davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1946-09-02

strength as deterrent to possible az
greSSors, there Is every reason for us
to retain q strong hand in the Far East
and particularly in Japan, the strategic
position OF which can give us dominance
in at least one region of the world,
Our stiffened attitude toward the
Soviet Union requires that we maintain
at least one strong position against
Moscow to Offset Russia's acknowledged
superior position In Europe. Russian
strength from the Arctic to the Med
1terranean-Spearhea through Ger
many, Austria, the Balkans-would in
the long run be too much for the West
ern democracies to contend with, If,
through American power, they did not
continue to press Russia from the East.
Far from raising menace of war this
rs the only sure way to keep the peace
throughout the world, for Russia is not
likely to launch into any violent ven
lures when she is as vulnerable as she is
In Asia.
The revival Of Japan as an American
ally must go hand in hand with a
strengthening OF China along democratic
lines. This means making certain that
communist influence never gains pre-
dominance there and that the National
ist government, which admittedly has
numerous faults, should be broadened
to make 1t truly representative of the
Chinese people. There is good deal
OF justice in widespread complaint
against the Chang regime as it is now
dominated by the Kuomintang, but the
solution Is not to permit Moscow's pup
pets to ascend to power, but to correct
the faults Of the existing government
to which the American government has
commitments. That has been Gen.
Marshall's task.
\ 4
Between revival of Japan and unifica-
tlon OF China-if it can ever be accom-
plished-the United States, and through
us all the Western democracies, will have
stronghold not only of defensive but
OF positive action If the occasion arises.
Russia has nothing to fear from this
powerful stabilizing influence of the
United States in the Far East. She can
share in its benefits if she desires to
cooperate.
Meanwhile, Americas intention to for
tlfy her position in the Far East over
the long term is being made crystal clear
to Moscow and Russia will take aggres-
slve action anywhere at her own risk.
Evening star., 1946-09-02
Unused Federal Lund

The decision of the Commissioners
to ask for survey of Federal land
holdings here with a view to ulti-
mate recapture by the city of any
such land not serving an essential
national purpose is the more easily
understandable when it is remem-
bered that less than half of the
District area now represents taxable
real estate. The remainder is, of
course, made up of Federal, District
and private tax-exempt holdings
such as churches, educational insti-
tutions and property acquired by
foreign governments for embassy
purposes. The gradual encroach-
ment by all three categories is shown
by the fact that ten years ago the
taxable area amounted to 56.7 per
cent of the whole. Today it is about
496 per cent and there is no reason
to believe the trend will not con-
tinue.
Thus, as the population increases
and the land for normal living pur-
poses decreases, good city planning
would seem to require a study
whether some of the land used for
public purposes, both Federal and
District, might be put to some still
better purpose And it seems to
The Star that the National Capital
Park and Planning Commission,
which has been asked to make the
survey, is the logical agency to do it,
representing as it does in it's mem
bership, both national and local
interests
Such a study might we'll find that
none of the land could be put to bet
ter use than its present assignment.
The Commissioners indicate they
have no special tracts in mind in
making the request for the investi-
oation. But to The Star 1t would
seem healthy thing to have a
periodic review of the purpose for
which public land is acquired and
used. The findings, even If failing
to result in actual recapture of lands
presently held, might present a
powerful argument against unnec-
essary acquisition of still other areas
in the future. The solution of the
problem of tax-exempt land in
Washington does not lie, of course,
In preventing further land acquisi-
ton by tax-exempt purchasers. This
Is the Federal City and the national
interests will always predominate
The solution should be found, how
ever. which compensates in some
manner the Municipal Government
for its loss of tax revenues, upon
which the adequate support of the
community depends.
Evening star., 1946-09-02
Slaughtering the Unprepared
By Raymond MoIey

