davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1948-02-20
This Case Needs Airing

The disclosures made TO oate py COLL
eressional and other investigators OF the
paroling last August of four former Capone
eangsters indicate that a thorough airing
should be given this peculiar case. The
more that comes to light about the maneu-
vers of friends and representatives OF the
quartet, the more it becomes doubtful that
the case was as routine as the Department
of Justice has represented it to be.
In fact, as d House subcommittee has
pointed out, it develops that there were
most unusual aspects to the affair. First,
there was the preliminary transfer OF
the four men-Louis Campagna, Philip
d,Andrea, Paul Ricca and Charles Cioe-
from Atlanta to Leavenworth Penitentiary,
close to their Chicago homes. The sub
committee is investigating reports that
there was something irregular about this
transfer. Then there were visits to at
least two of the prisoners at Leavenworth
by an attorney" who, the Government
charges in a recent indictment, was a
former Capone lieutenant in disguise.
Following these consultations came visit
to Washington by Paul Dillon, st. Louis
attorney and politician whose part in the
case needs further clarifcation.
Mr.. Dillon identified himself to the sub
committee last September as President
Truman's campaign manager. when Mr..
Truman was running for Senator. He
testified that he had requested the trans
fer of the prisoners to Leavenworth and
that later he had interceded for them
before the Federal Parole Board here. At
that time he Swore, in response to a
question, that he had received mot
nickel" for his services. However, the wife
of Campagna has just informed the sub
committee that shortly after Mr.. Dillon's
appearance before the group he submitted
to her bill for $4,000 which she paid
with a cashiers check.
The subcommittee wants to ask Mr
Dillon about this check, but efforts to hnd
him have been futile. There are rumors
that he has gone to Mexico. If Mr.. Dillon's
role in the matter was as altruistic and as
proper as he sought to have the subcom-
mittee believe by his previous testimony,
he will come forward voluntarily and
speedily to explain everything. II he does
not submit himself, the subcommittee
should spare no recourse to find him and
bring him in for questioning.
And the subcommittee should not stop
there, in view of the implications that
political or other pressures were brought
to bear in behalf of the former Chicago
hoodlums Only the testimony of members
of the Parole Board and of the Attorney
General can effectively set at rest the
public's misgivings over the release of the
notorious quartet.
Evening star., 1948-02-20

after submission to Congress Of the Presi-
dents budget.
That is why Senators Bridges, Butler
and Byrd are sponsoring resolution to
amend the law along more realistic lines.
They advocate special year-round COM
mittee of only twelve members, with an
adequate staff of fiscal experts, to make a
continuing study of governmental receipts
and expenditures. In effect, Congress
would set up a miniature budget bureau
of its own, charged with keeping abreast
at all times of all developments on the
budgetary front. Such committee un-
doubtedly would be in much better po-
sition to make soundly based recommen-
dations than temporary groups faced with
last-minute decisions on mass of COM
plex and unfamiliar data. The legislative
budget idea is good one, If 1t can be
put on workable basis through some
such change as that proposed in the
Bridges -Butler-Byr measure. Otherwise
the plan might as well be abandoned.
Evening star., 1948-02-20
New ENGLAND

Lopino her leSs-this country-I couto
phrase
Her better love songs, fine new ways
TO make her sound Doluptuons and good,
The ,pav 1Deu-loved mistress should.
But the brilliant bird OF fine Invention
Wings
Through these stark moods for other eyes;
In. Neao England, must see
New Englandly,
Kno,ping tohat / k1oU and cannot say.
I can think OF neat poetic things
For States beyond her borders; for my oto1s
The ,oords are sparse and cold-1ser fields
and stones s
In gray mosaic-icy, ri61ed skies &
White outcroppings where her loDely bones
Show through.
other louers lone their countries, too,
And write about them Knowingly ana
UeH-
Hoau cannot tell.
For If you're granite-bred
The gentle things are neuer said.
You acarrant to defend her all your days, 6
And still are Yankee-ntggard 'r' ''ours
9 praise BLANCA BRAD
Evening star., 1948-02-20
Political Truce in ltuly

