Evening star. [volume], June 21, 1948, Page A-10, Image 10

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

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A—10 MONDAY, June 21, 1948
Friend of the 'Little Fellow'
Senator Johnston of South Carolina ex
plained that he was fighting against a
local sales tax to protect the “little fellow.”
He was successful. His opposition all last
week and his one-man filibuster In the
closing hours of the session have strung
up this series of triumphs for the “little
fellow:”
1. No pay raise for District school teach
ers.
2. No pay raise for District police and
firemen; no increase in pensions for their
widows and orphans; indefinite postpone
ment of the authorized five-day week for
firemen.
3. No cost of living pay increase for
7.500 classified municipal workers,although
their fellow workers in the Federal Gov
ernment, doing precisely the same work
In the same community, have received
the increase.
4. A District budgeting mess that will
confront Congress next January with the
largest deficit in the city’s history, making
inevitable a greater increase in taxation
for everybody.
The sales tax was necessary to nnanee
the pay increases and to start in motion I
a collection of revenue for the fiscal year j
1950 that would reduce the deficit and
put the District on a sounder financial
basis. The alternative to a sales tax was
a doubling of property taxes within two
years, which would have brought about a
dangerous condition in Washington, af
fecting every rent-paying tenant and pen
alizing every home owner. Senator Cain J
was correct in refusing to release pay
increase legislation until the means were
found to pay the bill.
Senator Johnston blocked the only avail
able means. In opposing the sales tax he
offered no reasonable or attainable substi
tute. He has done the “little fellow” more
harm than the sales tax was capable of
doing. And he has done this without
having taken any responsible part in the
thorough study of District finances which
had shown the sales tax to be necessary
and which won over others vTho, disliking
the sales tax, were able to find no work
able substitute.
The resulting discrimination against
District employes is completely unfair, but
it makes plain the inescapable fact that
for every additional expenditure some new
form of taxation to pay for it must be
found. More than half of the States have
come to the sales tax as the least painful
and most productive source of revenue
remaining. It cannot be avoided in the
District. Senator Johnston has merely
rielayed its application on a basis that is
wholly lacking in common sense.
France "Accepts"
The nature and implications of France’s
adhesion to the London agreement on
Germany should not be misunderstood.
By-the narrowest of margins—only eight
votes with twenty-six abstentions—the
National Assembly authorized the govern
ment to go along with America, Britain
and the Benelux countries, all of which
had already approved the program for
Western Germany arrived at in the six
power London Conference.
This was a close squeak. And it was
attained only by supreme pressure from
the Schuman government, which threat
ened to resign if the Assembly refused its
authorization and warned of dire conse
quences should France be left in diplo
matic isolation through failure to go along
with its allies. Even so, success appears
largely due to the stanch support of Paul
Reynaud, a veteran parliamentarian who
commands general respect and occupies
an independent position in party politics.
Yet, with all this, the Assembly tacked
onto its grudging assent a series of reser
vations reaffirming the French stand on
the Ruhr, the political framework of
Western Germany, and the necessity for
safeguarding French security. Only by
assenting to these qualifications could the
government push authorization through.
Although this qualified assent may be
accepted by the five other powers, it is only
too clear that, in the implementation of
the program for Western Germany’s recon
struction, France will be a reluctant and
contentious partner, seeking to wrest fresh
concessions for its viewpoint and interpret
ing every measure according to its special
interests. This is not a good augury for
the successful implementation of the Lon
don Agreement. There is obviously lacking
that genuine meeting of minds on which
fruitful reconstruction so largely depends.
Already, the concessions made to France
have created grave doubts in Washington
and London, while arousing well-nigh uni
versal disappointment and resentment
among the Germans themselves. And it
is widely held that real German co
operation is needed to put through what
has been proposed.
To be sure, the major decisions taken
at London will now be carried out. The
Ruhr will function economically under six
power direction, the three western zones
will be merged and a constituent assembly
for Western Germany will convene about
September 1, with a governmental regime
for the entire region functioning some time
early next year. But full understanding
among the promoters of this evolution
will still be lacking, and this lack of unity
may prove a grave handicap In face of
the countermeasures which Soviet Russia
and Its German Communist supporters
will surely employ.
