Evening star. [volume], May 19, 1948, Page A-10, Image 10

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

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I
ffje Inciting Jsfof
With Sunday Morning Edition.
WASHINGTON, D. C.
Published by
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A—10 WEDNESDAY, May 19, 1948
Borrowing for School Needs
There is a considerable difference in the
amount of money but very little difference
in the principle involved as between the
recommendations of various Board of
Trade committees on meeting our needs
In school building construction.
The board’s Education Committee pro
posed a five-year program costing $44,000,
000. Its excellent report reflected the
thoroughness of its investigation. The
Municipal Finance Committee cut the
program to outstanding needs in the ele
mentary schools, where the pressure now
is greatest, and proposed $10,400,000. The
Executive Committee added one more
junior high school to this recommendation,
bringing the total to about $12,500,000. It
explained that the action covered only the
elementary schools, postponing decision on
others until the current controversy over
new taxes is clarified.
The important thing here is that the
Board of Trade has agreed with the school
authorities on meeting accumulated school
needs by borrowing. These needs will
become acute within five years. They are
pressing now in some sections of the city.
They cannot be met out of current reve
nues, for if new schools are to be built
they should be ready for the extraordinary
increase in school population that will take
place within a few years.
Chairman Bates of the House District
Subcommittee on Taxes, seems to be toying
with the idea of borrowing our way out
of the deficit in general revenues. That
will not work. We need a firm tax base
to support normal maintenance and im
provement of the city and we need, in
addition, legislation authorizing .advances
to get us over the hump in school buildings
and spread the cost over the years. The
needs are not to be confused, for they are
separate and distinct.
There is plenty of precedent for District
borrowing, in the form of Treasury ad
vances. It was done in seven of the years
between 1901 and 1915. In 1930 Congress
authorized $16,000,000 for park purchase,
the advances to be repaid at a million dol
lars a year. Approximately the same
amount was authorized under the Public
Works Administration in 1941. The same
principle should be applied now to schools,
for we are free of all indebtedness now.
The amount and the terms for repayment
are subjects for legislation. Whether the
legislation can be prepared and acted on
at this session is doubtful. But resort to
such a method seems inevitable.
Election Year and the Atom
Skeptics must be pardoned if they scoff
at the Republican majority of the Senate
House Atomic Energy Committee for
claiming that it has been “totally non
political” in voting to limit the terms of
Chairman Lilienthal and his four col
leagues on the Unted States Atomic Energy
Commission.
Such a claim is considerably less than
forthright. Under the Atomic Energy Act
passed by Congress in 1946, the members
of the AEC are supposed to take office,
as of next August 1, for staggered periods,
ranging up to five years. The present
members—again in keeping with the law
have been serving on a kind of trial basis.
They have done a fine job, and that is why
the President has reappointed them, with
Mr. Lilienthal named for the five-year
term. The Republicans of the Senate
House committee, however, with one Demo
crat joining them, have voted for special
legislation to provide that the terms of
all five commssioners should expire on
June 30, 1950.
This vote—aimed primarily at Mr. Lilien
thal—has not been based on any committee
consideration of the qualifications dis
played by the AEC members in pioneering
the civilian administration of our complex
and gigantic atomic enterprise. The big
consideration has been simply this: That
the Republicans hope to elect one of their
party to the White House in November
and want him to be fret o name his own
men to the AEC. Accordingly, they have
voted for the proposed special legislation
to get around the present law's require
ment for staggered terms up to five years.
In short, the idea is to enable Mr. Truman’s
possible GOP successor to choose, if he so
wishes, a brand-new commission eighteen
months after becoming President.
To be sure, this proposal is a lot better
than an earlier one made by Senator Taft
and some other Republicans to reappoint
the present AEC members just long enough
to permit the presumable new .President
to fire them six months after entering the
White House. Still, though not so crude
as the Taft idea and though it allows for
a substantial lapse of time, the plan
favored by the majority of the Senate
House committee obviously is not “totally
nonpolitical.” Quite definitely it is tied in
with election-year considerations, and it
has the decidedly unfortunate effect of
giving the impression—right or wrong—
that the Republican leadership is not above
dealing with the atom in terms of patron
age, like a p^st office.
