davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Wilmington morning star., 1944-07-29

INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE
Rochester 2; Jersey City 0,
first game.
Baltimore IA; Montreal 8, first
game.
Newark g.; Buffalo 2, first game.
The Wilmington morning star., 1944-07-29
National League

standings do not include last
nights games.
Evening star., 1944-12-02

should make some statement that the
basic pay would go back to $4,000 If
conditions ever become more normal
with taxes lower and costs of living,
too. A pay increase for Government
workers, amounting to 20 per cent on
their first $1,000, or any part of it if
their salaries were less than that figure,
was put into effect because of war con-
ditions. 1t was done by jumping the
work week from SO hours to 48, and
paying overtime.
Not only do members of the House
face greatly increased costs and taxes,
but they also must run for Office every
two years and campaigning costs
money. Representative Lea, Democrat,
of California has thought up a way
OF amelloratlng this situation. He has
introduced a proposed constitutional
amendment making the House term four
years. with one-half of the House men,
bership to be elected every two years.
This is patterned, in measure, after
the constitutional provision which gives
Senator a six-year term, but calls for
the election of one-third of the Senate
membership every two years.
X **
Service in Congress has become full
time job. There are no long adjourn
ments or recesses any more. Members
have no time to make money, as they
did in the past through law practice or
business operation, when their presence
was not required in Washington The
campaigning for reelection, ranging
from 3 to 10 months, also eats up
time which members might otherwise
use profitably. This biennial political
campaigning detracts from members
usefulness as public servant, too Time
and experience are necessary in Con-
gress to give the Nation effective service
On the average about 10 per cent of the
members of the House serve only five
and one-half years-which means big
turnover.
Mr.. Lea argues that longer term for
members of the House will contribute to
stability of government. At the same
time, such plan will retain the in
f1uence of the voters, expressed every
two years at the polls, when one-half
of the House membership will be elect
ed and one-third Of the Senate.
Evening star., 1944-12-02
Southeastern Front

Perhaps the most difficult war
theater in Europe to evaluate is what
can best be termed the southeastern
front. One reason for this is it's
complexity. The southeastern front
is an irregular battle line extending
with many sinuosities some 500 miles
from Southern Poland to the middle
Balkans. Although. in the large
sense, it is strategic unity, wide
| differences in terrain and commu-
| nications break it up into at least
three distinct subcampaigns which
tactically have little in common. A
series of Russian armies. with some
aid from Romanian units and Yugo-
Slav Partisans, are pushing westward
against German forces assisted by
Hungarians, Croats and other puppet
troops. The central Red push,
through the Hungarian plains up
the Danube. naturally holds the
spotlight of public interest. but the
fighting on the flanks. in Slovakia
on the north and in Yugoslavia on
the south, are important parts of the
general picture which should not be
overlooked
About month ago the Russians
reached the outskirts of Budapest,
the Hungarian capital, but were
seemingly unable to storm this very
strong position which effectively
blocks the Danube Valley. Since
then, they have been expending their
main efforts in Slovakia, seemingly
with the idea of outf1anking Buda-
pest from the northWard. However,
difficult mountainous terrain plus
the SHOWS of early winter have made
the going slow and minimize
break through there until spring.
A few days ago the Russian high
command started new phase in its
strategy. This was a successful cross
ing of the Danube in Southern Hun
gary about 80 miles south of Buda-
pest, at point just north of the
Danube'S junction with the River
Drava. That new bridgehead has
already been firmly established and
can form the base for an advance
either up the Danube directly at the
Hungarian capital or northwestward
in an outfanking move on a wide arc
aimed at the Austrian border not
far from Vienna
However, it is too soon to consider
seriously such far-reaching poSsibili-
ties. Those Russian forces across
the Danube are operating at the end
of very long and tenuous commu-
nications Advances either toward
Budapest or Austria from the present
bridgehead would be exposed to
attacks both from the main German
forces in Northern Hungary and
from flank movements by other
enemy forces in Croatia. We know
very little concerning either the
strength or the logistics of this en-
tire Russian campaign in the south
east front. Hence, speculation should
be tempered with caution.
Evening star., 1944-12-02
The Political Mill
By Gould Lincoln

