davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1946-12-24

Mayor ED" Kelly of Chicago, the
BOSS, is stepping aside and presumably
into retirement after running Amer
ica's second largest city for IA years,
leading the Democratic Party in Cook
County and the State of Illinois, and
playing large role in Democratic
national politics. He will not seek
denomination, and his organization al
ready has agreed to support Martin F.
Kennedy, 59-year-old Chicago business
man.
The 1916 elections were not kind to
the big city Democratic political
machines. They were not kind to Ed
Kelly. The Republicans not only elected
IA out Of IT Cook County officials Cook
gained a handful of congressional dis
tricts there. To the knowing it looked
as though the handwriting was on the
wall for all who cared to read-and
that the Republicans had O chance of
electing Mayor over Mr.. Kelly in next
April's election. They were planning,
Immediately after the elections, to put
up Russell Root, Chicago lawyer and
Republican county chairman--with the
slogan Root for Chicago" And they
believed they had a fair chance Of
beating Mayor Kelly.
With Mr.. Kennedy as the Democratic
nominee, the picture changes yitally.
The Democrats have picked one Of Chi
cago's best known businessmen and he
has agreed to run. He has never held
public Office before, although he has
been considerable factor in the CAM
paigns OF other men, and he is known
as charitable man. Mr. Kennedy, how
ever. has never worn the collar Of the
Kelly-Nash machine, and he has made
1t clear he is not going to do so. Never
theless. he is going to need the good
Offices Of the machine for victory. His
friends say, however, that Mr.. Kennedy
will draw huge independent vote-and
that he is sure to win.
One reason for expecting q Demo-
cratic victory is that Cook County out
side of Chicago is strongly Republican
and those Republicans will not take part
in electing q Mayor of Chicago, al
though they did play their part in
electing county officers last November
over Mr.. Kelleys brand of Democrats.
Much will depend, however, on whether
the very certain trend toward Republi-
canism which has been on the increase
is halted before next spring arrives.
Charged by his opponents with all
Evening star., 1946-12-24
Madonna and Child
Circa 1946.

ClrCa 1870.
For months wandered through the
moods and fields
Pushed on from farm to totpn, from
toDn to farm.
And then, one night, some Deeks ago,
i fell
Scurrying through the rubble OF the
square.
M hour had come and Das desperate. ;
A passing soldier helped me to my feet
And led me to a little gate beside
The shattered altar of ruined shrine.
A tDopan In blue shdtDl gaze me strdto
And blanket. Soon on DdUes OF agony
! sent you forth into her arms, my SON. =
She wrapped you In a soft iDfite stole
and laid
You nert my heart. Then fo,Ded through
erery tnut
And t,pisted nerpe the soothing peace
OF God.
And noiD. because OF you, my precious
one,
They give US fuel and shelter. milk and
bread.
o, lead me, Christ OF God, as make bold
To teach my child to ,Dalk Thy may Of
loUe.
Take from me all the bitterness, the
stain.
Blot out these years OF censeless misery.
But set deep IN, his soul Thy deuthless
dredm-
70 pive, not grasp; to build, not blast
Thy tuorld. =
Evening star., 1946-12-24
This Changing World
By Constantine Byo,Dn

to Argentina determined to do his best.
His friends say he left Washington with
some prejudice against President Peron.
Several months of careful study in
Argentina convinced Mr.. Messersmith,
however, that the elections had been
free and that Col. Peron had won the
presidency by fair means. He realized
the enormous importance of, Latin
America in the national life of the
United States, and became convinced
that Britain was leaving no stone un-
turned to achieve the closest possible
relations with the Peron government
and was going out of her way to con-
Solidate her traditional friendship with
Argentina.
Russia, which claims to be the only
power opposing the "neo-fascism' of
the capitalistic states and proclaims her
self the only defender of true democ-
racy, hastened to renew diplomatic and
commercial relations with Col. Peron's
regime Immediately after his election.
A large and representative Soviet mis-
sion was sent from Moscow to attend
the inaugural ceremonies of the new
President. In contrast the State De-
partment continues pin -pricking policy
toward Argentina which Mr.. Messer-
smith considers entirely unjustified
In spite of Col Perons compliance
with the State Departments demands
that a number Of notorious Nazis be ar
rested, the Latin American division does
not seem satisfied.
* y
Mr.. Messersmith is known to have been
irked In recent weeks by what he is
said to describe as an unreasonable at
titude on the part of his immediate
superiors Many of his recommendation
are said to have been discarded by the
State Department, although the Ambas-
sador's sentiments as a fierce opponent
OF totalitarianism are well known. An
underground smear campaign. alleging
that he has succumbed to Col. Peron's
flatteries is being waged against him in
quarters outside the State Department
which have access to those who frame
our Latin American policies.
Mr.. Messersmith is coming to Wash
ington to "report'-a diplomatic euphe-
mism for a showdown. If his policies
are not approved he may resign, possibly
after q short face-saving return trip to
Buenos Aires for reasons Of health"
Evening star., 1946-12-24