The agreement just arrived at between
the major Italian political parties 10 re-
frain from violence and provocative as
turbances during the period culmlnatlne
in the parliamentary elections Is an
interesting development.
Those elections are slated for April IL,
and political campaigning is already get
ting under way. It had been feared that
the Communists might attempt either TO
seize power by coup d'etat before that
date or might precipitate such wave OF
strikes and kindred disorders that Italy
might be thrown into a condition OF
chaotic confusion. If such had at one
time been the Communist intention, the
Red leaders have seemingly changed their
minds. One of the best indications that
no prediction sabotage is contemplated
lies in the appointment of Pietro Secchia
as deputy secretary general to balance
Luigi Longo, hitherto alone in the posi-
Longo Is avowedly an apostle OF direct
action" Secchia on the contrary, shares
the view of his chief, Palmiro Togliattl.
who prefers to use legal means to gain
power-at least, so long as he thinks the
constitutional method may succeed.
Undoubtedly, this moderate strategy of
Communist leadership is motivated in good
part by the partial failure of the political
strikes called earlier this winter. That
failure was due both to the reluctance OF
many workers to obey Communist orders
and to the vigor of the De GaSperi govern
ment in meeting the Red challenge. De
Gasperi and his Christian Democrats have
naturally been strengthened with Italian
public opinion by prospects of American
aid under the Marshall Plan. Most Italians
realize that hopes of such aid would be
jeopardized if Italy either fell into chaotic
disorder or went Communist. So, though
the Communists attack the Marshall Plan
as viciously as ever, they may well decide
it is better not to affront public opinion by
going beyond words in the matter at the
present time
Present indications are that the parlia-
mentary campaign will resolve itself into
@ straight-out contest between Com
munists and Christian Democrats. Recent
local elections have registered the decline
OF middle-of -the-road parties which might
Evening star., 1948-02-20
Employment Cleaning Streets

TO the Eoltor OF 4ue otAf.
Washington always has been considered the
most beautiful city in the United States es-
pecially in the Spring. Summer and Fall.
Can the same be said Of our city in the long
winter months? For some weeks past, streets
have been source of much criticism. Where
have been over 100 accidents, some fatal, as
result of ice under the snow which was not re-
moved before another heavy snow and sleet
followed.
May I ask what has been done with the old
law to the effect,that streets and sidewalks had
to be cleared of snow and ice two hours after
the snow stopped falling? Is this law still in
effect, or has it been relegated to the scrap
heap, as so many other good laws have been?
There are many men in Washington who do
not know where their next meal Is coming
from, nor how they can supply their families
with the real necessities of life. Why not give
them work cleaning up our beautiful city and
at the same time open way for them to earn
an honest living In these hard times?
C. r. TISDALE.
Evening star., 1948-02-20
BUDGET Cutting by Guesswork

The manifest irreSolut1on Win WHICH
the Senate resolved to cut President Tru-
mans budget by two and a half billion
dollars is understandable. The Senate was
making necessary gesture, in accordance
with provisions of the Legislative Reor-
ganization Act, but the report of the Joint
legislative Budget Committee makes it
plain that the gesture should not be taken
too seriously.
The committee, for its part, tossed its
budget reduction recommendation into the
Senate's lap with warning that it was
little more than figure grabbed out OF
hat. Chairman Bridges of the joint
committee put 1t this way in his report:
"As the act is now written, do not be-
lieve that the legislative budget will ever
be more than pregame guess at the
final score" The law, he pointed out,
requires the committee to give its estimate
"of multitude of new facts, figures, con-
ditions and requests with which it has had
little or no time to become acquainted"
When the legislative budget plan was
first tried cut last year, the committee
made a sincere effort to get the facts,
holding hearings at which the Budget
Director was a witness. But Senate and
House were unable to agree whether the
Presidents budget should be slashed six
billions or four and half billions, and
the plan ultimately failed. This year the
committee did not even bother to hold
hearings Not even the Budget Director
was questioned The committee just made
a guess and handed it to Congress on a
take-it-or-leave-it basis.
It would not be fair, however, to criti-
cize the committee for this casual attitude
toward a matter of such moment to the
country. As Chairman Bridges stressed
in his report and as others at the Capitol
have said before him, 1t is just expecting
too much to require a newly constituted
group of more than a hundred legislators
to submit an intelligent report before the
February Is deadline fixed by law. This
cumbersome group of changing member
ship has found 1t impossible to study,
analyze and report on a en-hundred-
page budget in the few weeks allowed
Evening star., 1948-02-20
Preserving Georgetown

