davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1947-04-07
Army Day Outlook

Army Day, 1947, should be more
than an occasion for rejecting upon
past glories of our Army. 1t is an
appropriate day to take stock OF our
present not-so- mighty armed might
and of the prospect for building it
up to proper strength.
This year Army Day comes only a
few days after expiration of the
draft. From now on the Army
admittedly taking a chance-wiil
have to depend entirely on voluntary
enlistments to achieve its peacetime
goal of 100000 regulars. To reach
this goal and to maintain this
standing Army at scheduled
strength will require. for an indetl-
mite period, the enrolment of 30,-
900 men every month. This is about
10000 more month than the pres
ent rate.
We have never before faced so
tremendous, so challenging re-
cruiting job. The raising of volun-
teer peacetime Army of more than
a million regulars is without prec-
edent. Yet the job must be done II
we are to carry out our worldwide
responsibilities-now and later.
Todays Army is scarcely one to
Justify boasting. 1t contains rela-
lively few combat veterans in the
rank and file. Most of our troops
abroad are handicapped by insuf1l-
cient training and experience. Our
military organization at home is
largely a cadre affair. Some units
which exist on paper consist only OF
a token group of officers and men.
The world situation Is such as to
make many persons wonder II 1t
was prudent to take a chance" IN
the building of this new Army.
While it remained on the statute
books, selective service provided an
effective support to lean upon in the
eveit of failure of voluntary re-
cruiting. Now that it is gone, along
with the stimulus which it provided
to enlistments, there is no recourse
bat to make the volunteer system
work. No recourse. that is, unless we
are. to re-enact selective service
law in peacetime-which is an un-
likely eventuality.
Every citizen, therefore, should
feel it his duty to share with the
War Department the critical respon-
sibility of raising Americas post
war Army of volunteers in the short
est time possible. General Eisen-
hover and his officers cannot do it
alone. They will need the under
standing, cooperation and active
help of all the public if next Army
Day is to be an occasion for real
celebration.
Evening star., 1947-04-07
On the Record
By Dorothy Thompson

cannot function unless the enemies Of
France will work In mines. Only they
can work the mines, because no substi-
tutes can be found for them. There Is
nowhere on earth a surplus Of miners.
On the contrary, there is everywhere
shortage, and the problem everywhere is
to find new recruits to REPLACE those
whom age retires.
So, despite victory over the Germans,
there is no way to coerce even the Ger
man miners-let alone Americans-be-
cause the victors are as dependent on
them as they on the victors. This fact
redresses the unequal situation, and Is 4
triumphant demonstration of the Chris
tian concept Of natural order of1frater-
nifty that no force can break except at
the price Of disaster.
~
When the Government took over the
mines in the spring Of 1915 and John L.
Lewis negotiated . new contract, 1t con-
tanned q long overdue safety code.
Meanwhile, Mr.. Lewis and the UNIV
have been found in contempt OF court,
sentenced and fined. But the Centralia
disaster finds the Government in con-
tempt Of the safety code. The memorial
weeks strike Is the miners sentence and
fine against the Government for that
contempt, and Mr.. Krug is forced to
shut down mines furnishing rs per cent
Of the Nations production for safety
reasons.
So who has won in the struggle?
No side will ever win In . conflict
within brotherhood Only justice and
decency can furnish victory for all.
(NsIeassA hy The Del eyndicats. 1nc.l
Evening star., 1947-04-07
A King for Spuin?

GenerallSSlmo Francisco frances
announcement regarding the mon
archy can be variously interpreted.
Timed to coincide with the eighth
anniversary of the end of the civil
war, it makes several changes in the
governmental structure which could
be of profound Importance.
To begin with, it asserts cate
gorically that Spain is traditionally
and essentially "a kingdom" At the
same time, it likewise proclaims that
the Head of the State" continues
to be Generalissimo Franco, ard
goes on to provide that he may at
any time suggest" to the Cortes
(Parliament) that it summon "the
person of royal blood best qualified
to take the Spanish Crown. Mean
while, a Regency Council is estab-
lished which may regulate the sue
cession to the Head of the State if
the incumbent dies or is incapaci-
tated.
From all this, one fact would seem
to emerge: Franco retains his pres
ent power and authority. In the last
analysis, it is he who has the initia-
tive in any monarchical restoration,
and presumably the incumbent
would have to accept the Crown Oh
francois terms. That is the rock on
which prolonged negotiations be-
tween Franco and the Spanish "pre-
tender" Don Juan, have hitherto
split. Technically, there would seem
to be no change in that situation.
However, the trend of events sug-
gests a change in the underlying
realities which could facilitate a
royalist restoration on terms which
Don Juan and his supporters would
accept. Spain has been undergoing
a combination of external and in
ternal pressures against the existing
Franco regime that counsel gen
uine change in the existing political
setup. The disfavor with which
that regime is held In the outside
world, coupled with its lack of ecoe
nomic efficiency at home, inevitably
turns the minds of many, perhaps of
most Spaniards, to a restored con-
stitutional monarchy as the best way
of solving the dilemma. The grim
lessons of the civil war disincline
the bulk of Spanish public opinion
to risk recurrence of domestic
strife. A constitutional monarch
Evening star., 1947-04-07
Thut Germon Efficiency
From the Glasgow Herald


