davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1945-12-14
Letters to The Star
Expresses Doubt About Details
of New Mayerling Story

To the Editor Of The STAR
From time to time new documents"
in the case Of the mysterious death Of
Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria Hun
gary are produced.
The recent report Of the Associated
Press on the subject appears to be quite
joke.
Archduke Johann Salvador was a very
distant cousin of Crown Prince Rudolph,
belonged to the so-called "Secundogeni-
tur-Linie Toscana," and had-at best
a claim to the grandducal throne OF
Toscana, which had been lost already
by 1860 in the time of Italy's "risorgi-
mento" (national awakening) under the
revolutionary leadership of Garibaidi.
The archduke, incidentally. had re-
signed all his rights when he had
married commoner, assuming the
name Of Johann Orth, after a castle
belonging to him. True it is that he
went to sea and disappeared
Archduke Otto's father, the late En-
peror Charles, assembled the throne in
1916-in the midst of World War lin
accordance with the Pragmatic Sane
ton (Austria's Act of Settlement) as
Francis Joseph had not left any surviv-
ing son or grandson of Crown Prince
Rudolphs line The system Of the Aus
trian succession was basically the So
called "Salic" system (exclusion of wom-
en-, different from the English Cog
natic" system, in which the children of
the King exclude all other members of
the dynasty, with the modification
that in the case Of extinction of male
heirs princess may follow. Johann
Salvador had no claim at all at any
time.
Mayerling is very small hunting
cottage near Heiligenkreuz (around 35
miles south Of Vienna), and hardly the
stage for any grand ball" AS a mat
ter of fact, only very few guests
among them Johann Salvator-were in
vited to spend the night of January 29-
30 1889, there. On the morning of the
latter day the Crown Prince and Mary
Vetsera were dead.
After the death Of the Archduke
Rudolph there was not the slightest
doubt that the oldest brother of Francis
Joseph, Archduke Karl Ludwig, was to
be regarded as Erzherzog -Thronfolger
(successor. He died before his royal
brother and the claim passed to Francis
Ferdinand, the victim of Sarajevo The
latter's nephew was Emperor Charles.
DIR. ROBERT RE.
Woodstock Va
Evening star., 1945-12-14
Lover Of Rivers

One tDfo has knoiDn q riper's loneliness
Carries its uoice and image in his
heart,
Dreams ho,D the trailing pilleD tips
c1reSS
The scarcely rippled pools schere ntin.
nous dart.
He sees the mist OF early morning rise
And, from the little fishing boats
ofshore,
Hears the familiar sounds OF enterprise,
The bantering calls, the thuds, the
creuking oar.
He kno,ps ho,0 dusky roselight from the
fpeSt
Shines on the darkening stream and
softly dies:
He sees q red,oing near his nlarshy nest
Threading the reeds NTH toistfaI
lulldbies.
And ,Ohsn the moonlight on some inland
Falls nsockingly, his spirit bursts dtpay
TO pistoned shores trhere, sparkling
round his feet,
The srsdH iDares fling q thousand
moons IN play.
One irho has Ioped d mighty riper k,,o,os
lts storna-ldshed tcildrsss. tts trdn-
guilty.
The deepening OF It, music q \ Nosus
70 JOIN the deeper voices of the sea.
NEz BARCLAY KIRBY.
Evening star., 1945-12-14

II the president of United States Steel
or General Motors had made the speech
with which John L. Lewis honored the
House Labor Committee the other day,
there would have been angry outcries
against rugged individualisn." People
would have said that here is man who
would produce imitation for his COM
pany's interest.
Mr.. Lewis would rank with the ex-
treme followers of Adam Smith, except
for one fact. No disciple of Adam Smith
would have assisted in forming q labor
cartel like the CIO. For in the job of
organizing that vast and overwhelming
aggregation of labor, Mr.. Lewis and
others not only benefited by the aid of
government, but they thus created a
situation where government intervention
became almost inevitable.
Mr.. Lewis served his former CIO col
leagues some bitter pills, but his con-
temptuous remarks referred not to poll
icy, but the method. He pointed out
that the UAW picked poor time for q
strike. The profits Of management will
be much less impaired by cars unsold
before, rather than after January l.
because Of the repeal OF the excess
profits tax.
Mr.. Lewis was on sound tactical
ground when he pointed out, further,
that the maintenance of the price level
is not the concern Of union labor He
made great fun Of labor leaders who
play the role of Chester Bowles in a
case In which their own wage claims
are hampered by price control. Under
the Lewis individualism, let the labor
union seek its own immediate interest,
and If higher prices result, then attack
again and again.
Government. Mr.. Lewis continues, Is
the true enemy Of free markets and
free enterprise. Let markets be free and
labor be free and let the At survive.
3 II government tries to interfere by means
OF such law as the Smith Connally en-
actment, labor should turn 1t around
its fingers and use 1t ss q device for It's
own purposes. He could have added that
he openly destroyed the Little Steel
Formula q far g Il applied to hii
Evening star., 1945-12-14

