davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1945-10-25
The Political Mill
BY Gould Lincoln

President Truman, in his message to
Congress on universal military training,
dealt realistically with a problem of
huge importance to the future of the
United States. He is the first Chief
Executive who has presented a definite
military training program before the
national legislature and asked its en-
actment into law. However, the late
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in his
last message to Congress on the state
of the Union on January of this year
said:
II am clear in my own mind that, as an
essential factor in the maintenance of
peace in the future. we must have uni
versal military training after this war,
and I shall send a special message to
the Congress on this subject" How the
late President proposed to set up such
a system was never revealed before his
death three months later His last Off
cial word, however, on the subject was
the Straight-out declaration now quoted.
His successor has laid the issue Souarely
before Congress.
Not only did Mr.. Truman put forward
excellent arguments for universal mill
tary training, but he answered obiec-
tions which have been made to the plan
Military training is not, as he said,
'peacetime conscription," although that
is the label which its opponents have
sought to tie it to in their efforts to
kill 1t. There could be no induction
and there is no induction-into the
military service under Mr.. Truman's
proposal. There can be no induction
into that service of the trainees unless
by act of Congress in case of future
emergency.
The real advantage to the youth of
the country, and to the country itself
lies in the fact that if We engage in
war, the draft will fall on men who
have been trained to arms, who have
knowledge of the handling of intricate
new weapons, instead of men who have
had no training and no knowledge of
these weapons. Still another advantage
Will be found in raising the physical
standards of the Nations manpower
through this period of training and in
lowering the illiteracy rate of the
country.
Every American wishes his country to
be strong. 1t is strong today-by reason
OF its trained manpower, its Navy and
its air force, and its great industrial
resources. 1t was not strong in 1914
when the World War raised its head
Evening star., 1945-10-25
Chance to Avoid Failure

The War Fund campaign will be
continued through this week and as
far into next week as it is possible
to continue it without interference
with the Victory Loan drive, which
begins on Monday.
1t is being continued past the
original time allotted for the drive in
the hope that many thousands of
potential contributors, who have
delayed their gifts or who have not
yet been canvassed, will produce
many of the dollars needed to reach
the goal.
Yet the most optimistic forecasts
indicate that we shall fall short by
as much as Is per cent of the
$4,970,000 now sought. That is one
of the reasons for the special appeal
for ten-dollar thank you" gifts,
based on the belief that there are
many thousands of WashingtonianS
who will take this means of express
ing their own gratitude over personal
blessings that the end of the war
has brought to them.
The campaign this year has faced
many difficulties, including the dis
locations and uncertainties following
the end of the war, the necessity for
an earlier beginning date in order
not to interfere with the Victory
Bond campaign, the anticipated con-
fusion in the public mind over the
support of certain war" activities
in peacetime. Yet the pattern of
giving has shown the same variation
in response between identical groups,
one meeting its quota quickly and
another tagging far behind, which
indicates successful leadership in one
case and lack of it in another rather
than any refusal on the part of
contributors in general.
The effect of a substantial deficit
In the campaign goal will mean a
further pruning of welfare and relief
activities which have already been
cut hard. That is to be avoided
wherever possible, but the ability to
avoid it depends on reaching a
majority of the approximately
100000 potential contributors who
have not yet responded That is
why the loyal and hard working
members of the volunteer campaign
organization, who have done so we'll
in spite of difficulties, are determined
to keep on trying. Their efforts
should be rewarded.
Evening star., 1945-10-25