The return ofsAmbassador George
Messersmith from Buenos Aires is ex-
pected to set of some fireworks in the
State Department over our policy in
Argentina.
It is an open secret in Washington
that the Ambassador does not see eye
to eye with Assistant Secretary OF State
Spruille Braden, who is In charge OF
Latin American affairs, on the handling
of relations with the government OF
Juan D. Peron.
Mr. Braden has the full support of
Secretary of State Byrnes, but is
strongly opposed by number OF pow
erful Republican Senators whose views
will have to be needed by the admins
tration after Congress convenes in
January.
Mr.. Messersmith is reported to have
accepted the transfer from his Mexico
City ambassadorship to Buenos Aires on
condition that he be- given free hand
to handle relations with the Peron gov
erpment in his own way and for the
best interests Of the United States
and not a particular theological group
which includes people inside and out
side the State Department.
Mr.. Messersmith was selected for the
difficult Argentine post because of his
good record. He came into prominence
as consul general in Berlin in 1888 when
Hitler came to power. Although he was
in charge Of the consulate general and
not the embassy, his fortnight attitude
and courageous stand against Hitler's
dictatorial measures affecting interests
of American citizens brought him ON
cial recognition He was promoted to
Minister to Austria and later Assistant
Secretary of State. He then became
Ambassador to Mexico.
n
After Col. Peron was elected Presi-
dent of Argentina, in spite of the open
opposition of the Latin American sec
ton of the State Department which
issued the famous Blue Book denounc-
ing Col. Peron, the situation required
careful handling
Mr.. Messersmith was offered the
Buenos Aires ambassadorship by Presi-
dent Truman and Secretary Byrnes.
His record as an irreconcilable anti
Fascist and his sturdy Americanism
made him appear to be the ideal man
for this job. He accepted 1t and went
Evening star., 1946-12-24

pany carried the controversy to the
courts. The Cuyahoga County APP
pellate Court ruled In favor Of the
Courts and their baby. But the State
Supreme Court, by its split decision,
reversed the appeals tribunal.
The dire threat OF eviction with no
place to 60 is sufficient to induce Mr..
and Mrs. Court to continue their
legal fight. Thus. it appears that
the United States Supreme Court
will be asked to give its opinion on
the facts and the arguments In this
unfortunate case. What the judges
of that august body will say remains
to be seen. But, legalities aside, 1t
will seem to the layman that a rule
of law which supports an eviction
merely because a child has been
born. and especially at time when
an evicted family has little chance
of finding other quarters. is a very
poor rule indeed.
Evening star., 1946-12-24

story Of the coming OF the Saviour
is mystery. Every word Of the
Scriptural narrative raises responsive
magic in the human heart. Doubt
less, there are those who wish 1t
were arnenable to factual dissection
and analysis. But larger public
probably is satisfied to leave the
question unanswered, the divine
riddle unread. It is enough to re-
member that there are realities
beyond reality, glories beyond even
the marvellous glories of this
universe.
Evening star., 1946-12-24
The Essentials of Survival
By George Fielding Eliot

Behind President Truman's action in
appointing an advisory committee on
universal training is grim realization
of the essentials of national survival.
OF particular significance are these
words Of the President in his informal
talk" to the new commission: 1.-THE
modern nation no longer depends solely
on the army and navy for its protection.
Any difficulty in which it is necessary
for the army and navy to fight involves
the whole country" These simple SEN
tences represent the end-product of a
year of intensive work by the Presidents
military and scientific advisers. They
should be noted with prayerful atten-
ton by every citizen.
War is now q direct threat to peoples
as whole direct and imminent
threat to the lives, the property, the
liberties Of every single individual. This
threat can be successfully resisted only
by the united efforts of the whole people.
We can no longer select a few to fight,
while others remain safely at home.
OF course our true policy, that to
which our efforts are presently directed,
is to prevent war from ever occurring
again. But we have learned by painful
chpCl lCliCC Glldt ~ VIC d4C W OPCnh WAetA
a clear and certain voice In the councils
of nations, we must be strong. The
weak nation is disregarded, as we were
disregarded by those who drew the
sword in the two great wars Of this
century.
The great deterrent must. Of course,
be immediately ready offensive striking
power. No one begins war IN which
mutual destruction Is the only possible
outcome. Not even mad war leader
commits suicide, or condemns his own
nation to destruction, merely for the
satisfaction Of doing the like by his
opponents. But If atomic weapons are
to be abolished, or brought under eff
fective international control, then 1t
becomes possible TO calculate the
chances OF war on the basis OF re-
spective ability to survive under pun
ishment.
Sabotage, fifth-column activities, pre-
pare the way for panic when the guided
missiles, the long-range rockets, the
airborne bombs begin to fall The utter
dissolution of the power TO resist In
decisive areas OF the nations interior
may well be the objective which an
enemy will ssek A nation which has
failed to prepare for internal resistance
may be nation with fatal weakness
"a weakness slfnciently tempting to
Evening star., 1946-12-24
Apartments and Babies

