Evening star. [volume], September 15, 1948, Page A-9, Image 9

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

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
Significance of Vote
In Maine Debatable
Despite G.O.P.Victory
Past Elections Are Cited
To Show Percentages May
Not Hold in November
By David Lawrence
Maine, the only State in the
Union that has a congressional elec
tion in September, presents an op
portunity in presidential years to
do a bit of measuring of the politi
cal tide.
This year’s results, however, will,
like others, give ground for dispute
over what the election percentage
means. In 1940 the September elec
tions showed a comfortable ma
jority for the Republicans with 65
per cent of the total vote, but by
November the tide had receded so
that Wendell Willkie barely car
ried the State by about 9,500, with
51.5 per cent of the total vote. The
1944 presidential election showed a
reversal as between September and
November but the result was not so
close as in 1940.
The explanation most heard in
1940 was that there was a heavy
vote of former Canadians and that
the whispering campaign concern
ing Mr. Willkie's German ancestry
had cut into the Republican vote.
But, whether this was or was not
the case, 1944 showed a 71 per cent
Republican vote in September in
the congressional election and a 52.5
per cent vote for Gov. Dewey in
November.
Majority Is Extraordinary.
This time in a State-wide contest,
Margaret Chase Smith, Republican
nominee for the Senate, has won
better than 70 per cent of the total
vote. This Is extraordinarily good
even In Maine. It will be recalled
that in 1946 the senatorial vote for
the Republicans was 63.5 of the
total, while the total vote for seats
in the House of Representatives
showed about 63.4 per cent Republi
can.
The fact that the gubernatorial
vote in 1948 shows a higher per
centage than it did in 1946, when
it was 61 per cent as against about
66 per cent this year, is an indica-j
tion that the Republican tide in a
party sense is running high and
certainly is not experiencing a
downward trend.
There have been some analysts on
the Democratic side w!ho have been'
assuming th^j the Republican trend
reached its peak in 1946 and that!
thereafter, as so often has hap
pened with political trends, the turn
downward would become pro
nounced. Sometimes a trend keeps
up for a period of 12 to 16 years.
The Democratic trend under Frank
lin D. Roosevelt was so high in 1936
that, while it did start down, there
was such a big margin over the;
Republicans to begin with that the :
Democrats were able for 10 more
vears to control both the House and
i he Senate by a comfortable ma
jority.
The relatively close margin of
r nular votes between Gov. Dewey j
"d President Roosevelt in 1944
-.used many an observer to predict;
uit the 1946 congressional elections
mid show a substantial rise in ^
he Republican tide.
No Signs of Recession.
This did materialize. There Were ;
publicans, however, who would
ve preferred that -the Democrats ,
. ct in 1946 enough members of
Congress to orgariize both houses
• o that the responsibility for the
•-cond half of the Democratic term
would still be on the shoulders of
the Democrats. Now, with the Re
publicans compelled to accept re
oonsibility at the polls for the rec
ord from 1946 to 1948, it has been
expected that the Republican tide
would dip downward.
If Maine is used as a basis for
measurement, the Republican tide
shows no signs ot receding and, in
fact, may be rising slightly in the
eastern areas of the country. Mrs
Smith had been a member of the
Eightieth Congress, which President
Truman denounced so vehemently.
She voted to override the Presi
dent's veto of the Taft-Hartley Act
and his veto of the tax-reduction
bill. Maine has several industrial!
areas, and Mrs. Smith's opponent
made an issue of the Taft-Hartley
Act, urging its repeal.
The only inference that can be j
drawn is that President Truman is
not strong enough in Maine to per- ,
suade the voters to turn down Re
publican candidates for Congress
and may not himself run much
better there than the Democratic
candidates for Congress who have
just been defeated.
If one could be sure now that
Gov. Dewey would get at least a
60 per cent vote in Maine next
November, one could be sure that
a popular vote of 51 per cent or
better is likely in the Nation. But^
no Republican candidate in recent
years—Mr. Willkie in 1940 or Gov.