The pathway of West German recon
struction looks neither smooth nor easy.
The outlook is frankly dubious.
The Eightieth Congress
The record of things accomplished by
the Eightieth Congress since it first as
sembled in Washington in January, 1947,
is a sufficient answer to the President’s
contention that it has been the worst, or
at least next to the worst, Congress in
our history.
Actually, this first Republican Congress
in sixteen years, handicapped by the need
to accommodate itself to a President of
another political faith, accomplished a
great deal. One may not approve of all
things that were done, and one may be
justifiably critical because of some of
the things that were left undone, but the
record of achievement speaks fcfr itself.
The Eightieth Congress put its best
foot forward in the field of foreign rela
tions. For a while it looked very much
as though the constructive work of many
months was to be nullified by the blind
Intransigence of a few House members
in the closing hours of the session. But
this did not happen. The Republican
leaders, conscious no doubt of the gaping
holes that would be left in the platform
being put together at Philadelphia,
turned on the pressure and got the essen
tial things done. The manner of doing
it was not admirable, but before the
closing gavel fell the necessary funds for
the European Recovery Program had been
provided and an adequate draft law had
been enacted. These things, added to the
steps that had been taken previously,
constitute a creditable effort to prepare
this country for the assumption of its
unprecedented peacetime responsibilities.
It is, to say the least, far more than any
other Congress has been willing to do
except under the compulsion of actual
war.
Two accomplishments stand out in the
domestic field. One was the enactment
of the Taft-Hartley law, marking the
first time that any Congress had been
willing to deal with some of the more
flagrant abuses by organized labor. The
other was the reorganization of the armed
forces. The Eightieth Congress also re
duced Federal taxes, but both the wis
dom and the permanency of this are :
open to dwibt. For at the same time
large new expenditures in the foreign
field were approved and the economy
goal in domestic matters was not reached.
The chances are that higher taxes wi}l
have to be restored unless we are going
back to deficit financing.
The bill to repeal the oleo tax, the
Mundt bill to curb Communists and all
of the civil rights proposals fell by the
wayside. Something called a housing bill
was enacted, but it falls far short of the
Taft-Ellender-Wagner proposal. A dis
placed persons bill, which has been sub
jected to considerable criticism, and a com
promise farm price support bill were
squeezed through in the closing hours.
These unfinished items and the probable
need for improving some of those that
were passed in too much haste suggest
that It may become desirable to recall
the legislators before the tentative new
meeting date in late December. If so,
a way has been left open so that Congress
can be called back either by the President
or by the majority leaders.
All things considered, the most dis- j
turbing weakness shown by the Eightieth
Congress was the unwillingness of Re
publican leaders in the House, including
the chairmen of certain key committees,
to accept the responsibilities which this
Nation's place in the world has imposed
on us. They want to turn back when we
have to go forward. Fortunately, wiser
counsel prevailed and they were not per
mitted to go their destructive way in the
session just closed. But these men, or
most of them, will be back next year and
they will bear watching.
The New German Mark
The new German currency, issuance of
which began last week In the three west- j
ern zones, is one of those hard choices
made necessary by failure to implement
the Potsdam Agreement of 1945, wherein j
the Big Four pledged themselves to treat
the prostrate Reich as an economic unit
pending the conclusion of a peace settle
ment. Owing to this failure, for which
Soviet Russia is primarily responsible,
Germany has sunk deeper and deeper into
an economic morass which threatens to
engulf not only itself but much of Europe
as well.
One of the consequences of this eco
nomic debacle is that the old German
currency, the Reichsmark, has become
practically worthless. So, in default of
Russian co-operation, the three Western
Powers have decided to set up a new cur
rency, the Deutsche Mark. It will supplant
the Reichsmark throughout their respec
tive zones, although not in their sectors of
Berlin, these being enclaves with a special
status, deep in the Russian Zone.
The necessity for this operation had
become more immediately pressing as its
imminence had virtually paralayzed the
economic life of Western Germany. Sellers
would not accept the Reichsmarks which
frenzied would-be buyers offered them in
exchange for almost anything, seeking to
beat the impending conversion deadline.
