Evening star. [volume], September 15, 1948, Page A-8, Image 8

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

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A_8 * * WEDNESDAY, September 15, 1948
He Ought to Know
The President’s charge that “some poli
ticians’’ are endangering the Nation’s
safety by resorting to “smear" tactics
against scientists revives memories ot
the past.
Back in 1942. at the most critical stage
of the war. Mr. Truman was chairman of
the Senate War Investigating Committee.
The executive branch of the Government
was working desperately to put togethei
an organization to direct the conduct of
the wrar. and in this effort it was calling
in the ablest men it could get from private
Industry on a dollar-a-year basis.
The left-wingers did not like this, and
they said so. Then the Truman committee
got going. When it had finished, a very
thorough job of smearing the dollar-a-year
men had been done, and the situation got
so bad that Donald Nelson, then head of
the War Production Board, went to the
committee and asked it to call off the dogs.
He told Mr. Truman bluntly that the
Indiscriminate and unsupported charges
against these key men were hurting the
war effort and making it difficult for the
Government to retain needed men in
service.
Now Mr. Tvuman finds himself holding
the other end of the stick. It is he who is
denouncing the politicians and worrying
about the Nation’s safety.
For the record, it would be interesting to
know more about these scientists who, we
are told, are being hounded out of the
Government service by political witch
hunters. What are their names? How
many of them have left the Government
because they cannot, endure what Mr.
Truman calls the "climate of a totalitarian
country?"
Lacking this information, and it is not
likely to be forthcoming, the country can
console itself with this thought: Back in
1942, despite the work of the politicians,
the Government managed to hold on to
enough dollar-a-year men to win the war.
And despite the occasional excesses of the
Un-American Activities Committee, the
chances are that the Government in 1948
will be able to retain the services of enough
•dentists to get its vital work done.
Scandinavia Confers
Flights of Russian military planes over
the Danish island of Bornholm, coupled
with Russian naval maneuvers in its im
mediate vicinity, probably are not a coin
cidence. They took place simultaneously
with a meeting of the Foreign Ministers
of the Scandinavian countries at Stock
holm. the Swedish capital, for unitary
policies, especially in the matter of defense.
Since a united Scandinavian front against
aggression would be displeasing to Moscow,
those activities of Soviet armed forces
logically can be interpreted as a none-too
gentle Soviet hint of Its displeasure.
Scandinavian solidarity has been dis
cussed for many years. The three con
tigous countries—Denmark, Norway and
Sweden—are even collectively weak in a
lawless and war-menaced world. Prior
to the late war they pinned their security
on rigid neutrality which had kept them
out of World War I. But the unprovoked
Nazi invasion of Denmark and Nomay
showed that neutrality, no matter how
honest, was no shield against a powerful
and ruthless aggressor. And neither Den
mark nor Norway has the manpower or
resources to arm individually against
attack from a great power.
Sweden, on the other hand, was able to
create a defense system strong enough to
deter Nazi Germany from violating its
territory. And that tended to confirm the
value of neutrality in Swedish eyes. How
ever, the expansionist postwar policies of
Soviet Russia, ruthless as those of Nazi
Germany and perhaps even more far
reaching, are producing a rapid shift in
Swedish public opinion. Despite an effi
cient armv and a relatively strong navy,
Swedpn could not prevent catastrophic
devastation from the air by its own efforts.
It is equally obvious that acquiescence in
the overrunning of Denmark and Norway
by Russia would merely purchase tem
porary immunity from invasion at the
price of eventual surrender in isolation.
Soviet aggressions against Norway and
Denmark are neither remote nor improb
able eventualities. Norway, especially, has
been under repeated Soviet pressure over
its Arctic dependencies of Spitzbergen and
Bear Island, wlvch Moscow covets for
strategic bases. As for Denmark, Moscow
has been insistent, that wartime American
base rights in Greenland be abrogated,
while the Russian occupation of Bornholm
toward the close of the late war has not
been forgotten in the Kremlin. This island
is of high strategic value, effectively
closing the mouth of the Baltic Sea if
strongly fortified. The Russians did
evacuate as the result of strong Danish
protests, but Bornholm is entirely defense
less and could be reoccupied by Russia at
its pleasure.
