davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1945-06-22

ton is cooperative toward all the Al
lies, and they are anxious to preserve
the equilibrium between them. But the
spirit OF the masses is suspicious and
the people are isolationists in the sense
Of Czechoslovskia and Czechoslovakians
The peoples hatred of all Germans,
including those native to Prague. is
100 per cent and, Unfortunately, they
wish to expell from the country every
one whose native tongue Is German.
They have interned every one of Ger
man nationality who has not already
fled unless he could bring proof not
only that he was not a cola borationist
with the Germans, but that he actively
worked against them during occupation
This. of course, few could do. After
the assassination of Heydrich, even
Czechs had to conflne their opposition
0 a passive MISUNDERSTANDING which
cannot be easily documented.
The Czechs admiration for the Rus
slams as contrasted with the Americans,
who hold only a small zone in this
country is largely based on the con-
viction that the former were tough with
the Germans, while the latter were too
soft.
On the other hand, terror In reverse dis
quiets many Czechoslovakians,e especially
cially those who remember more serene
times. They wonder how this intense
chauvinistic nationalism, so easy to un-
derstand, will work itself out in the long
run and they are disturbed by the servile
relapse of opportunism which invariably
accompanies fear. Since, for instance, the
Communist party card is escape from
internment, the numbers of German
speaking citizens and even dubious
Czechoslovakians who hold them is
astonishing. The number of members
has trebled which may reflect real
opinion, but also may be merely the
pass to freedom
Evening star., 1945-06-22

demands that 1t have complete control
over the entire area extending from the
Bosphorus to Canakkale. According to
some reports, it seems that Istanbul is
also included in the Russian demands.
The Soviet government Is willing to
concede to the Turks the nominal con-
troll over the entire area, which means
that a Turkish government commission
will be attached to the Russian control
forces in an advisory capacity for
minor administrative tasks
If these reports are correct, it will
mean that the Russians will be in
factual occupation Of what is left OF
European Turkey. The Red Army will
have to control Thrace as we'll in order
to safeguard direct lines Of communica-
ton by land with Bulgaria.
Reports indicate that the Turkish
Ambassador at Moscow has been given
to understand that Russia desires a
solution of the question of Thrace and
the Bosphorus in the near future, while
the question of the Dardanelles might
be left until later when other interested
powers. might be invited to participate
in the discussions.
The Turks are reported to be adamant
about preserving the sovereignty over
their European holdings and are said to
be decided to go to any length to defend
their rights.
Trained diplomats who have been
watching the growth of this dispute
with anxiety for several months believe
the Moscow government will not force
a showdown until after the world Sc
curity charter has been ratified They
say the reason for this strategy is that
once the charter has been ratified there
is little the Turks can do against the
wishes of one of the Big Five powers.
The United States is said to have only
an academic interest in the matter of
the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles.
Great Britain, however, has more at
stake, while the sovereign Arab states
in the Near and Middle East unques-
tionably are very partial and SYM
pathetic to the Turks. Under present
circumstances they could create trouble
But they will be in no position to offer
more than moral support to the Turks
after the charter has been ratified by
the Senate, the only legislative body
whose conflrma ton OF the world Sc
curity organization is of real importance.
Once the Senate has approved the
charter the governing bodies Of the re-
naming nations will follow automati-
callv
Evening star., 1945-06-22
The Moscow Trial