It was this acute crisis that impelled the
Western Powers to take common action as
soon as French acceptance of the London
Agreement had made such action possible,
even though the procedure decided upon
inflicted temporary hardships on the
population.
This currency revision is unique m u
rope's post-war monetary reforms In that
it is a ‘delayed-action” measure. The
first stage has begun, but is limited to an
exchange of 60 marks a person. This is
little more than pocket-money which has
to last for a week, during which all old
marks must be declared by their owners.
Since the rate of conversion has not yet
been announced, Germans will be left in
perplexed uncertainty until they learn the
value of their new money, albeit the indi
cations are that this will be at about one
new mark for ten old ones.
, Whatever the benefits of stabilization
that may accrue to Western Germany,
they are offset by the economic difficulties
raised by Russian non-cooperation. The
Russians have denounced the measure and
declare the new mark invalid in their zone
and in Berlin. This means a financial
splitting of Germany with the virtual
cessation of trade betwen east and west,
unless and until it can be resumed on some
sort of barter basis. The chances are
that the Soviet authorities will soon pro
claim a separate currency for Eastern
Germany, which would further deepen the
rift.
The price paid for currency stabilization
in Western Germany may thus be a heavy
one. Yet it is a step that had to be taken
to avert still graver consequences. The
ultimate results can be evaluated only in
the light of actual experience.
Curlew Mystery Solved
The quest for the nesting place of the
bristle-thighed curlew is over. Dr. Arthur
A. Allen of Cornell University and his son
have located the spot near Mountain
Valley, Southwestern Alaska, where the
strangest, most mysterious and most inter
esting of all the Numenius-Phaeopus tribe
completes the business of producing suc
cessive generations of young. The search
began in Tahiti in 1785. Now, after 163
years and at a point roughly 5,500 miles
distant, it has been concluded with the
aid of airplanes, motion picture cameras,
sound-recording machines and other gadg
ets which, taken together, may solve
problems much more important.
Ordinary laymen /nay wonder why time
and labor and money should be spent in
such a chase. The explanations are many,
but the most compelling of them is what
James Smithson described as “the increase
and diffusion of knowledge” and what
Francis Bacon, Thomas Hobbes, Ralph
Waldo Emerson, Horace Mann and other
philosophers have agreed is a synonym of
human power over circumstance. People
instinctively desire to know what makes
their universe tick. They ask each other:
"What cooks?” and "How come?” Profes
sional scientists are challenged daily to
provide satisfactory replies. The nest of
the curlew which breeds in the South
Seas and broods in the sub-Arctic was a
legitimate objective. No other North
American bird had hidden its summer
home so well. The achievement of the
Allens, aided by the Alaskan naturalists,
Warren Peterson and Henry Kyllingstad,
completes the domestic register of orni
thology for this continent.
Of course, nobody yet has discovered why
the curlew with bristles on its legs has
migrated so far year after year, century
after century. That riddle still is unread.
Like the origin of matter, the nature of
electricity and a few other basic conun
drums, it is not now amenable to final
exposition. Perhaps men ought not to
know everything. Power beyond their
faculty of management would be a curse
rather than a blessing.
This and That
By Charles E. Tracewell
"FAIRLAND, MD.
“Dear Sir:
“Your column is one of the bright spots of
my day.
X began reading it during the war, when
things looked blackest, and we were cooped
up in a tiny apartment where one courageous
mockingbird was the extent of our bird ac
quaintance.
“Here we have a W’calth of birds but little
time to enjoy them, like so many country
people.
"Several times, in cold weather, a Carolina
wren or Maryland yellow-throat has got in
through that long-neglected broken pane in
our basement.
“Then ensued a grim hunt, with our tabby
cat playing huntress and the little stray beat
ing its wings against the glass in desperation.
“They never seem to have sense enough to
go out the way they came in, and we must al
ways go to the rescue.
"Our cat, always a problem with birds, signed
her own death warrant this spring, when we
found her kittens playing with a beautiful dead
mockingbird she had caught, brought home,
and thoughtfully laid in their feeding pan.
“To me, the mockingbird is the most gallant
of them all—he Just brims over with the joy
of living—and to see him thus laid low!
