davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1944-08-07
The Bottle for Warsaw

Lie SlSuluCdHCe OF LNe great pat
tie waged in the Warsaw area is
manifold. Strategic, political and
psychological factors of major i'm
portance are alike involved. Their
combined effects will be profound
and may be far-reaching.
From the strictly military point
OF view, Warsaw is a major prize.
This great city, with a prewar pop
ulation of 1,265, 900, is both the cap
ital and metropolis of Poland, its
suburb of Praga on the east bank
OF the River Vistula being a center
OF Polish industry. Like most Euro
pean capitals, it is the hub of an
elaborate communications network,
trunk rail and road lines radiating
IN all directions. Loss of this trans
port ganglion will gravely handicap
German efforts to defend Western
Poland, while possession will corre-
spondingly facilitate Russian plans
for westward offensives toward the
very heart Of the Reich. To avert
or at least to delay-this disaster,
it is not strange that the Germans
are putting up a desperate defense.
AS yet, the Red armies have neared
Warsaw only from the eastward,
though they threaten to outfank
the city from the southwark
through bridgeheads established
across the ViStula. However, the
Germans still hold a big bulge of
territory north and northeast of
Warsaw, and the Russians are un-
likely to thrust into this tricky ter
rain, which Is a corridor between
Warsaw and the German stronghold
OF East Prussia. The Germans thus
retain several lines of retreat should
Warsaw become untenable for them.
However, the German garrison of
Warsaw is now exposed to a threat
from within. The well-organized
Polish underground" has risen in
strength, and advices to the Polish
government in exile at London in
dicate that the "Old City" district,
the very heart of Warsaw, is in
the hands of the insurgents, fight
ing with long hidden arms supple
mented by homemade weapons, such
as gas-pipe hand grenades and bot
ties of gasoline. This furious in
Surrection has its political and
psychological aspects. It breaks out
Just when Premier Mikolajczyk is
comforting in Moscow with Marshal
Stain and the Moscow-sponsored
Polish Committee of National Lib
GRAFTON in supreme effort to effect
a twofold understanding between
both the rival Polish factions and
the Russian and Polish peoples.
With all three elements simulta-
neously battling and abundantly
shedding their blood against the
common German foe, this may en-
gender an emotional atmosphere
conductive to mutual compromise
and conciliation. Thus, joint tri-
umph at Warsaw, which is ulti-
mately almost certain in view of
German weakness, could become a
point Of departure for the solution
of a problem that has thus far
baff1ed craftsmanship.
Evening star., 1944-08-07

But. as far as I can see. American,
British, Russian and eventually Chinese
armies are going to enforce peace"
each In its own "area,'' without any
law. Aggression is to be restrained,
without definition of justice. In its own
area" each Of the big three is to
make It's own rules: The big three
COR four are each to restrain whatever
they may interpret to be aggression.
Is 1t out of place to ask this point:
Who and what will restrain the re-
strainers?
The essence OF justice is that those
subject to it, are subject equally. Even
the sovereign state is restrained to
justice under law Even a government
representative of the will of an over
Whelming majority may not violate the
oaslc lawn America, the Constitution
But there Is no constitution Of ma
tlons, and no law of nations, and so
lar as can see, there is no firm inten-
ton to make one. For it is impossible
to make just law of nations, except
as 1t is equal for all nations, victor or
defeated; no law of nations will have
force unless 1t is superior over separate
national laws; any law Of nations will
require instruments exclusively subject
to 1t: law of nations and an interna-
tional force are incompatible with tradi-
tional. concepts of the sovereign state:
and rather than relinquish one jot or
little Of that traditional anarchy which
we call sovereignty, we intend to make
war the permanent order of mankind
and call 1t enforcing peace
So instead of one master folk, we
shall have four Of them-nicer certainly.
1t is, however, conceivably possible to
establish law of nations without
creating superstate
1t should be possible for the United
Nations to create world code defining
the right and constraints which a de-
cent respect for the opinion mankind
imposes upon sovereign states in their
relations with each other-a basic world
law. That law should then be incor-
porated in the basic, constitution law
OF all nations, whose own instruments
would thus be compelled to enforce it
as they enforce their other laws
Released by the Bell Syndicate, 1nc)
Evening star., 1944-08-07
On the Record
By Dorothy Thompson