The Fine Arts Commission has come out
definitely for measures intended to preserve
the essential character of historic George
town. A statement, signed by Chairman
Gilmore D. Clarke, places the members on
record as heartily favoring" the amend
ments which the zoning Commission Ad-
visory Council has proposed to save the
traditional residential character of this
notable section of the Nations Capital"
The portion particularly affected by re-
zoning is that which is bounded by Wis
consin avenue on the east, Georgetown
University on the west, M street on the
south and street on the north. No dis
turbance of the status quo relating to
buildings or enterprises already existing
is contemplated.
OF course, Georgetown always has in
cluded a business area and probably always
will include one. The danger threatening
the neighborhood was-indeed, still is
that of the multiplication of small shops
and stores and the development of apart
ment houses. Under regulations estab-
lished in 1920 all streets ION which street.
cars run" were zoned commercial. What
now Is suggested Is a modification of that
ruling to restrict expansion Of business
operations at the expense of old homes
which should be protected as parts of the
heritage of the whole Washington COM
munity The commission asserted for
Georgetown the same principle which has
preserved and restored Williamsburg,
Virginia, and Charleston, South Carolina.
Certainly, very similar background
may be claimed for Georgetown as for the
two ancient cities mentioned. From its
beginnings with Henry Fleete in 1884 and
Colonel Ninian Bean about 1703, 1t was a
settlement whose citizens were distin-
guished for culture and taste When ILL
fated General Edward Braddock arrived
from England to take command Of the
army raised against the French in 1755,
he was entertained at an unidentified
private house and wrote back to London:
Never have attended more complete
banquet, or met better dressed or better
hammered people than I met on MY arrival
at George Town" The refinement thus
chronicled still prevails in many properties.
A stranger feels it as he passes through
the streets yet unspoiled. It is this atmos-
phere that ought not to be sacrificed for
any theoretically expedient purpose. The
zoning Commission Advisory Council, how
ever, believes that the proposed changes
will enhance real estate values and benefit
all parties implicated
Evening star., 1948-02-20

as forts, magazines, ETC.: "The public money
expended In such places and the public prop
erty deposited In them requires that they be
exempt from the authority Of the particular
State" There is no thought of creating such
feudal state as now exists.
The Auchincloss- Ball plan most satisfac-
torily provides for the period of political con-
valescence inseparable from the trial and er-
ror transition to full political freedom and
equality. To suddenly dump complete self
rule upon us would be to overwhelm both our
initiative and resource. This plan best ante-
ipates the travail we must endure to be re-
born as full citizens whose political freedom
and equality are unabridged by usurped power.
THOMAS E. MATTINGLY, NJ D.
Evening star., 1948-02-20
Biographies Preferred


Like I. NJ, whose letter appeared February
5, am opposed to the teaching Of history
pertaining to wars Instead of filling the minds
of young boys and girls with these sordid de-
tails, and allowing them to waste endless hours
reading Of commanders who have been deco
rated for causing thousands Of people to be
killed, why not encourage these same boys and
girls to read the biographies of persons whose
talents have been directed in constructive
ways? Nothing is more helpful, entertaining,
and inspiring than study OF the lives Of great
men and women. A. L. A.
Evening star., 1948-02-20
Stars, Men and Atoms
Eorth's WrinkIing Seen
Milking Oceans Deeper
Continents Pressing Outward, Swis,
Geophysicist Believes
By Thomas r. Henry

