davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-03-19

amateur alike. Meanwhile, however,
a contemporary also achieved world
wide celebrity for his relation to
curfew proposal of a highly con-
structive nature. His name was
Colonel Alexander Hogeland, and
about 1880 he 'fathered" the earliest
of a series of ordinances generally
enforced in more than three thou
sand different places in the United
States, providing that children un-
der fifteen years of age must be of
the streets by nine o'clock in sum-
mer, eight o'clock in winter.
Whether James F. Byrnes ever
heard of Colonel Hogeland is not
part of the record in the current
debate about early closing" of cafes
and restaurants, but there is no
question about the intentions of the
Director of War Mobilization and
Reconversion having been good.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-03-19
Fall of CobIenz

In 1918, when troops of the
American Third Army marched into
Coblenz, they marched in merely as
an occupying force. The historic
city, like most of Germany, had
escaped the black wreckage of war.
The Rhine had not been crossed,
the armistice had already ended all
hoStilitieS, there was no eastern
front, and the German people.
though vanquished, had peace and
an opportunity to make the most of
their relatively unchanged produc-
tive plant.
How different the story is today!
The American Third Army now in
Coblenz is not an occupying army, but
an army on the march. The city itself,
like most of Germany, is largely a
place of ruins. The Rhine has been
crossed, there can be no armistice
except on terms of unconditional
surrender, there is an eastern front
as well as western one, and the
German people, though they have
already lost the war, have nothing
to look forward to but ever-more
devastating attack until Hitler and
the Gestapo are no longer able to
enforce suicidal resistance.
AS for Germanys productive plant,
a large part of it has long since
been bombed out of existence or
captured and the remainder faces
the immediate prospect of going the
same way. In theeeast the mighty
Red Army, now within about a days
march of Berlin, has already wrested
from the Germans such rich indus
trial areas as Silesia, and in the
west - where General Eisenhower
leads nine great armies, including
two whose whereabouts are still
Secret-the American Third Army,
viewing Coblenz as little more than
an incidental prize, is moving toward
swift junction with the American
DtNCllIll w CuI Oll lllc ltSOuICGS VI
the Saar and eliminate the only
remaining German salient on this
side of the Rhine. In addition, and
more Importantly, the American
First Army, pounding forward from
the bridgehead at Remagen, is oper-
ating like the southern arm of a
vast pincers against the vital Ruhr
region, while the northern arm may
be formed at any moment by the
Canadian First, the British Second
and the American Ninth crossing the
Rhine onto the North German Plain.
In the words of one Russian mill
tary commentator, the hour is fast
approaching when from the east
and west there will be stimuli
taneous blow of stupendous force
which will effect the iuncture of our
armies somewhere in central Ger
many" Places like Coblenz, which
in the last war marked the limits
of occupation, are now only way
stations on the line of march. This
time the whole of the Fatherland,
not merely fringe of it, is to be
OVerrun bV the yictOrS.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-03-19
On the Record
By Dorothy Thompson

hshed by the Stanford University Press.
Europe, Free and United" I hope it
gets the attention, in high places, that
it deserves.
The thesis of the declaration is:
/. That tie nations of Europe con-
stitute by reasons Of geography and
history an interdependent region of
the world
2. That nothing short of confedera-
ton can secure for Europe lasting
peace, speedy recovery and personal
liberty.
B. That a confederation authority
force to protect all European peoples
against aggression and tyranny.
4. That no fourth Reich should ever
be established, but when Hitlerism and
Pan-German imperialism have been
overcome the various states of the
Reich should enter the confederation.
5. That the confederation should
protect all Europeans against racial,
social and religious discrimination and
guarantee civil liberties and cultural
autonomies.
6. That social bill of rights should
ann ds>oul lllS al EQiopCdllo 11cCuOlll
from want"
7. That the confederation should
gradually liquidate all European
trade barriers and transform Europe
into single market with a common
currency and a co-ordinated transport
tation system.
8. That within these limits of con-
tfnental solidarity the European con-
federation should respect the various
democratic constitutions of its member
states and guarantee their security and
equality.
Sooner or later Europe must emerge
free and united or Europe will be, as
the authors of this declaration state,
an all but certain source of another
war, as well as a breeding ground for
tyranny, putsches, and adventurisms
of all sorts. Never in modern history
has Europe been SO fragmented, espe-
cially economically, as it has been since
the last war. In England, especially.
there is growing dismay lest a broken
Europe slowly drag down with it the
whole of western civilization.
Above all, the United States, out of
her own wonderful experience of the
Union of the States, should support
a European confederation plan. Vic
tory must be translated into new life
and that means a modern political, So
elal, and economic system.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-03-19
Curfew Background