1t has become the fashion to say that
peace must be enforced. Everybody says
1.-THE President, Mr. Hull, Mr.. Church.
Ill. Premier Stain and Mr.. Dewey. To
enforce peace we are contemplating, for
the flrst time in American history, per-
manent universal military service, the
worlds largest air feet, and q Navy
second to none. The British also intend
to retain universal service, thus depart
ing from a most ancient tradition. The
Russians are already planning their
peace force, with q network OF new
cadet schools. Against such an array
of force, 1t Is argued, whoever will dare
not going to be "idealistic," but
realistic"
Buff one may be permitted to say
so in a quiet voice-peace cannot be
enforced. Only justice and law can be
enforced. The enforcement of any
thing-even peace-except under law,
is war
Civilized states, who have banished
war from internal affairs, did not do
so by first creating an army to arrest
punish and guard those who were not
peaceiovers. They organized delibera-
tive bodies to make laws, elected or ap-
pointed courts to judge them and
organized police to enforce the order
defined in the laws. The police are there
to support law, and the result is peace.
Since the liquidation Of the concept
OF the divine right Of kings, police are
instruments of a social and legal order
founded upon consent. If the order is
not founded upon consent, the police
are terror instruments of tyranny. That
is what is meant by police state"
Just law, in the democratic concept
demands that those who live under it
have the opportunity to help create it.
Governments" de. laws derive their
just powers from the consent of the
governed" The will of the majority
gives consent The minority have to
obey the laws framed by the majority,
but on equal terms with the majority,
nor may they be deprived of their free
dom to advocate changes in the laws,
since without that right majority rule
itself becomes tyrannical. All this Is
sound American doctrine.
Evening star., 1944-08-07
Postwar TruveI

While holding millions of travel
hungry Americans to their jobs for
the duration, the war has sped de-
velopment of swift, long-range air
transports which undoubtedly will
stimulate the tourist trade after
peace is restored.
Washington already is the center
of web of wartime air routes con-
Meeting established bases all over
the world-bases equipped with
every facility for the safe, swift
passage of heavy airplanes. Many
can be quickly converted to the uses
of peace.
Vacations in Hawaii or Alaska, in
the Rocky Mountains or the Andes,
from the clear lakes of Patagonia
to the trout streams of New Zealand,
will be within the reach of travellers
whose time is limited to the con-
ventional two weeks.
Cut rates comparable with and
even lower than those Of surface
carriers are in prospect when travel
volume makes for efficient operation
OF mass air transportation.
For example, Pan American Air
ways this week applied to the Civil
Aeronautics Board for authority to
extend its Latin American opera
tions after the war on cut-rate, cut
time schedules to every capital and
populated section.
The proposed rates would be as
low as three and one-half cents a
mile for "sit-up" passengers on hops
long in mileage but short in time.
Washington would be no more than
twenty-four hours away from dis
tant Buenos Aires.
The Capital would be about eight
hours away from San Juan, eleven
hours from Port of Spain and
twenty-three hours from Rio de
Janeiro. Sleeper accommodations
are proposed at somewhat higher
rates, but emphasis would be on
tourist travel aboard great land
planes which can accommodate
more than 100 passengers and cruise
at over 300 miles an hour.
Once released by the war, Amer
Evening star., 1944-08-07
Eastern Front
By Maj. George Fielding Eliot

