davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1946-02-04
Crippled Travellers

Washingtonians who were shocked
by the unfortunate incident some
weeks ago at Union Station in which
a crippled veteran was injured by a
surging holiday throng will be
pleased to learn that the affair has
had happy aftermath. As a result
of the publicity given the case,
Americas railroads, in cooperation
with Army, Navy and Veterans
Administration authorities, have
worked out a Nationwide plan to
give disabled servicemen "break"
at crowded terminals. AS announced
by the Association of American Rail-
roads, the plan calls for advance
notice to station officials by hospital
or military and naval representa-
tives whenever special assistance is
desired in the handling of disabled
personnel. Military police and shore
patrolmen will be notified to be on
the lookout for individual cases re-
quiring special attention and rail-
road employees have been instructed
to extend every possible courtesy to
disabled veterans.
The association has commended
to its member roads the system of
loud-speaker announcements and
bulletin-board notices of the ar
rangement established at the Union
Station here after the recent acci-
dent. 1t is to be hoped that all
other stations will adopt, also, the
Washington Terminals sensible pol
icy Of extending the offer of special
assistance to all crippled travellers,
civilian as we'll as military. There
is no justification for restricting the
courtesies to persons in uniform.
Evening star., 1946-02-04

this reconsideration on the part of
the commission. His decision ter
inmates the controversy over the
museum and the cafeteria, but it does
not settle the problem of where the
executive offices finally are to be.
That issue remains just as unsolyed
as it was in Thomas Jefferson's time
and as unsolved as the architects
as professional group always since
then have insisted it will be-until
adequate facilities for the Presi-
dents staff are provided by Congress
near to but not in immediate con-
tact with the Presidents residence.
Evening star., 1946-02-04

The French Parliament, at the in
stance of Socialist President Felix
Gouin, has named Socialist Leon Blum
as a special envoy to the United States
and Britain. He Is coming over to ask
a loan from us. The requested amount
will be about $4,000, ,0000 900. Similar re-
quests in smaller amounts are under
preparation in Czechoslovakia and some
of the Balkan states. Greece will prob
ably get $25.0oo,000 from the Export
Import Bank and also something from
Britain. AS Britain's source OF spare
cash is the United States, we may, in
the case of Greece, be playing Santa
Claus twice. Certainly, Britain stands
to gain more from Greek financial
stability than we do.
The Greek loan is a melancholy re-
minder to me of an incident during
the last agonies of the World War
loans. in 1888 It was my responsibility
in the State Department to hear the
pleas of various countries for release
from their interest payments. The for
mula was that if a country made
plea of Inability to pay" payment
might be postponed. The representa-
tive of Greece entered the usual plea.
The amount due was approximately
$4,000 1t was mysterious to me why
a nation could not scrape together that
amount. But the plea stood, and we au-
tomatically extended the time. France
would neither pay nor plead inability
to pay.
The present French request Is nota-
BILE for various reasons. The proposed
amount is two-thirds OF the British
loan. It is based on the claim that
France needs the money just as urgently
as Britain does.
But France is not in such good po-
sition to make her claim as is Britain.
It was Britain's last stand that saved
the war in 1910. The terrible muddle
of French military power was largely
due to financial disorder which set
in under the same Leon Blum who now
comes a-calling on us. Labor In France
has declared that the capitalists shall
bear the brunt of the financial burden,
Evening star., 1946-02-04
Problem UnsoIyed

Is an addition to the west wing
OF the White House an addition to
the White House itself? The average
layman's answer would be: Yes, but
the author of an unsigned article
in the February issue of the Journal
OF the American Institute of Archi-
tects, published Saturday, appears
to suggest different point of view.
Discussing the changes proposed by
Lorenzo S: Winslow, the unidentified
writer says: Publication in the
newspapers of elevation drawings of
the proposed addition seems to have
met with. considerable misunder-
standing. The public, not familiar
with architectural drawings, and
jumping to the conclusion that the
addition was to be tackled on to the
White House proper-the mansion.
promptly raised hue and cry"
OF course, there may be merit in
the alleged professional attitude
represented in these quoted words.
1t is possible that the ordinary citi-
zen is technically in error when he
thinks of an addition to one side
of the official home of the President
as being an addition to the whole
structure. If so, there is nothing to
stop a whole series of additions
being tackled on to" the building
endlessly. The present proposal to
treble the size of the existing. west
wing might lead in another genera
tion to doubling or trebling it again
in the ratio of increasing executive
business. Such development would
be as logical as that which brought
into being the temporary" office
annex erected against the advice
and over the protest of McKim,
Mead and White in 1902, enlarged
twice since that date and now again
to be added to for the same purpose
namely, to supply more room for
the work of the Nations chosen
leader and his staff.
But since the Journal of the A. I. A.
went to press the Fine Arts Com
mission has taken action which
makes the article by the unknown
commentator out of date. The COM
mission in effect has Cancelled its
license" to create q museum and
to establish cafeteria in the White
House and has put new and more
definite emphasis on the temporary
character of the west wing addition.
President Truman has agreed with
Evening star., 1946-02-04
This Changing World
By Constantine Brown