A drive over the highway between
Denver, Lincoln and Omaha reminded
this writer of Government at its best
and at its worst. The highways built
and maintained by Government are
magnificent. They are great public
works-monopolistic, uncomplicated by
competition among men. To build them
involves engineering and management
Of material things. Only In minor
degree do they involve the considera-
tions Of human psychology.
But over these highways are passing
reminders of great governmental fall
ure-the failure to comprehend the mix
ture of human psychology and economic
law involved in price control. 1t seems
that everything that can carry COW, a
steer, calf or a hog is rolling on the
roads to market. The lean and the fat
mostly the lean-the old and the mid
dle-aged and the young are going to
the same destiny-your dinner table.
This rush of animals to slaughter will
last a little while, and then 1t will stop.
Then housewives will return from the
markets empty-handed once more.
xx
For months and years cattle and other
animals have eaten in idleness. They
have consumed grains which might have
sustained hungry millions abroad. The
small supply Of meat flowed into lille
climate markets.
Now, for the moment, the process Is
reversed. The Decontrol Board has
decreed that, since meat constitutes
nearly fifth of the family food budget,
Government subsidies will be provided
to lower present prices and bring them
back closer to those OF June 80.
But Government must have time to
prepare regulations. And SO it Is decided
that meats shall come back under all
ceilings before September 8. livestock
and processed meats are already under
control. Wholesalers ceilings 60 into
effect September 5 and retailers ceiling
on September % The flrst consequence
Is this rush to the packing houses. The
farmer fears that he will get less than
present prices after the deadline. The
Evening star., 1946-09-02
Eveninqtide

At Twilight noaD the crickets recdpitulats
The acts that indipidualized the day.
And leading the polyphonic tide stDeep.
ing in from the iDood's edge,
FIJI hearts NTH that tohich only
eDeningtides conpey.
The nipeous field OF cotton, strangely
still,
Lies in great clearing, like whits
gigantic sea,
Where quiet thought Is at anchor in the
hdrbor
OF nightfalrs operpotoering tranquility.
The silent moon appears above the dis.
tant pines,
-Banishing darkness from the dsphodeI.
And from the locust tree softly arripes
The silpery harmony OF the ptilomel.
EDWARD D. GARNER.
Evening star., 1946-09-02

butcher and consumer fear that they
will not get meat through the regular
channels after the new ceilings are
established. These fears are quite justi-
fed, of course.
1t is general rule that when autumn
approaches and pastures shrink, there
is a drift to the packing houses, This
year Government has set off this trend
prematurely and artificially. The volume
of meat which will flow into the market
in the immediate future will momen-
tarily overwhelm the black market Then
the available supply will shrink, and in
all probability the old black market evils
will return.
In such decisions as we are seeing in
the Decontrol Board and have seen in
the old OPA, two of the inevitable
weaknesses of Government appear. The
first is the plain lack of capacity in
any government to comprehend the
complex process Of economic life. The
second is the pressure of politics to pro-
tect this or that element of the consum-
ing public. Labor demanded conces-
sion, intended theoretically to lower the
cost of living. The Decontrol Board
apparently decided to grant it, after
the OPA had promised that this time
it's control would be effective. But there
is no assurance that such q promise
can be kept
1t is going to be evident, before long,
that in the great OPA legislative crisis
in July both political parties partici-
pated in comedy of errors. President
Truman, in his veto of the first bill,
was badly advised politically and eco
nomically. The Republicans, in provid-
ing a new bill, threw away golden
opportunity. If nothing had been done
after the veto except to provide rent
control, natural factors might by this
time have measurably adjusted things.
The new bill, on which the Decontrol
Board had to base its decision, has
merely delayed the inevitable and has
created new complications.
RELEASED by Associated Newspspsrs Ine)
Evening star., 1946-09-02
On the Record
By Dorothy Thomson