A Scandinavian defense union would
depend in the first instance on Swedish
military strength. But even such a union
could , offer only temporary resistance
against Soviet aggression. It would, there
fore, have to rely on ultimate aid from
the Western great powers, thereby inte
grating Scandinavia with the defense
i
system of Western Europe, which is today
taking shape. For this, Denmark and Nor
way are ready. But Sweden has hitherto
been loath to abandon its policy of “iso
lationist” neutrality. However, the shift
in Swedish public opinion on this matter
may well be reflected in the outcome of
the parliamentary elections scheduled for
September 19. The logic of the interna
tional situation points toward common
defense measures for Scandinavia.
The Maine Portent
Although few things could be less sur
prising than the fact that the Republi
cans have won the Maine congressional
elections, their margin of victory is so
unusually - wide that they have good
reason to regard it as a portent of the
brightest kind. By the same token, the
Democrats can hardly escape being de
pressed by it. Certainly, as far as auguries
are concerned, it is right in line with the
judgment of poll-takers who have said
that Governor Dewey is all but in the
White House already.
Expressed in terms of percentages, the
Republican sweep is the greatest ever
recorded in Maine. The remarkable Mrs.
Margaret Chase Smith—the first GOP
woman to be elected Senator, and the first
of her sex in any party to win the office
without having previously served in it
under appointment—has received approxi
mately 74 per cent of the total vote
cast. The other GOP candidates have won
similarly one-sided victories. If the Pine
Tree State is as reliable a political barom
eter as many experts vow, then the over
all results of Monday’s balloting add up
to very bad news for President Truman.
Of course, several times since 1884, the
presidential election returns have dis
proved the maxim that “As Maine goes, so
goes the Nation.” But whenever the State
has given over 65 per cent of its vote to
its GOP congressional candidates in Sep
tember, a Republican has won the White
House in the following November. Up
until last Monday, the most it had ever
given them was 69 per cent—in 1928, when
President Hoover was elected in a land
slide. Now it has given them well over
70 per cent. Accordingly, if the past sta
tistical rule is still valid. Governor Dewey
should sweep the country, leaving Mr.
Truman far behind.
Coupled with what the public-opinion
polls indicate, the Maine returns thus
constitute an extremely discouraging omen
for the Democrats. In these days of un
certainty, however, when nobody can be
sure of anything, signs, portents, trends
and all the other “iffy” raw materials of
prognostication remain open to at least
some question. Governor Dewey is there
fore well advised in guarding against over
confidence by calling upon his party for
redoubled effort. As for the President, he
is a fighting candidate; the news from the
Pine Tree State is not likely to make him
listless in the big battle still ahead.
Ice Cream Bells
To the mothers of young children, “The
Miracle of the Bells" is not an overrated,
best-selling novel, nor much-touted
movie with a new Italian star. It is the
uncanny drawing power of the bells on
the ice-cream man's truck. Youngsters
who are seemingly miles away—or at least
out of range of mother's call—suddenly
materialize on the doorstep with “gimme
a nickel” forming on their lips. Then they
dart away into the dusk to demand a
“choklit-covered” from this modern Pied
Piper on wheels. Some mothers have the
theory that the bells have a peculiar qual
ity for young ears, like those whistles,
inaudible to humans, which can be heard
by dogs at a considerable distance. Other
mothers have no theories, but just wish
they could lay their hands on a set of
them.
The ice-cream man, as he drives about
hotly pursued by toddlers and teen-agers,
may sometimes toy with the idea that his
magic tocsin could be equally effective in
other fields. In the coming campaign for
instance, he might hire out to a politician
and promise to summon the unwary to
street-corner rallies that might be other
wise poorly attended. Or when Congress
convenes again, he might offer his bells as
provenly superior to those currently in
use for rounding up laggard legislators.
But if he is the philosophical type at all,
he has probably long since realized that
he had best stay in his own little world.
American adults, like their children, have
a way of insisting on ice cream with their
bells.
Cutting the ERP Cake
The European Recovery Program, col
loquially known as ERP. is apt to be looked
[ upon by Americans from their own point
of view. It is we who are putting up the
money and furnishing a large proportion
of the goods that money will buy.