* * * *
"We love cats. So far our remaining three
have confined their predatory habits to an
occasional rabbit, for which our garden is duly
grateful.
“Our Siamese is a terrific fighter and comes
home every few weeks literally torn to shreds.
"He used to be a beauty, but he is getting to
look like a Bowery bum. Please tell me what
is the best way to treat these deep lacerations.
Also, what can be done for a cat’s infected
eye—all ours have this infection?
“Among our birds we identified an indigo
bunting the first week of May. For the past
two weeks we have had goldfinches.
“The brown thrashers are busy among the
oak leaves in the woods
Sincerely yours, D. M. K..”
* * * *
“Arlington, Va.
"Dpar Sir:
“In the last three years I've tried many
times to raise baby robins of various ages
which had fallen from their nests, but was
never successful in keeping them alive for
more than a few days.
"So when a neighbor came with another
baby robin I wasn't a bit hopeful but decided
that I at least could try again.
"This one was well feathered but stui had
baby fuzs on his head. He was very easy to
feed—and I was kept busy digging worms—
which I supplemented with ground beef, with
a tiny bit of earth added, and of course water
now and then. I fed him every hour and
sometimes oftener as he always seemed to be
hungry.
“We kept him in a bushel basket with a
wire screen over it at night, and in the day
time we'd take the screen off and he'd perch
on the edge and talk to us whenever we ap
proached. The last few nights he was with
us, he protested so much about being in the
basket that I let him perch on a roll of paper
towels in the kitchen.
“After a few days. I'd take him out in the
garden and go away for a distance of 30
feet and a mother robin would feed him. I'm
certain she wasn’t his mother fop he was picked
up a half a block away.
‘We had Chi-Chi eight days, then he was
able to fly into a tree and his foster mother
took complete charge.
“Would it have been all right to put a tiny
bit of red nail polish on his foot? We did so
want to mark him so we would be able to
distinguish him from the others.
“Very truly, H. L. Y.
r. o.- t CMJWJ JVU1 VV.
makes The Star complete.”
A little bright nail polish is a good thing
to use to mark a bird raised by hand. One
woman in Washington used nail polish and
so knew the bird she had raised for about
two years.
If a bird is kept for four or five weeks, no
mark of identification is needed, because it
probably will come back of its own accord each
spring, and make itself known by its sheer
friendliness.
There is no mistaking the right bird, marked
or unmarked, but usually more than eight days
is necessary to get the bond of friendship
welded.
*
i '
Letters to The Star
A break lor Veterans
To the Iditor of The 8Ur:
We do wish that something would be done
about the runaround that the veterans are
getting. Many of these men served in places
where they were soaked so much for ordinary
living expenses that they were unable to save
anything from their pay—unlike the stay-at
homes. who had low-coet housing provided
them in addition to sky-high salaries. There
was so much talk about the GI Bill of Rights
—how it would help every veteran to own
his own home, for instance—but Just try to
find a place to get a GI loan for that purpose
now! The 4 per cent interest rate provided
in that bill is not large enough for the greedy
builders and mortgage companies. And just
try to get anywhere with the couple of hundred
or so that some of us have managed to save—
you'll be a lair target for loud guffaws from
those you approach to purchase a home.
If a man makes a fair salary, in a steady
Job, why not give him a break? If he is
willing to mortgage his earnings for the next
20 years, why not meet him half way and
permit him to establish a home for his family?
He gave you a break and saved your home by
serving his country! Let's have action—not
words! A VETERAN'S WIFE.
Pedestrians Not Safe
To the Editor ot The Star:
The Star for June 15 reports that an award
which designated Washington as the safest
city in the United States for pedestrians was
presented to one of the District Commissioners
by a local association of motorists. The Na
tional Capital would be a far safer city for
walkers were organized motorists to instill in
drivers stricter observance of the rules of the
road and especially the rights of pedestrians,
instead of endeavoring to restrict and regulate
walkers as has been done in the past.
Years ago the association making the award
announced a Nation-wide drive to obtain pedes
trian traffic control regulation in every city of
the country. v Washington was one of the first
to succumb to the lobbying, but fortunately
there still are some communities which conduct
their own affairs without interference from
motorists’ organizations.