In normal times, when tenants
can afford to be as particular about
where they live as landlords are about
choosing tenants. the recent Ohio
Supreme Court ruling that landlords
have the right to bar children from
their apartments would pass with
little more than casual notice. But
the abnormalities of the housing sit
uation are such that tenants and
landlords the country over will read
the decision with interest-albeit
probably with different reactions.
II apartments were as plentiful as
they were before the war, the courts
four-to- three opinion would entail
no insuperable hardship for Mr.. and
Mrs. Marvin Court and their sixteen
month old son, who were the losers
in the case. They would just shop
around for an apartment where chill
dren are permitted and find one pos
sibly more to their liking than the
one they left And the company
would seek some adult tenants who
would guarantee not to write on the
wallpaper. But apartments in Cleve-
land, where the Courts live, are just
as scarce as anywhere else-and the
"no-dogs, no-children" taboos are
just as prevalent.
The uncontested facts in the case
seemed clear enough. from a legal
standpoint. The rental company
rented the apartment to Mr.. Court,
wounded war veteran, last Febru-
ary, under a month-to-month agree
ment which restricted occupancy to
adults. Six months later Mrs. Court
gave birth to q baby. The company
regarded this not as blessed event
but as a violation of the rental
agreement and ordered the Courts to
vacate. When they refused, the COM
Evening star., 1946-12-24
Not Hursh

Presidential release of a number of
jailed conscientious objectors will be
generally welcomed as gesture
quite in keeping with the spirit Of
Christmas. However. in view OF the
fact that recent agitation on the
subject has tended to represent the
Government in a harsh light, certain
facts seem worthy of emphasis in
order to keep the record straight.
The first of these facts is that the
Government has pursued a fair
policy. During the entire draft
period. under the Selective Service
Act, conscientious objectors have
been handled under a law making
due allowance for religious scruples.
In the war days. large majority of
them found that they could live by
this law without in any way hurting
their consciences. Up to last year,
according to one authoritative study,
more than 11.000 of them had freely
objected to both combatant and
noncombatant duty, choosing in
stead to be assigned to civilian work
camps. In addition, a similar num-
Der had objected only to actual
combat, choosing to do noncombat-
ant work as members of the armed
forces. The only ones who went to
prison were those whose sincerity
was open to doubt. who stubbornly
failed to meet such requirements as
registration, who refused even to
enter civilian camps, who deserted
the camps after entering them or
who willfully declined to do the jobs
assigned to them there. It has been
estimated that upwards of 5000 of
these received sentences. but that
does not mean that that many were
behind the bars all at one time. Apart
from few hundred Jehovah's Wit
nesses-who apparently are in a
special classification-only about 40.
were reported to have been in jail
last Sunday, prior to the latest re-
leases.
Quite obviously, this does not add
up to picture of harshness. There
may have been mistakes in some
relatively few cases. but the jailed
minority went to Jail because, by all
reasonable standards of conscience
and law, they seemed to merit jail.
A good percentage of the majority,
on the other hand, the many thou
sands who worked in the civilian
camps or performed noncombatant
duties, served their country well dur
Ing the war.
It is worth noting, moreover, that
such service did not 60 unrewarded.
In one case it merited the Congress
sional Medal of Honor-an award
which never before had been granted
to a conscientious objector and
which served, in its own way, to
demonstrate the essential fairness
OF national policy. Everything con-
sidered, despite any impressions to
the contrary, the Government is not
open to serious criticism on this
score.
Evening star., 1946-12-24
Christmas Tree Hunt

Many men behind desks In the city
or working amid the whirring ca
cophony OF machinery look out at
gray December skies these days and
think OF the time when they helped
get the Christmas tree. The day be-
fore Christmas the countryman was
likely to say after breakfast, "Well,
son, let's take our axes and go up to
the woodlot. Mother and the girls
will want to trim the tree this eve
ning."
It was an anticipated annual rit-
ual. After the chores were finished,
stock watered. barns cleaned and
horses curry-combed, the country
man and lad went up through the
orchard, climbed the pasture, went
through the maple grove into the
evergreen stretch. Among the as
sorted pines all was peaceful and
quiet. It was as II one entered
world where strife and man-made
problems were unknown. There was
a gentle murmuring among the
branches overhead. The air was
filled with the tangy. invigorating
fragrance of the evergreens.
Here and there In the woods were
open glens and hooks. In these areas
the younger trees were growing. 1--WE
want tree Just seven feet tall"
father would say. "It must be we'll
shaped all around and have good
single spike at the tip for the Star
Of Bethlehem. It took a little
searching to find just the right tree.
Nothing wrong about cutting a tree
for Christmas" the countryman
would say, "if you take one where
they are growing too thickly to-
gether. Woodlots need thinning and
pruning just like all other crops"
There was nothing spectacular or
unusual about it-just a farmer and
his son selecting a tree to help COM
memorate the time of peace on
earth, good will to all men. Through
generations Of time men and boys
have gone forth with their axes. AS
a new Nation has developed in the
western world, the green trees have
been placed In humble farm homes.
And the star at the top is a symbol
that in the hearts OF men is a dream
of the time when wars and rumors
of war shall be gone forever. For
peace on earth, good will to men is
the Grail for which we seek.
Evening star., 1946-12-24

