davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1945-08-18

publicly declared that Mr.. Attlee was
"uninspiring and uninteresting, !"
and in the House Of Commons last
Thursday MIR. Attlee-perhaps with
touch OF pique and impatience-
said that Mr.. Laski "has somewhat
ebullient phraseology and at times
is inclined to be little impulsive."
1t probably would be unwarranted
to attach too much Importance to-
this seeming lack of personal rap
port between the two men. Never
theless it is interesting to speculate
over what may happen if Mr.. Laski
continues his "impulsive" use of
"ebullient phraseology" in a way
that embarrasses Prime Minister
Attlee. The Labor party to which
both belong is not without its inter-
nal frictions and divisions. Con-
ceivably, if its left, right and center
elements keep on talking at variance
with each other, it may in time split
up. more or less as the Democrats
did under the New Deal.
Evening star., 1945-08-18
SATURDAY, August Is, 1945
Let Freedom Rinq

The astonishing rapldlty with
which freedom is breaking out all
over the place leaves the average,
war-weary American in something
of dizzy daze. He is not quite sure
yet it can be true, but there are un-
mistakable signs all about him.
A man can drive up to a filling
station and say. Fill 'er up!" and
actually watch while the gasoline
bubbles over and drips on the
ground. The Office of Defense Trans
portation is throwing one restriction
after another out of the window, in
viting people to ride on trains, go
to conventions. take vacation trips,
travel in groups-do all sorts of un-
patriotic things. Restaurants are
putting roast beef" signs in the
window. at least that curious legend
appeared on Pennsylvania avenue
yesterday. Secretary of Agriculture
Anderson is actually talking about
unrationed meat by September.
Something in the nature of fren-
zied climax was reached in the final
edition of yesterdays Star when the
Board of War Communications
which up to this moment had main
tanned a frigid silence, broke into a
smile and told people they could
send congratulations and greetings
by telegraph. It would not be sur
prising any day now to hear the
telephone company urging people to
call up on long distance and hold
trivial and inconsequential CONVEX
Sations for more than three minutes.
What are we going to do with all
this unaccustomed freedom? Well,
for one thing, we are going to forget
that there was ever anything else
and begin to take advantage of it.
We are going to demand a type of
service, from those who cater to the
public's wants, that only freedom
brings. We are not merely going to
say Fill 'er up" but we are going to
ask that the windshield be wiped
clean, the tires inflated and the bat
terry checked. Instead of drawing
our heads apologetically down into
our collars when the waiter spills
coffee down the same place, we are
going to rise and say, "Wassamatter?
Dontcha know there's a peace on?"
and call for the head waiter.
For every dog has his day and now
the worm is turning.
Evening star., 1945-08-18
Our Own Cities, Too?
From the New York Times

EAom INC new 1ork Times.
From plane over the Tiergarten
one can look in every direction "and
see nothing but emptiness and desola-
tlon.' Behind walls that look undamaped
are shapeless piles of rubble. This is "a
world in its twilight" through which.
amid the smell of death, dull-eyed pe-
destrlans move slowly like people in a
dream. 1t is "somber reminder Of
what another war will mean to cities
and that the end of western urban
civilization is no longer an ennntv
phrase but terrible fact already within
the grasp of mankind" We believe his
tory will say that Berlin wrought its
own destiny and its own destruction
Among these somber ruins those who
nave the destinies of other cities In
Their hands may well take solemn
thought. The Russians can hardly helm
1t, for they came to Berlin with bitter
memories OF Stalingrad, Sevastopol and
scores of other cities which suffered
under an unprovoked attack. Our own
cities might not be spared If such an
attack came again.
Evening star., 1945-08-18
1inctured Socialism

From the st. Louis Post-Dispatch.
1t is alarmingly fashionable to call the
war in Europe victory for Russia,
victory for communism. A victory for
collectivism, perhaps. The middle class
had been wiped out. The moral basis for
a private enterprise system has been
destroyed except in the case of small
business and small farms because Nazis
and their puppets were the private en-
terprises.
But political liberties are returning to
France with the elections Gen. de
Gaulle promised as soon as prisoners
and slave laborers came home. They
will return as surely to Italy and Bel
giun, we hope to Poland with fair elec-
tions and to Yugoslavia with fair elec-
tions. If form Of socialism is inevita-
BILE In Europe, then at least, as seems
to be coming in Britain, 1t will be eemo-
cratic socialism.
Evening star., 1945-08-18
AttIee and Luski