really happening in Central Europe
should read Bertrand Russell's account
in the December issue of the New
Leader New York; and Sir Arthur
Salter's in the current Contemporary
Review Gondon). There is a mass of
evidence coming from many absolutely
reliable sources that the treatment of
German and Austrian nationals is as
bad as anything meted out to Poles and
Czechs by the Nazis themselves. The
were engaged in biological warfare. The
democracies claim to be orderly and
humane"
OF course, it is the territorial coup
d'etat in Eastern Germany which knocks
out French demands on the Rhine and
Ruhr. The permanent deprivation of
quarter of Germany's arabic land and
all the eastern industry, together with
the deportation into the Reich of 1912
million persons, makes impossible fur
ther truncation and deportations in the
west.
Mr. Byrnes makes this clear when he
sets, in his speech, the German from
tiers. In the east they retreat to the
proximity of Berlin in the west they
stand at the Rhine.
*
Mr.. Byrnes again attributes the eco
nomic chaos in Europe to the destruc-
ton of the war. This is categorically
denied by Sir Arthur Salter, well-known
League of Nations economist, who does
not share Mr. Byrnes' bland assumption
that everything will work out nicely,
h,,t ofY,o i've ooSy &c
greater because it Is not the inevitable
consequence Of world shortage of ne
cessities. The basic material factors in
the economic structure of Europe proved
much more favorable than could reason
ably be expected-its causes are to be
found, in part, in the sphere of Allied
policy, finance and administration
These failures were created at Teheran,
Yalta and, worst of all, at Potsdam. Mr..
Byrnes now promises to consolidate pre-
vious errors.
But he is facing revolt-right here at
home. The noisy articulate minority Of
revengists do not represent American
opinion. The Christian churches and
communities from Quakers to Catholics
are In protest We shall soon, predict,
hear vehement reactions from labor cir
cles against the advice on German trade
unions being handed to Gen. McNarney
by American labor pohticos who speak
for no large percentage of American
labor. The armed forces, quiet outside,
are furious over what the politicians
are doing with the democratic victory.
Foreign and domestic policy cannot be
divided as though on two planets.
(Released by the Bell Syndicate, Inc)
Evening star., 1945-12-14
The Hobbs Bill

IleTe apparently is no umlG 10 the
lengths to which some of "labor's
friends" will 60 in their efforts to
discredit and defeat any legislation
opposed by any union spokesman.
The debate in the House on the
bill sponsored by Representative
Hobbs to outlaw racketeering in
interstate commerce is a case in
point. Some of the objections raised
were nothing short of fantastic.
Representative Celler of New York,
for instance, charged that the meas
ure was an "antistrike bill, a time
bomb with false label and BOBBY
trap" And then, as If to point up
this incoherent outburst, he went
on to say that the bill would outlaw
legal striking, boycotting and
picketing."
The Hobbs bill, of course, does
nothing of the sort. What it actu-
ally does is to strip from the holders
of union cards the immunity to
Federal prosecution for robbery and
extortion which was conferred on
them in 1912 by the Supreme Court
in the stated belief that Congress,
in passing the original Anti-Rack-
eteering Act, had not intended it to
apply to these crimes when practiced
by union members.
AS passed by the House in it's pres
ent form, the bill is designed pri-
marily to prevent members of the
AFL TeamSters' Union from exact
ing tribute from farmers when they
bring their produce into some of the
Nations big cities. The late Joseph
Eastman, then head of the Office of
Defense Transportation, stated in
1943 that about 1000 trucks were be-
ing held up and the drivers robbed
each, night as they attempted to
get into the cities with their loads.
These drivers, most of them farmers
and some union men themselves,
were threatened, beaten and forced
to pay the union hijackerS the pre-
vailing union fee in the area. And
this situation, according to Mr..
Hobbs, is worse now than it was in
1943.
The bill is carefully drawn to pro-
tect legitimate union activities.
Specifically, it exempts from its op-
Grafton any activities by union men,
bers that are lawful under the Wag-
ner Act, the antitrust statutes, the
Norris-La Guardia Act and the Rail-
way Labor Act. With these safe
guards, 1t is manifest that the Hobbs
bill cannot become an antistrike or
union breaking law On the con-
trary, it will serve only to provide
the means of ferreting out and pun
ishing a relatively small number of
vicious union racketeers whose un-
curbed criminal activities are bring
ing the whole of labor into disrepute.
1t is a bill which, having passed the
House for the third time, ought to
be approved promptly in the Senate,
and this with the wholehearted sup
port of every one who presumes to
speak for the best interests of or
ganized labor.
Evening star., 1945-12-14
A Mighty Weapon

