davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1945-10-17
Home-BuiIders
n the st. Louis Post Dispatch.

FROM the 81. Louis Post Dispatch.
One third of American families want
new houses, but only $4,000 are reason
ably sure to get their wish in the next
two or three years. Authority for the
statement is survey by Architectural
Forum. Yet Senator Taft's subcommit-
tee, representing the best judgment of
housing experts, calls for 1900 900 new
dwellings a year for the next decade
just to keep abreast of decay and pro-
vide a modest increase in the housing
supply.
Here is great and ominous discrep-
ancy. One-third of the people should
be able to have new houses. The "up-
per" third should be able to get out
and buy them. But excessive cost of
land, construction, financing and nearly
everything else-stands in the way. The
industry does not price its product for
the upper third. 1t prices for the up-
per S or 10 per cent.
Slum-clearance programs can do moth
ing to satisfy the needs of people who
should be living in houses in which
they are acquiring ownership. The
only thing that can help such people
is radically reduced cost-which would
also bring the slum- clearance problem
down to more manageable proportions.
Yet the industry. by and large, displays
a monumental uninterest In cost, rely
ing instead on the hope that q boom
VII! come IN spite OF high prices.
Evening star., 1945-10-17
On the Record
By Dorothy Thompson

Mass deportations and enforced labor
were slavery when practised by Nazls.
But they 60 on. only the nationality of
the victims changeS-and now 1t is
democracy" Wonderful hocus pocus!
To Naziism-as to bolshevism before
it-must be credited the concept of
collective guilt" that de-personaliza-
ton which is, perhaps, the greatest
modern evil, making men guilty of their
very birth; guilty that they were born
"bourgoise," or Jewish" But large
number of anti-Nazis have now &C
cepted the theory as it applies to Ger
mans.
And in Berlin, the democratic gov
ernment has re-begun the book-banning
business, and announces an index of
books that may not be reprinted, sold,
or kept in libraries. It will be headed
by "Mein Kampf," and includes some
1900 authors, many of whom lived be-
fore Hitler Three are Oswald Spengler,
the German philosopher, Sven Anders
Hedin, the Swedish explorer, and Knut
Hamsun, the Nobel-prize winning Nor
wegian-the two latter because they
were friendly to Naziism.
II "Mein Kampf" Is banned in Germany,
why not in the United States? Shall we
pretend 1t was never written? Shall
we thus tell the Germans we are afraid
OF Hitler's spiritual autobiography?
Though millions had to buy it. it is
probable few Germans read it, for it is
monstrously turgid and boring. They
ought to read it, though, to see in
retrospect how false its predictions and
fallacious its logic. The Nazis tried to
suppress the French edition deciding it
was no aid to Naziism.
X
Freedom of thousands has always de-
manded that works of thought, or art,
be judged, only according to their own
merit The scientific value of the works Of
Sven Anders Hedin cannot be determined
by anything but scientific tests. Knut
Hamsun, senile old man, was friendly
to the Nazis, but Growth OF the Soil''
is nevertheless one of the greatest nov-
els of our times. The Norwegians might
hang Hamsun as traitor, but to hang
his nom political works is to accept Nazi
ideas Oswald Spengler welcomed Nazi-
ism and lived to denounce it. But the
value of THE Decline of the West
must be judged in the work itself. 1t
seems to me we are well on the way to
justify its main thesis.
tReleased by the Bell Syndicate, Inc)
Evening star., 1945-10-17
He Needs the Power

