davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-12-12
This Changing World
By Constantine Brown

medical supplies and used clothing to
relieve distress, Is the repair Of the
Yellow River dikes, which will be car
ried out by Chinese labor under the
guidance of American engineers.
These dikes were cut by the Chinese
themselves in 1888 as a military measure
to halt the movement of Japanese
troops. AS result, about 1000 900 acres
Of the country's richest farmlands were
inundated and removed from produc-
ton. The restoration of this agricul-
tural territory will be major contribu-
ton to China's food problem, although
1t is a long-range solution and will
offer no aid in the present crisis
UNRRA estimates that about 800 900
Chinese will be employed on restoration
OF the dikes. They will be paid in the
form of relief supplies.
In China UNRRA Is operating
through the Chinese National Relief
and Rehabilitation Administration, of
which Tsiang Tng-fu is the director
general. 1t will act as the distributing
agency under UNRRA guidance and in
spection.
The fact that Japan surrendered some
months earlier tnan Allied military ex-
perts had expected presented UNRRA
with an emergency for which it had not
had time to prepare fully. Originally,
when it had been assumed that an Al
lied invasion of China would be neces-
sary, three-point relief program had
been drafted.
This provided for a small-scale move
ment of urgently needed supplies by air
over 1.-The hump" This was to be fol-
lowed by the landing OF goods on beach
heads once the Allied armies had Sc
cured them, and finally by large-scale
shipping through Chinese ports. Now
the three programs have been COM
bined.
Under an agreement reached between
the central Chinese government of
Chang Kai-shek and UNRRA, supplies
are to be distributed without regard to
politics. That means that UNRRA will
operate in the Communist dominated
territories of the north as we'll as in
areas controlled by Chang Kai-sheks
regime.
UNRRA planners long had known
that the relief Job in China would be a
colossal one. but Mr. Hendricksons re-
ports now show that it had been under
estimat ted
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-12-12

Reports received by the United Ma
tons Relief and Rehabilitation Admin
istration from Deputy Director Roy
HendrickSon, who is on a special mission
to China, indicate that the job to be
done there will be Of far greater magni-
tude than had been expected. UNRRA
now estimates that 100000 900 Chinese
in former enemy occupied areas are in
dire need of food, clothing and medical
supplies, while 100000 in the port
cities are in danger Of actual starvation.
In view of this condition, UNRRA Is
planning what officials there describe as
the greatest relief program ever UNDER
taken in history, probably surprising
that for Europe. UNRRA blueprints
now call for foreign staff in China Of
more than 1000 workers, many of whom
must be technical experts, such as
medical men and engineers. The staff
will be under the direction of Benjamin
j. Kaiser, an American.
Thus far only six relief ships have
arrived in Shanghai, but it is planned
that after December IS about 80 vessels
will be employed to carry out the relief
program, which calls for the transport
of 10000 tons of supplies monthly.
One factor which makes the relief
program in China even more difncult
than that in Europe. the UNRRA re-
ports point out, is the fact that the
Far Eastern country is virtually devoid
of transport. 1t is estimated that out
of the 1000 miles of railroad which
China possessed before the japanese in
vasion of 1887, only 1000 are now in
operation. The rest have been destroy
ed either by the Japanese or by Chinese
guerrillas in order to interfere with
enemy troops and supply movements.
xN% 4
China, the reports point out, has
always depended mainly on river and
coastal transport, but during the war
most of the small steamers were de-
stroyed, so that this means Of communi-
cation Is curtailed.
In view of this situation, UNRRA is
finding it necessary to build up the
transportation system before there can
be any major movement OF supplies into
Chinas interior. A corps of engineers
and large amounts OF d-building ma
chinery and railroad equipment are
being sent to China for this purpose.
The major project being undertaken
by UNRRA in China. aside from It's i'm
mediate program Of sending wheat.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-12-12
Parliamentary 'NormoIcy'

The recent ding-dong debate in
the House of Commons is striking
evidence that British political life
is returning to normal. It was a
good old-fashioned attack by "his
majesty's loyal opposition" upon
the government in power, with
rapierlike thrusts of oratory ex-
changed by the chief protagonists
tempered by flashes of humor. the
hardest hits never falling below
the belt" In short, it was British
politics as usual"
The assault of the Conservative
opposition was spearheaded by its
titular leader, Winston Churchill.
Indeed, to a considerable degree, it
was his personal battle. Ever since
the general elections which unseated
him as Prime Minister and which
he took as a personal rebuff. "Old
Winnie" has been spelling for par
liamentary fight and laid his plan of
campaign the week previous at
Conservative party council during
which he poured fire and birthstone
over his Labor adversaries. The con-
sequence was formal vote of CEN
sure moved in the House against the
cabinet, which made a full-dress
debate mandatory.
With the exception of some in
cidental references to the Anglo
American loan negotiations, the
struggle was confined to domestic
issues, the opposition's four main
targets being demobilization, trade,
housing and finance. The motion
of censure made the overall claim
that the government was neglecting
to concentrate upon essential prac-
tical tasks of the moment through
it's preoccupation with long-term
schemes for naturalization. Slow
ness, hampering restrictions, ex-
travagance and emphasis on doc
trinaire Socialist theories instead of
on constructive work-these were
the charges leveled by Mr.. Church
i'll and echoed by his followers.
The attack was breasted by the
Prime Minister himself, and Mr..
Attlee seems to have acquitted him
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-12-12