Of cc; the political realities being
achat -• it is often necessary to
accri ole when the desirable
t)
cannot be attained. The reappointment
of Mr. Lilienthal and the other AEC
members seems to involve a choice of
that sort. The Republicans apparently
are determined to have their way. In
the circumstances, to avoid a fight that
could do serious damage to our atomic
project, a case can be made for yielding
to them in the hope that they are not
really bent making a partisan plaything
,of the atom. The American people have
a right to demand that the Nation be
spared that very great danger.
The Bid From Stalin
The State Department’s response to
Premier Stalin’s acceptance of the Wallace
“open letter’’ as a basis for discussions
with the United States is disappointing
and probably wrong.
It is true, of course, that the Stailin
statement was not a formal proposal to
this Government and governments ordi
narily do not act on the basis of news
paper stories or radio broadcasts. There
is also much reason to believe that this
is not a bona fide attempt on the part of
the Soviet leader to find a basis for a
settlement with the United States, but
rather an attempt to promote Henry
Wallace’s political fortunes, an effort to
improve the Russian international propa
ganda position, or perhaps both.
But II tms is me case—11 uus iaieaL
development is merely another propa
ganda dodge—the best way to cope with
it would be to act on it. And the worst
way is to wrap ourselves in a diplomatic
shell and say to Stalin: No, your proposal
is encouraging, but we won’t discuss it.
The place for you to deal with us is in
the United Nations.
Instead of this, why should not the
President or Secretary Marshall say to
Stalin and to the watching world: We
believe that the differences which you
now propose to discuss could and should
have been settled within the frame
work of the United Nations. Your
tactics are responsible for the failure to
do this. Still, if you are now prepared to
discuss these matters with us, openly and
in good faith, we will meet you half way.
This may not come within the rule
book definition- of good diplomacy. But
the game is not being played these days
according to the old rules. And in the
eyes of millions and millions of people
we simply award the decision to Stalin
by default when we turn our backs on
what can'be made to look like a genuine
effort to secure peace. This cannot be
justified simply because we believe, prob
ably with good reason, that nothing can
be accomplished by talking with Stalin.
For that is beside the point. The point is
that by refusing to talk with him we not
only fail to accomplish anything, but also
lose a great deal of ground in the com
petition that is under way for the favor
able opinion of mankind.
There should also be kept in mind the
possibility, however remote, that there
may be an aspect of genuineness to
Stalin’s offer. After all, the cold war has
not been going any too well for the Rus
sians, and the primary objective of our
policies has been to convince them that
they cannot win it. Maybe Stalin is at
last persuaded of this, and is looking for a
way out. If that is so, or if there is any
chance that it is so, our purpose should
be to make it easy, riot hard, for him to
find a way. The thought should never be
out of our minds that our differences with
the Russians must be settled in one of
two ways. Either we shall have to find a
basis for agreement with them, now or
later, or we shall have to accept the
alternative of a war._
A Goudy Shrine
Deepdene, the country home and studio
of Frederic William Goudy at Marlboro on
the Hudson, a few miles below Newburgh,
is not to be converted into a rural boarding
house. The place where some of the motst
interesting type faces of contemporary
times were designed is to be a shrine to
preserve the legend and the example of
their sponsor. Its new owner—Ralph C.
Coxhead of New York—bought it for that
purpose. He invites the co-operation of
all individuals interested in the graphic
arts to the end that the actual scene of
Mr. Goudy’s labors may remain as he left
it at his death on May 11, 1947.
Unfortunately, the old mill at Deepdene
which was the print shop where the great
designer tried out his types was destroyed
by fire in 1939. In the blaze perished
seventy-five alphabets and the matrices
of one hundred and seven faces. What
was salvaged went into the main building,
the Goudy family residence. On January
2, 1944, it was announced that the bulk
of the collection of books, drawings, proofs,
et cetera had been purchased by the Library
of Congress. A few days later Mr. Goudy
himself came to Washington to lecture in
the Whittall Pavilion. He returned to
Marlboro satisfied to think that his treas
ures were part of the Nation’s durable
heritage. The fate of his home after he
had finished with it did not seem to con
cern him. But it did trouble his son and
co-worker, lacking personal means to
maintain the property.
