davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1944-09-08
Tokyo Buttens Down

There is a striking similarity be-
tween the attitudes and actions OF
our two archenemieS. Both Berlin
and Tokyo admit the gravity Of their
respective military situations, dish
Ing out strong doses of unvarnished
truth to their peoples. But this CAL
culated pessimism is designed to in
duce a mood of desperation and fan
a last-ditch fanaticism which may
know no bounds.
The current extraordinary session
OF the japanese Diet gives the Tokyo
war lords special opportunity to in
tenslfy their do-or-die propaganda.
The Emperor himself addressed the
Diet IN an imperial rescript which,
though relatively restrained in tone,
emphasized Japan's increasing diff
culties and the necessity for a
supreme effort on the part of the
entire people. Premier Koiso was
almost f1amboyantly outspoken. This
was to have been expected from his
preliminary announcement that the
Diet had been called into extraordi-
nary session chiefly to instill "the
true war situation into the minds of
the people" He certainly painted
dark picture. Allied air superiority
was admitted and major air raids
were predicted in the near future.
Indeed, he went so far as to warn
against the possibility of invasion OF
the japanese homeland. Only those
who know japanese history and ma
tional psychology can appreciate
the sensational character Of this
warning. The japanese regard their
islands as sacred and inviolate
through the protection of the gods,
and they proudly point to the fact
that Japan has never been actually
invaded. So crowning a calamity
would, in japanese eyes, be catas-
trophe hitherto unthinkable. To
avert it, the entire nation will be
spurred to fresh exertions and re-
doubled sacrifices.
Germany's impending fall implies
. subsequent concentration of Allied
might against Japan to a degree
which seems to us irresistible. Never
theless, the Japanese leaders are
sustained In their determination to
Evening star., 1944-09-08
This Changing w World
By CeMseestiMs BreaeN

The meeting which Is being discussed
AS soon TO take place between President
Roosevelt. Prime Minister Churchill and
their military staRs will lay the foun-
dations for stepped-up Allied oifsn-
sive against Japan.
Last years Quebec conference pro-
duced = supreme Southeast Asia COM
mand headed by Lord Louis Mountbat-
ten. The objective OF that command,
according to the ofhcial communicates
Issued at that time. was to uherate
Burma and open the Burma road
through which supplies could be sent
to the Chinese Army.
It's activities were negligible. Lord
Mountbatten was not given the support
required for q large-scale offensive be-
cause Of the urgency Of first defeating
the European end OF the Axis. Troops.
landing barses and warships earmarked
for the Asiatic theater Of operations had
to be diverted to Italy. The internal
situation in India did not permit the
viceroy, Field Marshal Archibald Wayell,
to bolster Lord Mountbstten's ground
forces. and all thatsthe British forces
and the American British aviation were
able to do was to stem the Japanese
offensive ut Imphal.
The situation has now changed. With
the end Of the European war in sight,
large quantities of war material and
men will be available for the Asiatic
command. Moreover, the Pacific Fleet,
under the command of Admiral Chester
w. Nimitz. has made tremendous and
unexpected progress In the Western
Pacific. The forces of Gen. Douglas
Macarthur have scored equal successes
In the Southwest Pacific.
Important operations are said to be
scheduled in the near future which will
bring the American forces within the
inner circle OF the Japanese defenses
before the end of the year, regardless
OF what happens In Europe. A large
pincer operation from the west and the
east may be the result Of the military
talks between the President and the
Prime Minister
Japan Is fully aware that the next
IL months will be decisive. The Jap
anese have abandoned all hope Of re-
tanning the remaining outer circle Of
their defensive positions and realize
that before the end Of the year all COM
munications between the Japanese is
lands and the newly conquered terri
tories-the Malay Peninsula and the
Netherlands Indies-may be completely
cut off,
Evening star., 1944-09-08

