Evening star. [volume], July 07, 1948, Page A-12, Image 12

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

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A_12 * WEDNESDAY, July 7, 1948
The General Bows Out
Those Democrats who scrambled aboard
the Elsenhower bandwagon without wait
ing for the General are now between the
devil and the deep blue sea. But they have
no one to blame but themselves, and It Is
about time that they made up their minds
to take their medicine.
General Eisenhower’s second statement
of his unwillingness to accept any nomi
nation at this time is couched in plain
language. Yet some of the Democrats—
men like James Roosevelt, Boss Hague, Ed
Kelly and Senator Johnston—are going on
•with their efforts to draft him as their
presidential candidate. Apparently they
cannot bring themselves to believe the
General is a man of Integrity who means
what he says.
For most people, however, this latest
pronouncement is clear enough and
definite enough. General Eisenhower is
not going to let the panicky politicians
trade on his good name and his prestige
to further their own ends. They had no
right to assume that he would connive at
a draft when he had said that he was not
available for the nomination. If they now
find themselves in the uncomfortable
position of having jumped from the frying
pan into the fire, that is their fault, not
his. General Eisenhower has done no more
than to keep faith with his January state
ment, and every one whose sense of moral
ity is not hopelessly warped by selfish
political considerations will be glad of it.
The best thing that the dissident Demo
crats could do would be to abandon any
effort to force the nomination on General
Eisenhower. For they ought to realize that,
In addition to discrediting themselves, they
are ruining whatever chance the Demo
crats may have of winning the election.
Perhaps President Truman cannot be
elected in November. His candidacy may
prove to have all of the blighting effect
that the Democratic bosses predict. But
at least he is rising head and shoulders
above those who would desert the ship.
Mr. Truman believes, and he is entirely
right, that the Democrats must stand or
fall on the. record that he and the party
have made. And he is prepared to see
the fight through on that basis.
This is an example which his jittery
associates within the party would do well
to emulate. After all, they cannot expect
to win every election and they ought to
realize that there may be some things that
are worse for a political party than the
loss of an election. If they do not come
to their senses they are apt to convince
the people, not only that the Democratic
party cannot win this year, but that it will
never deserve to win as long as they occupy
key spots in the party organization.
Labor Crisis in Italy
What may be a major shift of allegiance
within the ranks of Italian labor appears
to be under way. The present wave of
•trikes ordered by the Communist leader
Palmiro Togliatti seems to be a supreme
attempt to check a trend which, if con
tinued, would break the Communist hold
over organized labor by shattering the
alliance between Communists and left
wing Socialists that has made Communist
labor ascendancy possible.
That alliance was first challenged last
year, when the right-wing Socialists,
headed by Giuseppe Saragat, protested
against the revolutionary program of the
Communists, indorsed by the left-wing
Socialist leader, Pietro Nenni, who stood
for the “common front” between the two
parties. Finding himself in the minority
at the annual Socialist Congress, Saragat
and his followers bolted the convention
and set up a separate party pledged to
fight communism and seek the attainment
of traditional Socialist aims Jjy constitu
tional methods. Although, at the start,
this right-wing Socialist Party attracted
only a small segment of organized labor, it
remained a nucleus around which anti
communist workers could gather.
Such anti-Communist sentiment grew
rapidly after the parliamentary elections
last April, when the Italian people voted
in a Christian Socialist majority which
further strengthened itself by forming a
coalition Cabinet including the right
wing Socialists and other moderate groups.
Anti-Communist erosion within left
wing Socialism was revealed at the recent
party congress, held at Genoa. There,
such strong opposition developed to con
tinuance of the “Common Front” policy
that Nennl's leadership is gravely com
promised. This presumably is one of the
reasons which induced Togliatti to launch
a wave of strikes as a demonstration of
Communist authority over the workers.
However, the strikes have not been suc
cessful, the Government stands ready to
suppress violence, and the net result will
probably be a further set-back to the
Communists and their Socialist “fellow
travelers.” To add further to Communist
worries, the quarrel between Tito and the
Cominform threatens to deprive them of
their strongest foreign ally or at least to
Interrupt direct contact between them and
Moscow. Meanwhile Saragat stands within
thi Cabinet, ready to welcome dissatls
fled left-wingers to the Right side of the
road which leads back to the evolutionary
principles of Italian Socialism.