Now Mr. Coxhead is solving the problem.
His plan for a shrine in memory of the
great type designer certainly will appeal
to the publishing industry, the printing
trades and all citizens who value beautiful
typographical endeavor.
Mr. North s Appointment
The appointment of Roy M. North to be
Postmaster of Washington is another ex
ample of the principle of career advance
ment which recently—and constructively— j
has been the rule In the Post Office De
partment. Jesse M. Donaldson prepared
for his present position at the head of
the largest communications industry in
the world by service as a letter carrier.
The place he formerly occupied as First
Assistant Postmaster General now is filled
by Vincent C. Burke, another veteran who
rose from the bottom through the grades.
Mr. North, taking over the local assign- j
ment with a background of thirty-eight
years of training, brings the total aggregate
experience of the three men to approxi
mately a century and a quarter.
This is a record rarely matched in
any branch of the Government. In the
past, it almost never happened in the
postal system that men whose main quali
fication was knowledge of the Job to be
done were chosen to do the work. The
new procedure Is just, fair and certainly
encouraging to the rank and file of Post
Office Department personnel. Mr. North
has earned his promotion in terms of
faithful performance of duty under con
ditions which often were very difficult.
During the illnesses and absences of
his immediate chiefs on numerous occa
sions for many months at a stretch since
1933, he was acting head of the Third
Assistant’s Division—with all the responsi
; bilities but not the title or the remunera
tion.
But now Mr. North has been granted
an opportunity to show what he can
do with a top-notch assignment. Quiet
in manner, friendly in spirit, he has the
philosophic equipment to direct a large
stafT. Further, he understands the routine
thoroughly. But, best of all, he will be j
welcomed in his new designation because
he is not an outsider, advanced to the top
for considerations extraneous to his ap
pointment.
The Joys of Jail
In a rather wistful review of his past
twenty months in government, Prime
Minister Nehru of India has flatly de
clared that they have been more difficult
than his ten years in jail. Political leader
ship has tied him down and burdened
him with a multitude of problems. Wher
ever he goes, guards follow him. Whatever
he does, officials advise him. He cannot
relax. He cannot feel at ease in his gold
fish bowl. In fact, in his opinion, he had
greater freedom and peace of mind in the
days when he was cooped up in a cell.
This viewpoint will strike a responsive
chord in a lot of us who have suspected,
from time to time, that living behind bars
might be a refreshing thing. The hurly
burly of a free existence certainly has its
drawbacks. Bills, taxes, sky-high prices,
sardine travel in buses to and from, work,
dense traffic, loud noises, the housing
shortage, worry about Russia, political
harangues, too much speed, no time to
read or think, getting to bed too late, a
recurrent sense of insecurity, innumerable
annoyances and distractions—all this, and
more besides, is what comes from staying
out of jail.
In jail, on the other hand, order and
security abound. One goes to bed at a
sensible hour and wakes up regularly with
the birds. There is a roof overhead. Three
meals a day are always available. The in
mate does not have to worry about heat
or housing. He has a room he can count
on. He can read books. He can earn a
little money. In the quiet of his cell, in
splendid isolation, he can give free rein to
his contemplative moods and weigh the
mystery of himself and the universe. No
bills. No harrying moil for gold. No
hurly-burly. And all free of charge!
These are some of the joys to be found
behind bars by the prisoner who looks for
them.
To say this, of course, is not to suggest
that free men ought to make a point of
committing larceny to get themselves
jailed. It is merely to suggest that those
of us who have never been there cannot
be blamed if occasionally, when the work
aday world seems particularly trying, we
feel it- might be good to be tucked away
in a nice, quiet penitentiary. Prime Min
ister Nehru’s nostalgia for his prison days
is not too difficult to understand. Given
certain circumstances, a comfortable cell
and a kind warden, being locked up should
have its advantages. At any rate, that’s
the way it looks sometimes to some of us
on the outside.
