recom
mended the admission of 150,000 of these un
fortunates to Palestine.
If your parents, brothers, sisters and cousins
had been killed and you sought to reach a
haven in which to rebuild your life, would your
efforts to that end be properly classed as a
propaganda stunt?
No, it is the British government which de
serves the condemnation of mankind and it is
the hopeless victims of the scourge we spent
thousands of lives and billions of dollars to
defeat, who deserve the sympathy and assist
ance of an aroused civilization.
THEODORE H. LEVIN.
To the Editor of The Slai:
Thank you for your editorial of September
9 on "Hamburg and Europe’s Jews.’’
It is all too easy to criticize from the side
lines the handling by the British of a tragic
and extremely difficult problem. Those of us
self.
Most any one
must know that
if the Govern
ment were run
on businesslike
principles, on
principles which would permit any business to
survive, >untold sums of money would be saved
the taxpayers. Money would be saved' for all
these workers, but that is something that
never occurs to them. Money would be saved
the poorest and hardest working people. In
addition there would be an enormous increase
in efficiency.
The writer never ceases to be amazed and
tortured by these facts. Are others? A few for
such reasons would not enter the Government.
A few important men after a gigantic effort
move on in disgust.
Shiftless employes waste innumerable hours;
also employes of poor mental capacity. A com
bination of such employes does more than
double damage. Small ,and ordinary things
are often difficult to get done, for no one is
veiling to do them. Professional people often
have to do menial work because no one else
will. Dust piles up; electric lights need fix
ing; certain things need to be put in order.
If these things are done at all, they are often
done very poorly.
Personalities flourish in the Government.
Authority is delegated from one person to an
other with the unwritten order, "Don’t bother
me!’’ and that is all.
The variety of supervisors is legion, but be
cause they are delegated full authority their
personalities blossom like a rose. If one has
an utter disregard for truth, no one will say
him nay. If he, or some one acting in his
capacity, is lazy, shiftless, and prefers reading
magazines to working, no one will say him nay.
It seems to me there is a vast need for loyalty.
Our founding fathers carried on because they
had character. Our land survived because it
had initiative and energy. Other countries have
disappeared for the lack of these things.
MYSTIFIED.
- For Dynamic Democracy
To the Editor of The Star:
In this world of dynamic danger, one thing
is clear and certain; No merely negative, de
fensive attitude is going to permit democratic
freedom to endure on earth. If our love of
freedom is not sufficiently strong to make us
desire to carry freedom to the ends of the’
earth, then it is not even strong enough to
keep us free. As our freedom eventually dis
covers itself to be encircled, even so, our peace,
which depends so utterly upon freedom, must
surely crumble and completely fall.
nuu xxw xaxx pxuj-axxu ux«vx v ux v xxxutxj duvxx
appreciate The Star’s calm and Intelligent and
penetrating appraisal of this and other situa
tions. MRS. ENID H. GUNDY.
To the Editor of The Star:
Your editorial, "Hamburg and Europe’s Jews,’’
covers the British-Jewish controversy with
photographic accuracy.
Of all the duties of a newspaper, the love
of truth and the courage to speak it rank first
and highest. A newspaper of courage hears
without any intention to betray and WTites
without any intention to deceive. The pages
of The Star offer living examples of these
Journalistic virtues. And that is why The Star
is my favorite newspaper as well as that of
thousands of others.
GRATEFUL SUBSCRIBER.
Legality of Church Raffles
To the Editor of The Star:
I noted the following in one of the local
newspapers: "Virginia and D. C. authorities
yesterday ruled that raffles on automobiles
or other merchandise are illegal and subject
participants to fines and/or imprisonment. In
both jurisdictions, it was pointed out, the
fact that the raffles are conducted by
charitable organizations does not make them
legal.”
According to the above the raffles and tickets
of chances sold by churches for various bene
fits are no more legal than any other form
XV# XXT A T 'T'TT'D TPTTT TMTT?
Plight of Property Owner
To the Editor at The Star:
D. C. real estate taxes have been increased
about 30%. Water rates have been raised 25%.
Both these increases are directed against
property owners, who were already paying 50
per cent of the expenses of this city for the
Federal Government.
But singled out for the most shameless abuse
of all are those property owners who rent to
tenants.
