davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1944-09-15
The No-Strike PLEDGE

A badly mauled no-Strike pledge,
after being down for the count of
nine, has survived the convention of
the CIO United Automobile Workers
and now goes to the full membership
for reaffirmation or rejection.
The CIO-UWA, numbering some
1,200, 900 members in the automobile
and aircraft industries, is a melting
pot OF American unionism. The
so-called moderates, under the
leadership of the Reuther brothers,
constitute what is probably the most
substantial single element. But re-
volving around them, and shooting
of at various tangents, are groups
known as the radicals, the ultra
radicals, the Stalinists, liberals, con-
servatives and the "superdupers," )"
who oppose any kind of no-strike
pledge and who apparently are
against anything that a majority of
the membership is for.
At the convention session yester-
day the 2,300 delegates first voted to
rescind the no-strike pledge. Then,
apparently sensing somewhat be-
latedly the implications and probable
consequences of their act, they
quickly reversed themselves and re-
affirmed the pledge. But even this
second decision was not a firm one,
for the delegates also adopted a
resolution calling for a referendum
of the membership to determine
finally whether the UAW will or
will not adhere to its pledge for
the duration of the war.
This convention, the most confused
and most turbulent in the unions
history, was notable for its under
currents of mutual distrust and
mutual recrimination. A great deal
was said about the plans of unidenti-
fed enemies to destroy the union.
Apparently, until the closing stages,
there was little realization that the
union was proving to be its own
worst enemy, but there is reason to
believe that it was the tardy recog-
milton of this fact, new awareness
that they could not afford to finally
ALLEVIATE public opinion, which in
duced the members to reverse their
original decision to rescind the no
strike pledge.
There was relatively little said
with regard to the needs of the
armed services and of the unions
obligation to support the men at the
battle fronts. Even in the case of
that none-too-large majority which
advocated the retention of some kind
of pledge, the controlling considera-
ton, apparently, was one OF union
self interest.
Evening star., 1944-09-15
Question for the Doy

MY dear. hoto may ! look on beouty
still,
When shapes Of nightmare xglires,
abound?
Ho,D breathe your soft scent splten mn
nostrils I'LL
With stencil. OF bodies on the bursa,
mound? -
Still should sleep content spon yous
breast
While tDedry men nldke cold, lean
earth their bed.
Or taste your lips, 20 stceet, % hrml,
pressed,
Though friends must touch rap steel
and molten lead?
II Ppe seemed needless OF your voics
tphile,
nv ears are numbed BY holt plan.
cts PAIN
Ny minds on edge. knosD that a. 10
smile,
Not only children but the grotpn men
cry.
And, 50, Ppe dared to ask-dnd asA
Ggain-
What right haze we to hus whth
Others de?
ALAN SCHNEIDER.
Evening star., 1944-09-15
German Defense
Bv Mai. Geor8e Fieldins Eliot

The decisive battle along the western
front is now becoming almost mathe-
matical affair of weight and power.
On the one hand, the Germans are
putting into their defensive zones every
man and gun they can scrape up with
out weakening their eastern front.
Their covering positions have been
broken through at least in two sectors,
and notably on the vitally important
front between Antwerp and the vicinity
of Aachen; they must fight there on
their main line of defense, and they
must fight under conditions in which q
break through means irreparable dis
aster.
That is so because there does not
appear to be any strategic reserves
available for major counterattack pur-
poses Once the main defensive crust
is broken, there is no substance to the
German defense. There can be no SUBJ
stance to it unless the Germans create
strategic reserves by massive withdraw
ais elsewhere-from Norway, from the
Balkans, from Italy.
The men hastily assembled under
DR.. Goebbels' total mobilization order"
do not constitute strategic reserves;
they are mere requirements, capable
Of filling gaps In ranks OF existing
units. but incapable alone Of meet
ing the onset Of our veteran and mag
nificently equipped divisions.
~
On the other hand, the Allied forces
have ample strategic reserve. Four
Allied arnies-from left to right, the
I'd British and the 1st. Sd and 7th Amer
ican-arc deployed along the western
frontiers Of Germany. Behind these
there Is the 1st Canadian Army, which
is now completing its mopping up
operations along the Channel coast and
is becoming available for new assign
ments; there Is the newly arrived 9th
Army, and there is the powerful Allied
air-borne army, the terror Of which must
be among the most nerve-racking Of
the many anxieties which now beset
the German high command.
These forces will, Of course. be used
by Gen. Eisenhower to exploit and ex-
Evening star., 1944-09-15

