davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1947-09-14

work and everyday life; (2) he makes it plan
his actions in the near or far future; (3) he
makes it observe - which can mean anything
from reading book to watching a steam
shovel or pretty girl. But from time to time
the mind must be rested; and whenever it is
released from conscious direction, it promptly
knocks off work and does what it wants to do
in other words, it daydreams
Most daydreams are so brief and fragmen-
tary that they're hardly recognizable as such.
But everyone has more elaborate daydreams
too, and these can be every bit as carefully
constructed and fantastic as the dreams of
Walter NIFTY
The Revenge Dream
PERHAPS the most common and violent is
the Personal Revenge daydream. Its simplest
form is something like this: Young Mr. X
is an insurance salesman whose section mana
ger gives him furious bawiing out for not
rage; at first he dreams of taking an ak to
the section manager, but this seems too pre-
posterous So he starts spinning a subter
daydream. 1t seems that x works in a tall
office building and one day he happens to
be up on the observation tower Out of the
corner of his eye he sees portly gentleman
in silk hat start to jump over the railing.
x rushes over, grabs him by the coat-tails
and delivers brilliant pep talk on the glories
of life.
Thank you, my boy" weeps the portly
gentleman. 'Your words have inspired me to
face life with renewed vigor." Then he begs
X to write him a million-dollar insurance
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1947-09-14

dreams is that nobody goes around admitting
he has them A man will talk about his night
dreams to perfect strangers - often until they
are ready to scream from boredom. But day
dreams are something else again. Not even
husbands and wives exchange these
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1947-09-14

1ng! demands Mr.. Purdy,
sticking his head into the
kitchen. ''Oh gosh. l forgot the
chops" signs Mrs. Purdy.
Jim Carlson and Mrs. Purdy
are daydreamers. But they're
no different from millions of
other human beings. Day.
dreaming is one of the most
important - if least talked
about - activities of daily life.
It's going to be considerably
more talked about from now
on, though. because of a
mousey but imaginative little
character named Walter NIFTY.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1947-09-14

1t has been reprinted over and over in
anthologies. And now the timid, henpecked
NIFTY has been immortalized in Hollywood
technicolor. His personality has been made
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1947-09-14

Don't worry if you do. Walter NIFTY isn't the
only person who's wasted time woolgathering
- everybody does it. Here are your six favorite
air castles - and why you like to build them
by Charles d. Rice
Drawings by ALajaLoU
Evening star., 1947-07-24
aeksssia Letters to The Star AxE
The Records of Ivan the Terrible and General Eisenhower
Are Appraised by Readers
Bureaucrats' Control

Bureaucrats' Control
To the Editor Of The Star:
Your editorial entitled Personal Patronage"
refers to the practice OF favoritism in the Gov
ernment agencies when reducing forces
May I add that similar practices have been
the custom in making promotions and appoint-
ments to controlling positions through the
years? They probably will continue until laws
applicable to personnel management contain
provision for subsection Of officials and sub
officials of the agencies to the jurisdiction OF
law courts having established rules of evidence
and procedure. Up to now, no court will as
sumo such jurisdiction and If it should do So,
it would be helpless because of immunities Of
officials and inability to force production of
evidence.
Although bureaucrats have found it easy
to control appointments and promotions by
controlling positions through manipulation of
existing laws, the failure of Congress to pro-
vide adequate punishment for those guilty of
the practice might have been Intentional.
SLOCUM gibson.
Evening star., 1947-07-24

