davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1944-12-01
Britain and Cash

Ef1ectlVe January l, according to
official announcement here and in
London, lease-lend supplies to Brit
ain will be cut almost in half, and
the British will begin the difficult
task of trying to restore their normal
economy by importing raw materials
from the United States, paying for
them in cash, and then selling the
finished products abroad insofar as
available shipping permits. This
basic policy adjustment, which will
become operable with the new year
unless some unexpected military
reverse interveneS, not merely serves
as measure of how we'll the battle
is going against Germany but also
puts to rest many rumors and sus-
picionS about American plans to play
Santa Claus in the postwar world.
Until Germany and Japan are both
defeated, Britain will continue to re-
ceive considerable lease-lend sup
plies, but no part of those supplies
will be used for any other purpose
than the prosecution of the war.
What is anticipated under the new
plan is that the British will buy
things from uS-largely semifabri-
Gated and unfabricated things-to
meet their domestic needs as much
as possible and especially to get
started on the job of reviving their
foreign trade. We can better under
stand how important this is to them
if we keep in mind that the United
Kingdom is one of the least self
sufficient powers in the world, so
much SO, literally, that it cannot
live unless it can import and export
on grand scale.
Exclusive of lease-lend operations,
however, the British have not been
able to do this since 1899, their total
imports last year, for example, being
less than one-half of the prewar
average and their total commercial
exports being only 20 per cent Of
those of 1888. The economic conse-
quences of this enormous decline
can scarcely be exaggerated; they
mean, at best, that it will probably
be long time before Britain can
get back to its once strong position
in international trade-a prospect
made all the more likely by the fact
that to carry on its military effort,
1t has sold about six billion dollars
worth Of its overseas assets and
Evening star., 1944-12-01
On the Record
By Dorothy THOMPSON

Frledr1ch BarbaroSSa, German en-
peror OF the Holy Roman Empire, q
real person. Is also a German myth and
folktale. Friedrich l. called "Barbarossa"
or Red Beard" was one of the leaders
OF the Third Crusade and on July 10,
1l90, either in bathing or in crossing
river in Asia Minor was drowned. The
place OF his burial is unknown.
But as generations passed and the
German states went through hard times,
legend grew up, that he still lived,
hidden away in an underground castle
in the Kyffhaeuser Mountains in Cen
trail Germany, where he waited to rise
and lead his people to new grandeurs
Any number of German ballads cele-
brate the emperor who disappeared and
will returp-among them the story that
his beard grew through the marble table
on which he sat with his chin propped
in his hand. Two ravens, sitting on his
shoulders, regularly flew abroad and.
surveying the world, returned to report
to him whether the time had arrived
for his return.
Like all myths of this kind, the Bar
barossa story became interviewer with
older and more primitive tribal my
tholog1es. BarbarosSa is really an in
carnation of Wotan-including the
ravens, "Wotan's birds" Wotan and
Barbarossa jointly became German gods
joining pagan and early Christian ages
-
Knowing something of the Nazi men
tality, I suspect that new Barbarossa
legend Is in the making. I doubt
whether we will ever lay htnds on Adolf
Hitler, or If we do get him, be able
to prove conclusively that it is he. He
always has had doubles. Goebbels' story
Of the attempt on his life on July 20
is that one of these doubles, man
named Berger, was killed. But we don't
know what happened to Hitler. Since
then he has spoken once, over the radio,
on the evening following the attack
The voice in the short speech sounded
like Hitler's-but Hitler's voice is not
difficult of imitation by an accomplished
actor.
To prove that he lives, German news
papers have published photographs. 1t
has been noted that none of these shows
him in full face. but always from the
side, taken from behind, so that one sees
Evening star., 1944-12-01

