davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1945-11-23
We Had to FIGHT
By Maj. George Fieldine Eliot

Would this country be better of to-
day it, somehow, we had managed to
stay out of war?
The issue must be faced and ana
lyzed. The answer cannot be taken for
granted. Implicit in the direct and in
direct attacks on the late President
Roosevelt in the Pearl Harbor investi-
CATION is the idea that we ought not
to have gotten into the war, that it
was wrong and against our interests
to do SO, that we would have been bet
ter of had We stayed out, that it was
in a sense betrayal of the Nation
to pursue policies which resulted in our
involvement"
What would have happened If we
had stood firm for Western Hemisphere
lsolationism, refused to give any aid to
Britain or China, kept the Neutrality
Act and washed our hands of the Old
World altogether?
1t Is extremely likely, almost certain,
that Britain would sooner or later have
been compelled to make peace with
Germany, on Germany's terms. This is
said in no disparaging sense. Such
problems have to be faced realistically
and no people can De expected to 60
on fighting hopeless war forever when
there is no prospect of getting any help.
1t is almost certain, also, that China
would have been compelled, sooner or
later, to make peace with Japan on
Japan's terms.
When the German attack on Russia
came, it would have been conducted by
Germany possessing completely free
hand, able to concentrate all it's mill
tary and air power ON that single OBJ
jective, instead of having to hold out
certain number of troops and very
large part of its air force to keep the
British in play. This additional mar
gin of power would almost surely have
given the Germans victory before Mos
COW in the winter Of 1941. They al
most won as it was.
\ 4
So what say the isolationists.
This is what: The United States then
would have been faced with triumph
ant Hitler, completely master OF Europe.
OF the Midle East and North Africa,
and with q triumphant Japan, COM
pletely master OF East and Southeast
Asia, Australia, probabaly India. and
certainly most Of the islands OF the
Pacific.
Evening star., 1945-11-23

The United States would have had no
single friend in the world, probably not
even Canada. AS for Latin America, we
know well what effect complete Axis
victory would have had there.
Would we have been left at peace?
Would we have been able to guard our
own security? OF course not. Our
policies, our ideas, our fundamental atti-
tudes toward life and toward the re-
lationship of human beings to their gov
ernments would have brought us con-
stantly into conflict with the conquerina
empires. We would have represented,
to them, the last obstacle in their path
toward world domination.
Let's forget Japan and consider Just
what Germany would have done. The
Germans are people who make plans
They would have looked at the Atlantic
Ocean for a while, then probably have
said: We had better not take any chances
with any old-fashioned seaborne at
tacks. The Americans have always been
better sailors than we have been. We
had better get something really good
before we start after the United States.
So they would have proceeded to per-
fect the atomic bomb. on which they
were working long before the war.
t&
And we would have done likewise?
Nonsense. Where would we have gotten
the $4,000, 100000? Can you imagine a
peace-time Congress appropriating any
such sum on a purely speculative mill
tary proposition? But the Germans
would have had all the resources OF
Europe. Asia and Africa. They would
have had the uranium deposits of
Czechoslovakia and the Belgian Congo.
They would have had q government
which could. In secrecy, make any use it
desired Of its resources, its money and
its scientific and technical manpower.
And complete security also in which to
work out its plans.
So II YOU want to ask whether we
would have been better of to stay out
OF the war, here Is the answer:
II We had stayed out the Germans
would have had the atomic bomb and
we would not. They would probably
have 1t right now. And plenty Of long
range planes and rockets with which to
deMver it.
Do you like that answer? don't,
(coDyrisht 1e45.,
Evening star., 1945-11-23
Arctic Strategy