AS a practical matter it is diff
cult to believe that a President, in
undertaking the reorganization of
the executive departments, would or
could defy the considered will of
Congress. On the other hand, 1t
is a well established fact that the
job of effective reorganization is too
complicated for Congress to under
take. Yet every reorganization pro-
posal which comes to Congress re-
wives the same old fight over whether
Congress is yielding its rights to
the President in giving him a more
or less free hand to bring some
order out of the chaos of executive
agencies as they exist today.
The House bill on reorganization,
1t is believed, is a better bill than
the measure reported yesterday from
the Senate Judiciary Committee in
that it gives the President a freer
hand while retaining in Congress
an adequate method of veto. Fur.
thermore, the Senate bill extends
the list of Independent agencies
which the President cannot touch
by any reorganization plan. In
making a reorganization plan sub
mitted by the President subject to
the veto Of either branch of Con-
gress, rather than by concurrent
action, the Senate bill makes it
easier to block a Presidential rec
omendation which stirs up congress
ysional opposition.
Yet even the Senate bill, which
does not go as far as it might, gives
the President sufficient authority to
do great deal that needs to be
done and If the President can dem
onstrate a method of eliminating
much of the confusion and dupI-
cation and overexpansion which
mark the executive branch today,
the results themselves should be
\ the greatest advocates of further
delegation to him of any additional
power he needs. For the people are
going to demand action in reducing
the size of the huge machine that
the war helped create In Washing
ton, in eliminating waste and in
bringing about greater efficiency,
through proper coordination, in the
transaction of Government business.
1t is to be hoped that in the coming
Senate debate on reorganization and
final enactment of measure COM
promising differences between House
and Senate, as much emphasis will
be placed on the sound objectives
of wise reorganization as on the
fear that the President Is receiving
too great a delegation of power.
1t is not the extent of power but
the manner in which it is utilized
that counts.
Evening star., 1945-10-17
This Changing World
By Consfanfins Rrown

The Navy Department expects to be
taken to task In the near future over
the slowneSs Of the demobilization proc
ess.
Members OF Congress are receiving
thousands Of letters, kilograms, tele-
phone and personal calls from rela-
tives of men who are still aboard ship
or in the various shore establishments.
1t is fact that rehabilitation of the
naval forces Is proceeding more slowly
than had been expected. But the rea-
son is not to be found in "conserva-
tive policy" of the admirals nor in too
much red tape in the department. 1t
Is due principally to the uncertainty of
the political situation which might fur
ther deteriorate in the event Americas
first line of defense becomes too weak
eped by the premature release of the
crews aboard the ships and planes and
on shore.
Under the severe prodding from Con-
gress and the public, the Army has been
more liberal than the Navy in its rede-
ployment policy. Men are being released
as speedily as possible in the theaters
of operation and at home, despite cer-
tain warnings that the international
situation does not warrant as quick
demobilization as after the World War.
Conditions all over the globe are still
explosive, and while this country does
not intend to intervene with force,
complete return OF our services to peace
time strength might have serious roper
cussions in the forthcoming bargain
ings and dealings with the other pow
ers..
A X
In his report to the Secretary OF War,
Gen. Marshall warned the Nation that
1T must keep its powder dry. This ad-
monition was not made by a jingoist
Gen. Marshall is known to be as peace
fully minded as any pacifist in this
country But he has certain knowledge
OF occurrences in Europe and in the
Pacific which prompted him to issue
the warning that we must be prepared
for any emergency.
Unfortunately, the public is not given
an intimate glimpse at what is going on
behind the scenes. The greatest secrecy
shrouds not only diplomatic dealings but
also individual incidents which would
make even the man in the street wonder
whether the war Is actually over
Evening star., 1945-10-17
A Questionable Decision

The Daughters OF the American
Revolution is a private institution
and possesses the uncontested right
to make those rules 1t regards as
wise in relation to the use of its
auditorium.
That does not establish the wisdom
OF its rules, however. In perpetu-
ating its ban on the use of the
auditorium by colored artists the
OAR has made mistake which in
time probably will be recognized by
a majority of its own members.
There are collateral circumstances
mentioned and not mentioned in
support Of the rule. One which is
mentioned is that the OAR follows
local custom in segregation, as evi-
denced by the operation of a dual
school and recreation system in
Washington, the existence of white
and colored churches, restaurants.
theaters, etc. 1t is interesting to
note, however, that the OAR rule
does not apply to the audience, only
to the artists. A circumstance not
mentioned, but which doubtless exer-
cised some influence, is the studied
effort by the more militant minority
groups to exploit the Constitution
Hall issue as part of crusade, in the
course OF which the OAR is singled
out for a type of abuse and ridicule
which, in a sense, is as intolerant as
the attitude under attack. While this
tactic may be effective for cam
paigning, 1t tends to stiffen resist
ance and ALLEVIATE otherwise sympa-
thetic elements of the public. Repre-
sentative Powell's own boorish ex-
pressions do nothing to help his
cause.
Yet the fact remains that Negro
artists, whose distinction may be
recognized and acclaimed the world
over, are barred by the OAR rule
from appearing in the only first-rate
auditorium in Washington. That
fact alone will adversely affect the
prestige OF the OAR and remains as
an irritant, assuming Importance as
symbol which is out of all propor-
ton to the practical realities of the
issue. A wiser policy would have
been to base the rules governing use
OF the hall on the standard of en-
tertainment under consideration for
this dignified setting, rather than
the race or color Of the entertainers.
Evening star., 1945-10-17

