davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1946-01-04
AFL Workers Cancel
Western Union Strike

The strike of $4,000 Western
Union employees, previously set for
Monday, was Cancelled" today by
the General Committee of the
Western Union Division, CONNER
cial Telegraphers' Union (AFL).
In an official statement made pub
lie through E. L. Hageman, chair.
man of the traffic unit local "a,
CTU, who also is a member of the
General Committee, the AFL Or
ganization announced that the ac-
tion was taken as result of ap-
proval by an Overwhelming ma
jority of the locals" throughout the
country in a referendum vote.
The local here. which includes
1000 to 1900 members, voted We'd
nesday to call off the strike. The
local here called it postpone
ment."
Meanwhile the American COMMIT
nications Association (CIO), in New
York, still stands on its strike call
to tie up communications of the
Western Union in that area. The
AFL union is ignoring the ClO
strike, Mr. Hageman said.
The AFL General Committee, Mr..
Hageman said, will meet with COM
pany representatives here Monday
to expedite payment of the 10 cents
per hour increase, retroactive to
November IA, 1943, approved by the
National War Labor Board and the
General Committee. This back pay
averages more than $500 for each
employe.
The conference also will work
out the wage increases averaging u
cents per hour provided by the War
Labor Board and win resume nego-
tiations TO effectuate other pro-
visions of the War Labor Boards
directive.
Evening star., 1946-01-04
General Staff Viewed
War for Corridor as
Duty, BIomberg Says
Germony's prewor Aims
Are Described at TrioI in
Affidavit by Marshal
~ the Associated Press.

ES luc ASeOClatEQ FIeSS.
NUREMBERG. Jan. 4.-Field
Marshal Werner Won Blomberg,
former German War Minister,
informed the international Mill
tary Tribunal in an affidavit to-
day that the whole group of Ger
man general staff officers con-
sidered a war to wipe out the
Polish Corridor was "a sacred
duty
The marshal, who was deposed in
1888 as Minister of War because the
Fuehrer disapproved of his mar
riage, said the Polish Corridor issue
was the primary reason for secret
rearmament which began about 10
years before Hitler assumed power.
Blomberg is a prisoner of the
American Army of Occupation.
His affidavit was submitted as
American prosecutors started the de-
velopment of one of the most con-
troversial and probably most diff
cult tasks in the entire trial of the
% ranking NaZis-the effort to con-
vict the general staff and high COM
mand as criminal organization
which willingly lent its services in a
Nazi plot to wage aggressive wars.
Statement Is Frank.
Blomberg's AFFIDAVIT "a remark
ably frank statement of the general
Stairs preWar aims-said:
From 1919 and particularly from
1924, three critical territorial ques-
tions occupied attention in Ger
many. These were the questions of
the Polish Corridor, the Ruhr and
Memel.
Il myself, as well as the whole
group of German staff officers, be-
lieved that these three questions
outstanding, among which was the
question of policy about the Corri-
dor, would have to be settled some
day, If necessary by force of arms
About 80 per cent of the German
people were of the same mind as
the officers on the Polish question
War to wipe out the desecration
involved in the creation of the Pol
ish Corridor and to lessen the threat
to separated East Prussia, sur
rounded by Poland and Lithuania,
(See NITERNREPC Pooe A-o0
Evening star., 1946-01-04
Civil Service Expected
To Urge Job Priority
For Wartime Employees
Must Pass Competitive
Tests; Plan Covers Posts
To Be Made Permanent
BY JOSEPH YOUNG.

A recommendation that war
service appointees passing ex-
aminations be allowed to retain
jobs made permanent when the
Government returns to a peace
time basis regardless of higher
marks by new applicants, is ex-
peeted to be made shortly by the
Civil Service Commission.
Revising the executive order which
it is preparing for President Tru-
mans signature, the commission is
to change the original draft
which would have thrown open war
service jobs to the public by open,
competitive examinations.
1t was revealed last week that war
service appointments soon would be
eliminated and that the Government
would return to a peacetime hiring
basis.
Protests Bring Change.
The commission shifted its posi-
ton after protests were made by the
United Federal Workers of America,
CIO, that war service appointees
would receive no preference under
this system. The revised order will
affect only those war service en-
ployes who now fill positions that
will be made permanent in peace
time.
1t was pointed out that thousands
of war service jobs will become
permanent peacetime positions.
Federal employees in war service jobs
that will be abolished in the near
future will have to take competitive
examinations for future Govern
ment jobs.
Under the revised order. only
veterans making higher grades than
war service appointees would be
given preference for permanent jobs.
Veterans have another advantage
in five additional points granted
them for military service. Wounded
servicemen receive 10 extra points.
Would End Exams.
Officials pointed out that the re-
vised executive order would not
eliminate competitive examinations
to the public, or bar newcomers to
Federal service.
Thousands of jobs are continually
opening up in Federal agencies and
competitive examinations will be
held for these positions from time
to time, once the executive order is
signed.
Because of the demand for man
power, the commission in 1912 dis
continued competitive examinations
and permanent appointments. The
tenure of thousands of persons ap-
pointed in the meantime by simple
qualify tests has been limited to six
months after the end of the war.
Evening star., 1946-01-04