Yet that is the real issue. In organ
national terms 1t is the question of how
the assembly, the world court and the
use Of the force can be integrated. Mo-
where Is the purpose of the assembly
defined Yet a judgment Of the world
court is meaningless unless made in
the light Of an international law which
the council Is committed to uphold and
enforce. And where shall the law come
from, II 1t Is to be q just and demo-
cratic law. binding on the whole world?
Only from the assembly, representative
Of the whole world.
All representative systems. wherever
in the world, have q parliament to
make laws, a court to interpret them,
and an executive to administer and en-
force them. Translated into familiar
terms of nations who within themselves
maintain law and order-ergo peace
what is apparently being considered in
Dumbarton Oaks is the following:
The legislative, interpreting and en-
forcing power win all rest de facto in
the council. The assembly win be q
political and the court juridical ad-
wiser. No law binding on all will be
binding on the great powers in the
council. For each Of these will have
the sovereign right to veto itself out
side the law. Since this is the abnega-
ton Of any concept Of law, there will
be no lAw-such as was proposed last
March by the committee Of 140 inter-
national lawyers and scholars called
together by the Carnegie Peace Foun-
dation.
In the absence of law. binding on all.
there will therefore be the maintenance
of peace by force and diplomacy as long
as the big three agree among tf1e2-
selves. agreement to be reached by d.
viding the world into spheres, each great
power keeping out of the others area.
Since 1t is impossible to divide the
world into areas which do not overlap,
and since the danger Of q world war
will only come from one or another of
the great powers, this form of organ
ization Is utterly fragile.
- *
may be misrepresenting the setup
now under consideration. am judging
1t only from ofncial statements, includ-
ing that of Gov. Dewey, and from state
ments made by sources who claim privi-
legged information. My purpose is not
to throw even the tiniest monkey wrench
into anything that holds the hope of
= real world organization. have no
favored plan Of my own nor of any one
else. But believe that principles ought
to be considered and discussed.
And the time for this discussion is
now
released BY the Bell Syndicate. Ine)
Evening star., 1944-09-15
Our Air-Borne Army

Wholly apart from the great Rus
sian forces advancing in the east,
the armed power in motion against
Germany in the west is now so over
whelming as to seem enough in itself
to beat the Nazis to their knees in
fairly rapid order.
With the announcement that
another United States Army-the
Ninth, under command of General
Simpson-has entered the field to
join the British Second, the Cana
dian First and the American First,
Third and Seventh, this power adds
up to no fewer than six full Allied
armies. Such gigantic force, taken
together with our immense Anglo
American air fleets and the mighty
Soviet legions, should make it clear
to the most wishful and fanatical of
Nazis that Germany, with its soil
already invaded and its Wehrmacht
and Luftwaffe being cut to pieces, is
fighting against hopeless odds. But
even If Hitler and his more ardent
followers refuse to recognize this
reality, the professional German
generals-from the high command
on down-must see it as plainly as
Ludendorff and Hindenburg saw the
same sort. of thing in the summer of
1918.
Moreover, the professional Ger
man generals must be well aware of
the fact that what we now have in
the field against them, enormous as
that is. does not represent the total
strength available to us for the Job
at hand. For at least one other
element of our power-a kind of
mystery element-has yet to enter
the picture. This is General Brere-
tons air-borne army-a striking
force without parallel in the history
of warfare, great sky-riding or
ganization of fighting men specially
trained to shatter the enemy in the
rear.
Up to now reports on General
Brereton's army have lacked details,
but enough has been told about it to
suggest that it may strike spectacu-
larly at any moment. Designed pri-
marily for vertical development of
the enemy to break his capacity for
defense and hasten his distintegra-
tion, 1t is made up of whole divisions
OF flying infantrymen and para
troopers. Further, it is self-con-
tained, with its own supply and
service forces, It's own engineering
and communications units, and
Evening star., 1944-09-15
Sieqfried Story

