Evening star. [volume], September 26, 1947, Page A-9, Image 9

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

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
President's Caution
On Extra Congress
Cal! Is Significant
Knows American People
Are Not Yet Persuaded
On Billions for Europe
By David Lawrence
President Truman’s caution about!
calling an extra session of Congress!
is significant. He Jcnows that the!
American people have not yet been
persuaded that Congress should vote
billions of dollars for Europe with
out some more concrete assurances ]
as to what is going to be done with
the money. In a broader sense than
the vernacular perhaps, Mr. Tru
man is from Missouri which—for
the benefit of Europeans it might
be explained—means that he doesn't
rush headlong into commitments!
without first being shown the pur
pose in unmistakable language.
The President also knows that
aid to Europe cannot become a
partisan question and that if he
is to get the virtual unanimity
which is so necessary in order to
influence both parties in Congress,
there must be more of a showing
of facts than has come out of the
document prepared in Paris by the
representatives of the 16 nations.
So far as the calling of an extra
session is concerned it will resolve
itself into a compromise. To call
Congress into session in October
would not be feasible, as a notice
of 30 days is usually required. If
the session is called for November,
many of the members of Congress
who are investigating conditions
abroad will not have returned.
f Merit in December Call.
There is merit in the idea that
the call be issued for December 1
as this would give Congress a flying
start, so to speak, because the two
sessions would blend in with one
another. If no extra session were
called, Congress would spend the
better part of January getting start
ed on major matters of a domestic
nature. If the Senate and House
convened December 1, much of the
routine work of coipmittees could
get going and the Senate and House
Committees on Foreign Affairs could
begin consideration of the Marshall
plan.
iiao uvvii turn
two committees be called together
in advance of the special or regular
sessions. This would be worth while
if it were done in the latter part
of November because many Senators
and Representatives are in Europe
now getting first-hand information
and some of them are important
members of the two Committees on
Foreign Affairs.
Much will be heard about “stop
gap” aid. Tnis means that existing
agencies of the Government, such as
the International Bank and the Ex
port-Import Bank, may be utilized
to furnish certain credits to stabi
lize the economic situation for
a while until the larger provisions cf
the Marshall plan can be authorized
by Congress.
There is nothing in the slowness
with which the Marshall plan is
being handled to breed discourage
ment, although some of the Iwsteri
cal observers who have felt Europe
was going to collapse overnight un
less $20,000,000,000 or more were
voted right away might be disap
pointed.
Really Going to Help.
The truth is America is really go
ing to help Europe. There need be
no doubt on that point but the job of
getting the appropriations through
Congress has hardly begun. There
is a way to save time and accelerate
debate and decision and that is for
the European countries to come for
ward with a comprehensive plan for
checking the expenditures. This was
touched on only casually in the for
mal report just transmitted by the
16 nations. It is the heart of the
whole problem and possibly It was
sidestepped at this stage because
the foreign governments want to
know more about what checks and
stipulations the American Congress
is thinking about.
It is most unfortunate that the
impression has gotten abroad that
the United States must do the job
alone. President Truman would like
to bring some of the Latin American
' nations in a joint enterprise. This
would make it easier for the Euro
pean governments to swallow some
of the restrictions that necessarily
must be imposed. There is always
■ a greater readiness to accept a plan
that comes from an international
agency composed of the representa
tives of several governments than
one which stems from a single sov
ereign nation.
This is one reason why Russia
missed the opportunity of a lifetime
to work with America in a joint en
terprise of rescue and rehabilitation
for Europe. It is not too late
to bring Russia into the picture
and another effort should be made
to get Russian co-operation espe
cially in the matter of help on the
grain supply.
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This Changing World
U. S. Officials Concerned at Report
General Strike Is Brewing in France
By Constantine Brown
The alarming report that a gen
eral strike is in the making in
France was received in Washington
early this week from authoritative
quarters in
j*aris, and has
caused deep con
cern at the
White House
and State De
partment.
The French
government it
self gave an in
dication of the
seriousness of
the situation
when it sent a
warning note to
Washington that
ksome temporary
relief for the Con,Untine Brown.