In the D. C. Rent Law (Sec. 3), Congress
empowered the rent administrator to grant a
general increase in rents to compensate for
higher taxes, higher operating costs and ex
penses, since 1941. Every one knows, that
operating costs and expenses have doubled or
trebled since 1941. And the new tax increase
is beyond dispute.
Yet the rent administrator has not granted
the general increase, and continues to defy
the directions of Congress in this respect.
Since taking office, this rent administrator
has used the rent law, not to protect tenants;
but to harass and persecute landlords. His gross
unfairness has caused thousands of landlords
to sell rented property. New owners invariably
evict the tenant. Many, many thousands of
rented properties have been taken out of the
i available rental market in this way. Tenants
can no longer find places to rent. They
are forced to buy houses or "co-operative"
apartments, paying double the 1941 price. A
tenant has to pay several thousand dollars
“down.” He has to tie himself up to monthly
payments which are usually twice his former
rent. He will have to make these payments
for periods ranging usually from 15 to 24 years.
Even if a depression reduces home prices by
A A
in oraer u> enuuic, uc»wviovj - -
strong, life-giving convictions, and the full
courage of these convictions. And these con
victions must be moral and universal, extend
ing to all mankind. How can our democratic
cause become a righteous cause until we so
extend it that it covers all of God's peoples?
Now, to receive the strength which a righteous
cause gives a people we must risk ourselves
for that cause, far ahead of the time when it
is clear to every one that narrowest self-interest
demands that we throw ourselves into the
struggle. For America, democracy is a righteous
cause'only when we make truly courageous
efforts to assist other peoples in their struggle
for democracy. If we wait until it is a clear
question of our own survival, then what is de
mocracy, if not chiefly an American cause?
And according as we permit our cause to shrink
from a righteous thing to a thing of narrow
self-interest, even so must our chances of vic
tory shrink, leaving us with our hearts in our
mouths. BOLLING SOMERVILLE.
Charity Here and Abroad
To the Editor of The Star:
I have read a letter in The Star over the
signature of Gilbert O. Nations, entitled “When
Shall Giving End?” It begins by asking “Where
Is America Going?” I would like to ask when
and where will America stop?
The writer was reared and taught to believe,
and still believes, that charity begins at home.
But alack and alas, it now looks as if charity
begins in Europe and ends in the United States,
if and when there is anything left.
JUST WONDERING.
*
Magnetometer Detects
Lava Areas in Aleutians
Device ‘Start# Where Radar Stops’j
Airborne at 100 Mile# an Hour
By Thomas R. Henry
More than 6,000 square miles of the Aleutian
Islands stretching between Alaska and Asia
one of the world's volcanic “hot spots"—is
being surveyed with the airborne magneto
meter, one of the most marvelous of the
detection instruments developed by the Navy
during the war.
This instrument, which functions by detect
ing extremely minute variations in the mag
netic Held of the earth and which is said to
"start where radar stops,” is being used to
detect so-called “batholiths,” great areas of
hot or molten rock, rising through the earth’s
crust towards the surface. They may result
in volcanic eruntions or. subjected to ennr.
mous pressures, remain permanently thou
sands of feet below the surface. It is be
lieved that the magnetometer, attached to
an airplane flying over the Aleutians at a
hundred miles an hour, will be able to de
tect them, it also will be able to detect
differences in the structure of the earth’s
crust which could not be found in any other
way.
Used In Antarctic.
During the Navy expedition in the Antarctic
last winter the instrument was used to detect
hidden islands under the Ross ice shelf and
could survey a thousand or more square miles
in an afternoon. It has proved invaluable in
locating petroleum deposits.
The Aleutian area long has been known as
a trouble maker. The islands are an arc of the
girdle of high mountains which surround the
Pacific and which seem to be an especially
restless part of the world. Around them
occyir volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and
tidal waves. The deep Pacific trough south
of the Aleutians is especially notable for the
destructive tidal waves which originate there.
After the Aleutian survey the party will
proceed to Honolulu and make a magnetometer
reconnaissance of the Hawaiian and Marshall
Islands, another exceptionally restless part of
the earth's crust. Here new islands some
times appear overnight, greatly menacing
navigation. '
Reports Are Promising.
