Evening star. [volume], June 08, 1948, Page A-8, Image 8

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

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With Sunday Morning Edition.
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TUESDAY, June 8, 194B
This Money Goes a Long Way
The Star again invites generous Wash
ingtonians to share the satisfaction of
sending children to summer camps this
year. A little money goes a long way. For
$35.44 a child is taken from the hot city
streets and given two weeks of glorious
adventure in the country. It means a
lot to the children. And from past experi
ence, it means something, to those who
make this possible.
The Star’s fund goes to make up a
deficit. Two camps, Camp Good Will and
Camp Pleasant, receive an allotment each
year from the Community Chest drive.
But if the chest fund is not fully sub
scribed, a deficit is written in terms of
children who cannot go to camp. Every
dollar sent to The Star’s fund goes to
piake up this deficit; helps to add one
more child and to reduce the waiting list
nf those who might have gone had the
money been available.
The fund received a fine start this year
when members of the Republican and
Democratic Parties in Congress staged
their classic baseball game in its behalf.
But the fund is still shy of meeting the
full quota of children for whom there is
room in the camps. Washingtonians will
not w'ant vacant places at the camp tables
or unoccupied cots this summer because
the money was lacking. So every con
tribution will be gratefully received and
well spent.
If there is a surplus of funds, as there
was last year, it will go to other camps
for children. Camp Good Will and Camp
Pleasant, for whose primary benefit the
money is sought, cater to children whose
names are sent to the Summer Outing
Committee of the Family Service Associa
tion from more than a score of agencies,
settlement houses, hospitals anil churches.
These children can contribute only their
shining faces and their bright laughter;
Washingtonians who feel Inclined must
contribute the rest.
Madam Kulikovska
At Montreal tomorrow, scarcely noticed
by the world, a dramatic footnote to the
history of modem times will be acted out.
The principal character in the incident
will be a little old woman known as Madam
Kulikovska. She is a passenger on an
emigrant ship and when she comes ashore
she will be accompanied by her husband,
a retired colonel, their two sons, two
daughters-in-law and two grandchildren;
also by Emilia Tenso, a member of the
family household for nearly half a century.
These people are seeking a new home in
Ontario. They represent the centrifugal
force in human society in our time. Almost
literally they have been expelled from the
place and the station which normally
should have been theirs by Inheritance.
Events in 1918 made Madam Kulikovska
and her husband farmers in Denmark.
Now. after three decades, the same com
pulsions drive them further toward the
perimeter of tolerable existence. They
belong to the latest order of Canadian
pioneers.
Of course, the earth is full of persons
similarly displaced. For Madam Kulikov
ska, however, change in fortune probably
has meant more than like experience has
meant to the majority of her contempo
raries. It happens that she was born a
grand duchess. Her father was Alexander
in, Czar of all the Russias; her mother
was the Danish Princess Dagmar, who at
her marriage took the name Marie Feo
riorovna. Queen Alexandra, wife of King
Edward VII of England, was her aunt. Her
brother was Nicholas II, murdered with
his wife, son and four daughters, July 16,
1918, in the Communist revolution.
What tragic memories Madam Kulikov
ska brings with her to the New World are
her own burden: She does not ask sym
pathy. Instead, knowing as she does how
many thousands upon thousands of people
of every class and condition have suffered
and sorrowed these past fifty years, she
wishes only to be regarded as one of the
multitude. But she does personify the
tremendous impact ot social and political
dynamics in our epoch. Trying to start
over again, she symbolizes the hope and
the courage which are necessary factors
in any endeavor to survive anywhere under
the prevailing blight of chaos in humah
affairs.
Preserving a Parkway
Harsh though the ruling may seem at
first glance, the decislgn of the National
Capital Park and Planning Commission to
deny the request of a Fairfax County
apartment builder for special access to the
Mount Vernon Memorial boulevard is in
line with well-established policy.