Experienced officers reached the con-
clusion long before the end of the war
in Europe that while German general
ship and staff work were first class, and
the German private soldier at his best
had no superior, the Wehrmacht was
decidedly weak at the level OF section
and platoon commanders. What the
machine really possessed was system,
the kind of system, based on the utter
most development of the card index. at
which Germans have always excelled.
From this quality it drew both strength
and weakness. Both were markedly
displayed in the sphere of propaganda.
Thorough research and immense hexi-
bility were counteracted by centraliza-
ton so dominating and thraldom. to
routine so unimaginative that long be-
fore the war reached its climax the
reactions of the Axis press and radio TO
almost any event could be accurately
forecast and their implications exposed.
The efficiency of the German is, in
fact, as mythical as the cunning OF the
Japanese.
Evening star., 1947-04-07

could be the compromise which
would be least likely to divide
Spaniards into irreconcilable fac
tions.
Frances proclamation may thus
be interpreted as facilitating such 9
solution without actually bringing
it to pass. Henceforth, Spain will be
a Kingdom without q King. The
nearest analogy is that OF Hungary
between the two World Wars, when
the Regency" was held by Admiral
Horthy. No Hungarian restoration
actually took place. It remains to
be seen whether frances action is
mere gesture or is the prelude to
a revival OF the monarchy.
Evening star., 1947-04-07
Adventures Wife

Sometimes, beside him, huddled BY q
Hearing the wind,s ,oaa rising higher.
higher,
Her hand ioould rest on his, and all the
past
Would ebb, her heart erulting: Mine
at last"
Sharing silence oddly rich and todrn,
Their nearness underscored against the
1t seemed to her the strange t0ide porlds
betpeen
Were panished, or had neper really been.
But ne would sigh, and bleakly she
His heart ,Dns tuned to some lost wiI-
derness
And that the porlds bet,oeen them
had not pcled::
The lands unpentured and the seas
HnsGiled
were businesses her loue could not
Howeyer ptldly she might try, or ioel.
And once again she kneD that ne pds
he
Himself, unaltered, cf,angeless eternally
For Dfom the ,oide u,,knoton ,ods Terer
thinned--
As ,uell to try and hold him as the toird:;
And that he tDds not marked by her, no
more
Than Is the restless sea marked by the
shore
Hotreuer deep, hoperer bitterly
The shore Is married. for all time by the
ETHEL BARNETT DE VITO.
Evening star., 1947-04-07

day, whose pontifcations were held In
the same awed respect that you now
accord another generation OF probably
equally misguided practitioners?
The new maternity wing complete
with cribs at mothers bedsides sounds
heavenly. But the experts who de-
signed this heaven are the very ones
who preach and practice the doctrine
that disqualification of maternity cases
must be shortened almost to the vanish
ing point Therefore it seems hard to
believe that any environment, expert
enced for period of 72 hours. can
have any lasting effect on an infants
psyche, neuroses, teen-age delinquency
or any other current claptrap.
ALICE S. HOYT,
(Mom, Mother, Grandma
Evening star., 1947-04-07
Questions for DR.. Rutland