But ERP is not a 'charity handout. It
is Intended to promote the genuine and
enduring economic recovery of the sixteen
nations which qualify for our aid under
the program, plus the western zones of
occupied Germany. And those recipients
are not intended to play a passive role.
It was understood from the first That they
must co-operate for their own recovery.
Only thus could ERP function most effec
! tively, to say nothing of avoiding the
! odium of American “dictation” which
; would surely have arisen if we had tried
| to run the whole show.
Therefore. ERP is being administered
i by two major organizations; one Ameri
can, the other European. The American
| end is handled by the Economic Co
operation Administration, headed by Paul
G. Hoffman, and known as ECA for short.
The European end is handled by the Or
ganization for European Economic Co
operation (OEEC), stationed in Paris and
representing the sixteen recipient nations
and the West German zones.
In-line with our insistence upon Euro
pean co-operation and initiative, Mr. Hoff
man soon made it clear that OEEC must
decide how to “cut the cake”; in other
words, that the recipients should decide
between themselves what their respective
shares of ERP aid were to be. There
followed a protracted wrangle within OEEC,
each recipient tending to mark out a slice
which others objected to as being too big.
The wrangle, however, was not allowed to
go on indefinitely, because a deadline for
agreement had been set in advance for
September 15.
Under this compelling necessity, the
*, 1/
disputes between the sixteen nations were
ironed out without too great difficulty.
The biggest headache arose over the slice
to be awarded the West German zones.
In this instance, the United States really
participated at both ends, because the
chief spokesman for Trizonia’s needs was
none other than General Lucius D. Clay,
the American Military Governor. And his
insistence that the western zones get ap
proximately one-tenth of the total aid for
the program’s first year aroused strong
protests from .many of the European
nations, who claimed that Western Ger
many would gain unduly at their expense.
On the other hand. General Clay insisted
that the recovery of West Germany was
vital to the whole ERP. and that only the
quota he proposed would do the trick.
After prolonged argument, a compromise
has apparently been worked out, scaling
down the German quota somewhat, but
giving General Clay most of what he had
asked.
Thus, ERP Europe is meeting the re
quirements of reciprocal agreement and
co-operation. But the cake-cutting has
not been easy and has left many dis
appointments in its wake. It is to be
hoped that ERP Europe will function as
smoothly in other aspects of its economic
recovery which remain to be ironed out.
Schools Under Fire
A letter published in last Saturday’s
Star from a mother who is something less
than an enthusiastic admirer of current
teaching methods seems to have struck
pay dirt. At any rate. The Star has re
ceived a number of indorsements of her
complaint, some of which are printed else
where on this page.
Now this is a ticklish business, and the
editor who joins forces with either the
Three-R school or the Progressives can
expect to rue the day. Still, when one has
two of his own going through the educa
tional mill, he can hardly be content to
look the other way or to seek refuge in a
plague-on-both-your-houses attitude. So
this column, conscious of the risks and pit
falls, joins the appeal for more emphasis
on reading, writing, arithmetic and
spelling.
This concern cannot be attributed in
the main to the case of the first-grader.
There is some faint misgiving when he
cheerfully announces, upon his return
home, that he has learned nothing that
day. Pressed a bit, he can only recall
rather vaguely that he had studied about
some “guy” (Dick, of Dick and Janet
whose name escapes him at the moment.
But after all, he is just beginning. One
still hopes for better things.
It is another matter, however, to learn
that the seventh-grader has been assigned
to work up a report in support of the
proposition that a bond issue should be
floated to finance new school construction.
No doubt there is merit in this. But to a
parent who, during the summer months,
puzzled over letters from camp that set
some kind of record for strictly original
spelling and sentence construction, this
assignment appears to be a long and some
what dubious step in the educational i
process.
Perhaps all will work out for the best.
But candor compels the admission that the
young lady's report on the bond issue is
being awaited with trepidation.
This and That
By Charles E. TraceweU
It won’t be long now until winter, the. best
reading time Those who like to read need no
special occasion, but there is little doubt that
cold nights are good. Despite widespread and
persistent propaganda for going out, there still
are thousands of people who stay in. Whole
communities, indeed, remain indoors on chilly
fall evenings and the colder evenings of winter,
enjoying the open fire, the radio, conversation
and books, and now television. If many do a
litftfe snoozing, even in the face of these charms,
it must not be held too much against them.