America deserves the very best. We cannot
entrlst our destiny as Nation, the fate OF
our children and of civilization, to: sordid
political expediencies. 't
Our next President must not only be able
to unity America, on the way to mpotency
through unfettered greed and internal dis
sensions of all kinds Our next President must
have the universal vision, prestige and power
required to restore order in chaotic world
to balance and adjust harmoniously wide
range of economic rivalries, and even find the
unknown formula to stop Russian expansion
and bring Russia back into the family OF
nations without war, which now appears in
evitable.
To achieve this is not impossible, although
it will be far from easy. America is the only
nation that can do it, and unless we do COM
plete chaos and war will inexorably ensue
Moral disintegration and spiritual poverty
have brought the civilized world perilously
close to the edge of disaster. Civilization Is
breaking up before our very eyes, and only
spiritual rebirth and the integration OF the
remaining moral forces can save 1t. That Is
Americas task. and it cannot be accomplished
without leadership.
Where can we find leadership in this dark
hour? The writer believes that Of all available
me nthe best choice is Dwight L. Eisenhower.
His proven administrative ability to see through
appearances and create unity and order out
of chaos and rvalries make him unique. The
writer hopes that the need for Eisenhower Will
shortly become so self evident that all political
considerations will become secondary to ma
tional salvation. and that he will become
Americas candidate. K. S. VEIRS.
Evening star., 1947-07-24
Wedemeyer Begins His Mission

There is both parallel and contrast
between the Wedemeyer and Marshall
missions to China. The parallel consists
In the fact that both missions were
headed by high ranking Army officers,
charged with the duty of exploring the
tten-existing situation and recommend
ling what each deemed best for China and
for American interests. The contrast con-
sists in the changes that have occurred
alike in China, in the world picture, and
In Americas attitude toward both those
phases.
When General Marshall went to China,
one of his directives was to try to engineer
a genuine agreement between the Kuo-
mintang National government headed by
Generalissimo Chang Kai-shek and the
Chinese Communists. At that time, it was
widely believed in America that the Chi
nese Communists were agrarian Socialists
rather than orthodox members of the
Comntern. Furthermore, that was the
period when the necessity as we'll as the
feasibility of cooperation between Soviet
Russia and the western democratic world
was taken for granted.
General Marshall did his utmost for
nearly year to bring such an agreement
to pass. But, in the end. he admitted
failure and returned to America last Janu-
ary to become Secretary of State after
issuing a condemnation of the intran-
sigeance and double dealing of each of the
Chinese factions.
Since then, the situation in China has
gone from bad to worse. The breach be-
tween Kuomintang and Communists has
widened and deepened into feroclous
civil war wherein reconciliation appears
impossible yet in which neither side seems
likely to be the victor out of it's own local
resources. However. the general condition
of China deteriorates so fast that eco
nomic and social chaos might soon result,
out of which the Communists would stand
ultimately to profit. And there can be
little doubt that in the present strained
relations between Soviet Russia and the
western powers, this would rebound
strongly in Moscows favor and to the
commensurate disadvantage of the United
States.
1t is under these crucial circumstances
that General Wedemeyer starts his mis-
sion. His Qualifications for the task are
obvious, since he was wartime commander
Of American forces In China and chief OF
staff to Chang Kai-shek. He. therefore,
knows by personal experience the Chinese
background And his directives are to
make an objective study of facts and fac
tors. both in China and in Korea, on the
basis of which he will make his recon-
mendations to his Government after his
return home within couple of months.
There appears to be no directive to con-
tinue the effort of General Marshall to
reconcile the Chinese factions. Indeed,
hard experience during the past year in
many parts OF the world throws grave
doubts on the possibility OF genuine CO.
Evening star., 1947-07-24
Was Their Search Legal?

