davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1944-10-28

is one of the important points in
Britain's lifeline to the East
The question of the future of Turkey,
and particularly the Dardanelles, has
not been touched on offlcially. This ap-
pears from the fact that Mr.. Churchill
did not mention it in his report to the
House Of Commons yesterday.
Poland. however, is the. touchstone
Of genuine postwar collaboration
among the Big Three. And neither the
presence Of the British Prime Minister
nor that of Poland's Premier Mikola jczyk
in Moscow has seemed to improve that
situation.
The representative OF the Polish gov
ernment in London stands frm on the
question of Poland's full independence
and sovereignty, regardless of what and
where her next boundaries may be. He
is willing to include some of the men,
bers of the Moscow sponsored Lublin
organization in his government but re-
fuses steadfastly to recognize Lublin as
representative Polish government.
Premier Stain, who created the Lublin
organization, is equally adamant. He is
willing to admit Mr.. Mikolajczyk into the
government of his creation and has
taken the position that this is a row
between two governments. The British
still stand by their view that Lublin
represents only a minor faction Of
Poland, and are backing the Polish
government in London
4
Although the major portion OF the
nine days which Mr.. Churchill spent in
Moscow was devoted to trying to bring
about a compromise, the British Prime
Minister was compelled to admit that he
mas failed for the time being.
But as soon as the smoke of the do
mestic political battle in this country
has gone America will be able to re-
sumo its important role in the CONVEX
sations of the Big Three Should Mr..
Roosevelt be reelected he will meet with
Premier Stain and Prime Minister
Churchill at point not quite as far
distant as Teheran. In the event he
loses his domestic battle the major
interests Of the Allies will require his
meeting the British and Russian chiefs
to introduce to them either the Presi-
dent-elect himself or some trusted
representative.
Evening star., 1944-10-28

was that this preparation should have
been made earlier, II the President
knew war was coming as he and his
supporters now claim. The public NAV
overlook this, however, in contempla-
ton of the huge job which has been
done
The Presidents physical condition was
matter of great interest to the thou
sands who. saw him here. So many
stories have been told-and printed
about his health, that it has become an
issue in the campaign. His recent trip
10 New York. his visit here and his
Journey to Chicago and prospective trip
10 Boston are part of a definite pro-
gram to offset these stories. To the
great mass OF people who saw him. the
President must have appeared older.
grayer and thinner than in the past, but
still far from being tired old man"
One thing that will strike his audi
ences both here and in New York. is
that he did not rise to make his speeches
as he has in the past He spoke at
Shlbe Park sitting in his open auto
mobile A special ramp had been con-
structed so that his car could be run
up W lIle platform. A a0le erect, with
radio equipment, wass stretched across
the car SO that he did not have to rise
to face the microphone
The President was in good form,
IN his delivery of his speech. His
enunciation was perfect and words were
not slurred. as has happened in some
OF his earlier speeches. When he began
to speak he threw of the navy cape
which he wore riding in the open car.
His head was bare 1t was evident,
however, that he was warmly dressed,
with sweater under his coat, to pro-
tect him against the nipping air.
The crowd, which had gathered in
the park nearly two hours before the
President spoke, was much colder than
the President. 1t gave him a warm
greeting. At the conclusion of his
speech, the Presidents car was run OF
the platform and then circled the whole
feld, guarded by large force of
mounted police and secret service men.
1t was theatrical, an interesting show.
The crowd ate it up.
What effect the Presidents appear
ance here will have on the Pennsylvania
electorate is still a question. Those in
the park were already Roosevelt sup
porters. The trend in Pennsylvania has
been Republican, and the Presidents
visit was intended as an antidote to this
trend. The State looks very close.
Evening star., 1944-10-28
A Good Defense