All in all, it looks as though the alliance
between Italian Socialists and Communists
might soon break up, with the Saragat
party becoming the majority and what
remains of the left wing losing its identity
within the Communist fold. The net re
sult would be a shrinking of Italian com
munism to its "hard core,” which, under
existing circumstances, need nbt be greatly
feared.
'Cradle-to-Grave' in Britain
The British this week have launched
the most ambitious and far-reaching
social-security program that the world has
ever seen.
It is by no means a wholly new develop
ment. Rather, It comes as the logical
completion of an economic and social
evolution which began under the Liberal
Radical leadership of Lloyd George shortly
before World War I, and which was fully
elaborated in the report of a Royal Com
mission headed by Sir William Beveridge
in 1942. As now implemented by the
Labor government as part of its aim to
socialize Britain’s national life, the pro
gram provides an unparalleled degree of
social security for every Briton, literally
from the cradle to the grave. No one is
excluded. The rich as well as the poor
are entitled to participate and are even
constrained to do so. This, of course, im
plies a fundamental change in Britain’s
social and economic life.
Here are some oi tne Denents any
Briton may demand: Free medical care,
hospitalization, special service, dgntal
treatment, medicines, maternity care,
home nursing, eye and ear treatment,
artificial limbs and other physical aids.
He or she is likewise entitled to unemploy
ment and widowhood insurance, retire
ment and disablement benefits, funeral
expenses and death grants, plus baby
bonuses for each infant addition to the
family. And the Individual is scheduled
to get all this by an annual contribution
deducted from his or her wages or salary
which, on the average, will not exceed $52.
It sounds wonderful. But there is a
catch in it. The state will make up the
inevitable deficit between the program’s
total cost and contributions from individ
uals and corporate employers. That deficit
will at once amount to something like
$2,000,000,000 per year, tending to increase
as time goes on. And the money will have
4o be found out of taxes, which are already
so heavy as to be almost confiscatory for
the wealthy and well-to-do elements of the
population.
Furthermore, this ambitious experiment
is launched at a time when Britain’s
financial solvency is threatened and when
its economy appears to be contracting
rather than expanding. It is those basic
factors which differentiate this program
from the social-security programs of
Australia and New Zealand, both of which
are countries still In process of expansion.
It is no wonder that, under these circum
stances, critics of the program predict
that it is essentially one of "share-the
poverty,” which will tend further to
stultify individual initiative and efficiency
—those traditional incentives on which
productive progress has so largely
depended.
Perhaps the most incisive query is how
all this can be kept compatible with the
maintenance of political democracy and
Individual rights and liberties. Far-reach
ing social-security programs have been
established in Soviet Russia and are part
of the Communist recipe for its World
Utopia. In Soviet Russia, such benefits still
exist largely on paper. But even though
materially realized, they will be bought at
the price of absolute individual subordina
tion to a despotic and all-powerful state.
Has Britain’s Labor government dis
covered a "golden mean” by which full
social security can be attained without
paying the totalitarian price? The future
will give the answer.
What the World Needs
In their addresses at Bolivar, Mo., Presi
dent Truman and President Gallegos of
Venezuela offered the world another ex
ample of the wholesome spirit animating
Pan-Americanism. The spirit is one of
friendship on equal terms *and of good
neighborliness that expresses itself not in
fine words but in concrete action aimed at
promoting and increasing the unity, well
being and security of the entire hemi
sphere.
This \is something that exists in no
region of comparable size and variety
anywhere else in the world. It has pulled
together twenty-one American republics in
a system of regional co-operation under
which they are pledged to abide by a com
mon code of good conduct, to work together
economically, to settle disputes among
themselves peacefully, to establish a united
front against international subversion, to
integrate their military strength as much
as possible, and to take collective action
whenever one or another of them is
threatened by aggression coming either
from within or outside the hemisphere.