Once more the japanese industry win
have to rely on her neager supplies OF
raw materials which were not sufficient
even before the war to give the Japs
the necessary strength to defeat China.
Japan's manpower Is still formidable,
but her industrial potential, which al
ready has been curtailed by action Of
American submarines, may be reduced
to zero. Under these conditions, the
japanese leaders are thinking hard
about the easiest way out Of the war.
Little reliable information Is coming
out Of Japan at present. The western
diplomatic missions in Tokyo are ex-
tremely careful to maintain their strict
diplomatic status and refrain from re-
porting anything OF military importance.
The Soviet government, which Is our
war associate but maintains friendly re-
lations with Japan, is compelled to
adopt the same attitude as the other
neutrals. Even II these western neutrals
wanted to do some shopping around they
would not be in q position to learn any
thing since the japanese have proved
themselves past masters In keeping
military matters secret.
But there are certain unmistakable
political signs which indicate there are
many japanese political men who hope
that after Germany has been crushed
the American people will be willing to
listen to peace feelers based on
token" unconditional surrender which,
however. would permit Japan to sur
vive. This belief Is said to be based
on the fact that the American people,
who always have considered the Ger
mans as the enemy No. l, are so anx-
ious to get back to peacetime conditions
that they would welcome an oppor-
tunity to make peace with an imperial
government composed of liberals and
civilians who have been described as
opposing the policy OF the military
clique.
The belief of the Japanese civilian
politicos who for a decade have been
in the background because they were
afraid OF the consequences Of war with
the United States is said to be that
the war-weary powers might accept a
deal" with a new Japanese govern
ment which would save them further
losses and would enable them to get
back to normal
How much chance this reported plan
has Of success depends entirely on the
general world situation later In the
year.
Evening star., 1944-09-08
Pacific Moves
By Moi. George Fisldins Eliot

The long hull In major operations In
the Pacific seems likely to come to an
end before very many more days have
passed.
With the firm establishment Of the
American bases In the Marianas Islands
and at the northwestern tip Of New
Guinea, It was clear that the next moves
might be Of far-reaching importance.
and present greater strategic dimculties
than any which had gone before. and
that they might require stronger air and
land forces than had hitherto been en-
ployed in the step-by-step approach
across the Pacific to positions which can
be described as "jump-off" bases.
Hence it was possible to say at that
time that considerable period Of prep
aration must elapse before the next
major move. period during which
plans would be perfected, forces and
supplies assembled at forward and inter-
mediate bases, and enemy reactions
tested in various ways. It Is impossible
to conduct operations over the vast dis
tances Of the Pacific and at the farther
end of SO long line Of communica-
tions in any other manner than by
careful progression Of wel-planned
stages.
4
Our objective in the next moves In
the Pacific Is fairly well defined. and
has been repeatedly referred to in these
articles. It is to establish dominance
of the waters south Of the Japanese
main islands. particularly those between
Forposa, the northern end Of Luzon
and the coast of China. IT We can do
this, we shall cut Oh the japanese from
all their southern holdings. They will
not be able to reinforce by sea their
garrisonS in South China, Indo-C China,
the Netherlands Indies. Malaga, Thai
land or Burma; nor win they be able to
receive from those areas the iron. oil.
tin. rubber and other raw materials
upon which their war industry y 20
largely dependent.
Moreover, the way will be open to US
to liherate the Philippine Islands and
their brays people, and that d certainly
major political. as well q military OBJ
jective, Of the Pacific war. Einally-and
this psrhaps u the most important MILL
Evening star., 1944-09-08
On the Record
By Dorothy THOMPSON n

