davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-05-25

humdrum, prosaic duties Of q
peacetiine army, uilWorried over
the modern military trends which
were to make Europe a shambles.
During most Of those 20 years,
the chief thorn In the side Of the
army was q cherub-faced, ro-
tund congressman from Mississippi
who refused TO let the Army 90 10
sleep. HIS name was Ross Col
Inns, and with disconcerting con-
sistency he kept haunting the
army with the fact that what Is
needed was more tanks, armored
cars, airplanes, and fewer horses.
"Have you investigated the num-
Der Of horses In the Air CORPSE"
Congressman Collins once asked
General John r. Preston, 1nspec-
tor General Of the Army.
mo SIR" replied General Pres
ton, who was testifying before Con-
gresham Collins Appropriations
subcommittee. II know Mt San
Antonio they did have some for
polo and exercise"
"For the officers or for the
womenfolk?" inquired Mr.. Col
Inns.
"No, sir, for the officers"
For airplane duty?" persisted
Mr.. Collins.
"For alrplane duty" General
Preston replied.
"They must be flying stecds,"
grunted the congressman.
WATCHES ARMY MONEY
Ross Collins Is In strategic
position. For years he has sat on
the subcommittee on military APP
preparations, where he could
watch every item spent on ma
tional defense, and help TO shape
the policy OF the Army.
And the Army came to hate him.
They called him a paclfist. They
tried to contribute to his defeat
back home In Mississippi.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-05-25

they nad 70 make every man
count for lot. 30 they
specialized In modern weapons.
Each man had 10 get the maxi
mum fire. power out Of his
weapons. That's why Germany
developed the airplaBc, the tank
and the armorcd car 10 such
perfection"
That's the secret OF Our ma
tional defense today. We don't
need q lot Of foot soldiers, as
Macarthur would have us. It rs
harmful 10 mobilize them without
equipment, II Is far easier to train
men than TO equip them. and II
you train them with outmodcd
weapons you have TO train them
all over again."
"What our army needs "a less
gold braid and trolley wire on
It's uniforms and more Overalls.
Put every man In 0veralls, and
you'll have n lot better defense
than II he has stripes on his
pants"
OLD OFFICERS
Another complaint CONGRESSMAN
Collins makes against the Army
is that 1t ts run by old men.
Many OF Its officers, he says, are
wartime clerks frozen into the
Army during the World War, who
remain because they couldn't
make living elsewhere.
During the Hoover administra-
ton, Collins inserted In the army
appropriation cut OF 1000 in
efficient and old officers from the
rolls. A howl went UP from the
Army such as has not been heard
since Admiral Cockburn burnt the
Capitol In 1914. Eventually the
provision was defeated In the Sen
ate. and there has been no tam
pering with the Arny's outmoded
promotion system until this year,
when q provision for the retire.
nept OF officers over 90 seems sure
to pass Congress.
Today the Army has come
around TO consider Ross Collins
a real friend. But he still Is
critical. and recently held the ie4l
War Department appropriation
bill up to ridicule because out Of
about billion dollars only $780,
100000, or one-tenth, is to be
spent for equipment and Col
Inns considers equipment far more
important than manpower.
ARMY HOSTESSEs
However. the Army will never
forget those pungent days when
the sarcastic Gentleman from Mis-
sissippi was trying to rouse 1t from
its lethargy, and when he cross.
examined Major General G. II.
Bridges regarding army hostesses:
II knew you want ladies
around the post" said Collins.
"These schools have q way Of
putting uniforms on the best
looking girls and making hon
Orary colonies of them. IT'S
part Of q plan TO play up sex
appeal. You are putting women
into the Army every chance
you get"
Or again, when examining the
Chief of the Air Corps as to why
aviators needed bands. the Gen.
tleman from Mississippi said:
II suppose you take your bands
up In the air with y0u-an I'm
striIment In every plane-t0 play
heavenly music 70 the angels"
Copyright. 1910. by United
Feature Syndicate. Inc.)
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-05-25