When Woodrow Wilson called for
open diplomacy" he could hardly have
imagined the current spectacle in Paris
or at Lake Success, the one called a
Peace" Conference, and the other the
United" Nations.
The old diplomatic hands-men who
were ON hand at Versailles, for instance
wonder just what purpose is being
served by these public brawls. Often
the speeches seem made for dema9ogi-
cal reasons, having an eye on the politi-
cal situation at home. Usually one has
the impression Of witnessing one of
those antique Chinese wars where the
belligerents marched upon each other
IN horrible masks, the issue being which
could first scare the other into retreat.
Yet every utterance is also political
deed, and the tougher the talk becomes
the more difficult Is it for any one of
the speakers later to retfeat especially
since his utterances will be read next
morning, in more or less objective re-
ports, throughout the world.
The orators are, of course, men, and
not extraordinary ones at that None
OF them is the author of great book;
none is distinguished in his own right
as historian, artist, geographer, or sci
enlist. Yet each, with all his limita-
tions, which becomes more and more
apparent as personalities and tempers
reveal themselves, is a tremendous alb
stract symbol OF concrete power.
Their speeches are recorded as those
OF the United States" the "U. S. s. r.
the United Kingdom" And altogether
they speak for peace-loving, freedom
loving democracies, while calling each
other all the names with which lately
they accused their enemies: imperial
ist," Fascist" "warmongering," "to-
talitarian," "oppressor," "plutodemoc-
racy." dictatorship"
II the men awaiting sentence in
Nuremberg have access to reports
from Paris and the Security Council
they must be inwardly consumed with
sardonic laughter. For there is little
of which Hitler ever accused Great
the Soviet delegates. Most of Hitlers
charges against the U. S. S. r. are now
in the mouths of her recent allies.
A son Of President Roosevelt Is engaged,
in the magazine Look" in substantial
ing the charges first made against
Winston Churchill by Adolf Hitler.
The crimes against humanity charged
against the Nuremberg defendants are
daily being committed by one or an
other of the governments that are their
accusers-such as forced deportations,
slave labor, suspension of habeas cor
pus, creation of different categories of
citizens. appropriation of property for
political reasons. and even the creation
of "racially pure" states.
Thus, Czechoslovakia, first Of Hitlers
nom German victims, celebrates her
Evening star., 1946-09-02

liberation by repudiating every thesis
of Thomas Masaryk in favor of what
is hardly more or less than a Slavic
copy of national socialism.
indeed, 1T seems as though Hitler,
though his bones be dust, laughs
satanically from the shadows in a
miraculous spiritual resurrection, die
tating the very phrases of some of the
speeches, and the very provisions OF
the treaties.
The international pattern first set by
Hitler was war of nerves, conducted
through public speeches of political
leaders and aimed at public opinion at
home and abroad, supported by lackey
press and by lackey news agencies, ac-
companied by diplomatic battle for
satellites, using military and economic
pressures, and preceding the actual war
of steel.
Nothing in this pattern has been
changed by the defeat of the Axis. It's
followers have been put out of the
running, but the pattern continues,
magnifled and accelerated by the ver-
bal and diplomatic opportunities af-
forded by the peace conference and the
United Nations.
x 4
Nor does the fact that the battle is
carried on in the name. of peace change
the pattern. A recent re-reading of the
speeches Of Hitler confirmed my mem
ory that never, on any occasion, did he
advocate war. On the contrary, it was
he who was protecting his country
against the "warmongers" it was he
who was seeking reasonable peaceful
adjustments in Germany's natural
sphere, which would never have in
volved war If 1t had not been for the
"imperialist" powers. If he armed, it
was only because broken down capi-
talist scavengers could not tolerate the
challenge of revolutionary German
socialism" How could he, an old soldier,
who had known personally the horrors
OF war, invite another one, he asked.
There is, however, one change-a
change ominous for all existing govern
ments. The change is in the popular
mood, which is skeptical where it is not
cynical. This is particularly noticeable
among veterans. The mood is anar-
chical; there is distrust Of all systems
and all governments and all speeches,
and even stark truths are regarded as
lies and propaganda.
I suspect this cynicism regarding
government invades Russia, too. else
why the purges, from circles of writers
and artists, to managers of remote fac
tories? Governments, having lost con-
fidence, are losing actual control, and
having, by their deeds, robbed of all
meaning words that once represented
lofty human hopes, the words bounce
back like echoes and are no where alb
sorbed in human minds or hearts.
Released by the Bell Syndicate. Inc).
Evening star., 1946-09-02
Hindsiqht and CunoI

