davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-04-21

sion by an acting President, would have
the authority to provide by law for
special election of a new President.
There is no specific provision in the
Constitution giving such authority--but
1t might be construed that Congress
could take such action under its general
powers ITO make all laws which shall
be necessary and proper for carrying
into execution the foregoing powers, and
all other powers vested by this Consti
tuition in the Government of the United
States, or in any department or officer
thereof"
If no such election were called, the
acting President would serve until the
next regular election of a President. It
was pointed out that any attempt to
provide for special election would
bring, in all probability, an immediate
conflict between the executive and the
legislative branches, and might bring
about serious situations.
4 + X
Seven times within the history of the
country Vice President has succeeded
to the presidency through the death of
a President, but there has been no case
in which both the President and the
Vice President have been eliminated
from Office, midway in a presidential
four year term. John Tyler became Pres
ident on the death OF William Henry
Harrison: Willard Fillmore, on the death
of Zachary Taylor; Andrew johnson,
on the death of Abraham Lincoln;
Chester A. Arthur on the death of James
A. Garfield; Theodore Roosevelt, on the
death ~of William Mckinley; Calvin
Coolidge, on the death of Warren G.
Harding, and Mr. Truman on the death
of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Three Presi-
dents were assassinated while in Office,
Lincoln, Garfield and Mckinley. The
deaths of the others while in Office
we're from natural causes.
The hands of the sitting Congress are
never tied by acts of earlier Congresses
1t is within the power OF the present
Congress, therefore. to amend or enact
a new law of presidential succession.
AS the law now stands, with the Secre-
tary of State next in line for the presi-
dency, should anything happen to Mr..
Truman, the importance of that Office
is enhanced. The President has an
nounced he would retain the Roosevelt
cabinet-but for how long he did not
say. In the event Of later resignation
by Secretary of State Stettinius, gossip
has it the Office would go to James F.
Byrnes, former war mobilization di-
rector, the man whom Mr.. Truman
sought to make Vice President last year.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-04-21
Government Corporations

Inc blunt language OF Controller
General Lindsay C. Warren in testi-
mony before the Senate Banking
Committee on the Byrd-Butler bill
to bring the multitudinous Govern
ment corporations under the finan-
cial control of Congress has served
anew to emphasize the proportions
which this fourth arm of Govern
ment" has assumed.
Since this corporate form of Or
ganization really started to flower
within the Federal structure in the
World War, these agencies have been
projected into one form of business
activity after another. until today,
according to Mr.. Warrens figures,
there are 101 functioning. and their
operations involve billions of dollars,
and reach into every quarter of the
globe.
At the top of the heap is the Re
construction Finance Corporation,
with its network of af1liates-a set
up which brought expressions of
amazement from members of Con-
gress, who learned for the first time
just what it amounted to when the
fight to strip these potent lending
agencies from the Commerce De-
partment developed after the NOM
ination of former Vice President
Wallace to be Secretary of Com
merce. From that they scale down
to the minor units, and while some
are subject to a certain amount of
supervision, others function without
the slightest degree of accountability
being required. In fact, Mr.. Warren
said, the system "has become greater
than Congress, its creator, and at
times arrogantly snaps its fingers in
the face of Congress"
A major reason for the existence
of these corporations, if the argu-
ment of advocates is to be accepted,
is that they lend themselves to
greater degree of flexibility in ad-
ministration than do the regular
Government agencies with controls
spelled out by law. Even granting
that in certain cases such flexibility
is desirable. the fact still remains
that the indiscriminate creation of
establishments whose operations are
regulated only by the wishes of those
in charge is unhealthy, and should
not be permitted.
Mr.. Warren, who is in position to
see just how costly-and often un-
necessarily costly-Government can
be, sounded another note which Con-
gress we'll may heed, in calling for
a thoroughgoing reorganization of
the executive branch. Some few
voices, notably that of Senator Byrd
of Virginia. have been raised in be-
half of more economical administra-
ton from time to time, without ap-
preciable results. That important
issue. however, cannot be ignored
indefinitely.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-04-21
This Changing World
Bv .[onsfanfine Rro,c,