The spirit behind all this is the spirit
of free men—men like Simon Bolivar who
used the sword, as President Gallegos ob
served in his excellent address, to liberate
and not to dominate or enslave. Pan
Americanism is flourishing and continuing
to wax strong because within recent
decades no powerful dictator has risen in
this part of the world with ambitions to
build an empire on the shattered remains
of once-independent lands. It is true
enough, of course, that some of the
Americas have authoritarian regimes, but
they are not hungry for conquest, and the
peoples living under them are peoples with
liberty rooted deeply in their traditions.
Above all, in President Truman's words,
not a single one of these lands to the
south of us is “afraid of invasion from its
great neighbor to the north"—a fact that
has played a role of first importance in
developing hemispheric co-operation.
The same cannot be said for other great
regions of the globe. The outstanding ex
ample is Europe. There a single totalitarian
power has already absorbed, by direct and
indirect aggression, nearly a dozen differ
ent lands, and it now threatens to take
over the entire continent. Fear, suspicion
and a sense of impending disaster abound.
Tyranny is at large and on the move, not
the spirit of Bolivar. Instead of mutual
trust between Russia and the West, there
is nothing but mounting tension and grim
animosity. Co-operation, good neighborli
ness, collective security—these are all
absent from the Kremlin’s policy toward
the Europeans.
Though far from perfect, the inter
American system stands out in shining
contrast. It demonstrates what men and
governments can do when they are really
anxious to have co-operation and peace
among themselves. Nor is there any reason
—apart from perversity—why it should be
confined to the New World. President
Truman has raised a sound hope at Bolivar
in asserting that slowly but surely, despite
present discouragements, th$ spirit be
hind it can be made to animate inter
national relations everywhere. Soviet
policies notwithstanding, the United Na
tions, given the will for it, can find the
way to it.
Naval Museum Planned
The desirability of establishing a naval
museum in Washington long has been
recognized by Government officials and by
persons interested in preserving the Na
tion’s maritime traditions. It is welcome
news, therefore, that Admiral Ernest J.
King and his associates of the Naval
Historical Foundation have arranged to
open the National Capital’s first naval
museum in the stables of the old Decatur
House, overlooking Lafayette Square.
Some years ago Government planners
proposed a great National Naval Museum
on the Potomac River, near the foot of
Constitution avenue. Here were to be
brought such venerable naval relics as
the U. S. S. Constitution and the U. S. S.
Constellation. The ships were to be
moored in a special basin alongside a
museum building. But the plans ended
up in a pigeonhole, forced there by a
succession of economic and war emer
gencies. They have never been resurrected.
The museum planned by the Foundation
is a much less pretentious one, but none
theless attractive to naval historians,
antiquarians and citizens generally. The
site chosen is especially appropriate, for
it was the home of Commodore Stephen
Decatur, hero of the battles with the
Barbary pirates early in the nineteenth
century. Mrs. Truxtun Beale, owner of the
property, generously has leased it to the
Foundation for a dollar a year. Documents
and articles related to many naval engage
ments and naval figures will be put on
public display.
The museum will be financed by private
subscription, largely through contributions
of members of the Foundation. The public
will be invited to aid in the undertaking.
The cause is worthy of public support.
Perhaps eventually the museum will be
come the nucleus of the National Naval
Museum once planned for the waterfront.
Those sincerely wanting a fight can
find a way. If peace seems to rear its
horrid head, they need only fall out over
the terms of the truce.
For the early morning performer, radio
has it all over television, as who knows or
cares if he shows up for work in yester
day’s face.
The 'excuse of the Indiana mandolin
player who kidnaped the wife of a pal is
awaited with sympathetic Interest. Maybe
he was unstrung.
This and That
By Charles E. Tracewell
The catbird came toward the back porch.
He knew, from long experience, that raisins
were there.
What he didn’t know, of course, was that
Penny, the cat, had Just come out the back
door!
It was a pretty rough set-up for a bird.
Here he was, a little fellow only a few inches
high, blithely hopping up the steps for food.
Penny, on her part, was simply seeking
fresh air.
A bird was the last thing she thought of; her
private opinion of birds, we feel sure, is that
they are nasty, noisy things.