In the last few days We have seen one
OF the most remarkable contrasts ever
staged In the drama Of history.
The fantastic advances Of the Allied
armies would furnish but another chap
ter to brilliant military history, were it
not for the tubilant rising Of the masses
OF the people which accompanies them.
It Is one long triumphl procession for
liberty. Its repercuSsions 60 beyond the
areas liberated by our armies. Where
no Allied army ever trod, the people
are rising. The spirit spreads to liber.
Ated and vanquished In the former
Axis capital Of Rome, great crowds cele-
brate the liberation Of Paris. As our
troops advance into Northern Italy,
Italian partisans Join French Maquis
in a great fyaternization. In the puppet
state Of Slovakia, the army, Organized
by quislings, rcvolts to Join the Czech
Partisans, suhmerging 4 quarter GEN.
tury Of bitter differences.
In these great moments ours is really
Z peoples var. No American soldier,
on the European continent need ak,
what are We fighting for?" H knows.
became he seas. In the frantic juhila-
ton Of the people. that he. GI Joe, Is
the courier Of happiness, freedom, and
hope, the breaker of shackles. the
avenSer Of insult and humiliation. the
restursf Of faith, the liberator Of man.
kind.
Seldom does such a moment come
to any people; it recalls all our revolu-
tionary heroes; 1t confirms the eternal
American concept Of our missioa-to be
light to the people, and . sword Of
their liberties. It Is the British Magma
Charta, the American Declaration of In
dependence, and Gettysburg Address.
and the French Declaration of Human
Rights on the march.
And it Is the most remarkably sue
cessful coalition that ever waged a
war No one has failed in his assign
ment. Who recalls now the suspicion
that when We should invade. the Rus
slams would stop7 We march together.
every ally doing his task. as it was pre-
pared, each according to his means,
every day bringing each triumph, and
all sharing 1t, with new Allies springing
out of the very ground, wherever our
soldiers tread.
And yet it is all curiously unromantic,
simple, without false pathos, unSenti-
mental. within the reach of humanity;
natural.
Last Sunday-in contrast-I attended
a celebration In East Prussia. called by
the leader of the Hitler youth, and
Evening star., 1944-09-08

Asht On against any odds b some
thing more than sheer fanatical
obstinacy. They hope that the Alliss
may tire Of . prolonged war In the
Far East involving great sacrifices
after the struggle against Germany
has been won and the attendant
psychological let down has set In.
The Japanese leaders also hope that
the victors in Europe may quarrel
over the peace settlement there, or
at least that Soviet Russia may re-
frain from lending Its aid In the
Orient. For Ill these reasons, the
chance Of q rapid Japanese collapse
or capitulation appear to be remote.
Crushing Allied victories at sea, in
the air and perhaps on japanese
soil would seem to be the necessary
prerequisites to that unconditional
surrender" to which the Allies have
pledged themselves.
Evening star., 1944-09-08

tary objective We are ut present seeking
In the Pacidc-we shall be able to make
direct contact with our Chinese allies
by sea providing that when our naval
and air forces are in control of the
waters Oh the southern coast of China
there exists on that coast any seaport in
Chinese hands which has uninterrupted
communication by road with the main
Chinese territory In the interior.
Foochow Is at present the only port
which meets these qualifications even
in part, and the road from Foochow
toward the interior is q poor and difncult
one. The road from Annoy is better, but
the Japanese hold Annoy. The Chinese
hold Wenchow, but the japanese con-
troll its inland communications and are
advancing on the port itself. Thus the
present japanese operations In South
China have . direct relation to what we
time element is Of great Importance,
that the next Pacific step may come
fairly soon.
What the next step viii be Is not 30
easy to foretell as 1t Is to point out the
ultimate objective. A direct attack
against Formosa itself would be an
operation Of great difnculty and risk,
since Formosa is q japanese military
outpost OF the first importance, and u
heavily sarrisoned and fortified. It pos
sesses good many airnelds which
cannot be Sxnothered at . blow "a could
the fields on little saipan. It possesses,
as an air base. many Of the character-
istics of mainland position, being about
the size of the States Of Massachusetts,
and Connecticut together.
To overcome the potential resistance
Of the air power which could be based
on Formosa win demand either the
possession Of nearby airlields Of our
own or truly enormous aggregation
OF carriers. It b dimcult to see where
such bases could be established TO
support an attack on Eormosa, oxcept
on the northern shore Of Lupon. Hence
. move to Northern Lu1on misht well
b considered - possibility, when the
time connes for dectstve action.
toesvrisAA isAA Nsv 9ssa rssbsn& ns.S
Evening star., 1944-09-08
Flome Of Rupture