bridgehead over the Waal at Niimegen
is threat, but of less potential danger
because neither of its f1anks can be de-
Scribed as secure
From the vicinity of Nook to the
southeast and south, the Mas again
forms the front line all the way to
Maesyck, where (as at Venlo) there is
German bridgehead on the west bank
OF the Mas. Between Venlo and
Maesyck the Mas is joined by the River
Roer, flowing northWesterly into it. The
corner" between the Mas the Roer
and the Allied front in this area is
held by the Germans. 1t is an area
OF considerable interest, for if it were
cleared out, the Allies could come up
to the Roer all along this front, greatly
increasing their pressure on that sub
Sidiary river line.
At point near Julich, the Roer be-
comes the front line. and with its
aff1uent the Inde (Which has been
crossedD extends the line south to the
edge OF the great Hurtgen Forest,
through which the American 1st Army
has been advancing painfully for weeks,
and from the eastern fringes of which
its advance elements are but now
emerging. South of this forest, difficult
terrain extends right down to the Lor-
raine hills
All this geographic description may
seem difficult to follow But if YOU
will reflect on the situation, aided by a
map, you will see that if the main Ger
man concentration along the Roer and
in front of the Hurtgen Forest is to be
forced to extend its front, and eventu-
ally outf1anked, this must be done in one
of the following ways:
ID BY pressure eastward and south
eastward from the Allied bridgehead
over the Mas in the Nook -Nijmegen
area
(2) BY forcing of the Mas some
where between Nook and Roermond,
so as to turn the line of the Roer.
(3) BY a forcing of the Mas at
Maesyck or between Roermond and
Maesyck coupled with an advance
northward from the area of Sittard so
as to come up to the line OF the Roer
between Roermond and Julich.
The first of these operations looks
we'll on the map though it has the dis
advantage OF being far removed from
the area In which decision is being
sought.
The third is an operation of limited
objective, which might move slowly, as
the capture of Maesyck is essential to
its success, and an attack on Maesyck
would give the Germans ample warn
ing.
The second remains Is the most
promising, since II 1t were successful it
would almost certainly force a German
retirement right back to the Rhine and
might succeed in cutting off and de-
stroying a considerable part Of the
relatively inmobile German armies.
Copyright, 1044)
Evening star., 1944-12-01
Chief Justice Eicher

The extraordinary trial over which
he had been presiding since April II
probably shortened the life of Chief
Justice Eicher and for that reason
there is an added note of tragedy
In his sudden death.
To some of his brethren on the
bench this unusual trial would
have presented opportunity for per-
sonal notoriety, legitimately to be
achieved at the expense of the odd
assortment of defendants and their
counsel without impairment of their
strictly legal rights. A more expert
enced and arbitrarily inclined trial
Judge than Chief Justice Eicher
might we'll have made short work of
some Of those who deliberately baited
the presiding justice
But to Chief Justice Eicher the
trial seemed to assume a double
meaning. On the one hand, the
defendants were being prosecuted
for alleged conspiracy to undermine
the loyalty and morale of the armed
forces; on the other hand, the United
States Government was undergoing
a trial OF sorts in the eyes of the
world to prove that in the midst of
the fevers and hates of wartime it
was capable of melting even-handed
justice to its internal enemies.
Justice Eicher seemed to take that
conception of the proceedings close
to heart. 1t obviously governed his
conduct of the trial. A patient and
kindly man, gracious gentleman
and thoroughly conscientious
judge, he leaned over backward in
his liberation of tactics which others
would have found unbearable. With
out neglecting some of the onerous
administrative duties of the office of
chief justice, he taxed his strength
to meet the demands of an unprece-
dented situation. The nervous and
physical strain to which he sub
mitted himself was exhausting.
His death is one more, perhaps
the concluding, event of a legal
excursion by the Department of
Justice for which it would be difficult
to find parallel and still more
difficult to find a convincing ex-
planation. Some of the defendants
are rascals, others belong definitely
in that "lunatic fringe" to which the
President publicly referred, and
others may have been actuated by
motives which were as sincere as
they were mistaken But to haul
them all here for a mass trial of
this sort was an error which it should
not have been necessary to repent
In the death of the presiding justice.
Evening star., 1944-12-01
This Changing World
By Constantine Bro,cn