Nowhere has the development of
the airplane wrought greater
changes in strategic concepts than
in the Arctic. From their former
negligible status. the vast regions
stretching from the North Pole to
the Arctic Circle have become pri
mary factors in strategic planning,
since they afford the shortest air
routes around and over the "top of
the world" Such considerations
are reinforced by traditional con-
cepts of sea power and also by the
perfected science of meteorology,
because most of the weather" in
the Northern Hemisphere is
"brewed" in the Arctic. The con-
test for weather stations and infor-
nation was one of the most vital
though least publicized aspects of
the recent war.
With our tacit acquieScence in
Russian acquisition of the strate-
gically and meteorologically impor-
tant Kurile Island-chain from ia
pan, no contestable points in the
North Pacific are Immediately dis
cernible. Far different is the situa-
tion in the North Atlantic, where
American and Russian air. weather
and naval strategy are actively in
volved. Our major objective CEN
ters on Iceland and Greenland,
while Russian aims look toward
Spitzbergen and perhaps the ice
free fjords of Northern Norway.
Iceland and Greenland came
sharply into the strategic picture
when the Germans overran Den
mark in the spring of 1910, because
Greenland is Danish possession,
while Iceland then was connected
with Denmark through a personal
union with the Danish crown. Nazi
efforts at infiltration were checked
by British occupation of Iceland,
replaced by American occupation
by mutual consent after we entered
the struggle. Also, we detected and
eliminated secret German weather
stations set up on the Greenland
coast. It is no secret that we would
like to perpetuate our wartime air
and naval installations in Iceland
by long-term leases. albeit our de-
sires have not yet been specifically
formulated in avowed negotiations
with the Iceland1c government.
One OF the reasons why those
American-Icelandic exchanges have
not reached the open diplomatic
level is an intimation that Moscow
Evening star., 1945-11-23
Delay by Inuction

For more than a year now the
question of replacing the forty two
year-old Highway Bridge by one or
two new bridges has been before
the House Committee on Interstate
and Foreign Commerce. 1t was re-
ferred there because the expert
agencies set up to decide such mat
ters cannot agree among themselves
on what type of crossing to con-
struct.
In the meantime, the existing
Highway Bridge, while not yet in
actually dangerous condition, is so
inadequate for the load it carries
that it has become one of the chief
traffic bottlenecks into and out of
Washington. Substantial funds have
been spent in improving the District
and the Virginia highway ap-
proacheS to the bridge. Other
improvements are held up waiting
decision on what kind of new
bridge to build. Even after Congress
approves legislation, half a year or
more will pass before designs can
be prepared and many months will
pass before construction can begin.
The delay in the House Committee
on Interstate and Foreign Com
merce is inexcuSable, because both
sides have been ready for over a
year to present the testimony on
which the issue should be decided.
A part of it is in. Testimony from
the District Highway Department.,
the Public Roads Administration
and the Federal Works Administra-
ton favoring replacement of the
bridge with two four-lane crossings
has been submitted, along with
part of the testimony in favor of
one six-lane bridge from the Ma
tional Capital Park and Planning
Commission. The remaining i'm
portant testimony, in favor of one
bridge, is to come from Secretary
of the Interior Ickes, whose interest
in the matter stems from the fact
that he is head of the National
Park Service, which controls the
land for the District and Virginia
bridge approaches.
The expert testimony, from the
agencies whose opinion should con-
troll, is in favor of the two bridges.
But regardless of how the issue as
between one or two bridges is
decided, the important thing now
Is to decide on something and get
the work started on replacing a
facility which has outlived its day.
Congress being exclusively response
BILE, the difficulties of getting neces-
sary improvements initiated in
Washington become insurmountable
when Congress declines to carry out
its responsibilities.
Evening star., 1945-11-23

Although still somewhat uncertain In
Its details, the foreign policy Of the
United States has definitely stiffened
since President Truman's Navy Day
speech.
According to some officials in close
touch with the White House, the Oc-
tober 27 speech in New York did not
receive the unqualified approval of some
of the high-ranking officials in the State
Department who would have preferred
to see Mr.. Truman make more gener-
al and elastic address. They are said
to have objected particularly to the
Presidents emphasizing the interna-
ways and to his reiteration Of some of
the principles contained in the now de-
funct Atlantic Charter
In spite Of their advice to tread
softly" and use an innocuous and some
what meaningless speech prepared by
State Department professionals, Presi-
dent Truman insisted that the world
must hear from his own mouth the
fundamental principles which hence
forth will direct the American foreign
policy. He made 1t clear that this was
vitally important at this time, when
the relations between the members of
the United Nations have reached a new
and dangerous "low"
In keeping with these new general
directives, the State Department is re-
ported to have sent note to Belgrade
before Marshal Tito announced the
overwhelming victory of his party at
the polls early this month. The note
reminded Tito of the stipulations of
the Yalta agreement - that a coalition
government representing all the political
factions In Yugoslavia be formed and
that free elections be held at the earliest
possible moment.
Tito was told that, in the opinion OF
the American Government, these stip-
ulations had not been met fully and
that we reserved the right to reconsider
our relations with him.
Soon after the Yalta Conference
Marshal Tito agreed to meet King
Peters Prime Minister, DR.. Ivan Subasic,
whose leanings toward the Yugoslav
marshal were stronger than toward his
King. A coalition government which
included another political figure in exile,
Milan Grol, was formed and it looked
as if the first condition of the Yalta
program was thus complied with.
But even these two men, who had re-
turned to Yugoslavia from London full
of enthusiasm for the new government,
Evening star., 1945-11-23