For a long time Ansonia and Derby
authorities have been eying bridge that
spans the Naugatuck River between the
two cities. At one time it was familiar
landmark and actually constituted one
section of the town line. But it has not
been used in years and was finally blocked
off by authorities as hazard. Only
recently, though, agitation to have it
repaired and put into use again started.
But the bridge has finally collapsed of it's
own weight and now is in the river where
it will probably be washed to bits eventu-
ally Some effort may be made to inter-
est the State Highway Department in
putting a new span across the river at
the point which acquired jurisdiction
over the crossing by 1889 legislative
act.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-05-25
In Today's Mail

tends that Wall Street has no stake
In this war.
Our job Is to warn the people, his
TO disarm them.
This imperialist war Is all out
growth OF those same imperialist
antagonisms which caused the last
war and which were sharpened by
the last war. This Is not a war for
democracy. Both parties share the
guilt of this war. Both are fighting
for colonies. markets, profits.
We Americans want to keep out Of
1t. We want no part Of 1t.
The American speaks misleading
ly and smugly Of free speech at a
time when capitalism Is making q
mockery Of democracy. In France
and England democracy has passed
away. We have our M-Day prepared
for us. The war drive against labor,
civil liberties, the Communist party,
has passed from the hands Of hood
lum mobs TO direct government spon-
Sorship.
Only this week in the state of
Georgia, where democracy Is in
suited by the poll tax and lynch law,
Governor Rivers was nationally ac-
claimed for prosecuting all who OPP
posed our entry into the war on the
side of the Allies.
In yesterdays editorial. the dem
ocratic" American describes democ-
racy as q luxury. He cold-blood-
edly forecasts the death Of American
democracy. The Wall Street Nth
column has mounted the Trojan
horse Of national emergency" They
want TO institute O Nazified Ameri-
can system Of terror and oppression
against the people so that Wall
Street imperiaiist aggression can be
carried out without hindrance and
with the utmost efficiency.
The American poses the possibility
Of fighting Naziitm with NaMisn,
Our people must be on guard against
the internal enemy who now thinks
the opportune moment has arrived
for establishing q dictatorship OF big
business. They should not make the
mistake OF believing that the Bund
represents the only fascism IN Our
midst. In the inner circles OF Wall
Street there are many who look ia
voFably upon an American Naxi sys-
tern Of government. This Is the real
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-05-25
WALL STREET FORCING US IN.
TO WAR, CLAIMS COM
MUNIST WRITER

Editor, Waterbury Democrat:
On April 2, 1917, a few days before
the U. s. declared war, the Water
bury American wrote: "The only
hope for the future of civilization
lies in the complete defeat Of Ger
many;-it Is our duty as the leading
democratic country Of the world to
ensure that defeat"
Thus the high minded American
did its part in betraying us into that
great Wall Street adventure, the first
World war. Since then, through the
hard years of the depression, the
American has never ceased to repre-
sent the interests of those same Grim
inal Wall Street circles who led us
into the last war. Naturally enough
the American finds itself In 1910 ex-
actly where 1t stood in 1917.
Wall Street no longer merely hints
at Americas involvement in the war.
What Roosevelt Is preparing for, is
what the Herald Tribune. organ OF
high finance and the Republican
party. brazenly shouted for In its
May 10 issue. "The least costly solu-
tion," confessed the Tribune. "in
both life and welfare, would be to
declare war on Germany at once"
The Roosevelt billion dollar appro-
priation for national defense" Is q
duplicate Of the moves made by
woodrow Wilson In furthering the
National Security league Prepared
ness Program" In the war OF 1914
1918. Wall street wants US In the
war (the Herald Tribune reveals)
because II Is grayely concerned over
1.-THE fate Of the outlying fragments
OF the British. French. Dutch and
Belgian empires"
The main source OF Irritation
which inspired the editor 10 write
his editorial Through Communist
Glasses" Is the difference OF opinion
we hold on the present European
war. That Is what rankles The
American. His paper refuses 70 re-
veal the real irnperialist character
Of this war Just Is Il cunningly pre-
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-05-25
Selected Poem
MILITARY OBJECTIVE"

dan Anderson in the New York SUM
This old stone bridge took children to the wood
The sweethearts' favorte stroll across 1t lay;
It served a busy road on market day;
On Sundays, after church. the menfok stood
Ranged by its weathered copings, where they could
Fish in the stream and gossip. Work and play
Both used the bridge, and slow cows went this way
To pasture grass that made their milk so good
What was a bridge Is now a rubble heap
Crumbled between the small streams either side.
The bridge was blasted by bomb To keep
Back troops who might the foe believed have tried
To pass here-one more obstacle TO leap.
Close by 1t lies peasant child who died
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-05-25