Lo. the poor Congressman. Come high
taxes and higher living costs, he must
get along on salary scale which was
adopted 20 years ago. If he has no
outside income, 1t Is tough going. With
Federal income tax, to meet, around
$4,000 to s2500, and in most instances
State income tax, his $4,000 salary
dwindles to about $1,000 He must
maintain a residence in Washington,
where he does his work, and home in
his own State or district depending upon
whether he is a Senator or a Repre-
sentative. He must make trips back
home, sometimes frequently, and the
cost of these trips exceeds the travel
allowances granted by law. He is sub
jected to constant and ever-increasing
demands for subscriptions to all kinds
of worthy projects.
Representative Celler of New York is
fathering a drive for pay raise for
members of the House and Senate-to
S12 800. If he cannot tack an amend
ment to the coming deficiency appro-
priation bill, he will seek to have the
salary increase carried in the next legis-
lative appropriation bill, due to come
before Congress early next year. Mr..
Celler realizes that proposal to increase
the pay of members of Congress may
meet with criticism-proposals to in
crease congressional pay have in the
past. However, Congress Is the only
agency that can increase its own pay.
Ks
1t has done the job of seeing that pay
increases for millions of Federal en-
ployes should be granted to meet the
wartime stress. 1t has enacted laws
which have made it possible for many
more millions of workers in private en-
ploy to receive additional pay. For
itself it has so far done nothing
In 1925 the salary of a member of
Congress was boosted from $500 to
$4,000. The still earlier salary of
Representatives and Senators was IS 900,
back in the days when dollar went
several times as far as it does today
The change to $500 was made in 1907
If the congressional pay is raised-or
an attempt is made to raise it-un-
doubtedly cries will go up that the mem
bers are engaged in salary grab The
charge might be abandoned if Congress
Evening star., 1944-12-02
Threatened HOSTAGES

The people of this country, and OF
all civilized communities, denounced
the Germans as Willful murderers
when they began shooting innocent
hostages as a measure of repriSal
against their enemies. There can
be no question that this sentiment
was fully justified, and it is the more
surprising, therefore, to learn that
French general, apparently with
some Allied support, is now threaten
ing to adopt similar tactics in deal
ing with the Germans in the Stras-
bourg area.
This threat has come from Major
General Jacques Leclerc, who is said
to have posted announcements in
StraSbourg that five German hos
tages will be shot for every French
soldier killed as result of guerrilla
activities. Allied authorities have
said that this cannot apply to pris-
oners of war, thereby implying that
those to be shot-if any one is shot
will be civilians. The civilians, fur
thermore, need not be guilty or even
suspected of any offense. They will
simply be picked at random from
the community and put to death,
five of them for each Frenchman
killed.
1t is not surprising that the Ger
mans have reacted to this proposal
by threatening to dissociate them
selves from the rules of war as eStab-
liShed in the Geneva and Hague
conventions. To a considerable
extent this threat is an empty one,
since the Germans have paid Scant
heed to the established rules during
this war. But if the warning nations
are to resort to what the NaZi high
command calls reciprocal slaughter"
there is no doubt that the Germans
can and will take a terrible toll of
French and possibly other Allied
prisoners who are in their custody.
American opposition to a policy of
killing hostages will not be based
exclusively on fear of reprisals, how
ever More important is the knowl-
edge that to descend to this level
would be to place ourselves on par
with the worst of our enemies and
to make a mockery of our stated
reasons for fighting this war. Criti-
cism of policy adopted in the field
can be voiced by those who remain
at home only with the greatest
reluctance, but in this instance there
is compelling reason to express the
hope that General Leclerc's order,
If still in effect, will be promptly
countermanded by higher author
tiles.
Evening star., 1944-12-02