All the vigor this sad world needs, certainly,
is in the safekeeping of the radio boys. How
full of life, sparkle and pep they are, to be
sure! Nothing is said by them, or done by
them, except with a bang. At times they be
come slightly tiresome, but it’ must be remem
bered that they are earning their living and
in a big way, hence, they build up their vigor
as a part of their stock in trade. And they
are so young! Forgive them, grandpaw, for
disturbing your snooze.
Older and less vigorous persons, of whom
there are many (although it may not be just
the *hing to mention it», will value the quiet,
restful evening at home.
“What you need to do is get out more."
There is no quiet person who has not re
ceived that advice, always from some one who
does, indeed, go out plenty. What, is he fleeing
from? What does he do where he goes that
is more fun than we do at home? It would
be interesting to have a quiet person give the
go-out. prescription to a quiet person, just for
a change. It seems that common prescriptions
always are given by opposites. They are on
tap for all emergencies, including the common
cold.
* * * *
Reading is a gentle pleasure.
Old books are as good as new ones, although
readers know there are enough of the latter,
if perchance they prefer them. Whole bat
teries of new authors have sprung up, men
and women who really write well. Universal
education is good for writers, even if it will not
end war. New waiters do not bother their
knowing heads as to whether they are as good
as old writers. They feel sure they are best
because they are the newest. The cult of the
new flourishes in every generation, and there
is no arguing with the bright boys. Fortu
nately for them, they know. They are right.
They are the people, and wisdom will die
with them. Yet surely it is a pleasure to pick
up an old book. The reader can go clear back
to ancient Rome If he wants to, but he does
not have to go that far. He can select a mildly
oldie, such as “Hard Times." by Charles Dickens.
Fortunate for him if it is the only book by
the old master he has not read. It's a good
book for a snowy night, or a blowy night. For
a few pages the Dickens atmosphere will seem
strange. Nobody writes that w’ay any more.
Few writers ha#imer their ideas home at you
as he did. Gradgrind and McChokeumchild—
Dickens liked such names, and so did his read
ers and so will you if you read him. Read a few
pages and then these names seem to be the
best names possible. You would not have a
on? of them changed. You suddenly feel sorry
l for the earnest young person who decided, sev
? eral years ago. to rewrite "Nicholas Nickleby,”
and did it. with none too good results. To
ask Dickens to be Cronin is to ask the sun
to be the moon, the Washington Monument to
be the Capitol, and bread to be beefsteak, c-r
something.
A cold night is a better night than most to
renew one's flagging interest in the writer who
at one time had the readers of America at his
feet.
Thpy met the boat from England to find out
about the fate of Little Nell.
Dickens fundamentally was an actor. He saw
his characters and watched them act. He was
an energetic master of ceremonies, and his
readers had to have energy of mind to read
him. The modern reader who takes up his
Dickens, preferring to stay at home with his
wonderful people, mav not be so devoid of |
energy as some of his friends think.
•
P
Parents Yearn for the Three Rs
Five Readers State Their Views of ‘Progressive’ Education
In Response to Protest
To the Editor ol The St»r:
A communication which appeared in last
Saturday's Star, signed "Parent,” was, I think
worthy of being printed on page 1, in black
type, and I am of the opinion that even yet
The Star would be doing its patrons a signal
service if the editor would do just that—
reprint that letter in a box on page 1.
I wonder if the editor, or his brother, or his
sister, has children of school age. If so, I
wonder if he or any of them has the time to
spare really to investigate seriously tne nature
of the "education" his or their children are
getting.
A couple of nights ago I was visiting in a
neat relative's home and one of the children,
just starting the third year in high school, had
been given some words for which he was to
find definitions. Let me say here that my
criticism does not necessarily extend to the
failure on the part of the student to be able
to define these words.
The point is this: The words were "compli
cated,” "intricate,” "prejudiced,” and a few
others about like that. For "complicated" 1
gave “involved” as a definition; for "preju
diced” I gave “unreasonable opposition.” Now
that young person could not spell a single one
of those words, nor could he pronounce those
which he had written himself and for which he
was to find definitions.
