davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1944-06-24
Thanks to Seal Buyers

To the Editor of The Star:
May we have the privilege of an
nouncing through your letter column
the result of the 1914 Easter Seal sale
conducted by the District of Columbia
Society for Crippled Children for the
handicapped children of our community.
The Easter Seal contributions
amounted to $4,000. While we are
$1,000 short of our $4,000 goal, we re-
ahze that other worthy organizations
were raising funds while our campaign
was in progress, so that, considering
the many calls for aid upon District
residents, the results are gratifying.
Furthermore, we are convinced that
our goal still could be reached, If all
who received Easter Seal letters and
who have forgotten to make their re-
turns, would send in their contributions
now.
In meeting of the Executive Com
mlttee OF the Board of Directors on
June 1t was decided that a full pro-
gram of services for handicapped chill
dren Is TO be continued and expanded
More crippled children than in any
previous year are being sent to summer
camps under medical direction: the
Clinic for Cerebral Palsied Children will
include psychological and speech serv-
ices; the University Orthopedic Nursing
Course and the Consultant Service will
be uninterrupted the usual material
aids and other services to handicapped
children will be continued. Funds and
facilities permitting. a curative work
shop may be instituted
For making these services possible by
their support of the Easter Seal sale,
the citizens of the District justly can be
proud and the Board of Directors of
the District of Columbia Society for
Crippled Children are truly grateful.
ALBERT w. HOWARD,
Seal Sale Chairman
Evening star., 1944-06-24

that If we were unprepared for the
shutdown of one plant we are not pre-
pared for victory. We still have q
thousand planners without a plan.
People will recall that on invasion
day 1t was revealed in Washington that
Mr.. Baruch had resigned three weeks
before as chairman of the War Mobili-
zation Unit on Postwar Adjustment and
that Baruch committee officials were
severely critical of the failure of the
WPB to anticipate the Brewster situ-
alton.
People will recall also that, a week
before invasion, a conference was held
to consider postwar problems-a con-
ference at which number of professors
and others expounded their theories of
postwar economics. Prof. Einstein, for
instance, sent a message calling for life
security for the millions of "intellec-
tuals" and white-collar workers.
A Harvard astronomer, who was the
first speaker at the meeting, voiced
the helpful suggestion that our social
worries would be solved, while the planet
Pluto was making its next 250-year trip
around the sun. Then a representative
of the Committee for Economic Devel-
opment, offering . vague postwar
prophecy, said that something should
Evening star., 1944-06-24
The Political Mill
By Gould Lincoln

mated. And now, unless a miracle
occurs, he Is going to be nominated.
Mr.. Willkie had large following in
this country q year ago. He even
courted for q while men and women
in the Republican organization, but
six months ago he adopted new tactics.
They must go along with him or else.
The result was great bitterness. The
Republican leaders turned hopefully to
Gov. Bricker as the man to stop Willkie
but he had failed to impress the
country. 1t was then that they and
many of the rank and file of the
COP looked to the New York Governor
as the man, first to stop Willkie and
then to win the presidential election.
Mr. Dewey and his lieutenants waited
for the Republicans to come to Albany.
They came in ever-growing numbers.
Despite Gov. Dewey's protests, dele
gates pledged to him were elected in
Wisconsin, Oregon and elsewhere. All
the polls of public opinion had for
months showed him the most popular
of potential Republican nominees.
. .
Sprague, Republican national commit
tCCAA1du, GOWul +. JACCklS, 0LNCc cudlI~
man, and Herbert Brownell, Gov. Dew
ey's campaign manager In New York,
packed their bags week ago and came
to Chicago to take charge of draft
Dewey" movement In advance OF the
convention opening. These gentlemen
are professionals. They have played the
game as only professionals can. They
did not go out into the streets and by
ways looking for support. They waited
on the 25th floor of the Stevens Hotel.
where they had big suite Of rooms for
this support to come in. 1t came.
When they held a press conference
they had something to put out, showing
the Dewey bandwagon rolling. On
Thursday, Mr.. Sprague called in the
newspaper correspondents. He read list
OF Republican leaders representing a
States and 2 Territories who had come
to volunteer their services In the Dewey
draft. He not only read their names,
but he had most Of them there, sitting
at his feet. He promised to I'LL in the
gaps in the States as more and more
delegates arrived in Chicago.
The show Of strength was impressive.
II Will be more impressive, it can be con-
ndently predicted.
Evening star., 1944-06-24
Assist

