davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Valley frontiersman., 1947-12-20
Vet Sales Tax Ends In June, Meeting Told

Jack Maze, w. L. Zeile and Al Hagen are the current big three of the Matanuska Valley Chamber of Commerce. They were named president, vice president and secretay-treasur- CT, respectively at last Wednes- days annual election. Harry Winner and Matt Perkins were elected executive committeeman for the coming year.
 Election of officers occupied most of the business period of Wednesdays meeting. New of ficers will first occupy their chairs at the January meeting of the Chamber.
 Before retirement from of flee, Zola Fineman, secretary treasurer, reported that Cham Der membership had grown from 27 in 1946 to Az members in good standing at the election meeting.
 Floyd Guertin. territorial
 representative of the Veterans
 Administr alton. Ludlow An
 derson of the Bureau of Mines. and "A. Parmenter. fire chief
 for The Alaska Railroad.
 were guests al inc meeting.
 MT. Guertin briefly summar- ized the accomplishments of the territorial VA to date, as re- vealed at the recent quarterly board meeting of it's directors. He said that the veterans sales tax, imposed by the last legisla- ture, already had collected about two and a half million dollars, and probably would go out of existence next June with a col lection of three and a half mil lion dollars to its credit.
 There are now approximately one and half million dollars on loan to veterans through the territorial VA, according to MT. Guertin. $15O,OOO of that amount has been loaned to Valley vet erans, with $70,000 more in the offing. Valley loans are used primarily for the purchases of houses and farm machines and equipment. ....
 MT. Guertin explained that
 the territorial fund was a re-
 volving fund. with new loans
 constantly being made as old
 ones are paid off. He estimat-
 ed that at least 400 Alaskan
 Continued on Page 1O
Valley frontiersman., 1947-12-20
Improved Five Will Take On AIS Saturday

Although still handicapped by the loss of speedy Lynn Sandvik, Lawrence Gibson, coach of Palmer high school, promised today that Saturdays return en- gagement between the Palmer and Anchorage basketball teams would find Palmer much i'm proved over the first game.
 Farther than that, MT. Gibson makes no promises. However he has plans, not to be revealed be- fore Saturdays whistle calls the two teams into play, which make him feel that Saturdays game may end far differently than the oneesided victory A n h o ge snatched late in November.
 The second strings of the two squads will tangle in an 8 o'clock curtain-raiser. Wal ter Bendixen. who has been working with Palmer's first string. will move back to inc B squad for that encounter. in order to chalk up a little more game experience.
 The. second game of the eve ming. is not scheduled to begin until 9:30. Probably starting for Palmer in that game will be Puhl, Onkka, Irwin, Stevens and BouWens.
 However, there is strong possibility that Hutchinson, who is battling nightly for a start ing call, may nudge Onkka out at the opening whistle. Both men will see plenty of action Satur- day, but decision on the starting forward may be delayed until just before game-time.
 The starting lineup for An chorage is expected to include Eaves. Rafailovich. Pfeil. Berg and Black. That's the way they lined up against Seward last week. The Anchorage lads look two games from Seward without much trouble. al- though they allowed the Gate- way city boys to count for 32 points in their second meet ing.
 The Anchorage special train, which is bringing 200 high school students, will arrive in Palmer early Saturday evening. Since the train must leave again short ly after the game, no official welcome is planned for visiting students.
 However, the Palmer court squad will play host to their An chorage rivals at a lunch follow ling the game.
 ~vv-&~-~~~~
Evening star., 1947-07-22
Personal Patronage