We hear quite a lot of demand on the part
of parents for the “Three R's.” Of course that
expression is intended to cover reading, writing
and arithmetic. What I would be glad to learn
is, in what school in what State does any
teacher undertake to teach writing? It hasn't
been heard of in a generation, unless it may
possibly be taught in some private or church
schools.
But they have plenty of time to teach them
mythology and ancient history and tatting and
crochet work—and then they (the children)
can't intelligibly or intelligently read the eve
ning paper. ALBERT D. RUST.
To the Editor of The 8t«r:
I want to say “Amen!” to all the thirds set
forth by an exasperated Parent in The Star
for September 11. She is to be commended for
taking the time to make this lengthy report to
her fellow citizens.
Schools, whether good or bad. should be
everybody's business, for we all are affected
by them.
By the time our own youngsters are throucn
the process, we have only a brief recess before
our grandchildren start in the age-old quest
for knowledge.
I came to Washington as an employe of
Uncle Sam during the recent war, in which all
my four sons went overseas and my three
daughters did their bit in defense work at
home.
Being in the tenant class, I had nothing to
draw’ me back to my native State and, having
fallen in love w’ith our friendly city, remained
here.
Now, that I have a grandson, who soon will
be leady for kindergarten, all this talk about
inadequate schools, faulty teaching, etc., is
alarming. I have wondered if it is a deliberate
move to get rid of some of our "remained on"
citizens or is it really that bad.
At any rate. Parent has expressed my opin
ion of the fault in the schools. The teachers
are handicapped by too many duties unrelated
to teaching.
Also, I wish to say that I enjoy The Star
every day, wh.ch is another reason why I like
Washington.
Thanks. EX-SCHOOL MARM
To the Editor of The St»r:
I am the exasperated mother of a teaching
daughter in our schools. Parent, does not know
the half of It. I get the real low down on the
so called •'progressive" imported school admin
istration of this city. The whole thing started
years ago when our Board of Education began
to bring in outside officials. Unlike that great
native educator, Alexander Tait Stuart, who
came up in our school ranks, who knew our
way of life in Washington and whose great
concern was having children taught, these
imported administrators' concern is show-off
education, and teaching is their last thougnt
instead of being their first.
It is amusing to hear my daughter tell how
they crack the whip in a so-called democra
tic public system these days. One hundred
per cent in everything is the order of the day,
and it really is pitiable how in their small way
they take it out on the teachers. One official
(an out-of-town appointment, of course) has
imbued his staff with that “joining up" boogie.
“Join up or be damned, our school must reacn
its 100 per cent quota.” My daughter tells
how a teacher with independent mind bucked
him. and how he took all of her free periods
away from her, so that an English teacher
could spend an entire semester away from her
English classes in order to coach the school
play, which of course came ahead of teaching
in a neglected English class, converted into
a study hall.
But there is no remedy by which we small
fry merely by griping or. as our good family
paper headed: Parents' letter, “Blowing Off.’
can change conditions. You and I with thous
ands more must go down to the next Con
giessional District Appropriation Committee
meeting. We are citizens and they will listen
to us. the parent as one who plays taxes for
her children to be taught and I as the mother
of teaching daughter who really wants to
teach but cannot.
Parent s Idea of asking Congress for an in
vestigation of our school administration is the
one and only solution.
I went to one of those hearings last year
and was amused to hear one of the good
Congressmen, who smelled smoke in our school
system, question an official about “Colorado
Springs” and, getting nowhere, commented:
“You must be very thin-skinned.” Yes, all of
these outsiders are very thin-skinned indeed.
As one old veteran teacher remarked, they leave
their hot seats elsewhere to cool off here In
Washington. A big showing for themselves is
their one concern, while our concern is that
our children be taught.
Let us insist before the next Congressional
Appropriation Committee meeting, that our
administrative officers be selected from the
veteran teachers in the ranks of the Wash
ington school system and that we have an
elective school board, one which will voice
the will of the people and not impose on Uo
outsiders, whose concern is in bringing other
outsiders in.