AS head of the executive commit
tee of the British Labor party, Pro-
fessor Harold Laski appears to be in
a position of considerable influence
and authority. AS far as the actual
operation of the Labor government
is concerned, however, his powers
would seem to be roughly on a par
with those exercised by key official
of the Democratic National Com
mittee in relation to the Truman
administration.
At any rate. that is the impress
sion given the other day by Prime
Minister Attlee in answering Win
ston ChurchHl's remarks about some
of Mr.. Laski's recent and rather
spectacular statements regarding
Spain, France, Greece and similar
matters involving British foreign
policy. Mr.. Laski, according to the
Prime Minister, is not member of
the Labor government. and speaks
only for himself, the policies of that
government being laid down by its
responsible ministers. Mr.. Laski
himself makes much the same point;
despite his high position in the party
itself, he does not belong to the
Attlee cabinet and cannot speak
for it.
In view of the fact that the mem
bers of the Labor government be-
long to the Labor party and that Mr..
Laski is chairman of one of the
party's key organs, the distinction
here looks as if it were finely drawn.
The setup may be completely clear
to most Englishmen, Of course. but
in the United States and in other
countries people in general are likely
to keep on confusing Mr.. Laski's
views with those of the Attlee cabi-
net. owing to the common political
tieup.
The situation is one which may
yet prove embarrassing to Prime
Minister Attlee, who is generally re-
garded as q middle -the-roader
within the party. whereas Mr.. Laski
travels pretty far to the left. The
two men. moreover. have shown
several signs Of being less than en-
thusiastic about each other. Two
years ago. for example. Mr.. Laski
Evening star., 1945-08-18

they questioned him on his views re-
garding treatment of the japanese aft
er they had been compelled to sue for
peace.
Gen. Macarthur is represented as re-
plying that while he had every personal
reason to despise the japanese, his view
was that the terms imposed on Japan
should be governed by their effect on
the longtime interests of the United
States.
II it were to serve any good purpose
to do away with the imperial rigmarole
we should do it, he said. But If, by
projecting our minds, say Is years hence,
we find that the interests of our coun-
try might best be served by maintaining
the imperial family for our own pur-
poses, we should not hesitate to do so.
If the japanese government however
imagines that it can fool the American
supreme commander and his advisers
who know more about the japanese
than all the experts in the United
States, they will find themselves sadly
mistaken. Gen. Macarthur was patient
because he considered the requests from
Tokyo justified. In agreeing to delay
the arrival of the imperial surrender
emissaries he was thinking in terms of
saving American lives.
-
But he already has adequate means
OF discovering what is going on in the
Japanese capital, and if any treachery
by the Japs is intended he can be ex-
pected to act without the slightest de-
Lay. The full powers given him last
wednesday by President Truman permit
MIN to take any measures he desires
without further consultation with WASH
ington
According to the reports received from
Manila at the time of this writing. there
seems to be no indication that Hirohito
intends to trick us. He appears utterly
confused and scared for fear that his
commanding officers in Asia and in the
Pacific islands will disobey his orders
and thus make him lose more face. His
proadcastS are not as frank and clear
as a Westerner expects to hear from
defeated enemy.
But 1t must be borne in mind that
Hlrohlto is an Oriental talking to ORR
entails, and that for the first time since
ne ascended the throne of his ancestors
ne Is attempting to assert himself as
the supreme authority in his country.
he Is said to have endeavored to ex-
plaln MS predicament in private COM
municatlons and Is asking for time to
1uirllI his pledges, which he believes will
save MS throne, his dynasty and keen
Ills country from being utterly destroved
Evening star., 1945-08-18
A Myth for Jupun?