The President was on the defen-
sive for the greater part of his
address at Shibe Park last night,
and he made good job of it.
Obviously nettled by some of the
more extreme Republican criticisms
of his administrators conduct of
the war, Mr. Roosevelt elected to
stand on the recoro The whole
story of our vast effort in this war"
he said, "has been story of in
credible achievement-the story of
the job that has been done by an
administration which. l am told,
is old and tired and quarrelsome.
Some will contend that this is too
broad a claim, that the President
should not seek to take personal
credit nor to make political capital
out of what, in fact, has been the
achievement of the whole country,
rather than the single handed
accomplishment of his administra-
ton. But the fact remains that Mr..
Roosevelt has been the responsible
leader throughout the entire period.
Had we failed either in preparation
for war or in the conduct of the
war, the responsibility would have
been his and he could not have
avoided the consequences. BY the
same token, since we have not failed
In either respect, he can legitimately
claim the credit to which he, as
Chief Executive, is entitled.
The Philadelphia speech, of course,
did not give the whole story Mr..
Roosevelt, naturally enough, con-
fined himself to the good chapters
in the record and emphasized the
ultimate results that have been
achieved. In the process of achiev-
ing these results many mistakes
were made. There have been glar-
Ing instances of mismanagement,
and the record on the domestic side,
which the President did not discuss,
compares unfavorably with the
record made in the prosecution of
the war.
1t is entirely proper, however, for
the President, as candidate for
reelection, to stress the points that
are in his favor 1t is up to the
Republicans to search out the weak
points and spread them on the
record. But in the realm of military
achievement, the weak points are
few and far between.
Evening star., 1944-10-28
The Political Mill
By Gould Lincoln

PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 2s.-President
Roosevelt's day of campaigning in
Philadelphia was according to promise.
IT was mot lin the usual sense for the
once He campaigned first and last
as Commander in Chief of the
Armed Forces. He laid the stress on
the war and his part in it. His speech
at Shioe Field was an appeal to the
emotions of the American people, en-
gagged in bitter war.
Apparently the President has be-
come convinced that the war issue is
the only issue that may save him and
bring about his reelection. 1t harks
back to his effort to get away from
the New Deal issue months ago by
Offering as slogan DIR. Win the War"
III place of "Dr. New Deal"
The President has a perfect right
to conduct this kind OF a campaign.
He has, 1t appears, decided to do it
openly. His opponents have been ac-
cusing him of doing it by indirection.
AS he said in his speech. the Con-
stitution makes him Commander in
Chief. In the past the President has
made inspection trips" to war plants
and to Army and Navy reservations,
which to any one were obviously DO
litical. But the soft pedal was placed
on politics in these trips
He visited Philadelphia and for more
than three hours toured war plants and
the navy yard. He had come here
for an announced political speech,
which he delivered at night in
baseball park. In other words he came
here on political mission. He showed
himself to the war workers and to the
men in the navy yard, not only as
President but also as Commander in
Chief. This part Of his campaigning
was not open to his opponent, Gov.
Dewey.
In his night address, to $4,000 shiver-
ing Democrats and New Dealers, the
President made no bones about the
character OF his campaign. He told his
audience what had been done toward
winning the war. and he claimed the
credit for his administr alton, and in
ferentially at least, for himself as Com
mander in Chief
In measure, Gov. Dewey paved the
way for the President to make this kind
of speech, when he attacked Mr. Roose-
welt for lack Of preparation for the war.
The obvious answer of the President
was detailed description Of what had
been done to build the Army and Navy
to their huge proportions. He made
1t. The point Mr.. Dewey was making
Evening star., 1944-10-28
Clearing the Aeqeun