1t has been public knowledge since
the end of the Pacific war that all
through that war the Japanese code
was an open secret to us. Just how
this came about, however, was not
revealed until the other day when
the Congressional Pearl Harbor
Committee released the text of the
two letters written by General Mar
shall to Governor Dewey during the
presidential campaign of 1914.
Whether these letters should have
been made public even now-Gen-
eral Marshall asked that portions
of them be kept confidential, but
the committee overruled him-is de-
batable. Conceivably, the informa-
ton thus disclosed might have been
held closely by us to our own ad-
vantage, but it is a secret no longer,
and what was once the property of
the United States Government has
become the property of the whole
world-namely, the knowledge that
before and during the war we per-
fected mechanical devices to de-
cipher the Japanese and other
enemy codes, including Germany's.
It is not hard to understand why
Mr.. Dewey, as soon as he learned
this, agreed wholeheartedly with
General Marshall that there would
be utter tragic consequences" if the
campaign debates of 1914 gave
Japan the slightest inkling of what
we had.
The story of Midway demonstrates
perfectly how enormously valuable
was this deciphering device. The
move against Midway-which the
Japanese wanted as key point in
network of outlying defensive bases
was designed as a guarantee that
they would attain at least their min
imum objective of a stalemate and
compromise peace with us. And
this was what Admiral Yamamoto
had in mind when he set out with
mighty fleet to take the tiny island.
It was to be a battle of Goliath
against David, and as far as he could
see, David's slingshot was not nearly
strong enough to win.
What Yamamoto did not know
was that David, with his deciphering
machine, was completely aware of
what was headed toward Midway,
with the result that the japanese
suffered decisive disaster. To be
sure, were 1t not for the skill and
courage Of our forces. the fore-
knowledge of Yamamoto's coming
would hardly have been enough, but
neither would the skill and courage
have been enough had we not had
the foreknowledge.
It was . combination Of the two
Evening star., 1945-12-14
This Changing World
By Constantine Broom

The economic situation in Italy. seri-
Gus for the last three years. has become
critical with the approach of winter, and
widespread starvation and rioting are
expected unless emergency relief meas
ures are taken, according to reports
reaching Washington.
According to data gathered by UNRRA,
the Foreign Economic Administration
and other Government agencies, about
100000 Italians now are homeless and
$4,000 are refugees. The average off,
cial daily food ration is around 1000
calories, or 1000 less than the 1900 esti-
mated as necessary to maintain health.
Meanwhile, reports say, there are
100000 cases of malaria in Italy, while
the incidence of tuberculosis is three
times the prewar rate. Present unem-
ployment is estimated at about 1000 900
and it is forecast that by midwinter two
out of every five Italian workers will be
jobless, due to breakdown in transpor-
tation and the failure to effect any siz-
able rehabilitation of italian industry.
Ninety-four per cent of the power plants
in the industrial parts of Central Italy
were put out of commission during the
war.
Italy has been in an odd position with
regard to Allied relief measures due to
the fact that until the summer of 1943
it was an Axis nation. And after the
surrender and Italy's declaration of war
on Germany it was not accorded the
status of an ally, but only that of a
ce-belligerent.
For that reason italy was long barred
from the field of UNRRA relief opera
tions, except for $4,000, 900 allotment
made last fall for limited medical aid
and the feeding of nursing mothers and
children.
During the war, the American and
British Armies attempted to supply Ital-
ians in the military zones with enough
basic food to prevent starvation. How
ever, this plan of feeding was terminated
on August 81. Since that time the Ital-
ian division of the FEA has been send
ing basic civilian supplies to the penin-
sula under a special s100,000,000 appro-
priation. The FEA estimates that this
fund will be exhausted by the end of the
year.
Beyond that point, the future of the
Italians is not clear. The Council on
AmericanItalian affairs estimated in a
Evening star., 1945-12-14
Small but Important