fifth column.
The American raves and rants
against the Soviet Union because 1t
blocked Hitler's course to the east.
1t complains that the Soviet Union
refused to have any part Of this war
and that therefore 1t Is responsible
for Its outbreak. This is indeed re-
markable. Such reasoning applied to
our country makes neutrality crime
and our participation In this war
moral obligation.
Events have fully indicated the
steps taken by the Soviet Union. For
more than six months the Allies
looked high and low for battlefield
other than the western front. In the
northeast and in the southeast they
sought for weak spots where they
hoped the war might take hold. The
Soviet Union frustrated every effort
to turn the war in its direction. 1t
made Its borders firmly secure. 1t
removed its neighbors from the war
zone. Even Finland Is today far
more safely removed from the path
of war than II the Allies had sue
coded with their protection" But
for the Soviet Union the war might
be raging now both to the east and
west with many more countries in
volved than at present.
I do not think &c is necessary to
answer The Americans defense. of
Horace Taft. Neither responsibility
nor neighborliness exempt him from
responsibility or criticism. The state
ment which he made speaks for It.
self and The American. It requires
no additional remarks.
The second World war Is so near
the people can smell the smoke. Wall
Street 10 driving madly for particle
patton. Everywhere the fear Of war
haunts the people. We renew our re-
quest to them 10 storm Washington
with messages TO keep us out. The
Communist party Is indefatigable In
exposing the fraudulence Of tins war
and In spiking the treachery OF that
nth column which Ia trying 10
stampede and overpower people and
democracy into the worst slaughter
which may yet face mankind.
MICHAEL RUSSO,
Secretary. Communist Party OF
Waterbury.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-05-25
Daily Almanac

Moon rises ii:45 p. m. daylight time).
Sun rises SGT a. m: sets 3:ii .. m. (day.
light time).
All vehicles must be lighted thirty minutes
after sunset.
The northeaster anticipated few days
ago has come and gene. The Indictment
weather OF the past week-one solid w0rkday
week OF it--shouid result In May going out IN
a blaze OF glory. Memorial Day plans can be
predicted on good weather.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-05-25
Current Comment

The Canadian government has no
thought Of attempting to intervene,
directly or indirectly, In the affairs
or policies Of the United States.
Premier Mackenzie King OF
Canada.
Some OF these aliens are better
citizens than many Of the native
born Americans ! know.
Representative Dickstejn. N.
Y, in debate on reapportion-
ment.
II Pan Ainericanism Is the pro-
motion Of peace. commerce and
friendship we must Danish prejudice
ignorance and dishonesty.
-Sixto Enrique Duran Ballen,
consul-general Of Ecuador.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-05-25

They hated him because he
was always trying 10 goad them
into adopting the type OF weapons
with which Hitler Is now sweep
Ing Europe. And Today the Army,
q little belatcdly, admits that Ross
Collins was right.
When asked why he began 10
urge a mechanical army ten years
ago, when the General Staff was
none too enthusiastic, Collins
drawled:
"LcOk UP and down Pcnnsyl-
vania avenue. DO you sec any
horses and buggics? No. People
are all travelling In motor cars.
Then why should we handicap
the Army by putting them back
In the horse and buggy days?"
"Or take khaki cloth. We
ali know that II will not stop
machine gun bullets. 30 why
expose our soldiers 10 them?
Hitler doesn't. lie manufac.
lures armor for his men, arm0r
in the form of tanks"
I'VE are the greatest scientific
and industrial nation In the world,
but we have applied our science
and industry TO everything except
our military defense"
MacARTHUR'S
"CIIINESE ARMY"
Congressman Collins blames
General Douglas Macarthur for
handicaping the mechanizatlon OF
the Army, and pays tribute 10 the
present Chief Of Staff. General
George Marshall, as an ardent adj
vocate Of modern military equip
ment.
Macarthur wanted a Chinese
army" says Collins; "a lot Of
men and low flrc-power. That's
exactly the reverse Of the Ger
mans. They had a small army
under the Versailles Treaty and
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-05-25
Questions
and Answers
BY FREDERIC N. KERRY


Enclose q three.eent stamp for
reply when addressing any ques-
zion Of fact or information % che
Waterbury Democrats Service 10.
reau 81 Washington. Legal and
medical advice cann0t be given.
nor can extended research Be IN.
taken. Be sure al mail g a0s
dressed 70 The WATERBURY
DEMOCRATS SERVICE BU.
REAU, 1913 Thirteenth street.
Washington, D. c.
@. When did federal insurance
Of bank deposits become operativeP
A. January !, 1894.
@. Name the youngest and old
est Speakers Of the House Of Rep
resentativeS.
A. Robert Mercer Taliaferro
Hunter, Of Virginia, Speaker In the
Twentieth Congress, (1030si841) was
30 years and 8 months when cleo
ted Speaker and was the youngest.
Henry Thomas Rainey, Of Illinois,
who was Speaker IN the Seventy
third Congress do33-1eo4), was TN
and the oldest.
@. Will there be another eclipse
Of the sun this year?
A. There will be total eclipse
on October /. It will not be visible
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-05-25