This and That
v By Charles E. Tracewell
Life among the humans Is strange, and
suspicion at times has its place.
The gentleman had a large sack of groceries
in one hand, an open pocketbook in the other.
His difficulty at the moment was fishing
out the bills for his pass.
"Here,” he said to the bus driver. "You
take out two dollar bills.”
The driver drew back.
"No, sir,” he replied. "I'm not going to put
my hand in your pocketbook.”
“Just dip in,” said the other, as if he had
not heard. “I can't get them out.”
"No,” said the driver, even more firmly.
“I’m not putting my hand in anybody's pocket
book.”
w w w w
Suspicion Is the old asset of policemen, de
tectives, those who meet the public in general.
The public, though composed of Just plain
people, has a psychology of its own.
It grumbles, says nasty things on the slight
est provocation, causes faithful busmen to
secretly curse sweet old ladies, and in general
plays hob with reasonableness in human re
lations.
In the personal life, every one, perhaps, at
some time or other, has seen the value of plain
old ugly suspicion.
For this trait, as a pure thing, is not very
gracious.
It simply has its uses, at times, and in certain i
occupations.
Caution might be a better word for the
better phase of suspicion.
The animals and the birds know all about
this. They rarely take chances. Nature sees
to that. They have a whole battery of tricks
all their own, taught them over thousands of
years.
A house cat, starting 'after a squirrel, will
shy and stop suddenly as he passes a mass of
raked grass about a foot high.
Caution in action teaches him to give up
the squirrel to make sure just what this strange
shape is at his side. .
He had seen it before, but only as a heap
of grass.
* * * *
Now. as he passes it, the mass looms as a
possible enemy.
Suspicion of what it may be causes him sud
denly to shy, stop. look.
The old railroad injunction, “Stop, look,
listen” is in full force with the cat.
He had no real idea of catching the squirrel,
anyway!
The birds are so suspicious that they will
not dip into a new food supply until they perch
around for hours, sometimes days, to see if
anything moves.
Many persons who decide to feed them
are disappointed when the songsters fail to
take to their food as quickly as they had hoped.
“Why won’t they come?” is the question often
asked. As often a straight reply is impossible.
There are too many factors, most of them un
known.
Sometimes the birds never have received a
“handout” in all their lives.
Sometimes, too, white food repels them.
Something about dead white makes them fear
ful of it.
They are suspicious.
Yet it is a common observation that birds,
as well as men, often are unsuspicious at the
very time they need suspicion mast.
The songsters will fly into traps without a
trace of trfcpidation.
In the old days, this often led them to easy
capture for cages. Today they no longer have
to fear incarceration.
It is man, perhaps, who has to fear most
the easy, appealing traps set for him by master
minds of his own species.
A little honest suspicion of the right things
would be good for people today.
Changing Our Elective System
Proposed Amendment Would Eliminate Present Practice
of Political Bidding for Minority Groups
By Chalmers M. Roberts
(Second of Two Articles)
If the Lodge-Gossett amendment to tne
Constitution, to end the electoral college sys
tem of naming the President, is adopted, the
favoritism now shown the small States of the
Union will nonetheless be preserved.
That favoritism comes about through the
manner in which a State is assigned its elec
toral vote. Each State has members in the
House of Representatives in accordance with
its population, no State having less than one.
To this each State adds two electoral votes,
representing the two members each has in
the Senate.
Thus our least populous State, Nevada, now
has three electoral votes for its one Represent
ative and two Senators. New York, most pop
ulous, has 47 for 45 Representatives and two
Senators. Therefore in Nevada one electoral
vote represents just under 37,000 persons while
in New York one electoral vote represents Just
under 76,000 persons. To capture an electoral
vote in New York, then, takes more than twice
as many popular votes, all other things being
equal.
This bonus system for the small States, part
of the original deal in setting up our Constitu
tion and solving the large vs. small State con
troversy, is still maintained under the proposed
Lodge-Gossett amendment.