The disclosure that career Government
employees, some of them with fifteen or
twenty years of service, are losing their
Jobs while other workers hired on war
time basis are being kept on the payroll
as the beneficiaries of sort of personal
patronage" system in some of the agencies
calls for prompt corrective action.
When Congress resorted to appropriation
cuts to force reductions in Government
personnel it did not intend that longtime
career employees should be the first victims
Of this retrenchment policy. On the con-
trary, 1t was made perfectly clear that the
so-called war service employees those hired
on a temporary basis during the war
should be the first to go. It was expected,
of course, that thousands of these would
be retained in Government service after
they had taken and passed examinations
for permanent jobs But in those cases
where some one has to be dropped, and the
choice must be made between a career
employe and temporary worker, 1t was
and is the plain intent OF Congress that
the latter should be the one to be dropped.
According to a report just issued by
Committee, however, this congressional
policy has been circumvented in some
agencies through the operation OF per
sonal patronage" system. This means, in
other words, that some officials desiring
to keep on the payroll personal friends
among the war service employees. have been
staying within their reduced budgets by
firing career workers. This can and should
be stopped.
One way of stopping it is provided by the
bill which has just passed the House, and
which provides that, in reductions of force,
permanent status employees are to replace
any war service workers doing comparable
work within an agency. A still better
method-if 1t is made to work-ltes in the
new Civil Service Commission plan to ex-
tend preference to career employees on a
Government-wide basis. This means that
the career employe, instead of enjoying
preference only within the agency which
employees him, would have the same pref
erence as against any temporary worker
doing comparable work in any agency.
Presumably the House bill has been
passed because of doubt that the Civil
Service Commission policy will be enforced
But the latter is the better approach and
it can be, and ought to be, enforced. For
If the career employees are not given max
imum protection, they will become the
victims Of grave injustice and the civil
service merit system can be expected to
revert to the spoils system of seventy
years ago.
Evening star., 1947-07-22

silly? If we grant the premise that poorly
diapered babies may grow up to be pugna
cious grouches, we must grant also that
the diapering may be at the bottom of
their trouble and that this, in turn, may
be considered one of the remote causes of
war. Certainly-again if we grant the
premise-the Cause theory thus opens up
bright new possibilities, not the least of
them being that if every baby everywhere
in the world with special emphasis on
Russian babies) is henceforth properly
cared for in this particular, there will be
universal emotional well-being of a sort
bound to bulwark the peace.
Anyhow, on a hot summers day, the
idea seems rather refreshing. AS far as
creating peace is concerned, perhaps we
have been concentrating too much on the
intricacies of diplomacy, the complexities
of trade and the involved travail of the
United Nations. These are essential factors
of the problem, but possibly the art of
diapering is factor, too, and maybe we
ought to pay more attention to it.
In any case, if it Is true that contented
babies develop inevitably into contented
adults, we may have in the Cause theory
at least one of the steps-however small
that can help to build contented world
To that end, there is hardly measure
we can afford ignore
Evening star., 1947-07-22
District Civil Service Urged

To the Editor of The Star:
A number of Washingtonians are wonder
ing why there are no provisions being made for
q District Of Columbia Civil Service system
under the District reorganization and home
rule hearings. Successive generations of domi-
ciled and resident Washingtonians have paid
millions Of dollars in taxes for years to the
financial support of the District government
and therefore should have preference, on a
competitive basis to positions in the said gov
ernment.
An Office of District civil service director
should be established and registers drawn up
as result of the examinations for bona fide
Washingtonians, from which departments of
the District of Columbia government could
choose their District classified personnel In
dependent boards and agencies from the bot
tom positions to the executive Offices should
be brought under the directors Office
There are thousands of bona fide Washington
ians who feel bitter toward Congress for not
correcting this injustice years ago. They feel
that 1t is not the democratic and American way,
to deny citizens administrative participation
in their own local government.
JUSTICE is LATE.
Evening star., 1947-07-22
Peace and Diapers

Though contained in commercial
minded publicity statement, there is a
kind of breathtaking boldness-a grandeur
of sorts-in the assertion that the "art
of diapering can play part in creating
worldwide peace"
This claim has been made by man
named william Cause, who heads an
organization called the. National Institute
of Diaper Services. His argument is that
the improper diapering of babies can cause
emotional disturbances that may carry
over to adult life. On this fundamental
premise-and how fundamental it isl
he then proceeds to build the theory that
the peace of all mankind may be involved.
Who can be sure that this Is entirely
Evening star., 1947-07-22
Our Pacific Trusteeship