The fifth annual report of the
Senate War Investigating Commit
tee, hitting hard at the costly errors
OF the past. makes excellent recon-
mendations for program of strong
national defense. In building its
case, however, the committee has
indicted General Somervell, former
head of the Army Service Forces,
and Admiral King, our wartime
Chief of Naval Operations, in Ian
guage which seems excessively
harsh.
There can be no doubt, of course,
that our military leaders, together
with some of our top civilian off,
cials, made more than a few deci-
sions in the conduct of the Second
World War that hindsight has
proved to have been wrong or at
least of doubtful wisdom. There
can be no doubt, either, that the
Mead committee is right in declar-
ing that special effort must be
made to guard against repetition of
the same mistakes in the future.
But considering the unprecedented
magnitude and urgency of the
struggle against the Axis. it is un-
reasonable of the committee to ac-
cuse men like General Somervell and
Admiral King-men responsible for
miracles of supply and naval power
of prolonging the conflict simply
because Of stubborn refusal to
drop the Canol oil project, which
allegedly caused waste of material
and manpower greater than any
act of sabotage by the enemy" 1t
should be noted also that Admiral
King accuses the committee of dis
torting the facts as to his position,
and implies that this was done will
fully.
With the help of hindsight 1t may
be quite easy now to demonstrate
that the Canol project was i'll
advised. 1t may be true, too, that
General Somervell and Admiral King
were wrong in pushing it long after
other authorities had counseled
against It, But 1t was decided upon
shortly after Pearl Harbor, in q des-
perate hour when submarines were
Evening star., 1946-09-02
This Changing World
BY C onsfanfine Bro,cn

On this first anniversary Of vi day
and the signing Of the japanese sur
render aboard the battleship Missouri
Washington officialdom looks back on
year of almost unbelievable success in
the occupation Of Japan and makes q
polite bow in the direction Of Gen. Mac
Arthur.
From the very moment American
occupation forces landed In Japan on
August 20. 1945, the occupation has
gone forward with degree of success
which was as unexpected as was the
finish OF the war with Japan. And GER
tainly 1t has been far more successful
than the Allied occupation OF Europe.
The reasons for this are manifold, but
principally lie in the fact that even now
the occupation OF Japan is q single
handed proposition, with the United
States In practically complete control.
y +
One of the other principal factors in
the occupation success Is the states
manship of Gen. Macarthur himself,
who possesses q breadth Of vision and
comprehension Of the significance of his
position as the Western outpost COM
mander of American power which few
men who have devoted themselves to
the military profession ever acquire.
Coupled with them Is peculiar brand
OF humanitarianism which has almost
endeared him to the japanese History
will pay more credit to him for Japan's
restoration to decent life than to any
other.
The problem in Japan now is not 50
much to destroy her war making power.
That has been completed, as the report
from Gen. MacArthur's headquarters
last week pointed out. The job is to re-
vtve the country. economically and po-
ftically.
This revival Of Japan will go far to-
ward determining the course of Ameri-
can fortunes in the Pacific-and the
world-in the next generation, and
world peace conceivably can hinge on
the direction that revival takes in COM
ing years.
Japan, under continuation of the
policies OF Gen. Macarthur, can be re-
created as potential If not an outright
ally OF the United States in the high
power politics on which world peace is
now being built. II there is any merit
in the argument of displaying plenty of
Evening star., 1946-09-02
Not All of One Heart