is interested in acquiring air,
weather and naval base rights in
Spitzbergen. This bleak group of
islands lying athwart the Arctic
Circle due north from Norway was
long a no-man's-land, but was in
ternationally recognized as a Nor
wegian possession in 1920. Another
former no-man's-land acknowl-
edged as under Norwegian sover-
eighty in 1880 is Jan Mayen Island,
lying about 300 miles north of Ice
land and about the same distance
east of Greenland. Though COM
pletely barren, it is the site of
strategically important weather
station. That invests it with novel
significance.
Evening star., 1945-11-23
The President on Health

President Truman has drawn up an
impressive case for compulsory med
lcal insurance and related measures
to promote the health of the Nation.
That the physical well-being of
Americans is not nearly SO good as
it should be is clear from the fact
that selective service, up to April
OF this year. had to classify almost
100000 registrants as unfit for mill
tary duty and that on an average
day some 100000 of our citizens are
so disabled by sickness or injury
that they cannot 60 about their
usual tasks"
These and similar figures con-
tanned in the Presidents message
represent not only a serious impair
ment of our human resources but
also an annual economic waste
which can be translated into terms
of four or five hundred million lost
working days in the field of pro-
duction. All this is the more shock
ing, according to the President, be-
cause so much of it could be pre-
vented If the Nation adopted Wig
orouS program under which the Fed
eral Government, CO. operating
closely with States and localities
and leaving administration largely
in local hands, would employ grants
ln-aid to push construction to make
hospitals. medical centers and re-
lated facilities available to all the
people, to expand public health
services, including maternal and
child care. and to strengthen med
ical education and research. In ad-
dItion-and this is his most impor-
tant proposal-the President would
establish compulsory insurance
which. as in the case of Social Sc
curity payments. would be deduct
ed regularly from the earnings of
the employed and self-employed on
the broadeSt possible basis, and he
would also establish system of
cash benefits to replace at least part
OF the income lost by individuals
through sickness.
Unquestionably numerous objec-
tions can be raised against such a
program on the ground that it might
involve great administrative diff
cultles. be much too costly. or open
the way to socialized medicine. These
objections, in fact, have already
been made. with some medical cir
cleS taking a particularly emphatic
stand against what they regard as
the threat of socialization. Presi-
dent Truman. however. argues per-
Suasiyely to the contrary. insisting
that his proposals would, with
other things, not only attract doc
tors to regions where they are not
now sufficiently available but would
also be economically beneficial to
the profession as a whole, with
everybody's bills prepaid by the in
surance.
The proposed program is far
reaching. of course, and Congress
may find reason to make funda-
mental changes in it, but to oppose
lt-by calling it "socialistic," for in
stance-without Offering a construc-
tive alternative is pointless. This
promises no solution to a very real
national problem-a problem which,
in the absence of an adequate alter
native, will surely be dealt with
through some such program as the
President advocates.
Evening star., 1945-11-23
Telescoped History
m the Manchester Guardian.

