davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1944-12-19

the vice presidential nomination, with
the aid of organized labor, shook the
Democratic National Convention last
July to its foundations He has the
friendship of labor Whether he would
gain in political stature if he became
Labor Secretary is anybodys guess He
might run the risk of losing some of the
labor support if he were unable, or un-
willing, to give labor all it wants, as head
Of the Labor Department.
The Vice President, for eight wears
was Agriculture Secretary. While he
has gained in strength with the liberal
groups and labor, he has fewer friends
among the farmers. From a purely po-
litical angle it might be more to his
advantage to return to his old cabinet
office. For the problems of the farmers,
in the postwar period, may be as serious
as those Of labor seeking employment
at high wages. If he could regain the
support of the farmers, and at the same
time retain that of labor, his position
would be stronger still.
1t has been suggested that Mr.. Wallace
might become Commerce Secretary, with
Jesse Jones retiring from that Office and
giving his entire time to the Recon-
struction Finance Corp. II he did, and
he was able to convince business that
he was its friend, here again he would
gain political strengthen a quarter
where he has none at all today
President Roosevelt will have the last
word to say-if Mr. Wallace is to take
appointment at his hands 1t may be
the President will not care to displace
Miss Perkins-or put Mr. Wallace in her
place as Labor Secretary. Such an ap-
pointment, while pleasing to the CIO,
would not be equally pleasing to some
Of the leaders Of the AFL. Nor is it sure
that the President would ask Mr.. Jones
to step aside for Mr.. Wallace in the
Commerce Department. AS things are,
American business might bitterly resent
the change-even though it might have
to take it. AS for the Agriculture De-
partment, there have been rumblings
and grumblings against Secretary Wick
ard, and suggestions that he might be
forced out
Evening star., 1944-12-19
Roll Union RuIino

In a decision which seems to
strengthen the employment status
OF Negro workers on railroads in the
South, the Supreme Court holds
that a union bargaining for any
craft or class under the Railway
Labor Act must represent, without
discrimination, Negro minorities in
the craft, even though they may be
barred from union membership
because of race.
The issue was raised as the out
growth of a contract between the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen
and Enginemen and twenty one
Southern lines, aimed, so it is con-
tended, at the ultimate exclusion of
all Negro flremen from the carriers.
In two suits firemen affected, on
the Louisville and Nashville and
Norfolk-Southern, sought damages
from the brotherhood and asked for
lnJunctions to block the agreement
in which they had no voice. Refused
relief in the Alabama State courts,
and in Federal District Court in
Virginia, on technical grounds, the
men appealed to the Supreme Court.
The unanimous decision there, read
by Chief Justice Stone, requires that
the two actions now be heard on
their merits, by the respective tri-
bunalS.
so long as labor union assumes
to act as the statutory representa-
tive of craft it cannot rightly
refuse to perform the duty which
is inSeparable from the power of.
representation conferred upon it, to
represent the entire membership of
the craft, the court said. while
the statute does not deny to such
bargaining labor organization the
right to determine eligibility to it's
membership, it does require the
union, in collective bargaining and
in making contracts with the carrier,
to represent nonunion or minority
union members of the craft without
Evening star., 1944-12-19

counteroffensiye which had to come
sooner or later.
But the fact that the Germans are
supplied with such mass Of artillery
and with larger numbers of planes of all
types has been of a surprise to us. The
Allied Air Forces, while handicapped
by weather conditions in their tactical
operations against the German troops
in the fighting areas, have bombed the
German industrial areas relentlessly re-
gardless OF weather. 1t was believed
that the underground factories known
to exist throughout the Reich could
provide only small proportion of the
needs Of the army.
Parts Of the German fighter planes
were manufactured in hundreds Of
places and every important airfield
had an underground assembly plant
But while this manufacturing method
enabled the German aviation merely
to exist, 1t was thought unlikely that
on the day Of their. counterof1ensive
they would be able to use the larger
number of planes which are now re-
ported to be supporting the Nazi ground
forces. From the sparse reports from
active and numerous than at any other
time during the counter thrusts in Nor
mandy
But it is in the industrial areas Of
East Germany that the bulk of the war
material now being hurled at the Amer
lean forces on the Western Front is be-
lieved to originate. These areas have
been immune from air punishment be-
cause the region east of the Oder River
Is considered the battle zone of our
Russian allies and they have objected
to any Allied activity in that area
Early last summer they had agreed to
shuttle -bombings by American and
British bombers and had placed two
airfelds east of Warsaw at our dis
posal. But after the first two missions
had been completed, the shuttlebomb-
ings had to be discontinued at Moscow IS
request.
The Russians are said to be eager to
transfer into their own territory all the
modern factories established by Hitler
in Eastern Germany in the last four
years Hence, they objected to destruc-
ton of those plants, but did not op-
pose the continued bombing Of Ger
man industrial installations in Western
and Central Germany.
Evening star., 1944-12-19
Jupun's Lost AdmiruIs

