davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1944-12-08

303 bombers and 167 fighters, the cost
to the attackers was far from light,
but the overall November results
considering our great capacity for
replacement and the fact that Ger
many was hit where it can least
afford to be hit-may safely be re-
garded as having been heavily in our
favor.
Moreover, the November record
may well be exceeded in December
and a still greater record may be
achieved in January. for Allied air
power is such that the fury of its
offensive, even despite the shorter
days and the less favorable weather
of this season, may conceivably be
steadily stepped up. The prospect
for Germany - whose Luftwaffe at
the height of the blitz was able to hit
England with an average OF only
about 5000 tons a months thus
unrelievedly bleak, with its produc-
ton centers in line for obliteration
and with its masses of people facing
a winter in which their towns may
become little more than other
Aachens.
Physically and psychologically,
therefore. our Allied air power ap-
pears to be in a position to crack
Germany wide open. Yet. even
though the1o is a limit to human
endurance and though our tremen-
dous bombing offensive would seem
to be enough in itself to shatter that
endurance among the Germans, the
chances are that the war in Europe
will not end until our land armies
have crushed the last hard core of
the enemy's ground resistance. Our
planes of course will be of immense
help in this, but the completion OF
the job apparently still rests with
the artillery and the mud-slogging,
bone-weary infantrymen.
Evening star., 1944-12-08
Not by Planes Alone

Though more or less submerged in
the torrent Of news about the fierce
and bloody clash of ground armies
along the western front, Allied air
operations against the Reich con-
tinue on gigantic and ever-expand-
ing scale. In the month Of November
British and American planes, attack
ing by day and night, established a
new bombing record, unloading in
excess of 114,000 tons of explosives
and incendiaries on Germany proper
an average of more than $500
daily.
Directed primarily at such vital
targets as synthetic oil plants and
rail centers, without which the
enemy cannot effectively wage war,
these unprecedented operations also
took a large toll of Nazi planes, 723
Of them being shot down by our
Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces
alone. With American losses totaling
Evening star., 1944-12-08
On the Record
By Dorothy Thomson


Turkish rule there has remained a feu-
Gal social structure, of the court the
upper officers Of the army, the high bu-
reaucracy, few rich merchants and
landowners, all headed by the King
Alter the last war Venizelos attempted
to make democratic republic In Greece
1t was overthrown by these classes, who
established ruthless dictatorship under
Metaxas and the King Metaxas had At
MS disposal police force that can only
oe described as Fascist" Greece was
neutral at the beginning of the war.
When Italy attacked Greece the Me-
taxas regime fell, and later he died. The
hing went via Crete to London and ap-
pointed successors. of which the Papan-
oreou government is the last.
Meantime, inside Greece, the Metaxas
forces accepted the German rule which
supplanted the Italian. The Metaxas
police were taken over by the Germans,
and were increased by so-called "secur-
ity battalions." who fought the popular
resistance forces which rose out of
Greeces rocky hills. The spirit of revolt
OF these forces spread to the Greek
Army in exile. and In Egypt this army
mutinied against the King and the
government In exile. This mutiny was
suppressed by British battle cruisers.
Papandreou was appointed by the
King, with British consent, as the man
to bring together the Royalist and Left
ist forces. To do this, he took into the
government some members of the EAM.
But he did not make, back in Greece, q
policy satisfactory to these members, and
they resigned. Meanwhile Papandreou
keeps the same policy and security bat
talions who successfully supported the
Metaxas dictatorship and the Germans,
and who now are to be used to dissolve
the resistance forces, and prevsnt .
purge OF Nazi collaborators.
I
Civil war in Greece is greatly against
all our military interests. But it cannot
be avoided by trying to foist upon the
Greeks everything that Is discredited, or
by trying to save face" Now even the
Greek Sforza, the old Venizelist Liberal
Party Leader Sophoulis, has been
vetoed" He said. Il am q friend but
not slave of Great Britain"
And all this is not British" policy. It
Is the policy of the present government.
Rslsased by the Bell Syndicate. Ine1
Evening star., 1944-12-08
A New Health Study