Statesmen and economists meet,
argue and disagree but what may have
most significance for the future at this
moment is hidden and unheard Of
the teams of scientists in the larger
countries who labor night and day to
put their governments in full posses
sion of the atomic secret. Sir Stafford
Cripps did well to devote speech to
forcing the challenge of the new bomb
on the world. He spoke plainly of what
he called the most disastrous discov-
cry ever made by mankind" He
answered those who are skeptical about
international control 1t is true that
not long ago schemes of world organ
ization were properly criticised as
utopian; they seemed for the future,
not for the present. But, as he said,
'the atomic bomb has telescoped his
tory; if we wish to preserve civilization
we must solve now problems that until
August we could linger over, waiting
for the nations to grow up."
Evening star., 1945-11-23
Aristocrut
We knop her as the old 'Bropn Mdnsion
~k:JT

We know her as the old Brown Mansion
still
Though it Uds long ago DIten fashion
reigned
Upon that Avenue, before the hin
Beckoned ,1ith orander pistas to BE-
gained.
Since then the ruthless years haze
pricked her pride
With sharp indignities. 4 fllinr
station
And driue-in market flank her. either,
side,
And bed-and boarders start their
penetration.
Yet still one senses in her proud stone
1DaHs
A regal strength mistaken by such
years,
And stern torbearance upright through
the halls
4 duchess though deserted b. her
peers
Who, 5ostled By the rGbble, lifts her past
70 its full height. unbending to the
last!
IsABELLE BRYANs LoNGFMLow.
Evening star., 1945-11-23
Casualty of q Notion

From the Christian Science Monitor
If the American public refuses to view
the removal of General Patton as
mere rebuke to an individual and In
sists that 1t be the first step toward y
new policy, then the outlook for a new
Germany and new Japan looES
brighter. For General Patton is simply
singularly uninhibited product of
system and the first casualty of mis-
taken programme not of his making,
In the Civil War both sides, particularly
the North, naively assumed that con-
gressmen, governors, and judges would
make good generals. In World War II,
America has just as ingenuously pro-
ceeded to place the delicate political task
OF nurturing the flower of democracy
amid the rank weeds of fascism In the
hands OF professional soldiers.
Evening star., 1945-11-23
Or 'Wree.kree.a.shun' Even!

VI Wree.kfee.a.Shun Even!
To the Editor Of The Star:
I like w. A. Williamson's letter. A
list OF radio monstrosities should include
"ee-f1sh-ent" and "o-fsh-al." Univer-
sity professors kept putting "rock" in
bureaucracy" until the mispronuncia-
ton was accepted as preferred
Yes, mispronunciation and poor SPELL
Ing go hand in hand After reading Mr..
Williamson's letter picked up another
paper and noticed the heading: ut Was
a Strange Phenomena"
Once I attended spelling match for
eighth-grade pupils. The winner spelled
constitution" as follows: '-co-nst- -it-ut-
ion." How would you like that pupil as
stenographer?
Spelling is not stressed in our schools
today. Perhaps it could be without
causing the neglect OF any essential part
Of the curriculum. Why not give it some
Of the time now devoted to "ath-a-let-
ics?s ELMER 6. HELM.
Evening star., 1945-11-23

People who boast of their ances-
tors may belong to tribes the best
members of which are in the ceme-
teries.
Evening star., 1945-11-23
How the Teddy Bear Happened

How the Teddy Bear Happened
To the Editor of The Star:
The Haskin Information Service saws
that the Teddy Bear was invented in
Germany by Margarete Steiff, crippled
dressmaker, and placed on the market
by her brother Richard But the tov
thus produced and distributed as early
as about 1888" was not called the Teddy
Bear until 1902, when The Stars own
cartoonist, Clifford K. Bergman, Gre
ated "the cunning, bristly little bruin"
which now, 43 years later, is famous
the world around as the Berryman
Teddy Bear.
How the real Teddy Bear came into
being has been told many times, but
the Haskin researchers seem to have
missed it. The story is that President
Theodore Roosevelt, while on hunting
trip in Mississippi, was offered an op-
portunlty to shoot little bear which
had been brought into camp for that
mournful purpose. When the President
saw the animal, he exclaimed: II draw
the line! If I shot that little fellow
1 couldn't look my own boys in the face
again."
Mr.. Bergman immortalized the in
cident in his first sketch of the real
Teddy Bear. food of letters poured
in from admirers who wanted repeats"
So Mr.. Bergman obliged. Every time
he pictured Mr.. Roosevelt, he put the
little bear in the composition some
where. When Mr.. Roosevelt left office
the bear was transferred to Uncle Sam,
and that is where he is found today.
Obviously, the question, Who invented
the Teddy Bear? is going to crop up
frequently in years to come. May /
hope that the Haskin Office will clip and
preserve this letter as a reminder of
Mr.. Berryman's part of the proper
answer! x. Y. z.
Evening star., 1945-11-23

the good. not only for the stability
of France, but for European stability
as well.
Detroit evening times., 1945-10-08