AL d IIlOIIleIlG IKE CIllS, WQeQ Lle
impact of total defeat must befud-.
die them more than a little, the
things the japanese say may sound
more significant than they really
are, but it will do us no harm to
take careful note of some of the
views of some of their commentators
and government officials.
These views, as expressed within
the past few days, seem to have one
thing in common: They all tend to
suggest that Japan has not actually
been completely beaten and that it's
big task now is to prepare for a
comeback. Thus, for example,
Kusuo Oya, overseas chief of the
Japanese Broadcasting Corporation,
admits in radio speech that a
great defeat has been suffered, but
he says that this is temporary"
that lin spiritual power we have
not lost yet" and that in the future
I'VE must amend" the mistake"
of not having enough material
strength and scientific knowledge
and equipment"
Similarly, the totalitarian Japa-
nese political party formally pro-
claims that the surrender leaves the
country with a great reserve of
power" and Home Minister Genki
Abe asserts that with this power
strenuous efforts" must be made
for the rapid recovery and growth"
of the empire. In other wordS-and
many other of Hirohitos subjects
could be quoted along the same line
this shattered enemy, apparently
lacking any sense of guilt, seems
somewhat inclined to minimize the
total character of our victory and to
argue that in due time the japanese
will again be powerful enough to
undertake their divine mission"
1t is not improbable that much of
this talk represents merely the emo
tional reaction of people who are
not yet adjusted to the shock of
catastrophe and who seek to COM
fort themselves by thinking wish
fully that things are not so bad as
they seem. On the other hand, how
ever, a measure of it,may constitute
an effort to lay the groundwork for
a myth like that which the Nazis
once fostered in Germany-namely,
the myth that Japan quit the war
not because of being decisively
crushed, but largely because of its
solicitude for mankind, the point
having been made already by Hiro-
hito that he decided on surrender
more or less as favor to the human
race, lest that race be destroyed by
the atomic bomb.
Twenty-Five or thirty years from
now. should we fall asleep mean
while and should the japanese har-
ness the atom, such a mythical in
depreciation of the end of the Sec
ond World War might 60 far toward
encouraging Japan to try conquest
once more. We may assume that
if they find this idea spreading
through the home islands when
they arrive there, General Mac
Arthur and our occupying forces
will promptly knock it on the head
and throw it in the wastebin of his
tory, where it belongs.
Evening star., 1945-08-18
The Political Mill
BY Gould Lincoln

The United States, having won a
tough war with Japan, is taking over
the job OF seeing that the Japanese
40 not again wage aggressive warfare.
either against their neighbors or against
us: IL looks like long job and a diff
CUT one, perhaps more so because there
was no actual invasion OF the Japanese
nome islands, and because large jan
anese armies were still undefeated in
Manchuria and other parts of the
Asiatic continent. Occupation of the
nome Islands must, for the purposes of
getting warmindedness out of the Jan
anese. take the place of invasion and
actual destruction OF the Jap armies
Inelr navy, 1t is true, and their air
FORCES were practically eliminated be-
iore the surrender came-and 1t would
nave come eventually if there had been
no atomic bomb to speed the surrender
on its way.
The task Of the United States is q
double one. First, and more immediate,
Is the task of seeing that japan is
physically incapable of making war for
the next decade or two. Second. and
more long-range, is the task of seeing
that the Japanese people get out of
tne Warmaklng frame of mind This is
JUST as mportant-perhaps more i'm
portant-than the first. It's an even
tougher job because repressive meas
ures, needed to render the Japs unable
TO make war, may make a people
restive and revengeful.
One thing seems clear-thouph il
may be hard saying. Either we have
10 get along with the Japanese, and
they with u.s. in the future, or It would
be better to use atomic bombs and
end the matter. We have chosen the
path OF peace-and properly so. If the
Japanese have wisdom, they will choose
the same path. We have chosen to let
the god-Emperor, or his successor if
there is to be one, remain as the chief
executive officer of the Japanese-with
the absolute proviso, however, that he
is to take orders from the Allied COM
mander in chief, Gen. Douglas Mac
Arthur. This more than anything else
may bring to the japanese a definite
understanding that they have been
defeated.
The Japanese, in the DEVELOPMENT of
their military caste and their military
IDEAS, which spead to the entire people.
have for years placed the military au-
thority above the civil authority, The
Emperor, IN theory at any rate, is COM
Evening star., 1945-08-18
This Changing World
BY Constantine Brown