the easy capture of Lemnos by
British forces after brief fight with
the skeleton German garrison re-
veals two important facts. These
are, the swift collapse of German
domination of the Aegean Sea and
the consequent impending opening
Of the long CLOSED sea lane to the
Dardanelles. The island of Lemnos
is the strategic key to the Straits
which connect the Mediterranean
and Black Seas. And the reopening
of that vital link would have mo-
mentous military, political and eco
nomic consequences.
Germany's rapid loss of the
Aegean presents. in miniature,
curious counterpart to Japan's loss
of control over the western Pacific
Ocean. With the German conquest
of Crete three years ago, coupled
with Italian possession Of Rhodes
and other islands off the Asia Minor
Coast, the Axis Powers had a virtu-
ally impregnable bottleneck to the
Aegean basin. That hold, however,
was dependent upon combined local
naval and air supremacy. AS soon
as the Germans were compelled to
begin their withdrawal from the
Balkans, the British could bypass
island strongholds like Crete and
Rhodes, much es we do with many
Japanese Pacific bases, and could
virtually pick and choose among the
numerous Aegean islands that lay
behind the main defensive screen.
This they are doing at several key
points, their taking of Lemnos be-
ing merely the outstanding example.
The German garrisons on Crete,
Rhodes or elsewhere can simply be
left to "wither on the vine" il Brit
ish strategy so elects. They are
henceforth negligible factors -
British command of the Aegean
Immediately poses the question of
the Straits. Under existing interna-
tionai agreement, Turkey is the
guardian of that vital waterway. In
peacetime, merchant ships of all ma
tions are granted free passage, and
warships as well under certain re-
>strictions specifically defined, In
wartime, Turkey has the right to
safeguard Its neutrality by forbid
ding the transit Of warships and by
Evening star., 1944-10-28

regulating the passage Of merchant
craft on nondiscriminatory basis.
So long as the Aegean was controlled
by the Axis, the right of Russian or
Allied merchantmen to pass through
the Straits was purely theoretical.
Now, however; it Is unlikely that the
Turkish government will raise any
objection to the normal use of that
waterway. This would, of course,
mean an enormous shortening Of
supply routes between Russia and
the outer world. With the shifting
OF Romania and Bulgaria to the
United Nations camp. the Black Sea
has become entirely safe for Allied
shipping to Russia's southern ports.
One of the chief logistic problems of
the war will thereby be solved.
Evening star., 1944-10-28
Greece Four Years After

FOur years ago today, only few
months after he had swooped down
like a bird of prey upon the pros
trate body of France, Mussolini sud-
denly let loose his legions against
Greece, Earlier his son in law,
Count Ciano, had engineered some
clever intrigues in Athens, and it
was supposed that bribery and just
little show of Fascist force would
qvic,-ly end all resistance.
But that was not the way 1t
worked out. Instead of winning
cheap and easy victory, II Duce,
the Great Miscalculator, soon found
himself up against stone wall, with
his entire campaign begged down in
a mess of incompetence and with
the Greeks fighting with such valor
and fury that his invading army
was hurled back in disorderly re-
treat and threatened with a total
disaster.
Never had Italy been dragged into
a more humiliating and inglorious
adventure; never had the conceit
and boasts of self-styled Caesar
been more discredited before the
world. A rescue was necessary; like
a drowning man, Mussolini was in
desperate need of assistance less
than six months after he had
plunged into the campaign. And so
on April 6, 1941, his Berlin partner
marched into Greece and Yugo-
slavia simultaneously, and before
the month was ended, despite their
own heroic resistance and an honor
able but futile British effort to help,
the Greeks were knocked out.
The story of what has since hap
pened to Fascist Italy is known to
all. Italians in the future will always
feel a sense of shame when they
read about the invasion of Greece
and they will perhaps find some
measure of poetic justice in the
fact that less than three years after
AiS Aiao oAl1Cdo1lCu AZ, MuSOOlllll WAS
wraithlike fugitive who in the
vengeful bitterness of his downfall
ordered the death of his closest
collaborators in crime, including
Ciano. AS for the Greeks, whose
ancient philosophers taught that
the secret of happiness is freedom
and that the secret of freedom is
courage, they can take eternal pride
IN the part they played. For by
their brave battle they not merely
proved themselves as qualified for
honor as their great forebears, but
also-by upsetting the timetable of
Axis conquest-made a contribution
OF major proportions to the cause of
the United Nations.
Today Athens and nearly all of
Greece are liberated, but the suffer-
ings and trials of the Greek people
are not yet at an end. Economically
and politically, with imitation run
ntng riot and with internal factional
Evening star., 1944-10-28
This Changing World
By Constantine Brorn

