davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1945-09-14
On the Record
By Dorothy Thompson

tween the American troops in Paris and
the French population. Sections OF our
Army are camped in the midst Of Paris
like an alien horde. The fact that the
French are tired, hungry, shabby, and
anticipate the very cold: that their
pride is shaken; that their nerves are
irascible does not help things. All the
best hotels are officers billets and
messes; the American Red Cross oc-
cupies the great Hotel de Paris; nothing
is open to the French; they are unable
to invite Americans to their homes and
apartments, because they are unable
even to serve them glass of wine, to
say nothing of the non-existent cup Of
coffee
Since nothing intelligent is done to
overcome these difficulties the Ameri-
can soldiers contacts with French life
are confined to the women of the streets
and the attendants at bars.
Many things could be done: Common
sports, common lectures, education of
the soldier in the great role of his coun-
try in the world, training to the realiza-
ton that in all his acts he is an am
bassador of the United States.
Mr.. Anderson reports from Brussels
that the American soldier, trained to be
conqueror, seems unclear in his mind
where that conquerer role begins and
ends. THE classic example here in Bel
gium Is the instance of a group of
American officers who attempted to take
some German girls to dance in Ver-
viers near Liege-a dance given by mem
bers of the Belgian resistance. The
visitors were nearly lynched, German
and American alike"
Mr. Hill, reporting from Berlin, is
sharply critical of the fact that with
all the Army's extensive machinery for
indoctrination, this correspondent has
not found soldier who could recall
having received any elucidation, stim-
ulation, or encouragement about his
present chores" I regret that must
confirm this impression from my own
weeks in Germany.
Occupation problems present far finer
psychological difficulties than fighting,
and demand more education
Our Army leaders need aid in this
particular problem: 1t should engage
universities and religious leaders. For
the American CT occupation forces
either will be an instrument for inter-
national understanding between peoples
or-just the opposite
Evening star., 1945-09-14

have to do along this line will de-
pend, Of course, on how much oil
1t finds in Ethiopia, but the country,
in any case. is guaranteed a square
deal.
As for diplomatic reactions, pos
sibly the British or Russians may
read some special significance into
the fact that American oil interests,
which are already active in the
Middle East, have now spread across
the Red Sea from Saudi Arabia to
Ethiopia. But 1t is highly doubtful
that this comes as surprise to
them. 1t Is all part of normal COM
petition, and unless and until there
Is some international compact on
the subject, such agreements will be
quite in order, whether the interests
involved are our own or those of
another country.
Evening star., 1945-09-14
n This Changing World =.
BY Constantine Brown

America is paying In q round about
way through UNREA some OF the rep-
arations Russia Is exacting from Ger
many. This is reported 10 be the con-
clusion OF the official House Inyestigat-
ing Committee which spent several
weeks in Europe looking into condi-
tions concerning special legislation"
covering UNRRA and lease-lend.
The Representatives who made an
exhaustive inquiry into the way UNRItA
materials are being used have discoy-
cred, for instance, that IS per cent OF
the port facilities in the former Ger
man-occupied harbors of Gdynia, Dan
zig and Stettin have been taken to Rus
sia as reparations. In order to put these
ports. which are now Polish. In working
order, American materials are being
sent to replace the machinery taken to
Russia. Thus, we are indirectly paying
German war reparationS TO the Soviets
The picture of the countries they
visited presented by the committee
composed of Representatives Bolton,
Gordon, Mundt and Ryter, Is dismal
Conditions In Poland are described as
particularly hopeless.
= N
Since the three Polish ports in the
Baltic Sea cannot be used to bring in
supplies, the Romanian port of Con-
stanza in the Black Sea is serving as
a port of entry. Conditions in that Ro-
manian port controlled by the Russians
appear hopeless. Much OF the American
supplies are being spirited away soon
after they are unloaded and find their
way into the black market. The Rep
resentatiyes have, for instance. seen no
less than 1872 American trucks, desper-
stely needed in Poland, where the trans
portation system has broken down, on
the Constanza wharfs, stripped of their
tires and other equipment which, they
were told, had been sold in the black
market. Many other supplies. such as
food and clothing, also disappear quick
ly and are sold to those few who can
pay sky-high black market prices. Only
a relatively small quantity Of goods
reaches Poland. where 1t is being dis
tributed in accordance with the wishes
OF the Russian administrator
The coming winter will be the hardest
Evening star., 1945-09-14