Many things disquietingly confirm the
observation that we tend to become
what we hate. We hate Naziism, and
yet our behavior Is influenced by 1t and
the anti-Nazi world Is accepting its
premises and methods.
The Nazi Peoples Tribunals were ex-
coriated as travesy of law. Prosecutor.
Judge and jury we're one. They passed
sentences already pronounced IN ad-
vance, giving the appearance Of legal
sanction to lynch law. They judged,
not according to specific defined Of
lenses but according to generalities-
whether people were, for instance, anti
social" Offenses were retroactive; men
were tried for crimes that were not
crimes at the time committed. Per-
sons were adjudged guilty because OF
association with the guilty, where no
malicious intent could be established.
Nothing more awakened the concern
of civilized man than this secession >ol
NaM Germany from all standards OF
justice.
But now the anti-Nazi world is In
danger of fortifying these terrible prac-
tices. The Peoples Tribunal spreads
over the continent. Laval. for in
stance, deserved to die, but his trial was
q farce, and II French justice dies with
him. France viii have paid too high
price for one mans death.
The legal sanctions for forthcoming
trial OF war criminals are dubious. Lead
ing members of the American Bar AS
sociation know 1t; Mr.. Justice Roberts,
I understand, refused to touch the trials.
Mr.. Justice jackson will try to estab-
lish that aggressive war Is crime IN
international law. which will be difhcult
when some of the accusers are unwiH.
ing to accept for themselves the deflnl-
tions they would apply to others. The
essence of law is that those who uphold
it are willing to live under 1t. / hate
to see my own country go in for the
concept Of the purge" which has hith-
erto been confined to totalitarian states.
The conscience of the world was out
ragged over the incarceration OF people
In concentration camps without charges
preferred against them. But In Italy,
when was there in May, many persons
were still imprisoned who had been ar
rested when Mussolini fell. No charges
had ever been preferred, nor had they
even been interrogated. How many
thousands of Yugoslavs are in durance,
without indictment, is unknown, but
that camps exist under terrible condl-
tions Is established.
Evening star., 1945-10-17
Plain Tax TuIk

Secretary Vinson does not pretend
to be student of semantics, but he
gave an excellent lecture in that
field when he appeared before the
Senate Finance Committee the other
day and showed how in the realm
Of taxation, as in domestic and in
ternational politics, words do not
always mean what they seem to
mean.
Speaking specifically of the Eek
cess" profits tax and the normal"
individual income tax. Mr.. Vinson
made clear that both have been
very misleadingly named, and he
argued most persuasively for re-
pealing them outright-and at once
because they were enacted origi-
nally only as wartime measures and
can no longer be justified, now that
peace Is here.
Mr.. Wilson'S points on the "ex-
cess" profits tax may be summarized
as follows: () To begin with, call
ing profits Excessive" does not
actually make them excessive; ca
this levy was adopted primarily to
keep war profiteering to minimum;
30 it has no place in our peacetine
economy; a. it is "erratic and In
many ways inequitable," giving to
corporations with high prewar earn
ings or inflated capital structures a
competitive advantage over new or
expanding businesses not similarly
situated as far as taxing goes, and
(5) since 1t inhibits planning and
expansion, Its repeal will stimulate
production, create jobs and thus
benefit everybody.
AS for the so-called normal" tax.
Mr.. Vinson argues: % Far from
being normal" 1T is purely a war
levy; CD it has no peacetime justin
cation because 1t Is Objectionable
in that 1t violates the principle OF
adjusting taxation to differences in
family status and according to
ability to pay; (3) it is not a proper
instrument for broadening the tax
base, and in any event, even without
it, there will be we'll over 10000 900
taxpayers in 1916; a. it is relatively
nonproductive, creating complica-
tions for wage-earners, employers
and the Government alike, and 90
its repeal will help reconversion by
cuShioning the transitional fall of
purchasing power among w-income
groups.
Secretary Wilson's views on a
limited tax reduction of 5000, ,000,-
900 for the calendar year 194e cover
more ground than this. But his
advocacy of immediate repeal Of the
excess" profits tax and the normal
individual tax constitutes his most
important recommendation for pro-
noting a vital, invigorated peace
time economy" offering full employ
ment and maximum production.
The House has already passed a
bill which, in effect, eliminates the
normal" levy but which goes only
so per cent of the way on the
excess" profits tax. Mr.. Vinson's 8
overall argument seems so sound,
however, that we must hope that
the bill, when finally enacted, will
follow his main suggestions.
Evening star., 1945-10-17
Integrution for Defense