Attempts to limit arbitrarily the
length of a community's use of time
never have been popular. Parents
who have endeavored to maintain
standard retiring rules for their
children know only too we'll how
commonly those rules are resented
by the youngsters who are supposed
to be their principal beneficiaries.
1t seems to be instructive in human
character to want to stay up late.
The very idea of a curfew initiates
people.
Yet the word originated in an
effort to conserve life and property.
During the Middle Ages, most cities
and towns were constructed of tim
Der, straw and other infammable
materials. Household cooking was
done over small fires burning on the
floors of rooms in which whole fam
lilies congregated. The suggestion
that vast CONGREGATIONS might be
prevented by covering" such do
meStic fires when the evening meal
had been cooked and eaten was put
forward in the interest of restricting
> the number of hours when the dan
ger admittedly was most compelling.
A curfeW bell allegedly was rung at
Carfax in oxford during the reign
of Alfred the Great. william the
Conqueror may have had a political
motive in mind when, in 1868, he
ordered the Saxons to extinguish all
flames within their dwellings at
eight o'clock, but he had ample
precedent for such an injunction.
The custom was abolished by Henry I
in HOO, but the signal was sounded
at West Ham as late as 1885, It may
be mentioned also that there was
military curfew in Northern Ireland
from 1920 until 1924.
The ballad about how Basil Under
wood was saved by Bessie, swinging
on the clapper of a bell that did not
ring, was written by Mrs. Rose
Alnora Hartwick Thorpe, a native
of Indiana, born in 1850. 1t was
published in the Detroit Commercial
Advertiser while its author was still
q schoolgirl and made her famous
among reciters, professional and
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-03-19
japan and the Air

Commenting upon the attacks
row being made by our Super Fort
resSes from the Marianas, the Off
cial Nazi news agency declares that
Japan's position is becoming SIM
liar to Germany's. This evaluation
seems altogether accurate, and it
merits being cited as a significant
enemy recognition of the fact that
the war in the vast Pacific Asiatic
theater has entered upon a pro-
foundry important new offensive
phase.
1t was not until we'll into 1912
that Allied air power was capable
of smashing the Reich with 1000 or
1000 tons of bombs in single raids,
and it was not until some time after
that that these raids finally became
steady offensive more deadly and
devastating than anything of the
kind ever seen before. Today the
aerial strikes against Japan, con-
stantly growing heavier and more
sustained, are clearly assuming the
proportions of those started against
Germany in 1912, and from now
on-as the japanese themselves
admit and as the seizure of Two
Jima indicates-they will undoubt-
edly increase in weight and fire.
quency until the assault becomes as
vast and uninterrupted as the one
directed against the Germans.
The last eight days have offered
preview of what is to come. In
November, not quite six months
ago, our Super Fortresses launched
their first attack from the Mari
anas against the Japanese home
land on small and experimental
scale. But now, within a single
eight-day period, we have seen them
strike at four great cities-Tokyo,
Nagoya, Osaka and Kobe-with
strength of the first magnitude,
fleets of 800 or more roaring over
and unleashing upon each of these
vital targets from 1000 to $500 tons
of incendiary bombs-a total of
about 10000.
When Allied air power began hit
ting Germany with 10000 tons of
bombs week, we all marveled, re-
membering that the Luftwaffe, at
the height of the 1904 blitz, could
unload on England an average of
only 200 tons daily. Now we have
reason to marvel again, this time
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-03-19
Nazi Moves Along Rhine
By Maj. George Fielding Eliot