In my article of July 20 pointed out
that the Germans were apparently try
ing to stabilize their eastern front with
East Prussia as their left-flank bastion,
and thence southwark along the Narew
toward Warsaw and the course of the
Vistula River above that city. I sug-
gested then that the Russians were not
likely to cross the Vistula in strength
until they had had chance to reorgan-
ize their supply system, and that mean
while the greatest pressure was likely to
develop against East Prussia and against
the extreme upper Vistula below San
domierz.
In the ensuing eight days, these con-
clusions have been fully borne out
The Russians have not made any con-
siderable advances in the center of the
long line. The Polish Partisan action
inside Warsaw may turn out to. have
been premature; for the Germans ap-
pear to be in considerable strength along
and in front of the Narew River line
northeast of the Polish capital, and
they report that advance Russian ele-
ments in this sector-possibly those
recently reported in the Praga area
Immediately east of Warsaw-have been
cut off and surrounded.
Some color Is lent to this view by
Russian reports of operations northeast
of Siedlce, which would be the obvious
Russian countermove. This counter
move was increasingly successful at last
reports Results in this area for the
immediate future probably depend on
the speed with which Russian engineers
can bring forward their distant rail-
heads so as to enable free flow of sup
plies once more to reach Marshal Rokos-
sovskys advanced elements.
On the East Prussian front the Rus
slams appear to be going ahead slowly,
against strong German opposition. The
axis Of Gen. Chernyakovskys attack is
apparently directed toward the so-called
'Insterburg Gap" between the Niemen
River and the northern end of the
Masurian Lake barrier. Here the Ger
man resistance is described as "fanati-
CAL"
Still farther north, the army group
Of Col. Gen. Lindemann remains cut
OF in Latvia and Estonia, but it is
notable that for days there has been
no considerable Russian claims to q
widening Of the narrow corridor which
Gen. Basramian's 1st Baltic Army group
has driven through to the Gull Of Riga,
nor any considerable Russian gain on
any other part Of the northern front,
Evening star., 1944-08-07
A Broken Strike

Using its full powers for the first
time, the Federal Government has
broken the Philadelphia transpor-
tation strike without conceding any
thing to the strikers.
The measures used were drastic.
Strikers Of military age were threat
ened with immediate cancellation Of
their draft deferments by National
Selective Service headquarters.
Troops were brought in to operate
the equipment, and blunt warning
was served that any one persisting
in the strike would lose his JOB and
be barred from any other employ
ment for the duration. Leaders of
the strike have been arrested and
presumably will be brought to trial
under the criminal sections of the
Smith -Connally Act.
The Government undoubtedly had
to break this strike by strong arm
measures, since enormous damage
was being done to the war effort and
the controversy had gone too far to
permit of backing down on the FEPC
order for upgrading eight Negro
workers, which was the immediate
cause of the walkout. In the cir
cumstances prevailing at the week
end, it mattered little whether the
upgrading order was wise one. The
challenge to Government had be-
come so fagrant and so harmful in
its consequences that the Federal
authorities simply had to act with
all the power at their command
They have succeeded, without a
doubt, in bringing back to normal
the volume of war production in the
Philadelphia area. But whether
there has been a real gain in the
companion effort-to secure eco
nomic equality for Negroes
mains to be seen. The Associated
Press describes the returning strik-
ers as being "sullen and resentful." ;"
Perhaps this will wear off with a
realization and acceptance by the
men of the fundamental justice be-
hind the upgrading order. That is
to be hoped for. If not, this tenn
porary gain is apt to be wiped out
when the war is over and the mill
tary basis for the upgrading order
disappears.
Meanwhile, the handling of this
strike is noteworthy as an example
of what the Government can do to
maintain war production when it
wants to. 1t has become entirely
evident that the Government has
power to break any serious war
strike, and if there is toleratiop of
other strikes in the future it will be
because the Government, for one
reason or another, does not choose
to break them.
Evening star., 1944-08-07
Soldier