self with unusual oratorical effec-
tiveness. Factually defending the
governments record, the Prime Min
lister stood pat on his party's program
and its Endorsement by a strong
popular majority, confirmed by re-
cent by-elections. In sardonic ref
erence. to Churchill, Mr.. Attlee re-
marked: THE country does not like
one-man shows and therefore won't
accept this vote OF censure as any
thing more than a party move of
politician in difficulties"
When the speechmaking ended,
Commons voted 381 to 1877 to sustain
the government. The Churchillian
maneuver had thus been decisively
defeated and the cabinet merged
with heightened power and prestige.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-12-12
Good Wishes for Patton

1t is a strange irony that Gen.
Patton should have been stricken
as he has been. During the war, from
the time of the invasion of Sicily
all through the thrilling and spec
tacular days when his Third Army
was making history in France, he
faced an enemy who respected and
feared him above any other Allied
field commander in the west. The
Germans would have liked nothing
better than to eliminate him, but
their bombs, their shells, their gre
nades, everything they could throw
against him and his rampaging
forces could neither stop him nor
diminish the unique and heart
warming dash that set him apart
among the generals. winning the
genuine affection not merely Of his
troops but of his countrymen back
here at home. Colorful, determined,
full of boundless energy, a man with
a gift for making occasional in
discreet remarks that somehow did
not detract from his attractiveness,
he stood up to the constant hazards
OF battle with an attitude not unlike
gayety. 1t took peace and an ordi-
nary traffic accident to lay him low,
but though his condition Is grave
the Nation at large can hope with
Mrs. Patton that his fighting heart
will see him through. George, as
she says, has been "in these scrapes
before and he always comes out all
right" A lot OF Americans-includ-
ing many soldiers who have formally
pledged themselves to do so-are
praying today that her fine conf
dence proves we'll founded. Whether
he knows 1t or not, he has endeared
himself to his country, and his coun-
try wants earnestly to see him get
well.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-12-12
Europe in Distress
By David Laurence
. London Daily Herald.

From the London Daily Herald.
From all Europe-while the statesmen
hear arguments about the national
claims OF Italy and the national claims
Of Yugoslavia-come reports Of perilous
shortage and distress. In Germany
alone the prospects of this winter ars
sufficiently alarming to warrant the
instant and most concentrated atten-
ton of the Allied governments. This IL
not roundabout appeal for clemency
for the Germans. The fact is that they
are faced with starvation, and with
epidemics which may spread widely
through the continent, while effective
co-ordinated countermeasures have not
even been begun by the Allies. The
hopes which were earlier entertained
and encouraged, Of q joint Allied ad-
ministration which would reorganizs
the development of German economic
resources. have been disappointed. In
Germany, and other countries, there
exists a state of interpretation and
DISCRIMINATION which, If unchecked and
unremedied. will plunge Europe anew
into chaos and subject all her peoples to
miseries as great rs and more prolonged
than any they have yet endured.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-12-12
What Bombs Do to People