In these days of far ranging
American task forces, to be a part
of Emperor Hirohito's navy is to be
decidedly poor insurance risk.
Since last May 7, according to a
careful check kept by the Office of
War Information, the Tokyo radio
and the Domei news agency have
reported the deaths of no fewer than
80 japanese admirals, including the
one who led the attack on Pearl
Harbor. How many of these were
victims of ordinary illness and how
many were killed in action is not
clear, but it seems safe assumption
that for most of them it was simply
case of too much Nimitz, Halsey,
Mitscher and Spruance. BY the
same token, too, wholly aside from
ship losses, it seems a safe assump-
ton that many thousands of lesser
officers and enlisted personnel went
down with them-a fact amply sup
ported by an official Tokyo admis-
sion that since November l, in the
Philippines alone, Japan has suf-
fered naval casualties totaling more
than $4,000. These vital statistics
must strike the more perceptive of
Hirohito's subjects as an exceedingly
odd commentary on all past reports
about how the sea power of the in
vincible Yamato race has been AN
initiating" the United States Fleet
and winning victories" without par
allel in history.
Evening star., 1944-12-19
Bonds for Christmas Gifts

In summing up on Saturday eve
ming the results of the Sixth War
Loan Campaign Secretary Morgen-
thau paid deserved tribute to the
work of the volunteers-that vast
army of men and women through
out the country who have given their
services and spent their money in
bond promotional advertising. Their
work has reduced the Governments
own promotional expense to a nom
inal figure and they have put to-
gether sales force that in numbers
and effective teamwork is without
E parallel.
Here in Washington, under the
leadership of General Chairman
Wilmer J. Waller and his co-workers,
the response has been good For the
sixth consecutive time the city has
gone over the top in total sales. Yet
there has been a failure here, as for
the country as whole, to reach,
within the formal time limits of the
campaign, one of it's most important
objectives-the sale of the prescribed
number of bonds to individual pur-
chaSers. The success of any bond
campaign should be judged by that
criterion, rather than by the attain
ment OF total quotas made possible
by corporation investments in bonds.
In Washington, on the strength of
latest figures, we are ahead of the
national average in sales of e"
bonds and in total sales to individ-
uals, which include e. bonds. Given
until the end of the year, we probably
shall reach the e. bond quota, as
we have done in the past two cam
palgns, but if the quota in total sales
to individuals is reached it will have
been the first time since the cam
palgns were begun.
Chairman Waller and his volun-
teers are right in putting emphasis
on continuing the campaign for
individual bond purchases. That
beWildered army of last = minute
Christmas shoppers will save itself
Illustration and effort. in the search
for gifts, if its members turn to
War Bonds as the most appropriate
and the most valuable Christmas
presents available this season.
Evening star., 1944-12-19
The German Attack
BY Mai. Georqe FieIdine Eliot