The one clear inference to be
drawn from the conclusion of the
Moscow trial is that the verdict o1
the Soviet military tribunal closes
the case of the sixteen missing
Poles.
1t is not a conclusion that will
meet with universal approval. Pre-
sumably, the Russians are satisfied
And to the extent that one may
judge from the news reports, the
twelve convicted defendants, with
single exception, were rather
agreeably surprised at the relatively
light sentences-they ranged from
four months to ten years-Which
we're imposed on them. But the
western observer is left with the
feeling that there are too many gaps
in the story of this prosecution to
permit of any settled opinion as to
whether justice, or substantial
justice, has been done.
We do not yet know all of the
circumstances under which these
Polish underground leaders revealed
themselves to the Russians, and be-
cause of that there remains a ques-
ton as to the legality of their re-
moval to Russia for trial Nor do
we know the background of the
confessions which were made at the
trial, and consequently there is a
tendency to accept them with some
reservation.
On the other hand we do know
that the Poles were given a public
trial, at which they were represented
by counsel. We know that none of
them arose to claim that he had
made discriminating statements as
a result of coercion or improper in
duCement. And we know that the
evidence adduced at the trial, while
possibly not of the kind that would
be credited in our courts, established
an attitude of hostility on the part
of the convicted Poles. which, as
practical matter, the Red Army
could not be expected to tolerate.
Finally, there is the fact that the
sentences imposed are lighter than
might have been anticipated
On the whole record of this trial,
It is not a proceeding which can be
unreservedly indorsed by western
standards. But western standards
do not prevail in Moscow, and it is
quite probable that the Russians,
and perhaps even the accused Poles,
feel that the matter has been
handled in an entirely creditable
manner. In any event, there is
small chance that the Anglo
American Governments will treat
the affair as anything but a closed
incident.
Evening star., 1945-06-22
Goerinq's Bottom
The baton which Lieutenant

The baton which Lieutenant Gen.
eral Alexander M. Patch, junior,
brought home to President Truman
was the symbol of Hermann Wilhelm
Goering's authority as field
marshal. His right to carry such
truncheon was conferred upon
him on February 4, 1898, and was
enlarged when he was created
Marshal of the Reich-more accu-
rately ReichSmarShal-on July 19,
1910. Under the terms of the first
of these titles, he shared honors with
dozen other officers. When the
second distinctive post" was desig-
mated for him, he was given what
the Associated Press described as
"a super baton tipped with the
Reichsapfel or imperial orb" A
photograph reproduced in The Star
for December 18, 1888, shows the
Number Two Nazi holding a be-
jeweled staff about twenty inches
long, seemingly made of iron or steel
enameled in black and decorated
with conventionalized eagles in gold
The picture of the bauble captured
by the commander of the Seventh
Army and destined to be displayed
in a national military museum in
Washington after the war seems to
represent a different article.
Perhaps Goering had two batons
just as he had two titles. In any
case, the power which they connoted
has been destroyed, and the orna-
Evening star., 1945-06-22
Wants Relief from Taxation
To the Editor OF The Star:

To the Editor OF The Star:
Wishing the congressional group on
Capitol Hill the best of luck with their
gift to themselves of an annual tax-free
increase in compensation, this writer
would like to ask the gentlemen how
they expect those of us to live who
have had to be retired to private life.
due to physical disability incurred IN
Government service. on the very hand
some sum of $3.50 per annum.
OF this sum, sl30 is subject to tax
alton We do not have nearly sufficient
money cit being the writer's only source
of income to live in any comfort, let
alone luxury.
Would 1t not be just act to lift the
burden of tax from the shoulders tand
minds of those getting less than ST 900
per annum, and to tax the increase
requested by congressional solons for
entertainment purposes?
Give the little person" a chance!
A POOR PERSON.
Evening star., 1945-06-22
Okinawa- Gettysburg
BY Maj. George Fielding Eliot

The long and bloody campaign for
Okinawa is at an end. save for the
mopping up of disorganized japanese
remnants.
We do not yet know the full cost; we
do know 1t has been heavy. We know,
too, that we have what we went to
Okinawa to get: and how valuable
Okinawa is to us we may Judge from
the categorical statements of Air Force
officers that there is now SUFFICIENT room
to deploy all the strategical bombing
forces that we will need against Japan.
This is a good place to correct a re-
grettable error in a previous article, in
which I said that Okinawa Is as large
as Long Island. 1t is only about one
third the size of Long Island. or little
more than twice as big as Guam. But
it does have room for a number OF air
fields, and its possession will enable us
to acquire small adjacent islands to
supplement it's own capacityo
The japanese. of course, know why
we want Okinawa. They know what our
possession of Okinawa means to them.
That is why they fought so desperately
to hold it.
virtual annihilation. Their dead will
probably number around 10000 when all
are counted It is to be noted that
some of these Japanese troops are of
better quality than those we have en-
countered in some other areas. which is
just another way of saying that JAP
anese divisions vary considerably in
fighting quality, the old divisions of
49, Itch oai, 70
superior to the more recently raised
reserve divisions.
Observers considered the Japanese use
of artillery in the defense Of the Shuri
Line to be technically superior to any
thing of the sort that we have met else
where The capture of more than $500
prisoners toward the end of the battle for
Okinawa gives us larger number, both
in aggregate and proportionately, than
from any previous single operation: but
the significance of this figure may be
considerably reduced when we find out
how many of the prisoners are actual
japanese soldiers and how many are just
Okinawan conscripts hastily pressed into
service "for the emergency"
At all events, we have Okinawa-we
have our great base at the very threshold
of Japan, and something like 400 miles
from the coast of China in the very area
where the Chinese have just recovered
the ports of Foochow and Wenchow. We
had to take Okinawa the hard way
the only way that anything has been
taken from the Japanese so far-be-
cause We had to have it. We do not like
to think of the price we have to pay for
success in war. especially when that
price has to. be paid by hard, un-
spectacular. steady fighting over a
period Of almost three months, during
Evening star., 1945-06-22
This Changing World
By Constantine Bro,U,,