Poland has ever experienced. All the
cattle and the horses, not only from
Poland but also from CZechoslovakia
and Austria. are being sent to the
u. s. s. r. The only traffic on the hun
dreds OF miles of roads which the
Representatives could see from the
planes which took them to Warsaw and
Moscow was herds OF cattle which were
being moved from west TO east. The
Polish peasants were given land. Seven
thousand large estates belonging TO the
aristocratic Polish landed nobility were
divided into $500 900 small holdings and
given to the formerly destitute peasan-
try. These holdings range from to 10
acres. Normally. such small properties
would barely be SUFFICIENT to feed their
owners. But the peasants, being de-
priyed Of cattle, have to work the land
with their own hands.
But even II the impossible were
achieved and through hard work the
peasants could fully exploit their own
property, law passed by the govern
ment. provides that 30 per cent Of the
crops must be surrendered to the au-
thorities. The Red Army OF occupation,
which must remain in Poland for some
time to assure communications between
the U. S. S. r. and the German terri
tories under Russia's control, has to be
fed by the Poles and the appetite Of the
Red soldiers Is healthy.
The new Polish Government which
has been recognized by all the members
Of the United Nations is described as
completely subservient to Moscow and
is unable to lift its voice on behalf of
its suffering citizens. The three out
Siders" who were brought into the gov
ernment as a gesture toward the Unit
ed States and Great Britain are mere
figure Stanislaw Mikolajczyk, in
particular, is in a difficult position and
two attempts on his life are said to
have been made so far. He escaped
with a light head wound when he was
shot at several weeks ago. The members
of the House Committee were unable
to contact him. They were told he had
gone on trip to Krakow while they
were in Warsaw
Evening star., 1945-09-14
No More Wild Men
From the Manchester Guardian.


Borneo, which has come so much into
the news as the ring tightens around
Japanese communications, brings to
mind Victorian character famous In
circuses and in what the Americans call
dime museums. Surely one of the most
popular exhibits up and down the coun-
tryside was Wild Man From Borneo1"
1t does not seem very clear why from
Borneo, except that before the days of
fight very little was known of the in
terror of the island, and the wild man"
might as well have originated there az
anywhere else, though one seems to
remember that there were always scep-
tics who would haye it that County Cork
was more likely place of origin, and it
was joke at one time that the wild
man talked Irish when of duty. This
recollection seems to add poignancy to
the rapid shrinkage in world aboriginal
exhibits. Every year now less and less
of the world remains unexplored and
fewer and fewer rustics are likely to be
impressed by the spectacle of wild men
from anywhere. The Fiji Islander, for
instance, ceased some time ago to be an
article Of commerce.
Evening star., 1945-09-14
Job of Governing Japan
By Mai. George FIELDING Eliot

