davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1947-06-07
Speeding Up Justice

Chief Justice Bolitha J. Laws of District
Court has given a most encouraging report
on the remarkable progress which he and
his associates have made in speeding up
justice in criminal cases. The report, pre-
sented to the Judicial Conference of Judges
OF the Courts of the District, attests the
complete success of the two-year-old re-
vised system for assigning criminal cases
for trial
When the new system was inaugurated
in the spring of 1945 it was not unusual
for SUCH cases to remain untried for one,
two, three and even four years. AS post
ponement after postponement was granted
often for avoidable causes-defendants
languished in jail or, if atie to raise bail,
made the most of their freedom Moreover,
memory of key witnesses sometimes failed,
and some witnesses died or disappeared.
The result was that prosecution was diff
cult or, at times, impossible. There were
plentysof nol-prossed cases in those DAYS.
The judges tackled this problem by
setting up an orderly procedure for assign
ing cases for trial, in charge of an assign
ment commissioner. All defendants now
are arraigned promptly-usually within
week Of indictment-and counsel are given
an opportunity to agree on trial date at
the time of arraignment. If counsel can
not agree, the presiding judge fixes date,
which may not be postponed except for
what the judge considers good cause" If
an attorney is handling more than twenty
five cases at one time, too busy plea
Will not be entertained. Other reforms
designed to expedite trials were instituted.
Ihe results have been noteworthy. On
Evening star., 1947-06-07
Administrator for Greece

There may be other Americans with
better qualifications for the job, but in
appointing Dwight P. Griswold to head
our Greek aid program President Truman
probably has named the best man he could
find willing to assume the heavy response
bilities involved. Mr.. GrisWold has had
considerable administrative experience. He
has served three times as Governor OF
Nebraska and more recently he has been
director of internal affairs and communi-
cations under General Clay in Germany.
His last term in the governorship has met
with some criticism among members of
his own party, but his overall record seems
reassuring. He Is a Republican, fact
lending additional emphasis to the BIZ
partisan nature of our foreign policy, even
though certain COP stalwarts are cool
to him because he is Stassen supporter.
Mr. Griswold who has been a consistent
foe of iSolationism and a strong advocate
of an active and enlightened American
role in the world, will supervise the Greek
program under the immediate direction
of Secretary Marshall. The Secretary's
guidance, together with his own experience
as an administrator in Nebraska and Ger
many should be of great help to him. The
task he is undertaking will be difficult
one. 1t will require tact, patience, energy,
organizational talent, and an ability to
offer sound advice and give smooth execu-
ton to policy. Mr.. GrsWcid Is not a
superman, but his record suggests that
he is equipped to handle the hard job
before him. His main objective will be
to place Greece on a stronger economic
footing and thus bulwark the country
against totalitarian pressures. He has
accepted the Presidents appointment
with full realization that his duties will
be weighty and his work wearing. He
merits the hest wishes of the American
people
Evening star., 1947-06-07
What Is q Whitewush?

Attorney General Clark has Indignantly
denied the charge by two Republican
Senators that he was responsible for a
whiteWash of last years patiently fraud
ulent Democratic primary in Missouri's
fifth congressional district.
This was the contest in which President
Truman joined hands with the notorious
Pendergast machine and the CIO Political
Action Committee to defeat the incumbent,
Representative Slaughter. A State grand
jury has declared that Mr.. Slaughter was
defeated by "a deliberate, calculated and
premeditated plan to miscount and other
wise steal votes"
Obviously, mess of this sort holds the
ingredients of first-class political scan
dal, and the statements of partisans should
be handled with caution. Therefore, since
the Republicans are charging whitewash,
and since Mr.. Clark denies this, the best
approach is to examine, not what these
individuals say, but the things that were
done or not done.
After complaints had been received, the
FBI was instructed to investigate But
by the express direction of the Attorney
0SAlSA0As Vic SSOPC VI CI1lo 1kIfCSUiSdl4O1
was severely restricted According to
J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI, under the re-
straints imposed by Mr.. Clark, could do
no more than interview four members of
the election board and two reporters for
the Kansas City Star, who had exposed
some of the vote frauds. On the basis of
these interviews, plus an examination of
the material in the hands of the men
questioned, report was prepared It re-
vealed no violation of Federal law. In the
words of the FBI, however, the contents
of this report did not constitute the re-
suits of an investigation, but pursuant to
the specific instructions of the Attorney
General are merely summary of data
developed by the Kansas City Star and the
election board"
It has been intimated that this report
served as the basis for conclusion by
three Federal judges that there was no
ground for an investigation by Federal
grand jury. It now develops however,
that even this Is not correct. All the
judges relied on was synopsis of the
report of an admittedly restricted in
yestigation.
1t Is not clear. from all of this that
there was deliberate, conscious effort by
the responsible authorities to refrain from
unearthing the facts of this stolen cleo
ton. But 1t Is clear that the Attorney
General, until last week, never directed or
permitted the FBI to make the thorough
investigation of which it is capable, and
which Mr.. Clark personally and properly
has insisted upon in other types of cases
affecting civil rights.
There remains the question whether this
amounts to a whitewash.
According to Webster's Dictionary, the
verb whitewash, in its colloquial sense,
means "to exonerate or clear of charges by
means of an investigation = {" of per-
functory or superficial character"
Evening star., 1947-06-07
Moscow WeIches on Austria