| view of the valuable services al
ready rendered by Gen. Morgan to
the displaced persons operation in
Germany and because of his close
personal concern for the welfare OF
all prosecuted people, including Jews
who have suffered greatly and are
in need of further help"
UNRRA'S announcement of its
request for Gen. Morgan's resigna-
ton followed what administration
officials described as a premature
report that he had resigned already.
No notice of his voluntary resigna-
ton had been received at UNRRA
headquarters here.
At his press conference at Frank
furt Wednesday, Gen. Morgan was
quoted as saying the Jews were
leaving Poland in accordance with
a well l-organized' plan and were
seeking to immigrate to Palestine.
He described many of the immi-
grants as we'll clothed and we'll fed
and said they had ample money.
On receipt of this news yester-
day, UNRRA announced that it was
requesting from Gen. Morgan the
full text of his statement.
Questioned at the State Depart
ment late yesterday, Polish Ambas-
sador Oscar Lange denied reports
of extensive anti-Semitism in Po-
land, although he admitted there
had been some isolated instances
of it.
Rather. he explained the desire
of Polish Jews to leave their country
on psychological basis.
Many Jews" he said, have gone
- lCan AGnnGA ~ paaa A { =
Evening star., 1946-01-04
'UNRRA Sends
anDenand
For Resignation
Services ineffective
After Charge on Jews,
Announcement Says
BY JOSEPH H. BAIRD.

The United Nations Relief and
Rehabilitation Administration
announced today that it had
called for the resignation of 1t.
Gen. Sir Frederick E. Morgan,
it's administrator in Germany,
because of his statement that
Polish Jews were entering the
American zone in the Reich as
a result of a well-organized,
positive plan to get out of Eu-
rope"
His resignation was requested
after storm of protests from
Jewish organizations, including the
World Jewish Congress, the World
Zionist Organization and others.
This action was taken, according to
UNRRA officials here, after con-
sultation with Director General
Herbert H. Lehman, who is now
vacationing in California
In statement issued by 1t. Gen.
Sir Humfrey Gales, regional director
of UNRRA in London, copies of
which were made available here, it
was stated that Gen. Morgan had
been asked to resign irrespective
of any further clarification of the
statements made or attributed to
him in his press conference at
Frankfurt on Wednesday.
Deep Regret in Decision.
THE results of these statements
and the Interpretation which has
been placed upon them are such as
to make it difficult, if not impos-
sible," UNRRA said, "for Gen. Nor
gan to serve the administration ef-
fectively in the future.
THE administration has reached
this decision with deep regret in
Evening star., 1946-01-04
BY JERRY O'LEARY, Jr.

Six former enlisted men, all dis
abled and some of them amputees,
who say they have not received their
subsistence and pension checks from
the Veterans Administration since
November 10, were granted per-
sonal interview today with Gen.
Omar N. Bradley, the veterans ad-
ministrator, to ask for correction of
alleged Government "stalling" which
is threatening the education they
are guaranteed under the CT Bill
of Rights.
The six, led by Jess Weiss of New
York City-a veteran of the 1st IN
fantry Division who has a paralyzed
right hand-were to meet with Gen.
Bradley in his Office at 2.15 pm.
They represent the 80 members of
the sixth class for national service
Evening star., 1946-01-04
Stark Denies Al Atlantic War
Was Overt Act Against laps
Declares Thot Hull and Other OfficiuIs
Were Seeking to Avert Pacific HostiIities

miral, who was Chief of Naval Op-
erations in 1941. I'VE were not at
war with Japan. Japan was not at
war with any one but China
He added that former Secretary
of State Hull and other high Gov
ernment officials with whom he was
in close contact were trying to
avert war in the Pacific"
At the outset of today's session,
Committee Counsel william D. Nit
chell revealed he has been unable
to find in any Government depart
ment the original draft of the Rob-
Ierts report-the first investigation
made OF the Pearl Harbor disaster,
early in 1912.
Having failed to find the original
draft in the State, War or Navy
(See PEARL HARBOR, Page AS. 3
Evening star., 1946-01-04
Bennett Flight From Japs
Unjustified, Court Holds
By the Associated Press.