She had never caught one; in fact, seldom
looks at them. But this time she had to.
* * * *
This time, she and the catbird met face to
face.
At the cat came to the head of the steps, the
poor bird hopped up squarely into her.
He gave a violent squawk, flew straight up
into the air a foot, and then backward about
a foot.
He hung there, as a hummingbird might do
before a flower.
At this point, he owed his life to the fact
that Penny is not a bird catcher.
While he hung there in the air, no more
than a foot from her face, she could have
stuck out a paw and speared him.
She didn’t.
* * * *
And with that, the catbird launched Itself
like a flash.
He didn’t come back, either.
The whole episode was comical, but surely
not to the catbird, nor to the cat. •
Life with the creatures is earnest, as the
poet said.
And there is no more earnest thing alive
than your true American, the catbird, he of
the odd voice, the soft gray and black dress
and the fine deportment.
There are flashier birds, it is true. The
bright cardinal, the tanager high in the trees,
the Jaunty blue Jay, the beautiful bluebird,
the gorgeous towhee—these and many others
have, and properly enough, their human ad
mirers.
But when it comes to Just good birdman
ship, few equal the catbird.
This is an enthusiasm that must grow. At
first, even a lover of birds may be forgiven for
thinking this one a trifle odd.
And that is true.
The catbird is no Johnnv on the spot. He
does not win friends and influence people with
out effort.
Not for him the easy way.
He must make every step count, and some
times he discovers that, try his best, he cannot
make people like him.
Many will sympathize with him for that.
While humans may read about the inner dif
ferences in the chemistry of the blood, with
obscure references to the glands of internal
secretion, the creatures of nature know noth
ing of why some human beings like them,
others hate them.
Hundreds of cats, thirsting for human affec
tion, must wonder, in their unhappy way. over
the kicks and hot brooms they receive.
Many a poor dog, looking for water in the
heat, must dully wonder why people are so
dumb as not to put out a pan of water for
four-footed wanderers.
The catbird is a creature of infinite caprice,
beautiful to behold, odd in cry, but a singer
as well. Often his song is mistaken for that
of the mockingbird.
The calbird probably lose* more of his
babies than any other species. This is bad.
because he is one of the best.
It is pleasant to realize that the same cat
birds come back to the same yards each year.
Some people will want to know where they
go in the winter. In addition to our own
South, many of them go to Mexico, Panama,
the Bahamas and Bermuda.
A few, by accident, even get to Europe I
Jobless Compensation I auds \
More Funds Needed to Detect Claims Base on False '
Statements by Beneficiaries
By C. A. Wharton
Director, District Unemployment Compensation Be d
The District Unemployment Compensation
Board has collected from employers in the
District of Columbia the staggering sum of
54 million (plus) dollars and has expended
only 14 million (plus) for unemployment bene
fits.
It is difficult to single out and to discuss
any particular phase, activity or part of the
program involved in the administration of
the District Unemployment Compensation Act
because there are so many complexities and
problems all of which are contingent one upon
the other.
In this report by me as an administrator,
responsible alike to employers and employes in
the District of Columbia, I wish to stress that
a constant and continuous investigation carried
on by this board Indicates that fraud does
exist. No one associated with the program of
unemployment insurance will deny that pay
ments have been made to persons Who have no
right to them and who have made dishonest
representations in order to obtain them.
Because of the publicity that inevitably fol
lows when fraud is detected, it is easy for the
general public to be led to believe that fraud
is widespread. Actually the extent to which
fraud is committed is largely a guess. The
Social Security Administration, has made a
comprehensive survey and has estimated the
proportion of fraudulent claims filed ranges
from 1 to 2 per cent of the total num
ber of applications. Most Improper payments
are made as a result of the deceptions prac
ticed by some claimants, and if adequate funds
for administration were available more effec
tive devices could be Initiated by the unemploy
ment board to reduce the number of such
fraudulent claims to a minimum.
Limited Investigations.