The strong objection expressed in
military and congressional quarters to
America being given q mandate ("trus-
teeship'D rather than outright sovereign
ty over the Marianas, Carolines and
Marshalls Is due more to unseen" than
the obvious factors involved.
On the surface, plans repeatedly in
dorsed by the State Department that
these islands shall be entrusted to an
American mandate appear satisfactory.
But they offer no guarantee that these
vital outpostS will remain In our hands
permanently. The contrary Is true. 1t
appears that the diplomatic conception
of postwar arrangements is that the
council of the world security organiza-
ton should exercise an overlordship over
the mandates and that 1t will have pow
er to make any changes by a majority
vote.
Should the council decide that after
a period of years other nations are en-
titled to share in the supervision of
these barren territories. there is nothing
we could do against such decision.
And already there are indications that
some of our associates have limited that
their own security might eventually re-
quire their sharing in the trustee
ship" of Pacific islands.
4 \ X
After the World War the japanese
were allowed to cake over the German
islands in the West Pacific under
mandate of the League Of Nations, on
the understanding that the League
would have the right to supervise them.
The Japanese ignored the terms Of the
mandate and transformed these islands
into powerful bases. The mandate COM
mittee Of the League was refused per-
mission to investigate how Japan was
discharging her peaceful" obligations
Whenever Geneva wanted to become
tough" Tokyo indicated politely that
any change in the arrangements agreed
on in 1920 would have to be made by
force The Japanese knew that neither
Europe nor America was going to risk
a conflict in the Pacific for the sake OF
the Pacific atolls. We have discovered
only in the last two years-at heavy
cost in lives of American soldiers and
sailors-that the atolls had been well
fortified.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-04-21
Top Choice

AS far as the Washington corps of
correspondents and his own best
interests are concerned, President
Truman could have made no better
selection of a press secretary than
his appointment of Charles G. Ross.
Mr.. Ross enjoys prestige among
newspapermen that would be hard
to duplicate. Honored and respected
for his craftsmanship as a journal
list, he is affectionately regarded. as
we'll, because of his character as
man. He has won most of the honors
that confer special distinction on
newspapermen. For sixteen years he
was head Of the Washington bureau
of an outstanding American news
paper. the st. Louis Post-Dispatch,
winning. in 1882. the Pulitzer Prize
for Washington correspondence Dur
ing that time he was president of
the Gridiron Club and later on he
won more honors as editor of the
Post-Dispatch editorial page. APP
pointed contributing editor of the
Post-Dispatch in 1899. his articles
from Washington. many OF which
have appeared in The Star. have
been models of sound reporting and
comment. /.
The newspapermen will applaud
the President for selection of a man
for this important position who is so
representative of the best in Ameri-
can Journalism and one whose pro-
fessional career is a fine example of
responsible respect for the best in
tereSts of his country.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-04-21
Repriisal
By Maj. George Fieldins Eliot

should like to reIeat and re-empha-
size today what wrole few days ago
about the possibility of saving the lives
Of American prisoners of war still in
German hands by holding the German
civilian population responsible for their
safety.
My suggestion was, briefly, that proc
lamation should be made to the German
people that wherever 1t is discovered,
after the date Of the proclamation, that
an American prisoner Of war has been
murdered or has died Of starvation or
i'll treatment in any German prison
camp, the nearest German town to
the camp shall be RACED to the ground
and number Of its male inhabitants
executed equivalent to the number of
murdered American prisoners. In these
reprisal executions, we should begin with
the burgomaster, councillors and other
civil officials including, of course, any
Nazi party bosses we can lay hands on.
Other persons of influence, such as
returned army officers, should be high
on such a list.
It may be said that we have no
right, under the laws Of war, to take
reprisals against civilians who have not
actually committed any individual Of
Tense against those laws. But 1t Is well
established that the inhabitants of the
nearest town may be punished for acts
Of sabotage, such as the tearing up of
railways, etc. There is no reason why
they should not be held responsible for
the murder OF. our helpless prisoners,
whenever and wherever it might occur.
4 III
What am afraid of is not SO much
organized slaughter of prisoners Of war
of which. so far as American prisoners
are concerned, we have as yet no report.
I do fear that as result of the break
down Of authority, the fanatical beasts
who wear the uniform Of the SIS and
the crazed little maniacs who are called
Hitler youth may start killing oIr pris-
oners out Of sheer savagery.
am also afraid that many Of our
boys, weakened by starvation and long
marches, may die Of sheer neglect II 1t
Is to no ones interest to look after
them. In country In which all order
and system is dissolving under the inn
pact Of invasion, as in Germany, any
thing may happen, and it Is obviously
impossible for the invading armies to
be everywhere at once or to know in
advance exactly where all the prisoners
are to be found after they have been
moved about so much.
But there are German civilians every
where; they know what Is happen-
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-04-21
The Devils Work