0V lH0m0S N. henry
The oceans are getting deeper-from 800 to
500 feet every 200O0o,000 years
This is because the earth is contracting and
wrinkling its thin skin of elastic rock which
is hanging in looser and looser folds around it.
This theory has just been proposed to the
American Geophysical Union here by DR.. r. A.
Sender, noted Swiss geophysicist. to explain
some recently discovered puzzling features Of
the sea bottoms. Among these are the 'guyots, :"
flat-topped underwater mountains. The Navy
discovered considerable number Of them in
the Pacific during the war and two have just
been found in the mid-Atlantic.
Truncated Volcano Cones.
1t is fairly certain, Dr. Sender says, that
these ares the truncated cones of old volcanoes.
Their tops are at depths from 5000 to 5000
feet and the highest Of them rise two or three
miles from the sea floor The peaks must have
been cut off, he holds. at some former surface
level. The heights Of the guyots represent the
depths of the water at various times In the
earths history.
Granted that the seas are becoming deeper,
he says, science must face the problem Of
the source of the extra water. The earth
Is supposed to have lost all its original atmos-
phere at the same time that the moon was
torn loose from this planet well over billion
years ago. All the water now in existence
has been squeezed out of the rocks as they
cooled. Since this process still Is in operation.
the total amount OF water presumably is in
creasing but in nothing approaching the
amount required to I'LL the deepening oceans.
If the area Of the seas has remained constant
for the last billion years, more than $4,000 900
cubic klometers of new water would be re-
quired to account for the present shore lines.
No Tangible Evidence.
The only alternative, DR.. Sender says, is
to assume that these areas are being COM
pressed by the skin -wrinkling process, with
slow expansion Of the continents-not provable
by any tangible evidence but indicated by
gradual hattening out Of the mountains. Thus
the continental shores appear to be pressing
outward against the ocean basins, which con-
sequently are reduced in dimensions.
From the best present calculations, DR..
Sender says, the contraction of the eartn
amounts to about l per cent every 100000
years. This period he designates as geo.
cycle" The surface rocks are somewhat elastic.
When they are contracted an elastic force
is stored up which results in a geological
paroxysm, characterized by great earthquakes
and volcanic eruptions, about once every 1000
centuries.
DR.. Sender offered his hypothesis as an
alternative to the widely held theory that the
continents are drifting.
Evening star., 1948-02-20

attempt to build up an intermediate
third force" between the two extremes.
The logic of this is that the campaign will
be naked struggle for power between the
chief contestants. That the struggle may
be waged by legal methods is at least a
gratifying prospect.
Evening star., 1948-02-20

Letters for publication must bear
the signature and address OF the
ioriter, although tt is permissible for
Driter knoDn to The Star to use
nom de plume. Please be brief.
Evening star., 1948-02-20
Tax on Oleomargarine.

TO The Editor fThe Star:
1t is very heartening to learn that a real
effort is being made in Congress to repeal the
punitive Federal tax on oleomargarine.
In our home we prefer the purely vegetable
oleomargarine, and we do not relish being
taxed and inconvenienced for the privilege of
using it. Let us encourage Congress to repeal
this unjust tax and reduce the cost of living
M E. KERN.
Evening star., 1948-02-20

Disfranchisement Unconstitutional
To the Editor of The Star.
Hearings on the Auchincloss-Ball Plan,
giving this Nations voteless Capital limited
self-rule, elected serious challenge of the pro-
posals constitutonality Imagine the amazed
unbelief of the signers of our Declaration of
Independence if they could witness this heresy!
Serious students of history debating whether
Congress has the power to raise half a mil
lion law-abiding unfranchsed citizens from
their present political impotence Of aliens.
criminals and the insane to their solemnly
promised birthright of full political freedom
and equality.
But unless simple language is to be per-
verted to ends both despotic and absurd there
is a constitutional issue involved. This issue
is not whether Congress has the power to
bestow the limited home rule of the Auchin-
closs-Ball bill. Rather, it is whether Congress
ever had valid power legally to deprive us Of
full, unabridged political equality and freedom.
Dispassionate study of this original grant of
power from the sovereign people to its servant
Congress justifes this reasonable conclusion.
Article /, Section 8, item II reads: Congress
shall have power: To exercise exclusive legis-
lation in all cases whatsoever over such District
(not exceeding 10 miles square) as may by
cession OF particular States and the accept
ance Of Congress become the seat of Govern
ment of the United States, and to exercise
like authority over all places purchased by
the consent of the legislature of the State
in which the same shall be for the erection
Of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards and
other needful buildings"
There is nothing in this simple grant Of
power which authorizes Congress to make
feudal state out of the proposed capital OF
$hn
grant of power declares in unequivocal SIM
plicity that this authority is like (meaning
similar to- that over forts, magazines, etc,
In what fort, magazine, arsenal or even ma
tional park area has Congress ever presumed
to visit upon its occupants the awful penalty
of disfranchisement? Obviously, this grant Of
power concerns places and things and not
lnalienable political rights which are the sine
qua non of democracy.
This inescapable conclusion further is vail
dated by The Federalist No. XLIII, written
by James Madison, the Father of our Consti-
tuition. Pleading for the proposed capital OF
democracy, he voices persuasive guarantees
against the very tyranny that arbitrarily has
been imposed upon U.s. Speaking OF the pros
pective citizens of the proposed capital OF de-
mocracy, he gives these solemn reassurances
that proper safeguards had been taken against
all possibilities of despotism: " -. as they
will have had their voice in the election OF
the Government which is to exercise authority
over thenS as a municipal legislature for local
purposes, derived from their suffrages, will, OF
course, be allowed them"
Then the Father of our Constitution sue
cinctly states the sensible reasons why Con-
gress of necessity must exercise controlling
authority over Federal things and places such
Evening star., 1948-02-20
Communist Angle in Unionsp