In the District, as in many of the States,
thorough and comprehensive investigations for
fraud have not been undertaken due to lack
of administrative funds. However, in attempt
ing to reach definite conclusions about the
extent of fraud, the primary purpose of the
unemployment Insurance program must be
considered. That is, to pay benefits to work
ers who are unemployed through no fault of
their own in order to effectively bridge the
gap between Jobs. Therefore, it is obvious
that payments must be made as soon as possi
ble after the worker "becomes unemployed. To
suspect each claim that is filed, and to delay
each payment until a thorough investigation
has been completed, would not only defeat
the primary purpose of the program, but would
impose an unwarranted hardship on the vast
majority of honest claimants, as well as being
administratively and economically unsound.
In considering fraud within the unemploy
ment insurance program, it is of prime
importance that a careful distinction be made
between deliberate dishonesty and Innocent
mistakes made by claimants as a result of the
complexities of various laws. I shall deal here
with willful and deliberate fraud. The avenues
open to a claimant who is bent on getting
benefits to which he is not entitled are many
and the problems connected with detection of
such deceptions are most difficult to overcome.
Deliberate fraud manifests Itself in many
forms. In order to obtain benefits, a claimant
may state that he is unemployed when, in fact,
he is employed. Or he may certify that he did
not earn any money during the week for which
he is reporting when he actually had a part
time job. He may fctate that he is “available
for work” and seeking a job but may subse
quently refuse a job that is suitable in all
respects. A physically incapacitated claimant
may certify that he is able to work, while an
other claimant will unblushingly state that he
is receiving no Income from other sources,
when, in truth, he is. The claimant may report
to the board that he was separated from his
last job because of lack of work when in reality
he voluntarily quit or was fired for misconduct
and should be disqualified. The claimant may
apply for benefit under more than one name
or under more than one social security number,
or he may file a fraudulent claim by conspiring
with an employer to supplement low wages.
Hard to Check Job Status.
The numerous nonmonetary factors Inherent
in the law which must be considered in deter
mining eligibility present, perhaps, the biggest
problem. The financial factor • * • wage credits
in covered employment * • • is easily coped
with in determining eligibility but the non
monetary elements involved in making a proper
determination are not always ascertainable at
the time a worker files a claim. Unless a
representative of the Unemployment Board
follows each claimant as he leaves the office,
it is impossible immediately to tell whether
the claimant is working at the time he applies
for unemployment benefits. In most cases, he
is investigated after he has received payments.
Every applicant for unemployment benefits
is asked, "Are you available for work?” He
must give an affirmative reply If he is to re
ceive his weekly benefit check. Despite his
affirmative reply, conditions may exist which
would preclude his acceptance of work if
offered to him. To be available for work a
claimant must also be "willing” to accept a
Job if and when it is ofTered to him. It is
most difficult to prove that he is not "willing”
when he has gone through the formality of
registering for a Job.
Each applicant la also asked, “Are you
physically able to work?” Knowing that this
is a prerequisite to eligibility for benefits, he
may answer “Yes” when in reality there exists
physical factors which make him unemployable.
Yet, to require a doctor’s certificate on each
visit would unjustifiably impede the processing
of claims and work a financial hardship on the
unemployed honest worker.
Each applicant is required to report his/so
cial security number as well as his name. After
filing a claim, an individual with fraudulent
intentions may obtain another social security
number by using an assumed name and, thus,
while drawing weekly unemployment payments,
he may be receiving wages from an employer
to whom he has given a fictitious name and
an erroneous social security number. The fact
that this practice may deprive him of future
retirement benefits under the Social Security
Act may not interest him as much as an in
crease in his current income.
Law Is Inadequate.
There are other examples, too numerous to
mention, which make it obvious why in many
cases It is almost impossible to stop intentional
fraud at the time a claim is being filed and
a check is being delivered. I do not Intend to
imply, however, that no action is taken on the
type of cases just cited. The District law and
the policies of the board, though admittedly
Inadequate, do provide for testing the appli
cants’ integrity. We conduct a postaudit of
each claim filed and our field representatives
carry on investigations of suspect cases. In
addition, we have recently set up a mechanical
process which enables us to check earnings
against claims filed to determine whether a
claimant drew a benefit check for a week in
which he was employed and earned wages.
