davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1945-09-29
Dismissal Regulations

The new Civil Service Commission
regulations governing reductions in
force shift emphasis from efficiency
to seniority in determining job
rights preference, thereby raising a
question as to just how far this
principle can be followed before it
affects Government functioning ad-
versely.
Employees with excellent" eff
cheney ratings-they are a small
minority - continue to have some
advantage over lower-graded asso-
ciates, although their allowance has
been cut from eight points to five.
Those graded very good" lose an
eight-point preference over the
good" group and now are Jumped
with the latter, with the order of
dismissal determined solely by
length of service. Within this COM
bined bracket are the great majority
In revising the regulations, the
commission has recognized the de-
mand of organized Government
workers that greater weight be &C
corded seniority in personnel reduc-
tions. The perennial complaint has
been that efficiency ratings, which
are based on the Judgment of super
visory officials, often are unfair, and
while the commission has wrestled
with this matter for years, it has not
been able to devise formula salts
factory to every one.
In subordinating the efficiency
factor, however, the commission ap-
pears to have swung too far the
other way. The excellent" worker
enjoys the advantage of both eff
cheney and seniority when job rights
are determined. But as a practical
matter the employe voted very
good" is caught in the middle, since
a person with the lesser good"
rating can take precedence over him
for longer service.
This simplys does not make for
fairness or good administration. If
it is feasible to segregate an excel
lent" grouping, it is equally feasible
to have other gradations in which
efficiency gets it's rightful place.
Seniority has it's claims, but Ger
tainly not at the expense or to the
exclusion of merit.
Evening star., 1945-09-29

stand up only when there is one partic-
ular man at it's head is, after all, not
much of government
1t seems pretty plain now that had
President Truman been nominated and
elected President instead of Mr.. Roose-
welt, In 1914, the United States would
have moved along just as well and per-
haps better. Change in administration,
as Senator Morse has said, is of great
importance in a democratic govern
ment.
Change in party control Of govern
ment Is also salutary-and has been in
evitable In democratic countries The
British tossed out Winston Churchill
and the Conservatives in their recent
Parliamentary elections. gambling for a
better deal under the Labor party ad-
ministration, Just as Americans tossed
out former President Hoover and the
Republican party on a similar gamble
in 1882
Since Abraham Lincoln entered the
White House in 1861, the Republicans
have been in control of Government
curing "a years and the Democrats, %.
with another three years to CO.
The longest continuous party control
of Government was from 1861 to 1885.
when the Republicans were In the sad
die, during and Immediately following
the Civil War. Since 1885 no party has
been in control of the Federal Govern
ment continuously for more than is
years
The Roosevelt New Deal, whether 50
intended or not has been directed in
the interests Of the industrial worker
and city dweller. 1t gave everything it
could to organized labor, which quite
naturally meant millions of votes on
election day.
The Truman administration is follow
ing along the same path There may be
another election in such policy-and
there may not. II the Truman admins
tration should turn out failure and
the Republicans should fail to offer
real progressive program, the chances
are the country will move, not to the
right, but to the left. 1t becomes,
therefore, Of prime importance that the
Republicans do formulate and present
forward looking policies of Government
If his country is to continue a democ-
racy, with equal opportunity for all and
as little regimentation as possible
Evening star., 1945-09-29

to recommend a program designed
to check what is now happening.
The offering of special allowances to
encourage couples to have children
will probably be one of the steps
considered.
At first glance, such proposed
program may seem reminiscent Of
Axis efforts to stimulate child-bear-
ing, but the Axis-which was in
terested in raising warriors-faced
no threat of an acute birth rate de-
cline when these efforts were made,
whereas the United Kingdom now
does. Britons must be sobered by
the prospect. 1t is not good, OBJ
viously, for a nation to lose numeri-
cal strength at time when the
world in general is growing ever
more populouS.
Evening star., 1945-09-29
This Changing World
By Constantine Br0sUn