The progress of the greatest offensive
OF this or any other war Is watched
with the utmost eagerness by the top
men in the administration The sue
cessful completion of the American
high commands daring plan to crush
German resistance in the west this
winter not only will mean an earlier
conclusion of the war but also will en-
able the postwar planners in this coun-
try to proceed with reconversion plans.
Should, however, the Germans prove
to have greater reserves than we have
thought, or adverse weather conditions
prevent Allied aviation from accom-
plishing its important task as artillery
for the ground forces, or should unfore-
seen circumstances hamper the con-
tinuous flow of supplies to the front,
then all the present plans will have to
be draStically revised.
For the time being, according to the
limited information received from the
front, the Allied armies are progressing
satisfactorily. s. The losses, of course, are
extremely heavy; some compare the
violence and losses of the present bat
ties with those in the Argonne in 1918.
But while the Allies are in position to
pour new reserves to take the place of
the casualties and even to give a rest
to the troops who have been in the front
line for some time, 1t Is doubtful If the
enemy can do this on the same scale
as the Allies.
4
The Germans have described the
present violent battles on the long front
as the greatest battles of attrition in
history. 1t would thus appear that the
armies which can stand the attrition
process best will be victorious in the
end.
Already many plans are afoot for in
dustrial reconversion in the United
States. They were formulated last sum-
mer when 1t looked as if organized
Nazi resistance would be crushed before
the end of November. Responsible mill
tary observers still believe that If the
Evening star., 1944-12-01

acquired debt abroad Of between
twelve and thirteen billion dollars.
In view OF these figures - which
mean that Britain has lost much of
the income used in the past to pay
for imports - some have described
the British as "broke," but as Harold
Butler, their Minister to Washington,
declares, they are actually going
concern in the sense that their
skilled manpower and production
plants will certainly be able to put
the country back on its feet in time.
Nevertheless, with the halving of
lease-lend aid, 1t seems inevitable
that they will have to borrow to
raise the cash needed to buy mate
rails from us and other countries
In short, some one will probably have
to make very substantial loan, and
the indications are the United States
will make it.
The idea of such a loan will per-
haps again raise the specter of Santa
Claus, but it may be reasonably
argued that the United Kingdom is
what bankers would call a good
risk" and that an orthodox extern
sion of credit to it, providing for
repayment, would be altogether
sound. In any event. the British will
almost certainly need financial help
of some sort. and as the worlds
greatest creditor Nation the United
States is likely to find it to it's self
interest - economically, politically
and otherWise-to extend that help.
Evening star., 1944-12-01

present offensive is fully successful the
Nazis may give up before the end of
the year or early in 1945.
Under such conditions, the existing
reconversion plans will not be changed.
But If Gen. EisenhoWer's major push
does not achieve its objectives and is
stymied, all the plans of the government
tai agencies and the industrialists will
have to be reconSidered and American
industry, instead of preparing for the
production of peacetime goods, will be
confronted with the necessity of in
creasing war production on a larger
scale than ever before.
The summer campaign in Normandy
consumed an unimaginable amount of
war material of all kinds, particularly
shells. The present offensive, where
artillery must level everything before
the infantry can proceed to the attack,
requires an equally large amount of
ammunition. If the German power is
broken within the next few weeks, the
tempo of the war industry can be
slowed down.
But II the German power Is not
broken we will be faced with major
operations on the western front next
year which will require huge quantities
of material At the same time the
offensive in the Pacific cannot be called
off. Both the ground and naval forces
in that theater will need much larger
amounts of supplies.
Until few weeks ago when Gen. Mac
Arthur began his operations in the
Philippines we were fighting a definite
offensive war in Europe and-an offen-
sive-defensive war in the Pacific. This
was changed when the Philippines were
invaded. 1t is safe to speculate that
Gen. Macarthur was given the green
hight last July on the assumption that
the worst part of the war in Europe
would be over by the end of this year.
Now, if the German resistance is not
broken, We are faced with two offensive
wars, one in Europe and one in the
Pacific
Evening star., 1944-12-01
Disfrunchised Citizens
From the Grand Rapids Herald.