Tips by telephone and in letters from local
citizens advising us that a claimant is working
while drawing benefits are a valuable aid in
prosecuting offenders. It must be borne in
mind, however, that these investigations take
place after the fraud Was been committed.
Although it la unjustifiably costly to check
currently each claim ft, there la much
more that can be done not only by this
board, but also by local nployers and the
general public. With [equate financial
aid, which should come -am the Federal
unemployment fund estalgied for adminis
trative expenditures, our 1 rd could Intensify
and expand its efforts to vrehend claimants
who are seeking benefits dishonest means.
We should, for example, 1 then Interviewing
time to permit us to ferre it Information In
sufficient detail to dete ne whether the
claimant Is making disho t representations
in order to get unemploVB ; benefits. Suffi
cient administrative funds uid permit us to
review thoroughly the <41 mts’ records for
contradictory statements i to Institute Im
mediate “follow-up" action all questionable
cases. There are many’ ier steps, fraud
deterrent In themselves, could be taken
but these would require hsiderbbly more
money to administer.
District employers have sjal responsibility
In this program. It is toTir advantage to
co-operate fully with the Ird In order to
protect the money they hi contributed to
the local unemployment kt fund. The
board’s regulations require^ employer to
submit a separation reportithln 48 hours
after a worker leaves his e|0y. This sep
aration report tells us when^ employe was
separated, and why he was fcrated. If the
report Indicates the employes discharged
for misconduct, voluntarily 0i without good
cause, or was directly lnvolvy a strike or
labor dispute, an automati<SsquaiiflCation
could be imposed as provldedlthe law. It
is regrettable that almost 50 icent of local
employers fail to comply witfoe provision
of the regulations requiring tl to send us
separation reports, and constantly permit
claimants to receive benefits wlfthey should
be disqualified.
Employers can further assist knd protect
their own Interests as well, by paring and
giving employes a “Low Ear<|s Report"
whenever workers are employed 1 than full
time during any week; by verifying workers’
Social Security numbers, and dat|f employ
ment before submitting wage ports; by
promptly reviewing and replying notices
sent them by our office; and by rating any
misrepresentations made by an bloye or
former employes involving un|ioyment
benefit rights.
Willful Frauds Infrequent
In this consideration of fraud, a nrfcareful
distinction must be made between ^berate
dishonesty and Innocent mistakes |de by
claimants because of the complexity the
law. As mentioned before, I have <% here
only with fraud that Is “knowingly” cig^ted
by claimants. It Is my considered opir.,; that
“willful” fraud Is Involved In relativ few
of the total applications filed for unemp^ent
benefits. However, there are some cas.tnd
we must and will continue to do everjng
administratively possible to stamp them
Here is a partial solution to this probly
willful fraud: The use of an “accession" eL
“separation" report in every Instance. Is^
the cure? I don't know. Furthermore, l
would pay the bill for this additional wo
The boss. It might be well for me to add h
that there has never been and will never <
a law or regulation written which would ma!
an intentionally dishonest person honest. Ui
fortunately, we will always have thieve
murderers, and a few Just-plain dlshone:
people.
A recent analysis of benefit payments made?
by this board reveal* that:
The lowest average check for any year
was $8,31. **
The highest average check for any year
was $17.69.
The average check for the entire period, since
the inception of the law, 1* $12.29.
For two years, the average duration of claims
was only 714 weeks.
The longest average duration, for one year,
was 1614 weeks.
And the average duration for the entire
period—10.9 weeks.
These figures clearly indicate that there has
not been too much chiseling by District em
ployes under this program, but we must strive to
eliminate the few chiselers without establishing,
unreasonable restrictions affecting the great
majority of honest and deserving claimants.
We are engaged in the administration of
employe-legislation, and the workingman is
rrgently requested to co-operate with the proper
officials, and with his employer to prevent the
undermining or abuse of this, one of the most
valuable and Important programs established
for his economic security.
Letters to The Star
Stalin’s Plot to Hoax America
To th« Editor of The Star:
It Is surprising to read in the papers and
hear over the radio how Stalin easily can de
ceive the majority of the American people.