The major governments In the United
Nations group have been informed that
the relationship between Turkey and
Russia Is nearing an explosive stage.
When the tension will cease to be
diplomatic secret and burst out In the
open, however, Is a matter Of specula-
ton. According to some, this may hap
pen at almost any time, but the opinion
of trained diplomats Is that 1t will break
out only after the San Francisco Char
ter has been completed and ratified by
the United States Senate.
The tenseness between the Turks and
the Russians is caused by the question
of the Dardanelles' and the Bosphorus
"a matter which has been a source OF
discord between the great European
powers for generations. g
This problem was discussed by the
Big Three at Teheran and Yalta. Ac-
cording to some reports, President
Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill
agreed that Russia was stifled in the
Black Sea and agreed on the advis-
ability of some measures whereby this
situation could be remedied
The Turks were not consulted, but
were informed by the British of what
had been discussed and advised to make
concessions which would avoid q major
diplomatic incident. Direct negotiations
between Ankara and Moscow were un-
dertaken later apd are continuing But
their trend does not seem encouraging.
According to available information
the Turks are willing to place no diff
cuties in the way of Soviet communica-
tions between the Black Sea and the
Mediterranean-eithe for the Russian
merchant marine, their navy or their
aviation. Turkey is willing to demili-
tarize the Dardanelles and, If desired,
place them under an inter Allied con-
troll commission and remove all military
installations and troops-with the ex-
ception OF a nominal police force The
Turks are also disposed to give the
Russians all air rights" But they
insist on keeping their full sovereignty
over the entire territory which has been
Turkish for hundreds of years
This does not appear to fit the Rus
sian ideas. The conversations between
the Russian Ambassador at Ankara and
President Ismet Inonu have made little
progress. The talks between the Turk
ish Ambassador at Moscow and Foreign
Commissar Molotov are described as
difficult and unpleasant"
The Russian point of view Is that the
security and safety OF the U. S. S. r.
Evening star., 1945-06-22
Letters to The Star
Readers Discuss Conscription
And Related Issues