From the earliest beginnings of this
scenic highway along the Virginia shore
of the Potomac River it has been stated
and restated that the boulevard's memorial
character would be preserved at all times;
that commercial encroachments of what
ever nature would be resisted. This pur
pose has been approved by Congress in
granting appropriations for the purchase
of extensive areas of park land along both
tides of the boulevard, to pfotect its beauty
*nd its sentimental aspect. The boulevard
|s & link in Jhe still uncompleted George
"\
Washington Memorial parkway, which
eventually will connect Mount Vernon with
Great Falls, site of Washington’s ill-fated
canal project.
To criss-cross the boulevard with ap
proaches to apartment and housing enter
prises, with their inevitable shopping and
business developments, would be a de
parture from the original purposes of
those who planned the highway. These
communities can gain access to the boule
vard through existing approaches. The
commission would not be Justified in au
thorizing any drastic change in policy
without congressional approval. It is
extremely doubtful that Congress would
approve such a change. The general
public interest should control in this
matter, not the convenience of new
developments.
Germany, Russia and the West
Soviet policy is primarily responsible for
the potentially explosive six-nation plan
for the political and economic unification
of Western Germany. Had the Kremlin
lived up to the Potsdam Agreement, this
far-reaching and fateful development
accentuating the grim division that exists
in the world—would never have been
necessary. But it is necessary now because
Russian nay-saying and Russian expan
sionism have made it an undertaking
essential to the success of the European
Recovery Program and the security of the
West.
As worked out by representatives of the
United States, Britain, France, Belgium,
the Netherlands and Luxembourg, the
m^in features of the plan may be outlined
as follows: (1) Though remaining po
litically a part of Germany, the industrial
Ruhr is to be controlled by the six powers
and integrated with the ERP; (2) measures
are to be taken under which the Western
Germans will hold a constituent assembly
to draft a democratic constitution for a
federal government with adequate central
authority; (3) under this constitution they
will be able eventually to achieve com
plete self-rule through the whole of their
country; (4) In the beginning, however,
they will be setting up a separate, trun
cated state under the thumb of the
military governors in the Anglo-French
American zones of occupation, but the
hope is that Russia ultimately will permit
the Red Army zone to Join the new
Germany; and (5) meanwhile, France,
B'ritain and the United States will co
ordinate their zonal economies as much
as possible, and they will commit them
selves to specific steps guarding against
the resurgence of German militarism.
Although the plan is at pains to empha
size that it does not preclude, but rather
facilitates, eventual Russian participation
in an over-all perman settlement, it obvi
ously creates an Immediate prospect of
partition. And that in turn creates a
number of serious but unavoidable risks.
In the first place, when and if the plan
is ratified by the six governments present
ing it, the Germans themselves—who dread
the idea of seeing their country parti
tioned—may lend less than popular support
to the projected new state, which would
embrace two-thirds of Germany’s present
population and industrial capacity. In
the second place, the proposal may cause
a political crisis in France, for the De
Gaullists are dissatisfied with its guaran
tees against a resurgent Germany and
they may therefore Join the Communists
in opposing it. In the third place, the
Soviet Union may seize upon it as Justifi
cation for a violent attempt to oust the
Anglo-French-American authorities from
Berlin—a development that could have
the gravest physical and psychological
consequences. Finally, in an over-all
sense, the undertaking is bound to have
the initial effect of making the gulf be
tween East and West seem deeper than
ever, thus dimming further what little
hope remains for building a decent and
enduring peace.
But these and similar risks are out
weighed by the larger risk of doing nothing
about Germany. Three years have passed
since V-E day. In all that time, repeatedly
violating the Potsdam Agreement, the
Soviet Union has persistently paralyzed
the effort to bring about the economic
unification of Hitler's shattered Reich and
employ its great productive potential to
help put Europe back on its feet. This
policy, of course, has been aimed at pro
longing chaos and depression in order to
make it easier for the Kremlin to spread
its dominance over the entire continent.
To acquiesce in such a policy, to take no
action to counter it, would be merely to
let the Red tide roll on wherever it willed.
With their new plan, however, the United
States and the Western Allies have made
clear that .they do not propose to be
engulfed. In effect, recognizing the de
cisive importance of Germany in divided
Europe’s deadly power contest, they have
served notice of their determination to
smash the menacing stalemate caused by
Russia. Whatever the risks Involved, this
course is far better than letting the
paralysis continue. The recovery and
safety of the West demand it. The Krem
lin may react violently, but if it wants a
showdown, this probably is the right time
for one.