In formally launching its administration
of the United Nations trusteeship over the
former Japanese-mandated islands in the
Pacific, the United States has for all prac-
tlcal purposes assumed the rights OF
complete annexation. This is fully in
accord, however. with the u. N. Charter
and with the agreement approved last
April by the Security Council.
The agreement-sanctioned by Congress
and Just signed by the President-gives us
what amounts to absolute control over the
territory. This control now will be exer-
cised by an interim regime under Admiral
Denfield, Commander-in-Chief of our
Pacific Fleet. until permanent American
civilian administration is organized.
Though established within the framework
OF the United Nations. our rule will remain
exclusive for as long as we wish. 1t cannot
be modified without our consent.
In agreeing to this arrangement last
April the members Of the Security Coun-
cil-including RuSsia-recognized that our
forces did most of the fighting against the
japanese, that American arms wrested the
inundated islands from the enemy. and
that the territory constituted strategic
area" vital to the future security Of the
United States and hence subject to our
administration as sole trustee. Some men,
bers Of the Council may have arrived at
this conclusion reluctantly, but 1t would
have been pointless of them to try to veto
our claim in face of the fact that we had
made clear our intention to maintain pos
session under any circumstances.
From the standpoint of principle, the
administration we are now beginning will
be run in keeping with the broad trustee
ship provisions of the United Nations The
inhabitants involved will be governed
accordingly and will undoubtedly benefit
thereby. They number only about 10000
throughout the 600-odd islands-the Mar
shalls, the Carolines and the Marianas-
that make up the territory. Actually, as
far as population Is concerned, our rule
will be OF relatively minor significance.
The really important thing about it is that
1t will place us in control of mostly barren
but strategically vital archipelagoes
sprawling over 100000 square miles of
the Pacific The absolute character of
this control, as agreed to by the Security
Council. is illustrated by the fact that it
entities us to build military bases in the
area, to station armed forces there, and
to ban, II we wish, any and all interna-
tional inspection.
This arrangement can be amended. with
our consent, If conditions warrant in the
future. When and If our atomic plan goes
into effect. for instance. our right to ban
Evening star., 1947-07-22
War in the Dutch Indies

The hostilities which, have broken out
in Java following a breakdown in the
prolonged negotiations between the Dutch
authorities and the de facto Republic of
Indonesia, are regrettable and may have
serious consequences However, they may
have become inevitable under the cir
cumstanceS.
The Dutch term their present military
offensive police action" against regime
which, they assert had fallen into the
hands of irresponsible extremists who have
Systematically violated agreements and
have shown themselves both unwilling and
unable to carry out commitments on which
the economic restoration of Java and
adjacent islands depends The Dutch go
on to affirm their intention to respect their
pledge regarding the independence of the
Indonesian Republic as part of larger
Indonesian Commonwealth to be estab-
lished within the next three years. They
say they will honor this pledge as soon
as native regime appears able to carry
out it's side of the bargain. Meanwhile,
order and security must be restored.
The course of events will doubtless soon
prove the validity of these Dutch conten-
tions. There appears to be scant doubt as
to the ability of the Dutch military forces
to occupy at least the key points in Java,
together with the main lines of communi-
cation. In the two years since the close
of the war in the Far East, the Dutch
Government has built up well-equipped
and well-disciplined army in the Indies,
including an entire division of Netherlands
Marines trained according to the American
standards at Quantico Va. Besides the
white Dutch troops this Indies Army COM
prises native contingents largely recruited
from the fighting stocks" such as the
Amboinese and Timorese, who have ira
ditionally served in the Colonial Army and
are proverbially loyal.
The loyalty of these and other elements
emphasizes the wide diversity which exists
in the Netherlands East Indies. The So
called Indonesian Republic is confined
chiefly to Java, with claims on Sumatra
and Madura which, though Professionally
conceded by the Dutch, are contested by
some Of the natives themselves. Indeed,
beyond those three islands, Dutch rule has
been generally re-established in the Indies,
with the assent of the local inhabitants.
The Indonesian Republic is thus local
lied problem. 1t remains to be seen how
far the nationalist movement there CORE
spends to the will of the inhabitants.
Again, even though a genuine nationalist
movement exists, it remains to be seen how
far the present regime has real popular
support. One proof will be the extent to
which the armed forces of the Indonesian
Republic are able to maintain themselves
against the Dutch. 1t is regrettable that
such a test has to be made. Certainly,
prolonged guerrilla fighting would be most
unfortunate. On the other hand, quick
collapse of the present regime could lead to
settlement of more genuine and dur
able character
Evening star., 1947-07-22
Success in Siqht