The French and the Dutch will insist
on maintaining full sovereignty over
their possessions in the South and West
Pacific and no one can find much fault
with this point of view.
Thus, even before the United Nations
Organization delegates gather to discuss
the status of these strategic outposts,
the fate of the islands needed for mill
tary or economic purposes by our Allies
has been settled in the minds of their
own governments. The ability to veto
any changes clinches their aspirations.
Not so in regard to America. We are
in physical possession of the archipela-
goes which are considered vital to our
national defense. But the American
diplomats are punctilious over the new
world organization and are warning the
military that no high-handed methods
based on the theory that possession is
nine-tenths of the law must be applied
In this case. They point out that the
strategic necessities of Americas future
security must be satisfied with limited
possession of some of the islands such
as Truk or Saipan. But any insistence
that these bases fly the Stars and
Stripes permanently would be adversely
interpreted by our Allies and might
hamper the satisfactory progress of the
United Nations Organization.
The American military and naval men
share the hopes of the politicians that
another major war between continents
will never occur. But they also want to
be sure that weswill not be subjected to
a surprise aggression.
In the age of the atomic bomb and
other electronic developments, surprise
attacks will be easier than heretofore.
Had we controlled adequate bases far
out in the Pacific, Pearl Harbor might
never have occurred. American strate-
gists and war planners now claim that a
surprise attack could be far more dam
aging and decisive than the japanese
planes attack at Pearl Harbor. The
atomic bomb, they say, is all-powerful,
but unless a potential aggressor has
bases from which his planes carrying
the bomb can take of unobserved the
danger Is only limited.
Without wishing to cast any doubt on
any particular nation, those responsible
for the countrys security say it will be
QlIucu1t 10 observe or eventually TO
counteract any unfriendly design of
other nations unless we have permanent
outposts in the Pacific extending close
to the coasts of China and Japan.
Under plans which are believed to
exist at this time, it appears, however,
that our policy makers do not like the
idea of following the pattern OF the
other large nations which hold outright
possession of essential outposts in the
Pacific.
They wish to place our future outposts
under the trusteeship system Of the
United Nations Organization which pro-
vides that "all functions of the United
Nations relating to strategic areas, in
cluding the approval of the term of
trusteeship shall be exercised by
the Security Council"
Evening star., 1945-09-29
The Tenno Pays q Call

To all japanese their ruler is 1.-THE
Tenno." 1t is a term denoting a
combination of political and reli-
gious attributes far transcending our
word emperor" while the japanese
never use the word "Mikado" except
in poetic sense. So when the
Tenno, clad in formal western garb,
paid call on General Douglas Mac
Arthur who received him courteously
but casually in regulation uniform
minus decorations and even a neck
tie, it could have been. nothing less
than social atomic bomb to his
Worshipftl subjects. Throughout the
Orient symbolism is of paramount
Importance while "face"-a synthe-
sis of prestige and dignity-is vital
quality for everybody and every in
stitution. The abyssmal loss of face"
involved in this episode must have
been realized and calculated in ad-
vance by the Tenno and his advisers.
The question thus arises why it was
done and what will be the conse-
quences.
A variety of interpretations sug-
gest themselves. For one thing, it
reinforces rumors current for some
time that Hirohito is seeking a way
of retirement from his imperial
function, at least in the political
field. This might be accomplished
by declaration of ill health which
would permit the succession of his
minor son, Akihito, under a liberal
regency. An interesting variant has
been proposed by a high japanese
peer, the Marquis Tokugawa, who
suggests that the Emperor divest
himself of his political functions and
become again what the dynasty was
during the Middle Ages-a purely
spiritual leader and symbol. 1t is
curious fact that this Marquis
Tokugawa descends from the dy-
nasty OF 'Shoguns" who ran Japan
for centuries down to its reopening
by our Commodore Perry, when the
Tenno emerged from his spiritual
seclusion and became Japan's politi-
cal head once more.
Whether such a devolution would
be possible is, however, moot point
The loss of face suffered not only by
Hirohito but by the dynasty and the
entire politico-ideological setup of
contemporary Japan is so ubiquitous
and deep-going that they may be
increasingly discredited in the minds
OF the japanese people. In that
case we may witness a cumulative
crumbling of the entire setup which
was evolved after the Meiji Era,
nearly century ago. This curious
blend of ancestral feudalism with
western technique and methods al
ways had in it something synthetic
and artificial, The devastating i'm
pact of defeat and foreign occupa-
ton should be intensified as the
disastrous consequences are felt
throughout the population. In that
case, we may presently witness
transformation more profound than
can be now imagined, with every
phase OF japanese life undergoing
sort OF revolution absolute"
Evening star., 1945-09-29
The Political Mill
Bv Gould Lincoln