nor the Chinese Army good unless there
is force to make those plans work.
The situation is not, however, without
remedy. Chang is said to have been
objecting for some time to the division
of the inflowing supplies between his
ground forces and the air forces Of Maj.
Gen. Claire L. Chennault.
According to available figures, about
TO per cent of supplies are going to Gen.
Chennault and only 80 per cent to
Chang. The overall figure Is still
meager. If we could send them by sea
they would hardly represent the cargo
contained in three Liberty ships. The
transportation by air also is extremely
costly. For every one gallon of high
octane gas the Chennault air force is
receiving we must spend about 200 gall
Ions for the trip of the transport planes.
The aviation, Chang admits, has done
superb work But its usefulness as a
raid force from China will end the
day we lose all the airfields to the Japs.
The pace of destruction of these fields
increases with the inability of the
Chinese ground forces to fight the enemy
because of lack of equipment and
supplies.
Chang is reported to have urged
Washington some time ago to reverse the
proportion of supplies coming by air,
asserting that he should receive the
bulk of them while the gasoline and
plane parts for the Chennault forces
should be kept to a minimum-just
enough for some fighter planes to pro-
tect the ground forces.
Chang feels that if he could receive
between $4,000 and 25,000 tons of war
material every month for a period of
several months the whole military pic
ture in China would change to his ad-
vantage
In order to comply with a certain
amount of pressure exercised on him
from outside, he has signified that he
is willing to make wide concessions to
the Communists. But he regards China S
problem at present as strictly military
problem and this can be solved only by
a quick increase in supplies. He is said
to be fully backed by the two realistic
American generals, Gen. Wedemeyer
and Gen. Hurley
Evening star., 1944-12-02
This Changing World
BY Constantine Brown

The return of Gen. Chou En-lai, the
representative of the Communists, to
Yenan, where he will submit the latest
proposals Of Generalissimo Chang Kai-
shek for closer cooperation between two
Chinese factions, Is not expected here to
bring much improvement in the rela-
tions between the Kuomintang and the
Communists
Chang is willing to work with the
Yenan leaders but refuses to place him.
self under their jurisdiction.
There have been several attempts in
the last few years to bring about har-
mony between these two groups They
have failed because the generalissimo is
convinced that the aim of the Com
munists is to remove him from China's
political scene.
In spite of this situation the presence
of new American faces" in Chungking
lends some hope that things may i'm
prove before it is too late.
Maj. Gen. Albert c. Wedemeyer, who
has replaced Gen. Joseph w. Stilwell
and Maj Gen. Patrick Hurley, the newly
appointed Ambassador to Chungking,
are not experts" on China. They do
not know enough of the complex and
complicated background OF Chlna'S in
ternal troubles to obscure their judg-
ment regarding the immediate situation,
which can be summed up in the three
words, stop the Japs."
*
Gen. Wedemeyer is looking around to
see how he can best use the meagerly
armed Chinese forces and Gen. Hurley
is endeavoring to bring about tempo
rary agreement with the Yenan group so
that Chang can withdraw from that
area several divisions which are engaged
in watching" the Communists.
The question of permanent solution
Of the complicated political situation in
China does not enter in Gen. Hurley's
calculations at present All he expects
from his strong Intervention and plain
talking is some sort of patchwork
between the two factions to enable
Chang to stem the Japanese advance
Besides being one of the best American
war-planners, Gen. Wedemeyer also is
very tactful officer. He realizes that
War-planning alone will do neither him
Evening star., 1944-12-02