a co-ord1natlng council of the
health division, Council of Social
Agencies, was formed last October
with the announced purposes of
working toward the coordination of
public and private health agency
activities, the prevention of duplica-
ton and waste in resources and ef-
fort and generally to promote better
community health. Such councils
are functioning effectively along
these lines in some other cities and
the one just formed should be useful
IN Washington, especially in the
selection of desirable objectives and
the creation of public sentiment for
their attainment.
The immediate task facing such an
organization of citizens is to obtain
. clear picture of conditions as they
now exist, one which will indicate
overlapping and duplication of work
between health agencies, public and
private; which will reveal the gaps
IN our health services; which will
show the work of our hospitals now
m relation to the work that they
reasonably should be able to perform
in short, which will show our COM
munity facilities, both public and
private, as they are and as compared
with expert opinion of what they
should be.
Such picture is most readily OBJ
talnable by means of a comprehen-
sive study of Washington's setup of
health agencies and hospitals, made
by disinterested authorities in the
field whose views are uncolored bv
local affiliations. That study should
be initiated by the new health coun-
Gil and it should constitute the nee
essary first step in it's future activity.
We have had health surveys before
In Washington But for the most
part they have been confined to
public health agencies and needs.
Their value is indicated by the en-
couraging If slow progress already
made in carrying out past recon-
mendations.
The advantage of a study made
under the auspices of health coun-
Gil OF citizens is that its recommen-
dations would be supported by public
opinion. They would not merely be
laid on the shelf for future reference,
to take place alongside other rec
concentrations of other surveys. They
would constitute a program toward
which the community could work in
the knowledge that money spent on
health will be more economically
spent; that funds wasted in duplica-
ton or unnecessary activities will be
diverted into more productive chan
nels and that needs, championed by
one group or another, can be weighed
In relation to the needs of the
community as a whole.
Evening star., 1944-12-08
This Changing World
By ConsfaHfine Broom

Some observers suspect that the Ger
man high command intends to pull its
forces out Of Northern italy as soon as
weather conditions are such as to permit
Field Marshal Albert Kesselring to with
draw his troops unhampered from the
air by the Allied bombing fleets.
Italy has lost its military Importance
for the Germans. The Alps form a
formidable barrier between Italy and
Germany. A relatively small force, not
exceeding five divisions. could hold on
indefinitely in keeping an invading army
from crossing the mountains into the
Reich. The Berlin high command des-
perately needs the well-trained and
battle-tried divisions now opposing Gen.
Mark Clark's forces, Kesselring's men
could be of great help to the German
armies either on the western or the
eastern fronts.
On the other hand, the Germans are
said to feel that withdrawal from Italy
would not free many Allied divisions.
The internal situation In Italy would
further deteriorate when the strong po-
htically minded Italians from the north
are liberated.
Troubles similar to those we are now
witnessing in Greece, only on a much
larger scale, are anticipated by the
German leaders. And since no actual
peace, has been signed between the
Italian and Allied governments they
believe that London and Washington
will feel bound to maintain law and
order with the help of military forces
about the size of those now fighting in
the Gothic Line.
theoretically, of course, the Allies
could hand Italy over to whatever gov
ernment might exist In Rome. But, In
fact, political interests of a very I'm
portant nature will compel Britain to
insist that no peace be made until after
Germany collapses and to insist that
an Allied force be kept in that country.
Italy has become now far more i'm
portant political than strategic factor
in the confused picture of Europe. She
is the gateway between Britain's and
Russla's zones of influence and the
whole matter of how important will be
the western bloc of powers, conceived
Evening star., 1944-12-08

OF the globe lies within the Soviet
borders, stretching from the Baltic
to the Pacific. Russia's air "isola-
tionism" is a grave drawback to the
establishment of civil aviation on a
worldwide basis. Likewise. the Axis
combatants in the current war and
certain neutrals were not repre-
sented at the conference. For these
and other reasons, the decisions
arrived at in Chicago were neces-
Sarily embryonic and, in some re-
Spects, tentative. Yet few observers
will deny that sound beginning has
been made.
Evening star., 1944-12-08