Public interest In the mo third term"
for Presidents of the United States issue
sagged overnight with the death of the
late President Roosevelt. Not because
the issue is unimportant but because
Americans generally are that way
when the pressure lets up they think
about something else
A subcommittee of the Senate Judici-
ary Committee, headed by Senator
Hatch, Democrat, Of New Mexico, held
hearing on several bills to limit the
tenure of the presidential ofice a few
days ago. Instead of a crowded hearing
room, as would have been the case in
1910 or 1914, there were not more than
three spectators-it was public hearing
-four newspaper reporters and three
Senators who appeared as witnesses for
the resolutions they themselves had in
troduced-senators Capper, Republican.
Of Kansas, and Morse, Republican, of
Oregon, and Senator ODaniel, Demo-
crat, Of Texas.
Senator Morse. q progressive Repub-
lican who had held office during the
war administration of Mr.. Roosevelt,
expressed the opinion that Mr.. Roose-
welt was casualty" of long tenure of
once, that ne would have been alive
today if he had served only two terms,
that he was not indispensable" (as
proved by the manner in which the war
was won and this country has gotten
along since his DEATH, and that the
Democrats had made a great mistake
in attempting to tie q philosophy of
Government to the personality of one
man. He expressed his admiration for
Mr.. Roosevelt, but insisted it was a
healthy thing for the country to have
a change"
One thing seems clear-the American
people should have an opportunity to
vote on this issue of limiting the pres
ldential tenure Of ONCE. It may be
argued that they did vote on 1t when
they elected Mr.. Roosevelt for third and
fourth terms. There were, however,
many extraneous issues in these cleo
tions. Mr.. Roosevelt was the nominee
OF the Democratic National Conven-
t1ons. There was no other candidate
who represented the New Deal philos-
ophy Of government for whom the peo-
pie could have voted in those elections
democratic government which can
Evening star., 1945-09-29
Wild Asters

There is no doubt now. no,D that
is here,
Why haze been spared aboue 49,
disaster,
Real and imagined, for another year.
The reasons plain. 1t is the purple
aster.
The bloom, OF the buckeye comes pretty
near.
1t cdn take the untoary breath apay
faster
Than ,otnd, and 30 cdn the apple and
pear;
They are the springs showing Of
alabaster,
And they leape their mark, NTH their
brief career;
They ru1le the spine Of the poet
Gster 80.
But. oh. these piolet depths. brilliant
and sheer.
That sing autumn outright, and the
heart nnmasterl
The earth is long and ,ide, the oceans
sphere
Stretches deep, and the sky e epen
But have narrowed oil marks every
OF time and space to this irild Ne,o
England aster.
PAUL H. oEHsER.
Evening star., 1945-09-29
Letters to The Star
Proposes Organizing the 4Fs to
= Rescue a Comrade

To the Editor Of The Star:
There was writeup in your paper
in February, 1914, about me receiving a
4-F classification while in my third week
of boot training. And I have received
periodically my 4-F card from my draft
board in d. c. since my boot training
have to my credit the Philippines
ribbon and Asiatic ribbon with two stars.
And my grippe is that the services are
giving points for age and married and
children and length of time in service
What would like Is some points for a
4-F. I believe I have the distinction
of being the only 4-F on record in the
Navy or any service, and inasmucfr as
I am the soie representative of all State
side 4-Fs, I thought If this was put in
your paper the AIS might band together
and try to get some extra points for a
fellow 4-F, as am stuck out here with
371a points, and it is just too doggone
hot out here Tor 4-F.
WILLIAM HALL,
Pharmacists Mate &c.
Navy 1864, Box l6.
Care FPO, San Francisco.
Evening star., 1945-09-29