If the reporters are correct on the details
If their accounts, the Capitol Police had
10 right to search the man whom they
;ound carrying a loaded pistol in the
Capitol yesterday while the President was
n the building.
The incident illustrates need for prompt
passage of bill which would make such
earch legal. The bill has been passed,
,ut in two versions, by House and Senate.
The differences have been compromised
n conference and the amended version
S on the House and Senate calendars. 1t
hould be approved without further
argument.
Under District law, carrying concealed
Weapon without permit is a mlisdemeanor.
Unless the misdemeanor is committed in
The presence of a police officer, search is
Barred This has led to a condition here
which has been the source of continued
complaint by the United States Attorney
md law enforcement officers. There have
Seen cases where police had every reason
70 suspect that man was carrying a gun.
But they were powerless to search him.
The pending bill would permit such search
Jll pluUdUlC "a ISC, Ulldu 10, q po1lSC CiAAICA .
suspicion that person was carrying gun.
According to the versions of the story
given reporters, the man arrested yester-
day was suspected by Capitol policeman
Of carrying a gun. One of the policemen
thought" he saw something that looked
like a gun in the mans hand When he
summoned help from another policeman
and returned they searched the man and
found the pistol. Comparable cases here
have failed to stand up in court. For the
search was made on suspicion and such
search, in nisdemeanor, is unlawful.
There have been fears that there might
be abuse by the police if such search was
permitted. There might be. But the
danger of abuse seems far less than the
dangers in tying the hands Of the police
as they now are tied. The pending bill
may not be the best solution OF the prob
lem. But it should be approved now, with
the thought that study of the subject may
produce an even stricter law next year
concerning possession and carrying of
weapons Some of the States have gone
far ahead of the District in this field.
Evening star., 1947-07-24

of the latter course, especially in the
building program for schools.
A good example of what has taken place
Is the case of the Spingarn Senior High
School, long planned for colored students
in the Northeast area. In 1s41, the budget
fixed the cost limit of the school at $780,
600. A year later this had to be raised to
$1,15S,750. In 1945 the limit was again
boosted to 1874, 900 and the next year it
jumped to s2,060, 900. Today the new budget
authorizes $2,5oo00o to be spent for the
project, and perhaps 1t can be built.
There is an obvious limit to the amount
of this sort of thing the city revenues can
stand and still meet the cost of everyday
maintenance and operation. If full
dress investigation will uncover the causes
and lay them bare it should be conducted
Evening star., 1947-07-24
Test in Burma

The brutal assassination of nearly the
whole of Burma's interim cabinet has cast
grim doubt on the ability of the Burmese
to govern themselves as free nation in
the near future. Under an agreement
worked out with Britain last January they
are scheduled to become virtually inde-
pendent by the end of the year. But the
slaughter in Rangoon has wiped out seven
members of the nine-man ministerial
council that had been preparing the way
for self-rule. The sudden obliteration of
this leadership particularly the dynamic
Aung San, who had been slated to be
premier-is symptomatic of seething in
ternal conditions suggesting that the coun-
try's troubles are far from over.
Despite first reports throwing suspicion
on the Communists, the evidence now in
dicates that former Premier saw-in-
termed by the British al a japanese collab-
orator during the war-may have played
a leading role in the assassinations At
any rate, he and a number of ieutenants
in his Myochit Party have been arrested
by the Burmese police after short but
violent struggle. The party has been bit
terly opposed to the Anti-FasciSt Peoples
Freedom League, which u Aung San
headed. Burma's interim regime has been
made up entirely of the leagues leaders,
and it now continues in that status with
the members just named to succeed the
slain. Though not proved as yet, the
assumption in both London and Rangoon
seems to be that U Saw may have resorted
to the gangster-style massacre in an effort
to stage kind of coup d'etat.
At the moment, with curfew in effect.
there is order in Burma and the danger of
revolution and civil war appears to have
been averted. Nevertheless, as the assas-
sinations have served to dramatic, there
has been unrest in the country for some
time past. Banditry has been widespread.
the native police have staged strikes and
violence still shoulders in deep and bitter
political factionalism. Britain, already
committed to the program of independ-
ence, has only relatively few troops on
the spot. The task of maintaining internal
peace has been turned over largely to the
Burmese themselves. Unless they live up
to their opportunity, they are likely to have
not self-rule but anarchy. The test before
them is important not only to themselves
but to all colonial and semicolonial peoples
seeking freedom in Asia
Evening star., 1947-07-24
Dropping Chest Agencies