Church Crisis in Hungary
What looks like a head-on collision
between the Roman Catholic Church and
the Communist-dominated government of
Hungary appears imminent. Such a clash
has been expected ever since the Com
munists seized power there and began
transforming the country's national life
into a typical “People's Republic" on the
Soviet pattern. Indeed, tense relations
between church and state are inevitable
under any totalitarian regime; since, in
the totalitarian concept, religion, like.
everything else, must be subordinated to
its authority and be either proscribed or
made to function for totalitarian ends.
What distinguishes the current crisis in
Hungary from similar tensions in other
countries behind the Iron Curtain is the
boldness with which the Roman Church
has met the Communist challenge. The
crisis was precipitated by the government’s
plan to nationalize parochial schools.
Cardinal Mindszenty, primate of Hungary,
has threatened to excommunicate any
Catholic who supports the plan and has
issued a pastoral letter condemning the
government for its terroristic pressure
tactics and telling Catholics to stop read
ing official newspapers or listening to
Ijjjoadcasts likewise under offlcia^ control.
I \
L riot of protesting Catholic villagers has ’
brought sharp warnings from Communist
spokesmen that no opposition to the gov
ernment’s program will be tolerated and
that all who do so “will share the fate of
traitors together with Mindszenty, who is
a deadly enemy of the people.”
If a decisive struggle between church
and state is imminent, it is interesting to
observe it taking place in Hungary, rather
than in a country like Poland, where both
sides have thus far avoided a showdown
tattle. The Hungarians are a deeply
religious people, but their national life
has not been polarized around the Roman
Church, as in Poland. Creedal diversity
has characterized Hungary ever since the
Reformation. While almost two-thirds of
the people are Roman Catholics, more
than one-quarter are Protestants of sev
eral denominations, including Unitarians.
In addition, there is a small Greek Ortho
dox minority and a considerable Jewish
element. Religious animosities have his
torically been overlaid in Hungary by an
ardent patriotism which has tended to
weld all Hungarians into a national unity.
At the same time, Hungarians are tena
cious of their legal rights and privileges.
They therefore react strongly when the
field of religion is invaded, as it now is
by the new totalitarian state. Religion
is apt to be an especially explosive issue.
It is thus probable that a conflict between
church and state in Hungary will involve
all the nation’s traditional idealisms which
the Communist regime is attempting to
override or destroy.
Senator Capper and Washington
Washingtonians generally will share the
“many pleasant memories” with which^
Senator Capper will look back upon his
thirty years of service at the Capitol. The
veteran Kansas Senator’s decision to re
tire at the end of his present term will
deprive the citizens of this disfranchised
community of a faithful and sympathetic
friend and an ardent champion in the
halls of Congress.
Throughout his long term in the Senate
Mr. Capper has had two groups of con
stituents. His first love, of course, were
the people of his native State—especially
that large proportion of them that make
their living from tilling the soil. Farming
was his chief Interest, one consideration
which led him to choose the chairmanship
of the Senate Agriculture Committee
rather than of the Foreign Relations Com
mittee when he was confronted with a
choice in 1946.
His second constituency has comprised
the residents of the District of Columbia.
He came to know their unique problems
and to understand their aspirations as few
other men in or outside of Congress have
known or understood them. He never was
too busy with other affairs to hear the
pleas of local citizens, to study their needs
or to appeal to his colleagues on their
behalf.
” Senator Capper says he approaches
retirement from public life with "few
regrets.” That is understandable. He
has lived a life of useful service, he has
been happy in the esteem of his neighbors
and he has been highly successful as a
publisher of periodicals identified with
the best interests of his people. He has
every reason for satisfaction; little reason
for any regrets.
This and That
By Charles E. Tracewell
“SUMMIT PLACE.
“Dear Sir:
“We were away from the farm for almost
two weeks, and left a metal bucket on a slatted
washstand near the pump.
- “Hie bucket, upside down, extended an Inch
or more over the edge.
“When we returned there was a wren’s nest
under the bucket—with a necessary entrance
from below—and it grew to six eggs.