The public schools are too precious instru
mentalities to hand them over to a bunch of
educational actors, too often hams at that. Let
our own educators administer our school system
in Washington and then sit back and watch
our teachers teach and the children stop
playing. MOTHER OF A TEACHER
To the Editor of The Star:
The letter from Parent published September
11, inquiring why Washington sch »l teachers
aren't allowed to teach, strikes a now fami
liar chord.
It may be of no comfort to the author of
the communication to know that Washington
is not the only place where the play-and -
project “progressive system of education" is m
vogue. She should come out here in Mont
1 gornery County where we are really stylish, aa
befitting, of course, about the wealthiest county
in the United States.
In her letter she expresses the hope that
“other parents • • • will take some positive
action to improve this serious condition during
the coming school year." If parents in Wash
ington do decide not to wait for “George" to
do it, may I suggest that they not be dis
heartened if the "pompous, hypocritical schooi
officials” should conveniently resort to the
“formula for controlling a parent revolt against
public school teaching methods" by inviting
them “to a curriculum workshop especially
designed for parent participation.” giving them
“advance assurance' that their “ideas will be
incorporated if possible.”
This formula is recommended by the Educa
tors Washington Dispatch of July 22 with the
remark that : ’“It’s working in Rockville, Md.”
A MONTGOMERY COUNTY PARENT.
To the Editor of "Hie Star:
Parent’s letter, with its emphatic denunci
ation of school authorities that bar teachers
fiom teaching, was wholesome and refreshing
because of its entire truth.
I am neither teacher nor parent, but once
I was a boy who had teachers and parents,
and the educative process always has fascin
ated me.
In my lifetime I have had a small army of
teachers. If the school authorities have not
forgotten their youth, they know that children
are quick at sizing up their teachers. Children
know whether they are being taught or merely
entertained. I knew that, and I made my
estimate accordingly.
Parent may be assured that the case of her
own boy is comparatively mild. She has only
to do what other parents do—teach her boy
that, nine times five is tor are) 15 and why
that is so.
The royal road to learning is not an easy
one, but it is right royal. I did think some of
my teachers might have made their courses
more resplendent—but we managed.
There are certain useful mechanics in the
practice of learning. Memorizing is one.
Then, there is: How to Learn. My long run
of teachers gave me only two clues, and these
incidentally only. One was to read a little
and think on what you have just jead. The
other was to get a good stiff wooden-seated
kitchen chair, a deal table, a pitcher of drink
ing w'ater, lock yourself in your room and go to
it.
There were no memory courses, no courses
in how to. learn. You did without tools.
School authorities obviously are trying co
make school life attractive by taking the school
out of life. Ring-around-the-rosy is substi
tuted for spelling bees. Spelling is an absorb
ing topic. So is the multiplication table. So
is the alphabet. Alpha, beta, gamma, delta,
you know’. These things are to be learned ir.
the formative, memorizing period of life, if
necessary absorbed by rote: yes, by rote.
In order to make learning attractive, our
school authorities are doing away with it. In
order to make swimming attractive we do not
play golf.
Right there is the challenge to the school
authorities—to make the learning of things an
attractive operation, teach the children how to
learn, create in them a zest for knowledge that
will defy limitation. Can the authorities dc
that? I am not hopeful.
What are all the varieties of dotetors’ degrees
good for if they can’t shoot a straight line?
Logomachy is not learning. The innumerable,
mountainous theses on pedagogical subjects
have brought forth the blind mole of illiteracy,
nothing else.
In time there may appear a young prophet
who will direct the school system into educa
tive lines, but in the meantime I fear that
Parent will have to consttute herseif a teacher
of fundamentals. Learn at home, play at
school. . EWART HOBBS,
, . ..
Letters to The Star
Canada’s Spy Technique Preferred
To the Editor of The Star:
In a letter to The Star, published September
11 and signed A Democrat, the writer seems to
forget that we do have a Department of Jus
tice which is unequivocally more efficient In
conducting investigations than a group of
Congressmen admittedly not schooled In legal
procedure. To me, and to most other thinking
Americans, such congressional investigations
of former and present Government officials are
not only helping the Communists by under
mining the man-in-the-street's faith in his
government, but also are highly repugnant to
cur form of justice. Americans always have
bean proud of their system of court procedure,
where a man can bring In counsel who can
cross-examine witnesses used by the prosecu
tion and where such witnesses can be sued by
the defendent in case of perjury. Are we going
to let America’s form of justice become a
laughing stock all over the world?