Any time Uncle Joe needs anything from
America, all hy has to do is to announce In
Pravda that he had scolded one of hU boys for
not being loyal to him and his Communist
Party. This time he needs money; so in order
to get it from America he announced to the
world he had expelled Tito and his Communists
from the Comlnform. Most Americans took
this announcement at its face value.
I, for one, however, look at things differently,
because as a non-Communlst delegate to the
recent Moscow-concocted European All Slav
Congress held in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, I saw
true conditions prevailing in that country. I
found that Uncle Joe, not comrade Tito, rules
Yugoslavia. I also found that, although, 95
per cent of the Yugoslav people are anti
communist, pro-American and pro-democracy
they are helpless to throw off the Communist
yoke. Therefore, there isn't one chance in a
million to take Yugoslavia away from Moscow.
Now, coming back to the money, having
milked Yugoslavia of its resources and knowing
that there is no more to be had, Stalin checked
whether their country had any stock or credit
elsewhere. He found that a credit of $50,000,000
in Yugoslavia's favor was lying frozen in the
United States. He, therefore, resorted to the
above scheme, hoping that it would work. If
it did work he would be much stronger to
fight “capitalist” and “reactionary” Americans.
What a beautiful plot Uncle Joe has Invented
for gullible and wishful-thinking Americans
and helpless Yugoslavs! Will this latest Asiatic
ruse succeed? Will Americans fall for tfiis
Communist delusion? MARK BASIC.
Chicago, 111.
Communists Playing Nationalists
To the Editor of The SUr: .
In* his accurate report on a talk with me
Steffan Andrews uses one expression which,
I am afraid, might create some misunder
standing. He reported I had said that: "Tito
is a Nationalist.”
Now, a Communist like Tito cannot be a
Nationalist. What I said was that Tito will
try to get the Nationalist wind of his country
to swell his Communist sails. In point of
fact. Communists everywhere, including Soviet
Russia, are trying to do this same thing.
CHARLES A. DAVILA.
Mount Palomar Telescope
Opens New Range of Vision
Astronomer! Are Groping to Reach
Ultimate Border of Creation
By Thomas R. Htnry
MOUNT PALOMAR OBSERVATORY, Calif.
W-Man now can look 6,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
miles Into space. I
That la the distance which light, moving at
a speed of about 186,000 miles a second, crosses
la a billion years.
It may be half way or a tenth of the way—
cosmological models differ—to the ultimate bor
der of creation where time and space turn back
on themselves.
Such Is the possibility opsned by the new 300
inch reflecting telescope on the summit of this
high peak In the San Gabriel mountains which
doubles the area ef the Cosmos open for ex
ploration. It was dedicated scientifically at a
meeting of the American Astronomical Associa
tion on Mount Palomar last week after 30 years
of planning and building.
16-Year Research Planned.
A ten-year program of research Is outlined. It
Is a program of back-breaking work for the
Mount Palomar staff. The first use to which the
new telescope will be dedicated la to reduce to
hitherto unimaginable precision the basic yard
sticks of creation. Distances In space are de
termined largely by stellar magnitudes. A star
of the first magnitude Is one which Is visible
without much effort to the naked eye. Thence
the stars are classified, In order of decreasing
luminosity, down to about the 18th magnitude,
although only to the 14th with much assur
ance. With the new telescope It Is expected to
extend the magnitude scale to 22.5 and to gradu
ate It Into thousandths of a magnitude.
The distance away of a star can be de
termined by its apparent magnitude compared
to its true magnitude, which can be determined
by astronomical technique*. Thus distances
may be estimated with considerable accuracy.
Five patches in the Milky Way galaxy, which
includes all the visible stars, will be set up as
reference systems. Type and.magnltude of all
the stars in these regions will be determined.
Thenceforth any other section of the heavens
will be compared with one of these patches,
with photographs taken under Identical con
ditions of temperature, wind direction, etc.
Two-Year Tam Ahead.
This probably will require about two year*.