One need not be professional
philologist in order to find value in
the study of words. Much human
experience is represented in terms
of common usage. To illustrate the
principle involved, the title soldier"
may be cited. 1t means zone who
receives pay, especially for military
service" The stipulation about re-
ward for fighting is reflected in the
supplementary definition: "One
whose business is warfare, as op-
posed to civilian According to
the Century Dictionary, sold" is not
merely the preterit and past parti-
ciple of sell" 1t likewise is a noun
of very ancient Latin origin. Cor
related designations are: SOL" an
old French metal token worth one
twentieth of livre, called "sou" in
Its new form during and after the
Revolution, and "soldo," small
Italian coin of copper or billion, the
twentieth part of lira-both de-
rived from "solidus," a gold coin
introduced by Constantine the Great
to replace the arreus, formerly the
standard medium of exchange of the
Roman Empire.
The aforementioned trader" was
an achievement of exceptional dis
tinction in its time. A specimen in
the British Museum shows a profile
portrait of the emperor on the OBJ
verse, a figure presumed to be vic
tory with wings and a staff on the
reverse. The solidus came from the
mint weighing about seventy grains
and seventy-two soldi were struck to
the pound. Remaining current un-
der the Byzantine empire, Constan-
tines invention gradually became
known in Western Europe as a "bez
zant." Meanwhile, says the Gen.
tury, Gin the Middle Ages the word
'Solidus' often indicates not any spe-
cial coin, but a money of account,
and was translated in the Teutonic
languages by shilling and it's cog
mates"
So, when prior to the Army Dis
cipline and Regulation Act of 1879
an Englishman took" the kings or
the queens shilling as a symbol Of
enlistment, he literally accepted a
Hortion of a solidus and thereafter
Evening star., 1944-08-07
This Changing World
By Constantine Brovn

The 100 days" Of Hitler are now
drawing to . close. A few days before
the invasion Of Normandy some of Pres
tdent Roosevelt's military advisers ven-
tured to make an off-the-record fore-
cast to the effect that II our landings
were successful and II the Russians
struck with all they had over the whole
eastern front, Germany would collapse
soon.
The expression 100 days" was
adopted because Napoleon lasted only
that length of time after his return
from Elba. The power Of the French
Army had been broken after 10 years OF
continuous fighting and he had to rely
on quickly raised troops to make war
again. He failed.
similar situation prevails now in
Germany. The detection Of German
troops on the eastern front; the gross
strategic mistakes made by the once
faultness general stan in the same area;
the lack Of will to win among German
troops on the western front and the dis
affection OF Hitlers generals are all
leading to the conclusion that Ger
many's doom cannot be far of and it
may occur within less than two months.
The German armies have suffered
enormous losses. Their best fighting
men-the original divisions which
blitzed Europe-are now gone. Five
years of intense modern war Is equiva-
lent to 20 years of the old-fashioned war
when artillery was q mere auxiliary and
the burden Of the fighting rested on the
infantry and cavalry.
=
The purges among the high-ranking
army oficers which have been an
nounced off1cially by Hitler are another
definite indication that the field mar
shals and generals who were the back
bone OF Germany's military strength
have lost all hope of even q stalemate.
For the first time In the entire history
OF Prussia and Germany, generals on
the eastern front are surrendering by
the dozen and are helping throw open
the eastern borders of the Reich to the
enemy. In order to avoid such deser-
ton on the western front the old line
generals are replaced by party devotees.
But their loyalty to the Fuehrer hardly
makes up for their deficient knowledge
OF the military art.
The spectacular break of the Ameri-
can forces into the plains OF Brittany
and the probability that the march to
Paris has started Is a clear indication
that the party generals cannot be COM
Evening star., 1944-08-07
Mein Kumpf, Poge 104'

