davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1946-03-16
Rough Rood for Silk
From the Salina Journal.

Silk, when it returns to the market,
may be slick on milady's skin-but there
Is every evidence that it will be rough on
her pocketbook. With the japanese up
roofing millions of mulberry trees-food
sources for silk worms-and turning the
land into garden spots and rice paddles,
there is no end in sight for this shortage.
So many mulberry trees will be razed in
an effort to feed japanese stomachs that
Japan can do no sort of job of ending
the silk shortage, not even if Macarthur
eventually grants the Jap request that
they be permitted to barter silk for food
stuffs.
Cheap Oriental labor brought silk into
the range of great many pocketbooks
in the past, but with japanese worms
the tree-crawling kinds-facing exter-
mination via starvation, some other mar
ket must provide silk, if silk is to be had.
At the moment the most serious silk
producing effort in this country is in
Texas, where the Mineral Wells Cham
Der OF Commerce is requesting the House
Agricultural Committee to explore its
scheme to produce silk in Texas. It is
said that large-scale production of silk
worms Is already under way in the Lone
Star State, and that the industry NAV
prosper despite low-cost Oriental labor.
Some smart Yankee inventor has de-
veloped machinery which eliminates
II hand operations. The Texas silk
boom began three years ago, but only
one OF the "unwinding machines" has
been produced since Pearl Harbor, -
Evening star., 1946-03-16
India and Freedom

In asserting that India has a right
to full independence either as a
dominion like Canada or as a nation
completely on it's own, Prime Minis
ter Attlee has restated a principle
embodied in the Cripps plan of 1912.
AS far as Britain is concerned, there
no longer seems to be any doubt or
equivocation on this score, but as
regards the Indian people them
selves the story is quite different,
illustrating in the most striking
manner how difficult it can be to
achieve freedom and self-govern-
ment even when ardently sought
and honestly offered.
For as was shown by the failure of
the Cripps mission four years ago,
the effort to make India independ-
ent involves far more than simple
liberating directive from London.
The problem is full of maddening
complexities. including the country's
vast illiteracy, its multilingual and
multireligious character, and its
sharp overall division between the
aspirations of the Hindus and the
Moslems, the two major population
elements which are themselves fac
tion-ridden.
Although adequate summary is
impossible. the problem of Indian in
dependence revolves chiefly around
the Hindu-Moslem differences. The
Hlndus, who number about 260 mil
lion OF the country's 400 million peo-
pie, want free India all in one
piece. The Moslems. on the other
hand; numbering about 90,O0O,0OO
fear that the Hindus would dominate
them in that way, and they there
lore insist on carving out of the
projected new India an independent
nation of their own, to be known as
Pakistan. The Hindus do not oppose
this as much as they once did, but
the Pakistan which they might be
willing to accept is not the one which
the Moslems want, and the situation
is further complicated by the exist
ence OF hundreds of big and little
native states, many of whose ruling
princes have no desire to surrender
their present prerogatives.
Where the Cripps mission failed
the special British cabinet group
now preparing to leave for India
may succeed. But it's task will be
difficult in the extreme, for these
dlfferences-intensified by the deeply
religious nature of Hindu -Moslem
antagonisms-do not lend them
selves to easy settlement. Britain
offers freedom. but it holds at the
same time - persuasively y that it
cannot release its grip on the coun-
try until there is some reasonable
measure of internal agreement, the
fear being that any other course
might soon lead to anarchy and civil
war. If they can but come to terms
with themselves, in short, the In
dlans can begin writing a great new
page in history as free men in a free
land improving themselves and all
Asia.
Evening star., 1946-03-16