French people, in the form of fooc
and fuel, must be forthcoming soor
to avoid catastrophic conditions ir
that country.
According to reports from Paris
the Communist Party of Maurice
Thorez has received the green light
from Moscow to start an aggressive
campaign to take over the govern
ment. Although the Communist
leaders in the past were anxious
to assume power—and believed that
| The French government is re- (
ported to be willing to meet the
I Communist challenge, but unfor- j
tunately it lacks the necessary pow
er to do so successfully. The French
police force has been extensively
! infiltrated by Communists and is1
I too weak to oppose the militant
J Communist • underground forces
j which are estimated at some 70,000 j
! well-trained men with adequate
arms and ammunition cached in
I various strategic points.
The French Army is loyal to the
j government, but has been so dis- ;
; persed that there are few forces
; still within the country. Regular
;forces are in Indo-China, Madagas-j
| car, Tunisia and Algeria, where they j
| are fighting to preserve the em- ;
I pire. Rebellions in Indo-China and j
j Madagascar have been traced defi
j nitely to Communists, as-has unrest
! in Tunisia and Algeria.
The remainder of France's fight
! ing forces are in the French occu
i pation zone of Germany. Only
i skeleton units or untrained re
cruits are available in metropolitan
i France and their ability to put
down a rebellion is questionable.
Plan to Crush Opposition.
A general strike according to re
ports received in Washington, will
not be popular with the rank and
file of French workers themselves.
But the power of the highly or
I ganized Communists is so great
! that whatever opposition develops is
j likely to be crushed immediately,
5 as it was in the recent strikes in
i Northern Italy, where 75 per cent of
the desperately needed crops were
i destroyed in the fields.
T'ha 'Prpnf'Vi cmvprnmpnt. Vine on.
mey iiau me iiicaua w
the government—Moscow had in
structed them not to accept re
sponsibility for the administration
Offensive Timed.
Throughout last winter anc
spring the Communists took s
purely defensive position and al
lowed themselves to be removec
from the Ramadier cabinet because
Moscow had instructed Thorez t<
await developments. The time te
assume the offensive, according te
the Politbureau, was in the fall
when Moscow's calculation showee
the economic crisis would react
its peak.
The Ramadier government hac
full information on the tactics o:
its opponents and informed the
American Government of the pros
pects of being thrown out if eco
nomic conditions continued to grov
worse at the end of the summer
This information from Paris playec
a part in the formulation of Sec
retary of State Marshall's plan foi
aid to Europe.
From available reports it appear:
that Thorez, following Moscow's in
structions, has completed his plan:
J,o strike soon by proclaiming f
general strike which would paralyzi
France and cause economic anc
sociai chaos. Thorez’s actions ari
expected to be followed by mon
violence under the leadership o
Palmiro Togliatti in Northern Italy
pealed once more to the United
States for prompt assistance in the
1 form of food and fuel. The French
request reminds many American!
officials of the desperate appeal by
former Premier Paul Reynaud in,
April, 1940, for swarms of American I
planes to prevent France's military (
defeat by the Germans. Then, as'
now, the time element was against
j the French government.
Officials in Washington figure^
; ^hat even if the administration
, rushes $100,000,000 worth of aid,1
the problem of transportation is so;
difficult that the first shipments
could not reach French ports be
’ fore six weeks. And this calcula
tion is optimistic. They take into
account neither our own domestic
! problems nor the possibility that by
:: the time our ships could reach
France the general strike might
! already be under way.
President Vincent Auriol and
I Premier Ramadier are working over
II time to prevent the outbreak of
■ this Moscow-planned catastrophic
I walkout.
Man to Man
Injustice by Navy Seen With Reports
Shifted Bikini Natives Are Starving
By Harold L. lckes
Apparently it has not yet pene
trated the Navy mind that every
case of arrogant injustice to a na
tive people has become an interna
tional question.
This is due to
the fact that
America can be
so outraged by
the oppression
of a minority
group by any
other nation. We
can • become
highly self
righteous when
we think of
what is happen
ing to the In
donesians or to
the Jews who
are seeking asy- Harold l. ickn.
i lum in Palestine, in accordance
with the promises in the Balfour
declaration. But the Navy cannot
i see the mote in its owTn eye.