Questions for Dr. Kuhland
To the Editor Of The Star:
According to last ThuFday's Star. the
D. G. Commissioners reported adversely
on bill to require soda straws to be
wrapped. DR.. Rutland, District Health
Onicer, said the bill was unnecessary.
/ do not have the benefit of the rea-
soning, If any, behind the attitude OF
the Commissioners and DR.. Rutland.
but perhaps they have been swayed by
the silly excuse OF j. w. Pollard OF
Peoples Drug Stores. to the effect that
% years ago he bought some wrapped
straws but the store became Uttered with
the wrappers because children blew
them all over the place. What a tizzy he
must have had! And apparently he
hasn't gotten over 1t yet.
/ wonder If the Commissioners or DR..
Rutland ever go near soda fountain.
Evening star., 1947-04-07
Letters to The Star From It's Readers
Look at Dirty Soda Fountains Pums for Congressmen

pie. since it Is impossible to satisfy
every one the next most democratic
thing to do Is TO try to satisfy the ma
jority, and am certain-tha the policy
Of the National would have been dis
continued long ago had 1t not been
desired by the public. or at least the
greater part of the public.
LAWRENCE r HUDSON.
Editors Note: Or. Bowermans
letter, however, was critical Of the
exclusion OF Negroes from the Ma
tional Theater)
In Plain Words =
To the Editor Of The Star:
/ am wondering how long it will take
the people Of this country to wake up to
the facts Of life and what they are doing
to themselves.
They elect 1 man and send him to
Evening star., 1947-04-07
STRANGER Than Fiction

The movie script writer's and the
fiction authors have We'd in depict
ing the exploits of British intelli-
gence in World War II. One Holly
wood production even placed
British agent-in Nazi uniform, OF
course-inside the German high
command headquarters. 1t was
thrilling stuff to most movie fans,
even though they regarded the idea
as too fantastic for any place but
Hollywood setting.
But it was actually not so fam
tastic, after all. according to a
Munich newspaper, the Muenchner
Mittag. A special article purports
. to give the inside story of the
wartime espionage activities of the
mysterious Lieutenant Colonel Alex
ander Patterson Scotland, British
secret agent, whose testimony sew
eral months ago at the war crimes
trial of Field Marshal Albert Kessel-
ring created a sensation. At that
!. time Colonel Scotland, summoned
as a defense witness, admitted that
he had served in the German Army
In both world wars.
The Munich paper said it was not
only true that Colonel Scotland
had served in the German Army but
! that he succeeded in obtaining as
{ signments to the general staff dur
{ ing both wars. It all started, 1t
4 seems, when he enlisted in the
{ German colonial forces in South
4 west Africa before World War /.
When that war broke out, he was
interned by the Germans but was
i liberated when the British captured
], fort in 1916. In England he was
I trained for espionage work. Making
{ his way back to Germany, he posed
as a prof. German traitor to his ma
s~tive England and succeeded in Win
ming the confidence OF officers OF the
general staff whom he had known
ssin prewar years. He eventually was
i commissioned in the German Army,
\ and attached to the general stan.
E After the war he returned to Eng
ssland. where even his wife and close
friends. knew nothing of his secret
wartime work. During World War
al he again appeared in Germany
land again was assigned to the gen.
.eral staff. The paper asserted that
during his five years at Reichswehr
.sssheaduuarters Colonel Scotland kept
london fully informed of Hitler's
ssnlans. through undivulged channels.
s. !. Unless some one has taken undue
Evening star., 1947-04-07

advantage Of q gullible newspaper
reporter, 1t would be surprising II
the rights to Colonel Scotland's own
stranger than fiction story are not
being sought by a host Of breathless
agents for movie producers, radio
interests. book publishers and news
syndicates. Whatever his secret
moves of the past may have been,
the future will hold only the sort
of lmelight that spells an end to
ahy future secret operations as q
spy.
Evening star., 1947-04-07
APresident Speoks