Earlier in the war, when the world
first began hearing about system
attic, large-scale Nazi atrocities, there
was disposition in this country to
be skeptical. But now our own
American troops at places like
Ohrdruf, Buchenwald and Gardele-
gen-are uncovering evidence that
gruesomely confirms the reports we
have already had from the Russians,
the Poles, the French, the Belgians,
the Dutch and every other people
despoiled and tormented by Hitler.
The details are almost too sick
ening to be discussed and too fiend-
ishly sadistic to seem possible. The
normal civilized mind can hardly
comprehend how human beings
could bring themselves to perpetrate
such horrors, but it is true neverthe-
less that the Nazis have cold-blood-
eddy carried them out in every part
of Europe. We do not know pre-
cisely how many men. women and
children have been destroyed, but
all reports agree that the number
is terrifyingly vast. Jewish victims
alone being counted in the millions.
This devils work has been done
by gun, bludgeon. gallows, starva-
ton, lethal gas chambers, crema-
toria and other hideous means in
camps deliberately designed to make
mass murder as efficient and as cruel
as possible. At Buchenwald, for in
stance. besides special torture cham
bers, the Nazis were equipped with
a crematorium that disposed of
some 200 victims a day. or about
5000 a month. This is not propa-
ganda. This is fact. This is what
impelled General Patton to order
that German civilians from nearby
Weimar be taken on a tour of the
place to see with their own eyes the
CHASTITY evidence OF their govern
ment's crime. This. too. is what i'm
PEELED American officers to make the
Germans of Gardelegen bury the
charred remains of more than 1000
political prisoners who a few days
ago. in one of Hitler's neighboring
horror camps. were locked up in
warehouse and burned alive.
The scale and grisliness of these
atrocities, and their deliberateness,
nave such numbing effect on the
mind that they seem less than real.
The awful fact is, however, that
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-04-21
Differs About Paying Passage

Differs About Paying Passage
To the Editor of The Star:
Why shouldn't Mr.. and Mrs. William
Burke pay the Government for their
passage home from Manila?
When a United States citizen goes
out of the country to earn living he
does so with as full protection as pos
sible from the United States Govern
ment. He does it, however, of his own
volirion and, to a certain extent, on his
own risk.
In the fall of 1910 the State Depart
ment advised all who could do so to
leave the Orient. Doubtless Mr.. and
Mrs. Burke chose to stay despite the
urgent request of the Government that
they leave. I can't see that anything
is owing them tor their delivery. Nor
mally grateful people, am sure, would
feel that the Indebtedness lies In the
opposite direction.
Certainly British wives Of servicemen
should be transported at no expense
to themselves. The Government owes
everything to the men Of the armed
forces. They are out Of the country
because they have to be-in the service
of their country.
Many other Americans like me didn't
want to leave the Orient before the
war, but we co-operated with the Gov
eminent and got out on Government
sponsored ship at our own expense. II
we had stayed, what might have hap
pened to us would have been our own
responsibility.
It seems to me that the reasoning
back Of the critical attitude Of the peo-
pie just delivered from the Japanese Is
spurious. The attitude itself is migrate
full and unpatriotic.
A FORMER SHANGHAI RESIDENT.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-04-21
Letters to The Star
Here Is Abundant Evidence That
A Sailorman Is Homesick

70 the Editor OF The Star:
For several months now, since first
receiving the Overseas Edition on a
regular schedule. I've been putting OIL
the inevitable job, or rather the pleas
ure, Of telling you what 40 sheet
yours Is. But If not for an article In
the March % issue the present corre-
spondence probably would still be hang
ing in the blight"
The article of extreme interest is that
concerning the naming Of heavy cruis-
er for good old D. c. Being one of those
so-called rare" Neutrality-suspicious., can
see no need for discussion as to whether
or not the city rates a ship bearing her
name. The simple and logical name
would be the ~. S. s. Columbia" II
such plan should be adopted by the
Navy Department, would try to be the
first to volunteer for duty aboard the
gallant maid. and undoubtedly lots OF
D. C.. lads would do likewise. Having
served 10 months of my current cruise
outside the continental limits and look
ing forward to rehabilitation in the near
future, it is pleasant to day dream that
I might report to Columbia for duty.
It has been the hardest job OF my
five years in the Navy to come in close
contact with a fellow Washington
Man; there seems to be shortage of
them in the Navy, or at least they are
well distributed. For time to time
will run across some information con-
corning the location of D. C. boy, but
he is always several thousand miles
away and If manage to contact him,
1t turns out that he was only there for
several months on duty. Unfortunately,
I've only met three or four boys in the
past five years that I could really sit
down and drink some mash and talk
some trash with.
The overseas digest is more than a
pleasure to receive; it puts enough
punch into this Eniwetok duty to make
up for the many monotonous months
we have been here. I've been wonder
ing what happened to the column de-
voted to lads at home on leave each
week; that is very worthy addition
to the paper. Also Jay Carmody doesn't
seem to get out in the Northwest sec
ton very often; what is with the Silver
Fox, the Uptown, and other suburban
spots, or is there anything with them?
To prevent further depressing you,
I'll close, and thank you again for a
swell paper. M. c. RICHARDS, VAC,
Pacific Theater.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-04-21