In conjunction with what is happening
in Hungary, attention should be directed
to the exasperating situation in adjacent
Austria. The two situations are obviously
organic parts of the same diplomatic cam
paign which Moscow is waging.
When the Foreign Ministers Conference
at Moscow became hopelessly deadlocked
over settlement for Austria, the western
powers thought they had salvaged some
thing in the shape of an agreement to set
up Big Four treaty commission to "estab-
liSh the concrete facts" underlying Rus
sian claims to German property in Austria
These claims are so sweeping that the
western powers consider them as both
unjustifed and fatal to Austrias inde-
pendence and viability
The treaty commission duly met in
Vienna nearly month ago, but has been
stalled from the outset by the refusal of
the Soviet delegate M. K. Novikov, to
permit the technical experts attached to
the commission to examine the concrete
facts" upon which the commissions con-
siderations and recommendations should
be based.
What Mr.. Novikov has stubbornly de-
manded is that the commission discuss
the disputed points before the facts are
laid b efore it, blandly ignoring half
derisive objections from the western dele
gates that it is usual to learn facts first
and discuss them afterwards Finally, the
Russian delegate delivered himself of the
extraordinary dictum that the determine
tion of concrete facts is "a political rather
than technical matter!" This, of course,
is the principle" on which the peoples
courts" in the Soviet Union and its satel-
lites habitually operate, but the western
members were taken aback when the Rus
sian delegate insisted that the commits
sion function on the same basis The
effect, of course would be to bypass the
technical experts altogether and reduce
the commissions deliberations to discus
sions of the varying political standpoints
represented there, regardless of the facts
involved. Since the western delegates re-
fused thus to put the cart before the horse,
the commission has adjourned it's sessions
indefinitely, hoping that some modification
or compromise can be worked out on a
higher level
This Soviet intransigeance is being vari-
c,sly interpreted. The most likely explana-
ton would seem to be that Moscow is
sparring for time, during which it hopes
to consolidate its grip on Hungary, wear
down the Austrians, and perpetuate the
unsettled conditions from which Moscow
expects to profit.
The one thing that emerges from all this
is another laundering example of Moscows s
bad faith. Once again, the men In the
Kremlin are cynically and brazenly WEIGH
Evening star., 1947-06-07
From a Neglected Annuitant