On July 1, 1946, at 9 a.m., a
Nagasaki-type atomic bomb was
j dropped at Bikini Island from the
I Super Fortress Dave's Dream. A
fleet of 73 vessels was anchored off
I the Bikini atoll. Five W’ere sunk.
\ including two transports, two de
stroyers and a Japanese cruiser.
Nine were heavily damaged, among
them, the battleship U. S. S. Ar
kansas and the Japanese cruiser
Sakawa.
i Ninety per cent of the experi
mpntal animals fcriat.s nicrs shppn
| because numerous exploring parties
j composed of nearby natives dis
j covered that the island was too bar
ren to support human beings.
Coconut trees are few and far be
tween on Rongerik (remember the
pictures of waving palms on bombed
Bikini?) and the trees that do grow
do not bear normal crops. There
are only a few breadfruit trees on
the island, and arrowroot does not
exist in adequate quantity to con
tribute substantially to the food
supply.
Notwithstanding these facts, the
Bikini natives were transported to
Rongerik, to the accompaniment of
music, against a background of
Kleig lights, cameramen and at
tendant pomp and circumstance.
They wTere deposited there—and
promptly forgotten.
Now comes word that the natives
1 are actually and literally dying of
, starvation. As late as a month
ago. the Rongerik Islanders, late of
Bikini, were in the last stages of
dire want. Neither chickens nor
pigs exist on Rongerik. Those who
know report that .domesticated ani
mal life on the island is restricted
to one old dog so undernourished
that it has developed l-ickets. The
desperate people have been reduced
to cutting down their few coconut
trees in order to eat their hearts.
Two Admirals Blamed.
The Deputy High Commissioner
of the Trust Territories, who has
| responsibility for the government
j ana welfare of these people (under
I a mandate of the United Nations
| to the United States) is Rear Ad
jmiral Carleton H. Wright. He is
j the humane brass hat who wrote
! the recent article in the Saturday
; rats and mice) survived the ex
plosion. Now more than a year
j later, additional and more serious
! casualty figures, involving human
beings, may be revealed.
Shifted Natives Starving.
Bikini Island comprises approxi
mately 1,500 acres, and had been
inhabited for no one knows how
many hundreds of years by peo
ple who lived contentedly cn an
adequate island economy. Bread
! fruit was plentiful, and coconut
| palms graced the island, in abun
J dance. To set the stage for the
j bomb test, the benevolent United
States Navy persuaded the 160 na
tives of Bikini to move to neigh
boring Rcngerik Island “as their
contribution to the advancement of
science.” The Navy generousia
provided free transportation, and
news-reel cameramen were on hand
for moving day, so that American
movie theater-goers might see evi
dence of the Navy's careful plan
ning and concern for the natives
You may have seen in your local
theater the newsreels that w’ere
made that day.
Unfortunately, Rongerik Island
has only slightly more than 40C
acres, as compared with the almost
1,500 acres which the Bikini Island
ers gave up at the request of the
benevolent Navy. Moreover, the
soil is poor—so poor that never ir
history had it been inhabited. II
cannot grow food sucessfully. People
had never attempted to live there
Evening Post entitled: “Let’s Not
| Civilize These Happy People.” I
j suspect that even a little food would
persuade these unhappy people to
adopt unanimously a resolution de
| daring that not for the world
| would they substitute civilian for
! Navy rule. This is the way that it
has worked in Guam.
The' High Commissioner of the
Trust Territories, pending the trans
: fer of authority to a civilian agency
i of the Government, is Admiral Louis
j E. Den field, Pacific commander in
j chief, whose picture has been
j printed recently in the newspapers
while ^isiting happily with Sec
retary Anderson,’ Secretary Krug
and Special Assistant to the Secre
tary of the Army, Edwin W. Pauley,
at the latter’s lavish Coconut Island
estate, the spot that has been recom
mended as “the summer White
House.” No one goes hungry—or
thirsty -either—there.
The goats, pigs, sheep, rats and
mice that survived Operation Cross
roads, at Bikini, are to be congrat
ulated.