The annual Jefferson Day dinner
of the Democratic Party is strictly a
political affair. But President Tru-
mans address to the party faithful
Saturday night was not political
speech.
1t was message which carried an
impression of maturity and earnest
ness-an expression from a man
who, spoke, not as the leader OF a
political party, but as the President
of a great people who are reluctant
ly beginning to realize that they
have been pushed to the center OF
the world stage at decisive mo-
ment in history.
One might say-without any in
tent to give offense-that here is
man who has found himself.
Throughout his first year and half
in the White House, Mr.. Truman
functioned in the shadow of his
illustrious predecessor. He labored,
too, under the handicap Of do
mestic political climate that was
unfavorable to his party. In this
atmosphere he made mistakes
many of them. But once the verdict
of November had been returned, a
verdict which wiped out the Demo-
cratic majorities in both the House
and the Senate, a change came over
Mr.. Truman. He stopped trying to
be a President with nothing more to
offer than a devotion to the policies
of the man who had held Office be-
fore him. Instead, he became a
President with a program of his
own, and on November II, 1916, he
stated it in these words: ITO do in
all cases, from day to day, without
regard to narrow political consid-
erations, what seems to me to be
best for the welfare of all our
people"
The record will show that he has
adhered to this guiding principle.
And to the CONSERVATION of his po-
litical opponents, the record will
show also that there has been a
favorable public response to this
quality of leadership.
There have been certain byprod-
ucts of Mr.. Truman's leadership
which are to be paradoxical in
character. Thus, for example, we
find the President on Saturday
night warning against false econ
omy, and urging the wisdom of
maintaining a high tax structure
during this period of prosperity in
order to reduce the national debt
That would seem to be sound dec
trine. Yet few Republicans
including some who were outraged
when an earlier Democratic admin
istration suggested that we need
not worry about the debt because
we owed 1t to ourselves-profess to
believe that the Presidents words
were the counsel of a partisan poll
tician.
Fortunately, the hollowness of
these complaints is self-evident. No
one should be deceived. In this
critical time, when our own future
is SO tightly interviewer with the
future of stricken world. we are
fortunate to have President who
has set for himself the high pur-
pose of doing in all cases what seems
to be best for the welfare of all of
US. What the future will bring is,
OF course, uncertain. But as long as
Mr.. Truman keeps his sights trained
on that objective he deserves the
support of his fellow Americans.
Evening star., 1947-04-07

human sacrifice required to finish it!
Is not this the hour to step, look and
listen?
Wilson believed the League Of Ma
tions was the way, through peaceful
conference, to compose the differences
among the nations. We now have the
United Nations, but it is without power
or funds to enforce its decisions. Had
we not best equip and fund it?
WILBUR H. CLOSE.
Evening star., 1947-04-07

If they do, they would insist that the
measure be passed. One of the clerks in
a drugstore visited few months ago
was taking unwrapped straws from
bulk container and filing the counter
dispensers. He first eyened the ends by
tamping each handful on the dirty
counter on which money, dishes and
parcel had rested since last wiped. OF
course, the clerk used his other hand
(Which had previously held money,
dishes and who knows what else since
last washeO against the upper end of
the straws to push them together. But
this is only part Of the story! Naturally
it is duty of all soda clerks in WASH
ington Git seems) to spend at least SO
per cent of their time talking and
kidding with the other clerks or with
any attractive prospect at the counter
(all while you are waiting to be served.
This fellow was fulfilling his respon-
sibilities in that respect while trying
to get all those tempermental straws
into place on the counter before trans
ferring them to the dispensers.
mo QOuDG OtllGIS nave %lbllCSS6Q lIlc
same. 1t is not my intention to single
out soda fountains for attack, nor to
level my complaints at any class of
establishments or firms operating.
Nevertheless, it seems that most of
them in Washington are always
sloppy, filthy and obviously 1nsanitary
mess. Is there any inspection of such
places, Dr. Ruhland? If so, why do
these conditions exist?
To my way of thinking, a requirement
that soda straws be wrapped is only one
of the many sanitary measures needed.
1t seems that that idea has been aborted,
however, and by those who would be ex-
pected to support it. Maybe this is only
one of the minor reasons why the gov
ernment of Washington should be re-
sponsible to Washington. Even though
I couldn't vote in d. c., and thousands
of other suburban residents also feel the
effects of voteless but taxed COM
munity. WA. M.
= EGreenbelt, Md -s
Evening star., 1947-04-07
A Phone Complaint

To the Editor Of The Star:
Upon my return to Arlington, after
having been away for some weeks,
attempted to dial number on the
Warfield exchange, a number that I
have dialed for months. A special oper-
ator replied that could no longer dial
Warfield number: it is now toll call.
I have seen much in the press re-
garding the possible trouble with the
telephone employees If the company
shows as little consideration for its
employees as it does for its subscribers,
then I am not at all surprised there
Is trouble brewing. r. L. H.
Evening star., 1947-04-07