The heads of the American, British
and Russian governments may meet not
later than the middle of December. They
intend to put the final touches on the
political agreements initiated at Te-
heran last year. Some of the agree
ments had to undergo certain changes
to meet the new situation brought about
by Russian conquests in the Balkans and
In Central Europe.
Whether President Roosevelt will 20
to the conference accompanied by his
usual advisers or. whether some new
blood will be injected into the American
delegation will depend on the outcome
OF the November elections. Premier
stain Is super-realist. He wants to
continue his present intimate contacts
with the United States regardless of
how the American people vote at the
polls next month.
Whlie the war in Europe will cost
many more lives before the Nazis are
completely crushed, our military victory
IS certain. But the political setup in
Europe still Is a subject OF serious con-
Germ. On the wisdom and firmness dis
played by the principal members of the
United Nations depends the vital ques-
tion OF peace or war in the future.
Prime Minister Churchill's visit to
MOSCOW was inconclusive. He may
nave achieved limited understanding
with the Russian Premier by Welding
temporarily to all matters pertaining to
the Balkans and Central Europe. The
Russian thesis is that the British zone
OF influence in that area should not
extend beyond Greece.
The British government had been
convinced that it would have the main
say-so in Yugoslavia as we'll. The Adri-
attic Is important to the safety of the
British lines of communication with the
empire, which the Russians, it is under
stood. were willing to concede. But
Marshal Tito takes the view that the
people of Yugoslavia want to live in
close harmony with the other Balkan
states which have been placed under
Soviet tutelage. Even Greece, under
these conditions, may slip out from
under. The Greek guerrillas-about
$4,000 men-are distinctly pro-Soviet
and 1t is not impossible that they viii
assert themselves in a manner which
Will call for reconsideration of the
situation In Greece, which admittedly
Evening star., 1944-10-28
Netherlands Campaign
BY Maj. George Fielding Eliot

The British and Canadian operations
in the Netherlands continue to make
steady and important gains. These
operations may be analyzed as follows:
% South bank of the Schelde
Estuary. Here the German area OF
resistance has been considerably mar
rowed The Germans have been driven
away from the coast line along the
estuary, and though terrain difficulties
due to flooding and bad weather are
being encountered there seems no reason
to suppose that the Germans can long
continue to hold out. They cannot now
be reinforced or withdrawn, except by
sea under conditions Of almost insuper-
able dif1iculty.
ca North bank of the Schelde Estuary
Che islands of Walcheren and South
Beveland). In this area the Germans
are reported to have about II 900 men
probably one reduced infantry division
plus their fortress garrisons. Walcheren
has been partly flooded by the break
ing of dykes by air bombing One
German battery on Walcheren is still
in action The British (or Canadians
have made an amphibious landing on
GIlC SIlOIc VI SUuUll DCFcldlO. dllu
Canadian troops have penetrated the
narrow neck of the peninsula which
connects South Beveland with the
mainland.
While there are still opportunities for
delaying action on the part Of the Ger
man troops In these islands, 1t would
appear likely that they must soon
attempt to withdraw by sea over the
Ooster Schelde to the next group Of
islands to the north. Even then they
would not be able to get away, however,
If In the meantime the Canadians have
fought their way into the road juno
ton of Roosendaal which controls ac-
cess by land to the islands in question
1t should be noted that the purpose of
the operations on both sides of the
Schelde Estuary is to open the channel
Leading to the port of Antwerp. So
far as German ability to interrupt the
movement Of Allied shipping through
the channel is concerned. this part of
the mission Of the Canadian 1st Army
is now very nearly accomplished
CD The mainland front from s Her
togenboech to the Ooster Schelde Here
the German defense Is based on the
main highway from 3 Hertosenbosch
Evening star., 1944-10-28