“We lifted the bucket carefully two or three
times. But the wrens flew around and seem
ingly paid no heed to us.
"This week end we lifted the bucket and
found all the eggs gone. There were no telltale
shells below; there was no apparent disarray of
the nest. We see no more of the wrens down
there, though there were wrens in the higher
trees.
“The table was wily a foot and a half from
the ground. A snake could have gotten the
eggs. I think, but he surely would have tom up
the nest or upset the bucket.
“We are baffled. Maybe vou have an answer.
“Yours, C. M.”
* * * *
Natural enemies of the wren eggs are shrews,
field mice, chipmunks and snakes.
Any one of these could remove the eggs with
out. leaving a trace.
Our guess—and it is only a guess—is that a
chipmunk was responsible.
This marvelous little animal is an enemy of
birds. He even can climb trees after them—at
least for about 10 to 15 feet.
Any one who has admired his bright eyes,
however, will be willing to forgive him a few
eggs.
A chipmunk, too must live, and old Mother
Nature tells him what to eat.
* * * *
House wrens usually incubate six or seven
eggs.
Jenny perches on the eggs for 12 days, as a
rule, and then 10 days must pass before the
little ones can fly and leave the nest.
If she utilizes a man-made house, with a
small entrance, she is saved one disaster—she
does not have to hatch out and feed a cowblrd
baby, because the mother cowbird cannot get
in the nest.
Jenny Wren has a reputation as a shrew, but
it is a tossup whether she is any worse than
Johnny Wren.
He is a male flirt.
Often he pitches the eggs of the nest onto
the ground, and do you know why?
Because he has another mate, and thinks it
too much trouble to try and assist in bringing
up two broods at once!
* * * * ^
In such a case, Jenny Just begins over again,
hoping' that Johnny will come back to her.
The old man, who shows up first in the
spring, selects sticks and carries them to all the
wren houses in the neighborhood.
When Jenny arrives, she looks over what he
has done.
According to reliable authority, Johnny Wren
never does much to suit Jenny.
When she sees those sticks, she immediately
begins to take them out, and to make a nest
to suit her own ideas.
After all, it is mostly her affair.
* * * *
She looks around for suitable material.
Sometimes she sees a snakeskin, and takes a
nip at it. Occasionally, the snake is still in it—
and them she may lose the tip of her tail.
If Jenny starts from scratch, as the saying
has it, in building a complete nest, it takes her
a full five days.
A neat wren trick is to play dead, or the
equivalent thereto, in case the wrens think too
many humans are paying attention to the nest.
They seem to desert the nest, but actually do
not do so. What they do is take to the bushes
a few feet away, and remain absolutely silent.
If the watcher thinks the wrens have left, he
may give the eggs away, which is a mistake,
because the birds are right there waiting for
him to go away.
Wren eggs are white or pale pink, and quite
■mall, as befitting sjch little birds.
The 6-Power Plan for Germany
It Must Survive Russian “Unity” Propaganda and French
Fears of a “Fourth Reich”
By Newbold Noyes, Jr.
The new six-power plan for Western Ger
many has been a long time coming. When the
foreign ministers’ Moscow conference broke up
in frustration last spring, the western leaders
were pretty well convinced they would get no
agreement with Russia on Germany. Not, any
way, in what they hopefully called the “pres
ent situation.’’ The way to reach a solution,
they decided, was to change the situation. If
they changed it entftgh, Russia might eventu
ally agree to adjust her ambitions to the reali
ties of the new setup.
In London, last autumn, we made one more
attempt to talk Russia into a joint Big-Ifour
answer to the German problem. When that last
try proved futile, the western powers went to
work on the situation.
Already, they have gone a long way toward
changing it. In wrestling with the problems of
the day, we are prone to lose sight of the prog
ress made. Here in the United States, tem
porarily at least, we have succeeded in shatter
ing the Soviet dream that we will disarm our
selves into oblivion. In Italy, we have shown the
Communists the limitations of their strength
where the ballot box is the arena. We have
evolved a recovery plan for Europe, and a hope
ful outline of West-European economic unity.