The difference is that to get all of Nevada’s
three or New York's 47 electoral votes, a presi
dential candidate also would have to get all of
the popular votes in either State.
Example in 1944 Election.
The 1944 election returns from New York
State form a good example:
Roosevelt received 3,304,238 votes to 2.987,
647 for Dewey. Under the electoral college,
winner-take-all system, all 47 of New York's
electoral votes went to FDR.
What would have happened if the Lodge
Gossett amendment had been in effect in 1944?
Roosevelt and Dewey would have divided the
New York State electoral vote just as they
divided the popular vote. (The fact that a
big chunk of the Roosevelt vote was registered
under the American Labor and Liberal Party
banners would make no difference.) The
division, figured to the third decimal point as
called for in the amendment, would have been:
Roosevelt, 24.584; Dewey, 22.229.
In Nevada, the division of the three electoral
votes would have been: Roosevelt, 1.638;
Dewey. 1.361.
Nationally, the totals, eliminating the frac
tions, would have been: Roosevelt, 300; Dewey,
223. As they actually were counted, the elec
toral votes were divided 432 for Roosevelt and
99 for Dewey. Roosevelt would have been
elected, of course, under either system, assum
ing the same number of votes were cast in
each State.
But the story in New York has not always
been that simple.
In 1884 when Grover Cleveland was opposing
James G. Blaine, Cleveland received 563.084
votes in New York State to 562,001 for Blaine,
a difference of only 1,083 votes. A change of
less than 600, therefore, would have thrown
New York’s entire electoral vote to Blaine.
Because everything in that election depended
on New York’s electoral vote, Blaine, instead
of Cleveland, would have been elected Presi
dent.
The House Judiciary Committee report on
the Gossett amendment (identical to the one
sponsored by Senator Lodge) comments in
these words:
“Should a similar situation again arise, as
well it might, the Communist Party in the
State of New York alone could determine who
was to be President of the United States.”
The comment on the possible Influence of
the Communists is particularly pertinent in
tne iignt oi tne rasa eiecuwi. u »
that the Communists are backing Henry A.
Wallace and that they have quite a large
number of voters in New York State who will
vote for Mr. Wallace.
Possibilities in Balance of Power.
It may be that the Republican candidate
will run so far ahead of the Democratic candi
date that the Wallace vote will make no dif
ference in that State. But it also may be that
the Republican will run so little ahead of the
Democrat that the Wallace third party vote
will be the factor that gives New York’s 47
electoral votes to the Republican. And, further,
it may be that the popular vote is so close
that the Communist vote alone among the
third party voters will be the margin by
which the State goes Republican.
And, of course, New York may be the mar
gin by which the Nation goes Republican.
This business of the minority vote in key
States—Communist or any other type—is best
described in the House committee report:
“The electoral college system places un
reasonable and unconscionable burdens and
temptations upon a presidential candidate and
upon a President elected by it. Political ex
pediency, if not political necessity, compels a
presidential candidate to woo and often to
kowtow to the organized minority votes in the
big pivotal States.
“These votes are often, in eflect, up for
sale to the highest bidder, an overweening
temptation for political corruption. The po
litical strategists in his party are constantly
urging a President to extend undue favors and
consideration to these politically potent groups
to whom he probably owes his election. No
President should be subjected to such pressure
or to such temptation. The proposed amend
ment would obviate this evil.”
Those are the words of the House committee
report unanimously approved by both Re
publicans and Democrats.
A Bid for Minority Votes?
Mr. Gossett gets down to the point the
committee makes by looking at the 1944
political platforms. He notes that both parties
wrote in fair employment practices planks
which, as a Texan, he deplores. He adds that
the platform makers "of both parties will tell
you frankly, off the record, that this was done
as a bid for the Negro vote.”
A second minority group, which both parties
wooed, he says, was “the radical labor wing of
organized labor.” He says both parties “pussy
footed the labor question because of organized
labor's power through the electoral college.”