The ability of the magnetometer, developed
by scientists of the Naval Ordnance Labor
atory at White Oak, Md., to detect in their
early stages disruptions thousands of feet
under the surface has not been thoroughly
established, but reports already received from
the Aleutians indicate that it is quite premising.
If the project is successful, surveys of all
the world trouble areas under American Juris
diction may be undertaken.
“Operation Volcano" is under the command
of Capt. Edward M. Ward and the magneto
meter is being operated by Dr. Fred Keller
of the United States Geological Survey. Naval
Ordnance Labor atorv scientists are acrnm
panying the expedition to learn how the In
strument, designed to detect deeply submerged
submarines, may be further adapted to civilian
uses. Among the jobs which have been pro
posed for it are mapping the contour of land
under the Antarctic and Greenland icecaps.
By determining the structure of the land it
makes it possible to deduce the presence of
oil or minerals, but it does not directly
locate these.
Questions and Answers
A reader can tat the anjwer to any auestion
of fact by writing The Evening Star Information
Bureau. .11« I street N.E.. Washington 2. D. C.
Please Incloee 3 cents for return pottage.
By THE HASKIN SERVICE.
Q. Why is the President’s address to Con
gress sometimes called a "State of the Union"
message?—Z. P. T.
A. The Constitution requires that the Presi
dent give to the Congress information on the
state of the Union. His first speech after
Congress convenes in January is therefore
sometimes referred to as his "State of the
Union" message.
Q. Which was the first food to be rationed
in World War II?—R. N. P.
A. Sugar, which went on the rationed list
for individual consumers on May 5, 1942, was
the first food to be rationed in the United
States in World War II. Sugar rationing for
industrial and institutional users began on
May 1, 1942.
Q. Who were the “offenders at Barataria
Island”?—D. S. D.
A. The pirates of Jean Lafltte, who controlled
Barataria Bay at the entrance to New Orleans,
are known as the offenders at Barataria Island.
President Madison granted them amnesty in
exchange for their participation in the Battle
of New Orleans on the side of the United
States.
Q. Where is the largest peach orchard?—
M. K. C.
A. The Gardener's Travel Book says that it
is located at Nashville, Ark.
Q. Prom what source do cities derive reve
nue?—D. N. M.
A. In 1945 municipalities obtained 64.8 per
cent of all their revenues from property taxes,
17.1 per cent from other governments and 18.1
per cent from nonproperty taxes and charges
and miscellaneous sources.
jlii n vnvtic a wiu m vigvi t
which animal would win?—L. B. T.
A. The lion is taller than the tiger, and ap
pears larger because of the bushy mane of the
male lion, but the tiger is longer and heavier
and has a much more savage disposition. In
a few instances when lions and tigers have
fought the tigers have almost invariably won,
but there is one case on record when the lion
was victorious: In a circus a lion and tiger In
adjoining cages broke the partitions and fought.
Q. Is there a Federal standard for the weight
of ice cream?—C. N. D.
A. There is no Federal standard for the
weight of Ice cream. Nineteen States have
established State standards. The standard
established is approximately 4.35 pounds per
gallon. However, the International Associa
tion of Ice Cream Manufacturers says that
most commercial ice Aeam averages 4.5 pounds
per gallon.
Q. When was money first coined?—O. T.
A. The earliest known coins were probably
those of the Lydians in Asia Minor dating
from the 7th century B.C., but it is possible
that China and India had earlier coins.
Q. What is the title of the Greek play In
which women banded together to prevent war?
—F. V. N.
A. “Lysistrata," by Aristophanes.
Provident Heart
Now heart prepares for winter; on the air
It tastes the premonition of the frost
And reads the pewter sky; it must prepare
For bleaker days; no second may be lost.
Now let the summer sleep; forget the flower
That bloomed beneath a copper-headed
sun;
Like these, the heart has known the pet
ailed hour—
Like these, it knows its blossoming is
done.
And yet the provident heart may still
survive
The winter solstice, under the passionless
snow,
And feed upon itself, and keep alive
' Until the new sweet sap begins to flow,
If it has hoarded sun and wind and rain
To nourish it till it may bloom again.
MAE WINKLER GOODMAK.
k
I