In its report on the effect OF aerial
attacks on civilian health in Ger
many, the medical branch of the
United States Strategic Bombing
Survey makes enthusiastically in
gruesome detail-that the German
home front was in some ways more
dangerous than the battle front. In
deed, the report makes a point of
declaring that many OF Hitler'S
troops chose to remain at the front
rather than spend their leaves at
home.
Not everything that happened to
the health of Germany could be at
tributed to air attack alone, but the
report, while taking note of this,
nevertheless indicates that falling
bombS-and the incendiaries were
much more efficient killers than the
explosives-were by far the greatest
single factor in the grim picture.
From the start of the heavy Ameri-
can-RAF offensive until the end of
the war, approximately 100000 Ger
man civilians were killed. 100000
injured and 100000 rendered home
less. Water systems and sewage
disposal plants were so wrecked that
only the excellent hygienic habits of
the people prevented deadly cpl
denies. About third of the coun-
try's urban hospitals were totally
erased, and as the raids continued
there was marked progressive de-
cline in the number of doctors avail
able, in the ability to carry on medi-
cal education, in the efficiency of
what had been a well-organized
public health service, in supplies of
medicines rand surgical equipment,
and in nutritional standards and
the food supply, the latter largely
because of what the bombing did to
transportation facilities.
About the only thing that held up
we'll under the relentless pounding
was the German nervous system,
with little or no increase occurring
In psychiatric disorders. Otherwise,
in the words of the report, if the
bombings had continued for several
months longer, physicians would
have been unable to offer "the barest
essentials of medical care, epidemics
would have enSued and the adequacy
Of the diet would have been we'll
within the range of starvation" Nor
Is the worst necessarily over, for our
Allied raids have left behind them
the terrible problem of a people
close to pestilence and famine, and
whether the impact of this will be
sufficiently sustained to pull them
into the abyss of the apocalypse,
only the experience of this winter
can tell"
The report ends with the warning
that Germanys experience demon
strates that protection of civilian
health will be zone of the most fun
damental conditions for national
survival in a future war" The dis
tinction between home fronts and
battle fronts has been erased en-
tirely. Education in hygiene, planned
food reserves. dispersal OF popula-
ton groups, of hospitals, of plants
making essential medical supplies"
these are some of the things that
must be considered as essential to
preparedness as armed forces. It is
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-12-12
The Departure

Looking back before the turning
OF the road that tCf1dy day,
I could see the house, the BAILEY,
Where I tuouId haze liked to stay.
could see the fau-fnir naples,
Windy leapes dosDn-drit fling gold:
House and barn and treu and tpoodpils:
Kitchen chimney, snsokeless, cold.
Long scanned each empty iDi,sdow
Where I kneu no face tcould be.
Then took the uphill highway ..
No one said oood-by to me.
BRANSON BLAKL
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-12-12

From my observations in and around
the sessions OF the Republican National
Committee two distinct impressions re-
main-one favorable, the other unfavor-
able.
The first impression comes from the
fact that committee members, from
Chairman Herbert Brownell down, are
not interested IN 1913 candidates. They
see as their immediate job the restora-
ton of public confidence in the Repub-
lican party as the ofilcial opposition and,
following that, the capture in 1916 of
the House Of Representatives and pos
sibly of the Senate. On the present basis
of membership, q new seats in the
House and nine in the Senate must be
gained to achieve that goal. Republicans
will concentrate on what they call the
marginal Seats" numbering 1874 in the
House and 80 in the Senate.
The disposition to ignore 1913 until
after the election in 1916 is WISE It is
disposition Of every amateur In politics
Is to speculate here and now only on
names of putative presidential candi-
dates. Such speculation is not only
irrelevant but nonsensical. When was
asked for the hundredth time the IA
miliar who do you think will get the
Republican nomination in 1882" i'm
provised this answer: "Can you design
the hat your wife will be wearing on
Easter Sunday, 1882"
4 + X
There is pertinence in the comparison,
because there is style in candidates, as
there Is In hats. Political style is de-
termined by many factors-the economic
weather, the international outlook, the
fading popularity Of older favorite per-
sonalities, the many subtle and indefin-
able currents in public opinion and the
character OF the prospective candidate
Of the party in power. Mr.. Willkie won
his nomination because he seemed to b
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-12-12

not a pretty picture, but in the age
of air power, electronics and atomic
energy, we must face the fact that
the fate Of the Germans will seem
mild compared to what will be in
store for us and other peoples If this
peace, through some suicidal mad
ness, is allowed to fall apart twenty
or thirty years from now.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-12-12

Musicians in France have declared
that the whole world is sadly out
Of tune" To correct the trouble,
they suggest broadcasting the stand
ard pitch ia" over all networks. 1t
also might help II the people who
Systematically play or sing of key
could be persuaded to stay off the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-12-12

1t is reported that Italy has 2,O0O,-
600 unemployed. That figure, &C
cording to American soldiers recent
ly returned from service in that
country, includes some individuals
who never have worked and have no
intention of breaking the habit of
their lifetimes.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-12-12

Fire has a housing shortage. So,
it seems, has every other country.
Yet men who ought to know better
grow whiteheaded trying to think
of some wiser way to stimulate
general and lasting prosperity than
by helping the construction indus
try,
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-12-12
Colonel's Turn Again