Why not take a hint from Canada s method
of investigating subversives? Let the Depart
ment of Justice do the investigating of these
men and let it gather evidence against them,
in case there is any, without smearing their
names across the papers until such evidence is
compiled. Thereby, many innocent men will be
spared embarrassment. Definitely aii subver
sive Communists in this country must be
sought out and squelched, but let's do it the
right way.
Quite obviously this Democrat, who favors
such investigations, and takes President
Truman to task for "withholding confidential
information from Congressional committees"
has not followed the old game of politics long.
He declares that it is not "altogether a political
gesture on the part of the Republicans.” What
else could it be when one of the questions asked
of all those brought before the Committee is
what their politics Is and that of their parents?
The Committee knows these men will not say
they are members ol the Communist Party;
therefore, the question obviously is not to test
their actual subversiveness, but merely one to
drag in the name of our present administra
tion. Also, this Republican Congress has been
in power for nearly two years. Why suddenly,
just before the presidential elections, did they
start smearing former New Deal men?
B. BARRETT,
A Real Truman Democrat.
Praise for Star Artist
To the Editor of The 8t»r:
I have noted with deep interest the work oi
Star artist Leslie Bontz as depicted In your
paper every week.
I would like to commend Mr. Bontz on nis
illustration of the Fountain Memorial Baptist
Church In the September 11 issue of The Star.
In this case, he not only exhibits excellent
draftsmanship, but his artistic expression is
of a very high order. I hope hq will continue
to produce illustrations of this outstanding
quality. ARTHUR BLAKESLEE.
Other Agencies of Peace
To the Editor of The Bt»r:
I liked your editorial in The Star for Sep
tember 11 entitled: "The Whole World Is
Vulnerable.” *
May I suggest that you follow through with
an examination of proposals for peace-main
taining organizations other than the U. N.?
I personally favor the grouping of democracies
urged by Clarence Streit's Federal Union. Inc.,
here In Washington- DONALD BECKER.
Stars, Men and Atoms
African Fossils Link Man
With Monkeys, Not Apes
African Species 20 Million Years Ago
Had Bones Similar to Humans
By Thomas R. Henry
Africa is yielding a lot of hitherto unknown
"missing links" of the human family tree:
20.00C.00C-year-old fossil bones of big monkeys
who walked erect and who had small brains,
but many of whose bones show strong devi
ations toward those of man.
The finds throw serious doubt on whether
man's ancestors ever were the tree-dwellers
of the comic strips and on the descent of
man f.om the same family stock as ths
great apes. It appears more likely that ha
came from a progressive group of slender,
long-tailed monkeys which spent most of their
time on the ground. If gorilla, gibbon and
chimpanzee came from the same stock—which
appeal's doubtful—they have followed a quite
different road of evolution than the human
species.
Most notable are the finds of Dr. Robert
Broom in South Africa and of Dr. L. S. B.
Leakey on an island in Lake Victoria Nyasa in
the Keys province of East Africa. A cast of
Dr. Leakey's chief discovery has just been re
ceived at the United States National Museum In
Washington. Other material of the same type
has been found by the University of California
African expedition which now is in the field.
Discoveries Significant.
Dr. Broom's discoveries appear to be the most
significant. They are skulls and bones of ape
like creatures known as australopithecadae.
They were animals approximately the size of
mar. They had brains roughly the size of
those cf the chimpanzee and gorilla, with a ca
pacity of about 500 cubic centimeters. This is
compared to a ^capacity of about 1,000 cubic
centimeters for the most primitive men. The
contours of ihc skulls show, however, that these
brains were taking on a characteristically hu
man pattern.
This is especially true of the frontal region
of the skull, which constitutes the outstanding
difference between man and the great apes.
Within it came to be located the centers of
thought and imagination. In humans, the
head has been thrust forward and is held
erect. This has required the moving forward
of the so-called foramen magnum, the open
ing through which the spinal cord joins the
brain. This forward motion is apparent iu
the South African skeletons.