Both these programs now are moving from the
alueprint stage to the stage of action—dedicated
to the proposition that hopelessness and hun
ger, in a man or a community, do not mix well
with freedom. And we have good reason to
think we are on the right track, for the reaction
to the Marshall Plan and Western Union con
cepts has been as unfavorable in eastern Europe
as it has been favorable in the west.
The new agreement on Germany, announced
yesterday by the United States, Britain, Prance
and the Benelux countries, fits into the pattern
as the first real step by the Western Powers
toward “changing the situation” in Germany
itself. Since Russia has blocked German unity
so far by insisting it be established only on
her terms, we now propose to unify that part
of Germany which the Western Powers control,
and to establish it as a federated state.
It is clear we must do something of this
sort, if for no other reason than that, without
it, ERP and a Western Union are both un
workable. ,
An Attempt to Fill a Vacuum.
The Marshall recovery program is aimed, of
course, at setting Western Europe back on its
economic feet—at helping it re-establish itself
as a going economic concern dependent on
nobody’s charity. Western Germany is Europe’s
powerhouse. With it, the economy of the
West-European bloc could be a strong one.
Without it, the margin of power to make the
Marshall, Plan work would be lacking, no
matter how much aid we might pour into
the rest of Europe. As well try to make a
car run without its motor. Gasoline alone
would not do the trick.
On the political side, the blunt idea behind
the Western Union proposal is to build up a
unit which can effectively balance Soviet
Russia’s East-European bloc. Again, such a
balance can scarcely be achieved when Ger
many remains a political vacuum of great
potential weight, floating in the middle. Even
if it could be so achieved, there would be no
assurance of its being maintained.
We are tired, then, of simply pouring money
into Western Germany. We have agreed with
five other powers, after more than three
months' discussion in London, that we will
convert the three western zones of occupation
from so many liabilities into one pillar of our
design for Europe. It is a sound decision. But
we should realize, in making It, that we are
subject to two important forms of attack.
These twin criticisms are worth considering,
for in the contrast between them can be found
the essential dilemma of the German problem.
On the one hand, we are accused of destroying
German “unity" by setting up a state which
does not include the Russian zone of occupa
tion. On the other hand, we are accused of
opening the way for the establishment of a
new Frankenstein monster—the fourth Ger
man Reich, capable of threatening the con
tinent with domination once again.
We are, in other words, damned because we
unify Germany and damned because we don't.
The accusation that we are destroying Ger
man unity comes from Russia and her friends.
The fact that it is propaganda for German con
sumption, pure and simple, does not mean we
can afford to ignore it.
• The accusation that we are opening the
door to a new nationalistic and militaristic
Germany comes mainly from opposition critics
of the Schuman regime #1 France, and from
other sincere and worried Europeans on the
German border.
The result of the London talks represents a
compromise attempt to meet these two criti
cisms. The announced decision had to go
far enough toward setting up a real German
state to be defensible against an anticipated
propaganda blast in behalf of German
behalf, that is to say, of an all
German government cut to the Soviet pattern.
But it also had to provide enough guarantees
against German resurgence to be acceptable to
the French people, who must be convinced if
this plan is to go through.
Anticipated Russian Move.
The Russian countermove is expected to
take a form something like this: When the
Soviet stooges in the eastern zone of Germany
have finished collecting signatures to a petition
calling for unity of all four zones under a
provisional ‘‘people’s government,” Russia will
call a meeting of the Allied Control Council.
This might be in another week or so. It will
be claimed, on the basis of the petition, that
some 90 per cent of the electorate of the
Russian zone want such a government.
When the Control Council turns down this
idea, Russia is expected to allow their “all
German” government to establish itself in
Berlin as a rival to our western government.
The idea would be that such a regime, located
at the traditional center of German power,
would have a strong national appeal to the
Germans in all zones, placing our Frankfurt
on-the-Main government in a psychological
shadow and tending to disrupt our plans for
a united Western Germany.
The feeling here is that the Germans are not
likely to be overimpressed by a Russian inspired
rival government, recognized only in the Soviet
sphere and consisting only of representatives
of the Communist-front Socialist Unity Party.
Our “Germany” would have nearly three times
as many Germans in it as Russia’s “Germany,"
Its government, it is felt, would have a greater
claim on the German mind as the true govern
ment of a “unified” Germany than would any
Russian puppet setup in Berlin.