The Russian Communist party's elec-
toral appeal to the Russians, with the
promise of bigger and better Red
Army. Is regarded in Washington as
intended to tntimidate foreign powers
rather than gain votes.
AS matter OF fact, the candidates
who go before the electorate in Russia
this month need not worry about the
electoral outcome. Each has been care
fully selected and runs without opposi-
ton. Whatever blank votes are cast
against candidate cannot interfere
with his certain election. Thus, an elec-
toral campaign Is luxury in Russia,
where the rubber stamp parliamenta-
rians are selected. several months in ad-
vance by the Central Committee.
But the fact that this electoral cam
paign should have been chosen as
vehicle for informing the world that
Russia not only does not intend to
reduce its armed forces, which are
far larger than the combined forces of
all It's former Allies, but intends to
strengthen them, is regarded in Wash
ington as diplomatic maneuver.
Important decisions on division of war
spoils are expected this year. There is
yet no agreement DetWeeu tIlc principal
powers as to how to deal with the de-
feated nations, the Italians, for in
stance. In fact, none of the diplomats
at the green table gives hoot for the
italian people and the promises made
to them secretly before they ousted
Mussolini
The principal argument is over dis
tribution of italian territory. The
Americans, British, French and Rus
slams each have different ideas about
what to do about 1t.
II Il
The same thing will be true ultimately
OF settlement of the Japanese problem.
A major argument is expected to develop
over the form Of the future Japanese
government.
The United States intends to stick,
at least for the present, to the Potsdam
pledges and preserve the monarchy,
unless the japanese people decide other
wise in free and secret election. In
the next few months the Russian gov
ernment is expected to start a campaign
Evening star., 1946-02-04
The Professor Says Boo!

From the Victoria Times:
1t seems quite like old times to read
these excerpts from New York speech
by the chairman of the British Labor
party, Prof. Harold Laski: Free en-
terprise and market economy mean war,
socialism and planned economy mean
peace. All attempts to find a compro-
mise are Satanic illusion. We must
plan our civilization or perish"
Since Hiroshima was blown off the
map the actual destruction of civiliza-
ton has been foreseeable, uncom-
fortably literal possibility. Consequent
ly we doubt that many of Prof. Laski's
acquaintances were very frightened
when he shouted "bool" But in the
light of present events perhaps the
professor should scale the awful bogey
man of free enterprise down to more
appropriate size.
Evening star., 1946-02-04
Portrait

] knoto quiet little pond rejecting
Its dark bank, grass and s,pdying Dillop
tree;
1t sends sober image back to me
The master face from Urinkled time,
selecting
Moments artistically. ppe been
suspecting
This mirror, dipped Tn blue skies:
Casually,
! check its stormy face. perhaps to see
II its mood changes, as mans
introspecting.
But no, its rustic honesty portrdys
A pensiUe man lDho t1nnders here and
there,
Seeking for something he can neper
find:
The trouble tn his eyes no mood aHays;
But, as the grass iDGues slotoly Dith
the tDi7d,
He dreams ,pith memory. a silent pair.
CULLEN JONES.
Evening star., 1946-02-04
On the Record
By Dorothy THOMPSON

1t is greatly to be hoped that the
British loan will be expedited by Con-
gress. The world in which we live is
economically devastated, and is in a
condition of extreme political instability.
No effort should be spared to ameliorate
these conditions as rapidly as possible.
Neither Breton Woods nor any inter-
national trade policy can become in
the least effective until the special
British situation is met.
The British Parliament has accepted
the conditions of the loan. not without
making some wry faces. The conditions
mean the dissolution of the sterling
bloc and the abandoning of imperial
preferences. The extreme left in the
British Labor party, which leans to-
ward state-controlled trade as part of
a completely planned economy, and the
extreme right, which leans toward i'm
ported against the middle-of the
readers by the failure Of the loan.
There is, therefore, a political aspect to
the loan, which should certainly be
taken into account by the very Rep
resentatives and Senators most likely
to oppose it.
A prolonged debate - with even a
filibuster, as has been threatened
would be in the nature of a strike
against any international financial
reconstruction. The British cannot dis
solve the sterling bloc, for instance,
until America takes action on the loan
The international trade conference,
highly necessary, cannot take place until
then. The delay will already have
necessitated postponement, and mean
while everything is hanging in midair,
as far as world economic reconstruction
is concerned. Time is, therefore, of
the essence. A breakdown in British
American financial relations, or a pro-
longed state of suspension with anger
and querulousness, would create an
international deadlock, promoting every
sort Of political and economic specula-
ton.
The matter of foreign trade is of
grave concern to American industry
and American workers. Henry Wallace,
who is certainly in favor of the largest
possible internal consumption of Amer
ican production, was one of the first to
realize and say that full employment
will be impossible unless the United
States finds increased foreign outlets.
In world which Is, at present, i'm
poverished beyond imagination, and
much of which-the Soviet Union and
its satellites, for instance-is within a
practically closed economy. the prospect
is bleak at best. Certainly it is not in
the American interest to promote any
sort of autarchy, whether rightist or
leftist. but that will be the alternative
to reflnancing Great Britain, and, as a
result of that refinancing, promoting
the multilateral reciprocal trade ideas
which have been one of the few con-
sistent lines of American foreign policy
for many years.
Evening star., 1946-02-04