now manufacture that destructive
weapon.
Will our wartime Allies take revenge
on us within the next few years by at
tempting to destroy this country Lecause
we decided to keep an American British
Canadian invention Tor ourselves? And
If we hand 1t over to them now, will
they not use it to further whatever plans
they may have and which we might be
compelled to oppose either now or later?
This kind OF thinking does not seem to
hang together, at least in the minds of
those who prefer to think realistically
rather than emote.
President Truman confirmed on Tues
day in an address to Congress what had
been known for several weeks. That we
cannot be certain that the lasting peace
for which we have fought this war is a
reality as yet. Too many dark clouds
are covering the political horizon in
Europe and Asia to permit the most
lnVeterate Wishful thinkers to believe
that we have achieved peace in our
time"
AS the world stands today, no diplo-
matte effort can be successful unless it is
backed by a strong air, army and naval
force.
~
Under such circumstances, 1t should
be clear to any one who even vaguely
follows the international Developments
that a precipitate rehabilitation of our
armed forces and too-speedy recon-
version of our war plants might be con-
ducive to war rather than peace. We
have emerged from the war as the great
est power in the world Hence, all our
military movements, trends of thought
and industrial activities are watched
with eagerness by other nations.
1t Is obvious that our diplomatic activ-
tiles directed to peace at any price will
be severely handicapped if we cannot
back our policy-framers with enough
strength to make their words and ideas
respected. Yet the very same groups
and individuals who advocate an un-
limited string of concessions to other
powers and economic assistance
amounting to billions of dollars in
order to save the United Nations Or
ganization" are the loudest in demand
ing an immediate and total demobiliza-
ton of our defense forces.
Evening star., 1945-10-25
Indian Summer

Stalking the forest, approaching swiftly,
Strides young chteftain dripping blood
from his shield,
Streaming his rich scarf OF scarlet, he
deity
TlDirls leapes that hnger, slotc-kissed BY
the cold
Suddenly. parting the curtains OF yeHotu.
Out from the iDtgiuana, she of the black
hair
Stabbed NTH gold aYro,Ds, seeks the cool
Dilloan,
Bathes in the tears that Hon dosDn to
the shore.
In sdf6als OF doeskin, through autnmn's
portal,
Into the sun glide the chief and his lope.
Splitting red tDine from q chalice OF
crystal,
Pouring out treasures on king and on
knope.
No,o day and night are polcanic Nth
beauty.
Late birds tDith eeriness ttcitter from
eGpes,,
Hills OF red gold are proclniming infnitp.
Valleys lie silent IN chordls Of praise.
LEILA PIER KING,
Evening star., 1945-10-25
Other Venezuelan Crises

The average citizen of the United
States knows very little about Vene-
zuela. If he were challenged, it is
likely that he could mention no more
than one or two of the most obvious
facts concerning that country. He
realizes that it is part of the north
ern coast of South America and
that its people speak Spanish Be-
yond these simple details he cannot
go.
Yet periodically the American
public is reminded of the existence
of Venezuela in ways which cannot
be ignored. For example, ip 1919 it
was reported to Washington that
vessels whose home ports were on
Venezuelan shores were being en-
ployed to commit acts of piracy upon
American commerce. The native
population was engaged in revolu-
ton against Spain under the leader
ship of Simon Bolivar. 1t was the
policy of the United States to be
neutral in the struggle, and certain
lawless elements took advantage of
the circumstance. President John
Quincy Adams, requested Captain
Oliver Hazard Perry, the hero of the
Battle of Lake Erie in the War of
1872 and an older brother of the
famous naval officer who subse-
quently forced open the gates of
Japan, to go to Angostura, the
capital of Venezuela at that time,
and explain the attitude, purposes
and desires of the United States.
Perry undertook the mission as
ordered, assembled a small fleet and
proceeded to Angostura as promptly
as possible. There he interviewed
Bolivar and filed formal protest
against "unwarranted acts of rebel
agents and privateers" Shortly
afterward, he fell i'll of yellow fever
while descending the Orinoco and
died, aged only thirty-four.
Nearly a century later, another
expedition allegedly was planned by
another President under conditions
not altogether different. 1t hap
pened that in 1902 the German,
British and Italian governments
decided to take joint action to
compel President Castro to settle
claims for defaulted debts and for
injuries suffered by their nationals
during several years of internal dis
order in Venezuela" According to
the Dictionary of American History,
the German government had previ-
ously informed the United States
That no permanent occupation
OF territory was contemplated, and
secretary (of State) John Hay had
replied that the Monroe Doctrine did
not guarantee any state against
punishment for misconduct, provided
that there was no occupation of
territory by non-American power"
Data are conflicting, but "a formal
blockade" is reported to have been
established in December, several
Venezuelan gunboats were seized
and fortifications on the coast were
bombarded." The Castro admins
Evening star., 1945-10-25
This Changing World
By Constantine Broom