The compromise nature of the agreement is
evident in those sections of the communique
designed to allay French and other fears of
the consequences of building Germany again
as a unified state. If Western Germany is
the European powerhouse, the Ruhr Basin, with
its coal and steel, is the German powerhouse.
Prance wanted the Ruhr placed under inter
national control, divorced from Germany. They
got the international control—by the six powers
and the new, West-German state—but the
Ruhr will remain a part of Germany. To have
severed it from the territory of Germany would
have been to give the Russians a real talking
point in their “unity” propaganda.
Fran£ sought and got an agreement j^at
we and the British would not pull our troops
out of Germany without consulting her. She
also got a promise that when the time comes
to step out, we will consult with one another
as to methods of insuring Germany’s con
tinued demilitarization. France would have
liked more by way of guarantees—it remains
to be seen whether she will accept as adequate
the ones secured by Foreign Minister Bldault.
The betting is the agreement will survive the
attack of Gen. de Gaulle’s party in the coming
debate in the National Assembly.
It should. For there can be no answer to
the German problem today* which does not
derive from the proposition that Germany is—
must be—in and of Europe. Western Europe
cannot make itself strong in relation to Ger
many by keeping Germany weak. It cannot
regain its strength without Germany. Its
security—against Germany no less than against
Russia—lies in seeing to it that Western Ger
many, under proper safeguards, returns to
health and strength this time as a part of the
community of democratic nations rather than
as a neurotic outlaw on the geopolitical loose.
Of course Germany should not be dis
membered, any more than Europe should be.
But as to Russia’s propaganda for German
unity, the essential question would seem to
be this: When it is impossible, under prevail
ing circumstances, for four parts of a whole
to unite, is it a step toward disunity when
three of them unite? The Russians say it is.
Theirs is a strange logic, the same kind which
has enabled them to hold out against Big
Four agreement on Germany for three years,
all the while accusing the other three powers
of obstructionism. ,
Now, still in the hope that full federal unity
may eventually be achieved in Germany, we
are going to try to bring some new induce
ments to bear. We are going, in other worda,
to try to “change the situation.'*
Letters to The Star
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.
In Defense of Guatemala’s Roads
To the Editor of The St*r:
On the 2d of the current month The Star
in a short article entitled “Guatemala Tourist
Boom,” stated that Guatemalan roads are in
a "deplorable condition.”
Kris statement is not true because roads in
Guatemala are in good shape, and the govern
ment is doing everything possible to improve and
extend them to different places within the
country.
By a recent contract signed with the Johnson
Drake Company, the roads leading to the
counties of Escuintla and Santa Rosa will be
paved.
A Guatemalan engineer—Hector Chacon Paz
—is at present in New York City la charge of
supervising and shipping to Guatemala new
machinery that, costing approximately one
million dollars, is destined for aaid project.
Considering that the article in question may
possibly give prospective American tourists the
wrong idea, I would be very much obliged if
you could publish this Embassy's statement
regarding Guatemalan roads.
FRANCISCO LINARES-ARANDA,
Counselor of the Embassy of Guatemala.
Rudeness at the White House
To tho Editor of The Stir:
I have just completed a two weeks’ sight
seeing tour including Washington, the first I
have made since the start of the War, but the
fifteenth of my life. I always enjoy seeing
the sights in the Capital and appreciate the
courtesies shown to visitors. This trip was en
joyed except for my visit to the White House
where I and others were treated rudely.
We arrived at the White House during a light
rain and this apparently was the reason for
the discourtesy of the guards. All people present
were growled at and told to stay in line by twos
and obliged to move on so fast that one could
scarcely view the paintings and other deco
rations. When we arrived at the front door,
the guards had the unmitigated gall to force
people outside in the downpour that was falling.
Chicago, 111. JACK W. JOHNSON.