The long struggle to bring about unlflca
ton of the armed services moved into its
final stage Saturday when the House voted
approval of the necessary legislation.
In some particulars the House bill differs
from the Senate version, so the measure
presumably will have to go to conference
for the ironing out of differences. These
are not important, however, and it is con-
fdently expected that agreement will be
reached in time for final enactment of the
legislation at this session.
In it's final form the law will be a COM
promise, or rather a composite of COM
promises, and it will suffer from the de-
ficiences which usually attend this process.
But as Representative WadsWorth told the
House, it will give us for the first time
In our history "a piece Of machinery that
should work"
There will be need of patience, for it is
idle to suppose that the armed services of
a great power can be unified merely by
passing a law or issuing an order. The
country must expect that progress will be
slow, and that some of it will come about
by the trial and error method. Neverthe-
less, given time and the requisite effort
there is every reason to expect that the
end result will be more efficient and less
expensive military establishment.
The best feature in the bill probably is
to be found in the section creating a Ma
tional Security Council. We have never
had anything like it before, and 1t should
fill vital need. Once the new Offices
created by the law have been filed, those
serving on the council will be the Secre-
tary of State, the Secretary of National
Defense, the Secretary of the Army, the
Secretary of the Navy, the Secretary of the
Air Force, and the chairman Of the Ma
tional Resources Board. The President will
be member, and may preside over it If
he desires.
With this council in operation there will
no longer be any excuse for operating on
the basis of not letting our left hand know
what the right hand is doing. The State
Department will know what the military
is doing, or trying to do, and, conversely,
our military men will know what the State
Department is pointing toward And the
President, as Commander in Chief, will
have a constant check on both and
balanced picture of what is going on. Uni
fication will achieve great deal more than
this, but if this were all it would be well
worth while
Evening star., 1947-07-22
A Chance to Be Heard

Several weeks ago representatives OF the
District government sat down with officials
of the Bureau of the Budget in discussions
which resulted in raising the rate per
patient per day at st. Elizabeths Hospital
another ten cents to $3.65 for the year
which began July l.
This means that the annual bill paid
by local taxpayers at the hospital will
exceed $6000,000. 1t is noteworthy, how
ever, in being the first time in many years
that the District has had any part in the
rate fixing, despite the fact that since 1884
six out of ten patients at the institution
have been local charges
For many years these per diem rates
were fixed by Board of Visitors Of the
hospital on which the District was unrep-
resented. Now, under the Labor Federal
Security Appropriation Act of July 8, the
authority to fix rates is placed in the
Budget Bureau
The change will still leave the city gov
ernment without any vestige of control
over the hospital expenditures on which
the rates are based. But 1t does take the
responsibility of fixing costs from an
agency closely identified with the hospital
and vest it in bureau that is interested
in the affairs of both. To this extent it
must be considered step IN the right
direction even though the first exercise of
the authority by the bureau has been to
increase the rate.
AS the amount continues to rise, however,
District taxpayers can scarcely avoid con-
trasting the ease. with which this fine Fed
eral institution raises the money it needs
with the long, bitter struggle that precedes
finding few thousand dollars for city
health and welfare institutions.
Evening star., 1947-07-22
Thread From France

Jane sato her table set at tedttne
With cloth of lace, as In q dream
She sat crocheting iDory thTedds
Into flmy pattern scheme.
Her fingers formed the spool' OF amen
Into q creamy flagree,
Tn encrust her board NTH beauty
From her natiue land across the sea.
No,D guests, for tea, around her table,
Behold a strange and sacred square
For la belle France HDes on 5oreDer,
In fragile fairness, tooDen there.
IDA JOSEPHINE BRITAIN.
Evening star., 1947-07-22