Our top military men cannot under
stand what trends the American public
is following today.
They have been spoiled in the last
four years by lavish praise from the
people at home and by the eagerness of
Congress to comply with all their re-
quests. The usually y-careful Congress
sometimes voted large military appro-
priations without question. For instance,
when the plans for the development of
the atomic bomb were completed, Gen.
Marshall went before the Senate Ap-
preparations Committee and informed
its members in an executive session that
he needed $1,2Oo0 100000 for purpose
which he could not disclose even to
them.
Gen. Marshall requested them to ask
no questions, because he could reveal
nothing except that he needed the
money. His word was accepted and the
amount was given to the War Depart
ment without further investigation.
Whenever the Navy needed large funds
they were granted.
Our military leaders fully realize that
with the end of the war the congress
sional committees will tighten the purse
strings. But what bewilderS them is the
attitude of the public toward such ques-
tions as the sharing of the atomic bomb
secret and the military preparedness of
the United States
X *
There seems to be no doubt that the
formula for splitting the atom is in the
possession of powers other than Amer
ica, Britain and Canada. The whole
question revolves around when these
powers will be able to put atom-splitting
devices into production.
So far as we know, the Russians may
have it in production now. There is no
way of learning what is going on in the
U. S. S. r.
Our top military men can not under
stand what is behind the shouts Of or
ganized or isolated individuals in this
country who clamor that we share our
precious secret" otherwise tens of mil
lions of Americans and our principal
cities might become doomed. 1t is hard
to understand how this will be pre-
vented by surrendering our time ad-
vantage" to the nations which can not
Evening star., 1945-10-25
Cool Thinking Needed
By Maj. George Fielding Eliot

Atomic jitters is very dangerous
disease.
If you think this disease is not serious,
just take look at some of the atomic
legislation now pending in Congress.
The May-JohnSon bill is bad enough
and perhaps the most dangerous threat
we have to face just at the moment. 1t is
symptomatic, however. I have been
reading some other bills which are now
pending in various congressional COM
mittees on the subject of atomic energy,
There are just a dozen of them. The
idea behind many of them seems to be
that we have terrible secret and the
main thing is to keep that secret in our
possession so nobody can hurt us with it.
That idea is terribly wrong. There is
nc such secret, as scientist after eminent
scientist has testified. Any other great
nation with enough resources can do
what we have done. It will take them a
little time but they can do it. And if we
go secretive on them, they will take
measures to protect themselves. Since
protection against the atomic bomb con-
sists principally in the good old idea of
thrice armed is he who gets his blow in
fust," it should be obvious to the most
AAiia2eCd iliVCihSClISC llldt ill dltlUuQ6 OF
secrecy and suspicion on our part will
almost automatically translate itself into
an undercover race for superiority in the
development of these terrible weapons
which will in due course bring about
hair-trigger situation in the world.
X
Look at what some of our legislators
are doing:
There is, for example, the bill of Rep
resentative Bender, Republican, of Ohio
which is short and simple enough in all
conscience. 1t provides that "any person
who discloses any information or i'm
parts any knowledge, or who agrees or
contracts to disclose any information or
impart any knowledge which would be of
any assistance in learning the secret of
the manufacture of the atomic bomb.
shall upon conviction thereof be pun
ished by DEATH Which would make
certain, Of course, that all scientific re-
search in this country would come to an
abrupt halt. for no scientist could so
much as speak to another scientist on
any subject related to nuclear physics
without putting himself in the shadow
of the electric chair.
OF similar import is bill introduced
by much more experienced Congress
man, Mr.. Summers, Democrat, of Texas,
which would provide the death penalty
Evening star., 1945-10-25