The generous terms accorded to the
Japanese may have to be drastically
revised if the present Tokyo quibblings
and evasion indicate to Gen. MacAr-
thur that Emperor Hirohito, in attempt
ing to save his own face, is trying to
sling some mud in the faces of the
Allies.
Until Friday, Gen. Macarthur gave
the Japanese the benefit of the doubt.
In agreeing to Hirohitos request for
an extension of time before sending his
emissaries to Manila, the supreme COM
mander acted on first-hand information
he had received directly from the Japa-
nese capital from sources other than
the japanese.
This information said a number of
generals outside the japanese islands
had planned to disregard the Emperor's
orders by telling the men under their
command that the voice which had
been heard over the radio was not
that of the Emperor but just trick
Of the enemy"
= Under these circumstances the re-
quest that princes of the Imperial
Family should be shown in flesh and
blood to their humble subjects" was
considered logical and in keeping with
the avowed purpose of the Emperor to
accept the Potsdam terms without
equivocation.
The reason no time limit has ever
been placed in our commands to the
Japanese government was not that we
wanted to mollycoddle the imperial
family. President Truman and his ad-
visers were anxious to spare American
lives, and they realized that by putting
pressure on Tokyo they could obtain
any type of unconditional surrender at
any time we desired.
But because, unlike the case of Ger
many, the japanese forces were strewn
over huge area and because the
Japanese commanders might wish to
ignore the imperial rescript, the
American government adopted an at
tltude that might appear lenient to
the outsider. BY rushing things and
not giving the Emperor enough time
to contact the army through members
OF the imperial family, further heavy
fghting might have developed in the
areas outside Of Japan. That would
have been a useless expenditure of
American lives.
Gen. Macarthur cannot be described
as an advocate of soft peace" by any
stretch OF the imagination. Last April.
when some high-ranking officials from
Washington visited him at his tenn
porary headquarters outside Manila
Evening star., 1945-08-18
American 'CoI|ectiyism'

Inc severest critic of Herbert
Hoover will not deny that he is a
fighting champion of the things in
which he believes, nor that his be-
Aefs are deeply and sincerely held
When he said, in his latest public
address, that communism and
creeping socialism" are sweeping
over Europe, he was probably cor
rect. And, depending upon what one
means by the term, there is evidence
to sustain his assertion that a form
OF collectlvism has already made its
appearance in the United States. II
Is one thing, however, to say that
this is fact; quite another to turn
back the trend in human affairs of
which it is a symptom.
AS Mr.. Hoover himself points out.
communism and socialism are not
spreading over Europe and showing
signs of growth in Asia simply be-
cause of the plotting of a few men.
THE causes" he says, "lie deep in
the holocaust of misery from the
war, from power politics, from the
impulse for any change from the
bitter years which have passed, and
from the years of propaganda of a
new Utopia" To express the same
thought another way, it might be
said that war and its y-products of
anguish and suffering have released
a tremendous force in the world.
Millions of miserable people who
have known nothing but tyranny for
years past suddenly find that, to a
large extent at least, they must find
some substitute for the regulated
society in which they have been ac-
customed to live. Many of these peo-
pie are starving and homeless, and
they are going to turn first to the
system which promises most in the
way of supplying their physical
wants. Other millions, while enjoy
ing a better political background.
are clamoring nevertheless for
change. They have become restive
under the restraints and the hard
ships of war; to no small extent they
have lost faith in the governments
which did not foresee the war, and
which, therefore, failed either to
prevent it or prepare for it. These
people have been told that their
victory in war is victory of the
common man, and they believe it.
Beyond that, they want the fruits
of victory for themselves, and.
through one system or another, and
without too much regard for which
is chosen, they intend to have them.
In the United States there is less
evidence of popular desire for dras-
tic political experimentation. If
anything, the opposite is the case.
But we cannot combat collectivism
merely by preaching the virtues of
a free enterprise system. With the
trend throughout the world being
Evening star., 1945-08-18
Bright Washington Omen
by Rayn Ond Mofev