Observation-Disclosures troops un-
w der orders to attend weekly 'orienta-
ton" classes, have been and still are being
fed the language, economic PHILOSOPHERS
and the mental motivation of the Commu-
mist party line"
"The Making of Modern China" by
Owen and Eleanor baltimore, is book in
the army orientation library.
An attempt has been made in this vol
ume to sell "bill of goods" on the un-
selfish treatment of China by the Soviet
Union compared to the so-called exploita-
tion of China by the United States and
Britain, plus a miscellany of lineage from
standard Red propaganda.
AMERICAN TROOPS WHO HAVE
BELIEVED THAT OUR WAR AGAINST
JAPAN WAS THE RESULT OF NIP
PONESE MILITARISM AND THE
SNEAK ATTACK ON PEARL HARBOR,
ARE INFORMED IN THIS ORIENTA-
TION REFERENCE VOLUME THAT 1T
IS REALLY AN TMPERIALISTIC BAT
TIE BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES
AND JAPAN FOR THE CONTROL OF
CHINA.
Owen 9ttjnore p .fornonr, OWL ,on
executive, is recorded in the House COM
mittee on un-American activities files as
having been affiliated with the following
Com m un i 81 front groups: Hollywood
Writers Mobilization, Maryland Assoca-
tion for Democratic Rights, Washington
Committee for Aid to China and on the
e editorial board of Amerasia, some of
whose associates were charged recently
with improperly possessing state depart
ment documents.
THE Lattimores give typical Red party
Il line twist to the famous American
"open door" policy declared in 1899 by
Secretary Of State John Hay by which the
United States gained recognition of the
right of trade equality with other nations
in China
Essentially" the Lattimores state
"the open door was a further develop
ment of the permanent American policy
which may be called a policy of hitch
hiking Imperialism in preference to active
imperialism.
THAT is to say, America did not take
the lead in seizing Chinese territory or
imposing legal disabilities on the Chinese
but did demand that whatever was gouged
out of China by any other nation should
not be monOpolized by that nation alone
but shared with all cOmers"
IN CONTRAST to the portrayal of the
L United States as an imperialistic inter-
loper in the affairs of China, the Soviet
Union is exuberantlv promoted as follows:
Having deep disinterested sympathy
for China.
The only nation which made political
Detroit evening times., 1945-10-08
Support of Zionist
Program Appreciated

The following messages sent to Mr.. William Ran
doph distinguished cocharmen Of the Amer
Zionist Emergency Council and other Jewish leaders,
expressing appreciation for cooperation of the Hearst
papers Madison Square Garden rally held New
York Sept. 30:
DEAR Mr.. HEARST:
Please accept sincere thanks for the magnificent
erage given demonstration for Jewish Palestine Mr.
Harry Schachts editorial deeply stirred US all
DR.. ABBA HILLEL SILVER.
DEAR MR. HEARST:
me express deep of all zionsts for
your magnificent espousal of our
DR. STEPHEN s. WISE
WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST:
San Simeon, Cal.
gratfed for your fortnight espousa Of the OF
the Jewish people in its difficult hour Your support of the
Zionist program voices the mind and heart Of America.
ISRAEL GOLDSTEIN
President,
Council of Synagogues OF America.
WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST:
San Simeon, CAL
We deeply appreciate the help Of the Journal. American
extended make Madison Square rally the
was. HARRY L. SHAPIRO.
Director,
American Zionist Emergency Council
WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARsTi
San Simeon, Cal. A-.
The courage gnncent editorial given
rally by papers deeply appreciated Accept
heartfelt gratitude.
DR., EMANUEL NEWMAN,
Member Of the Executive Council,
American zoast Emergency Council