The trouble in Italy, Greece and Bel
GUM Is no surprise to this column, For
months we have written repeatedly of
the necessity to form united demo-
cratic policy toward Europe We have
warned that any attempt to divide Eur
ope into spheres of influence" would
lead to clash in the policies of the
Allies.
We have emphasized that Europe's
war, fought for years by underground
guerrilla forces, is theological and revo-
lutionary and that We must either see
this sympathetically and seek to canalize
1t into democratic channels or become
the betrayers of vital anti-Fascist
forces.
We have warned that the European
peoples will no more accept Allied "Quis-
lings" than Nazi Quislings. And, taking
account Of the social forces which have
formed in Europe under the frightful
NaN pressure, we have advocated recog-
MIXING that the dissolution of Naz over
lordship must, of necessity, require also
the dissolution of the remnants of Euro
pean feudalism and a progressive social
program for every liberated country.
We see no reason at this point to eat
any of our words.
The only light in the present situation
Is the attitude of the reorganized Amer
lean State Department. At long last it
looks as though there might be an
American policy toward Europe. For it is
clear that only the United States can
bring matters together again. And it
Is for us to remember that we are the
people of Jefferson and Lincoln and that
1t Is not our business to hold up with our
arms the same forces which created
European Fascism or bowed before it in
servile impotence.
What is the social structure of Greece?
What is the immediate political past of
Greece? These are questions that have
to be considered in order to understand
Greece is not an industrial country,
and Communism" can have no meaning
to the average Greek. Greece is not even
a country with great industrial future
There are no natural resources to be de-
veloped there-as there are in Yugosla-
via, for instance. The Greeks are a ma
ton of peasants, tenants and seafaring
traders. But from the time of the
Evening star., 1944-12-08
The Air Conference

The International Civil Aviation
Conference which opened at Chicago
on November has ended. Attended
by delegates of So nations, the fruits
of its labors are a sheaf of docu-
ments meticulously drawn as the
result of intensive negotiation dur
Ing which sharp differences of
opinion were respectively reconciled,
compromised or left for the future.
Whether, on balance, the confer
ence is to be adjudged a success"
must be matter of temperamental
outlook expressed in homely fashion
by the old saw which distinguishes
those who look at the doughnut and
those who concentrate on the hole.
The "doughnut" in this instance was
the necessity for world on the
threshold of the "air age" to estab-
Hsh basic freedom of the air"
for peacetime commercial purposes.
much as a similar freedom of the
seas was established centuries ago.
That fundamental freedom has been
assented to by the great majority of
sovereign nations assembled at Chi
cago. Assuming that the agreement
Is ratified by the respective govern
ments involved, civil aircraft will
henceforth have the right to traverse
the atmosphere over any signatory
territory, together with the ancillary
right to land anywhere for refueline
and servicing. This, in itself, is a
notable achievement. without which
the orderly progress of civil aviation
would have been impossible. And to
this basic agreement should be added
long series of correlative clauses ON
technical matters pertaining to the
regulation and development of civil
aviation on a world basis. A sound
foundation and an evolutionary
method of procedure have thus alike
been established.
However, these successes are at
once preliminary and partial, leaving
much ground to be covered and
many problems unsolved. In the first
place. the conference got off to bad
start by Soviet Russia's last-minute
refusal to attend, and it is widely
believed that Moscow's ostensible
objection to sit with allegedly un-
friendly nations like Portugal, Spain
and Switzerland covered disincli-
nation to allow foreign aircraft to
traverse the skies over its territory.
Since one-sixth of the land surface
Evening star., 1944-12-08
Our Fourth War Year
By Maj. George Fielding Eliot