According to the provisions contem-
plated at Dumbarton Oaks and dis
cussed at subsequent conferences, there
Is no limitation on fortsfying these is
lands which our Navy and Army have
now taken from the japanese. The
United States will be entrusted with
the stewardship OF the Marianas, Caro-
lines, Marshalls and some other islands
which In the past have belonged to
Japan outright. We will be allowed to
build air and naval bases which are
estimated to cost the American tax
payer between $70O, 900 900 and $500, 00O,-
600. This is cheap insurance II we were
certain that these establishments re-
manned ours. Under the present ar
rangement, however. we might even-
tually be asked by the council either
to hand them over to any other peace
loving nation or share them with any
otner power the council designates.
The heads of the armed forces have
great hopes that the new organization
which will be born at San Francisco
will be much stronger and more eficient
than the old League of Nations. All
the same, they want the United States
to obtain an outright sovereignty over
these unproductive Pacific territories as
double assurance that in the future we
will not become exposed to a sneak
attack from any quarter.
High-ranking American generals and
admirals are in sympathy with the ter
ritorial demands Of the U. S. S. r. and
Great Britain to further insure their
security, although it is obvious that
after the total destruction Of the Reich,
Germany cannot become a threat to
Europe for several generations.
The same privilege, it is felt in mill
tary and congressional quarters, should
be granted to the United States. Asia
is vast continent with enormous po-
tentials for good or bad. Our present
bases are situated thousands of miles
from the Asiatic mainland. Because OF
this situation we were not able to pre-
vent aggression in December, 1941. Our
position will not change materially in
years to come unless we have full SOW
ereignty over bases in the vicinity of the
Asiatic mainland.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-04-21

ing in their immediate vicinity, and they
are the ores who can, in many cases, do
something to prevent our boys from
being killed, or from dying for want
OF food and attention. So propose to
make it to their interest to do some
thing about it.
Some details:
We can reach the German people with
such proclamation. It can be done in
part by radio, in part by dropping leaf
lets from planes, in part by posting the
proclamation in every town and at every
crossroads of occupied Germany, in part
through the neutral press.
There should be only a very short
time limit. Any death which occurs
more than "a hours after the issuance
of the proclamation should be penalized.
If few burgomasters and what-not are
shot down before they have heard the
news, that's just too bad. A thousand
of them are not worth one American
life.
No lengthy delay and red tape should
be involved. Every commanding officer
in the field above the rank Of captain
should be directed to carry out the
necessary measures on the spot, and at
once, whenever he Is satisfied after
proper investigation that an American
prisoner has been done to death.
In the case of the murder, or treat
ment resulting in the death of American
prisoners while on the march, the PEN
alties should be inflicted On the last
town through which they passed. This
will cause all German civilians along the
route of march of prisoner columns to
be attentive to the needs Of the prison.
ers and to take an interest in their
welfare.
AL this may sound inhuman and
brutal to American readers, but we
must realize that we are dealing with
people who have no right to appeal to
the protection Of any law, human or
divine, because they have never re-
garded such laws themselves In their
dealings with others.
We are accustomed to apply the laws
Of war with leniency and even gener-
osity to q beaten foe; so we have always
done in all our history. But the time
has now come to apply those laws with
rigid severity, In the hope OF saving and
returning to their homes American boys
whose lives may otherwise be lost In
the most miserable circumstances, and
in the very hour Of the victory which
they have done 50 much to help achieve.
tCopyrisht lS4S)
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-04-21

they are not part of a nightmare
but an actuality. The mentality Of
Hitlerism-a mentality that first ex-
pressed itself in book burnings and
pogroms-appears in more ways
than one to be, inexplicable in terms
OF ordinary psychopathology. It is
like something come from the outer
darkness, like evil incarnate, like the
spirit Of antichrist, and years will
probably be required to exercise it
entirely from Germany.