The German Commander in Chief in
the West, Field Marshal Won Rundstedt,
appears to have taken the great de-
cision which has been forced upon him
by mounting Allied pressure all along
his front.
He has thrown in very strong force,
which certainly includes a major part,
if not all, of his strategic reserves, in
a powerful counterattack against the
lightly held sector of the Allied line
between the Rotgen Forest and the city
of Trier.
In thus committing his strategic re-
serve, he has thrown his last stake upon
the grim gaming board of battle, to win
or to lose. If he wins, he may set back
our offensive operations for consider
able period of time. If he loses, he may
very well have lost the battle for Western
Germany at this single throw.
These being the stakes, it is not sur
prising that Won Rundstedt is omitting
nothing that may contribute to his sue
cess. He is using air power lavishly-
as lavishly as the somewhat limited re-
sources of the Luftwaffe permit, and at
the cost of not being able to counter the
strikes of our strategic air force over
a considerable period. He is using W
weapons in concentrations greater than
heretofore encountered and they are do
ing good deal of damage. He is using
parachute forces to disrupt our COM
munications and headquarters. And he
Is using his precious mon dependable"
armored and panzer grenadier divisions,
preferring to employ them now in an
attempt to disrupt our plans rather than
later on to try to contain a possible AL
lied breakthrough.
In the present attack, it is as yet too
battle. The Germans certainly have
achieved surprise at almost every point
of attack, and consequently have gained
ground in the initial phases of the at
tack. But the Germans were presented
with most unwelcome surprise in re-
turn by totally unexpected break in
the weather which permitted the swift
concentration of our tactical air power
and it's prodigal employment to check
the German advances.
Since the weather change was unex-
pected by our meteorologists it was
doubtless unexpected by the Germans
too, vino would be counting on the bad
weather to cover their movements from
our air attack Tactical air power is OF
all types of fighting power the most
useful to commander who is surprised
by a sudden enemy attack, for he can
get it to the places, where he needs il
quicker than he can ground forces, anc
the eyes in the ai1 can see and take
Evening star., 1944-12-19
The Political Mill
By Gould Lincoln

President Roosevelt, having reorgan-
ized the State Department and selected
new team" with Secretary Stettinius
at its head, may undertake the reorgan-
ization and strengthening OF another Of
the departments which is expected to
play an important part in the postwar
period-the Labor Department.
The Government touches labor
through many agencies outside of the
Labor Department today-particularly
through the National Labor Relations
Board and the War Labor Board. While
the department retains its conciliation
service, its other functions are largely
statistical and International When
the war ends, the demand that there
be better coordination of labor serv-
ices will increase. and so will a demand
for greater Capitalization in the de-
partment. 1t would not be unexpected
to find that the President already has
reorganization plans. Miss Perkins, the
present Secretary of Labor. is reported
to have such plans in mind, although it
is also said that she may step aside and
make way for new Secretary.
In the speculation over a new Labor
Department head the name of Vice Pres
ident Wallace crops up. Mr. Wallace is
soon to retire from his present Office
The President is reliably reported to
have said he could have nearly any post
in the cabinet he desired-except Secre-
tary of State, Many organized labor
leaders look on Mr.. Wallace as friend
His appointment to the cabinet would
please many of the liberals, who have
been disgruntled over the selection of
MessrS. Stettinius, Grew, Clayton, Rookie
feller and others to run the State De-
partment, charging that the admins
tration has given undue recognition to
the House of Morgan" The House of
Hillman" is clamoring for its place in
the sun.
Mr.. Wallace is close mouthed over
his future plans. Whether he would
care to take over the labor post if it
were offered him is a question. Liberals
particularly among the labor organiza- :
tions, look to him as a potential presi-
dental candidate in l948 His fight for
Evening star., 1944-12-19

From the London Daily Mail.
The Minister of Health, Mr.. Willink,
quoted great many statistics recently
to prove that everything possible is being
done to provide blitZed Londoners with
houses fit to live in as soon as possible.
The most impressive of them show the
magnitude of the task that still lies
ahead. Totally destroyed houses number
100000, and at the end of last month
there were still 100000 more in need of
repair to make them reasonably COM
Portable. Measured in terms of central
organization, very great effort is now
being made. But the Minister did not
answer the complaint of many very
angry MPs-that, however good the
central direction may or may not be, it
does not succeed in getting the work
done anything like as quickly as it ought
to be through the various local author
tiles concerned
Evening star., 1944-12-19
This Changing World
BY Constantine Brown