The occupation of Assist by Allied
troops is an event of significance to
many people who know that little
Umbrian city as the home of the
founder of one of the greatest re-
ligious organizations in the history
of the world. His name forever
must be associated with his birth
place. It is a relation almost un-
paralleled.
No one speaks of Saint Francis
without adding, at least in thought,
"of Assist" His life began there in
1882, ended there in 1925. Son of
a rich merchant, he was a wild
youth, who, taken prisoner in a
campaign against Perugia, suddenly
in 1906 announced a determination
to devote himself to God. His mys-
tical experience naturally was not
accepted by everybody. He was
Knocked, ridiculed, even confined for
while. But some little brethren"
followed him to retreat on Monte
Subasio, and Pope Innocent III in
1909 approved the order which he
had established on the principle of
poverty, chastity and obedience. So
licensed, he preached throughout
Italy, in Spain, Morocco, Egypt and
Palestine. His earnestness, his gen.
tleness and his patent devotion to
all living creatures, even the birds
and the small animals of the fields,
gained him the affection of multi
tudes. Six centuries after his death
his rule was observed in nine thou
sand houses by more than hundred
and fifty thousand members. He
was canonized in 1928.
American visitors to Assist in time
before the outbreak OF the prevail
ing global strife usually stopped at
the church of Santa Maria degli
Angel to view the Porziuncola, the
oratory which was the primary
shrine of the Franciscans. The path
to the heights above the railroad
leads through the medieval streets
which the saint himself trod. At its
termination are the two churches of
San francesca, magnificent monu-
Aents to his memory, adorned with
Evening star., 1944-06-24
New Phuse in the East

With the Red Army striking on a
massive scale northwest and south
east of Vitebsk, another flaming
phase of the three-power Teheran
agreement reveals itself. This great
new Russian offensive cannot be
considered as being a historic mill
tary event unrelated to military
events elsewhere in Europe. For
just as surely as it dovetails with
what is happening in Finland and
what may happen at any moment
In Southern Poland or Romania, it
dovetails with what our Allied
armies are doing in Italy and France
and with what they may yet do at
other points in the west and in the
Mediterranean. Everything now is
of one piece-a moose, ring of steel
and fire to be drawn tighter and
tighter around an enemy who once
based all his well-laid plans on the
single cardinal principle of never
fighting anything but one-front
war.
In smashing their way through
formidable Nazi defenses in the
Vitebsk sector, the Russians appear
to be on the move to cut northward
to Riga to seal off the Baltic area
and to move simultaneously toward
East Prussia and toward Warsaw
directly on the road to Berlin. Al
though the Wehrmacht can be
counted upon to resort to every
desperate measure in an effort to
prevent this, it Is instructive to
recall how easily Hitler's legions
slashed across the Polish plain in
the opening days OF the war. The
theater is one which lends itself to
sweeping encircling maneuvers, and
1t is not inconceivable that the Red
Army-rested, regrouped and more
powerful than ever-will succeed in
cutting up the Nazis in much the
same way as they cut up the Poles.
This would be poetic justice, so to
speak, an irony which our Allied
world would find both decisive and
sweet.
This new eruption in the east, in
any event, is bound to have a
significant influence on the war as
whole, north. east. west and south
From every direction-actively and
potentially, militarily and politically
the blows are falling with progress
sive frequency and ever-increasing
weight upon Hitler's once-invincible
war machine. The final Knockout
Is in the making; even the most
pessimistic observer in our free
world must find it hard not to be
cheerful over the prospect before us
today.
Evening star., 1944-06-24

be done about 1t all-just what was
not clear.
Finally, DR.. Alvin Hansen said we
should have flexible economic policy"
and presumably, by the use of this
charmed phrase, employ 70 per cent
more workers than we did before the
war. DR.. Hansen did not mention. OF
course, that we had had q flexible eco
nomic policy for 10 years and plenty Of
unemployment in that period, too.
So the star-gazing goes on at home.
while Americans abroad are facing the
binding flashes Of guns. Our soldiers.
sailors, marines and airmen are going
to ask us. one day, what We were doing
during this new Gettysburg. Did We,
like great-grandpa, leave the farm and
go to town, breathless. to hear the news?
Or were we spouting meaningless ball
derdash about employment, while sim
gle factory had to be given made-wcrk
to tide over workers who were sorely
needed In ten thousand or other placesf
(Released By the Associated NswDsperAl
Evening star., 1944-06-24
Dilemma at the BRIDGE