There is growing uneasiness in some
Of the highest military and naval quar-
ters here over whether we will obtain
permanent bases in the Pacific. The
question will be discussed among the
Big Five powers next year after the
United Nations Organization has settled
down to work. But ofi1cials In charge
of the diplomatic relations of the United
States unmistakably lean toward fur
ther gesture of International co-opera-
ton and are beginning to favor the
placing of strategic bases vitality i'm
portant to this country in the hands
OF the trusteeship organization.
There would be no objection to such
action, it is pointed out, if the other
nations interested in the Pacific were
to follow a similar policy.
But from information already gath
cred here, it appears that neither Great
Britain nor Russia intends to place
under United Nations Organization jur-
isdiction any islands which by right
belong to them"
Military and naval men responsible
for formulation Of plans for the future
that the islands in the Marshalls, Caro-
Inas and the Marianas are essential
to form an outer defensive chain and
any temporary" occupation would only
prejudice our security.
This sounds like "prewar" talk in
the light Of the new international or
ganization which is supposed to give
full security to the world and particu-
larly to the Big Five.
But in the light of what has been
happening in London in the last two
and half weeks-when representatives
Of the nations which possess the po-
tent veto power were not able to agree
on matters which may be considered of
secondary importance-ther realistic ap-
proach of the Army and Navy men is
not to be overlooked altogether.
= II *h
The international setup as it appears
from information already available in
Washington is as follows:
The Russian government has hastened
to occupy the Kurile Islands north of
Japan. Moscow insisted on occupying
them because they formed a natural
defense barrier to Siberia. There Is
no question Of the islands being placed
under the trusteeship of the United
Nations Organization and then offered
to Russia as strategic trusteeship for
limited number of years. Premier
Stain already has made it clear that
he considers this chain of barren is
lands as Russian territory just as much
as Sakhalin or Siberia. The Soviet
delegates veto would preclude any
change in the status of that archipela-
60 which transforms the Sea OF Okhotsk
into Russian lake.
A similar situation exists in regard to
the Gilbert Islands and the Bismark
Archipelago which. since the World
War, have been British and Australian
mandates, respectively. 1t is true that
it was exclusively American blood which
reconquered them from the japanese.
But that, it appears, does not change
the legalistic aspect of the situation.
Evening star., 1945-09-29
Sorcerer's Apprentices
By Ray,n ond Moley

With the Russians on one side and the
unions on the other, President Truman
may be wondering why he gave up his
Senate seat for the vice presidency.
There is something Of kinship in the
methods of the Russians and the unions.
The methods of Molotov are startlingly
like those OF John L. Lewis. Molotov is
more quiet and vastly less threatening.
But the scope Of his all-embracing de-
mands suggests the Lewis method of
asking audaciously for so many things,
when series of negotiations begins,
that the opposition is thrown on balance,
demoralized and ill-tempered. In the
period required by the opposition to COL
lect its wits and think of what should or
should not be granted, Lewis or Molotov
can calmly appraise the prospect and
figure out what 1t may be possible to get.
While, in this particular crisis, the
voice Of Lewis is still, the labor leaders
at Detroit and elsewhere are definitely
pursuing tactics learned from the
maestro. That is not surprising, for
Lewis has shown over and over that in
shrewdness, force and boldness, he is the
best Of them all.
But the question is whether these
lesser men have the capacity to keep
things in hand and turn of the water
at the right time. They are like the
sorcerer's apprentice, who could set the
machine in motion, but didn't know how
to turn 1t off, The many union leaders
who are In the present labor upheavals
are in vastly wider and more COM
plicated fleld than Lewis ever selected
Their power over their men cannot be
compared with that of Lewis. Their
timing is not 50 good. This is already
apparent.
They say that they want what an
extravagant Government promised -
nAmely, the entire product Of improved
Evening star., 1945-09-29
Revolt in Indo-Chinu