In reporting to the Senate the
deficiency bill, the Senate Appropri-
ations Committee has revived an
item which, though small in none
tary outlay, is of potentially great
Importance in the search for
solution of Washington's multiplying
postwar traffic problems. The item
is $4,000 appropriation with which
to reactivate the legislatively created
Motor Vehicle) Parking Agency, an
agency born of prewar concern over
traffic congestion in downtown
Washington but which, through lack
of funds, languished during the war
time years of tire and gasoline
rationing.
With automobile traffic again on
the increase and with parking space
once more as hard to find as before
the war. the District Commissioners
justifably asked Congress to provide
a modest deficiency fund to re-
establish the Parking Agency and to
provide the small staff necessary to
enable it to carry out its original
directive from Congress. That direc-
tive called for careful studies of the
city's immediate and long range
parking problems and for definite
remedial measures, including the
planning and choosing of sites for
such off-street parking facilities as
fringe parking lots outside the con-
gested district. But. by maneuver
engineered by Chairman Cannon Of
the House Appropriations Commit
tee, whose later explanations have
revealed an amazing lack of under
standing of the Parking Agency and
its origin. the $4,000 item was struck
from the deficiency bill before the
measure reached the House, and the
House, apparently acting on Mr..
Cannon's misconceptions. refused to
restore the item.
One of Mr.. Cannon's misconcep-
tions, as disclosed on the House floor,
10 llIdU UllC al hlliS ASCllCJ 10 Qli-
necessary now for the reason that
it was considered by Congress to be
unnecessary during the war. But
Congress considered it necessary be-
fore wartime traffic was restricted
and only permitted the agency to
suspend operations because war de-
velopmersts changed the parking
picture. Now the picture is begin
ming once more to take on the jum-
bled aspect of the early forties and
the need for traffic and parking
planning by an over all agency
again presents itself. If the request
for reactivation of the Motor Vehi-
Gle Parking Agency is weighed on its
merits, the Senate will approve the
commendable action of its Appro-
priations Committee in restoring the
parking item and the House will
reconsider its ill-advised stand in
opposition to it.
Evening star., 1945-12-14
Toward Totol Defeat ,
By David Laurence
From the lola Register.

from tue lola Register.
New York's Gov. Dewey, speaking Of
tuberculosis to group of State health
officials, said, 1T Is time we agreed to
tackle this problem and wholly defeat
it."
Those words, brave today, would have
been incredible SO years ago. But, as
MIR. Dewey said, "We know the problem.
we know how to cope with it, we know
the scientific facts, we have the back
ground of achievement" Since 1902
New York has reduced tuberculosis NOR
tality by 10 per cent.
The national improvement in mortal
ity rate figures is quite as impressive,
with rs per cent reduction in about
the same period of time. But tuber-
culosis still remains the great killer Of
youth, as heart disease and cancer are
killers of the aged.
Evening star., 1945-12-14
On the Record
By Dorothy THOMPSON

Secretary Byrnes statement of United
States policy on Germany is undoubtedly
Suggesting for the forthcoming con-
ference in Moscow.
1t is in the main reaffirmation of the
directives inaccurately called "prin-
ciples'D enunciated In Potsdam In one
respect 1t closes matter which was
left open in Potsdam. On the question
of the eastern frontiers of Germany, it
neither accepts what is a fait accompli,
nor does it repeat Potsdam's order that
the evacuation of Germans remaining
in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary
should be suspended, pending exami-
nation by the governments concerned of
the report from their representatives on
the control council" and that transfers
that take place should be effected In an
orderly and humane manner"
The Potsdam Declaration specifically
granted the Baltic States and part Of
East Prussia to Russia. The rest of the
territory east of the Oder and Neisse
Rivers, including the city Of Danzig shall
be, says the declaration, under the
administration of the Polish State and
for such purposes should not be consid-
cred as part Of the Soviet zone OF occu-
patton" and "reafdrmed their opinion
that the final delimitation of the west
ern frontier of Poland should await the
peace settlement"
Potsdam never agreed to the evacua-
ton of Germans from that part of the
Reich itself east of the Oder and Neisse
Rivers but the Poles, since September,
have been indiscriminately dispossessing
the entire population, driving them
westward. The population transfers do
not, therefore, affect possible 3la mil
lions in Poland, Czechoslovakia and
Hungary" as provided at Potsdam. They
affect fully IL million persons And Mr..
Byrnes now says, 1T should be assumed
that the geographical limits of Ger
many are those in conformity with pro-
visions of the Berlin Declaration, i.e.,
those of the Altreich less the territory
east of the Oder-Neisse lines"
The statement is not correct. The
geographical limits of Germany were
definitely left open in the Berlin (Pots-
damn Declaration. The Poles were
granted administration" as the other
allies have administration zones. But
the Poles have actually annexed the
territory and now we are told that all
this was agreed on. This column Is
not surprised that this has happened.
We stated at the time that this is what
would happen.
4
As for orderly and humane" pro-
cedures-on this subject there is con-
spiracy of silence in the American press.
There is no such conspiracy in the
British.
Those who want to know what is
Evening star., 1945-12-14
Phuruoh's Curse Leqend