ing himself available when the COP
national convention is held in 1948
Mr.. Stassen's determination not to
run Tor Senator or Governor was re-
vealed in statement he made declar-
ing his support of Gov Thye for the
Senate against Mr.. Shipstead and of
Judge Luther Youngdahl for Governor.
Thye has been a popular Governor. He
was picked for the Office of lieutenant
governor by Mr.. Stassen when the lat
ter was making his third successful bid
for Governor. He became Governor
when Mr.. Stassen resigned to enter the
Navy, and in 1914 he was elected Gov
ernor in his own right. Gov. Thye is
a StaSsen man, which is equivalent to
saying that he Is an earnest supporter
OF the UNO and of American collabora-
ton for peace. So, if Senator Shipstead
seeks denomination, the test between a
collaboratlonist and an isolationist will
be had in the Minnesota Republican
primaries.
AS the Republican political picture
stands today. it is Mr. Stassen against
John w. Bricker, former Governor of
Ohio Mr.. Bricker, who was Gov. Dewey's
running mate in 1914, is a candidate
for the Senate this fall. His election
to the Senate is confidently predicted
Gov. Dewey comes up for reelection
in New York this year and If he wins
he will again be strongly in the presi-
dental picture. Certainly, even if he
himself is not a candidate for the presi-
dental nomination two years hence,
Gov. Dewey will have a great deal to
say about whom the Republican Nation
al Convention is to nominate. Mr.. Stas-
sen may have to face other aspirants
for the Republican presidential nomi-
nation. Senator Taft of Ohio, who was
runnerup to Mr.. Willkie in 1910, is a
possibility, and so is Senator Vanden-
berg OF Michigan. Military men who
might get into the race include Gen.
Douglas Macarthur and Gen. Eisen-
hover. Chief of Staff.
In his recent statement regarding his
own plans Mr.. Stassen declared that
if the UNO is to succeed the United
States must give it strong support.
This means ne said, that the United
States must not tie its foreign policy
down to any other one nation, but de-
velop its own definite policy, plainly dis
cussed with its own people, and open
and clear to the world"
Evening star., 1946-03-16
General Marshall

When he left here three months
ago as President Trumans special
envoy to China, General Marshall
had already won large place in
history for his brilliant labors as our
wartime Chief of Staff. AS he re-
turns now for a brief official visit, it
may fairly be said that that place
has grown appreciably larger. He
arrived among the Chinese at mo-
ment when they were on the verge
of full scale civil war, with the
Yenan Communists and Generals
Simo Chiang's troops engaging in
bloody clashes wherever they met.
His first great accomplishment was
to lend his good offices to both sides,
to bring their leaders together at
the same table, and with his prestige,
tact, personality. wisdom and plain
horse sense to get them to agree
upon a truce. Next, in the same
manner. he persuaded them to aff1x
their ignatures-along with his own
to a solemn undertaking commit
ting them to gradual merging and
reorganization of their forces into
a single national army.
This was not all General Marshall
did, but it was enough to make the
Chinese feel tremendously pleased
and encouraged and to confirm what
most Americans had long suspected
his extraordinary capabilities not
only as soldier but as a statesman
as well. His job is not finished, of
course. There is still some fratricidal
shooting going on in China and
there is much to be done in effecting
the army merger Accordingly even
though he might personally prefer
to take a well-earned rest, he will
return there soon. 1t is a measure
of the man that the Yenan Commu-
niStS are eager to have him back and
that Chiang's group feels the same
way about him. This is not hard to
understand. Wherever he goes he
inspires confidence, promotes har-
mony and gets things done-traits
that are all too rare in an age need
ing them very much.
Evening star., 1946-03-16
kurd 'NutionuIism'

Inc Near and Middle East is q
mosaic Of peoples, often interspersed,
yet all imbued with their respective
individualities in race, religion, Ian
guage and culture which keep them
stubbornly apart.
All these peoples have been af-
fected by the western idea of ma
tionality"-the "self-determinati ton"
OF each group as an independent
entity. However, some of these groups
are too small. too dispersed or too
backward to realize their ideal with
out making impossible the establish
ment of the larger and more ad-
vanced groups on a true national
basis. They thus become chronic
centers of disaffection, lending
themselves as willing tools OF outside
great powers seeking to further their
own designs by any means available.
OF all these minor irritants, the
Kurds are the outstanding example.
Since the dawn of history, this folk
has inhabited the mountainous re-
gion which forms the dividing line
between Asia Minor, Persia, and the
plains of Mesopotamia. "Kurdistan," !"
the Land of the Kurds," if it could
be erected into a nation, would no
tably change the existing frontiers
OF the three existing states, Turkey
Persia and Iraq, by subtracting por-
tions from all three of them and
depriving them of border regions
that are strategically important for
their respective defense.
However, the Kurds have never
shown themselves capable of Great
ing a true nation-state, because,
throughout their long history, they
have remained in the "clan" stage.
Their loyalty centers in the clan,
headed by hereditary chieftains who
take pride in an ancestry extending
back for ages. These chiefs alter
nate between unstable confed-
eracies and blood-feuds that endure
sometimes for generations. With no
true national consciousness, they are
usually ready to accept pay from
outsiders, either to keep quiet or to
make trouble on order. They are
thus ready-made agents of discord-
of which Soviet diplomacy is appar-
emily taking full advantage.
To complicate matters further,
these Kurds, traditionally warlike
shepherds and herdsmen, have wan
dered widely from their ancestral
homeland into Eastern Asia Minor
and Western Persia. Yet these iso-
lated islets of Kurdish population
remain everywhere clannish, unas-
similable and intractable. Eternally
"agin the government" the Kurd is
a prize trouble maker and potential
agent for foreign penetration,
wherever he is found.
Evening star., 1946-03-16
Air Force ORGANIZATION