In the news from the western front,
most of our attention continues to be
conferred on the Rhine Moselle Saar
triangle, where the steady progress
northward of the 7th United States
Army against an enemy who appears
to be withdrawing is contraSted with
the swift sweep of the 3rd Army's
armored and motorized divisions upon
that enemy's lines of retreat.
Our satisfaction at this progress is
tempered by the collapse of the center
span of the Ludendorf1 Bridge at Rema-
gen, which endangers the flow of sup
plies to the troops in the American
bridgehead east of the Rhine. We have
at least one pontoon bridge over the
Rhine, possibly more: and we have a
certain number of assault boats. We
have undoubtedly rugged ferries, and
can rig more. But the loss of the great
bridge for heavy-duty traffic Is serious,
and much depends on the use that was
made of it while we still had 1t.
BY all accounts there is considerable
accumulation of stores on the east bank.
We must hope that they will be suffi-
cient for all needs until additional pom
toon bridges can be constructed, and
particularly until the engineers can
throw across temporary span between
the piers Of the Ludendorff Bridge.
+ +
There is room for some speculation
as to the German attitude and inten-
lions. There are growing indications
that the Germans have already written
of the Rhine -Moselle- Triangle
bitter pill to swallow, but one which can
not be avoided without risking more
than the Wehrmacht can afford in the
way of troops and material.
But it is quite possible that the Ger
mans are hoping to use the troops from
the Saar front elsewhere - to put it
plainly, 1t may well turn out that the
German high command, unwilling to
take troops from the northern sector
of the front to deliver counterattack
against the threatening Remagen
bridgehead, has determined to take
them from the south
withdrawal of the mobile elements
of the LIST German Army from the Saar
frontier across the Rhine, in order to
switch them northward against the
Remagen bridgehead would make con-
siderable sense. 1t would, of course,
mean that there would be no counter
attack forces left in the triangle area
west Of the Rhine, and that the defen-
sive divisions left there would have to
withdraw when the pressure was ap-
piled; but the German high command
may have hoped that this withdrawal
could be gradual.
In that case, they would count On
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-03-19

Fifteen distinguished Europeans. or
Americans of European background,
most of them scholars, from 10 Euro
pean countries, have addressed a dec
laration and appeal to the President
and Congress, asking support for the
establishment of an au-European con-
federation at the end of the war, and
setting forth eight points in support
and description of such a program.
The idea is not new. 1t has been
advocated for years by the Pan-Euro-
pean movement headed by Richard
Goudenhove- Kalergi. 1t has had the
support in Britain of eminent pub
licists, such as Sir Walter Layton. 1t is
believed that Mr.. Churchill supports it,
and edged toward it in his famous
Guild Hall speech, calling for council
of Europe. and council of Asia, to
be established after the war.
As the great power world emerges
the problem of postwar Europe be-
comes more and more urgent. Will Eu-
rope fall into social and political anar-
chy? Are all the petty and anachronis-
tic sovereignties to be restored? Has not
this war demonstrated the essential
weakness of all the European states?
And has it not also proved that this
weakness is temptation to direct ag
erosion, and to indirect intervention
isns, spheres of influence, and all the
other power games which led to this
dreadful struggle? Is Europe as a CIV
ilization and culture finished? Is it to
be further Balkanized, or will there
again In some future. be an attempt
to write it under another domination.
by force or the threat of force?
These leading questions have so far
not received a statesmanlike answer.
In fact, reading the various declara-
lions, from Teheran. for instance, or
from Yalta. one receives the impress
sion that Europe" that great COM
pick of 350000,000 people, is hence
forth of negligible importance.
Yet the answer to these questions lies
in the heart of the German problem
This column has contended-with per-
haps boring repetitiveness-that there
is not solution to the German problem
until the European problem. of which
it is a part is solved. If the European
problem is solved, the German problem
can be. And only if the European prob
lem is solved can the world count on
peace NThe authors of the Declaration
of European interdependence" know it..
They advance the same thesis as that
Of Albert Guerard, in his new book pub
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-03-19
They Deserve Success