Finally, he makes the point that both parties
appealed to the Jewish vote in New York by
pledges on the Palestine issue. Many members
of Congress will agree that the erratic Amer
ican policy on this issue stems from rival
political maneuvers designed more to catch
votes than to solve the problem itself.
Remove the overbalanced power of all minor
ity groups, the Lodge-Gossett amendment back
ers say, and we will be rid of the pressure to
knuckle under to any minority. We will, in
effect, be a more democratic Nation in the
conduct of our Government.
The House report sums up the problem in
these well-chosen words:
“The greatest and most important office in
the world is that of the President of the
United States. The method through which we
elect a President should be fair, honest, ac
curate, certain and democratic.
“Our present system is not fair, honest, ac
curate, certain or democratic. The proposed
amendment would substantially meet the test
of fairness, honesty, accuracy, certainty and
democracy.”
Letters to The Star
Recognition of Israel
To the Editor ol The Star:
The announcement by the Zionists of the
establishment of their state, Israel, seems to
have been accepted by the American press as
if it were a solution to the problem of Pales
tine. The President’s unprecedented and
frantic haste to recognize the embryonic, un
proved state has gone without criticism in
spite of his arbitrary and autocratic omission
from consultation of the Department of State
or of the American delegation to the United
Nations. It is high time that Americans began
to be more critical In their approach to In
ternational affairs.
The Zionist declaration of independence was
contrary to the expressed wish of a majority
of the United Nations, who realized that such
an overt act would make impossible a truce In
Palestine and would precipitate action by the
Arab states. There has been no criticism yet
directed at the Zionists for thus flouting the
United Nations. Yet criticism is silrely de
served and should be forthcoming. We are
only too quick to criticize the intransigence of
the Arabs which is relatively pale by contrast.
The President's curiously personal, unilateral
pronouncement of recognition took no account
of the United Nations, undercut his own dele
gation to the Assembly, by-passed the advice
of the National Security Council, of the area
experts in the State Department, the Military
Establishment and the Central Intelligence
Agency, to say nothing of the Congress. Such
ft decision, so hastily and secretly taken, on a
subject freighted with such import for world
peace and security that the United Nations
has spent months on it without reaching a
decision, is not only dictatorial but dangerous
In its many implications. Yet there has been
no criticism from the press, which is supposed
to be the guardian of our democratic principles.
The President's action has, In effect, made a
mockery of United States participation in the
United Nations, has given our blessing to the
intensification of divisive nationalism rather
thaa to the principles of friendship among na
tions and conciliation of international dif
ferences, has aligned this country in opposition
to the sovereign Arab nations and to the en
tire Moslem world of 300,000,000 people. Yet
there have as yet been no questions raised
concerning the right or authority of the Presi
dent singlehandedly to commit this nation to
such an astounding and dangerous program.
In the General Assembly the reaction of the
Arab representatives to word of America’s rec
ognition of Israel should give us profound
pause. “Duped,” “betrayed,” were words they
used. And why not? They had for weeks ne
gotiated with confidence in the good faith of
the American delegation which was trying
desperately to arrange a truce in Palestine. In
the very midst of those negotiations word ar
rived of the President’s adtion. Our owm dele
gation was shocked and embarrassed. The
only comparable situation in our recent ex
perience was the attack on Pearl Harbor while
Nomura and Kurusu were supposedly conduct
ing discussions in good faith in Washington.
On that occasion we were on the receiving end
—and we didn’t like it. Yet now the general
impression given in the press is that the
Zionists and the President are somehow admi
rable, while the Arabs merit no consideration
anyway. This is a far cry from the spirit of
fair play which Is supposedly typical of
Americans. In reality it is the most discredit
able performance yet in a whole series of
(v, r
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.
Americans blunders relative to Palestine. Of
this one we should be profoundly ashamed.
If America sincerely wishes to destroy the
hopes of the world in her wise leadership in
this time gt crisis, she is taking the right path
by embarking on a program of duplicity, for
reasons of supposed political expediency or for
any reason. I cannot believe that when the
Implications of our Palestine action are made
plain to the American people they will fall to
make a sincere effort to rectify it. For the
benefit of our future, both at home and abroad,
I pray that it may not already be too late for
such an effort to bear fruit. There is no time
to loose. STEPHEN B. L. PENROSE, Jr.