oS Tue ASsoctateQ PreSS.
CANBERRA, Australia, Jan. A.
A special court of inquiry reported
to the Australian government today
that 1t. Gen. Henry Gordon Ben
nett was not justified in relinquish-
Ing his command of Australian
troops in Malaga and fleeing after
the capitulation of Singapore in
1912.
In announcing his findings, JUS
tice George Ligertwood, head of
the three-man commission which
held l4-day inquiry ending De-
cember l3, added. however, that he
was fully convinced that Bennett
acted in good faith and was not
conscious of the offense he was COM
nitting."
Justice Ligertwood also declared he
was convinced Bennett was not "ac-
tuated by desire to secure his own
safety and avoid the hardships and
lnconveniences of imprisonment"
Il think he acted for a sense of
high patriotism and according to
what he was convinced to be his
duty to his country"
Evening star., 1946-01-04
Hess May Have Saved Life
Of Bruening, Nozi Files Show
Ex-ChunceI|or Was
Menoeed by SA Man,
Huushofer Warned
BY DANIEL DE LUCE.


Associated Press Foreign Correspondent.
NUREMBERG, Jan. 4.-Rudolf
Hess needed a plea for mercy
for Heinrich Bruening and pos
sibly saved the ex-chancellor of
Germany from death at the
hands of an SA assassin, cap
tured Nazi correspondents dis
closed today.
The chapter in Hess past more
than IL years ago was told in two
confidential letters seized by Allied
intelligence, which the Deputy
Fuehrer's long time crony. DR.. Al
brecht Haushofer. son of the more
famous Karl Haushofer, insti-
gated with this message to Hess Au-
gust "a, 1888:
"a very delicate matter. It is
known to yourself that at some
places in your organization there are
people unable to subordinate their
personal initiative for the benefit Of
the common good.
Evening star., 1946-01-04
Patterson Surprised
To Learn Points Quit
Adding I Up on vi Day
Believed Troops Were
Accommodating z Points q
Month, He Says on Guom
ax the Assnciated press

BY the Associated Press.
HONOLULU, Jan. 4.-The
Army newspaper Stars and
Stripes said today that Secre-
tary of War Patterson was
completely surprised" when
told on Guam that army dis
charge points for men overseas
had stopped accumulating since
VI day.
Mr.. Patterson, who arrived in
Tokyo today on his world tour, was
quoted by the Army newspaper as
saying on his arrival in Guam that
men overseas were accommodating 2
points month toward discharge,
and would be sent home when their
point totals were high enough.
Stars and Stripes said an Army
reporter reminded the Secretary
that the points had been stopped
September 2 and he then expressed
complete surprise"
Stars and Stripes, interviewing
Mr.. Patterson here on Tuesday, had
asked if the War Department
planned any change in releasing
men with two years service on
March 20.
What is the significance of March
TO-" the newspaper said he asked.
March 20 Date Set.
The newspapers reporter replied
that Gen. George c. Marshall had
said two-year men would be re-
leased by late winter and the state
ment later was made more specific
and March 20 was set as the def
mite date for their discharge.
Il was unaware that was the
case," the paper quoted Mr.. Patter-
son as saying.
The newspaper said the Secre-
tary then declared that shipping
was the limiting factor" in the
rate of demobilization in the Pa
cific, adding that there still was a
shortage.
The Army reporter asked him to
reconcile his statement with one by
the Navy that there was such a
surplus of shipping in the Pacific
that certain ships used as trans
Iports were being retired.
"The Army Transportation Corps
is doing its very utmost" Mr.. Pat
terson said. Il know nothing of the
Nayy"
Evening star., 1946-01-04
Patterson Is Welcomed
By Macarthur in Tokyo