Retired Traffic Director Eldridge, who now
claims to be 85 per cent pedestrian, asked for
a traffic light recently at Sixteenth and Puller
streets, where, he says, he has waited as much
as 20 minutes to cross Sixteenth street safely
—a request that the present traffic director
turned down, although it previously had been
made by a traffic court judge because three
walkers were fatally injured at that point.
Evidently Washington is not the safest city
for walkers, notwithstanding statistics to the
contrary. Many Washington drivers habit
ually fail to yield the right of way to walkers
at uncontrolled as well as controlled intersec
tions, and turning vehicles are still a serious
menace. Because of this, walkers often are
left standing in the middle of the street on a
crosswalk, their safety menaced by the flow
of traffic all around them.
The pedestrian truly has been termed ‘‘the
forgotten man.” Even when a passenger in
a streetcar, he is the victim of selfish drivers
who unnecessarily straddle the car tracks, stall
ing the cars and delaying pedestrians in reach
ing their destinations.
Not the pedestrian control regulation, re
cently tactfully termed ‘ pedestrian protection,”
but the instinct of self-preservation and revoca
tion and suspension of drivers’ permits have
resulted in better observance of the rules of
the road. An engineer officer of the awarding
association recently was reported to have as
serted that the pedestrian is the No. 1 traffic
problem. If the average walker were to be
asked, he undoubtedly would declare that the
undisciplined driver is the No. 1 traffic head
ache.
A recent item in*the Washington papers
stated that the awarding association con
demned the hint of a Municipal Court Judge
that the time may be here when traffic police
men should patrol the streets in plain clothes.
Maryland's adoption of a somewhat similar
plan along the Washingtpn-Baltimore boule
vard also was strongly disapproved by the
association. This plan reluctantly was
adopted only after years of futile effort to
curb accidents in that area. If drivers will
not be honest, there is no alternative but to
resort to such a plan.
The action of the Commissioners in accept
ing an award from a lobbying association at
the hands of one of its officers, who is a resi
dent of Xfaryland, lends credence to the re-*
mark of a Congressman made recently that the
District is run by the Board of Trade whose
officers live in Maryland. It is hoped that the
Commissioners will avoid giving the elected
representatives of the people occasion for such
remarks. LEWIS L. YOU^G.
Critical Eye on the Supreme Court
To the Editor of The Star:
This is a layman’s letter of comment on the
United States Supreme Court—a layman be
cause as a law graduate of August, 1948, I have
had just enough legal background to realize
how little law' a law graduate has consumed,
and an indication of how technical and vast
the field of law is becoming to the lawyer
much more the every-day citizen.
With these thoughts I paid a visit to the
United States Supreme Court on June 14 and
came away with the feeling as an American
citizen that the Supreme Court is certainly
giving the layman an unfavorable impression
as to the solidity and dependability of the
American legal system. Tor the past few years
we have all heard of the so-called trend from
the views of the ‘‘nine old men,” the attempted
revision of the Supreme Court by the late
President Roosevelt, and other transitional
changes. To the law student of the past 10 or
15 years this transition has been "brought
home” in studying the many concurring and
dissenting opinions of recent Supreme Court
decisions and trying to formulate some pattern
as to the present state of Federal constitu
tional law today.
l^ei us iook mi tms maner irom a practical
point of view. What would you think of the
future stability of American law after hearing
an opinion read on a pork processor's suit to
secure higher prices on hogs that he had been
required to sell to the Federal Government
during the war under the Government's power
of eminent domain to require such sale,
whereby the Government agreed to pay only
the OPA price of such hogs to the hog pro
ducer, whereas the hog producer contended
under the "just compensation" clause of the
Federal Constitution that he was entitled to
more. For the purpose of this letter the facts
of the case do not matter—the fact is that the
case has been in litigation for four years and
yet when the opinion was handed down three
justices agreed on reversing the circuit court,
three other Justices agreed on this result, but
for different reasons, and two others dissented.