Siegfried, the Germanic legend
hero for whom Hitler's defensive
Zine" is named, was a Hollander
rather than Teuton. According to
the accepted version of the tale, he
was born at Xanten in the Neither
lands, a son Of a mighty king called
Sigmund and Sigelind his wife. In
youth, the prince is apprenticed to
Miner, a renowned smith, from
whom he learns the art of making
weapons and armor. The first OF
his achievements is the forging of
the sword Balmung with which he
cleaves in twain the Burgundian
giant AmiliaS.
Guided by Miner, disguised as
Regin, and aided by Gripir and Odin,
Siegfried secures the steed Greyfeu
and sets out to retrieve the golden
treasure of the Glittering Heath. He
Stays the dragon Fafnir but aban-
dons the hoard when he sees how
desire for it brings about the death
of Regin. Next voyaging to Isenland
with the pilot Bragi, he rescues the
disobedient and exiled Valkyr Brun-
hild from her prison of sleep sur
rounded by flames. Then follows
another treasure incident concern
ing a cache guarded by the brothers
Niblung and Shiblung and the dwarf
Alberich. The former kill each other
in a quarrel over the fatal wealth;
and the latter, with his magic
mantle of invisibility Tarnkappe, is
enlisted in Siegfried's service and
assists him in winning a victory over
the Nibelungen warriors which gives
him the sovereignty of "the land of
mist and darkness"
A visit to his parents at Xanten
interrupts the hero's adventures Tor
a while. But he wearies of "this
aimless existence" and, dismissing
all but ten of his retainers, travels
to Worms, the Burgundian capital,
where he is welcomed by King
Gunther but not by his wicked coun-
selor, Hagen. Kriemhild, the Kings
sister and "the most beautiful
maiden that ever dwelt on the banks
OF the Rhine" falls in love with the
handsome and valiant stranger but
is warned by her queen mother,
Ute, that he Is destined to be slain
by cruel foes. Siegfried increases
Evening star., 1944-09-15
The Romuniun Armistice

The armistice whereby Romania
extricates itself from its Axis part
nership is an interesting document
in several respects. First of all, it
registers Romania's complete turn
about from the Axis to the camp OF
the United Nations. That decisive
shift had, in fact, already taken
place. One of the first acts of the
new government which replaced the
fallen pro-Axis regime had been to
join forces with the invading Rus
slams to clear the country of Ger
mans and to help eject the Germans
and their Magyar allies from the
part OF Pennsylvania which they had
been compelled by Hitler to cede to
Hungary. It was the lure of Transyl-
vania that made Romania's shift so
wholehearted. And it was the whole
heartedness of Romanian collabora-
ton with the Russians which is
largely responsible for the relative
leniency Of the armistice terms i'm
posed.
Romania gets of lightly for its
part in the war on the Axis side.
With the promised return of Tran
sylvania it will recover its frontiers
OF 1941, with the possible exception
OF the strip of territory which Hitler
compelled it to cede to Bulgaria. It,
OF course, renounces Bessarabia and
Northern Bukowina, yielded to Rus
sia under pressure in 1910. But the
return of Transylvania, plus exemp-
tion from Russian military occupa-
ton will doubtless far outweigh in
Romanian eyes the loss of territory
which was not vital to the national
life. The Romanians are free to set
their own house in order, their chief
foreign obligation being the pay
ment of a $500, 600, 900 war indemnity
to the Soviet Union, in part reim-
bursement for the damage done by
Romanian troops on Russian soil.
Considering the fact that this pay
@AASAAe 40 w NC cPA Cdu OtCI u SlA-yCaE
period and is to be chiefly in kind,
the burden Is not excessive for a
country of Romania's natural wealth
and which has suffered relatively
little from the ravages Of war. With
stable government and a modicum
OF Allied aid, the chances are that
Romania can quickly be restored to
fair degree of prosperity.
Although the terms directly con-
Germ only Romania and the Soviet
Union, the armistice was made with
Russia, Britain and the United
States, acting jointly in the interests
of all the United Nations, and the
armistice is to be supervised by an
Allied Control Commission. This
denotes agreement of the Big Three
on at least this segment of the Bal
kans, and the fact has been hailed
in the Moscow press as an indication
of similar understanding regarding
other European settlements.
Evening star., 1944-09-15