As these words are written December
I, 1914, the United States comes to the
beginning of our fourth year of war.
Looking back over the record of the
three war years that lie behind us, we
may feel justly proud of our accomplish
ments In the military sphere.
These accomplishments have been
made possible by the closest and most
thorough sort of organized co-opera-
ton with our Allies, and especially with
the nations of the British Common
wealth, whose military efforts have been
virtually integrated with our own
through the medium of the combined
chiefs of staff and It's related and SUBJ
sidiary agencies.
The result has been the most sue
cessful conduct of war by any military
alliance in all history. Never before
has a means been found by which two
great nations could pool their resources
for war and produce complete unity of
purpose and effort on dozen far-hung
battlefields.
No words of mine are needed to prove
the excellence of these results. The
facts speak for themselves with an
eloquence and force which mere
words could never command.
Let the record speak:
On December T. 1941, when the roar
of japanese bombs at Pearl Harbor pre-
cipitated the United States into war
with Japan, Germany and Italy, Ger
many was virtually master Of Europe
and Of good part of Africa as well.
Her armies were at the very gates
of Moscow and the oil-bearing Caucasus.
All the rest of Europe save only hand
full of small neutrals was under her
direct or indirect control. Her sub
marines ranged the Atlantic. Her air.
craft all but dominated the Mediter-
ranean. Worst of all, despair had begun
to seize the hearts of men throughout
the continent.
Within very few months after that
fateful December 7, Japan had gained
what seemed almost an invulnerable
position in the Far East. Her forces
had conquered the Philippine Islands,
the Netherlands East Indies, Burma and
Malaga; Indo-C China and Thailand were
In Japanese possession; she stood on
the threshold of the great Australian
continent and on the frontier of India.
A junction between the forces of these
two conquering empires seemed inevi-
table, followed by the divsion between
them Of the domination OF the world
The Russians resisted bravely, but
In a position fixed for them by geog-
raphy. The powers who retained mo-
bility, and therefore choice OF action.
Evening star., 1944-12-08

by reason OF their command of the sea
and their growing air strength, were the
EngliSh-Speaking nations. The great
need, the absolute essential, was unity
unity Of purpose and effort, implemented
by unity of command. They achieved it.
And In three years of unified effort
they have accomplished what to the
tortured spirits of 1941 would have
seemed utter miracles.
They have driven the Germans out
of Africa, knocked Italy out of the
war, liberated France, Belgium, Luxem-
bourg and Greece, and parts of the
Netherlands and Yugoslavia, and they
are deploying their armies along the
western frontier of Germany itself,
standing In great part on German soil.
Meanwhile their aircraft are pulver-
U-boat has been virtually driven from
duced to crippled remnant, and with
their Russian Allies with vast quantities
OF material of war which has greatly
aided the Russians not only to cleanse
their territory Of the German invader,
but to deprive Germany of all her east
ern satellites except Hungary and to
stand today at the gates of Konigsberg,
Budapest and Warsaw.
In the Pacific, Japan has been driven
from her island outposts, her navy
smashed, her air power much reduced;
American mastery of the Pacific Ocean
has been fully established, Northern
Burma has been recovered, the liberia
ton of the Philippines commenced, and
the first bombs are already falling on
Tokyo.
That Is q record of accomplishment
against odds of which Americans and
Britons may Justly be proud. Neither
could have done it alone. Both to-
gether could not have done it by the
time-honored method Of consultation
and separate. though parallel edort.
Only unity could have achieved it,
repeat, unity Of purpose, unity of effort,
directed by unity of command.
+
But there has not been political unity.
We see that every day. What is hap
pening In italy, in Greece and elsewhere
will not be the last or the worst conse-
quences Of that lack Of unity-a lack
which may, II 1t is permitted to continue,
fatally impair that public confidence in
each other which is the basic link
between the two peoples, and upon which
in great part rests the hope for the
future international organization. For
unless Britain and America can work
together, what hope is there for the
greater accomplishment?
Evening star., 1944-12-08
Happens Every Day
,etter to the Editor of the Montreal Star

Letter to the Editor of the Montreal Star.
My husband was killed on active
service recently. I have two children
ages three years and four months re-
spectively. 1 cannot rent a fiat or an
apartment first because of my babies
and second because my income cannot
cope with the exorbitant rental de-
mands of today.
I went to see a fiat on st. Urbain
street near st. Joseph boulevard. The
owner would rent 1t to me If I bought
the Nnoleum-it cost $780, This is what
my husband gave his life for. This is
the peace and security which he pur-
chased so dearly.
am forced to work to augment my
pension as it barely covers necessities,
so must find place to live in.
It's pretty hopeless, isn't it!
SOLDIERS WIDOW.
Evening star., 1944-12-08
Holds Indian Council Blameless