Farm Holdings in East Prussia
To the Editor of The Star:
In an editorial in The Sunday Star, May 30,
entitled "Satellite Collective Farming,” it was
stated: "The one place where collectivization
seems to be successful is In the northern part
of the former German province of East Prus
sia. • • • The reason for this local success is
two-fold. In the first place, East Prussia was a
land of great estates held by the Junkers, and
those estates were not divided into srriall hold
ings but were kept intact as collective farms ”
A similar Idea In regard to the type of farm
ing and system of land tenure existing In East
Prussia before the war seems to be generally
accepted among writers on war or postwar
subjects. Evidently, however, it does not agree
with the facts. Witness the following quota
tion from “The Course of German History” by
A. J. P. Taylor of Magdalen College, Oxford,
1946, page 29, which clearly refutes what
appears to be a prevailing misconception about
both agricultural and political conditions in
East Prussia before the war: "Junker estates
predominated in all the Prussian provinces
east of the Elbe, In fact, predominated more
In Brandenburg, Silesia, and Pomerania than
in East Prussia. For in East Prussia the pagan
‘Prussian’ inhabitants were exterminated by
the Teutonic Knights, and their land given to
free German colonists, who remained inde
pendent farmers: in the Brandenburg lands
there was less extermination and the inhab
itants were transformed into serfs. This ex
plains the apparent paradox that in the nine- .
tee nth century the most strenuous liberal
opposition to Junker methods of government
came from the representatives of East Prussia,
who had all the colonial fanner’s dislike of j
aristocrats. The rural districts of East Prussia
were the backbone of Prussian liberalism until
the desire for agrarian protection bought great '
estate owners and small farmers together in
the eighteen-eighties.”
The second reason given in the editorial as
to why collectivization in former East Prussia
has been successful (if true), namely: That
the Inhabitants had been expelled and their
places filled by colonists, docile members of j
the new collective system, imported from the
Soviet Union, is probably closer to the true
reason. » WALTER FISCHER.
‘Home-Made’ Fun Approved
To the Editor of The 8t»r:
Your editorial "School and Home.” May 24,
referring to Dr. Bernard Iddlngs Bell's at- .
titude toward problems concerning the younger ^
generation, contains material about which |
many people seem indifferent. I am glad
that Dr. Bell has volunteered his honest j
opinions, and I believe if his idea of “home
made and home-centered” fun became a prac
tice, many competitive outside Interests, which
young people have been forced to accept,
would lose their attractions. _
MR£tD. N. HULFISH.
The Political Mill
G. 0. P. Convention Faces
Ordeal of Speechmaking
Nominations to Take Seven Hours
Plus Time for Demonstrations
By Gould Lincoln
Two weeks hence delegates and visitors to
the Republican National Convention—not to
mention millions of listeners on the air—will be
going through a terrible ordeal. For seven
hours (perhaps more) they are slated to hear
about "the man who" from all kinds of speak
ers, some of them indifferent enough. Five
announced candidates for the Republican presi
dential nomination, and at least seven "fa
vorite-son" candidates are expected to be
placed formally in nomination. It makes no
difference that some of them haven’t a China
man’s chance. Their virtues and accomplish
ments will be given in detail to a crowd of
delegates anxious to get down to the job of
balloting, and to a crowd of visitors just as
anxious to have the business get underway.
There seems nothing to be done about it,
however.
Under the rules for, nominating speeches ad
vanced now by the committee on arrangements
for the national convention, principal nomi
nating speeches are to be limited to 15 minutes
—no more. With such a plethora of candidates
to be placed in nomination this is a pleasant
change from the old practice of allowing a half
hour. Hie catch lies, however, in the rule
which authorizes four seconding speeches, lim
ited to five minutes each. This allows a total
of 35 minutes for each of the 13 prospective
candidates—or a total of 420 minutes or T
hours.
Time for Demonstrations.
To this total must be added the time out
for demonstrations—when the band and the
organ blare and more or less frenzied men and
women, bearing banners and howling like a
band of Comanche Indians, lurch around the
convention hall. It's all part of the game, but
hard to take.
In the good old days when A1 Smith, F. D. R.,
William Gibbs McAdoo were striving—at vari
ous times—for a Democratic presidential nom
ination, it was a point of honor with their
supporters to out-demonstrate each other. The
record demonstration period ran well over an
hour. The Republicans have been more re
strained in their national conventions. In
1940, it is true, the Willkie followers staged
quite a demonstration when he was placed in
nomination by Charlie Halleck of Indiana,
now the majority leader of the House, who
may himself this time be placed in nomina
tion as a favorite son of the Hoosier State.