With Just one precious summer to
remember:
Co9xsd Of msinty fences doUx Q road:
The oissssdnsas Of shsepss. absndsnt.
golden.
IN quiet. fragrant wheat- lands lately
nsotred:
The yello,o ficksrs ipinging through the
hedgerotns:
Against the hazy silence OF the day,
The resonant call and ansirer OF the
thrushes
IN woodlands, darklv-greex, Gmd
shGdotD-grdy.
Sufficient In q lite e ssch . season,
1xoGeh for axy heart that fears the
cold;
The Aame Of this YssseMsbsred sammsv,s
rapture
WIN - . psstSrs,s epe1-scerHstne foA.
Ro0E lGYKsA PHUIn9.
Evening star., 1944-09-08
The Campaign Begins

In his Philadelphia speech, Gov
ernor Dewey opened his campaign
for the presidency and set forth the
principal issues which he intends to
discuss before election day.
Although the President has said
that the New Deal is dead, the
Republican candidate believes that
it is very much alive. And, OF course,
he is right-right in the sense that
II the Roosevelt administration is
still in power when the war ends
there will be revival of the policies
and the PHILOSOPHERS and the per-
sonalities which were the New Deal.
This will be so for the simple reason
that after twelve years in ONCE it
Is too late for any administration
to alter its basic policies in any
fundamental way.
Mr.. Dewey's campaign strategy
will be to carry the tight to the
administration. He said in Phila-
delphia last night, and he will say 1t
again, that his is a campaign against
an administration which twas con-
ceived in defeatiSm, which failed for
eight straight years to restore our
domestic economy, which has been
the most wasteful, extravagant and
incompetent administration in the
history Of the Nation and, worst of
all, one which has lost faith in itself
and in the American people"
There Is much in the record to
support this complaint. In its first
seven years this administration
spent many billions Of borrowed
dollars and piled up q huge national
debt without solving the problem Of
unemployment. That problem was
solved only by the advent Of war,
and there is no evidence that the
administration has any. plan for the
period after the war which will work
any better than It's plans before the
war.
But what about Mr.. Dewey and the
Republican party? Have they q plan
which offers any greater hope? Mr..
Dewey stated last night that in
subsequent speeches he will deal
with this question. After his address
on postwar security at Louisville
tonight, he will move on to the
domestic issues, discussing such
things as tax policies, regulatory
policies, labor policies, small business
and the question Of bureaucratic
regulation of every detail OF the
lives of our people" Each Of these,
he said, will be discussed in detail,
and he will state in plain English
what the COP proposes to do about
them. That is a promise and the
people will await its fulnllment.
They will be waiting for the Re-
publican plan, and If the Repub-
Icans hope to win this election that
plan must consist Of more than
vague generalities and criticisms Of
the New Deal.
Evening star., 1944-09-08
On Mokinq Predictions