To the Editor Of The Star: .-.s-.
should lik4 to comment on the editorial IN
The Star of Saturday, July 10, entitled, And
Now for Fresh Start With much of the
matter contained therein most persons will
agree It is undoubtedly true, as you point
out. that 1.-The number and character of agen-
cies to be included in the Community Chest
will remain a vexing question. 1t has always
been So" I gather from your reasoning that
since this is inevitable and no unanimity on
the subject may ever be reached, it would be
harmful to the Chest generally II certain
organizations, held by many not to properly
belong to an organization whose purpose 1t Is to
help the needy of this District be dropped
therefrom.
that many people would agree that some OF
these agencies lack much popular support.
The Star could name few that never
would be missed" Thousands Of Washing
tonians who in the past have donated to the
Chest could also name number that never
would be missed.
The purpose Of the minority report, to which
YOU direct your criticism, has for its main
purpose the elimination of those agencies
which never would be missed" although ar
irving at that conclusion In a somewhat Diff
ferent method than that set forth in the
majority report
The writer had the privilege Of serving as an
area chairman for the Chest when first or
sanized here and believes he understands the
background of the organization and the reasons
given for It's formation. At that time It con-
sisted Of well-known groups which had over
period OF years served the needy Of this
Evening star., 1947-07-24
Lost of the Brain Trusters'

To say that the resignation of eniamin
v. Cohen marks the departure from public
life of the last of the brain trusters" is
to play with catchwords at the expense of
truth.
It is accurate, of course, to speak of Mr.
Cohen as the only surviving member in
Government service of what came to be
known during the hectic days of the New
Deal as President Roosevelts brain trust.
1t was an appellation which appealed to
popular fancy, and it stuck. But it is not
at all accurate to associate with Mr.. Cohen
the somewhat derisive connotation which
the critics of the New Deal managed to
impart to the term brain trust"
Actually Mr. Cohen has served his Gov
ernment faithfully and we'll for some four
teen years. He was one of the principal
authors of such measures as the Securities
and Exchange Act the Public Utility Hold
ing Company Act and the Fair Labor
Standards Act. There was period when
some blood pressures shot up at the mere
mention of these statutes. But by this time
most of the critics have changed their
minds They know that the reforms
embodied in these laws were overdue;
they know that they are here to stay, and
they would not cancel them out if they
could This change of sentiment should
be source of satisfaction to Mr.. Cohen
as he, at the age of f1fty-tWo, leaves the
Government. His years of public service
have also been, for him, years of financial
sacrifice. If he feels that he must step
out now, none can deny that he has fully
earned the right to do so.
To speak of Mr.. Cohen as the last of the
brain trusters" is fallacious IN still an
other sense. For it seems to carry the
implication that the business of Govern
ment henceforth will be left to aging
incompetents. Nothing could be further
from the truth.
Mr.. Cohen will be succeeded as counselor
of the State Department by Charles E.
Bohlen, forty-two years old. Mr. Bohlen
is very bright and very competent young
man, He is what might be called the de-
partments day-to-day expert on Russia,
although in fact he Is thoroughly schooled
in all aspects of that overshadowing thing
which has come to be known as the Russian
problem.
more ago, also Is member of highly
competent team of young men. To mention
but one other, there is forty -three-year-o
George F. Kennan, who heads up the State
Departments long-range policy planning
staff.
Except for the fact that they are playing
their parts on a larger, grimmer, stage,
these young men are as much ''brain
trust as were those youthful predecessors
who's wrestled with menacing domestic
problems in the early New Deal years.
Perhaps the time will come when some glib
phrase -coiner will pin derisive label on
them. But that ought not to happen. For
1t will be very bad thing for this country
if the day ever comes when bright young
men can no longer be drawn into the
Government service.
Evening star., 1947-07-24
Local Police Action