Please be brief. Short letters
dre preferred, all are subject to
editing for condensGti0n Only
letters accompanied By name
and address OF tpriter 1DiH be
used, although a pseudonym is
in some cases permissible.
Evening star., 1947-04-07
The Pot and the Kettle

uS VI dIlO Tic NEtuC
To the Editor of The Star:
I think Mr.. Ickes outdid himself in
the March Star in his latest dia-
tribe on Government official spending.
It is too much like the pot calling the
kettle black.
He is apparently trying to run the
Government through his article. AS
far as I am concerned, would like to
see Mr. Ickes where he should be, and
that is out of the public eye.
After reading Westbrook Peglers ar
ticles on Ickes, am surprised that you
allow him to write for your paper.
Mr.. Ickes' junkets (paid for by the
GovernmenD when he was Secretary
OF the Interior are we'll known and no
member of the cabinet took more ad-
vantage of free travelling than he.
MRS. D. L. CHAPDELAINE.
Evening star., 1947-04-07

Forty per cent of all the people
killed in traffic accidents are pedes-
trians. That means that the total
death toll could be cut nearly 40
per cent If only jay-walkers wouldn't
volunteer for victims.
Evening star., 1947-04-07

$4,000 year for supposedly performing
duties beneficial to the people who put
him there. Does he do this? His first step
is to see how many Of his relatives can
be employed in his ONCE so that the
annual personal take from the Govern
ment will be greatly increased. His next
duty Is to get assigned to committee
of some kind, preferably one which
handles q subject that he never heard
OF before, or one that is none OF his
business anyhow.
Then, all of sudden, up comes some
bill to be voted on. Does our member
of Congress look at 1t from the viewpoint
of his constituents and find out how 1t
will benefit or harm their interests? Oh,
no! The good and bad points OF the
bill are not considered at all. The only
consideration given is whether the Re-
publicans or the Democrats are going
to vote for or against it.
Are we going to be saddled with laws
that are made by Republicans or by
Democrats, or are we to be governed by
laws made by Americans who make the
laws for the good of the Nation and
not for the glory Of their respective
political parties?
Congress wants economy. They ad-
vocate cutting Government employees
down to incorporating basis. All right,
cut the personal pay Of the Government
employe, cut the personnel strength IN
half, but when doing so, cut at least 200
Congressman from the payroll, which
will be q direct saving Of $4,000, 900. Have
a law made that no relatives Of Sena-
tor or Representative will be hired in
the Offices of either house of Congress,
unless by chance they are on the civil
service register. In plain words, let the
basket of ripe plums which has always
been consumed by chosen few on
Capitol Fill be offered, for a change, to
the American people, who, after all, pay
the expenses. j. H. WOODBURY..
Greenbelt, Md.
Southern Welfare Conference
To the Editor of The Star:
If Lowell Mellett's excellent column
of Thursday had been published two
days sooner, The Star would have been
saved from the error of including the
Southern Conference for Human Wei
fare in its list of organizations that have
been cited by the Department Of Justice
and the Un-American Activities Com
mittee in the past.
I think that, If you check this care
fully, you will find that the Committee
has never made such a finding about the
Southern Conference. Ex-Congressman
Starnes so testified at the Lilienthal
hearings, and know for fact that the
conference has never been called before
the Un-American Activities Committee
for investigation and was not on the
published list Of the Department OF
Justice.
1t obviously would be absurd to put
an organization that is completely
democratic and working for democracy
in the South on any such list although,
of course, the Bilbos, Rankins and Tai
madges do their utmost to discredit
the Southern Conference for Human
Welfare.
CLARK FOREMAN,
President, Southern Conference for
Human Welfare.
Evening star., 1947-04-07
Educating the World?

To the Editor of The star:
Mr.. Baukhage has just told us that
UNESCO is to battle against worldwide
illiteracy, and a ,columnist states that
the immediate task Of UNESCO is re-
habilitating education abroad. She spoke
of the need for supplies pencils for
the children, etc.
Interesting! Are we going to educate
all the children of the world? Are We
going to send supplies to all? Have
other nations asked the UNESCO to
educate them? Where does UNESCO
expect to get the money necessary for
such a program?
Many well-informed men are telling
us that there is danger ahead for our
Nation.
Why don't we put our own house in
order-first? Haven't we thousands OF
illiterates? Haven't we conditions in
our educational fields crying for cor
rection? AVERAGE CITIZEN.
Evening star., 1947-04-07
National Theater Policy

To the Editor OF The Star:
George T. Bowerman's letter to The
Star pointed out something believe
few people realize. He states that the
National Theater's policy on admitting
Negroes was not the fault" OF the thea
ter but of the theatergoers.
This is entirely true. 1t is the duty OF
any institution to follow a policy which
satisfies the majority of It's patrons. Our
Government itself is run on that princi-