A closer link Is provided by some of the
limb bones, according to a report just made
by Dr. W. E. LeGros Clark of the Oxford
University Department of Human Anatomy. At
least one of them corresponds very closely to
the bone which serves the same function in
man, and is entirely different from that of
any of the great apes.
Even more helpful, however; are some bones
found by Dr. Leakey in the Kenya Colony.
These are remains of more than 50 apes with
human-like characters which now are being
studied at Oxford. They date from the Mio
cene period of geological time, about 20,000.000
years ago, when animal life was just taking
on its present forms. At that time, it has been
assumed, the ape line was just coming into
existence. No skulls have been found, but
some idea of what they looked like can be
formed irom the jaws.
Jaws, teeth and limb bones are closer to the
human than to the man-like apes. They also
are closer, in some respects, to the African
. monkeys. They came from lightly built, active
runners and leapers, not tree climbers. Some
of them were as large as the gorilla.
* » * ¥
The goblin metal cobalt, of which the aver
age human being gel^s about a 300th of an
ounce a day In an ordinary diet and for
which physiologists have been unable to find
anjr ’function, now appears to be one of the
eSsepffpJ elements of life.
Lgurt winter the laboratories of Merck and
Co. in Rahway, N. J., and the Department of
Agriculture announced discovery of the most
powerful vitamin tanown. The vitamin, B12,
effective in#doses as small as a thousandth of
a gram, apparently is the elusive substance
in liver which prevents pernicious anemia.
The Merck chemists have just reported to the
American Association for the Advancement of
Science that the most notable ingredient
in this material is cobalt—a silvery-white
metal akin to nickel and Iron but with quite
different chemical reactions.
It was named “cobalt”, or “goblin ’, by Ger
man chemists a century.ago because of the
difficulty of separating it from its related
elements. They thought a goblin was lnter
lering with the process.
Cobalt Is in Pttnts.
Infinitesimable amounts of cobalt are con
tained in most plants but they appear more
than sufficient, if the body can make use of
them, to satisfy all requirements. B12 wae
isolated as a blood-red crystalline compound
the center of whose molecule is always a cobalt
atom. Attached to It are atoms of phosphorue
and sulfur. Partly because of the extremely
small amounts involved, analysis has been dif
ficult and still is far from complete, according
to the report of Dr. Edward L. Rickes and
his associates of the Merck Research Labora
tories.
Experiments have shown that cobalt given
alone has no effect on any of the anemias.
The cause of these diseases apparently Is
some failure of the body chemistry to get the
“goblin” atom into the proper complex.
Questions and Answers
A reader ran get the answer to any question of
fact by writing The Evening Star Information
Bureau. 3!« Eye street N.E.. Washington 2 D C.
Please inclose three <3>> cents for return postage.
By THE HASKIN SERVICE.
Q. How many times has Norman Thomas
been a presidential candidate on the Socialist
ticket ?—O. E.
A. Norman Thomas recently was named
presidential candidate for the sixtn time. The
first time was in 1928.
Q. In one of the books of the Apocrypha
there is a saying that "a slip on the pavement
is preferaole to a slip of the tongue.” What
i3 the exact reference?—W. E. D.
A. The passage occurs in the book of Ecclesi
astics. The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of
Sirach, Chapter 20. Verse 18. and is as fol
lows: "To slip upon a pavement is better than
to slip with the tongue: so the fall of the
wicked shall come speedily."
Q. How many Negroes are attending college
in the United States?—D. Y. B.
A. According to a survey Just completed oy
the Journal of Negro Education, 75,000 Negroes
are enrolled In univeriities and college*
>
Q. Are there more evening than morning
dailies now published?—A. J.
A. There are 375 morning papers, and 1.495
evening papers issued in the United 8tates.
Five hundred and twenty-five daily papers
have a Sunday edition. .
Q. How large was Paul Bunvan supposed
to be? Why was his ax blue?—t. W.
A. The favorite estimate of the size of tha
legendary Paul Bunyan Is that #7 ax handles
would scarcely span him from hip to hip. Hia
beard was as long as It was wide and he comb
ed It with a voung pine tree. According to tha
loggers of the Northwest, Babe, the blue ox,
| owed his color to the fact that he wax bora
1 in the “winter of tne blue enow."
A/ I*