To the Editor of The Star:
Again should like to compliment you on
the objective reporting by your staff in con-
nection with the current strike Of some cafe
terra workers against Government Services
Incorporated. Your latest editorial on the sub
ject also was excellent and most fair.
However, am wondering how the Secretary
of the Army and his subordinate, the Post
Restaurant Council at the Pentagon Building,
can permit a contract with a union whose
officers refuse to certify that they are not Com
munist-front organizations. These same men
also refused to answer questions put to them
by Representative Hoffman and his committee.
Local No. 471 U. c. W., part of U. P. w. A.,
the union striking against G. S. l.. recently
obtained a contract with the operators of cafe
terias in the Peptagon, and, apparently, no
question was raised by the Army officials as to
the loyalty or Affiliations of the union officers.
The same situation prevails in the Department
of Agriculture.
AN INTERESTED OBSERVER.
Evening star., 1948-02-20

O. Is the railroad bridge across Great Salt
Lake solid track or is part Of 1t trestle?-
H. L. P.
A. The great bridge across the lake is a solid
path except for IL miles, which is trestle.
O. What symphony orchestra had the largest
attendance in the past year?-T H. p.
A. The Boston Symphony Orchestra (Serge
Koussevitzky, conductor) ranked first, with an
estimated attendance Of 100000 during the
year.
O. Do house spiders bite human beings?-
ST
A. Very few spiders have jaws powerful
enough to pierce the human skin, and In the
United States only the black widow has poison
glands. This particular spider is rarely found
in houses.
A. Has the 1s47 Goncourt Prize for fiction
been aWarded?-H. H.
A.. The Academic Goncourt announced In
Paris that the prize had been awarded to Jean
Louis Curtis The young author Is also teacher.
His prize winning novel is Les Forets de Ia
Mutt"
@. What is the average life Of human hair3
L. o. E.
A. The lifetime of hair may be from two
to six years. If it were not cut, the average
hair would grow feet before falling out.
@. What gas is used to ripen fruits?-L S. K
A. Ethylene gas is now used to ripen many
kinds Of fruit, including citrus fruits, pears,
bananas and many Others. The practice goes
back to ancient China. where hard pears were
ripened by putting them in closed room with
burning incense. 1t was not realized until
thousands of wears later that it was ethylene gas
in the incense that caused the ripening.
@. Did the library of the British Museum
suffer any damage during World War II?-
S. E.. K.
A. The building was damaged during an air
raid and one bookstack containing about 100000
volumes was destroyed
@. Why do cats wash themselves so often?-
D.
A. In the wild state these animals hunted by
stealth and it was important that no telltale
odor betrayed them Cleanliness Is still an out
standing trait of the cat.
@. How many people die in the United States
each year by free1ng?-L. McC.
A. A few years ago it was reported that deaths
in the United States from exposure to excessive
cold, including freezing and frostbite, averaged
about 1888 year. The highest rates were in the
mountain States of Nevada, Montana and
wyoming; the lowest in the District OF Colum-
bia
@. What department Of the Government
manufactures the medals which are awarded 10
members of the armed services?-k Y.
A. Medals for the Navy, Marine corps, Coast
Guard and many for the Army are made by the
| United States Mint.
Evening star., 1948-02-20
On Printing Both Sides

70 the Editor Of The Star:
Let me congratulate the editorial staff and
The Star for its constant effort to give readers
both sides Of every story in fair manner
and letting the readers decide who is right
and who is wrong even when it applies to The
Star itself This has been 50 to my knowledge
for over so years. ELMER E. SHIPLEY. I