To the Editor Of The Star:
have read Col. James p. Goodies
letter in your editorial page of Monday
and I hope the colonel will keep his
promise to answer the arguments
against Army-Navy amalgamation pre-
sented in my communication.
COMDR. WALTER KARIG, q. 8. r.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-12-12
Sees big City Outmoded

sees Dig Lily Outmooed
To the Editor of The Star:
AS we enter a new era. I feel that
some things need Qualification. The war
we just had was not Just any war: 1t
represented 4 trend definite human
effort and group experiment, and As
such Is just as important to us negative
ly as our own revolution was of positive
value.
Troy, Babylon, Rome, London and
New York represent five distinct periods
in the growth Of the Big City. They
all were built for defense and conven-
fence and served their purposes we'll in
their time. But the recent war and the
A-bomb have conspired to render the
city useless as q defensive unit and
modern communication and transporta-
ton have made the giant metropolis
completely unnecessary for convenience.
The city now has become merely large
concentration Of people and industry,
easily destroyed and continually in
tested with misery and disease. And
such concentrations now constitute a
grave source of danger to the nations
containing them. We must not take
only the few precautions which are SIM
plest to effect; it is imperative that we
take all conceivable safeguards, take
them all at once, and Immediately.
The period we are entering quite con-
ceivably may be an era Of middle-sized
towns. The township I hope, has come
Of age" In such an era, the threat OF
atomic bombing will decline in i'm
portance to nuisance value. More rigid
restrictions on air traffic near major
cities easily may be enforced by fast
and efficient sky police. The major
function of the Army will be the opera
ton of radar stations around industrial
areas and government towns. A vast
standing Army will not be needed, but
only small, competent and highly
active skeleton Army, constantly re-
trained and renewed by short-term
peacetime CONSUMPTION. A similarly OPP
Grating Navy constantly will patrol adj
jacent seas. International secret police
will be on duty in all countries of the
world, ready to warn all nations in case
of trouble. Units of government may
be geographically distant, but laced
tightly together by telephone, radio and
rapid transportation.
say all this because to me it seems
fantastic to assume that all nations will
not duplicate the atomic bomb as quick
ly as possible. There never can be COM
plete governmental control over private
the true scientist for assimilating facts
and disseminating knowledge never can
be curbed. He soon would learn, as he
has on numerous occasions in the past,
to hold in contempt government
which restricts his activities. And in
our world, can we risk such uhenforcible
restrictions? VIM. B. GOULD.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-12-12
How. Indeed!

From the Crystal City Mirror
II the psychologists get their way and
Santa Claus. is banished. how will we
keep the kids good as they can be just
before Christmas?
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-12-12
Letters to The Star
Wants Materials Granted Private
Rather Than Public Housing

To the Editor Of The Star:
In writing this letter it is my hope
to make one clear-cut point and not
confuse the public with side issues.
The point: Is public or private housing
to get the scarce supply Of building ma
terial available?
As background I quote from an edi-
torial in The Star on May Is entitled,
1T Hurts Public Housing" This edi-
torial states that at that time there
were 679 families living in the NCHA
projects earning in excess of $1,000 per
year, and then goes on to state: 1.-THE
friends OF public housing should be the
first to insist that low-cost housing
meets the need solely Of those for whom
private enterprise has in the past been
unable to provide"
Mr.. Ihlder, executive officer OF the
NCHA, replied to this editorial on May
% as follows: "The key to your puz-
zling editorial seems to be in the last
sentence, The friends of public hous-
ing should be the first to insist that
low-cost Gtalics mine) housing meets
the needs solely of those for whom
private enterprise has in the past been
unable to provide Even this key SEN
tence, however, is not quite clear, so
may I paraphrase it to read, The
friends OF public housing should be the
first to insist that public housing meets
the need solely of those for whom pri-
vate enterprise does not adequately
provide? AS so paraphrased the friends
OF public housing would heartily agree
with it."
I call to your attention the phrasing:
For whom private enterprise does not
adequately provide" This means any
income group In anybodys language.
Obviously. the NCHA has no intention
Of combining itself to the INDECENT and
lowest income groups.
The reason there is little building
going on in Washington today is the
lack OF material, and let's get that
straight. Large builders are idle only
because OF this. Small builders have
time Jobs They are both anxious to
build all the housing Washington needs.
A certain amount of material makes a
certain amount Of housing no matter
who uses It, public or private housing.
As long as the NCHA houses people
who are able to pay private housing
rents, there Is no need for further public
housing. Today tax-exempt subsidized
public housing is In direct competition
with private enterprise In a scarce ma
terial and manpower market, while these
public housing projects literally are
bursting with those who can afford and
want better places to live.
Now. when conditions are such that
we have the long -hoped-for chance for
these people to step up the ladder to
better housing let's make that possible
for them.
The case is similar to a grammar
school overcrowded with graduates,
and no high school. Let us build a
high school rather than enlarge the
grammar school.
All available material must 60 to pri-
vate enterprise so that it can supply
Washington with all necessary housing
In this way living standards will be
raised in the Nations Capital. At the
same time we will avoid more tax
exempt Government property in the
District of Columbia.
CLARKE DANIEL
Sees Big City Outmoded