The German counteroffensive on the
western front had been expected by the
Allied high command, although 1t seems
to be exceeding in violence and power
the anticipation of the American COM
manders in the field.
At the time of this writing, because of
reasons OF military security, only a
sketchy picture of the Germans prog
ress is obtainable. The same applies to
information from German sources. Ber-
lin is not boasting about great victories
and confines its communicates to a few
lines.
The situation unquestionably is deli
cate, but there is no serious apprehen-
sion in military quarters in Washing
ton about the portent of the German
drive. 1t is considered principally as
move to prevent further important
Allied gains toward Cologne and hamper
Gen. Eisenhower's plans to clear the
west bank Of the Rhine of enemy forces
before the end of the year.
But the fact that Field Marshal Gerd
Won Rundstedt has been able to put in
the field an undisclosed number of first
class divisions, provided with ample
SdoAPiiiCAit GcQ ny lIl6 SLTO0g
est artillery fire used by the Germans
since D-day, is giving the Allied high
command food for thought This also
can be said about the surprisingly large
number of German scout, strafing and
bomber planes used in the last four
days.
The fact that the Germans have
rushed so many f1rst-class divisions into
their offensive is not particularly sur
prising, The Army intelligence services
have known for some time that Won
Rundstedts tactical reserves were COM
posed OF the best Elite and SIS forces
The formations which we haze beer
pushing back since November 8 were
secondclaSs troops.
Behind Notifications built years age
the German high command had placed
elements of the Volkssturm-the new
peoples army-supported by division.
formed from the service troops with
drawn from the Balkans and France
with sprinkling of SIS or Elite forces t.
strengthen them. 1t was well known ir
high Army quarters that the remainder
OF the well-trained regular army wa.
being kept in the background for &
Evening star., 1944-12-19
Hurley, Heller and Doubt

Now that the Senate, voting almost
entirely along party lines, has con-
frmed the appointment of former
Governor Hurley and Lieutenant
Colonel Heller to the Surplus Prop
erty Board, the country at large must
hope that these two men - both
Democrats-will have the greatest
success in carrying out the enor-
mouSly difficult task assigned to
them. But it is unfortunate, as
Senator Austin has declared, that
their backgrounds are not more i'm
.pressive.
In opposing the appointment, Sen
ator Austin predicted that the day
would come when the Nation would
ask, How did it happen that men
with no more general experience,
and with no more standing before
the public than those men had at the
time, were chosen for this great re-
sponsibility?" Like so many forecasts,
this one may yet prove wholly ILL
founded, but it is fair to say that
neither Mr.. Hurley nor Lieutenant
Colonel Heller has shown any excep-
tional qualifications for the job-a
job that will involve the disposal of
properties worth perhaps as much as
100 billion dollars. No undertaking,
according to the Baruch- Hancock
report, could possibly be more i'm
portant in its effect on the we'll
being not merely of America but of
the world as whole, and none more
.emphatically requires administrators
'"of proven executive capacity, busi-
ness sagacity, unquestioned integrity
and great courage to fight off the
selfish interests"
Lieutenant Colonel Heller, it is
true, like hundreds of other men, has
been successful in business, but the
great bulk of the American people
never heard of him until the Presi-
dent sent his name to the Senate
Mr.. Hurley, as the former Governor
OF Connecticut, has been active in
public affairs, but the voters of his
State were not impressed enough by
his qualifications to support him in
the November elections when he
sought to become Governor again.
Moreover, though their honesty is
not to be doubted, it is a regrettable
fact that both men figured largely in
the House hearings on the financing
and production record of the Mar
ragansett Machine Co. in Pawtucket,
R. l., Mr.. Hurley being vice president
of the company and Lieutenant
Colonel Heller being the Army liai-
son officer who recommended loans
to it. No personal irregularities were
disclosed, of course, but, as Senator
Austin has observed, it seems "a most
unfortunate circumstance" that "the
cloud of the investigation" is asso-
ciated with their names when the
nature of their duties demands that
they have the fullest confidence of
the public.
1t is altogether possible that Mr..
Hurley and Lieutenant Colonel Hell
Yer will prove to be excellent board
Evening star., 1944-12-19