From the Grand Rapids Herald.
The Washington Evening Star on
election day carried an editorial within
a black border declaring it day of
humiliation and mourning for the "un-
Americanized Americans" of the Dis
trict of Columbia. Here in this sector
of the United States, having a popula-
ton Of nearly 100000, the right of the
ballot was denied as 1t has been ever
since the District was set up as the
Capital of the Nation.
The thought of the founding fathers
was that the center of the Govern
ment should not be involved in politics,
that public officials and employees who
numbered few in the early days and
who spent comparatively little time
there should vote in their home States.
Therefore those who lived permanently
in the District were denied the right of
franchise there.
But the city of Washington since that
day has grown to be one of the very
large cities of the United States. Thou
sands of the minor officials and en-
ployes of the Government, now being
several generations rA---oved from those
OF their familieS VINO first made Wash
ington their permanent homes, do not
know in what States they may vote.
Moreover, it has become most incon-
venient for them to cast their ballots in
their home States. Hence they feel, and
with justice on their side, that they are
permanently disfranchised. So on elec-
ton day probably the far greater ma
jority of the nearly 100000 population
of the District had no part in the nam
ing of the President.
For long time now the people of the
District of Columbia have been seeking
to gain this right of franchise Numer-
GUS times they have had before the
Congress bills which would give them
the ballot. Always they have been
turned down, usually by the pigeon
holing of the bills. So in this most
recent election, one of the most fateful
in the history of the United States,
most of this large population cast no
ballots.
The Stars editorial within its mourn
ing border sets forth that the population
OF the District Of Columbia is greater
than the populations of IL States, yet
that population has no voice in the elec-
ton of the Nations highest officials.
Manifestly, this situation is ridiculous.
1t should be corrected at the earliest
possible moment and the people Of
Washington and OF the District of CO.
lumbia should be given the right Of
franchise Mt home.
Evening star., 1944-12-01
Letters to The Star
Sees Federal Ideal as Basis of
Worldwide Freedom

To the Editor of The Star:
Current interest in the post of Sec
retary of State raises the question: Can
clusively to diplomats and statesmen?
How unified would our own country be
If there were no national press services;
no great business, farm or labor organ
izations with interests cutting across
state lines; no interchange of college
students between East and West and
North and South; little interstate travel?
Suppose we were not federated and
that relations between the 48 States
were left exclusively to conferences of
governors or their appointees. Suppose
further that our newspapers printed
widely different versions of the same
news, and that to top it all each State
had a huge militia, with its general
staff, except for the small component
of an Interstate police force" busy lay
ing plans against Hypothetical enemies"
among the other Al States What would
be the prospects of peace?
This is no brief for pessimism. The
whole history of man. Is one of evolu-
tion toward higher, more humane
standards. War will vanish as surely
as cannibalism. But to consign the
entire problem to Government officials
and diplomats is to be blind to realities.
All success to Mr.. Stettinius. The
eyes OF the world are upon him. Yet
only far greater understanding and
deeper mutual respect between peoples,
not merely between statesmen, is the
sure foundation of peace This means
worldwide freedom of press, extensive
educational interchanges and greatly
increased travel and contacts between
the rank and file Of all nations, espe-
cially between delegates of their many
local business and cultural associations.
ROBERT S. FIELD.
Evening star., 1944-12-01
Threat to Chunokinq

The Japanese threat from South
ern China is spreading rapidly and
grows graver. Since the start of
their drive southwark from the
Yangtse in Central China last spring,
the Japanese have gained all their
primary objectives. They have es-
tablished an overland combined
rail and highway route clear across
China to their conquests in Indo-
China, Thailand, Burma and Malaga,
thereby cutting Free China in twain.
They have knocked out all our. air
bases in the south. From the band
of conquered territory stretching
from Canton to Indo-China, Japa-
nese armies are now moving swiftly
on broad front northwestWard to-
ward new objectives, which are none
other than the cutting of the Burma
road deep in Chinese territory and
the eventual capture of Chungking
itself.
A glance at a Typographical map
of China discloses the gravity of the
situation. The key point in this new
campaign is Kweiyang, capital of
KWeichow Province. At this large
and important city the Burma road,
which has hitherto run due eastward
from the Yunnan border, turns
sharply north toward Chungking,
about 200 miles away. The japanese
are now less than 10 miles from
Kweiyang, approaching from two
directions, both along fairly good
roads through not too difficult
country, The disorganization of the
Chinese forces in this region has
been such that stoppage or even
prolonged slowing down of the Japa-
nese momentum of this Japanese
offensive cannot be anticipated.
The fall of Kweiyang would pro-
duce a radically new strategic situa-
ton. 1t would negative all Allied
efforts to reopen the Burma road, so
far as aiding Chungking is con-
cerned, and would reduce the cur
rent campaign in Burma to local
affair. 1t would likewise be the
preliminary to japanese drive on
Chungking along the last section of
the Burma road through country not
much more difficult geographically
than that in which the japanese are
now engaged, Presumably Chinese
resistance in this campaign would be
much sitter, because Chang Kai-
shek would naturally throw in his
picked reserves to defend his capital.
But against this military factor
would be psychological drawbacks
such as popular panic, economic
complications like intensified infla-
ton, and political disorder In the
Evening star., 1944-12-01
Nazi Defense system
By Maj. George Fielding Eliot