General Macarthur may have had
a single department of national
defense in mind when he said that
the lesson for the future is "that
success in the art of war depends
upon a complete integration of the
services. In unity will lie military
strength"
Yet he saw victory over Japan as
a triumph for the concept of COM
plete integration' and this concept
was given form and force, not by
physical unification of the services
under single department but by
their integration under the Joint
Chiefs of Staff.
There is no issue over the need
for integration of the services, land,
sea and air. There is an issue over
the wiseSt method of bringing it
about and it is by no means certain
that this would be best achieved by
actual amalgamation of the War
and Navy Departments. Such
merger was opposed by General
Pershing when the subject came UP
after World War I. 1t was opposed
by the Congressional Joint Commit
tee on Reorganization in 1923, by the
House Committee on Military Affairs
in 1882 and again, in 1884, by
military civilian board under New
ton D. Baker.
While other reasons for opposi-
ton will be advanced, if the idea of
q department of national defense
is turned down again it probably will
be on the ground that no one man
save the President-under our sys-
tenn OF Governments big enough
to be placed in charge of a depart
ment of national defense. Certainly
there is no position in our Govern
nent today which approaches in
Importance secretary of national
defense.
On the other hand. the organiza-
ton at the outset of the war of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, with the later
development of the Combined Chiefs
OF Staff, suggest the pattern for a
continued development, in peace
time, of a concept which demon
strated its value in war. Further
more, it is a pattern subject to far
broader application in building ma
tional defense than would be feasible
under amalgamation of the military
services. That is why Senator David
Walsh's suggestion for a council of
national defense, with the President
In charge, offers SO reasonable q
meeting place between those who
Evening star., 1945-10-17
The Berlin Setup

In his second monthly report on
the progress of American occupation
policy in Germany. General Eisen-
hover says nothing particularly
surprising when he discusses the
dominance of the Communist party
in the city government Of Berlin.
He states the case effectively, with
out the slightest trace of excitement.
1t is part of the more or less familiar
pattern of the way Russia does
things.
Four political parties exist in Ber-
lin, he says, the Russians having
permitted them to organize and
begin functioning before our forces
moved into the city's American zone.
Two of them-the Communists and
Social Democrats-had members in
prewar days and are well organized
and active now, but the other two
the Christian-Democratic Union and
the Liberal Democrats-are new and
less active. The strongest of all are
the Communists, and they hold a
majority OF the strategic municipal
posts.
After giving this matter of fact
background, General Eisenhower
goes on to say. with equal matter
of-factness, that there are indica-
tions that "a fair and impartially
supervised election in Berlin would
not support the present Communist
party dominance of posts but would
reveal relatively strong support
going to the Social Democrats and
the Christian-Democratic Union. in
that order" How long it viii be
before such an election is held, how
ever, is problematical. The signs do
not seem promising. According to
General Eisenhower, Russian au-
thorities permit the Communist
paper to print zoe, 900 copies daily as
against only 100000 for each Of the
papers published by the other par
ties, and similar favoritism is shown
on the Berlin radio, which still is
subject to Soviet censorship, though
Horsepower control is under consid-
Grafton.
Since Berlin, like Germany as 4
whole, Is cut up into separate zones.
this one-sided political setup is not
hard to understand. particularly
when we remember that the Rus
slams were the first to take over
the city and lost no time in poll
ticking. Nevertheless, the other
Allies have the right to expect that
Evening star., 1945-10-17
Curse Over Palestine
By Mai. George Fielding Eliot