Dewey in 1944—has gotten as high
as 53 per cent in the Pine Tree
State, so that Democrats may still
argue that September isn't Novem
ber in Maine.
(Reproduction Rights Reserved.)
You Have Not
“STEPPED OUT”
Until You Have Heard
KURT HETZEL
Ring the 200 Yeer Old
finrdms
lid!
SO E
BACCHUS BELL at TED LEWIS'
and play The Maine Stein Song on
his STEINWAY at Mid-nite, when
all cocktails. Mixed Drinks are sold
at reduced prices. Mon. thru Fri,
between 12 and 2 A M.
This Changing World
Halting of British Demobilization Seen
Realistic in View of Soviet Threats
jBv Constantine Brown
•
In spite of optimistic statements
by American officials, doubting that
the Russians will provoke a war in
the immediate future, the British
government, _
wnicn nas pre
served a meas
ure of realism
in its handling
of foreign af
fairs. has de
cided to cease
demobilization
of its land, sea
and air forces.
At a recent
cabinet meeting
Field Marshal
Viscount Mont
I gomery, chief of
the British Im
perial Staff,
Constantine Brown.
presented a picture ol relations wun
Russia which worried the wishful
thinkers in the government. The
picture he presented was particu
larly worrisome since Lord Mont
gomery is known to be anything
but an alarmist.
After the Russians began to'show
i their unwillingness to co-operate
, with their wartime allies in paci
fication of the world, the British
j military experts estimated that an
armed conflict between East and
West would be possible any time
between 1954 and 1957.
Hopes for Peace Fade.
This was reassuring, since many
things could happen between now
and then, and many of the men
who have their hands in the des
tinies of the U. S. S. R. and the
world may disappear by that time.
Lord Montgomery himself, after
having been royally received in
Moscow in the winter of 1947, was
inclined to believe that even such
a long-range estimate was pessi
mistic. He himself w'as of the opin
ion that by handling the Russians
properly, partieolarly by strength
ening trade relations and yielding
to the Kremlin on some matters like
Azerbaijan in exchange for Russian
recognition of British interests in
Southern Iran and Iraq, lasting
peace could be realized.
Later, after the Soviets turned
down the Marshall Plan and inten
sified their subversive activities in
Fiance and Italy, Lord Montgom
ery began to swing over to the
estimate of the British general staff,
that war with the U. S. S. R. was
possible in the next five years.
On the basis of this new situa
tion he worked for organization of
the defensive alliance of the West
ern bloc (Britain, France, Belgium,
the Netherlands and Luxembourg)
with the indirect co-operation of
the United States, which was to
provide the latest military equip
ment to make a strong military
force of the manpower of those
five countries. \
Earlier Estimate Revised.
The British general staff is re
ported now to have found it neces
sary to revise downward even its
earlier five-year estimate. On the
basts of reports from its excellent
intelligence services, which analyze
situations without wishful thinking
or any desire to please top officials,
the British government is said to
have come to the conclusion that
war may break out at almost any
time.
The top men in the British cabi
net are reported to be still of the
opinion that the -Russians won't
dare to start a war,” and that the
Soviet Union would prefer to gain
its objectives by political terror in
the present war of nerves. Never
theless, the cabinet—and particu
larly Foreign Secretary Bevin—is of
the opinion now that any further
weakening of the British forces,
which are still the strongest in the
Western European bloc, might in
vite disaster.
Despite the need for further dras
tic economy and for the use of man
power in peacetime efforts, the
British cabinet has decided to stop
all demobilization of men who were
scheduled to be returned to civilian
life by the end of this year.
Like the rest of the Western
Powers, the British would do almost
anything to prevent another war,
which they realize would be catas
trophic for their economic and so
cial structure. But they are con
vinced that any further appease
ment of the Kremlin would be at
the expense of their centuries-old
ideals of freedom and human rights.
And not even the present socialist
government is prepared to do that.
The British realize that in the
event of another war their island
will be one of the first targets of
the Soviet buzz bombs—which are
improved versions of the best the
Germans developed during the war
—and that the hardships of the
last war were a picnic compared to
what will have to be endured next
time. Yet they are willing to face
the music rather than subject them
selves to Soviet domination.