Resignation Not a Protest
To the Editor of The 8tar:
I am surprised and displeased with the man
ner in which* my resignation as a member of
the bar of the Supreme Court of the United
States was reported in Monday’s Star. I made
it clear to all who interviewed me that I was
not making a "protest” let alone "attacking”
the Court’s opinions or its adjudications; that
my sole desire was to quietly withdraw as a
member of the Court's bar. And had the re
quest I made to the Court to have my name
stricken from its roll of attorneys been grant
ed that desire would have been attained.
But the Clerk of the Court suggested that
my request be changed to the form of a motion,
with which suggestion I willingly complied.
Motions are granted or denied in open court,
hence mine inevitably became public.
WILLIAM L. HILLYER,
Armament Race
To the Editor of The St«r:
Your editorial attitude that we should arm
ourselves to such an extent that no other na
tion will attack us reminds me of an episode
in a comic strip of another newspaper. It
seems more appropriate now than ever.
Mr. Blank was discussing his plan for world
peace. Its three points were as follows:
(1) No nation would think of attacking a
stronger nation.
<2) Thus, every nation must agree to in
crease its armed might beyond that of any
other nation.
(3) Therefore, a perpetual armistice will re
sult.
Mr. Blank remarks that this plan has been
put into effect several times, but each time
was interrupted by a war. O. B.
Holy Land Conference Urged
To the Editor of The Star:
Recognition of the Jewish state of Israel
apparently has touched off a powderkeg of
repercussions. Why all this conflict?
The average reader knows little or nothing
of the causes of the turmoil in the Holy Land.
Why cannot The Star present an unbiased
history of both sides of the case? Invite a
Jewish and an Arab spokesman to sit down
at a conference table, presided over by an
impartial moderator, and discuss the reasons
why two races of people are continually at
each other’s throats.
There must be some basis upon which a
reasonable settlement of differences can be
achieved. HARRY TRAUB. *
r
Stars, Men and Atoms
U. S. Doctors Look Ahead
To Atom-Bomb Emergency
Can Do Little to Counteract Effects
Of Deadly Radiation From Blast
By Thomas R. Henry
America's doctors are looking ahead to an
atomic-bomb emergency—but with a feeling of
futility.
There is very little they will be able to do,
as the picture stands at present, to counteract
the effects of the deadly radiations which will
deluge the bodies of everybody in the vicinity
of such a blast.
There is one effect, in fact, which is com
pletely new to medical science—that of "neu
tron beams.” Neutrons, electrically uncharged
particles shot out in all directions, are the
bullets of the new alchemy. They hit the
atoms of the elements making up the body
and transmute them into other elements which
are radioactive. They may remain so for a
long time, shooting out killing radiations
against the body cells around them.
Similar to X-Rays.
The primary effect of neutrons is very
similar to that of X-rays, but the damage from
an overdose of X-radiation is instantaneous,
although observable symptoms may not appear
for some time. The transmuted elements re
main active for days, or even for generations,
and there is no conceivable way at present of
getting them out of the body.
Still a doctor’s feeling of futility is not en
tirely justified. Many of the injuries produced
by an atomic-bomb explosion would be burns,
cuts, broken bones and the like, with whose
treatment he is thoroughly familiar. He would
find that one of his major functions would be
as a public health officer. Most food in a
bombed area would be unfit for consumption,
and all would have to be surveyed before it
could be eaten safely. All the water in the
region probably would contain radioactive iso
topes, which would make it act like a slow
poison. Research is in progress on means to
purify this water. Obviously the usual boiling
or chlorination would be worthless, but there
is some indication that filtration methods can
be developed.
Lessons From Japan.
The Army, particularly is training Its med
ical officers in the basic duties which would
devolve upon them, based largely on studies
of the postbomb experiences at Hiroshima and
Nagasaki. One Important line of research
being followed is in the efficacy of whole blood
transfusions, since it has been established that
one of the most serious of radiation injuries
is to the blood-forming elements in the bone
marrow.