steps to check enemy movements OF
which ground headquarters may not be
even aware, especially in view of the
disruption of communications and gen.
eral disorganization which a surprise
attack tends to bring about.
Nevertheless, We should not expect
our air forces to stop the Germans
alone. 1t will need ground forces to do
that, in the end. The terrain chosen by
the Germans for their attack is heavily
wooded and rugged in character, with
comparatively few good roads This will
hamper German movement. but it will
also hamper the countermoves of our
units trying to come up to the front.
and the flow of supplies.
A good guess would be that the Ger
man objective is to break into the
rear areas of the lst Army in the area
Liege- Malmedy, thus turning
the right flank of the main positions of
the 1st Army before Duren and perhaps
compelling a withdrawal behind the
Meuse.
This would be very great tactical
success for the Germans, and it would
be psychological success as well, since
it would mean clearing German terri
tory of Allied armies and recapturing
the only considerable German city now
in our hands-Aachen.
But it is by no means certain that
the German plans are so-far reaching
as this, or that they have the means to
attain such an objective. If they had
enough troops to launch second coun-
terattack against the left flank of the
9th Army between Linnich and Sittard,
the situation might, indeed, be serious,
but there is no hint as yet of any such
move, for which the Germans probably
do not have the resources.
On the whole, the chances are that
Won Rundstedt has made the best pos
sible choice for the use of his strategic
reserve, considering that 1t is limited in
size and that he has no hope of ultimate
victory but is fighting only to gain time.
If he is badly beaten in this attempt, he
is hardly worse of than if he had
waited for an Allied break-through and
then tried to defeat it in open warfare
on the Cologne Plain.
1t looks very much as though Won
Rundstedt had come to the conclusion
that the battle OF attrition along the
Roer was going against him, that his
front could rot be held much longer,
and that his best hope lay in decisive
action, aided by surprise, while he still
had the means at hand to take such
action.
AS to the outcome, We shall have to
wait. The decisive phase of the battle
has not been reached.
Copyright. 1e44,)
Evening star., 1944-12-19
This Was Ny Village

This ,Das my pillaoe OF long ago,
The utlIage aohere ! iDas born.
A little town purpled pith lilac bloom,
And edged knee-deep with corn.
The smoke from the chimneys curling
up
Was tUelcone to any one
Who sought home for night OF rest
At the early set OF sun.
Friendly they ,oere II, my little to,Dn,
And kind they tDere, and oh,
1t Das the piuot OF all my earth,
Long and long ago.
spent my pennies, / spent my youth
Do,Dn n,eandering lane and street,
And ,phat / bought NTH my coins and
my youth
Was sDeet, ,ods oery s,oeet.
GRACE NOLL CROWEIL.I
Evening star., 1944-12-19

hostile discrimination, fairly, i'm
partially and in good faith"
This case took on added interest
because the agreement under fire
was condemned about eighteen
months ago by the Presidents Com
mittee on Fair Employment Practice
which directed its abrogation. This
order was ignored In the Supreme
Court proceedings, the Justice De-
partment intervened, asserting that
the principle involved bore on the
operation of the National Labor
Relations Act as we'll as the Railway
Labor Act
The high tribunal has met the
issue squarely and fairly.
Evening star., 1944-12-19

members, and the fair-minded will
wish them we'll. Yet we cannot blink
the fact that there is widespread
doubt about their qualifications and
that this may tend to handicap them
from the start. 1t is difficult to see
why this factor did not weigh more
heavily with President Roosevelt
when he made the appointments.
Evening star., 1944-12-19
Down to Eurth
From the Windsor Star.

from the windsor Star.
Penicillin, like many other new dis
coveries in medical science. has been
overenthusiastically hailed as a pan
acea. The most extravagant hopes have
been held for its curative powers, and
1t has undoubtedly lived up to many of
them. Great harm can be done. how
ever, by creating the impression that it
is cure for all ills. That could lead to
some medical tragedies. 1t is better
that there be clear understanding
that even this drug has its limitations,
so that the public may develop a rea-
sonable viewpoint in regard to 1t.
Evening star., 1944-12-19

Yesterday was convocation day at
Electoral College, and for the fourth
time since he came to the campus in
1882, F. D. Roosevelt won first prize
as the smartest boy in his class. A
lot Of people, however, are of the
opinion that when the exercises are
held again, he ought to be finally
graduated.
Evening star., 1944-12-19
Sardonic Question

To the Editor of The Star:
My! Aren't Britain and Russia gen
erous to give Poland such great big
hunk of territory in exchange for that
tiny strip Of borderland that Russia
wants? MARILYNMoRRIs.
Evening star., 1944-12-19

Germans have been cheered by the
announcement that they can have a
special treat for their Christmas
dinner-herring. At any rate there
will be no violent family arguments
on who gets the second Joint of the
fin, and whether to make hash or
soup out of the carcass.