I As for the Bikini natives, now at
1 Rongerik, they are at the end of
j their rope. They have not been
the object of the assiduous care
| that the Navy has bestowed on its
experimental animals. •
1 (Copyright, 1947.)
BROWNIE
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The Great Game of Politics
Prospects Seen Slim for Prompt Action
In European Crisis by Extra Congress
ny trank K. Kent
Whether Congress Is called in spe- 1
cial session to deal with the emer- j
gency in Europe or does not convene |
until January, it is an understate-1
ment to say that
the prospects for
prompt, intelli
gent and effec
tive action on
any of the vital
questions which
will confront it
are not good.
Perhaps the con
ference withcon
gresslonal lead
ers the President
has called for
Monday will
change this out
look. But too
much reliance Frmnk R. Kent. !
should not be placed on that.
The reasons are obvious. It is not
only that the legislative branch is
controlled by one party and the
executive branch by the other. That
is always an unfortunate state of
affairs in our system. Even under
the happiest circumstances it makes
for governmental impotency and
general futility. But this time it
occurs under the worst possible
conditions. For one thing, in six
months from the date of the regu
lar opening, the national candidates
of the two parties will be placed
in the Held and in 10 months the
presidential elections will be held.
Thus, from the date of the open
ing, politics will dominate, per
meate, saturate practically every
thing in the country.
There is no way to escape that. It
is the year of primaries and con
ventions. It is the period when poli
tics climaxes in the United States
and political propaganda reaches
its full and frightening growth. In
evitably, from January to Novem
ber, every speech will have a po
litical flavor and every proposal be
viewed from the political jpgle.
Concededly, this is a great obstacle
to clear thinking and adequate per
fnrmanpp
Bad Blood Admitted.
However, what makes the present
situation most depressing is the
admitted bad blood between Presi
dent Truman and the Republican
leaders in Congress. Its existence
is much too clear to dispute. Tire
gap between- them is personal as
well as political. The job of bridg
ing it will require a higher degree
of unselfish patriotism than either
side has shown evidences of having.
The Republican grievances against
Mr. Truman are aggravated by the
fact that last January, when they
took over, he started the session out
with the most cordial promises of
; co-operation. Instead of co-opera
tion, the Republicans assert that,
for purely political reasons, he
blocked, so far as he could, a pro
gram that ought to have been non
! political and which clearly was in
the national interests. Their indict
ment includes his violent veto of
i the Taft-Hartley bill, which, they
! charge, he deliberately misrepre
sented; his veto of the tax bill,
which was inconsistent and illogical
as well as political, and his des
perate fight to frustrate Republican
efforts to cut down governmental
costs. The worst phase of this was
his encouragement of the Federal
bureaucracy to extraordinary and
illegal resistance.
Naturally, Mr. Truman’s friends
justify his stand on these questions
and make countercharges against
the Republicans. Silly speeches,
such as the inept temporary Demo
cratic chairman, Gael Sullivan,
has been making and the hot at
tacks on Mr. Truman by various
Republican spokesmen* unquestion
ably have increased the “bad blood"
to a point where there is little good
will left on either side. Add all this
im nnH it. is nnt. pa.cv tn spp hnw
anything in the nature- of bipartisan
co-operation between the President
and Congress is to be achieved either
in a special session or the regular
one. Yet, there probably has never
been in a period of peace a moment'
when such bipartisan co-operation'
on both foreign and. domestic affairs
was more urgently needed.
Necessity for Solidity.
At no time in our history have
foreign affairs seemed more men
acing or the necessity for American
[solidity in dealing with the grave
issues involved more acute. On the
home front there is the vital prob
lem of prices, to solve which (if
really ruinous inflation is to be
[averted) nonpolitical action seems
essential. Yet, as the time for ac
tion aproaches, each side is so busy
[blaming the other that neither has
a solution. It is not surprising that
many are appalled at the outbreak—
[that those who want Congress to
meet quickly shudder at what will
happen when it does.
Confronted by so real a crisis, it
does seem that for the good of the
Nation and the world, those in power
must put aside politics, personal
grievances, ambitions, hates and
prejudices in order to avert calamity.