Without the advantages of any
formally organized money raising
machinery, residents of the area
covered by the Connecticut Avenue,
Cathedral Heights, Cleveland Park
and Kalorama Citizens Associations
are within sight of success in one of
the most interesting campaigns ever
undertaken in Washington. Only
$4,000 stands between what has been
subscribed. in cash and pledges, and
the $4,000 needed to assure acquisi-
ton of lot for a branch library
on Connecticut Avenue between
Macomb and Newark Streets.
The lot in question has been
looked on by citizens in the neigh
borhood as the eventual place for
needed branch library. The dam
ger that it might be put to some
other, and perhaps Objectionable
use. brought about formation of the
Connecticut Avenue Library Com
mittee, whose membership sponsored
what seemed, at the time, an almost
hopeless undertaking The sympa-
thetic attitude toward their efforts
shown by Chairman Coffee of the
House Subcommittee on District APP
preparations and the ranking minor
ity member. Representative Karl
Stefan of Nebraska, encouraged the
start of the campaign. Furthermore,
there is a definite understanding
that the District will match the
$4,000 which the citizens themselves
contribute.
This subcommittee will begin work
sometime next month on the next
District appropriation bill. 1t is to
be hoped that the citizens efforts
will be rewarded by an item in that
bill assuring the purchase of the lot
by the District as a library site. No
neighborhood has more valid claim
on one.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-03-19
This Changing World
BY Constantine Br0Un

The crisis in the Balkans is not
yet ended, and observers here believe
there is a significance attached to ar
rival OF the secretary general of the
Third Internationale, George Dimitroff,
in Sofia
Ever since Bulgaria and Romania sur
rendered there has been a good deal Of
speculation in quarters familiar with
Moscow plans concerning formation of
at least two considerations in Eastern
and South Central Europe about the
role which will be assigned to Dimitroff.
This man, while Bulgarian citizen, has
been SO identified with the world Com
munist movement that he is considered
one of the key men of the Communist
apparatus.
Some observers believed that since
Marshal Tito had undertaken the uni
fication of the Balkans into large con-
federation, Dimitrof would be used in
Germany, where he had served before
the war. He was considered the most
logical man to follow the conquering
Russian armies into Germany and
organize the few Communist cells, which
had gone underground since Hitler's
coming into power, into party which
eventually would give the Germans q
national government friendly to the
USSR.
Whether such plans still exist in
Moscow is matter of speculation. But
Dimitroff's reported arrival in his former
homeland leads to the belief that the
Soviet government wishes to have a
higher ranking party man than Tito
organize the Balkans into one unit ex-
tending from the Black Sea to the
Adriatic. The statement of Romanian
Premier Peter Groza to the American
newspapermen who have been allowed
to go to Bucharest from Moscow to
the effect that the Balkans will never
be divided again. is interpreted to mean
that Romania may be brought into that
confederation in the near future.
Dimitroff's prestige as an old-line
Communist devotedly faithful to Premier
Stain and all his policies is well estab-
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-03-19

holding either the line of the Moselle,
or the line of heights north of and
parallel to the valley of the Maize as a
bolt" position against any attempt by
the 3rd United States Army to interfere
with the withdrawal, while opposing
"dilatory defense" methods to the ad-
vance of the 7th United States Army
from the south
The obvious American countermove
would be drive by the Bird Army across
the Moselle in coordination with the
push northward of the 18th Army. Thus
what appeared two or three days ago
to be an American offensive to clear
the left bank of the Rhine between
Coblenz and Strasbourg may have also
the character of an attempt to counter
a German withdrawal which has an
ultimate offensive purpose-the gather
ing of sufficient troops for a counter
attack against the Remagen bridge
head.
1t is just possible that Patton's 3rd
Army has moved too swiftly for the
Germans. If, as reported in front dis
patches, his forward elements are al
ready in and beyond Bad Kreuznach,
on the Maize, then it is almost certain
that he has been too quick for Gen.
Balck, his German opponent. But the
payroll will come in the figures of Ger
man soldiers and war materiel destroyed
or captured. 1t is the German army
which is the objective, not Mainz or
Ludwigshafen. Those cities are already
foredoomed, and many others with them.
Possibly the most important military
objective in the Rhine MoSelle Saar
triangle just at the moment is Kaiser
slautern, as far as towns 60. KAISER
Slautern controls the main lines Of
retreat of the LIST Germany Army from
the Saar to the Rhine. II Gen. Patton
can get into Kaiserslautern, before the
bulk of the LIST German Army has
reached positions east and northeast Of
that place, the German position will be
a very serious one. It would be still
more serious If, in addition, the right
flank of the 7th United States Army Cor
perhaps the French) could break
through the Wissembourg Gap and 60
racing north along the left bank Of the
Rhine toward Ludwigshafen.
If this whole operation is-as seems
likely-a German attempt to give up
territory in order to gain greater free
dom OF action and gather q counter
offensive force, then the thing that mat
ters Is whether we are able to destroy
that force, or most of it, before it can
get behind the Rhine where 1t can be
regrouped and used as the German high
command desires-probably against our
bridgehead at Remagen.
(copyrisht. le4S)
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-03-19
No Mercy for Germans