After the recent alleged attempt
to assassinate him, Adolf Hitler took
to the air to describe the deed as
the worst crime in German history.
Goebbels has since said the same
thing, and so have other members
of the Nazi hierarchy. But the
Fuehrer himself can be quoted to
justify the act, having once written
that whenever a nation is led to
disaster by the government, revolt
by every member of that govern
ment is not a privilege but a duty"
In other words, assuming that the
effort to kill him was genuine and
not fake, certain dissident army ele-
ments were merely following his swn
advice-doing their duty" in view
of his catastrophe leadership.
The quotation has been broad
cast to Austria by the British radio,
with the exhortation that all anti
Nazis in the Reich write on every
wall the words "Mein Kampf, page
104." For it is on that page of his
notorious book that Hitler advocates
the kind of rebellion that seems
clearly to be taking shape against
him now, and having risen to power
without ever once receiving the ma
jority vote Of the German people,
he must wish very earnestly that the
suggestive passage could somehow
be blacked out of all the millions
and millions of copies Of "Mein
Kampf" spread throughout the
Reich.
With his own pen Hitler has writ
ten the prescription for his own
downfall, and even though the bulk
of the German people may be too
apathetic to act upon it, we can be
reasonably sure that something like
1t will take effect, with many Ger
man generals and our great Allied
military victories combining to speed
up the process. BY shooting as
many of the opposition as he can
find, by using Himmlers Gestapo
and by tightening Nazi control of
the army, the Fuehrer may be able
to achieve some delay, but still he
and his henchmen are not going to
escape the consequences of having
led their nation criminally to dis
aster. One of these days-perhaps
sooner than later-there will most
certainly be a version Of "Mein
Kampf, page 104" translated into
reality inside Germany.
Evening star., 1944-08-07

except westward In the sector lust
north of Kaunas. 1t is therefore con-
ceivable that the Germans have had a
change of heart with regard to Linde-
mann's forces, and that they may be
preparing for heavy counterattack
to cut Bagramian's corridor to the Gulf
of Riga and thus permit the withdrawal
southwestward of more of Lindemann's
good divisions for the defense of East
Prussia.
We may speak of this as change
OF plan, If 1t occurs. because the oppor-
tunities for withdrawing the northern
divisions were so obviously better a
few weeks ago, and were not then taken
advantage of due to the hold every
thing policy of Hitler which then
dominated German strategy.
+
There is no indication that the Rus
SLAMS have as yet effected any crossing
OF the Vistula in force between War
saw and the confluence of the River
San. South Of this point, however, the
Russians are mopping up the triangle
between the Vistula and the San against
what seems to be very strong German
resistance, and they have forced the
Vistula at one point and penetrated
some distance in the direction of the
old Polish capital of Cracow.
This penetration, if continued and
consolidated, could be extremely dam
gerous to the German forces farther
north, and might force an eventual
evacuation Of the whole region around
Warsaw. We should, therefore, look for
powerful German counterattack against
this Russian force within the near
future If the German armies on this
part Of the Eastern Front still possess
the means for decisive counteraction.
The fact that such counterattack
does or does not take place may be
considered as of the highest significance.
Still farther sovth, in the Carpathian
region, the Russians have made ad-
vances which threaten the Galician oil
fields, but which do not, at least for
the moment, seem to possess any great
strategical Importance, since a Russian
advance across the Carpathians, while 4
possibility for the future, seems un-
likely at this time because of the
greater opportunities offered north Of
the mountains.
To sum: German effort plus Russian
supply difnculties have produced . tenn
porary stabilizatioN Of the eastern front.
tcop5risht. 1914. New York Tribune, Incl
Evening star., 1944-08-07
Trailing Arbutus

1t must be somewhere hereabout belo,p
The strong, bro1Dn oak leaues, earth
called in the tau,
That the drbutus, hermit like, does oro,p
In startling beauty. hid from eyes of
all.
TO quest notD Bending lo,p. I take
my hand
And stir erploringly phere long the
ledpes
Haze blanketed the dark and fragrant
land
In age-old patterns that the ,1inter
And no,o, find the bloom and trailino
train
OF greenland raptly STOPPING lo,per.
catch
That strange, tDild glory that since Time
has lain
For man to emulate, but not to
match.
So do all quests for loneliness Yepeal
Some shining beauty nothing can
conceal
EDWARD D. GARNER.