To the Editor Of The Star:
I have just seen . letter from An
Observer who comments upon the India
discussion at the American Forum Of
the Air.
The writer seeks to vindicate the
British imprisonment of Nehru and the
other leaders on the ground that their
activities constituted serious threat
to the Allies war efforts in India. And
he makes the astounding statement that
the responsibility for the arrests of the
Indian leaders rests upon the executive
government of India which has a ma
jority Of Indians in it.
I feel that the writer Of that letter
conveniently forgets some of the basic
facts about the Indian position. The
leaders of India were consistently anti
Japanese when number of the Allied
leaders, including some members of the
present British cabinet, were busy ap-
peasing the Japanese.
Indians offered to lend their full sup
port to the war efforts provided they
could be entrusted with some RESPONSE
bility. This the British government
consistently has refused up to now.
Whatever one may think about the
British policy in India, one cannot
honestly shift the responsibility for the
governments acts to the Indian mem
bers Of the viceroy's council Most GER
tainly they are amiable and capable
gentlemen, but they do not speak either
individually or collectively for any of
the organized representative political
organizations. We should remember
that even from this ill-assorted bunch
OF dignitaries two resigned at the time
Gandhi was arrested.
The ultimate responsibility for i'm
prisoning Indian leaders without even
the semblance Of trial rests squarely
upon the viceroy, who is responsible
to no one in India.
DR.. Ambedkar may be distinguished
leader of the fifty million "untouch-
ables" In India, but even he is not so
presumptuous as to think for q moment
that he has any power or authority to
put men like Gandhi and Nehru in Jail.
He and his kind have been used as
marionettes by the British to confuse
the world. They do not fool any one
IN India. ANUP SINGH,
Editor. Voice Of India.
Evening star., 1944-12-08
Letters to The Star
Readers Disagree With Those
Opposing Military Trainina
To the Editor OF The Star:

To the Editor Of The Star:
The objections to compulsory military
training offered in your columns tpf
December 4 by F. s. are, to this
writer's mind, not only highly fallacious
but typical of the turgid thinking which
SO often obscures common sense in all
matters concerning national defense In
peacetime.
F. S. asserts that: war is fast be-
coming the heritage OF youth" just
where has the gentleman secreted him
self not to know that war is this very
moment the bloody heritage of Amer
lean youth? And this heritage was be-
queathed to our boys by people who
apparently are incapable of distinguish
ing between the self-sacrificing efforts
of great democracy to defend its life
and liberties from criminal aggression
and nations whose genius runs directly
opposite to ours, nations which have
glorif1ed war as an honorable and justi-
fable means for subjugating other
peoples and robbing them of their pos
sessions.
Asserts r. g., Compulsory military
training Is an instrument OF offensive
war" Yes, in the hands of men and
nations of criminal mind. No, in the
hands OF great democracy whose spirit
is to love peace and pursue 1t, even at
the cost Of military training and a
great navy in peacetime.
F.. S. is afraid the Federal Govern
ment will experience the thrill of con-
trolling the youth Of America in peace
time" He also raises again the bogie
of "totalitarianism." In other words,
to give our young men a fine program
OF physical culture, to teach them dis
cipline and respect for democra tically-
established authority, to inculcate in
their minds background of patriotism
and the use of Weapons-all this would
change all the boys and their parents,
Congress and whatever administration
was in power to a mad mob bent on
killing people somewhere! 1t is to
laugh.
also take fiat issue with the state
ment Of F. s. that: The only chance
Va cuSoCoo I4A1c 4dW IldS 10 10 puI IL over
while the Nation is war-minded" Per-
haps never in its entire history was the
American Nation more antiwar-minded
than right now GI Joe's ambitions are :
First, to fix things so that criminal
men and nations cannot wage another
war. Second, to get back to peacetime
ways as quickly as possible.
AS father of two boys in active
service, and father -in-law of another,
I resent remarks that impugn the good
faith and patriotism of Americans who
happen temporarily to be composing
the Federal Government and our armed
forces
I also believe our military men from
Marshall and King down to the rawest
recruit are intrinsically more patriotic
than those who would like to sink our
Navy, disband most Of our Army, and
leave our Nation unframed to defend
itself against the first aggressor that
could connive another sneak attack
on US.
ROSSEI, EDWARD MITCHELL