Scandinavian American. [volume], January 01, 1946, Page 8, Image 8

About Scandinavian American. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1945-1958

Image provided by: Washington State Library; Olympia, WA

                
8
EDITOBIAL PAGES of_ ‘tnhe
The Bear and the Lion '
Britain is much concerned about presence of
Russian troops in northern Iran—as she has a
right to be, according to her concept of the legiti
macy of economic imperialism and her interests in
oil in the region.
It was natural, therefore, that her representa
tives in the U; N. 0. showed more than mild in
terest when Iran‘s Premier Ibrahim Hakimi pre
sented to that organization his grievance against
Russia. British statesmen may even have “nee
dled” the premier into making his complaint. They
have been known to do such cunning things.
And what was the answer of that great, lum
bering Russian Bear? He merely growled in irri
tation and suggested that the British withdraw
their armed forces from Greece and Java, intimat
ing that perhaps they had no business there,
either.
Diplomatic sophistry, in which erudite science
the British are past masters, will be severely
strained to meet the logic of the Russian position.
‘ Already, however, we hear much double-talk
from Downing Street. The Russians are in Iran
to CONTROL a large area according to THEIR
desires, whereas the unselfish British are in
Greece to see that a “responsible” government is
established; and they are in Javato see that a
“just" peace is arranged between the Nationalists
and the Dutch Government.
The “responsible” government for Greece must,
of course, be primarily responsible to British
Mediterranean and empire life-line) interests.
while the peace for Java must be such as to re—
establish colonial imperialism as the rule for
southern and southeastern Asia and its adjacent
islands.
Well, maybe Russia has a “lifeline” in Iran. We
wouldn’t know.
But history proves British policy to be so filled
with inconsistencies and hypocrisies as to be espe
cially vulnerable to punctures such as the Rus
sian Bear’s claw has just inflicted.
One day that policy will blow up. We hope
America is not standing too close when it happens.
‘Asleep at the Switch’
Should a man responsible for operation of a sig
nal tower in a busy railroad yard drowse and, by
his forgetfulness. indifference or carelessness.
permit two passenger trains to crash head-0n, it’s
not likely a company official would give him a
week or more to admit he was "asleep at the
switch." V
Yet. should he be treated thus indulgently, it
would be somewhat analogous to the courtesy and
charity extended by the senatorial investigating
committee to the top-level commanders of our
Army and Navy defences at Pearl Harbor on the
“day of infamy.”
These men were responsibly in charge of that
Pacific “signal tower." On a drowsy Sunday
morning after a ”tropical” week-end they were
caught mapping. with tragic results of which a
r—-—_'—————_1
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MUIIVI
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A publication dedicated to the interests of the
Norwegian. Swedish. Danish. Finnish and Icelandic
population of the Great Northwest.
January, I946
'l‘ll‘lh DI AI? 1‘
Alvaro C. Shoemaker
Edwin C. Gusunon
Ken ’I‘uray
still sensitive American public need not be re
minded.
. Simmered down, the evidence shows that each
was in possession of sufficient official advices to
cause him to be acutely alert. The situation was
known to be tense; it was so known to them, both
through official channels and through their own
rational processes. They had the means to de
fend the area under their commands. A radar
operator had given warning, an hour in advance,
of approach of a great air fleet which could
scarcely have been friendly, but the warning was
“misinterpreted.” The Japs were permitted to
strike, a great nation was humbled, shamed, its
very life jeopardized.
Now these gentlemen are permitted to sit .with
honor and argue interminably that it was “some
one else" who was to blame.
Little as they did for their country, they should
be very grateful that it IS their country. If they
belonged to almost any other, they would not
today be offering their alibis to an indulgent
committee of inquiry.
Scientists: Their Duty
There is new measure of hope for a better
world in the fact that concern for the political
and economic future of mankind is being shown,
at long last, by those who, strangely, have held
aloof from the stumbling procession.
We refer to those whose primary, and hereto
fore seemingly sole, interests have been in the
sciences and arts.
The scientist, the artist are, after all, a part of
humanity; they are carried by the human stream
from which they are inseparable. They cannot
swim ashore to some enchanted isle. whence to
witness the struggles of humankind in the raging
sea lashed by the tempests of its own making.
We in the United States have had recent evi
dence of the hopeful trend of scientific and artis
tic interest in the formation of group leaders in
such activities of the mind, with the avowed
purpose of making their long overdue and invalu
able contribution to the practical matters of so