TOKYO, Jan. 4 tP).-Secretary of
War Patterson, on a world tour,
was greeted by Gen. Macarthur
and other high-ranking American
Army officers when he stepped from
his four -engined C-54 transport
plane at Atsugi airfield this after
noon after fight from Guam.
The Allied supreme commander
and the Secretary shook hands,
talked briefly and then left i'm
mediately by car for Tokyo.
With Gen. Macarthur were 1t.
Gen. c. P. Hall, acting commander
of the 9Th Army; Maj Gen. Clovis
E. Byers, assistant commander; !;
Maj. Gen. r. j. Marshall, chief Of
stan to Gen. Macarthur, and Col.
Robert Ginsburgh, former secretary
to Mr.. Patterson and now member
Of the Allied headquarters public
relations Office stan.
Evening star., 1946-01-04

the Washington Telephone Traffic
Union, said supervisors and op-
orators are overworked and super
visors are required to check SO con-
stantly on the work of the opera
tors that both are made nervous
and distraught.
The strike came without warning
and tied up per cent of the Wash
ington areas 100000 telephones and
/ per cent of the District telephones,
company officials said. They said
seven exchanges, where manual
telephones were in use, were 100
per cent affected.
None of the larger Government
offices was affected, the company
added, pointing out that the switch
board operators were not unionized
and gave usual service to customers
equipped with dial telephones.
A few long distance telephone
calls trickled through the wires
when nonunion operators continued
to work, the company said.
The striking operators are men,
bers of the Washington Telephone
Ty,y1V I,Y,yy~nyI,rS
Evening star., 1946-01-04
Most Medical Posts
In Service Hospitals
To Go 10 Veterans
Bradley Moves to Meet
Stoff Shortages After
President Signs Bill
By MIRIAM GUTENBERG.

The Veterans Administration
today started hiring qualified
doctors to meet critical staff
shortages in all its hospitals
after President Truman signed
the controversial bill establish
ing separate medical depart
ment in the administration.
The President signed the bill a
few hours before the midnight dead
line last night after which the
measure would have died by pocket
veto. In overriding the vigorous
objections of the Civil Service Com
mission, which protested giving hir-
ing powers to the Veterans Admin
istraCion, the President wrote Gen.
Omar N. Bradley, administrator of
veterans affairs:
ut is my desire that, in carrying
out the provisions of this law, you
develop a system of recruitment and
placement which will grant priority
to qualified veterans and which will
also provide against any possibility
of discrimination because of race or
creed"
Preference Assured.
To Civil Service Commission pro-
tests that the measure by-passed
veterans preference in hiring, Gen
Bradley had given assurances that
veterans would be given first con-
sideration, if the President signed
the bill.
Immediately after the measure be-
came law, Gen. Bradley issued a
statement explaining the greatest
single source of medical personnel
is expected to be discharged medical
officers from the Army and Navy
These men are to be preferred
because of their interest in the men
they have taken care Of" Gen
Bradley added. Realizing they have
somewhat lost touch with civilian
practice, many of these are enrolling
for refresher courses in universities
Working through medical schools
and universities, the Veterans Ad-
ministration hopes to interest many
of these veterans in joining it's med
ical staff"
Many Waited on Bill.
In one veterans hospital, a spokes-
man revealed, SO doctors-all wal
veterans had been standing by to
start work as resident physicians il
the medical department bill was ap-
proved.
Under the previous Civil Service
setup, this official added, it was
found that few of the doctors leav-
ing the armed forces were interested
in employment in veterans hos
pitfalls. Numerous individuals" he
said, have reported that they would
lSea NETEP ANS pace A-2l
Evening star., 1946-01-04
Break in Gas Line
Outside Home Blamed
For Deaths Of Five
Fumes Seeping Into
Moran Residence Held
Responsible for Tragedy
Pictures on Page BIZ