In the midst of mounting evil
dence of too-rapid rehabilitation
OF our armed forces, there is q
measure of reinsurance in General
Spaatz's disclosure of plans for re-
organization and revitalizing of the
Army Air Forces into a strategic
and tactical service which will be
up to "full fighting efficiency" by
the end of this year. General Spaatz
confirmed that right now the air
forces are suffering the disintegrat-
ing effects of the popular demand
for quick return to civilian pursuits
of most of the men who directed.
serviced and flew our planes in
World War II. But the program of
building up new and effective air
organization is going forward in
tensively and with encouraging re-
suits, according to the new AAF
commander.
The postwar organization is being
cut to the pattern which proved so
workable and so successful in the
European theater. There are to be
strategic and tactical commands
under seasoned combat leaders, plus
a continental defense command
charged with co-ordinating Regular
Army, Reserve, National Guard and
other components of the Army's
aerial combat team. The Stra-
tegic Air Command, under General
George c. Kenney, will emphasize
long-range bombing operations and
hence will provide the Nation with
formidable overseas striking force.
The Tactical Air Command, under
Major General Elwood Quesada of
this city, will operate in close sup
port of ground forces. The Air De-
fenSe Command will be under Lieu
tenant General George E. Strate-
meyer. Backing up these combat
commands will be branches charged
with maintenance, supply, research,
training, transport, communications
and other services.
The new AAF will be largely Jet
propelled and will be equipped with
the latest scientific weapons of war
fare, General Spaatz emphasized.
Evening star., 1946-03-16
y, This Changing World,
BY Consfanfine Br0,cn

Russia's attitude regarding the Near
East and Middle East is due, among
other things, to thorough misunder-
standing OF the psychology of the Eng
disappearing people. This belief, which
has been lingering in the minds of some
OF our policy trainers has been further
confirmed by reports from high Ameri-
can observers who are keeping WASH
ington posted on the situation.
These officials believe that if by some
firm action the Moscow government
could be convinced that the American
people would not hesitate to allow their
Government to throw the whole weight
OF Americas strength on the side of
right and justice, as expressed in the
UNO charter, there might be change
in the attitude of the Soviet govern
ment.
The rapid and needless demobilization
of Americas military machine, accom-
panied by troubles in the various the
aters, has made deeper impression on
the Moscow rulers than was actually
justified by facts.
Russia has a most perfect and COM
plete intelligence service in the Western
Hemisphere from Brazil to Canada. Her
agents. however, are employees of q
totalitarian state who are reporting to
their chiefs facts colored in a way to
please them. Otherwise, the enormous
expenditure of secret funds could not
be justified.
According to the badly depleted
American security services, some of the
demonstrations of our homesick soldiers
have been instigated by subversive
agents who can be found in many units
OF the Army. The success of the demon
strations is said to have been exploited
by agents of the Russian NKVD (secret
service) in the United States as a
definite indication that America has
become powerless SO far as its military
machine is concerned.
The Soviet agents are able to cite
examples of how strong the Russian in
huence is In this country.
There is small number of extreme
leftist publications in this country
Evening star., 1946-03-16
Second Day Story