One of Every 10 Workers
In U. S. Is on Public Payroll
By th« Associated Press
More than one of every 10 work
ing persons in this country is em
ployed by government — Federal,
State or local.
Census Bureau figures show 5,
900,000 persons on public payrolls
in April, latest month for which
data are available, out of a total
of 58,330.000 persons employed
throughout the Nation.
While the number of public
workers was well below the 6,800,000
wartime peak of April, 1945, in
creased pay rates sent the public
payroll total for last April to $1,
228,500,000—the highest in history.
Public payrolls accounted for well
over one-tenth of all wage and
' salary payments In April, which
Commerce Department estimates
place at about $10,400,000,000. In
dividual incomes from all sources
| that month were about $17,300,
000.000.
Average monthly earnings of
Government employes hit $207. a
gain of $14 over, last year. Federal
employes had the highest average.
State and local employes averaged
only $189. but that was $19 above
the rate in April 1947.
Despite pay increases over the
last year, Government employes
were not doing as well as factory
workers on the average.
The Government average worked
out to $47.77 weekly, against $51.68
for factory workers.
India’s Minister of Agriculture
plans to form a "fertilizer pool” to
aid farmers.
importera—Grocera—Wine Merchanta Since 1875
Charge Accounts Delivery
FOR SERVICE...
TENDER YOUNG
* DUCKLINGS
- 43c txz.
"A DELICIOUS CHANGE OF DIET" ;
Smmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmrnmmm
CALL...
^MAGRUOER'S "REAL" AGED
^SHARP CHEESE ,
•69*
^NEWYOtlTSFINBTCHEDDAr^^
DISTRICT 8250
^ CALIFORNIA'S BEST JUICE
* ORANGES
^29*
,#QUAI4TY—IXCfmONMftfCi"
i i —
ORDWAY 6300
/l--" 1 -
p FANCY NEW CROP
SWEET POTATOES
3-19* j
“Unusual" items are the “usual” at
MAGRUDERS. Lift your phone9 call us
and let us make a prompt, courteous
delivery. Make this another “MAGKU
DER HABIT.”
Trices Effective in Both Stores Through Saturday, September IS
LOUIE —By Harry Hanan
On the Record
Anti-Communist Demonstration in Berlin
Held Stroke for Freedom and Humanity
By Dorothy Thompson
Last week the most spontaneously
revolutionary mass demonstration of
postwar Europe occurred in Berlin
Spurred by the violent dissolution
of the city's „
eieciea repre
sentative as
sembly by Rus
sian soldiers and
German police
under their com
m a n d, 250.000
people — un
armed except for
stones — surged
against the Rus
sian occupation
forces. Two
young men brav
ing almost cer
tain death
climbed to the
Dorothy Thompson.
lop oi me rsranaenourg ware anu
pulled down the Red flag.
This riot had nothing of the na
ture of the organized demonstra
tions which are a feature of the new
“peoples’ ” totalitarianisms. In these
the forces of the state command the
assemblage of a crowd. Schools
and factories are emptied w’hile
party commissars keep check that
all march dutifully to the appointed
place, there to chant ‘‘We thank our
leader,” on pain of being dismissed
or arrested for failing to do so.
These “revolutionary” demonstra
tions are as unrevolutionary as an
army drill. Where passions are
excited it is by the external stimu
lation of chanted slogans—simulated
fervor as part of a compulsory
regime. |
What happened in Berlin, how
ever, was that a tense cord snapped.
The crowd might have sung the
Communist Internationale against1
their Communist oppressors:
“Arise, ye prisoners of starvation
Arise, ye wretched of the earth. .
Is^ue Not Capitalism.
Their rage had nothing to do with
•‘capitalism” versus “socialism.” It
was an outburst of the most primi
tive resistance to inhuman degrada
tion. For weeks these Berliners.
90 per cent of them fitting the most
precise definition of a “proletariat,”
have faced being starved to death
by the self-styled liberators of the
proletariat.