Both in their press and their per-
sonal utterances, Communists living
outside Russia have frequently dem
onstrated marked aptitude for in
tellectual acrobatics, for the mental
about-face, for calling black white
on one day and white black on an
other, for somersaulting and gyrat-
Ing and twisting and turning every
which way in keeping with the iron
whims of Moscow. But this agile
fidelity to the Kremlin's convoluted
party line must occasionally place
an almost unbearable strain on the
tumbling-act talents of at least some
OF the comrades-a fact bearing
with special point at the moment on
the clashing claims of several of
Europe's smaller powers, particularly
those within the Soviet orbit.
Thus, the Italian Communists-to
their acute embarrassment - find
themselves guilty of committing
something like heresy against the
party line by opposing Yugoslavia's
Moscow-supported claims on Trieste.
Thus, too, the Greek Communists
who as Greeks have no love what
ever for the Bulgars-can hardly be
delighted by the fact that Moscow
is backing Bulgaria's demands on
Greece. Nor can Austria's Commu-
nists feel very comfortable in agitat-
ing for the return of the Southern
Tyrol while their comrades in Italy
hold fast to the opposite position
in accord with Russia's will as ex-
pressed in Big Four decision. Sim
ilarly, the Communists of Hungary
can find little to cheer them in the
Kremlin's favorable attitude toward
giving away Hungarian territory to
Romania and toward Czech determi-
nation to expel the Magyar minority
from Slovakia. Indeed, even the
Polish Communists must be a little
bit unhappy over strong indications
OF pro-Czech Soviet support on the
disposition of coal-rich Teschen.
1t is easy to see how such a state
OF affairs must constitute hard going
for even the most practiced of in
tellectual acrobats among Europe's
Communists. The party comrades in
Hungary, for example, can scarcely
expect to win friends and influence
people among the Hungarians If
they make speeches or employ their
version of the Daily Worker to con-
tend that it is a splendid thing to
let the Romanians have what they
want. Yet at the same time, con-
sidering the policy decreed from on
high, 1t would be unseemly and
heretical for them to argue toe
Evening star., 1946-09-02
Arlington Centennial

Our neighbors across the Potomac
River in that section of Virginia
which once constituted a part Of
the National Capital have set this
week aside to commemorate the
centennial of the creation of Ar
lington County. It is an event
which the people of Washington,
because of the unusual ties which
exist between the two communities,
will follow with pride and interest.
The sponsors of the elaborate pro-
gram. beginning this evening and
continuing through Saturday, assert
that this centennial marks the be-
ginning rather than the end of ar
lington's 100 years of progress. :"
This is supported by great deal
more than community pride.
When Virginia's portion of the
District was formally retroceded
century ago it's thirty-two square
miles were thoroughly rural in char
acter. In 1870 its population was
3,186. BY 1910, according to the
census of that year, there were 81 1000
people in Arlington. Today the
population is about 125,OO0, and in
place Of the quiet, countrylike
county of even a few years ago
there has emerged a bustling, pro-
gressive community that is modern
city in, everything but name.
Arlington's almost phenomenal
growth has resulted in the main
from an influx of people who earn
their ivelihoods in the District.
For this, with other reasons, the
relationship between the commune
ties Is unusually intimate, and the
National Capital, in extending
hearty congratulations to its neigh
Dor on this occasion, acts more in
a spirit of partnership than in that
OF a detached observer.
Evening star., 1946-09-02

harshly with their counterparts
across the border or to raise any
serious doubts about the wisdom,
justice or benevolence of the decl-
sions reached by the home office in
Moscow. Everything considered, the
situation is one to cause heartburn
ing among the stanchest and most
facile Of the non Russian Stalinist
dialecticians. As for the Kremlin
itself, perhaps 1t is just a trifle
puzzled over how best to favor one
set OF disciples against another and
simultaneously keep them all con-
tentedly in line.
Evening star., 1946-09-02
Familiar Tune Revised
the Editor of The Star.


To the Editor Of The Star:
During the war, while our planes were
bombing Axis cities, radio stations under
Nazi control constantly referred to
American airmen as gangsters out to
destroy civilization. After nearly every
air raid, Radio Sofia, or Radio Bucharest,
or Radio Vienna could be heard bowling:
Come you American gangsters, come
fill your bellies with our bloodw
Now, however, the Communist news
paper Daily Worker picks up this thread.
1t refers to the United States fleet in the
Mediterranean as blatant example of
gangster diplomacy" engaged in by the
power drunk State Department in
furious attempt to restore capitalism in
Europe"
Now that Stain and Tito have taken
up "Mein Kampf" as their guidebook OF
international brigandage, the Daily
Worker appears to have put Herr
Goebbels on the payroll.
VERITAS.