William MCGaIIln, foreign cOrre-
spondent of The Star and the Chi
cago Daily News, has written an
article from Changchun which gives
a somewhat different picture of Rus
sian activities in Manchuria than
that conveyed by earlier dispatches.
Unfortunately, since it comes in the
category of what is generally known
as a second day story" the Nc
Gaff1n article has attracted consid-
erably less attention than it deserves.
Mr.. McGaffin says that the picture
of Russian activities in Manchuria is
not pretty one. But he also says
that the picture is not as bad as
some correspondents have painted
it, although, regrettably, it is their
version which has been most promi-
nently displayed in this country.
According to Mr.. McGaff1n, Amer
lean newspaper correspondents who
went into Soviet-occupied Man
churia without permission were not
detained in guardhouse for an
hour as previously reported. Most
OF the correspondents who heard
reports of speech in which Soviet
Marshal Malinovsky was alleged to
have said that the Russians would
"cut off" any hand interfering in
Soviet-Chinese friendship, did not
write the story because they could
not ceaf1rm it to their satisfaction.
There has been no evidence to sup
port tie story that a Russian fighter
plane made a pass" at a passenger
plane in which the correspondents
were flying to Peiping, and Mr.. Nc
Gaft1n doubts that the story is true.
Finally, while conditions admittedly
were bad in a hotel in which the
correspondents were detained for
f1fty-three hours. the newspaper
group received the same food and
the same accommodations that the
Russians had, and, beyond that,
some Russians were moved out of
their rooms to provide space for the
newspaper party.
All of this, of course, represents
only Mr. McGaff1n's version of what
occurred. It is possible that it is he
who is in error, rather than those
to whose articles he takes exception.
But there is certain air of plausi-
bility to his concluding observation,
namely, that Russo American rela-
tions are bad enough without max
ing them worse by printing stories
you know are of the beam simply
because you know your competition
Evening star., 1946-03-16

which, while not attempting to spread
Communist ideologies, are following
Moscow's line Of policy as faithfully
as IZvestia or Pravda. While their
circulations are limited, they are far
more vociferous than the other Amer
ican newspapers and have adopted the
attitude that the King can do no
wrong" To these publications must be
added number of radio commentators
who have taken the same line" by
bitterly attacking any one who regards
Russia's present aggressive methods as
interfering with the peace of the world.
All this Is reported back to Moscow
and strengthens the belief of Russia s
general staff and policy-framers that
there is nothing that can stand up to
the Soviet drive for territorial and po-
Gtical aggrandizement.
Il 4
Even the appeasement policies fol-
lowed by the American Government
since 1943 are misunderstood in Moscow.
Instead Of being interpreted in their true
light as desperate attempt to secure
lasting peace after the havoc created
by the war-they are looked on as a
sign OF weakness and helplessness of
NSSoASAV
Hitler made the same mistake In
regard to the United States. He, too,
had formidable fifth column in this
country and was convinced that what
ever the American Governments plans
for an intervention might be, the Amer
lcan peoples hatred of war, supported
by an extraVagant propaganda and by
tens of thousands of would-be saboteurs
could paralyze the American military
effort The widespread discomfort ex-
pressed in this country over the first
draft bill and the fact that our young
soldiers had to be trained with wooden
machineguns and make-believe tanks.
was regarded as sign that Americas S
war effort could never be any more than
token"
1t Is sincerely hoped by all those who
wish to preserve world peace and see
Russia become useful and constructive
adjunct in the family Of nations that
Moscow will not fall in the same error
as Berlin.
Evening star., 1946-03-16
The Political Mill
By Gould Lincoln