Dissenting Justice Jackson at least struck the
'keynote of the present deplorable legal trend
when he indicated that from this case no one,
not even the Supreme Court itself, could tell
what position the Supreme Court was taking
in handing down its reversal—in short, to
transcribe Mr. Jackson’s dissent into a few
words, things were in such shape now after
this case that the parties to the suit, the lower
court, nor any one else had any idea as to
the state of the law in regard to the pork
i processor's case. Throughout Mr. Jackson’s
opinion members of the Supreme Court smiled
and seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the
confusion that their many and varied opinions
had caused. But this was not a laughing mat
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.
ter and I do not think that the average Amer
ican citizen thinks that It is a laughing matter.
Are the Supreme Court Justices supposed to
use their positions as a “testing groupd” tor
their legal theories—or do such offices call for
a firm and stalwart group of men who should
endeavor to make the judiciary branch of our
Government a dependable Rock of Gibraltar
which both our American citizens and the
citizens of foreign countries can rely on as a
part of sound American democracy?
It is true that laws, business transactions and
other parts of our lives are becoming more
complex and complicated every day—but this
should be even more reason for harmony rather
than confusion in formulating our legal pat
tern. This does not mean sacrificing the
American tradition of independent thought and
expression, and I think that all of us will agree
that Justice Holmes, Chief Justice Hughes
and the men of their period certainly practiced
freedom of thought and expression and yet
maintained an American judicial system and
set up legal precedents that were cited even
by the conservative English courts. Do we
have such a judicial system today?
Nashville. M. DUDLEY BURTON.
A Service to Food Shoppers
To the Editor ol The Star:
While The Star's recent editorial, “Cabbage
Is Just Cabbage'’ was Interesting, it conveyed
an erroneous impressionn of the Department
of Agriculture's program to help, consumers to
find a solution to the high cost of living.
As you know, the Department wag commis
sioned under Public Law 395, Eightieth Con
gress, specifically “to encourage and promote
• • * the consumption of • * * more of those
foods and feeds which are in abundant sup
ply • • The Congress believed that by pur
chasing more of the abundant foods, and less
of those that are scarce, the American house
wife would be able to reduce considerably her
expenditures for groceries. The experimental
program now underway in York and Lancaster,
Pa., was undertaken for the purpose of finding
the most practical method of working out the
objective laid down by Congress.
Par from endeavoring to teach the Pennsyl
vania Dutch the virtues of cabbage, as your
editorial implied, the Department was recom
mending the purchase of a list consisting of
18 items including fresh vegetables and fruits,
processed foods, and such protein foods as
fish, chickens and eggs.
The Department long has been interested in
giving appropriate marketing help to abundant
crops, especially those so abundant as to be in
danger of spoilage. This marketing aid has
taken the form of a monthly list of plentiful
foods which the Department has issued for
some years. Pood distributors and large Com
mercial buyers, including our military services,
often use the list to find out what and when
to buy. Industry Interest seems to indicate
that the listing ts valuable.
The experimental program in York and Lan
caster simply extends this same service to
consumers through voluntary co-operation of
retailers. An emblem has been designed as a
merchandising aid to achieve this result, and
the retailers displayed the insignia on products
from the list.
The selection of York and Lancaster was
carefully made. In a report to this office, the
food distributors' committees of the areas
pointed out that it was the idea of men in the
food supply business that “the Department of
Agriculture should try out the plan of its
Office for Food and Feed Conservation in the
York and Lancaster areas, because our people
are frugal and economic in their food con
sumption.” They added that, "if the plan is
acceptable here, it will be useful elsewhere.”
In other words, if we can prove to thrifty
people that we can aid them toward further
economy, then we will have proved, under
tough circumstances, the value of the program.
Industry co-operation has been complete and
unstinted, and for this the Department is
grateful to the merchants of those cites and
the Food Distributors’ Association of Phila
delphia of which they are members. Food dis
tributors are keenly interested in the program
and its progress.
In the meantime, we welcome your sugestions
for improving the program.
CHARLES F. BRANNAN,
Secretary of Agriculture.
Objections to Mr. Tamm
To the Editor of The Star:
In response to your editorial on “Doing an
Injustice” to Judge-nominee, Mr. Tamm, per
mit me to say that regardless of the handling
of this case by the Judiciary Committee, against
the personal ambitions of this gentleman
should be balanced the matter of the public
interest, which a judge can so vitally effect.