tip the balance of war-maker's cal
culations.
In the Nationwide discussions which
will attend the deliberations of the
Presidents committee we shall hear
again the contention that it is useless
to prepare mass armies" in this age
of scientific warfare. We shall hear
again that the brass hats" are trying
to fight the next war with the weapons
Of the last" We shall be told once
more by the bright shallow minds of
those who never think things through
about the military Bourbons who learn
nothing" We shall be asked why the
Army, for example, wants National
Guard Of 680,0 men and an Organized
Reserve Of equal or somewhat greater
strength. We shall be asked what Is
the use Of training annually million,
more or less, of our young men by
system of universal training when war
is to be fought by few high doomed
professors with a row of push buttons,
and will be decided in the first "a hours.
Y X
The answer is, first Of all, before any,
thing else, the necessity of internal
security-the need of having solid,
impregnable base from which to launch
the offensive efforts that must bring
us victory. That base can only be the
whole Nation, united and prepared. The
National Guard and the Organized Re-
serves must be the first and second
lines Of internal security, as their pri-
mary missions.
We have never before had National
Guard OF more than 100000 men In the
time Of peace. This is too few to pro-
vide security force in every community
prepared to deal with the effects Of
panic, widespread destruction, inter-
ruption Of normal communications and
services. and possibly the arrival Of
enemy airborne troops to exploit the
work Of the bombs and the rockets
But even the proposed strength for
the National Guard plus q scattering
Of fully organized and equipped reserve
units must be supported by prepared
and disciplined element among the citi-
zens-young men trained for emer-
gency duties inmunized against panic
by knowledge Of what to do and how
to do it. This element can be provided
only by q system Of universal training.
It is this necessity for internal Sc
curity as the essential basis Of national
power which the President had In mind
when he formed his new committee.
tcopyright. i04o)
Evening star., 1946-12-24
The Christmas Stur

Many early rising Washingtonians
have asked: Are either of the bright
stars now riding the eastern sky,
perchance, the star of the Nativity?
The Naval Observatory watchers OF
the heavens answer: No, the brighter
is Venus; the less bright, Jupiter
both morning stars at present, but
neither the star of Bethlehem.
Lay persons as well as professional
astronomers have a natural curl
osity about the celestial guide of the
worshiping Wise Men. Again and
again for centuries the matter has
been debated. The latest opinion
is that of Wagner Schlesinger,
director of the Adler Planetarium
In Chicago. None but the Magi, he
says, are represented in the Gospel
Of Saint Matthew as having seen the
star that stood above the manger.
Other characters in the sacred
drama of the first Christmas beheld
angels, "a multitude of the heavenly
host praising God," but it nowhere
is asserted that the holy star actu-
ally appeared to any individuals
save those for whom, especially, it
was intended to appear
Mr.. Schlesinger believes that it is
possible that the Wise Men were
attracted by a >"close grouping" ef
Mars, Jupiter and Saturn which
occurs once every eight hundred and
i've years and seemingly happened
in 6 BIC. Other theories taken into
account by him are that the Christ
mas star was an exceptionally bright
shooting star" a comet or a new
star" of very brief duration. These
ideas, however, are not accepted by
scientists because evidence of their
existence is missing from other
literatures where normally it should
be found.
Astronomers are handicapped, Mr..
schlesinger declares, by being un-
certain of what to look for" or
when to look" % The star of Bethle-
hem, he suggests, "was a miracle
and thus utterly incapable OF ex-
PLANTATION" Perhaps that is the
philosophic attitude which the gen.
erality OF people best might develop
concerning the problem. The whole
Evening star., 1946-12-24
Following Bryon's Example

From the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
From Henry Wallace we learn that
the Democratic Party will die unless
it becomes more democratic" and also
that the Republicans are going to kill
themselves by repeating the errors of
the '20s. Maybe the Socialists, too,
should be remembered in preparing tho
political party graveyard. Norman
Thomas is going to deprive them OF, all
interest in life by refusing to run for
President any more,