But take it by and large, the Republicans have
been able to restrain themselves to a greater
degree than their Democratic opponents.
Under the tentative program for the coming
Republican convention, nominating speeches
for presidential candidates will begin Wednes
day night. The framers of the program say
hopefully they expect balloting to begin
Wednesday night also. Unless, however, some
of these so-called favorite son candidates can
be prevailed upon not to have their names laid
before the convention, but merely have their
State delegations vote for them on the first
ballot, and as many succeeding ballots as they
wish, it will be early Thursday morning before
the nominating speeches are concluded. There
seems—and is—no apparent way of drawing
the line. For example, who is going to deny such
candidates as Senator Martin of Pennsylvania,
Senator Baldwin of Connecticut and Senator
Saltonstall of Massachusetts (all former gover
nors) the delightful privilege of having their
names presented to the convention? The
answer, of course' is "no one."
Candidates and Dark Horses.
The five announced candidates whose names
will be placed in nomination are Dewey of New
York, Taft of Ohio, Stassen of Minnesota, War
ren of California and MacArthur of Wisconsin.
The unannounced are, in addition to the three
already mentioned, Driscoll of New Jersey, Green
of Illinois, Reece of Tennessee, and Halleck of
Indiana. One so-called darkhorse candidate—
not so dark—Senator Vandenberg of Michigan
—has urged the Michigan Republicans not to
place his name before the convention. They
may respect his wishes. Another candidate of
similar hue is Speaker Joe Martin of Massa
chusetts. If supporters of these gentlemen are
unable to hold back, the nominating period may
be considerably extended. The Martin strategy
is to hold back, however, until there is a dead
lock in the convention over the first flight of
candidates—and then have the Massachusetts
and other delegations turn to him.
The Democrats this year may get off easier—
indeed, they should. President Truman’s name
will be placed in nomination and an effort made
to have the nominations rest there. The anti
Truman sentiment in the South—and In some
of the northern and western states, may burst
out and bring other nominations. Henry Wal
lace's followers at the New Party convention
will have many speeches made for one man and
let it go at that.
Answers to Questions
A reader can get the answer to any queatlon of
fact by writing The Evening Star Information
Bureau, 31A Eye atreet N.E., Washington 2. D C.
Please inclose three (3) cents for return postage.
By THE HASKIN SERVICE.
Q. How many persons can be accommodated
in the Hollywood Bowl?—E. R. T.
A. The capacity of the Bowl is 20.000. How
ever, the all-time record of paid admissions
was 26,410 on August 7, 1946.
Q. What Is the accepted date for the be
ginning of civilization?—W. S. T.
A. The beginning of human civilization has
been placed at aproximateily 4,000 B. C. Ex
cavations made a few years ago in Iraq, how
ever, revealed an even earlier civilization dating
back to 6000 B. C. These later finds were
made at Hassuna and give evidence of a
peaceful community of farmers who cultivated
the land, herded cattle, built brick houses and
made pottery.
Q. Is the Great Wall of China built entirely
of masonry?—C. V.
A. In some places the Great Wall is of
masonry, in others the space between the
masonry faces is filled in with stones and earth."
Q. Where was the first co-educational col
lege established in Michigan?—R. H.
A. Michigan Central College, the first co
educational instltiution in the State, was es
tablished at Spring Arbor in 1844.
What More Can Men Ask
What more can men ask in the way of
light
Than yesterday’s bright banners boldly
swirled:
A deaf man’s music holds the listening
world;
A madman’s tales still waken its delight.
What is there not to spur the will of men:
A stammering youth hailed for his golden
tongue;
A frail and sickly boy whose songs were
sung
With death’s dark figure shadowing his
pen.
Every age had its darkness and its pain,
Despair as rife and little understood
As now, but always men would rise again,
Make out of something evil, something
good.
Yesterday’s golden banners boldly sway:
What better lamp than this to light our
way? ETHEL BARNETT DE VITO, y
( ;