1EWGY &8@VUU III AltuAlCI~
able to the latest type Of 1000
pound bomb. Not only will that
kind Of sheathing be expensive, but
applying 1t as a standard thing
would practically mean starting
from scratch and building lot Of
new vessels. Existing ships Just
couldn't carry the weight.
That, In turn, would mean battle
ships much larger than any now In
existence. Some navy people are
talking about ships Of 10000 or TO-
900 tons. at costs estimated around
$l25, 10000 apiece.
Existing craft could be given
shields that would protect them
adequately from small bombs and
that would cut down casualties from
flying splinters and stray bits Of
gear. But these couldn't say the ex-
perts, get 100 per cent protection.
BIG BATTLEsHIPS
GOOD NEWS?
Just to show you the scale In
which some people are viewing the
defense program for the next de-
CADET Is being argued In some
quarters that these $l25, 900 900, tur-
tle-backed battle wagons actually
come under the head Of good news
for the American people.
The argument goes like this:
nobody on earth could afford to
build that kind Of ship except
Uncle Sam. 1t might almost break
him, but he could do II; and since
nobody else could, he would pres
entity have the only airplane- proof
battle feet In all the world and
hence would be undisputed lord OF
the seas.
g. ]. o. CLEAVAGE OVER
COMMUNISTS MAY GROW
Martin Dies demand that John
l.. Lewis make known there Is no
place on American soil for agents
of foreign powers" by Kidding the
G. I. Q. OF Communists highlights a
sharp cleavage that has been de-
veloping within the g. !. o. ever
since last fab.
This cleavage has not come TO
an open break, and may not do SO.
Further, 1t Is concerned with other
issues In addition TO the question
OF Communism. But 1t has be-
come OF increasing concern TO
friends Of the labor movement,
and with the present emphasis on
fifth column perils 1t Is likely TO
become wider rather than mar
rover.
In effect, the g. I. o. today Is
divided into two groups. One Is
headed by Lewis himself the other
by Sidney Hillman, head OF the
Amalgamated Clothing Workers.
The Hillman faction wants to
purge Communists from the G. I.
o. but Lewis has successfully
resisted.
1t Is easy to misconstrue Lewis
position. He certainly Is no Com
munist, nor Is he, as Is sometimes
loosely asserted. under Commu.
mist domination"
Some Of his recent pronounce.
ments OH isolation, the New Dea!
and the need for cooperation
among all left-wing groups may
jibe with the party line; yet his
friends say Lewis stands where he
always did and that 1t Is the Com
munists who are following his
line, not vice versa. But, In any
case, the practical effect Is that the
G. I. o. leaders who are fighting
the Communists and the party
line are, at the moment, fighting
Lewis also.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-05-25

In the United States. but only In
Central and South America, and
southern Africa.
Q. What type Of bridge will re-
place the one at Niagara Falls that
was swept away BY Ice IN Janu-
ary. 1882
a. Steel arch.
@. What Is the meaning OF the
American Indian name Mononga-
hela?
A. 1t IS derived from Delaware
Indian words meaning river with
sliding banks"
9. Is "hitch-hiking" prohibited
In Canada?
A. II Is prohibited IL the pro-
yinces Of New Brunswick, Nova eco.
tia and Quebec. Ontario permits II
with restrictions. Elsewhere In Can.
ada there Is no law against the
practice.
q, How much was spent for re.
lief In the United States from 1888
through 1899?
A. Expenditures In the continent
tai United Safes during that period,
from Federal, State, and local funds
for public ! rograms providing as
sistance and employment, totaled
1915 billion dollars. Exclusive OF
costs OF administration. materials.
equipment, and supplies required
for the operation Of work projects.
OF the total sum expended, IA BILL
lion dollars was for assistance pro.
grams and 1911 billion for Federal
work programs.
@, What are frozen assets?
. A. Property or investments that
cannot be quickly turned into cash.
Banks, for instance. often have as"
sets that ar sound but cannot DO
liquidatcd at once without great
logs.
@, W'io owned the first autonlo"
bile drivers license?
A. ElwcoG Haynes, an automobile
inventor AMI manufacturer OF no
kono, Indiana. He received the iirst
license or permit to operate q gaso-
line automobile In 1893.
II you want q copy Of the book
let "How A Newspaper Is Made
send 10 the Waterbury Democrats
Washington Bureau, 1913 Thir.
tccnth street, Washington. ID. G.
Enclose ten cents In postage.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-05-25