or Imprisonment at the discretion of the
court Tor any one who, without authority
OF Congress, communicates, delivers,
transmits discloses or divulges or at
tempts so to do, to any person whatso-
ever any information concerning the
composition, manufacture, production or
use OF the explosive known as the atomic
bomb, or any record, paper or document
containing such information"
Representative Ludlow, Democrat, of
Indiana take a different approach. He
wants the President to get an agree
ment from other countries "to ban the
atomic bomb forever as an instrument
of war" But he does not offer any sug-
gestion as to how this is to be done.
Senator Vandenberg, Republican, of
Michigan, in more sensible vein, wants
joint committee of six Senators and
six Representatives to make full study
and investigation of the development
and control of the atomic bomb and
report to Congress. This bill passed the
Senate on September %. Yesterday,
however, the Senate also passed Senator
MacMahon's bill to establish a commit
tee of its own, of II members, for the
same purpose. If the House passes the
Vandenberg bill fnow in the Rules Com
mittee) there will certainly be some
conflict of jurisdiction.
There are several other bills relating
to the subject of atomic energy which
are in general repetitions of some OF
the above.
I am very far from saying that some
Of these measures do not make good
deal of sense, particularly the ones which
call for study and reflection as against
immediate action without study and re-
fiection.. Interest for the moment
seems to center on the May-Johnson
bill, which the House Military Affairs
Committee is considering after totally
inadequate hearings and under obvious
pressure for quick action before sober
second thought can set in.
This is dangerous piece of legiSla-
ton, which ought to be widely aired and
discussed before anything Is done about
1t, for it sets up an ironclad control of
all atomic discussion and development
and would, in the Judgment of many
qualified scientists, virtually stif1e free
scientific research In this country.
Let us have little more comon sense
and cool reflection, and less OF the
atomic jitters.
tcopyrisht, 1o45.y
Evening star., 1945-10-25
Believes Adults to Blame

To the Editor of The Star:
With reference to the current dis
cusSion about the prevalence of smoking
and drinking among high school stu
dents at school games" it seems to me
that the question is being approached
from the wrong angle.
Why limit the investigation to what
goes on at school games? We all know
from observation that very young
people, of high school age, and presun-
ably high school students, are indulging
freely in cigarette smoking We see
them everywhere, girls and boys. We
hear them on our streetcars and buses
Dragging of what kinds of liquor they
have had to drink and acting the part,
making general nuisances of them
selves. 1t is not question of what goes
on merely at school games, or at school.
1t is the daily living habits that need
correcting. Many young people stupidity
and ignorantly have accepted these
habits without question, as "the smart
thing" because everybody does it," as
they say. Why? Because neither the
home nor the school has inspired them
with proper ideals-those ideals which
in times past were instilled in pupils by
their parents and school teachers as an
essential part of their education. No
one has made them realize that the
really smart thing is to be individual
and independent-not to do what
a1c Sc <l0,,,
every such question to standard of
judgment within themselves, which
would decide for them what really is
worthwhile and would turn them in
stinctiVely away from ugly and harmful
habits.
Why have the schools failed to pre-
vent such conditions? Perhaps because
of the prevalence of the smoking habit
among teachers. When I attended
school smoking school teacher was
unheard of. Now they are accepted
as matter of course, phase of our
boasted personal liberty" We have
forgotten the Bible warning: Brethren,
ye have been called unto liberty: only
use not liberty as an occasion to the
fiesh.' This philosophy of personal
liberty" is developing race of intensely
selfish individuals who have absolutely
no regard for the rights of others. Not
only that, it is leading its followers
into slavery more abject than African
slavery, slavery of mind and body
from which no release can be bought.
AS long as our teachers do not univer-
sally discourage and discredit the
smoking habit, or as long as they in
dulge in it themselves, as many do,
what hope is there for the pupils? A
teachers example has great weight
Why have parents failed? Because in
great many homes the example of
indulgence in both smoking and drink
ing is furnished by one or both parents.
know of homes where very young chill
dren have continually before them the
sight of parents both drinking (socially)
and smoking, where the children are
trying to live In continual whirl of
such social indulgence, and where these
habits are presented as a necessarily
and justifiable source Of pleasure.
VERA e. ADAMS.
Evening star., 1945-10-25

tration quickly suggested arbitration
which was supported by the United
States and accepted by Germany,
Great Britain and Italy. Theodore
Roosevelt after some years had
passed declared that he had "com-
PEELED the German government to
agree to arbitration by threatening
to send fleet under Admiral Dewey
to the Venezuelan coast" but
scholars who have investigated the
matter have concluded that Mr..
Roosevelt's recollection was
not entirely accurate"
Evening star., 1945-10-25
Testing SEQ Power