A break in the gas line, discov-
cred about foot from the
Moran home in Kensington, Md,
today was given as the cause of
the death of the family of five
the father, mother and three
school-age daughters.
H. B. Noyes, general superin-
tendent of the Washington Gas
Light Co., said a break was found
in the gas pipe leading into the
house and escaping gas followed
asphyxiating the sleeping family.
The dead are John E. Moran, 80
Reconstruction Finance Corp. ex-
aminer, recently discharged from
the Navy: his wife. Elizabeth, 81
and their three daughters, Betty
Jane, II, student at Holy Cross
Academy; Patricia, Is, Woodrow
Wilson High School student. and
Charlotte. IL, who attended Ken
sington Elementary School.
Slab Covered Pipe.
Mr.. Noyes said an 8-inch con-
crete slab covers the pipe near the
foundation of the home at 20 Frank
lin street, part of an open installa-
ton placed there presumably to
facilitate drainage. He said the
slab had been placed there since
the gas line was installed.
Investigators also discovered a
concrete walk in front of the house
pressed down on the pipe. The
weight of the concrete installations,
Mr.. Noyes said, plus the natural
settling of the ground, caused the
pipe to crack.
The bodies, still in their night
clothes, were found in second-floor
bedrooms of the house about 6
o'clock last night by Detective Corpl.
John Leahy and Corpl. Thomas De-
Nell of the Montgomery County
Police, after the officers had been
called by neighbors.
Betty Bergstrom, Is, of 104 Everett
street and Shirley Warner, Is, of
% Glenrose street, classmates of Pa
tricia, had called for the girl on their
way to school yesterday morning
but received no answer. neighbors
said. When they returned home in
the evening and still got no response
to their knocks, the girls told a
neighbor, Mrs. Roland Rice, %
Franklin street, they said. Mrs. Rice
notified the police.
Pilot Light Still Burning.
Corpl Leahy said he entered the
house through the basement and
Immediately detected the odor of
gas. He said the odor became pro-
nounced when he reached the Sec
ond floor. Firemen reported That
the pilot light on the gas stove ON
the first floor was still burning.
DR.. F. j. Broschart, county deputy
medical examiner, said the five had
apparently been dead since early
yesterday morning. He said he will
issue a certificate of accidental
death by asphyxiation.
Police dug up the section of pipe
and took it to Bethesda for further
examination.
Several hours after the discovery
of the bodies the odor of gas was
still very noticeable.
H. l.. Leonard, chief of the WASH
ington Gas Light Co.'S safety divi-
sion, was conducting an investiga-
Continued on Page AS, Column -
Evening star., 1946-01-04
President Appeals
For Voters Aid in
Prodding Congress
(TeTt on Page A-12.)
BY ]. A. FOX.

The country today awaited
the response from Capitol Hill
on President Truman's unusual
appeal to the people to spur
Congress to early action on the
legislative program he has
charted for the reconversion pc
riod-particularly his proposal
for fact-finding machinery to
deal with strikes.
In radio address last night in
which he bluntly called on the voters
to make their views known to their
Senators and Representatives, who
now are back home for the holidays,
the President discussed his various
recommendations and the indiffer-
ent reception they have met. Then
he summed up with the observation
Evening star., 1946-01-04
BY ]. A. O'LEARY and
CARTER BROOKE JONES.

Admiral Harold r. Stark de-
MED before the Pearl Harbor
Committee today that the action
the American Navy took against
German sea raiders in the At
lantic in the fall of 1941 before
the attack on Hawaii constituted
an overt act against Japan.
Representative Gearhart, Repub-
lican, of California had asked him
If an overt act against Germany
at that time was not an overt act
against Japan, in view of the tri-
partite alliance Japan had made
with the other Axis powers in Sep
tember, 1910.
mo, SIR" replied the retired Ad-
Evening star., 1946-01-04

that progress on most of them has
been distressingly SLOW"
Time is running out, MIR. Tru-
man said, as he warned of the dam
gers of further delay.
COP Criticizes Address.
Only scattered comment was
available from Congress. Republic
ans were critical. Senator Morse of
Oregon sounded the keynote for the
opposition with the declaration that
the address was "a real confession
of the failure of the Democratic ma.
jority in Congress under his (tht
President's) leadership.
On the Democratic side, Senator
Lucas of Illinois and McCarran O
Nevada approved the speech, bu
less enthusiasm was displayed b,
such leaders as Senator George %
Georgia and Senator Bankhead O.
Alabama.
Senator George. who expressed be-
lief that labor-management prob
lens will be settled, said that som,
things the President has suggested
are not vital, and some are possibly
of doubtful value" He added, &c
think the Congress can work ou
the essential things before it shortly
after we get back in harness"
Congress reconvenes on Jan
uary IA.
The first big labor" reaction tt
Mr.. Truman's speech came from
William Green. The AFL president
reiterated his opposition to tht
Presidents fact-finding program
but declared congressional failure
to act on other presidential recon-.
mendations has contributed il
large measure to industrial unrest.
Speaking of the fact-fnding pro.
gram, Mr.. Green asserted: 1--WE con.
slider this cure worse than the dis.
ease"
The text of Mr.. Green's state.
ment:
The American Federation oi
Labor heartily indorses the Presi.
dents demands for legislation te
protect human needs during recon.
version. We believe that the failure
of Congress to enact adequate full
employment, unemployment com.
pensation, minimum wage, housing
and health insurance legislation ha:
contributed in large measure to in.
dustrial unrest. We join President
Truman in appealing to the Amer.
lean people to urge their representa-.
(See TRUMAN, Page A-5.)