To the Editor OF The Star:
One good argument against universal
conscription is being demonstrated daily
by the War Department in its attitude
regarding the discharge of soldiers over
IS years of age.
Although numerous responsible organ
izations as well as Representative May
chairman of the House Military Affairs
Committee, have urged the prompt re-
lease Of men over IS, the Army proceeds
along its merry way, ignoring the wishes
of a large portion of the American
public, also the welfare, both economic
and spiritual, Of these men and their
families.
Americans would do we'll to consider
carefully whether or not they wish to
saddle their country with permanent
supergovernment such as this
FREDERICK MANN.
To the Editor OF The Star:
The Bergman cartoon on your front
page June II apparently was intended
to indicate that the most important
witnesses in favor of peacetime con-
scription far outweighed in number and
prestige the opponents OF such a pro-
posal.
Those of us who have been following
the hearings, however, know that the
answer to Secretary Stimsons question
in the cartoon Is that the overwhelming
majority of organizations representing
the American people in all walks of life
labor, farm groups, churches, educa-
tional associations. and civic and po-
litical groups-testifled against peace
time conscription.
Surely, all the generals have testified
in favor because: Their whole life is
based on military action and study, and
they naturally think in those terms:
and no Army officer is permitted to
testify unless he is in favor of con-
scription.
America has not yet decided to be
run" by the Army. For our peacetime
policies we rely on civilian groups and
leaders. The vast preponderance of
which have spoken against CONSUMPTION
during the hearings
HENRY DYER.
To the Editor of The Siar:
At the risk of much criticism from
educators, largely college administra-
tors. I believe universal compulsory
military education would add strength to
the Nation, especially the southern Sec
ton. Over 100000 Negroes live in six
Southeastern States. Hundreds of thou
sands are too unframed for skilled in
dustry, for good citizenship or to serve
intelligently in the armed forces. Thou
sands were too illiterate to read a sign
that said 'detour" or dynamite" Many
thousands could not meet the minimum
requirement OF at least a fourth grade
education.
II universal military service is de-
manded, then it will be the respon-
sibility of the Army to educate and to
make citizenship a meaningful con-
cept in the lives of all young men. In
p training camps for our youth, compul-
sorry military education could be one OF
the greatest factors toward breaking
down the barriers that keep our Nation
disunited E. B. HENDERSON,
Falls Church, Va.
Evening star., 1945-06-22
Good Old Ike

From the St. Catharnes (Ontario) Standard.
There must be a throb in the hearts
of all Britishers the world over, as they
read the news of the reception and hon.
ors to Gen. Eisenhower in the historic
City of London today. The King is con-
ferring on him a special honor: the
City of London gave him its freedom,
the fourth American ever to receive
such honor. 1t warns the old blood to
contemplate this grand and good man
receiving just due in the very heart OF
the greatest and the justest empire ever
born on this earth.
American writer's are making grand
claims that Eisenhower was the grand
strategist who won the war; and that he
proved military genius ranking with
all the great commanders in world
history. Why dispute such claims? Let
them all ride. But at the same time.
let appraisal be given to what we do
know has been the great genius of the
American commander in chief. That
genius has been fellowship, decency in
comradeship with others than his own.
understanding. tolerance and a gut-hard
insistence that no man could insult a
British comrade any more than he could
insult himself, the G. Q. G. That Is
why Britishers, also all Canadians.
have liked the American general. Look
at his face in the pictures. 1t tells a
story in itself. Compare that face with
those of Prussian generals captured.
There is something about the face of
Eisenhower in relief which shows hu-
manity. the face of good neighbor
not great man but one who in lower
strata of life would be cherished as a
good friend. He just seems to. look at
you from his pictures and say to you:
well, am your pal"
All the honors ever heaped on Gen.
IKE" will never change his profound
concept that he is his brothers keeper
and that he truly mourns with those at
home in the United States who have
lost loved ones from the hearthside.
This man, by all the standards, and
rules OF history. stands great.
Evening star., 1945-06-22
Two Camps

A war correspondent describes a
maternity hospital and children's
home in North Germany, we'll
equipped and fully stated, evidently
maintained for the offspring of
high-ranking and influential Nazis
who chose their mates for the pur-
pose of reproducing future leaders
of the master race. Some fifty or
more youngsters were there, living
under the best conditions and care,
and the reporter says that what to
do with them represents problem
for the military officials of the
Bremen port command. The par
ents apparently were designated by
code numbers, the key to which has
not been found.
Near Weimar, in Central Ger
many, in the concentration camp
at Buchenwald. liberating Amer
leans found another group of chill
dren. There were about a thou
sand boys there, under fourteen
years old, fatherless and mother
less. Their parents had been ex-
terminated as unacceptable to the
master race, or had died from suf-
fering and disease. They had been
brought there from all over Europe
and when the Americans found
these boys and segregated them
from other prisoners for special
treatment, most of them were mere
wraith-like specters of childhood.
Nobody knows what will become of
them, either.
But as the full details of Nazi
degradation are supplied, what to
do with those responsible for it be-
comes less and less of problem.
Their guilt cries out for punish
ment that will symbolic the indig
nation of a shocked world.
Evening star., 1945-06-22
The PIusterer