figuring on how to save" the Ruhr basin, or to
"rehabilitate" the Greeks or to build bridges"
to stop the Communists or something.
It seems so stupid and futile to throw so much
of our taxpayers money down the drain with
so little return and there is a limit to what
good plain American people will stand for. They
are mad enough to fight out there now, those
who have any heart or spirit left to fight with,
and many OF our high officials will hear from
them.
am an ex-public school teacher from that
section out there, and very familiar with the
country and its people. I was on train three
years ago, going to Kansas City, when the flood
waters of the Missouri River were tapping at
the wheels saw roofs of homes floating down
the river, and could see bedraggled, homeless
people, broke and defenseless, pile few be-
longings, a crate of chickens, a COW and
bit of bedding into truck and dash madly to
high ground. My train was the last to get
through. The State of Missouri was isolated
for five weeks. The other States in the flood
area also Jared badly
Well, does anybody have any arguments
against flood control? If not, suppose we all
become "a nuisance and pest" as Lowell
Mellett said in his column. The conditions IN
the Missouri and Mississippi River basins have
gone far enough. What about it, Congress
men? Plenty of money for everything else.
JUDITH CARTER.
Evening star., 1947-07-22

inspection will have to be modified. Mean
while, however, with the world as it is.
realism demands that we maintain full
control over our historic new trust ter
ritory not only to serve our own security
but to bulwark peace in the Pacific as well.
Evening star., 1947-07-22

A C t ! o n Com
mittee of the
brotherhood of
my church, I
have been en-:
deavoring for q
long time to Sc
cure for the
boys and girls
in the vicinity
of my church
VsI
Evening star., 1947-07-22
BY THE HAsKIN SERVICE

O. How did we come to regard the spilling
of salt as q sign Of bad luck?-J. c. M.
A. Man realized at an early period that salt
Is necessity of life both for human beings
and for animals. It Is not equally plentiful
throughout the world but in certain localities
Is actually scarce and very difficult to obtain.
Since many people suffered from want Of salt.
they valued 1t highly and came to regard its
loss as bad luck.
O. What quotation Is sometimes called the
"mailmans code"?-J. T. p.
graph 98, Book VIII of the work OF the Greek
historian, Herodotus, who wrote in the 5th cen
tury, BIC. It reads: Neither snow nor rain
nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers
from the swift completion Of their appointed
rounds"
O. Do plants obtain their nourishment
chiefly in the form Of carbon dioxide?-H. M. P.
A. Plants receive their principal nour1shment
by taking in catbon dioxide from the air
through their leaves and water from the ground
through their roots.
Q. What produces the odor Of tobacco smoker
M W.R.
A. It is not the visible tobacco smoke that
one smells, but the invisible pyridine that 1t
contains.
O, Is the periodic cicada found in other
countries besides the United States?-N. J.
A. The periodic cicada lives only In the
United States 1t has the longest life span OF
any known insect, II years.
Evening star., 1947-07-22
Letters to The Star
Readers Stress Need for Better Recreation Facilities Here
and Tell of Flood Damage in Middle West

Letters for publication must bear
the signature and address OF the
1oriter, although it is permissible for
1Driter kno1On to The Star to use a
nom de plume. Please be brief.
Evening star., 1947-07-22

property. Many
are ruined A.
nancially, and
never recover.
And this in the
dread basket"
Of our Nation,
where food Is
raised to feed
the world. Con-
gress seems to
Evening star., 1947-07-22
Recreation Needs Stressed

To the Editor Of The Star:
1t is encouraging to see Our local papers call
ing attention to the need of some improvement
in the conditions under which some of the
young folks of Washington must spend their
spare time.
AS chairman of the Citizenship and Social
Evening star., 1947-07-22
Plea for Flood Control

To the Editor of The Star:
Floods in the Missouri and Mississippi River
basins have been devastating homes, farms, and
communities for years. with increasing loss of
life, and destruction of crops, livestock and
Evening star., 1947-07-22
Questions and Answers

reader can obtain the answer to any question
Of fact BY writing The Evening Star Information
Dureau. 316 street NE. Washington 2. p G.
Please inclose three (3) cents for return postage
Evening star., 1947-07-22

One way to find out how old q man Is
may be that of asking him who first made
the speech about mailing labor to the cross
of gold