Harold E. Stassen. former Governor
OF Minnesota and unannounced candi-
cate Tor the Republican presidential
nomination in l948, has elected to de-
vote his time during the next two years
10 an unofflcial campaign to strengthen
the United Nations and prevent
thlrd world war. In addition he will
campaign on domestic issues, in slpport
OF the American economic s,stem"
and more harmony in America between
labor and capital. He will carry en-
these campaigns by speaking tours in
this country and by travel in foreign
lands.
Many of Mr.. Stassens friends in Min
nesota had hoped he would be candi-
date for the Senate seat now held by
the veteran Senator Shipstead. Repub-
ncan, In the coming election, believing
that he would not only put to the test
again his undoubted popularity in his
own State. but would also be able to
use the Senate as forum to express his
views on international relations and do
mestic issues. They regarded such
course as sure way of keeping himself
politically alive. Further. they be-
heved that, as foremost supporter of
American participation in the UNO, he
might have demonstrated conclusively
the strength of American sentiment for
international collaboration for peace in
contest against Senator Shipstead,
who voted against American entry into
the UNO. He has chosen to do other
wise.
Few men not in public Office have
won, in recent years, a place on the
national ticket of either of the major
political parties. The late Wendell L.
Willkie was notable exception. He
won the Republican presidential nomi-
nation in 1910, after whirlwind cam
paign of few months speaking tour
Mr.. Willkie, however, proceeded with
just such campaign as Mr.. Stassen
has now outlined for himself in an
effort to win again presidential nomi-
nation in 1914. He failed absolutely
1t may be pointed out that in Mr.. Will
kie's second try for presidential nomi-
nation he faced the fact that he had
been defeated candidate for the presi-
dency in l940-and Mr. Stassen is un-
der no such burden. What Mr. Stassen
must do, If he can, is to hold the in
terest Of great mass of Republican
voters during these coming years, keep
Evening star., 1946-03-16
Obstacles to Peace
By George Fieldine Eliot

fThis is the second OF series of
three articles on American policy.)
No honest American survey of the
existing obstacles to peace can fail to
begin with clear admission that the
chief of these obstacles is the lack of
a definite, fortnight and dynamic
American world policy. and that this
lack is due very largely to public in
difference and confusion, plus lack of
clear-headed administration leadership
Only when the full measure of Amer
lean responsibility has been thus ad-
mitted can we reasonably turn to ex-
anime the remaining obstacles to peace,
obstacles which are for the most part
not of our making.
First among these obstacles is fear:
And the chief cause of fear in the
world today is the Soviet policy of
secrecy-what Mr.. Churchill has called
the iron curtain: Reinforced by the
knowledge that within the Soviet Union
the decisions which make for war or
peace, decisions which WELD the enor-
nous power of nation of 10000 900
people still almost fully mobilized for
war, are made by handful of men i'm
INJURED in the Kremlin men whom, with
two or three exceptions, the rest OF the
world knows nothing about, men who
are in no sense responsible to public
opinion or rather who can create
public opinion to fit their purposes, men
who are living by 10Th century DO
litical and economic philosophy and
endeavoring to f1t Goth century condi-
tions to its precepts.
with the idea of security, with the NOR
bid conviction that the rest of the
world is engaged in great anti-Soviet
conspiracy. This may in part be a
genuine delusion, it may in part be an
artificial attitude inspired by the Pla-
tonian concept that the ruler who wishes
to demand sacrifices of his people must
always provide foreign enemy so that
the people will continue to think that
they need leader and need to make
sacrifices lest worse thing befall.
Certainly the central purpose of
Marshal Stain and his associates is to
hold Russia together and to keep their
power over Russia. They may find in
their own record much justification for
their belief that the Soviet system is
the best system for the future welfare
OF the Russian millions. They may be
convinced that both from the military
and the economic viewpoint, the le-
building Of Russian heavy industry at
the continued sacrifice Of the common
mans standard of living, at least for the
time being, is essential.
The danger, from our viewpoint, In
Evening star., 1946-03-16

Not only our fighters, but our larg-
est bombers are to be rocketed
through space by jet engines, under
the modernization program. And
they will be capable of carrying
atomic weapons of the most ad-
vanced design. AS the AAF COM
mander succinctly remarked to re-
porters: From this development
Of airpower in an atomic age) it
follows that any future conflict will
begin with air action, and may well
be concluded with it," Now, as
never before in our history, it is
clear that our airpower must be
kept at peak efficiency.
Evening star., 1946-03-16
Released by Fire

These cones gathered on an autumn
day
Beneath old pines that fringe a riper
shore,
Where ru11ed Uaters danced Nth fyina
spray
And sUind surged through the bouoh,
iCith nluted roar.
Noir, as kneeI here Uhere mn hearth.
fire burns
And toss the cones upon the tohispeY.
ing flame.
The sudden, Diuid memory returns
OF that bright, breezy grove from
tUhich they came.
Again, in jet0eled flame, the hatcher
The emerald OF the ,oaDes released by
fire,
Deep turquoise sky aboue the ,pind.
s,Dayed trees,
The suns gold gipen back as cones
erpire,S
And reads their story In the blaze OF
death
That flls the room with family resinous
breath.
NEz BARCLAY KIRBY