While this is not the first time
that experts have disagreed, the
controversy over whether one or two
bridges should replace the old High
way Bridge across the Potomac is
In some respects unique.
On the one hand, the Park and
Planning Commission, which advo-
Gates a single bridge, is supported
by Secretary IckeS and the National
Park Service, who have an influen-
tial say-so in how the Federally
owned property of the bridge ap-
proaches (under their jurisdiction)
Is to be used.
On the other hand, the Commis-
sioners and Captain H. C. White
hurst, director of highways, who
argue for two cne-way bridges, are
supported by the Public Roads Ad-
ministration, which has an equally
influential say-so in whether the
bridge project will qualify for Fed
eral financial support. There are
o.
would not be acceptable.
The debate reflects disagree
1nent on whether one or two bridges
will best handle enormously in
creased automobile traffic a few
years hence. the planning commits
sion contending that when single
bridge reaches its capacity load,
another bridge should be constructed
down-river, at Alexandria, as the
traffic from two bridges would ex-
ceed the ability of approach roads
to absorb 1t. Those who advocate
two bridges say that the question
is whether they are to be built
at the Highway Bridge site now,
or later, contending they should be
built now, whereas there are many
unsolyed problems in connection
with the Alexandria bridge which
might make 1t impracticable.
There also are esthetic considera-
tions, and here we find the National
Commission of Fine Arts supporting
the Commissioners and the Public
Roads Commission, as against the
commissions distinguished consult
ant, Frederic Law Olmstead and its
own members.
Both sides appeal, in a fashion, to
the local taxpayer, who in the end
will furnish a substantial part of
the cash. A single bridge would be
cheaper. But single bridge might
be more expensive than two, should
the single bridge void the prospect
of Federal aid conditioned on Pub
! lie Roads Commission approval. In
such circumstances, the bystanding
layman's only comment might be
that after eleven months contem-
plation of the pros and the cons of
this dilemma of disagreement, it is
about time the experts get together
and decide on something before the
present Highway Bridge begins fall
ing down. Congress evidently will
have to sit in judgment If the par
ties to the dispute remain un-
yielding.
Evening star., 1944-06-24
ask Force So

One Of the most dramatic revela-
tions OF the war is the disclosure
and description of Task Force So"
given out by the Navy Department.
Mahan, Nelson, and other great sea
captains of the past would doubt
less view with astounded yet COM
pretending interest this spectacle
OF the mightiest armada in naval
history majestically roaming the
greatest of oceans as an "over-
riding" unit, striking hammer blows
here and there in crushing support
OF still other sea, air and land forces
engaged in specific operations. It's
job Is to deliver the initial punch,
leaving the knockout to local units
and going on to other initiatives.
The Navy communique graphically
portrays its mission when it says
that Task Force So has been given
the entire Pacific Ocean to the
gates OF Japan as its stamping
ground"
Though definite figures are nat
urally not given. we are permitted
to assume that most of the twenty
two big, new carriers commissioned
since Pearl Harbor have been op-
Grating as part of the vast Task
Force 58." This unprecedented
armada is well-balanced unit.
Besides its proper ratios of battle
ships, cruisers and destroyers, it
has a huge train" carrying fuel,
food, replacement aircraft and
pilots. This solves vexatious prob
lens of supply for a fleet operating
thousands OF miles from it's home
bases and assures maximum eff
cheney for its air arm of more than
1000 planes launched from it's
1,250,000 square feet of aircraft
carrier deck space. The japanese
found this out to their cost when
they tried a surprise raid by hun
dreds of aircraft, hoping to catch
our fleet off Saipan with depleted
ammunition or weakened striking
power.
Perhaps the best testimony to the
magnitude of Task Force So is that
given by a captured japanese pilot
who was literally awestruck when
he first saw it scattered over the
sea as far as his eyes could peer"
He admitted that lone look at
Task Force So convinced him that
Japan had lost the war" That is
a conviction that will doubtless be
driven home to the consciousness of
increasing numbers of his comrades
as the spearhead of our power
strikes new blows, as shattering as
they are unpredictable by the Jap
anese high command. AS our Navy
spokesman puts it, Just where this
floating strategic air force will strike
next Is a constant source of con-
lecture and worry for the enemy"
Furthermore, we should remem-
Der that other overriding unit, the
Twentieth Bomber Command, COM
posed Of our new B-29s. those CO.
lossal aircraft with unprecedented
| range and bomb loads. which has
Evening star., 1944-06-24
Preference for Veterans