it becomes for us to bring about any
change, by direct or indirect methods,
in system of government which is
fundamentally incompatible with our
objectives of peace and security.
Obviously the Japanese leaders-the
court party, the militarists, the indus
trialists and the bureaucracy-will try
to make capital out of our difficulties.
If we make mistakes, they will seek to
reap advantage therefrom. The under
lying purposes of all these groups are
the same, though any one of them
would knife the others in the back as
expediency might suggest from time to
time. All want to preserve the present
system, with the Emperor at its apex;
all want to prepare war Of revenge
all fear more than anything else the
actual emergence of real peoples gov
ernment in Japan, for that would be
the final and definite finish to their
hopes
This is situation which can be met
only by carefully prepared, intelli-
gent, firm and ell-conducted policy
directed toward preparing the way for
just such a peoples government, as in
fact We are pledged to do by the Pots
dam terms. Such policy cannot re-
suit from mere drifting. meeting ex-
igencies as they arise and leaving mat
ters In the meanwhile to be carried on
by military officers with no training for
their jobs.
This is essentially a problem calling
for study and solution by the best
informed and most able experts on
Japanese and Far Eastern affairs which
we can find. Certainly it will have to
be carried out, in large part by the
Army; but again and again we have
seen, during the course of this war,
that the training which fits a general
for high command does not necessarily,
nor even usually, fit him for the ham
ding of political matters The Army
must have wise and careful guidance.
The problems arising from the occu-
patton Of Japan and from our relations
with the japanese people as long as
their destinies are In our hands, are
peculiarly American responsibilities, In
which we can expect much less aid from
our Allies than is the case in Europe.
In Europe we are members of part
nership even though we are the strong
est single member OF the partnership;
In Japan we are, to great extent, on
our own, and the results obtained, for
good or Ill, will be commensurate with
the ability which we Americans show
in discharging the heaviest responsible
ity OF this nature which we have had
to assume In all our history.
tcopyrisht 1e4S)
Evening star., 1945-09-14
Ethiopiun Oil Deal

Despite some suggestions to the
contrary. there seems no good rea-
son to expect diplomatic repercus-
sions from the fifty-year concession
granted by Ethiopia to the Sinclair
Oil Corporation. The agreement en-
larges the sphere of private Ameri-
can petroleum interests in that part
of the world. but our. State Depart
ment was kept informed of the
negotiations leading up to it, and as
far as other countries are concerned,
there appears to be nothing in it
that violates the principles OF fair
competition.
The concession gives to the Sin
clair company the exclusive right to
explore Ethiopia for oil and to de-
velop and market whatever is found.
In return the company must pay
royalties to the Ethiopians and un-
dertake to promote their general
welfare by financing the schooling
OF a certain number of them in the
United States and by establishing "a
trade school or schools, a hospital or
hospitals, clinics, sanitary facilities,
research organizations and other
public institutions for the enhance
ment, education, health, culture and
prosperity of the people of the coun-
try"
In relation to similar agreements
in the past between different coun-
tries and private corporations, the
welfare provision is rather unusual
"a new departure of sorts, with
wholesome implications. It is in
keeping, moreover, with the spirit OF
last summers Anglo-American oil
accord in that the accord, which
never became operative and which
is soon to be renegotiated, specifi-
cally called for such provisions. How
much the Sinclair company viii
Evening star., 1945-09-14
Devereux and Wake

When Pearl Harbor was attacked,
Major James P. Devereux had a
garrison of 385 Marines at Wake.
Also, on the island were 68 naval
officers and enlisted personnel and
about l 200 civilian workers. Against
these numbers, the Japanese threw
an overwhelming force, but before
they were able to seize this tiny bit
OF American soil, they lost IL planes,
a submarine, destroyer, a cruiser
and, according to their own account,
no fewer than 1000 men. AS against
this, our losses were three Navy,
some 81 civilians and 46 Marines
a total of SO.
This was an epic of American skill
and American bravery-a battle
thrilling and inspiring to all of us
here at home in those first black days
Of the war in the Pacific. Major Dev-
ereux, however, about whose fate 50
much anxiety had been felt for SO
long but who has at last been found
alive and we'll on Hokkaido Island
in Japan, apparently is q man who
dislikes theatrical exaggerations.
THE first thing I'd like to get on the
record" he says, "is that we did not
send that radio message saying,
Send us more Japs.' We had all and
more than we could handle right
then and there. There were Just too
many of them to hold of any longer" ;"
So ends legend. But Major
Devereux's modesty does not in the
least diminish the truly heroic pro-
portions OF the battle he led at Wake
He and his small force did not call
for more Japs, but it appears to be
a fact that he had to give the cease
firing order three times before his
men understood precisely what that
meant. This island might never
have fallen, for its defense was so
courageously skillful that reinforce
ments-had they been possible
might easily have turned back the
invaders. Along with his men,
modest Major Devereux-who after
all these years is being promoted
to a lieutenant colonelcy-has won
lasting place in American history.
Evening star., 1945-09-14
An Open Secret