pand whatever initial successes the
four armies already In contact with the
enemy may gain.
The enemy's defense zone is being
tested all along the front from the
mouths of the Dutch rivers to the Swiss
frontier Wherever a soft spot is found
perhaps the American 1st Army has
found one south of Aachen already-it
will be probed, and into It,, when the
proper time has come, will be hurled
additional forces to break through into
the open country beyond. That Is the
moment when the Germans will need
the highly organized mobile strategic
reserves which they no longer possess.
To these considerations, affecting
ground forces Immediately engaged or
available, must be added the tremen-
dous fact of Allied air supremacy over
the entire battle area and deep inside
the enemy positions. We are able to
give the fullest support from the air to
our ground forces; we are able to carry
out the most complete reconnaissance
nour by hour Of the enemy's positions
and movements, and We are, in addition,
able to keep up our strategic bombing Of
the enemy's communications, industrial
production and even his capital.
The enemy can give only intermittent
and spotty air support to ground forces:
he can hardly reconnoiter at all, and
certainly not on q scale sufncient to
give him anything like full information
Of our movements, and his strategic
bombing potential Is Just about zero.
Finally, the enemy must be well aware
that there are yet other troops in Great
Britain and the United States, not yet
engaged, not yet appearing in our order
Of battle. but which are available either
as additional reinforcements on the
present battlefelds, or for use elsewhere
In some places, perhaps, where the
defenses have been reduced In order to
provide more troops for the western
front as 1t now exists.
This Is situation which, from the
German point Of view, Is hopeless.
'copyrisht. 1874. New York tribune Ine.D
Evening star., 1944-09-15
This Changing World
By Corr entiss Bro ~,

The oficers ut the battle front In
Europe are less optimistic about an
early end Of the war than the military
men In washington.
While they believe 1t win be several
months. possibly sometime next spring.
before the Naus ask for mercy, many OF
the staff men here believe the whole
battle for the Reich may end very sud
denly before the end of the year.
The men in command ct the front
maintain that for the time being there
is little proof that the morale Of the
German soldier has broken down. Such
instances are still rare. On the con-
trary, they discover that whenever q
German unit, regardless Of its size, Is
ordered to hold, 1t does 10 and gives
way only after real pressure u applied.
Whenever the Nazis have fought rear
guard actions, they have done 50 with
determination and have caused US some
painful casualties. There are no indi-
cations, so far as the officers at the front
have noticed, Of any deterioration OF
the German war material. There still
seems to be an ample supply Of am
munition and German armament and
equipment still is considered by our
specialists As first class.
According to available estimates, about
50 Nazi divisions have been put out of
action in the 100 days which have
elapsed since our attack on the beaches
of Normandy. This is q very large fig-
ure, representing total loss Of about
1000 men day on the western front
alone. It Is more difficult to estimate
the Nazi losses on the other fronts.
A conservative estimate would place
the total loss Of the German armies in
the last three and one-half months at
no fewer than 100 divisions. Last May
the Wehrmacht was reported to be 800
divisions strong. According to this fig-
ure, there still must be between ITO and
200 divisions available on all fronts.
The detection Of the satellites has COM
PEELED the Berlin high command to con-
centrate its strategy on defending Ger,
man soil itself from behind the avail
able Notifications in the east and In
the west. And for the time being, ac-
cording to the men who have to storm
the fortifications in the west, the enemy
still Is putting up q good show"
Many military observers in Washing
ton take much more optimistic view.
They agree, Of course, with their COL
leagues on the battlefield that the Nazis
have good deal Of punch left in them.
Evening star., 1944-09-15
Not Guilty