To the Editor OF The Star:
An official of one of the associations organized
and operating here in Washington dedicated
to the proposition of advancing the best in
terests Of us Government annuitants, has
slapped me gently on the wrist for my recent
letter to The Star calling to the attention of
Congress what deemed an oversight in its
failure to make some kind of a monetary ad-
justment for the lower bracket lower paid an
nuitants.
Here, in part, is what he writes: while 1
agree with some of your arguments for in
creased annuities for those in the lower
brackets, I must enter a denial that the
Seventy ninth Congress deliberately increased
the annuity of those in the higher brackets
and neglected those in the low annuities."
I would like to inquire as to the meaning
Of two little words" in the gentleman's quota
ton. They are "some" and deliberately"
The official agrees with some of the argu-
ments for increased annuities for those in the
lower brackets. We the "underdogs," want
whole-hog or none Either you're for us or
against us, be you executive, association, Rep
resentative or Senator-north, east, south 1--WE
think the west is with u.s..
AS for the word deliberately" it was not
used or implied in my article. The fact does
Ieiuduu Tile IliSlcl-uES ulu Scb LIlS uOuSu
and the "low-downs" got none-planned or
otherwise! I would like to quote another
paragraph of this letter. If it is justification
of why we were neglected. in the first place,
I guess I've stayed too long in the second place.
for my head is dizzy and I'm all fogged-up
with this quotation THE act of June 49, 1916,
which increased the annuity of some 5000 or
more annuitants was passed in order to cor
rect an omission from the act of January "a,
1912, which provided for new method of
computing annuities, but neglected to include
within its provisions those who had retired
prior to that date
Is that good or bad? For those who earned
less than $4,000 it is very, very bad The use
of the word neglected" is very appropriate.
1t is the crux of the whole controversy, and
what we are "beefng" about. 1t Is hard to
imagine the boys on the Hill, who never miss
a thing when they put on their specs and
get down to analytical hard-pan, were obli-
vious to our need when they were overlooking
us in 1912 and again in 1916 while they set
the stage with the props" of self-aggrandize-
ment and put on show that Is, even at this
late date playing to full house, both upper
and lower, and still doing very handsomely at
the box Office
1 apologize to the official for quoting him
in The Star. I think he should have used the
same medium in taking issue with me. if for
no other reason, to give the subject some air.
We hope his organization will raise its voice
and help establish us "low-downs" on an equal
basis with all retirees, regardless of dates and
provisions. WALL E. ALLEN
Evening star., 1947-06-07
Squeezing the Homeowner


To the Editor OF The Star:
am native Washingtonian whose family
has read The Star for many generations and
I take this opportunity to offer word Of
praise for your editorial of June concern
ing the proposed plan for obtaining revenue
for the District of Columbia through increased
real estate taxes
1t was splendid commentary and ;. am sure
exactly expresses the views of many of our
local citizens who are property owners and tax
payers. However, In discussing the merits of a
plan to produce revenue by an additional tax
on liquors which will net $2,8o00o0 annually.
you might have gone step further in favor of
the District Of Columbia selling Its own alcohol
ic beverages from its own dispensaries, as Is
done in nearby counties.
The revenue from this source would not only
meet the present deficit but in addition would
provide better pay scale for our ever deserv-
ing school teachers. But, as you intimated, the
powerful liquor lobby would no doubt present
strong case against city-operated disoensaries
Just as they would oppose additional taxes on
liquor.
1t cannot be denied that liquor is luxury
Item that can well bear heavy tax while a
mans nome Is his first necessity and he should
not be compelled to carry heavy tax increase
to provide revenue for the benefit of the scores
OF non-taxpayers. Further, man who owns
cne parcel of property which he calls his
home should not be taxed on the same basis
as the speculator who buys property for the
rental income
My gratitude for your splendid editorials in
the interests OF our fne city. HH.
Evening star., 1947-06-07
Even as Thoreuu

Each man requires Walden Pond, place
Dedicated to silence and to thought,
Where he may drop the hectic, breathless
pace
For the reflections that are spirtt-sought
Where counseIed 10y the leaf and by the
bough,
Advised by stone, and guided by the
Dir1g,
He may, In sum, find those things ,rhich
eHdotD
The mind NTH parts for thoughts
assembling
Into the framework of the master plan
He ,1iH adhere to, and wttltte tDhich he
Will ioork his hallmark that postertty
MGy look upon the measure OF the man,
EDen as 1ote toe look upon, and groag
Through the creations OF the man
Thoreau. EDWARD D. GARNER.
Evening star., 1947-06-07
A Strike by the Public?