fortunately, by far and away the best
American foreign customer has been.
Tor decades, the United Kingdom and
the British Commonwealth. In 1888,
for instance-the last more or less
normal year-17 per cent of all our
exports went to the United Kingdom,
10 per cent to Canada and 13 per cent
to the rest OF the commonwealth-45
per cent Of our entire export trade. The
same year imports from the United
Kingdom were per cent of our total:
from Canada T3 per cent; from the
rest of the commonwealth l3 per cent,
or a total Of 80 per cent-strongly favor
able to us, on balance. 1t is therefore
essential to our own trade revival that
we get our affairs with the United King
dom and commonwealth on a steady
basis and quickly, for if We cannot do
this with our best customers, we GER
tainly cannot accomplish anything as
favorable with anybody else.
-
The Congress members who think to
oppose the loan are, oddly enough, the
very men who are opposed to regimen
tation," Socialism" and Communism" !"
Yet they sometimes appear to be Gods
gift to their own opponents, especially
the regimenters. We have not got an
infinite choice of alternatives. ANY sort
Of freedom depends on a degree of
economic freedom. Economic freedom
is inconceivable without multilateral
reciprocal trade; that IS inconceivable
without the refnancing of Britain
Money has to work in the world If it
n ip1
and nothing is served by squeezing ones
competitors too hard, especially if they
are also ones own best customers
American prosperity has always risen
or waned with world prosperity.
The argument that the British loan
creates a precedent is specious. Every
loan has to be considered on its own
merits, and undoubtedly we shall have
to refnance a considerable part of the
world If We want orderly, prosperous,
evolutionary reconstruction. The alter
native will be political extremisns of
all kinds, new forms and expressions of
economic Fascism, all with inevitable
social and economic repercussions on
and within the United States. Indeed,
the economic and political instability of
the world at large is the greatest threat
to our own institutions.
1t is, therefore, to be hoped that the
British loan will not, by further trou-
bling the international waters, create
new favorable fishing conditions for
those few who do not want the rapid
restoration of order and equilibrium.
Whatever difficulties there may be in
doing business with the British are
largely overcome by the conditions at
tached to the loan, and in any case, if
we cannot do business with the United
Kingdom and commonwealth we shall
encounter much harder problems with
the rest of the world-and with less
immediate and favorable results.
ed bv he pau Svndi-ste
Evening star., 1946-02-04
USO Carries on

Five years ago today the United
Service Organizations came into
being as the result of the determina-
ton of a group of public-spirited
citizens to see to it that the morale
of our then relatively small but
growing army of servicemen did not
suffer for lack of suitable entertain
ment and recreational facilities.
The country, although not yet in
state of war, was engaged in feverish
defense activities to prepare for war
If it came. and the organizers of the
USO moved with commendable fore
sight to keep pace with the prepara-
tions. Having learned during the
First World War of the value of
teamwork in the morale field, repre-
sentatives of the YMCA, YWCA, the
National Catholic Community Serv-
ice, the Jewish Welfare Board, the
Salvation Army and the National
Travellers Aid Association joined in
broad program designed to provide
clubroom facilities and full pro-
gram of incidental services for men
on military leave.
In those memorable five years the
USO became as important military
morale factor as the camp news
paper. World Series broadcasts or
mail call. With the end of the war,
the peak number of 3,035 service
clubs in many parts of the globe
tapered off to approximately 1000
by the turn of the year. But our
soldiers, sailors and Marines the
world over will be happy to learn
that the USO will not demobilize
completely as long as there is rea-
sonable demand for it's services. It
plans to carry on at separation CEN
ters, hospitals and other stations in
this country and even to expand its
services in Japan and other distant
places where morale maintenance is
still a real problem. The organiza-
tions and the thousands of volunteer
workers who thus will continue, to
Evening star., 1946-02-04
Letters to The Star !.
DR.. Cannon Discusses Problem of
Day Nursery Maintenance