overrunning the battery positions. Nor
can air power win or hold ground by
itself, nor even protect its own bases, as
we have discovered to our cost in China
And infantry cannot move rapidly once
it leaves its trucks and goes into action
on its feet it cannot always cross fire
swept zones, or dash forward to take
advantage of an opportunity or after a
break-through conduct the pursuit by
which the fruits of victory are garnered
These are tasks which must be per-
formed by armored troops, the cavalry
of modern war, combining fire power
and mobility to the highest degree, capa-
BILE of exploiting the accomplishments
of the infantry or giving it quick sup
port in emergency but, like it, requiring
the aid of air power and guns to realize
the fullest measure of accomplishment.
And more often than not armored
troops must work closely with the in
fantry, so that the latter may detect
and deal with enemy antitank weapons.
** r
1t is in development of this four-way
teamwork that the American Army in
Europe has excelled. We have come
long way from Kasserine Pass or even
the beaches and hedgerows of Nor
mandy, and we possess distinct adVan-
tages over the enemy in the numbers
and quality Of our men and weapons.
Our chief trouble is bad weather,
which sometimes deprives us of one
member Of our team, the close-support
airplane, and which cuts down the
effectiveness of our armored troops and
even of our infantry. Other disadvan-
tages are our distance from our bases,
which puts heavy burden on the supply
services; shortages of critical items in
home production, notably at the moment
in ammunition, and the considerable
number of new troops which are going
into action and which must learn their
jobs in the hard school of experience.
We have good, smooth working,
well-organized battle team, complete in
all its parts, capable of maximum effort
because it Is capable Of the closest sort
Of co-ordinated effort. Behind our team
we have adequate reserves of manpower
to keep the team at full strength, and
adequate material resources to keep it
supplied with weapons and munitions.
Bad weather may delay us. Shortages
due to human failures in foresight or
performance may cause us difficulty:
There may, probably will. be setbacks
and disappointments.
But we cannot now lose this war, and
the Germans cannot win it. They can
stave off victory, they can make 1t cost
us little more by determined resistance.
but they cannot do more. For them
there is no future but the future Of
defeat.
tCopyright. 1e44)
Evening star., 1944-12-02
Threudbure Bodoe

He thinks OF Mother as all udsdon,s
tount;:
IT oDls are wise, his mother Is stu
1Diser
According to his questions as then
mount
In talk Ufth Which no child is ever
n1iser
Throughout the short-liued reign, Nth
tongue II. cheek
I ,oear my robe OF sage and do my
best,
Asking, euen as he, for answers, meek
Beyond his kno,Ding to mset
the test.
Let The debated future threaten me
When he hds entered Dider leurnan1's
door;
Within his outgro,pn room I'll al,pays
see
A lad tuho asks queer questions never
Remembering each precious syllable
In days iDhen Mother icds his Orocls.
IDA ELAINE JAMES.
Evening star., 1944-12-02
Bank Symbol

Inc Bank OF England, most notably
famous of all institutions of its kind,
was organized just about two hun
dred and fifty years ago. An article
in the November issue of Britain
Today tells how it was started as an
incident of war which King Will
liam III was carrying on against the
French. His majesty needed money,
and a gentleman by the name of
Paterson obliged him-in exchange
for charter enabling the city group
to which he belonged to do business
with the government at per cent.
The interest rate thus stipulated was
relatively low for the time and in the
circumstances, but the total sum
wanted by the sovereign-one mil
lion two hundred pounds-immedi-
ately was made available in the form
of sealed bills"
And on the face of those bills or
notes there was impressed the in
signe of the new corporation. The
design portrayed "a not very youthful
or comely Britannia sitting on a
bank of money and was, according
to repute, later responsible for the
nickname The Old Lady of Thread
needle Street" still applied to the
establishment. Such a symbol obvi-
ously was subject to an infinite
variety of interpretations. 1t has
appeared in one form or another on
coins and stamps of many different
portions of the British Empire as
we'll as on the currency circulated
by the bank as the central bank"
of the whole system of British Com
monwealths, not Britain exclusively.
The bank itself meanwhile de-
veloped from it's original status as
limited lending agency until by 1854
it had become, by habit, not by law,
banker to the state and most of its
departments 1t still at that date,
however, shared with the South Sea
Company, the East India Company
and othe- corporations the business
related to the national debt. The
notes it produced became full legal
tender in 1888 and a monopoly be-
ginning in 1874. A gold standard
reserve principle was maintained
until the commencement of the First
World War in 1914. It also was in
effect for six years prior to 1881.
Oscar Hobson, author of the Britain
Today review, says: From then on
and a fortiori during World War II,
the bank has become more and more
a department of the treasury,
rendering it expert advice, but lack
ing all power Of independent action"
Britannia on that account prob
ably now should be represented
seated upon pile of engraved paper.
To be entirely modern, she likewise
should be shown in the neighborhood
Of "a great pool Of gold and the
currencies OF all nations" partici-
Evening star., 1944-12-02
Teamwork in Battle
By Maj. Georqe FieIdinp Eliot