Lessons still are being learned from the fate
of the Japanese survivors. One of the findings
is that there is probably no great need to
worry about the emergence of a race of human
monsters due to the effects on the generative
organs. The general efTect, it is found, is to _
kill germ cells rather than to alter their
hereditary mechanism.
Some of the most alarming effects, such as
the falling out of the hair, have been found
to have little real significance. They come
from superficial radiation and will clear up
naturally in the course of time if the victim
has not otherwise received a deadly dose.
Questions and Answers
A resdsr cun ie. the answer to any suestlon of
fact by writlna The Evenintt Star Information
Bureau. Slfi Eye street N.E. Washington 2. D. C.
Please Inclose three (3) cents for return postaue.
By THE HASKIN SERVICE.
Q. In what country was there at one time a
measure known as the uphill mile and the
downhill mile?—D. R.
A. In ancient China. The Chinese felt that
since it was harder to walk uphill than down
hill, the uphill mile should be shorter.
Q. What is considered to be a desirable
rate of weight reduction?—G. H. T.
A. A pound a week is regarded as the most
desirable rate by many authorities for any
protracted period of weight reduction. At the
beginning of the program a weight loss of two
pounds a week is not excessive.
Q. please define the term disc jocxey ?—r a.
A. “Disc jockeys” are radio personalities who
play records and at Intervals chatter about,
the music, musicians, or any other topic that
may be of interest.
Q. How long before July 4, 1777, did Govern
ment officials plan an observance of the first
anniversary of Independence Day?—B. P.
A. Writing to his young daughter on July
S, 1777, John Adams said: “The thought of
taking any notice of this day was not con
ceived until the second of this month, and it
was not mentioned until the third. It was too
late to have a sermon, as everyone wished, so
this must be deferred another year.” On July
4, 1777, Adams, taking an evening stroll was
“surprised to find the whole city lighting up
their candles at the windows • • • I think it
was the most splendid illumination I ever saw.”
Q. Where Is the oldest living tree in the
world?—B. M. G.
A. There are many conflicting statements
and from available evidence it Is not possible
to make a definite statement. Contenders
for the honor are the Oaxaca Cypress in Mexi
co, the age of which is estimated variously
at 2.000 years up to 8,000 years. In a grove
of Macrozamia trees in Queensland, Australia,
certain individuals have been estimated to be
over 12,000 years old. The General Sherman
Sequoia in California is said to have been 2,000
years old when Jesus was bom.
Q. How many years would it take a man to
spend a billion dollars at the rate of a thousand
dollars a day?—D. B. K.
A. If a man began on the first day of the
Christian Era to spend a thousand dollars a
day, it would take him until AD. 2739 to dis
pose of one billion dollars.
Q Who wrote "God Be With You TUI We
Meet Again”?—G. D. E. _
A. The author was an American clergyman,
Jeremiah Eames Rankin. The hymn was first
sung in the First Congregational Church of
Washington. D. C„ in 1882 and subsequently
popularized by Moody and Sankey.
Q. Does it happen often that presidential
candidates are nominated on the first ballot?—
D. Y.
A. Since the Civil War two thirds of the Re
publican presidential candidates have been
nominated on the first ballot. Only half the
Democratic candidates during the same period
were nominated on the first ballot.
Perspective
The smallest creatures of the day and
night
Reveal the mystic power of the weak....
The digger-wasp, with all its tiny might
Will sink a shaft and diligently seek
To trap plump worms within to feed her
young.
The hornet, of ripe wood-pulp slowly
weaves
Firm paper sheets that on her nest are
hung.
The infant moth will fashion bark and
leaves
As raiment for its tissue nakedness.
The glowworm flashes incandescent
light.
And for the sleepless one with heart sore
pressed
The whipporwill pours music on the
night;
Yet pridefully men boast of ships and
locks,
Of blinking planes, and music from a boa.
MARIK HENDERSON WOOD.
f