To the Editor of The Star:
I have received several telephone
messages from disturbed and indignant
citizens because of the impression they
received from reading the front-page
article which gave an account of the
meeting between representatives of
churches, social workers and citizens
organizations and the Committee on
Buildings and Grounds of the Board
of Education.
am not member of that committee,
but attended because was interested
in the subject under discussion. The
meeting was sought by the above-men-
toned organizations in order to induce
the Board of Education to request q
deficiency appropriation in order to
extend the life of the day nurseries
from February 28 until the end of the
school year and not to consider the
advisability of forcing citizens by law
to make their 3-year- children at
tend school. do not presume to inter-
pret the thought behind Mrs. Phillip
Smiths remarks that 3-year-olds can
be better trained at school than at
home, but, as an observer, obtained
the impression that 1t was tinctured
with facetiousness. T do not think
there is doubt in anybodys mind that
3-year-old children from some homes
are better off under trained supervision
with the cod liver oil and the nourishing
food furnished by the nurseries, play
ground facilities and the companionship
and competition of other children than
they would be at home.
The discussion involved economics. It
was brought out that an income to the
family of even $4,000 would not be a
proper yardstick by which to Judge of
the necessity for attending day nurs-
cries. That $4,000 may have to help to
support elderly parents in other cities,
may have to 60 to reduce mortgages,
keep up insurance, etc. leaving the
net income for the family much lower.
I stated after the meeting that I
was old-fashioned enough to wish to
see homes become normal again and
to have mama discard her overalls
and her Stenographic notebooks and 60
back to the nursery and the kitchen,
where she has functioned satisfactorily
for many years, and that / would be
very sympathetic with the movement
to prolong the life of the day nurseries
if I could be assured that each case
would be investigated thoroughly and
that it could be ascertained that the
mother was retaining her job because
it was necessary and not because she
thereby could get out of her home
duties or have money for luxuries such
as fur coats.
The above is not an official transcript
OF the meeting, but is my observation on
what transpired while attending it.
JAMES A. CANNON,
M. D., FACS, Members of the
Board of Education.
Evening star., 1946-02-04
Russia: Arms and Atom

At tlIue Wnen Cne united states
is demobilizing its armed forces at
breakneck speed and when Congress
diligently pursues a policy of do
nothingism in respect to postwar
universal military training for Amer
ican youth, it may be instructive to
all OF us to take special note of two
developments just reported from
Russia.
The first of these is that the Gen.
trail Committee of the Communist
party, in preparation for the single
ticket election to be held in the
Soviet Union next Sunday, has
called for the greatest possible turn
out of Russian voters, emphasizing
above everything else the party's
determination to work for a "fur-
ther strengthening" of the country's
armed forces.
And almost simultaneously news
dispatches tell of two Russians re-
ceiving Stain Awards for having
succeeded in effecting the spontane-
GUS splitting of the uranium atom
"one of the greatest achievements
In Soviet physics in recent years"
The particular significance of this
story is that the splitting was done
not yesterday or the day before but
some time in 1943 or 1944-a fact
which helps explain Foreign Com
miSsar Molotoff's confident predic-
tion few months ago that Russia
would have its own atomic energy
IN due course; a fact, too, which
bears out the insiStent assertions of
such distinguished American scien-
lists as Urey, Oppenheimer and
Langmuir that other powers, with or
without any information from us,
will be able to produce bombs of the
Hiroshima type within the next five
or ten years.
In view of the immense signifi-
canoe of atomic energy, Russia, of
course, or indeed any country
equipped to do so, would be foolishly
neglectful of its own best interests
If it did not work hard in this field,
exploring and exploiting all its pos
sibilitieS. BY the same token, since
this is world still full of uncer-
tainties and since every nation will
have to be watchful of its security
until the peace is genuinely stabi-
lized, the Soviet Union has good rea-
son to look to it's arms as well as to
the atom, and it plainly proposes to
do so, with neither equivocation nor
apology.
The contrast between the Russians
and ourselves thus is very great.
True, we are not suspending our
work on atomic energy, but we are
demobilizing at such a rate that
Admiral Nimitz now speaks of the
disintegration of our naval strength,
and our Army authorities are hard
put to maintain enough forces for
occupation tasks and other immedi-
ate postwar responsibilities. SINH
larly-and this is perhaps the most
serious negligence of all-nothing is
being done about providing for the
peacetime training of our youths.
OF course, this would be such a
dreary and unhappy world if nations
Indefinitely maintained themselves
as armed camps that nothing could
be more urgent than the promptest
possible esta establishment-through the
UNO-of peace system effective
enough to inspire all major powers
to undertake far-reaching pro-
gram of disarmament. Meanwhile.
though, in this transition period.
when We still are building a
bridge away from war, we Ameri-
cans have something to learn from
the Russians.