4>O AlSICy IOT Germans
To the Editor of The Star:
In a recent letter, my husband,
company commander in the European
theater, had the following to say about
a subject with which all of us should
become more and more concerned as
the war with Germany draws nearer
to close: II was amazed at the re-
suits Of recent Gallup poll which
showed that the majority of Americans
estimate German atrocity killings at
100000, and also showed a substantial
number of people who favor humane
treatment for the Nazis.
"Just how people can be so stupid and
so lily-livered beats me. think the actu-
al number total exceeds 2,0O0, 900. my
self saw, in the Bastogne area, many
bodies of Yank soldiers and Belgian
citizens who had been murdered and
then stripped. There was one I es-
pecially remember. little flaxen-
haired girl of about five with a ribbon
in her hair and 6-inch tear in her
breast
There's only one way to treat the
Germans of this generation, if we want
our boys to miss return bout-ruth-
less punishment and emasculation of
Germany's war potential"
I wish that all of those people whose
views are represented by the results
of the Gallup poll could read my hus-
bands words and know how thrice
wounded soldier feels 1t won't be
enough for him or for the millions of
boys like him to know that the war is
over. They must know also that every
thing possible will be done to keep it
from happening again.
MARGARET E. SMITH.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-03-19
Letters to The Star
Praises PASSAGES on Freedom
in Mr.. Churchill's Speech

To the Editor Of The Star:
would like to draw special attention
to the following passage in the speech
by Churchill on March Is:
But there is another glory In which
we may rejoice; that in those terrible
days the whole of our empire and COM
monwealth of nations, apart from one
melancholy exception round the corner,
stood together with us of their own free
will, from the greatest dominion to the
smallest colony, in spontaneous resolve
to die or conquer with us in righteous
cause. This astounding union of COM
munities and races spread around the
globe sprang not from legal or physical
obligations, but from mysterious, unfath-
enable upliftings of the soul of man, and
raised our worldwide association to
heights never attained nor even dreamt
OF by an empire of the past. Certainly
no need to seek the advice of even our
most hOnored Allies as to how we should
conduct ourselves with regard to our own
affairs. The maxim of Lord Beacons-
field, 'Imperium ct Lbertas,' is still our
guide. We mean freedom for all
states and nations within the circle of
the crown. BY this we also mean free
dom for individuals within the broad and
ever-advancing conceptions of the Brit
ish constitution and the British way of
life"
I venture to assert that Mr. Churchill
was indulging in no idle boasting. His
statement is simply a statement of fact.
Not only did the dominions stand Loyalty
by Great Britain, but even India has rail-
lied to her support with its more than
2000,000 volunteer soldiers.
Mr.. Churchill would seem amply to be
justified in saying, with this unparal-
leled record We have no need to seek the
advice of even our most honored Allies
as to how we should conduct ourselves
with regard to our own affairs" Ger
tainly, it is in bad taste for any of us
to criticize an ally In war for the free
dom of all peoples, including the peoples
Of India
PHILIP MARSHALL BROWN,
President OF the Washington Branch OF
the Notwithstanding Union.