cial. political and economic advance.
:3: * >£=
It is in Stockholm, however, that the world
wide nature of the new movement is most force
fully emphasized. In that focal point of intel
lectual endeavors—made so by the foresight of
scientist Nobel in the creation of prizes for
achievement in things of the mind,—there were
recently held ceremonies attending the Nobel
Prize distribution—because of war conditions. the
first since 1938.
One of the Swedish hosts. Prof. Hugo Theorell.
in a thoughtful speech said, among other things:
“Never before has a Nobel Festival been
celebrated at a time when it has been so self
evident that we have to choose between two
paths for the future of mankind. The one
leads to the destruction of civilization. while
the other opens up a wonderful perspective.
There the Four Rights of Man which President
Roosevelt defined would accrue to us. Physics
and chemistry form the foundations of that'
material progress which is to give us freedom
from want. Physiology and medicine give us
weapons to wield in the struggle for freedom
from fear, and finally literature has the highest
function of all—to overcome that degradation
of the mind which obstructs the path to the
freedom of thought and of religious belief."
# t It
Professor Theorell’s thoughts were, of course,
inspired by the development of the atomic bomb.
But, regarded in a broader sense, they are funda
mental. They would have been as applicable had
they been uttered before Hiroshima, for that
shattering missile had its inception in the pure
science of nuclear physics. The atomic bomb was
the practical, frightful fruition of the probing
THE SCANDI NAVIAN AMERICAN
intelligence of the pure research scientist.
Not only, then, is it an inviting avenue for
further exercise of high intelligence: it is the
clear obligation of the intelligent to help give
mankind direction; to help it avoid the dire perils
and harness the beneficial energies which science
has given to the world as its first problem of
today.
With some such thought in mind, Dr. Ernst
Chain, one of the three British discoverers of
penicilllin, all of whom were awarded the Nobel
prize for their discovery), speaking to the learned
group at the Festival, said:
“We have not yet learnt to master the de
structive forces in ourselves. Shall we be capa.
ble of doing so after the experiences of the past
six years? If we fail to build up a world in
which nations can live peaceably together. we
shall destroy the civilization of thousands of
years. It- is the duty and responsibility of
men of science to enlighten mankind hereon.
We cannot leave it to the politicians any
longer."
It is a wholesome, a hopeful thing to know that
science is at last awakening to its dual function:
to give mankind its tools for advance, then demon
strate their use. direct the political processes of
their integration into the complex organism of
human society.
If men of intelligence and vision and artistic
appreciation do not measure up to their obligation,
the future were dark indeed.
In Storage
Newspaper and periodical advertising is one of
the most potent forces at work shaping the eco
nomic structure of America. But sometimes, to
the observant and discerning, an advertisement
overtells its story. ,
A few days following start of the strike in the
electrical manufacturing industry the nation's
newspapers carried a large ad for one of the
leading makers of appliances and household neces
sities. It was a presentation in text and pictures
which told the sorrowful story of how those rude.
selfish and inconsiderate union workers. deserted
assembly lines loaded down with half-finished
washing machines, mangles, toasters, grills, eas
seroles, ovens, and whatnot in the gadget line.
It is true that one of the panels pictured a long
row of washing machines on an assembly line.
But other panels showed what obviously Were
finished products of varied nature. packaged and
heaped tier upon tier in storage.
The purpose of the advertisement was. of
course. equally obvious: to turn the mind of the
American housewife (and. of course, sympathetic
ally. her man) against the the strikers. She had
worn her fingers to the second joint on a wash
board because her old electric washer had ground
its last garment to shreds. She wanted. MUST
have. a new one, and those terrible workers with
pockets already stuffed with money, were de
manding more from the poor company which in
its generosity was already courting bankl‘ul)tt‘.V'
and which was eager to sell her a new machine.
and many other electrical items, just as soon as
the workers Would get down to business and
make them.
The truth is, this company-—and many others~
have been making such articles almost since V-J
Day. last Auguat. None of these things, however.
have reached the consumer eager to buy them.
They were stored, to be released to retailers if,
as and when the combined pressure of the “gener
ous" manufacturers succeeds in knocking 0‘“
OPA, thus enabling them to collect vastly in
creased prices for their products fabricated ‘at the
old, low wage scales against which the workers
struck.
Want some of those new electrical 311118915?
Look at that advertisement and you'll see where
they are.
Now try to get them!
By ALVARO