I. Name the only nation IN the
Western Hemisphere IN which Por"
tuguese Is the prevailing language.
.. Who wrote THE Star spangled
Banner?"
8. The unit Of electrical resistance
Is the volt, watt or ohm?
4. With what sport Is Rollie
Hemsley associated?
5. Which three boroughs are link
ed by New York City's Tri-Borough
Bridge?
8. The Premier OF France Is Paul
Reynaud, Edouard Daladier, or Al
bert Sarraut?
Z. Who was Vincente Blasco Iba-
nez?
8. In which direction is Denmark
from Germany?
o. John Bull" Is collective nick.
name for what people?
10. Are turtles Matched from
eggs?
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-05-25

going TO be even
more expensive
II they are ac-
tuai ly to be
made airplane-
proof along the
lines suggested
10 GIv1sIosS "a
the Navy Edi-
son.
Naval experts
have figured 1t
would Ia Ike O
protective shell
Of Z 1.2 inch ar
NOR plate to
render q battle
ship invulner-
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-05-25
ROBERT 8. ALLEN
DREW PEAR SON

Of
SERIES Merry dosres Of nmc IN naAon
During years
drilled
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-05-25
National
Spotlight
BY BRUCE CATION
Waterbury Democrat Washington
Correspondent

Washington, May IS - A nice,
gloomy note for the taxpayer In
connection with the preparedness
program Is the fact battleships are
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-05-25

Admiral William D. Leahy, governor of
Puerto Rico, is the latest public official to
advocate the acquisition OF such Atlantic
Ocean islands as Bermuda by the United
States. He also would have us pick up
Jamaica and Trinidad from Great Bri-
tain If she were willing to part with them.
He believes their possession would bolster
up our ocean defenses which they natur-
ally would if Britain were to fall prey
to the Nazi domination in Europe, as
many fear or feel she will before very
long However, that's merely speculative
for the moment. He thinks, too, that the
islands could be taken over in settlement
of Britains war debt to us which prob
ably would satisfy most Americans sense
of Justice in this matter, but wouldn't the
British publc's, we don't believe. We
still think that no matter how badly off
she might be or become in this current
fracas England won't give up such insu-
lar possessions as Bermuda, the Bahamas,
etc, without driving hard bargain.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-05-25
No Coalition Needed

Former Congressman Alfred N. Phillips
of Stamford is in the mood to run for
office on the Democratic ticket again. He
intends to seek nomination as the guber-
material candidate if Democrats and Re-
publicans of Connecticut will agree on a
coalition ticket of Maloney for Senator,
Baldwin for Governor. He ought to know
that the Democrats and Republicans of
Connecticut would never endorse this
ticket nor any coalition. One is not
needed.
The Republicans of this state and the
Democrats of this state can present can
didates this fall without borrowing them
from each other. And the more citizens
of this nation start to talk about coali-
ton tickets the less knowledge they show
of the fundamentals of our form Of gov
eminent. The two-party system has
proved down through the years that 1t
offers the best system OF checks and
counter-checks that we need to provide
good government.
We don't think very many leaders will
join eX-congressman Phillips in his stand.
We know that the increasing talk about
a coalition ticket in our national gov
eminent has not met with any universal
approval. After all the situation here Is
not such that one party has to depend
upon the other to supply a missing link
Both are pretty self-suffcient and
always have been despite reverses that
seemed to spell the doom Of one.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-05-25

ToDAY's COMMON ERROR
II is not good English 10 speak
Of o nearby house or other
object: substitute neighbor-
ing or adjacent or say -
house that stands near BY"
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-05-25
A Thought for Today

And he said unto them, Go We into all the
world, and preach the gospel to every creature
Mark 1918.
The shifting systems OF false religion are con-
unualy changing their places; but the gospel OF
Christ is the same ioreyer-T L. Cuyler.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-05-25

Can you answer seven OF these
test questions? Turn to last page
for the answers.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-05-25

II you want q copy Of the book.
let "How A Newspaper Is Made
send 70 the Waterbury Democrats
Washington Bureau, 1913 Thir.
tecnth street, Washington, ID. g.
Enclose ten cents In postage.