davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1948-03-11
Smeurers Smear Themselves

Commissioner Mason's' extraordinary
TRADE against DR.. Brian Blades, chief
surgeon at Gallinger Hospital, was based
on a complete misrepresentation of the
facts He has now retracted everything he
said and publicly apologized to Dr. Blades
and his colleagues So much for that.
What is of more concern to the public
Is the sequence of events preceding Mr..
Masons exhibition. Last week two re-
sponsible surgeons who supervise most OF
the operations at Gallinger joined in pub
lie criticism of the hospital administra-
ton One of them, DR.. Blades, is head
of the George Washington University
surgical staff; the other, DR.. Robert j.
Coffey, holds similar position at George
town Their criticism was unusual. For
doctors in such positions too often refrain
from anything suggesting public contro
versy The considered temper of their
statement, however, reflected deep con-
cern over conditions at the hospital.
What was the reaction? Health Officer
Rutland resented the sensational man
ner," though the statement was not
sensational, of expressing criticism through
the press rather than privately transmit
ting it to the Health Department.. A few
days later Assistant Health Officer Daniel
Seckinger came to Mr.. Mason with infor
nation on which the Commissioner based
his wholly erroneous and irascible attack
on the medical school physicians. The
nature of this attack was to discredit the
physicians who had criticized Gallinger.
The incident is enlightening. There was
no personal criticism in what DR.. Blades
and DR.. Coffey had to say about hospital
administration. They were correctly and
Indignantly protesting a system that is
unsatisfactory and. which others have
found to- be deficient. They called for a
change that would take the administration
of Gallinger away from the Health De-
partment and place supervision of medical
care with the medical schools. A separate
hospital administration, independent of
a health department engaged in many
other activities, might produce results that
have not been obtainable under existing
conditions. There are similar patterns of
public hospital supervision in other cities.
Certainly the criticism from DR., Blades
and DR.. Coffey was constructive. The fact
that it resulted in a cheap cock-and-bull
story, designed to smear the doctors who
did speak out, is a serious matter, not
easily erased by an apology. 1t does very
little to bolster confidence in the state of
mind of Mr. Mason or his Health Depart
ment supervisors in their management of
Gallinger Hospital.
Evening star., 1948-03-11
A Sorry Spectacle

The shabby performance staged yester-
day by subcommittee of the House Exec
utive Expenditures Committee reflected no
credit on the committee or on Congress
itself. Acting at the urgent request of
Representative Busbey, Republican, of
Illinois, the group investigated" the
qualifications of Hamilton Robinson to
remain in charge of the State Depart
ment's Office of Controls The hearing
was flop by any reasonable standard of
measurement.
The session was called as result of
letter which Mr.. Busbey wrote last
February to Chairman Chenoweth of the
subcommittee having to do with State
Department expenditures. In that letter,
released at the time to the press, Mr..
Busbey fatty asserted that Mr. Robinson
was not qualified for his job The Busbey
letter said, moreover, that "in view of
certain facts known to his superiors, he
should have been removed from office
many months ago" Mr.. Busbey was
quoted as saying he intended to prove his
charges.
But the only conceivably derogatory
fact that Mr.. Busbey proved at the hear
ing was that Mr.. Robinson has a second
cousin who, Mr.. Busbey said, resigned from
the State Department in 1946 while under
investigation. The, questioning of Mr..
Robinson revealed that he has had "abso-
lttely nothing to do with the second
cousin since taking over the Office of Con-
trolls and that he disagreed with the
liberal" views of the cousin. And Assist
ant Secretary of State Peurifoy, the only
one of Mr.. Robinson's superiors to testify
made it plain that, aside from the second
cousin angle, everything the State Depart
ment knows about Mr.. Robinson is compli-
mentary. He was recommended for ap-
pontment by Assistant Secretary of State
Norman Armour, was praised by william
l.. Clayton when he was Undersecretary
of State and is highly regarded by John
Foster Dulles and other prominent and
reliable citizens Mr.. Peurifoy told the
subcommittee that the FBI report was
favorable to Mr.. Robinson, except for the
reference to the second cousin.
To pillory responsible official of the
State Department on such fiimsy evidence
as Mr.. Busbey produced at the hearing
Is unfair in the extreme. Such exhibitions
can do grave harm to the serious business
of trying to safeguard the Government
against subversive individuals And in this
particular instance the integrity of not
only Mr.. Robinson but of his superiors was
challenged apparently without substantial
Evening star., 1948-03-11
Jan 6. Musuryk

The word that JansG. MaSaryk has taken
his own life comes as a distressing and
Sonlber echo of the thing that has hap
pened in Czechoslovakia.
Apparently the report is true, although
some doubt springs up when one realizes
that the information about it has to come
through the same controlled source which
would have us believe that Mr.. Masaryk
killed himself because of grief inspired "by
the malicious, tendentious attacks made on
him by the western press"
Until the Communists seized power in his
homeland, this man had every reason to
want to live. His father was the founder
and first president of the Republic of
Czechoslovakia. AS Foreign Minister, the
son had the opportunity and the capacity
to help build up the country after the
Second World War, as his father had done
after the First. But when the Communists
moved in all this was ended. And Jan
Masaryk, although at first apparently dis
posed to work with the Communists in the
hope of easing the blow to his fellow
countrymen, must have come to realize
that hope was gone If so, decision to
take his life would not be surprising.
If this is what happened there is, in
sense, one consolation in it. On March a
Mr.. Masaryk was reported to have said
Our place is at Russia's side. We must
be grateful if the Soviet Union allows us
to stand there"
These are not the words of man who
had fought the battle for his country's
freedom, who had contributed so much to
the Czech maxim: Truth Conquers."
And we know now that if the quoted SEN
tences were uttered by Jan Masaryk they
were wrung from him. They never came
from his heart.
Evening star., 1948-03-11
The Quiet Friendship