While the German Communists
chanted the legend of “national
unity,” their masters have divided
the city in two. They have split the
police department and every civil
administration, and insisted on two
currencies unless they could control
the one. At the moment, when they ■
"negotiate” to restore four-power
control, they overthrow democratic
government and four-power con
trol.
Since the war ended, the Ber
liners have been watching, like
apathetic spectators, the drama of
their own fate. But last week the
coma broke in a mass cry. That
mass cry would issue in Poland.
Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Hun
gary and Roumania and from the
slave camps east of the Urals, if
there were any hope. It sounded
in Berlin because there are Western j
troops in the city, and because the
states of Western civilization have
broken the siege by the air lift.
They are not wholly abandoned,
and not yet slaves.
That this has happened in Berlin
has special interest. Berlin always
was the mast anti-Nazi city in the
Reich. Before Hitler it was the
most Communist city in the world,
called by Germans themselves, “Red
Berlin." But anti-Nazi Germans j
have learned about the reality of i
communism in concentration camps
where Communists displayed soli
darity only with other Communists,
and on no human basis: in Soviet
POW camps, from which they re
turned broken shadows.
Germans Learned in Russia.
These Germans learned about
communism while fighting in Rus
sia, seeing the hovels in which the
village people live, seldom with a
bed, never with the slightest sani
tary facilities ,and swarming with
bugs and lice. They learned from
the shocking excesses of Soviet
troops, flushed with triumph.
They saw in Russia the par
allel of the Nazi system at home.
And it was not surrender to the
Western armies which horrified them
but surrender to another master
with a whip, uttering friendly words
and practicing unconscionable bru
talitles, under a system in which1
no outlet is allowed for humane
and generous instincts.
The Russians and the Communists
have lost the revolution. A revo
lution imposed by alien arms,
through conspiratorial intrigues
and studied “tactics,” has no more
revolutionary elan than any other
imperialism and cabal, tfgly, cruel,
godless, loveless, it offers no more
to the poor than to the rich.
But the human heart cries for
human recognition. The Berlin
barricades are thrown up for liberty
and humanity. The Red flag is torn
from the triumphal arch. Its color
does not symbolize the dawn, but
terror and blood.
^Released by tlie Bell Syndicate. Inc.) {
j&cn
TRANSFER k STORAGE CO.
460 Ntw York Ay*. N.W. NA. 1070
Export Pocking
OUR SPECIALTY
NOW IT’S EASY
to find the Rug or Carpet von want.
FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE
we have built a display of thousands of square
yards of the famous Bigelow Weavers* Rugs and
Carpets.
Custom Made at NO EXTRA COST
ANY SIZE ,
ANY COLOR
ANY WEAVE
glgHgp YOUR CHOICE OF $300.00 worth of any
quality of Bigelow Carpet. Drawing—
U II rfllHifcl Saturday, Sept. 18 at 4 p.m.
DAVID R. DAVIS
i
CARPET CENTER
INC.
Silver Spring
CARPETS FOR OFFICES, STORES, HOTELS
AND INSTITUTIONS AT CONTRACT PRICES
JOHN f. STONI
8612 Georgia Ave. Phone SLigo 3000
Atnpla Parking in Raai-Opan Monday, Wednesday and Friday Eoaninga 'Til »
12.95
12.95
10.95
' Hahn SHOES are
10.95
good-looking, rugged and right for class
Ski-boots Martins 10.95
or ghillies Scotch Grain M.M0
No wonder everyone’s talking this season about Hahn’s wonderful shoes for young men!
We freely admit they’re the most outstanding values we’ve ever offered. Take your choice
of rich, highly polished Burgundy leathers ... a great favorite this fall ... or famous
* Martin’s Scotch grain. For individuality, you’ll like the new ski-boot with strap or the
ghilli ... for dress, the wing or straight tip Scotch grains will fill the bill. College men
can’t go wrong when they come to Hahn’s for fine shoes, priced for a limited budget.
H AHIV ™ »"r
14th & G 7th & K *4483 Conn.
•1113 14th 3101 Wilton BlvcL *Opon Bvm.
h 4 A