A reporter, probably inexperienced
in the political uses OF the English
language, is said to have asked
Democratic National Chairman
Robert e. Hannegan If the Presi-
dents speech scheduled for October
S signified the abandonment by Mr..
Roosevelt Of his plan to refrain from
campaigning in the usual partisan
political sense.
The reporter had heard Mr.. Han
negan say that the speech was to be
addressed to 125 900 Democratic pre-
cinct meetings throughout the coun-
try, and that the party leaders had
been instructed to have at least ten
precinct workers at every meeting.
To the reporter, that had a definite
and familiar political flavor. It
sounded like politics as usual to him.
But he remembered what the Presi-
dent had said in announcing his
willingness to run for a fourth term
and in his acceptance speech after
the nomination-that he would run,
but that he would not campaign in
the usual partisan political sense. So
the reporter asked Mr.. Hannegan
whether the President was doing an
about face.
No, the Democratic chairman re-
piled, definitely not. But Mr..
Hannegan ought not to have been
content with such a short answer.
1t would have been more helpful II
he had gone on to explain to the
reporter that no candidate ever
campaigns In the usual partisan
political sense. That Is what the
other fellow does.
Evening star., 1944-09-15
Letters to The Star
Denies Sole Guilt Of Germany
For Prevailing Conflict

TO the Editor OF The Star:
Why unconditional surrender? Il
1t assumed that the armistice Of 1918
brought on the current war? II 30,
that assumption ignores all the facts
Of political and economic history since
1918, including the Treaty Of Versailles
and the world depression which caused
the Germans to vote their National
Socialist party into power.
Two Of these many historical facts
involve our great allies. In 1885 Britain,
IN violation Of an agreement with
France, negotiated q naval treaty with
Naxi Germany which permitted the
Germans to increase the size Of their
Meet. In 1899 Russia and Germany d.
vided Poland after Britain and France
had pledged their word to 60 to war
II the Germans invaded Poland. This
quotation from The Star Of October 9,
1889, page A, shows Russias attitude
toward the war, then five weeks old:
AT the conclusion OF . conference last
night between Russian Premier Molo.
ton and q large German delegation
1t was announced that the Nazi-Com-
munist partners had agreed to make
their program Of economic collaboration
effective at rapid pace and on large
scale. Further support was given
Hitler IN the ofdcial Soviet newspaper
1zvestia which accused Britain and
France Of returning to the Middle Ages
Tor waging war to 'exterminate Hit
lerism'"
Did the armistice of 1918 cause the
Russians to collaborate with the Nazis
IN 1899 or, earlier, the British to make
the naval agreement of 1885?
Some curious statements have been
made about the armistice of 1915. One
is that the Germans did not know they
were beaten. Another is that the Ger
man Army was not defeated but that
the home front broke down. II the
home front failed, wasn't it because the
folks at home realized that GERMANY
had lost the war? The army certainly
knew 1t had been defeated for 1t yield
ed most Of its weapons by the terms
OF the armistice.
Germany came back after 1918 be-
cause the Allies permitted her to do so.
TWO OF them. Italy and Japan, sided
with Germany in this war and Russia
collaborated for more than q year.
France and Britain were accused of
appeasement; and the people of the
United States lost interest in the high
ideals OF World War I when European
nations defaulted on their debts, and
the Neutrality Act Of 1895 virtually re-
pudiated our part in that war.
AUGUST T. WELVEN.