Bright is her body as blue-shining steel,
As iridescent glass her agile pings.
Precise her workmanship, and accurate
Her distant and unchdrted journey.
inos.
She manages both tro,pel and hd,Uk
,Uith ease.
She pats, then smoothes into per-
feet urn
The bits OF moist earth cleaned from
here and there.
Wonders OF her achievement make
man turn
TO pondering upon Just common clay.
The ,Odsp-nest marked tDith many
mystic rune,
Each pldStered hall,oag holding secretly.
The pearly ldrrd, then the spun
cocoon.
ROSE MYRA PHILLIPS.
Evening star., 1945-06-22
France and Britain

The sharp divergence between
General de Gaulle and large sections
of French public opinion concerning
Franco-British relations In general
and the Syrian dispute in particular
was strikingly exemplifled by de-
bate last Tuesday in the Consulta-
tive Assembly The date had special
significance, because it was the fifth
anniversary of de Gaulle's first
broadcast from London to the
French people which marked the
start of the Free French movement.
One of the Generals critics, Pierre
Cot, alluded pointedly to this when
he said: 1--WE reproach Mr. Churchill
for having taken a little too much
interest in our affairs in Syria. But
if Mr.. Churchill, at certain period,
had not taken an interest in our
affairs, General de Gaulle would not
have been able to make his appeal in
1910"
This stung the General to an acid
retort in amplification of a speech
he had just made repeating his
charges against Britain, asserting
his refusal to yield an inch, and re-
iterating his view that only Five
Power Conference dealing with the
entire situation in the Near and
Middle East would be acceptable to
him. But the prevailing sentiment
In the Assembly appeared to follow
the line taken by Pierre Cot, Albert
Bayet and other spokesmen to meet
Britain halfway and to treat Syria
and Lebanon with generosity.
Rather than try to maintain an
cient privileges" argued NJ Cot,
France should guide dependent
peoples toward liberty, because their
drive toward independence is ire
sistible, because both Russia and
the United States, for different rea-
sons, frown on colonial imperialism.
and finally because it is the only
policy within our means. We can
give neither credit nor equipment
nor manufactured goods nor arms.
but we can give them a doctrine of
liberation and moral support"
Such arguments, and their obvious
effect upon the Assembly, seem to
have at least outwardly modified de
Gaulle's intransigeance. Only the
day before he had revealed his bit
terness by cancelling a plan to deco
rate a group of British officers. At
the close of the acrimonious debate,
de Gaulle stated that a solution to
the difficulty could be found. and did
not object to motion passed by the
Assembly asking the Government to
Evening star., 1945-06-22
On the Record
By Dorothy Thompson

PRAGUE. Czechoslovakia.-Tor return
to Prague was for us, especially for my
husband, who left this city in 1899, an
exciting and thrilling experience. II
also was tragic for the record we found
of old friends dead at the hands OF the
Germans Yet the confidence and the
energy We saw everywhere. the remark
able capacity for reorganization. the
vivid political activity, were all like a
breath of fresh air after the weeks in
Germany and Italy.
Still, there are profound changes not
so much in the outer aspect OF thing
as in the spirit.
The leading spirit Of the First Czecho-
sloval Republic and the man who gave
tone to its life was Thomas G. Masaryk
A scholar, man of cosmopolitan learn
ing. patriot with an International out
look, an authority OIL Thomas Jefferson
ard the husband of an American wife
his spirit breathed tolerance and breadth
of view. And Czechoslovakia, previous
to the Nazis, surely was one of the most
broad minded countries in Europe No
other country of its size gave such gen.
erous haven to refugees from Nazi perse-
cution in Germany itself.
The state conferred citizenship upon
men like Thomas Mann, Hermann Bud
zislawski and several other Germans for
their vigorous anti-Nazi activities. That
has changed The six years OF German
occupation, following the treachery OF
the German minority in Sudeten. fol-
lowed by the Munich agreement and
afterward by the breach by the Germans
of even the Munich agreement, has
burned with corrosive fire into the
Czechoslovak soul and turned, perhaps
as a transitional reaction. their Euro
pean patriotism into flaming national
ism.
The spirit of the leaders. both political
and intellectual, OF the Masaryk tradl-