War veterans, women as well as
men, get a firm foothold in Gov
ernment service with passage of the
Starnes-Scrugham bill. In large
part, the measure simply gives the
force of law to forms of veteran
preference that have been applied
in the civil service for years by exec
utive order. Going beyond these,
however, the new legislation gives
veterans precedence over non
veterans who might be equally as
well qualified. in obtaining positions
except in specialized categories-
and likewise in retaining them.
Certain employment. such as build
ing maintenance and guard service,
is restricted to veterans and this list
is due to be broadened.
While some objection was raised
to the legislation on the ground
that it represented too much of a
departure from strict merit-system
principles, 1t may be said in all fair
ness that it is a reasonable recogni-
ton Of the traditional policy of the
Government to reward wartime
service in the armed forces.
There is one phase open to criti-
cism because it has potentialities
for working injustice. In cases
where forces are reduced. veterans
get preference in retention over
nonveterans of longer service and
higher efficiency rating. Carried to
extremes-which it is hoped never
will be the case-this particular
provision could work extreme hard
ship on the personnel involved, and
impair efficiency.
The other side of the picture is
that the legislation has possibilities
for strengthening civil service. If
it succeeds in inducing large num-
bers Of young men and women to
look to the Government as career
service, chances are that the pass
ing of time would see definite in
training and promotion program
worked out and that, as has long
been recognized, would rebound
to the benefit of the Government,
Evening star., 1944-06-24
Their Jobs and Ours
BY Ray,n ond Molev

While the battle of Europe proceeds
lot of people other than those who are
fighting are going to be making history.
Old-timers still tell of what their
fathers said Of the anxious days during
the battle of Gettysburg in 1853 One
OF them tells Of how his grandmother
sat on the porch in Perry County,
Pennsylvania, listening to the guns
beyond the mountains and wondering
which army would be coming through
the pass near the house. Men left their
farms and rushed to town to hear the
news. Some of them stayed away from
home for days.
This time it will not be a matter of
days until we know definitely how 1t Is
all coming out, but weeks and probably
months. What happens on the home
front during those weeks and months
will mean great deal to the men who
return from the great battle. In fact,
what has happened in the past months
and weeks will have grave bearing
on the whole future of these men. And
since we cannot help them in the battle
with much except our prayers we may
well give some thought to responsible
ties over here.
People will recall the Brewster sit-in
affair and draw the simple conclusion
Evening star., 1944-06-24
Great Mans Funeral
By David LosvreNcs.

The Dery day that you ,Dere dead ana
gone
Was one of sun and ,oind and clear.
unclouded sest
To all but those tUho kneU and loped
you best.
Without you, everything goes ,odg-
ging on:
Nothing has been upset, no plan Nth
The Office closed (the staf enjoyed the
rest)
A scant t,oo hours, while we fen
matched, oppressed,
A final ritual on a fo,Der- -streton la,on.
What them Why, man, the things you
did and said
Are no1 set free to take their place
In time,
No longer are they checked and lin
tied
By wtat you ,oere-tired poice and
shaking head.
Your funeral bells are one glad -pealin1
chime
TO hopes you no,o can tight for. being
dead. FRANCES HALL.
Evening star., 1944-06-24

the whole world for It's potential
field of operations and which has
already struck a telling blow on the
japanese homeland from distant
Chinese bases. This larger picture
is also etched graphically by the
Navy communique, which we'll says:
With Super Fortresses striking
from the west and Task Force So
from the east. the once impregnable
Japanese homeland has at last come
within range of strategic bombing
forces"
Evening star., 1944-06-24
Letters to The Star
Sees Inevitable Change Unless
American System Works