Regarding your statement of “the impressive
array of witnesses who appeared in Mr. Tamm's
behalf,” I suggest that mc*t of them are his
personal and political friends, while opposed
to him were many of the most distinguished
lawyers of the District Bar, the overwhelming
opposition of the District Bar Association, the
American , Bar Association, and a number of
citizens’ associations.
The chief objections to Mr. Tamm were:
1. Upon his own admission, Mr. Tamm never
has taken a bar examination, never has tried
a case and of necessity was rejected for ad
mission to the D. C. Bar over which he would
seek to preside.
2. Naturally because of his unfamiliarity
with local law and practice, he would be se
riously handicapped and embarrassed in his
duties as a judge, and that at the expense of
the public interest and public Justice.
3. As a former directive and administrative
official of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
however meritorious his services there, he could
not reasonably have the complete and neces
sary confidence of the public and the Bar in
matters wherein the conduct and tactics of the
FBI frequently come under scrutiny and
criticism especially in criminal cases.
FRED P. MYERS.
Equality in Practice
To the Editor of The Star:
I have just read Laura K. Pollock's letter
to The'Star, June 15, and I am surprised that
she did not state her reasons for “not caring to
sit near to a Negro.” As a member of the major
race but yet a public-spirited citizen, I would
like to quote for her attentiqn the following:
“That all men are created equal” (not Just
whites). "Do unto others as you would wiah
them to do unto you” and "Love thy neighbor
aa thyself.”
Each day let us pray that there will be better
understanding among men.
ANOELA J. NORRIS.
Appreciation for Capper.
T» til* Editor of The 8t»r:
As usual I am busy, but I shall not let tne
day go by without writing a word about the
very nice editorial you published concerning
the retirement of Senator Arthur Capper from
the United States Senate.
The Senate Office Building i* home to sen
ator Capper, and he deserved to stay there as
long as he lived. EARL l DUDDINQ.
/
Stars, Men and Atom
12-Year Record of Cancer
Gives New Study Material
Connecticut Report Indicate*
Incidence Throughout U. S.
By Thomas R. Henry
The moat comprehensive picture of the can*
cer situation in the United States—the rate of
incidence by ages for various parts of the body
for men and women and the likelihood of sur
vival by age and sex groups—has just been
published by the American College of Surgeons.
It is based on the 12-year experience with
37,863 diagnosed malignant tumors in Con
necticut. There, of course, facilities for both
diagnosis and treatment are among the
best in the world. The State has had an
active program of public education on the can
cer problem. In most states fewer cases would
be diagnosed and fewer victims saved from the
mysterious group of maladies, which appear
to involve the basic processes of life itself,
that now has become the second leading cause
of death. But the almost ideal picture. It may
be assumed, is very close to a true picture for
the country as a whole if the national statis
tics were better.
By and large, It is a gloomy picture, par
ticularly for women. But, the report points
out, Connecticut has more women than men
so the statistics may be somewhat misleading.
Each year, it is shown, approximately 207 per
sons per 100,000 of the population will be
found to have malignant growths—194 men
per 100,000 and 224 women per 100,000.
Men’s Death Rate Stays Same.
The incidence rate has been rising during
the period under study, even when adjustment
is made for age. The death rate for meA,
however, is remaining about the same and
there is a very slight decline among women.
This indicates that physicians and surgeons
at least are holding their own against the most
insidious physical foe of the human race.
In Connecticut 668 persons of every 100,000
in the population have had a history of cancer
at some time in their lives—804 per 100,000
females and 531 males. Of these 174, a little
better than one in four, have survived treat
ment from one to 12 years. The chances have
been better for women than for men—220
compared to 128 per 100,000. The totals look
a little better than the cold detailed statistics.
There were found in the State nearly 12,000
persons in whom cancer had at some time
been diagnosed and who still were alive five
years later.
If the experience of the State is typical,
one-fourth of all cancers among women is of
the breast and one-fourth of the genital tract.