The disturbances in French 1ndo-
China, centered at Saigon, the port
metropolis, but extending to all sec
tions, have now assumed the proper
tions ofsa genuine revolution. The
insurgents have proclaimed the "Re-
public of Wet Namh" as an inde-
pendent state and declare their in
tention of resisting to the uttermost
any attempt to re-establish French
rule. Indeed, they are actually op-
posing the small British forces sent
in to maintain order during the
interim period before troops from
France can arrive, and they have
killed an American officer from the
District of Columbia attached to a
military mission in Saigon. As for
resident French colonists, they are
exposed to an economic boycott,
looting and physical violence, in
Guiding kidnapping and assassina-
ton. The entire current picture in
Indo-China suggests general
breakdown of both the political and
economic structures, with incipient
anarchy in the background unless
strong measures are taken to re-
store order.
The question is, where the neces-
sary power behind such measures is
to be found. French ndoChina is
big country. Its area of nearly
100000 square miles approximates
the combined size of Texas and Lou
isiana, with population of 25,000,-
900. Furthermore, 1ndo-China is in
no sense a homogeneous unit. It
contains several distinct racial
groups with different languages and
cultures. Politically, its dissimilarity
ranges from Cochin China, in the
extreme south, which is a direct
French colony, to protectorates like
AMMAN and Laos, while Tongking,
the northernmost region, is adjacent
to China, of which it once formed
dependency. Indeed, throughout
1ndo-China, a strong Chinese ele-
ment exists. totalling some 100000,
economically powerful and with firm
ties with the homeland It should
be noted that Tongking has been
occupied by Chinese troops and that
spokesmen for the Chungking gov
ernment have expressed interest in
Indo-C -China's future. Meanwhile, the
large japanese army Of occupation,
though formally capitulated to the
Allies, has not yet been effectively
disarmed and in some cases has been
used by the British authorities to
help maintain order in default of
enough troops OF their own.
The Japanese unquestionably IA
vored native independence aspira-
tions during their five years occupa-
ton of Indo- China, but they did not
create the movement, which had
long existed and had given the
French colonial authorities much
trouble. The chief center of disaf-
lection Is AMMAN, which retained
the status OF protectorate with a
native monarch and local self-rule
The Annamites are warlike people
Evening star., 1945-09-29

from the KANSAS CITY kansan.
Secret sessions of heads of government
are not Soviet Russian invention. They
are historic tradition. And though pre-
ponderant American sentiment favors
the open and public threshing out of
differences, as exemplified at San Fran
cisco, secrecy is the classic atmosphere
in which international troubles have
been settled and deals made.
There is something to be said for
closed-door meetings. They probably
permit more freedom and candor of
discussion, and less embarrassment sur
rounding compromise and tentative
commitments.
But there is certainly one thing to be
said against them. They haven't pre-
vented the recurrence OF wars,
Evening star., 1945-09-29
Presidential 'Letdown'

In accusing the Senate OF letting
him down and in calling upon the
House not to follow suit. President
Truman chose a rather unfortunate
way OF expressing his disappoint-
ment with congressional treatment
of the proposal for a Federally sup
ported emergency unemployment
program.
Mr.. Truman had advocated maxi
mum benefits of twenty-five dollars
a week for twenty-six weeks. This
was modified in the Senate and
shelved by the House Ways and
Means Committee, whereupon the
President called the members of the
latter group to the White House and
said that the Senate had let him
down.
1t would be interesting to know
what was in the Presidents mind,
for, having been member of the
Senate himself, he certainly does
not feel that the Senators should
accept without question any recon-
mendation he sees fit to make, or
that there is anything suggestive of
breach of good faith in a particu-
lar case when the Senate sees fit to
exercise its own judgment. Yet the
fact that Mr.. Truman authorized
his press secretary to make public
his remarks to the Congressman
clearly indicates that his accusation
was carefully considered, and that
he wanted to make it a matter of
record.
The logical deduction from this
first public chastisement of Congress
by President Truman is that the po-
litical honeymoon is over, and that
the President, after five months of
exceptionally good relations with
the legislative branch, is faced with
trouble in the future. Should this
prove to be the case, there will be an
element of irony in the fact that the
parting of the ways was based on
false conception, for if any one
has been "let down" by the Senate it
is not the President, but the unem-
ployed men and women who are
willing to work, but who cannot find
jobs, and who are not adequately
protected by prevailing unemploy-
ment systems in their home States.