Chairman Connally of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee Is
quoted as saying that "the secret of
the atomic bomb ought to be re-
tanned by the United States" The
same view has been expressed by
other members of Congress. 1t is a
surprising view. 1t is surprising
because nothing is clearer than the
fact that basic secrecy in this field
is impossible.
Already, except for certain manu-
featuring techniques, the British
and the Canadians share in our
knowledge of the weapon, having CO.
operated closely with us in develop
ing 1t. Beyond that. virtually all
the theoretical and experimental
background of the harnessed atom
ranging from Einstein's mathemat-
ical formula on matter and energy
to concrete fission methods-is an
open book to the whole world. Nazi
Germany, it must be remembered,
probably was only six months or a
year behind us in this field. and
other countries-including Russia
almost certainly have not been neg
lecting research in it.
Perhaps, if we want to, we can
keep our knowledge exclusive for the
next two or three years. but after
that-and our own scientists en-
phasize this point-every major ma
tion should be in position to manu-
facture atomic bombs and seek other
uses for atomic energy. In short, it
isas hopeless to try to make secret
of this as it would have been to
make a secret of the first steam
engine. The principles are known
far and wide, and any modern power
can proceed with their practical ap-
plication.
Accordingly, in whatever action ii
may take regarding the harnessed
atom, Congress will be well advised
to keep In mind that an effort tc
legislate long-term secrecy = apart
Evening star., 1945-09-14

"If civilization is to survive We must
cultivate the science Of human relation
ships. the ability of all peoples of all
kinds to live together and work to-
gether in the same world at peace
Franklin D. Roosevelt's last words
There is one place where the science
OF human relationships Is notably lack
ing of application, and that is, unfor-
tunately, between American soldiers and
officers and the citizens OF the Allied
European countries where they are sta
toned.
Our Army, in combat second to none,
and in wartime discipline admirable. has
quite evidently, been simply not condi-
toned for occupation tasks and be-
havior. This is not the fault of the men.
If the American Army has hitherto
adequately performed the services re-
quiz ed Of it, it can continue to perform
the proper services in another field,
provided it has been prepared for them
as carefully as for combat. 1t is evident
that 1t has not been.
During the last few days David An
derson and Gladwin Hill. both of the
New York Times, have sent disquieting
reports from Brussels and Berlin, con-
firming that our men fail to under
stand the necessity for occupying Ger
many, and are often acting in manner
offensive to the Allied peoples.
There are understandable reasons.
Most men, who have had months and
years Of active combat and realize the
war is over, want to know why, since
they have done the dirty. bloody, dan
gerous part of the job, the boys back
home, who have had training but never
set foot outside the United States, can't
take on from here.
The dissatisfaction with the point
system is not confined to the troops in
Europe. In some camps here at home
the men are openly rebellious. A citizen
Army, many of whose members have
been through the Normandy campaign
and the invasion of Germany, does not
take kindly to being redeployed to the
Pacific as occupation troops. The men
have not been adequately prepared to
realize that peace also has Its burdens
and responsibilities, and in any case
they feel that they, who bore the brunt
of battle, should not have to bear the
brunt of these responsibilities, too.
In July reported the dismaying lack
OF proper public relations liaison be-
Evening star., 1945-09-14
On Welcoming Heroes