Mr. Truman badly needs the co-op
i erati’on of the Republican leaders
| with whom he is not now on very
[ good terms. To get this, he not only
I should call off the Gael Sullivans
but he should make every personal
4
enort to regain me gooa will ana
respect he has lest in this group. No
matter what the personal cost, he
should not hesitate to pay it.
On the other hand, the Republi
can leaders, no matter how justi
fied they may feel in their bitter
ness, cannot afford to let their per
sonal feelings and political desires
make them refuse an appeal to put
aside a crippling partisanship and
hurtful personalities when danger
threatens the country, as it now un
doubtedly does. If, under such cir
cumstances, Mr. Truman is not big
enough—and is too political—to rise
above his animosities and become
conciliatory, and if the Republicans
are too small and political to accept
overtures and respond to the sort of
appeals that should be made, then
both he and they are unworthy of
respect and will have earned the
contempt of all good citizens.
V t.
McLemore—
Finds Equator-*
Can Be Cold *
By Henry McLemore
QUITO, Ecuador.—Have you ever
sat right on the Equator and shiv
ered and shock from the cold?
Don't laugh and tell me that it
can't be done.
I know better,
because I have
just finished
this novel expe
rience. You see,
the Equator
practically runs
through this
city, and so like
all other none
too-bright tour
ists I Insisted on
going out and
gazing fondly at
a n imaginary
line.
The Equator Henry McLemore.
isn’t much to look at. You couldn’t j
call it pretty and you couldn’t call
it homely. In fact, it looks much
better on a map than when you
are looking at.it in person. Jean
and I skipped back and forth across
tKm rmiotftr nr\ lace fhan timoc
and we can’t wait for some time in
the future when some one asks us
if we have ever crossed the Equator.
We were glad to skip back and
forth because it was good and cold,
about like a December day in New
York City. Despite the fact that
it almost straddles the Equator,
Quito sits way up in the mountains.
It has an altitude of nearly 9.500
feet and is encircled by mighty peaks
of the Andes.
With the exception of Cuzco in
Peru, this capital city of Ecuador is
the strangest city we have seen
on our South American trip. The
guide books said it looked old, but
they were conservative. It looks
older. There are a few modern
touches here, such as new hotels
and elaborate homes, but most of
the buildings look as if an Inca or
a conquistador might come busting
out of them at any moment. A good
98 per cent of the people who walk
the streets are Indians, dressed just
as they have dressed for centuries.
Nowhere in the world—and I’ll
bet on this—will you find shops with
such diversified wares as in Quite
There is no such thing as a specialt
shop. Every shop seems to hav
about one of everything. We wen
mm uue rainy large snop ana>:
bought some of the chocolates for
which" Ecuador is famous. In the
same shop, in one big room, we
could have purchased, and had we
been In the mood and had enough
sucres, a lawn mower, some baby
chicks, new plumbing fixtures, an
Indian woman’s brown derby hat,
bolts of fine woolens, almost any
kind of American soft drink, silver
and gold ornaments, books, beads
and statuettes.
Days Equal Nights.
You don’t have to worry about
sunrise and sunset in Quito. Be
cause of its situation the nights and
days are of equal length. When
darkness comes you don't have to
look at your watch to know' what:
time it' is. Darkness comes exactly
at 6 p.m.
Flying into Quito from Guayaquil!
s quite,an experience. For an hour
if the nour-and-fifteen-minute trip
the plane is enveloped In clouds,
rhen the pilot finds an opening
hrough one of the five passes and
:omes down into brilliant sunshine.
Below is Quito, snuggled in a hollow
if the Andes. The spires of its 57
ihurches and monasteries dot the
:ity like spines of cacti, breaking
the smoothness of the adobe brick
Buildings.
The Indians, cut off from civiliza
tion for hundreds of years, .are
gathered at the airport to watch The
planes come in. They never tire of
the sight, Tney bring with them
their native handiwork token, pack
ing it on their backs for miles.
The women do most of the pack
ing. I often wish that Jean had a
little Indian blood in her.
(Distributed by McNaught Syndicate. Inc.)
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