Almost lost in this weeks tremendous
news from Washington is an item saw
ing that Alvin H. Hansen is no longer
serving as special consultant to the
Federal Reserve Board. This will be
important and welcome news to every
American who believes in conservative
fiscal policies in the serious days ahead.
DR.. Hansen has for long time been
the high priest of that group in official
Washington which holds that national
planning, through deficit spending, is
essential to our economy. His status
as a Harvard professor, his erudite
books, articles and speeches and, during
the past two years, his connection with
the Board Of Governors of the Federal
Reserve System, give him an incredible
ascendency in the spending school.
X < X X
DR.. Hansen's departure from the Fed
eral Reserve was marked by no partic-
ular controversy. But his views of what
should be done in Federal finance are
not the views of the Federal Reserve
Board. Nor are they, apparently, the
views of President Truman. It is. for
tunate, therefore, that Dr. Ha~se1's
ofdcial connection has been terminated
before the inevitable battle in Congress
over the Murray (full- employment) bill
begins. For that bill, as now written,
would practically write into law the
whole Hansen thesis.
While Secretary Vinson and President
Truman have subscribed in principle to
the Murray bill they certainly are not
behaving like people who believe that
we can safely maintain full employment
in a peacetime economy through Gov
ernment spending. The sober view of
the more responsible members of the
Truman administration is that private
business must be given every chance to
meet the situation in the months ahead.
And that, 1t would seem, is the only
possible conclusion. warranted by the
reconversion facts.
4
The Government, is canceling war
contracts at rate which will total, In
two months, over $25, 900 ,00O, 600, and by
the end Of the year probably 80 O00, ,O0O-
600 more. Any talk Of absorbing the re-
Evening star., 1945-08-18
Germuny's Only Hope
From the London Times.

From the London Times.
On the emergence in Germany of men
and women Of the highest moral courage,
who can expose the falsity Of the odious
creed that has been propagated by force
during the past twelve years, and teach
their people honest thinking and re-
lance upon themselves, not upon 3
deified autocrat, to work out their own
salvation, depends the only hope Of an
honorable future for Germany. The
first necessity Is to face, without self
deception, the hideous truth about the
present.
Evening star., 1945-08-18
Apples Falling in the Nioht

nc tpto has had an apple tree beside
his door
IS opple-ningled to the uery core. a
FuH many springtimes he has bios.
son,ed tDith the fruit, -
Ana telt the movement OF the dripen
root; -.
Fun many summers he has dreamed
beneath the bough.
Though far removed. he wiH remember
hotD
Each green sphere cleaned as II 1t toers
lamp that shone
Into the deep. deep marroD OF his bone.
Remember apple essence In the moons
pale light. ~
And ripened apples falling In the night.
ROSE MYRA PHILLIPS.
Evening star., 1945-08-18
A DIsGUsTED OPERATOR.
Alcoholics Treated AS Criminal.

Alcoholics Treated AS Criminals
To the Editor of The Star:
Having lived in Washington for years
long ago, and having recently been in
strumental in forming the Starry Cross,
humane society for humans" to work
for better deal for patients in sub
standard mental hospitals, and other VIC
Tins of pernicious institutionalism, the
writer was appalled, by reading in the
Washington correspondence of the
Christian Century Chicago, August u
that I'm the past year 5000 of the H.
600 commitments to the District of Co.
lumbia Jail were for alcoholism"
The extent of the excessive drinking
in "the news capital of the world" as
there reported, was sufficiently shocking,
but that Washington should be jailing
its drink-sick citizens, men and women
alike, and in about equal" numbers,
was still more disquieting.
I read on: Howard B. Gill, superin-
tendent of penal institutions, asserts
that the city is paying heavily for not
treating its chronic alcoholics. He con-
tends that they should be sent to hos
pitals, not to jails."
Good for Mr.. Gill! But bad-inex-
pressibly bad!-for the District of Co.
lumbia, that he or any one else should
have to contend, in this year Of our
Lord 1s45, and apparently in vain thus
far, that any form of disease which at
tacks human beings, whether called
alcoholism or anything else, should be
treated as a crime and its victims pun
ished by confinement in Jail.
REV. SAMUEL c. SPALDTNG.
Great Darlington, Mass.
Evening star., 1945-08-18

The real. dyed-in- the wool pessi-
mists are those people who already
are planning to buy a dozen pairs
OF shoes just as soon as they no
longer are rationed.