w oc11A1ASVOll 1loo IloS Vi1C PACoooAC Q
In recent weeks of welcoming home
two great soldiers-General Eisen-
hover and General Wainwright.
There was nothing lacking in
warmth of enthusiasm or in efforts
by Washingtonians to make ade-
quate arrangements in the limited
time available. But there was dis
tinct lack of the pageantry which
doesso much to add to the color and
the dignity of such occasions. Let
ters to The Star from citizens who
stood for hours in the crowds along
the curb to pay their respects to
returned heroes complain, and with
justification that all they saw was
a short procession of hurrying
automobiles.
The Navy should be planning now
to bring some Of its outstanding war
leaders home soon and Washington
awaits an opportunity to pay its own
compliments to Admiral Nimitz, Ad-
miral Halsey and others when they
get here. The same tributes paid in
Congress to the soldiers will doubt
less be paid to the sailors. But it is
to be hoped that parade of some
sort can be arranged in connection
with such future welcomes and that
the parade will march along the
traditional route of heroes-Penn-
sylvania avenue-and not approach
the Capitol by the side entrance
known as Constitution avenue.
The list of military men who de-
serve a special tribute from Congress
and the President Is pretty long
one. General Macarthur, according
to a recent news story, is considering
a hurried trip home, for he has been
away long time. General Marshall
and Admiral King, when the time
comes for them to take advantage of
the retirement to. which both are
eligible, should receive some signal
distinction by grateful Nation,
which undoubtedly will be conferred.
AS yet there has been no tribute paid
to the Marines, through any of their
leaders, but Major Devereux, now
that he has been found, probably
should be coming home soon and he
is already one of the outstanding
heroes of the Marines.
There should be established Joint
committee in Congress to begin the
planning for some great celebration
of victory in which representative
units of the Army, Navy, Marine
Corps and Air Force fighting forces
will participate. Whether such
celebration can be combined with
{ appropriate tribute to some of our
great war leaders, or whether it
will be delayed until after they
have been welcomed individually
is a question. But some organized
thought should be given to the sub
ject by the Government, so that
appropriate planning can be made
in advance.
In the meantime, when other
heroes return to receive the Presi-
dents and the Congress well
Done" let there be an escort of men
marching to the martial airs of our
fine bands, with flags flying up and
down the length of that historic
route of the heroes from the Capitol
to the White House.
Evening star., 1945-09-14

In recent editorial, the Herald
Tribune asks with considerable force
the question which good many Amer
leans are asking themselves: Are We,
by our Japanese policy, raising up the
Samurai sword or the Bill Of Rights?"
There can be no doubt that there is
reason for uneasineSs as to what is
happening In Japan; but these are the
preliminary moves only. What really
matters is what comes later, as the real
basis of our policy develops. What
really matters, in fact, is that there
should be a policy and not series Of
improvisations.
This is the crux of the Herald
Tribune's argument that 'the military
mind Is a poor instrument for meeting
the issues" raised by the occupation of
Japan. The military mind is quite
satisfactory as an instrument for the
execution of policy as far as the matter
of disarmament and the temporary
establishment of order are concerned.
But 1t is not satisfactory for the formu-
lation Of the broad-gauge policy which
must be pursued in bringing Japan at
last to a condition in which the jap
anese people may be re-accepted Into
the family of nations as reformed
and useful citizen of the world. And,
as the Herald Tribune adds, "unhappily,
the State Department is hardly better"
Obviously, the situation which we now
face in governing Japan through the
medium of the Emperor and under the
provisions of the present Japanese con-
stitution-at least for the time being
is one of extreme delicacy. We might
even find ourselves in the position of
having to use American troops to de-
fend the Emperor's authority against
rebellious subjects-who might represent
those very elements within the Japanese
state which we would be most anxious
to encourage.
1t is just this sort of situation which
the military mind is not we'll adapted
to handle. The policy which we are
now carrying out in Japan is passed on
decisions taken at Potsdam, and de-
signed to bring about the surrender Of
the Japaneses forces as quickly and with
as little further effusion Of blood rs
possible. That has been accomplished.
We should now seek to pass to the next
stage Of our Japanese policy as quickly
as we can
We are not pledged to continue to
govern through the Emperor. We are
not pledged-in fact we have carefully
avoided making any pledge-to main-
tain the imperial perogatives as laid
down in the Japanese constitution.
The longer Ne continue TO support and
Ne tho Emperor tbs more dtmcult