The NaVy's plan to test the atomic
bomb as depth charge will hold
the intense interest not only of this
country but Of the whole world, and
not until the test itself is carried
out will there be any way of knowing
how sea power is likely to change in
the future.
All we can know now is that the
atomic bomb makes some kind of
change inevitable. Beyond that, as
far as naval construction, naval or
ganization and naval operation are
concerned, there is nothing but a
great question mark at present.
What will this incomparably power
full weapon do to surface vessels if
1t is exploded in the sea beneath
them? Will they be crushed? Va
porized? Capsized? Or swallowed by
giant, boiling, radioactivated waves?
What will be the fate of submarines
caught within the area of explosion?
And will this area be extensive
enough to make obsolete all mod
ern tactical and strategical concepts
of fleets in battle formation?k
These questions must be answered,
and the only way to answer them is
by a direct physical experiment of
the sort projected by the Navy. I'm
til we have that, speculation over
the future of sea power will be made
up in large part of nothing but
academic theory and uninformed
guesSes. Once the atomic bomb is
tested as a depth charge, however,
there will be concrete evidence to
give intelligent direction to naval
planning. And to enlarge upon that
evidence, to gather as much of it
as we can, it would seem advisable
to detonate one or more of the
bombs above the surface of the sea
as we'll.
1t has been said that the surface
effects can be deduced from what
we already know of the terrible
Hiroshima and Nagasaki explosions,
but those took place on land, and
while it may be theoretically possible
to tell from them what would happen
in a similar explosion over water,
theory is not good substitute for
concrete demonstration. This seems
the more true because there is every
reason to believe that the atomic
bombs let loose on Japan are old
fashioned compared with the ones
we can produce today, and these in
turn probably will be outmoded by
the ones we shall be able to make
tomorrow.
The test itself, of course, will not
be. easy to organize. Finding the
guinea pig" will be the least diff
cult part of it, since enemy warships
and our own obsolete vessels will be
available as targets. But lining up
these targets in some far-off sector
of the ocean, too deep for anchoring,
wilRcreate peculiar problem, nu-
Evening star., 1945-10-25

merous scientific measures will be
necessary to insure good observation,
and extraordinary precautions will
have to be taken to protect lives. All
this can and must be done, however,
because only by doing it can we hope
to shape sound naval policy for the
years ahead.
Evening star., 1945-10-25

Europeans say they can't under
stand American politics. But they
nave no monopoly on misunder-
standing. Most Americans can't
understand European politics, either.
Evening star., 1945-10-25

AS ardently as Penelope longed
for and believed in the return of
Ulysses, so do American smokers
await the temperance of the two
sided matchbox.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-03-28
RULING EXPECTED
 IN WAGE DISPUTE
American Brass Co. Em= plOyes to Benefit By An=
 tiCipafed Decision

Officials of the American Brass Company and executives of the CIO Union were waiting today for formal copies of ruling from the Regional Office of the War Labor Board It was understood that the board h adreached Q decision on a lopg standing dispute affecting present wage schedule for night shifts in the company's plants in Waterbury, Ansonia and Torring- ter
 Unofficially it was intimated sev- eral days ago that all increase of two and one-half cents an hour was granted and made retroactive over a period of several months.
 Pending receipt of the official notification from the board CIO executives have repeatedly declined to speculate on the breads ruling No information was forthcoming from the American Brass Company cffice, except the intimation that the official ruling was in the mail mad formal announcement would be made sometime today
 Several hundred employees in Ansonia, Torrington and Water bury will benefit. It is also possible that the board may rule on addi- tional vacation leaves for employees over one year of service, but less than five years. Five years or more entities them to tWo-WeekS vaca- ton with pay.