In the light OF Secretary StimSon's S
announcement that American Army
casualties in the first three weeks
of the Normandy invasion were only
about half the number officially ex-
pected, it is interesting-and per-
haps instructive-to recall that for
weeks prior to June pessimists
were making predictions of the most
extreme kind, some even going so
far as to say that the losses might
total 100000 or more during the
landing phase.
This sort Of talk-Wild and unin-
formed and good for nobody's morale
except possibly the enemy's-became
so widespread that Lieutenant Cen
eral Omar N. Bradley. then "some-
where in England" preparing for the
great battle, felt obliged on April
to speak to his officers about it. 81
have heard rumors." he said, that
30 per cent of us won't come back.
That Is tommyrot. This stun about
tremendous losses is tommyrot." He
then went on confidently to assert
that casualties would be moderate,
emphasizing the elements Of power
in favor of our Allied forces.
Actually, during the first three
weeks of the invasion, American
casualties of all kindS-inclndino i'll =
ness and accident cases - totaled
about $4,000 as against the Army's
expectation of 81 1000. In the human
sense, from the standpoint Of the
fallen and their kin, such q loss is
grievous and tragic. But In the cold
arithmetic Of war. considering the
magnitude Of the Normandy opera
tions and the numbers Of men in
volved, it must be regarded as ex-
traofdinarily and happily small,
Evening star., 1944-09-08
Entrances to Germany

There are many roads into West
ern Germany. Some OF them, obvi-
ously, are more difficult than others.
Which paths the Allies win follow
into the Reich will depend upon
many factors which may not be
apparent to lay students OF the map.
Yet it is possible for Americans who
have travelled in Europe to visualize
in some reasonably accurate part
the picture Of the approaches to Hit
ler's inner fortress as the leaders Of
the attacking forces see them.
Momentarily. the roads from the
Netherlands are becoming more and
more important. They run from
Groningen to Papenburg, from En-
chede to Gronau and Bentheim,
from Arnhem to Hamborn on the
east side of the Rhine, from Mime
gen to Krefeld-U -Urdingen on the
West Side and from Eindhoven
to Cologne. Next coming south are
two arteries through Belgium-one
from Maastrucht; another from
Liege through high hills and over
deep valleys to Aachen. Also NOV
ing through mountainous terrain
there is rail line from Luxembourg
to Trier on the Mosel.
From France the gateways to Ger
many are few but not insuperable
to negotiate. The northern route
leads from Metz to saarbrucken.
An alternative is the system Of roads
linking Strasbourg, Belfort and Null
house with Kehl, Baden Baden and
Stuttgart. The Rhine-Rhone CanAl
belongs to this network. It was
through the structural gap" be-
tween the vosges and the Jura that
the Teutons Of antiquity invaded
Gaul. The Vandals and Attila the
Hun probably used the same path
as their most remote exemplars.
Evening star., 1944-09-08
The Last War?

TO the Editor Of Ths Star:
Cyniciam regarding the feasibility Of
permanent peace is detrimental to its
possible attainment. This attitude leads
to resignation, which, If indulged in on
nationwide Cor world-wide) scale. is
sure to pave the way for . new holo-
caust. Only optimism. and an snlight-
ened struggle on the part Of al people.
can possibly achieve that shining goal.
In view Of this. and In the light Of
the Prssi0ents search for . mama for
this war. why not retsr TO 1t now, and
conaisn II 70 III place In history. q
the Last World War;" r. J. W.
Evening star., 1944-09-08
more than xindicating General
Dradiav,s skakenaAnt oR Anf1l z.

more than xindicatins General
1radisy's statement Of April Z.
That statement. Of course, was not
made merely as m optimistic guess
to Offset the predictions Of pessimis-
tic armchair strategists. 1t was m
informed Judgment based on data
available to General Bradley as the
man whose Job 1t was to lead armies
into France. Secretary Stimson's an
nouncement not only demonstrates
the soundness Of that Judgment but
seems also to point UP . moral
namely. that in military matters, ~
in other things, people should re-
frain from making forecasts or talk
ing loud and emphltically when
they lack adequate knowledge of the
subject at hand.
Evening star., 1944-09-08
The Devil to Poy'
By David LAwrence.
From the Huntingdon Cleaner.

without price control there would be
the devil to pay later on when prices
started slipping and small store mer-
chants would have to write of losses as
q result Of the almost day-by-day mark
downs that would automatically follow.
Price and distribution control mteht
appear irksome to some people, but it
Is like the general merchant who il
patient with his customers and assists
them In their rstioning problems, both
come up with q smile.