With their more precise means of measurement
established, the astronomers will move beyond
the billion-star Milky Way galaxy, of which
the solar system is a part, to the neighboring
galaxies of approximately the same size. There
are 14 of these within a few million light year*
of each other and of the Milky Way. The
nearest, the great galaxy in Andromeda, is
only 700,000 light years distant and can be
seen as a patch of light with the naked eye
under good seeing conditions. These 14, with
the Milky Way, constitute a “family of uni
verses.” Individual stars now can be picked
out in them. There are 16 other* in this
general region of space which are not con
sidered part of the family.
Distances will be determined by stellar mag
nitudes up to about 20,000,000 light years. From
this point outwards it is impossible to Isolate
stars. But with such distances established the
astronomers can turn td another means of
determining distance—the "red shift.”
This is perhaps the most puzzling phenome
non in creation. It has been found that
galaxies grow redder with increasing distance.
This is explained by the assumption that they
are moving away from the position of the
Milky Way at enormous speeds. The speed
^increases with distance at a rate of approxi
c jnately 100 miles per second per million light
;ars. It would seem to indicate that creation
flying apart, and haa led to some of the
eirdest pictures of space and time.
Remote Distance Measure.
With the distances of the nearer galaxiee
\ermlned by the stellar magnitude method
Will be possible to establish very precisely
amount of the red shift and thus determine
* distance of remoter objects. Beyond
1^00,000 light years the astronomers no
1(Vr will be considering Individual galaxies,
b*|ily families. Aggregations as big as the
Way with its billions of stars are far too
*n%o be seen as separate objects much be
half billion light years.
W; the precise movements of the objects
wltlit determined, the astronomers will be
*n a|tion to formulate ideas of time, space
and ' structure of creation.
|nlikely that the range ever will be
extern. much beyond a billion light years,
it wasyained. Almost perfect seeing condi
tions essential for these studies. These can
h® real at the best, only about SO nights
a year.^ other nights the great telescope
can be ^ for more routine Investigations.
The 1% telescope on Mount Wilson,
largest li^ world up to now, could be used
for such (jj about 60 nights a year. A 400
lnch reflei might conceivably be built some
day with ^rto unforeseen advancements in
techniques^ it would be of use only about
15 nights iyr>
The law fimlnishlng returns, considering
the great i involved, probably fixes the
limit of ma^penetration of the vastness of
the universe ^about a billion light years.
An\rs to Questions
. * the »n«wer to *nr quutlon of
Evenlns Star Inform* ti<n Bu
Wa»hintton S. D. C. Pl**»#
, Inclose three 'ant* for return post***.
By t%askin service.
Q. What is ti-egent average age of grad
uation from hi&bool?—O. B.
A. The Office \ Education says that the
average age of 1 school students at grad
uation, according! the latest available sta
tistics. is 17.28. 'ity years ago the average
age was slightly Lr
Q. Do women oin "usually live longer?—
S. P. H. T
A. In nearly all c4des 0f the world women
have been found tol longer on the average
than men In the Ld states the life span
of white males is ovi year> an<j ©f females,
nearly 70. Male nolites have a life span
of 56 and females cl years.
Q. What caused thefcsion In which Texas
City, Tex., was destro^_B. B. E.
A. The United Btate%gt Guard investiga
tion of the source of ttSjioslon on the 8. 8.
Grandcamp in the porttjfexas City on April
16, 1947, disclosed the f%at there had been
smoking on the veseelSng the loading
operation.
Boys Swiiting
The river is dappled u flecks of green
Where the pointed leavM willows lean;
Minnows are shuttles ofper grace
Weaving through shallotsf shadow lace;
And the high blue roof afternoon
Is hung with a tatteredUgp of moon—
As down the path of s-warmed sand
Trudge the bare brown /■ of the pirate
band.
Invading the quiet of *trl and tree
They shatter the stillness Wh shouts of
glee— I
Shedding their britches ar\idxng their
loot * 1
Of boyhood treasure and jmed fruit
In fork and hollow, and gr A cache,
To race for the first mck headlong
splash— 1
Their naked bodies arehed slmntf white
In sudden, wingless ecstatic mt!
JESSIE WILMORE fcTOW.