It is difficult to see why there should
be any hesitation in bringing the 1ndo-'
nesian war before the United Nations
Security Council.
The Dutch describe the fighting as
merely a local police action, but it obvi-
ously is a great deal more than that.
Rocket-firing Dutch war planes, bombers
and American made tanks are being
thrown into action against the relatively
poorly armed native forces. Perhaps this
superiority of force will quickly crush the
Indonesian Army. On the other hand,
the bombing and Strafng of defenseless
towns may arouse the native population
to point where the Dutch will find that
they have, not police action" but
real war on their hands.
In any event this would seem to be
situation which clearly falls within Article
"a of the U. N. Charter, which authorizes
the Security Council to investigate "any
dispute - to determine whether its
continuance "is likely to endanger the
maintenance of international peace and
security" And there is good reason why
the United States should take the initia-
tive in bringing this matter before the
Council For one thing, the Dutch have
already rejected British offer to mediate
the dispute. More important, however,
is the fact that the Dutch are fighting
with equipment made in the United States
and with troops trained in the United
States. This, of course, gives US no control
over the Dutch or their policies. But it
does give us reason to have something
more than detached interest in what
is happening in the East Indies.
There is no reason for this Government
to take sides, or to attempt to apportion
blame for the fighting. Apparently both
the Indonesians and the Dutch are at
fault, although the fact remains that it
was the Dutch who first resorted to the
use of armed force. What is important
now, however, is to bring the hostilities
to close and to set in motion the ma
chinery of peaceful settlement. This
can be done through the medium of the
Security Council.
Evening star., 1947-07-24

city, and at that time no one came forward to
stigmatize them as "hand-out" organizations
as was done recently by a Washington news
paper. There was feeling of one happy family,
encompassing Catholic, Protestant and Jewish
charities and no contention ever arose as to
any Of them. Year by year since then the
Chest has admitted other groups, until now it
is no longer strictly accurate to picture
needy child or an aged couple aSrepresenting
those for whom the appeal is annually made
BY what stretch of the imagination can we
go forward together they have in the past
in helping our neighbors who need help by
appealing to the generosity of our people to
give to the Animal Rescue League whose func-
tions are not always of rescuing nature: or
the Criminal Justice Association, whose func-
ton is to gather crime statistics, to mention
only two.
Editors Note: The Animal Rescue
League Is an original Chest agency, has
been member since the Chest was founded
in 1929. The Criminal Justice Association
came into the Chest 10 years later, in 1882
The writer can testify that there are thou
sands of persons in the Government service who
either will not give to the Chest have given
reluctantly in the past, or who state they will
not again give. There are undoubtedly many
outside the Government service who have
similar views. 1t is absolutely necessary that
the Chest regain the confidence of the people,
and you make no contribution to that end by
stating, 1T would be disgraceful reflection
on this city if the Community Chest were per-
mitted to suffer any permanent injury be-
cause one group of citizens is determined to
have its way" 1t never pays to deFude one
self in matters of this kind and even casual
investigation among the donors to the Chest
will discover feeling of hostility based upon
the facts here stated.
If The Star will only mention the names of
those few that never would be missed prog
ress would be made toward strengthening the
Chest Since, however, you seem to take the
position that to drop any organization would
be to destroy the Chest, you will probably not
desire to mention those that never would be
missed"
There will be many persons who will dis
agree with your contention that If the Chest
dropped an organization it would necessarily
result in the destruction of that agency. BY
all means let us get fresh start, but be sure
1t is not false start. HARRY N. STULL.
Evening star., 1947-07-24
Construction Costs

If Senate investigation can get to the
bottom of and suggest cure for high
costs in construction here, it will be well
worth the $4,000 being asked to finance
such an inquiry.
For the past two years District officials
have been asking for bids on urgently
needed public construction projects only
to receive proposals far above the available
appropriation or cost limit authorized by
Congress.
Their only recourse has been either to
withdraw the project to avoid wasting the
tax dollar or. If the need must be met, to
go back to Congress for more money and
higher cost limits. The new budget for
this fiscal year contains many instances