The modern battle team for land war
fare consists of four main members
infantry, artillery, armored troops and
planes Only when all work together
in close coordination can maximum
results be expected.
The basic member of the team is the
infantry. Without good infantry, nothing
can be accomplished In defense,
second-rate infantry can hold a we'll
prepared position, but it can do no more
than die where it is put; 1t cannot with
draw under fire, because it tends to
lose its cohesion when it comes into the
open field. The men dc not know how
to take advantage of cover. they do not
know how to make the best use of their
various weapons in the mutual support
of small groups squads and platoons), >,
which is the basis of infantry tactics.
Nor can second-rate infantry be used
for the counterattack, which is the
heart and soul of elastic defense. In
attack, it is upon the success of the
infantry that all else depends; only good
infantry, we'll trained, we'll equipped and
well led, is able to overcome the tremen-
dous opposition which the power of mod
ern defense opposes to the attacker.
But the best infantry cannot advance
against the power of the modern de-
fense unless. it has some sort of fire sup
port which Is capable of knocking out
the enemy's strong points, which can
reach from afar to smash enemy auto
matte weapons behind cover and which
can break up the obstacles with which
the enemy seeks to obstruct the move
ment of the attacking infantry and
hold it under prepared defensive fires.
This is the task of the artillery and of
the supporting air force.
The artillery can do this job well when
it can be registered on its targets by
observers who can see the fall of the
shots and adjust the fire by immediate
correction. Sometimes these observers
must be in the air to do this; sometimes
they can be on the ground. Under
proper conditions of observation and
within its limitations of range, artillery
can bring heavier volume of sustained
fire to bear on a given objective than
the air force
The great advantage of air power in
close support of ground troops is that
the pilots can see what the enemy is
doing, and thus make timely and in
telligent use of their weapons; planes
often can be attacking an enemy
installation or an enemy unit in motion
long before artillery fire could possibly be
registered on the target. Moreover. air
power has much longer range than
artillery.
But the best artillery is not of much
use If infantry cannot win ground, or
in defense hold back the enemy from
Evening star., 1944-12-02
Educating the Nuzis

On its face, the proposal to teach
democracy to Nazi prisoners in the
United States seems sound enough,
but it can be much more easily advo-
Gated than applied. For apart from
the question whether it would be in
keeping with the Geneva convention
governing such matters, there is
some reason to believe that any
effort to put it into practice would
be self-defeating.
Arguing along this line, in letter
to the Harvard branch of the Amer
ican Defense Organization, Secretary
Stimson makes out convincing case
for the War Departments present
program. That program. however
imperfect it may be. at least offers
certain opportunities for learning
about our free way of life. But it
does not make any organized effort
to teach democracy because, in Mr..
Stimson's words. any such procedure
would probably create suspicion,
hostility and resistance" and thus do
more harm than good
In proceeding on this assumption,
the War Department seems to be on
sounder psychological ground than
those who would try to convert the
prisoners. In a measure, at least,
political faith is not unlike religious
faith. The classroom approach will
not change the mind of dyedin-
the-wool Nazi, and the lukewarm
Nazi probably would resent it enough
to become warm. People like that
are not going to be won away from
Hitlerism by textbooks and lectures;
if they can be convinced at ALL what
will convince them more than any
thing else of the Wrongness of their
leadership will be their awareness of
total defeat when they return to the
homeland and see what has hap
pened.
After the war is over, Germany
Will VI Coul &c llcCO Gllc plOlOuIluCot
kind of re-education, but it is doubt
full that the process can ever be eff
fectively carried out by anybody but
the Germans themselves. Faith in
democracy, after all, Is not some
thing that can be impaired to
people in six easy lessons. Books and
teachers and organized schooling
can be most helpful, and are indeed
indispensable, but feeling for free
dom cannot be forced upon a nation.
The future Germany. if it acquires
that feeling, will acquire it. not be-
cause of what we teach or fail to
teach the prisoners here. but pri-
marily because of what the Germans
learn from their past and present
experience as regimented mass. If
they do not learn from that, they
are not likely ever to have society
in which liberty can thrive.