no insoluble difficulties. But the ques-
ton Of the Jewish refugees will not wait
They are dying now. Something must
be done for them, and done effectively
and quickly.
These unfortunate people are the
most pitiful victims of this war. Their
descent into hell began long before any
of the rest of us had even begun to
suffer. They have lain under the saw
age hand Of the prosecutor for long and
bitter years. Hardly one of them has
escaped torture, degradation, starva-
tion and the loss of dear ones. Millions
have been slaughtered-more by far
than those who survive. If ever
people were . charge upon the con-
science of civilization which has per-
mitted such things to happen to them,
that people is the Jewish population of
Europe.
Now they have no homes, no hope
save the hope to which they cling with
such piteous persistence, that some
how, sometime they may get to Pales-
tine. Few of them know what condi-
tions they would face there; but all are
convinced that anything would be better
than to go on living in Europe under
conditions so presently terrible and so
uncertain for the future. OF course,
Palestine is not the only solution, as a
matter of hard cold fact. They could
be received into other countries where
Ithere is room for them. and where the
economic conditions offer some oppor-
tunity for them to live in dignity and
usefulness. If we in the United States
were willing to take our due proper
ton of them, we might then properly
invite other countries to make similar
arrangements. In that case there would
be no Palestine problem.
For the Palestine problem, SO called,
is at base simply and almost solely the
problem of these poor and helpless
people.
If Palestine is the only solution to
that problem, then Palestine must be
made available. If some other solution
can be found that will do what must
be done and do it quickly enough to be
effective, then by all means let us find
that solution. But one thing is certain:
We, as the citizens of the greatest power
In the world, cannot be proud to call
ourselves Americans II we stand by in
idleness and apathy and watch these
last innocent survivors Of the most per-
secuted race in history perish miser-
ably when we might have saved them.
tHerald Tribune Syndicats.)
Evening star., 1945-10-17

1t has been the misfortune of the
people Of Belgium that they live in a
country which forms the high-road be-
tween two powerful neighbors. The peo-
pie of Poland have suffered cruelty from
the same misfortune. The same curse
hangs over the little land OF Palestine.
Palestine is an area Of great strategic
and political importance. 1t is part of
the Middle East, which has always been
a crossroads of commerce and which,
with the development of air transport
and of oil discoveries, seems likely to
be Of even greater strategic and political
importance in the future.
Moreover it lies at the very center OF
the Moslem world, at time when a
Moslem renaissance seems in the max
ing, when great colonial empires are
struggling against the forces which
would sweep them out of existence, and
when only the wisest and calmest sort
Of salesmanship can succeed In recon-
Cling conflicting claims and bringing
some sort of order out of the wreckage
of six years of war.
It is easy to say we must be calm
about Palestine; that it's tangled prob
lens have been debated for more than
quarter of century without any
solution: and that only time and pa
thence will solve them. That would be
true If 1t were not for the greater prob
lem, the problem which brings the
Palestine question to the forefront of
the worlds attention at this unpropitious
moment, the problem which lies behind
the desperation of the Palestine Jews.
This problem is not the future of
Palestine, as such. 1t is the stark and
terrible question of whether some two
as many at three mil
lion-homeless, suffering. dying Jews in
Europe shall be permitted to perish
miserably or shall be rescued and given
a chance to live, under conditions which
offer them some hope Of decent fu-
ture.
II is because to many minds, emigra-
ton to Palestine seems TO offer the only
acceptable and Immediately available
solution Of this problem that the Pales-
tine question is now being so widely and
even paSsionstely discussed.
Definition Of the political status Of
Palestine, considered merely from its
political, strategic and economic aspects,
could wait on q general Middle Eastern
settlement. Aside from the question Of
how to save these millions Of lives, It Is
not particularly urgent. and 1t presents