To the Editor Of The Star:
Why is it that strikers cannot read the hand
writing on the wall and take notice of the
overwhelming public sentiment which has pro-
duced the antilabor legislation enacted by
Congress and by some Of the State Legis-
latures? Why is it that unionized labor, and
especially unscrupulous union labor leaders,
cannot follow the suggestion of the President
in reducing prices for the good of the country
in general tincluding laborers as well as
others? This could be done by first reducing
wages, especially wages that are too high, or at
least by holding wages at the present level until
industrial stabilization can be effected.
There is just one more strike due in very
short time. That is strike against the
strikers by spirited public citizens in their
own defense. 1t should also be a strike Cor
boycott) against some of the industrialists and
employers who are too prone to yield to the
unreasonable demands of labor and to pass
Evening star., 1947-06-07
Noses of Indians

Whenever cartoonists Or comic strip artists
depict the American Indian they almost always
portray him with an aquiline, high -brdged
nose. I'm not an expert ON these native Ameri-
cans-in fact never saw full l-bIooded Indian
in my life-but have seen many photographs
of them in the National Geographic Magazine
and other such publications. have noticed
that most Indians have small rather bridgeless
noses similar in appearance to the type seen on
Mongolian and other oriental people. Those
whose noses are prominent usually have other
facial characteristics that would point to mix
ture of white and Indian blood.
For the sake of accuracy would suggest that
these cartoonists get themselves a few Indian
models and draw from life. A. B.
Evening star., 1947-06-07
The Presidents New Plane

Independence is an appropriate name
in more ways than one for President
Trumans new flying office" The million
dollar Army Air Transport Command plane
which is to replace the Sacred Cow Is the
first to be built in peacetime exclusively
for presidential use. As such it may be
regarded as marking new era of presi-
dental independence in the field of travel
independence of Secret Service and other
advisers who, in the past, have vigorously
opposed flying by Presidents.
The late President Roosevelt was the
first to shatter precedent in this respect.
The Secret Service might have foreseen
what was to happen in view of Mr.. Roose-
velt's dramatic fight from Albany to
Chicago in 1882 to accept the Democratic
nomination. The agency knew that it was
waging losing battle when Mr.. Roosevelt,
at a press conference in 1910, announced
that he had decided to fly whenever 1t
suited his convenience. He said he had
reached an "amicable agreement" with the
Secret Service on the matter. But Pres
ident Roosevelt did not actually take to
the air after entering the White House
uiltl1 JduudIy Ol 1910, WHEN lie new TO
Casablanca. He thereby became the first
President to fly while in Office.
When Mr.. Truman took over the presi-
dency he inherited the wartime presiden-
tial plane, the Sacred Cow. It was special
job in its way, but it lacks the special
equipment for the safety and comfort of
its distinguished passenger which the new
Douglas transport will have. Aeronautical
science has contributed everything cur
rently available in the way of safeguarding
the presidential party. Airborne radar,
capable of seeing mountains or other
distractions through fog or night, is but
one of many safety devices installed.
Radio-telephone and teletype communica-
tions with Washington will be maintained
at all times so that Government business
may go on as usual. Even the die-hard
opponents of presidential flying in the
Secret Service, If any there be today, will
have difficulty in finding fault with the
Independence. They will be forced to
admit, In any event, that the presidential
airplane has come to stay.
Evening star., 1947-06-07

ing on an agreement they have specifically
made. Incidentally, we should not forget
that similar welching seems to be de-
yelopiug In Korea, where the Soviet Amer
ican commission is deadlocked on the very
issue (that of recognizing certain Korean
political groups to which Foreign Secre-
tary Molotov had agreed In response to
Secretary Marshalls explicit queries More
and more, thoughtful persons must ask
themselves: How can we do business with
such people?"
Evening star., 1947-06-07
Alternatives in Germany

<AIICI fIdtINES III oEI II1dIIy
To the Editor Of The Star:
The American authorities in Germany appear
to be faced with three alternatives:
l. Maintain industry at low level and keep
the importation of food at a minimum. Under
this policy, starvation and food riots appear
certain.
2. Maintain industry at low level but con-
tinue substantial imports of food for a long
time to come. The difficulty attendant upon
such policy results from the heavy expense
attached thereto
3. To the extent that 1t would be safe, restore
German industry and agriculture as quickly
and vigorously as possible. This third alter
native seems the most reasonable one
j. F. c.
Evening star., 1947-06-07
Letters to The Star
Views of Readers on Nationazed Health Insurance
European Refugees and Other Topics
To the Editor Of The star:

10 tine Editor Of Ihe Staf. -
In backing our Presidents recent plea for
constructive congressional action on national
health security program, The Star was speak
ing for countless families who are entirely
self-supporting in every other respect yet can
not meet the expense of serious illness" Quite
properly The Star deplores the perennial cry
that all such legislation is socialstic OBJ
viously we must find an intelligent basis for
practical compromise between political dis
sidents.
Organized medicine has gone on record as
Evening star., 1947-06-07

and prosecuted
as it once was
has been the
argument.
Protests were
made against
our ilnnigra-
ton laws when
they were first
e n a C t ed by
certain coun-
k,xs -LsN
Evening star., 1947-06-07

dPpIOFAtS VOL
untary health
l n sur a n C e
plans. T h e y
support tn e
lue Cross
principle f
providing a
low-cost, pre-
payable. risk
sharing meth
cd for meeting
Evening star., 1947-06-07

on to the public and to their customers the
increased burden OF costs. 1t should also be
strike against the Government Cor rather
the present administrator for Its failure to
outlaw strikes and for its maintenance of a
useless conciliation service.
AN ORDINARY AMERICAN CITIZEN,
Evening star., 1947-06-07

Letters for publication must bear
the signature and address OF the
'oriter, although it is permissible for a
Drtfer knot0n to The sStar to use a
nom de plume. Please be brief.
Evening star., 1947-06-07
america for Americans"

TO the Editor Of The Star:
Fling wide the immigration gates has been
the cry of pro-alien sympathizers ever since,
immigration was restricted by act of Congress.
Keep our country a haven for the oppressed
Evening star., 1947-06-07

What President Truman really wants,
without saying so openly, is 10 per cent
cut in Republican opposition.
Evening star., 1947-06-07

II we are ever to have any substantial
tax reduction, IT must come from pro-
gram of cease-lend to foreign nations
Evening star., 1947-06-07
This and That
By Charles E. Trace1ueH.

oy OTIWT tCO I UICUCEI,
"FARRAGUT STREET.
Dear Sir:
Our neighborhood is in mild state OF
frenzy over the antics of a young robin
For the past three weeks he has been flying
at his reflection in the parked cars on our street
He flies up and pecks at the hub caps wind
shields and any part shining enough for him
to see himself
I'VE have tried to stop him without success
He keeps it up for hours at time
ANY remedy?
Sincerely, M J. Y"
Evening star., 1947-06-07
Questions and Answers

o.A reader can obtain the answer to any question
Of TACT by. writing The Evening Star Information
Bureau, 316 1 street NE. Washington 3 B. G.
Please nclose three CD cents for return postage
@. When were the first Siamese twins re-
corded?-E. MEG
A. The earliest known twins of this kind
were the Biddendon Maids, born in England in
HOO The name Siamese was first applied to
the joined twins Chang and Eng, discovered in
Siam in 1924
Evening star., 1947-06-07

@. How many famous people are buried in
Westminster Abbey? Have foreigners ever been
buried in this British sanctuary?-F. L. H.
A. 1t has been computed that fully 5000
persons are buried in Westminster Abbey The
number includes few persons of foreign birth
who were not British subjects; for example,
Louise de Savoie, consort of Louis XVIII of
France, and Antoine Philippe, Due de Mont
pensier.
Evening star., 1947-06-07

@. How large an area in Rome is covered
by the Vatican City?-R. NJ
A.. Vatican City consists Of 1887 acres, an
area no larger than an average city park. It
has population of 1000.
Evening star., 1947-06-07

@. Please give some information about the
convict ship Success that was formerly ex-
hibited in the United Ststes.-J. r. J.
A. The ship was built by the British govern
ment in 1870 at Moulmain, East Indies When
the convict system was abolished the vessel was
scuttled and sunk in Sydney Harbor, Australia,
and lay there for FIVE years 1t was subse-
quently raised to serve as an object lesson in
prison reform. After that time the vessel
Travelled from port to port as an exhibit. 1t
first came to New York, May IT, 1913. The
Australian government plan to keep it in
Sydney as a permanent floating museum.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1947-03-30

~1A~
D[Sa
! #6E~y
49,
~ 1NVSSS
K -
NN-, lGJL~7I~
~Kl ~ <$AA III ~
Z IN =
@re-~.=@-.~~ ~
N 4