Evening star., 1942-06-25

SiiSS d1lo pay 1OI
it In INSTALL
Henry McLemore. ments, has Just
invited bids from manufacturers
for 100000 to 100000 ribbons to
be worn by United Nations troops
while policing Germany after the
war is over
This breaks by full six inches
and two good seconds the optimism
record held by those American
statesmen who have been spending
time that should be devoted to the
war effort in formulating peace
plans. 1t was felt in some quar-
ters that Vice President Wallace and
Sumner Welles had reached the
ceiling" in optimism in their re-
cent speeches.
We don't recall exactly what they
said, but If memory serves us right,
Mr.. Wallace went so far in his in
depreciation OF the world Of tomor.
row as to lay out the public play
grounds, name the streets, and tell
on which corners either odd or
even, we forget which, the street.
cars would stop. Mr.. Welles car
ried on from there and did every-
thing but name the food VIC
torious nations would have with
their coffee on the morning of the
final victory.
But the man who ordered the
Army of Occupation ribbons went
on past them like Halleys comet
past an electric sign. He probably
said to himself: Hell, If we're going
to get premature, boys, let's really
| get premature"
Exact Specifications.
| He just didn't order any kind Of
ribbons. No. ma am. He laid down
the most exact specifications. He
asked for bids on a MORE finish
rlbbon-covered bar a inches long.
the ribbon to be striped blue. red,
white, black, white, red and blue.
We wonder what effect the gen.
tleman thought this ordering Of
ribbons in advance would have on
the country at large? We would
like 70 feel that he did think. and
didn't just make the gesture be-
cause he had few minutes on his
hands before lunch, and his secre-
tary wasn't busy.
He didn't ask US, but We are going
to tell the gentleman what effect
1t had on us. We had just finished
roofing around in the cellar, and
were on the way to the nearest
filling station with an old hot water
bottle. three feet Of garden hose
and pair of rubber heels, when
we learned that the war was so
close to being over that the insignia
for troops to police Germany had
been ordered.
Our reaction was probably that
Of tens Of thousands of Americans.
We dropped our contribution to the
National Rubber Reserve with an
I'll be damned" and went back
home to dream Of the not-so-far-
away day when we would have a
Japanese house boy assigned to Is.
and be able to see Hitler simply hv
visiting the local ZOO and staring
through the bars.
Dreams LONELINESS Spoiled.
There were only two or three
things to disturb the loveliness OF
this dream. In the same paper that
told us Of the ribbons being ordered,
We read that every American should
buy bonds and stamps, that Rommel
was raising Cain in Libya, that
Churchill was here to discuss the
gravest sort Of matters with the
President, that the Russians were
having a devil Of a time holding of
the Nazis, that the Japanese wers
still operating with success in the
Pacific, and that the submarine
menace in the Atlantic had not
been diminished.
What kind OF business was this?
Did it make sense to talk of peace
plans in one column and the urgent
need for every American to 60 all
out toward winning the war in the
next?
We decided it didn't We picked
up the hot-water bottle, the garden
hose and the rubber heels, and went
on down and turned them in. We
decided that this war against q
band Of international scoundrels
wasn't going to be won by men talk
Ing Of peace, and by the ordering
Of ribbons for our victorious troops.
We also decided that whoever is
planning the psychology that is be-
ing used on the American people
Is looney. Plum looney, too. We
have maintained from the start
that to win this war, and win It
quickly. we Americans must be
aroused to the dangers that beset
US, must be made to realize that
we are fighting the roughest sort
Of foes.
The place to talk peace is around
. table when the enemy has been
reduced to using fountain pens, not
on the battlefield while the foe Is
still equipped with bayonets.
Distributed By McNausht Syndicate Incl
Nudenbousch Elected