American system Works
To the Editor Of The Star:
One speech which Eric Johnston,
president of the United States Chamber
of Commerce, made in Russia probably
has been overpublicized in this country.
Mr.. Johnston assured the Russian
people that We have no objection to the
Russian system of economies. Il am
certain he was not speaking for all the
American people when he said that
Then he went on to say that no political
party and no labor union in America
wants the Russian system over here.
The Russians may be too polite to
give Mr.. Johnston the direct reply his
remarks deserve. But he should know
that political and economic revolutions
are not brought to pass because some
political party or labor union wants
them. The Russians made a basic
change in their society only after the
failures of the old system became no
longer tolerable.
The danger which Mr.. Johnston and
his followers in America fear from the
outstanding successes of the Russian
system in Russia cannot be warded OF
by the kind of talking in which Mr..
Johnston INDUCES.
What Mr.. Johnston should know is
that the American people never will
change until they are forced to do so by
economic forces over which they have
no control. The best that the business
interests which Mr.. Johnston represents
can do Is to help make the American
system work. to avoid crushing taxes,
mass unemployment and recurring wars.
If that result cannot be accomplished
soon under our present system, the
best minds in America agree we may as
well save the breath it takes to say we
do not want" change.
JOHN HEATON.
Evening star., 1944-06-24

beautiful frescoes by Giotto, Cimabue
and their pupils. The adjacent
an immense structure,
was "secularized" in 1866. Across
the town to the southeast rises the
church of Santa Chiara, built in
1857, where Saint Clara, the foun-
dress of the Poor Clares, is en-
tombed.
Once seen, the entire picture of
Assist is remembered always. Saint
Francis and his disciples in spirit
will welcome the CT Joes from the
United States as they have crowds
of other pilgrims.
Evening star., 1944-06-24
Monarchy Rejected Anew

Monarchy Rejected Anew
To the Editor Of The Star:
Lese majestic was crime at one time
punished by death. But until recently
and am speaking literally as well as
figuratively - in most countries where
kings still sit ensconced on their plush
thrones, monarchs were thought of AZ
human beings, sometimes as morons
even. Thanks to Winston Churchill,
however, lese majestic Is to become a
law once more in the unwritten code in
all the countries that the Allies are
freeing from German aggression. I am
not alluding so much to Mr.. Churchill's
insistence that in italy the institution OF
monarchy must remain inviolate and
sacrosanct. am rather concerned with
the strange anomaly that this insistence
OF Mr.. Churchill's Is not only being
abetted by our President, but also by
certain persons in this country who. in
their morbid worship Of monarchy and
all its tinsel trappings. are seeking more
and more to make the feudal hierarchy
OF royalty an integral part of our Amer
ican way Of life
I know, II remember my American
history at all, that We were once q Brit
ish colonial possession. But know, too,
If am at all able to shake of the fet-
ters OF that bad dream, that we fought
a successful War of Independence.
When the 13 States formed themselves
into the United States of America, was
1t as monarchy or as republic? Did
George Washington become the first
President or the first king of our great
country?
do not ask these questions merely
to be rhetorical It Is unfortunate and
a shame, however, that the sycophants
OF royalty forget the answer that WASH
ington and the Founding Fathers gave
to these questions not only in theory, but
In actual deeds.
A short time after the decisive battle
at yorktown In 1881, when the 13
Colonies were united in an indissoluble
bond, Col. Lewis Nicola wrote to Gen.
Washington that the Colonies could
never become q nation under a repub-
hcan form Of government" Col. Nicola
flatteringly asked for "the establishment
OF kingdom with Washington at the
head Washington quickly replied that
such an idea seems to me big with the
greatest mischiefs that can befall my
country" Thomas Jefferson and Ben
jamin Franklin voiced the same opinion.
But perhaps the most reasoned and
pithy attack on the monarchical form
OF government was made by Tom Paine,
who declared: 'The right to set up and
establish hereditary governments
is of a degree beyond treason; it is a
sin against nature. The equal rights
OF every generation is a fixed right in
the nature of things; it belongs to the
son when OF age, as it belonged to the
father before him"
Our boys who are fighting on the
various battleflelds of this global war
do not wish to think that they may
die for the benefit of kings and queens
or other specially privileged characters.
H l.. MONTAGIJE