The death of Alfred Lucas,
Egyptian government archaeological
chemist, revives interest in the
famous curse which was supposed
to fall upon any and all persons who
dared to trespass in the tombs of the
ancient pharaohs. Undoubtedly, the
threat of swift destruction was in
vented to scare away thieves tempted
by the treasures known to be in
TERED with the royal mummies. It
proved effective in some cases, was
futile in others. A new and ex-
ceedingly vigorous credence de-
veloped around it because of certain
accidental circumstances connected
with the opening of the mausoleum
of Tut-ankh- Amen.
November 4, 1922, was the date of
the discovery of the steps leading
down to the tomb by Howard Carter.
The sepulchral chamber was un-
sealed on February 16, 1928, and the
actual sarcophagus of the youthful
monarch found on January 3, 1924.
Meanwhile, the Fifth Earl of Car
narvon, sponsor of Mr. Carriers
work, was bitten by a poisonous
insect, fell i'll of pneumonia and
finally died on April S, 1928. The
story ran round the world that the
celebrated curse had claimed an
other victim.
But those who circulated the
superstition forgot that Lord Car
narvon had been making excavations
from 1905 onward and had uncov-
cred dozens of royal tombs of the
twelfth and eighteenth dynasties in
the Valley of the Kings. If the
vengeance of the pharaohs were as
valid and powerful as the gullible
believed, it was long time getting
started. Mr.. Carter lived until March
2, 1899, and Mr.. Lucas until December
8, 1945. The last principal survivor
OF the group was seventy-nine when
eventually he succumbed to heart
attack in Luxor hospital Consid-
ering that Lord Carnarvon was fifty
sever when he died and Mr.. Carter
sixty-six at the moment of his death,
the average age attained by the
three men was sixty-severl- rather
above the experience Of the general
tty OF their contemporaries.
Let it be added that because OF
their labors King Tut enjoys q
popularity and an Immortality which
otherwise never could have been his.
Mr.. Lucas contribution to his revival
Evening star., 1945-12-14
Not Above the Law

From the Toronto Teletram.
Is respect Tor the law to be exacted
from all citizens. or are privileged groups
to be entitled to disregard 20 much Of
the law as does not meet their approval,
with entire indifference to the rights Of
others2 It Is up to the provincial gov
ernment to take such steps q shall leave
no doubt as to what constitutes lawful
picketing and what does not. Strikers
must be reminded that they are not
above tho law.
Evening star., 1945-12-14

that gave us this historic victory. It
was a combination OF the two that
led step by step after that to Japan's
total surrender. The brave who are
not only brave but who are prepared
and informed as well-these are the
ones, after all. who win wars. AS
General Marshall made clear to
Governor Dewey, our deciphering
knowledge was one of our mightiest
weapons.
Evening star., 1945-12-14
Question About q Strike
,om the Arkansas Gazette.

rTom the Arkansas Gazette.
Communists are commonly regarded
as advanced radicals, but Harry Pollitt,
general secretary Of the Communist
party in Great Britain, said to the
party's 18th convention at London, in
cautioning the delegates against en-
couraging the idea Of mass strikes:
"You can get strike In the coal
fields tomorrow, but win It advance the
working class movement"
The same searching question might
be asked In many situations In other
countries.
Evening star., 1945-12-14

There is no rest for a public serv-
ant as useful as General George C.
Marshall. No sooner does he pre-
pare to leave the military service
he has so long adorned for some
well-earned rest than of he goes to
sit automatically on a string of
Chinese firecrackers.
Evening star., 1945-12-14

was that of providing for the pres
ervation of the delicate tomb furni-
ture, decorations and trimmings
which gradually would have fallen
to pieces without such intervention,