Occasionally 1t Is good idea to re-
view facts which we all know perfectly
WELL but which tend to be lost in the
shuttle Of daily events. Such review of
the German defensive system along
their western frontier may be useful
just at this time.
The main natural feature upon which
the German defepses are based is the
River Rhine, from the Swiss frontier
to the North Sea. The Rhine runs gen.
orally from south to north from the
Swiss frontier to the vicinity of Duis-
burg, then swings round westward in
long curve. AS 1t enters the Neither
lands 1t divides into two parallel
branches The southern branch, and
the larger, is called by the Dutch the
Waal; the northern is called either the
LEX or the Neder Rim. Both flow into
the North Sea.
The River Mas (Meuse) roughly
parallels this curving course of the
Rhine to the west and south. The dis
tance between the two rivers tends to
grow less as they approach the sea,
finally, the Mas and Waal join to
form the Hollandsch dep. From the
point of view Of the German high COM
mand, the Mas may be said to form
an outlying defense position to the
Rhine.
These river systems are the basis
for the German plan of defense on the
northern half of the front. Forests, in
undations and fortified towns are used
as part of the system of defense, but
it is fair to say that if the final barrier
of the Rhine is preached, the Germans
cannot thereafter prevent deep Allied
penetration of Germany
The situation at the moment is as
follows:
On the extreme German right, the
Hollandsch dep and the Mas form the
dividing line between the two armies.
An Allied advance here would still have
before it the barrier of the Neder Rim
and widespread foundations as well.
From the area of Dremmem to the
edge of the Reichswald Forest, just in
side the German frontier, the Allies
hold wide and deep bridgehead on
the north side of the Mas. The Allies
hold bridges over the Mas at Ravestein,
Grave and Nook. At Nijmegen on the
Waal, the Allies also hold a bridge over
the Waal, and they have bridgehead
on the north bank of the Waal, extend
ing up to the south bank of the Neder
Rim, which extends from Opheusden
on the west to the vicinity of Arnhem
on the east. The Germans hold areas
on the south bank of the Neder Rim
both east and west of this Allied bridge
head; but the Germans do not now hold
any bridgehead at all on the Allied side
Of the Mas all the way from the
mouth of the river to Venlo.
Thus the Allied bridgehead over the
Mas Is constant threat to the Ger
mans, especially toward the southeast
because Its western flank as we'll as its
communications are secure. The Allied
Evening star., 1944-12-01

already disturbed camp of the Ku-
omintang.
All this is the measure Of an i'm
pending crisis within Free China
which we must realistically appraise
and which we can do very little to
alleviate.
Evening star., 1944-12-01
Tribute

Yes . she has gone. Or so the
obit read.
The earth lies rat1 and heaped into a
mound;
A slab OF granite marks her pilloped
head,
A 1Ureath OF roses ,pithers on the
ground
I tollo,Ded, ,Dhere the singing riuer
mound
About bend; heard mirrored ,Uater
glide
Abope the stones. and the remembered
sound
OF that loped poice that people said
had died.
They do not knoio, for they are occupied
With Hte's mean tasks, tohose letters
blind their eyes,
Unmindful that at last she has defed
Their silly ruler but I knoto
otherwise.
Her stream OF Hte has merely leaped
the tpeirS
70 tolloso Pans pipes shriHing In her
kUchK Q. JACKSON.