through Iilburg, Breda and Roosendaal
to Bergenop-Zoom. The Germans have
some 10000 troops in this area: elements
OF eight infantry divisions have been
identified, which fact suggests that
the average strength of the German
divisions is very low
The attack Is being strongly pressed
by forces Of the Canadian LIST Army on
the left and by the British I'd Army
on the right. The Canadians have out
f1anked Bergen-op-zoom and are ap-
preaching Roosendaal; the British have
fought their way into the suburbs Of
T1lburg and are in complete possession
OF s Hertogenbosch. There are indi-
cations that the Germans are commenc-
ing to fall back toward the Mas. The
pressure on their front is both frontal
pressure northward along the line from
Bergen-op-zoom to Tilburg, and a
flanking pressure westward along the
line Tilburg-'S Hertogenbosch. With
tire deep, unfordable river lines of the
central Netherlands behind them, the
German position is thus one Of consid-
cradle danger, and their withdrawal be-
hind those river lines becomes a matter
OF holding the bridges and of providing
ducqudIc lckiylIls IdCllltleS.
AS to the bridges. reports are conflict
ing. There are two which are OF par
ticular importance-theh highway, bridge
over the Mas at Geetruidenburg, and
the great Moerdijk bridge over the Hal
landsch dep. One recent report said
that the Geetruidenburg bridge was de-
stroyed, and that several spans had been
bombed out Of the Moerdijk bridge. II
this report Is true, the German army In
the area in question has no means of re-
treat save by ferry However, q later
report-also from an Allied source
seemed to indicate that both these
bridges were still in usable condition.
1t seems probable that within a few
days the Germans will have retired
north of the river lines-those of them
that can get away-perhaps leaving q
few pockets of resistance behind them
to cover their retreat. This will free
the Allied left flank from a serious
German threat and will permit the AL
lied High Command to turn its atten-
ton to the main issue-which still re-
mains the deep penetration Of German
territory by break-throush Of the Ger
man defensive position along the Rhine
front.
Evening star., 1944-10-28

strife at q boiling point, they face
grave problems. In addition to the
liberty regained, they need stability
and order, and to achieve this they
must have the kind Of unity they
displayed when the enemy violated
their land. Given that, plus the
understanding help Of our Allied
world, they should be able to build
a future in keeping with their cou-
rageous character a character
which thrilled and inspired free
peoples everywhere four years ago.
Evening star., 1944-10-28
Proposes Real" Subwavs

To the Editor OF The Star:
AS a native Washingtonian who has
recently returned from overseas and has
long followed the development of this
city with avid interest, I would like to
pass a few comments on the proposed
subway Why not a real subway, like
that of Philadelphia or New York; The
estimated cost t56 million) would be
the same. The only advantage to be
gained by underground trans would be
slight increase in speed and a smooth
er flow OF traffic by the removal of sur
face tracks. Passenger congestion would
not be alleviated, as trans would be lust
as packed under the ground as above
the ground. Congestion could be re-
heved only by increasing the number of
trans on the same line, which in turn
would automatically result in a decrease
In speed. A car cannot travel faster
than the car ahead of it on the same
track.
A subway train would solve both Of
these problems. Congestion would be
avoided because passengers could spread
from one coach to another. There
would be no tendency on the part of
passenger to squeeze into a crowded
car because "it would get there sooner"
The Capital Transit could easily run a
subway with the same efficiency that
has characterized its handling of buses
and trans. Regarding the expense of
subway rolling stock, Government sub
sidy would provide a feasible solution
to that problem.
Berlin, Tokyo, Madrid, Barcelona,
Paris, London and Budapest, not to
mention Moscow, all have excellent sub
way systems. while we Washingtonians
will be able to boast after the war that
the Capital Of the greatest Nation on
earth has streetcars that occasionally
submerge beneath the pavement
AUGUST PONTE.