Among men the picture is far different—one
thlrd of the stomach and other organs of the
abdominal cavity, one-eighth of the skin, one
tenth of the upper respiratory tract and one
ninth of the genital tract. The fact that there
are slightly more survivals among women is
attributed primarily to the fact that female
cancers are more easily observable and are
more likely to be called to the attention of
physicians.
Early Diagnosis Helps.
The statistics as a whole give promise of def
inite, even if slight, improvement with earlier
diagnosis by competent physicians. For each
of the 12 years there has been a little gain
and, says the report, “the promise of more gen
eral and adequate surgical interv ntlon in
cancer of the stomach, intestines, head, neck
and bladder suggest immediate improvement
in the prognosis of cancers of these sites,
which constitute over one-third of the total.”
Reduction of delay among women would re
sult in Immediate Improvement in cancer of
the breast and genital tract, which account
for half of all cancers among them.
The Connecticut figures show that the av
erage age for diagnosis is 59 years for men
and 55 years for women. There is a wide age
range within these averages but they giva
cancer detection clinics a clue to the groups
toward which the most Intensive educational
programs should be directed.
In Connecticut, the report points out, prob
ably the most significant factor in the slight
reduction has been in earlier diagnosis. But,
it concludes, "the major promise of improve
ment lies in knowing the location of each
patient with cancer and of supplying or stim
ulating follow-ups as long as he lives, so that
the newer findings of the laboratories for al
leviation as well as cure may be applied more
rapidly and more universally.”
Answers to Questions
A reader can f«t the answer to any question et
feet by writing The Evening Star Informetion
Bureau, 31fl Eye street N.E., Weshington 2. D. C.
Pleese Inclose three (3) cents lor return postage.
By THE HASKINS SERVICE.
Q. How did straw voting come to be called
by this name?—W. T.
A. The name probably comes from the old
proverb, ‘‘A straw shows which way the wind
blows.” Sampling of public opinion has been
attempted for nearly 50 years. The earliest
straw votes in this country were conducted by
newspapers.
Q Which religious denominations ordain
women as ministers?—T. A.
Ar Women can be ordained In at least six
denominations: The Northern Baptist, Disciples
of Christ, Congregational-Christlan, Seventh
Day Baptist, Unitarian and Unlversallat.
Q. What pets are most popular among the
people of the United States?—J. E.
A. Dogs are probably the most popular of
all pets. Canaries are believed to rank second
and cats third.
Q. How many men and planes took part in
the raid over Hiroshima, Japan, when the
atomic bomb was dropped?—W. K. B
A. Twenty-eight men comprised the crew of
the three planes that took part in the raid
of 1945. Col. Paul W. Tibbets, Jr., was
pilot and MaJ. Thomas W. Ferebee bombar
dier of the B-29 Super Fortress, the Enola Gay
(named after Col. Tibbets’ mother), which
dropped the first atomic bomb ever used in
warfare at 9:15 a.m. on August 6. Two other
planes, one named Great Artiste, flew right
wing and left wing to drop instruments and
make records and to take pictures.
Q Is the Capitol of the United States north
or south of the Mason and Dixon Line?—F. I. M.
A; Washington, D. C., is at latitude 38 de
grees 55 minutes N. It is, therefore, a short
distance south of the Mason and Dixon Line
which runs along the parallel in latitude 39 de
grees 42 minutes 28.3 seconds and is popularly
regarded as the boundary between the North
and the South.
To an Old Flat-iron
How many miles of ruffles have you
Of dimity starched stiff to stand *** ****,
Of mighty grand occasions—sweet tucked
Of children’s pinafores, or Sunday
tablecloths
When best beaus came to supper and
lacey froths . ,,
Were donned? How many sturdy calicos
for Mother, blouses for what careless boys!
Around you seem to hover plans
Anxieties—if you’re too hot, too cola
You must be perfect, magic, while you hold
The texture of a dream and hope; ^
Beneath your cumbrous, all-imporanx
weight;
for beauty blooms beneath you, yet to go
On prideful journeys: homely, humble,
Your qwn scope only the monotonous
rumble , . _
Back and forth on the stove, yet under you
Rainbows unrolled in loveliness ane^_
IDA ELAINE JAMES.