Friendship of old men is quiet thing
featured of memory and faith unspoken.
Winter and summer mornings dapn and
1Ding
Into the past Without a sign or token.
When t1Uo old men sit on the porch
together,
Watching the shadows OF the eUening
thicken,
Exchanging scattered words about the
heather,
They feel silence as the night minds
quicken.
One OF them left alone Dill shop no trace
OF grief, nor ,oalk across the bridge that
lies
BetUeen the small toton and the burying
place.
Yet sometimes an old man ,piu feel his
eyes
FIJI NTH quick tears II he should chance
to meet
An old friends son along the pillage street.
GRACE v. WATKINS.
Evening star., 1948-03-11
Speaks for Dairymen

10 Inc Edltor OF Ihe star.
An article appeared in The Star of March
on the price OF milk at Leesburg, Va, which
I think was very misleading.
Not knowing the conditions that this milk
is produced under and the surroundings of this
producer, still am at loss to understand how
this producer is getting more for his milk than
the farmers that are producing milk for the
Washington market.
The milk being produced for the Washington
market today is better than ST hundred under
justified cost of producing same. 1t does
seem to me to be very unfair to ask the farmers
to produce milk at less than cost of production.
I think If the consumers knew more about
the producers problems and the hardships
that are connected with producing Grade
milk, they would be more considerate
Farm labor is working the longest hours of
any labor in any business that know about.
Milk is the cheapest food that the consumers
can buy and the only food that is served to
their homes 365 days in year. 1t is costing
the consumers only about II cents pound at
the doorstep of their homes
Gaithersburg, Md. w. LAWSON KING.
Evening star., 1948-03-11
Already Too Late?

To the Editor of The Star:
Thank you for the editorial entitled "On
Being Too Late" the like of which should have
been issued weekly for the past two years!
In my unimportant opinion it already is
"too late" 1t now seems likely that before the
Marshall Plan can be enacted Soviet Russia
will have added not only Finland but also Italy
and France to its imposing collection of satel-
lites.
1t has been sickening to see Russia out
smart us at every turn, while we continue to
fuss and fume and tumble and fear.
Secretary Marshall and Senator Vandenberg
must be acclaimed for their patience and per-
severance. no matter what happens to the
plan, But the time has come to put man, not
a mouse, in the White House.
DISFRANCHISED.
Evening star., 1948-03-11

IL Is not the layman'S function to chal-
lenge the correctness, as a matter of law,
of what the court has done. But it is
proper for the layman to appraise as best
he can the practical effect of the decision
on the world in which he lives.
The First Amendment was adopted in
the light of conditions which do not exist
in this country today It was written by
men whose ancestors were familiar with
religious persecution. Many of them had
come to this country to escape it. If the
founding fathers erected a wall between
church and state in fear of dominance of
the latter by the former, it cannot be said
that, in their time, the fear was without
basis.
But that was more than a century and
half ago. Today's world is an entirely
different one. The influence of religion
Is much weaker now than it was then.
And we are the worse because of it. In
our day religious instruction is disappear
ing from too many American homes. The
position of the church is weakening. And
one may we'll believe that these things.
in part at least, are responsible for such
disturbing trends as the turn away from
the old concept of family life, the deplor-
able picture of one in three marriages
ending in divorce, the futile, fevered quest
for happiness in material things, the CROP
ing by hundreds of thousands of people
for some higher standards, some better
guides, to live by. 1t is not by sheer acci-
dent that Joshua 10th Liebman's Peace
of Mind" still leads the nonfictional best
seller list nearly two years after its pub
lication.
In dealing with economic and political
questions, the members of this Supreme
Court have never viewed the Constitution
as being rigid and inflexible. On the con-
trary, and rightly so, they have treated
this great charter as being a flexible thing,
intended by Its authors to be susceptible
of appropriate adaptation to meet chang
ing conditions and changed times Why
then, in matter affecting the separation
of church and state, should it be applied
so narrowly and so rigidly? What has
become of that f1exibility without which
no constitution can serve the continuing
needs of people?
The great challenge to the freedoms
which we know and which the Constitu-
ton would safeguard does not come from
religion or any teaching of religion. 1t
comes from the advance of a Communist
philosophy which, as practiced, is the anti
thesis of religious doctrine-an advance
which is facilitated by our own embrace
ment of materialism at the expense of the
things of the spirit. In this setting, 1t is
neither necessary nor reasonable to erect
an insuperaEle barrier to the kind of re-
ligious instruction that was practiced in
Champaign. Would it not be much better
for us if, instead of forbidding appropriate
religious instruction in the schools, we
were to encourage it in every reasonable
way? If ones answer to this question
is in the affirmative, then it must be most
earnestly hoped that the Supreme Court
will not let this decision stand as the law
of the land.
Evening star., 1948-03-11
Tells Why He Is Bitter

To the Editor OF The Star
I have 80 days left to serve in the Navy be-
fore I am handed my discharge papers and
once again can walk down the road of free
dom. T might not choose to walk that road,
were it not for an issue which unopposedly is
being heard on the Hill now-the WAVE-WAC
hearing.
I am merely petty officer in our vast and
mighty organization, and I will not be called
upon to take the floor and express my opinion
though 1t Is an opinion shared by thousands
OF fellow-enlisted men who would like to see
"this mans Navy" return to masculine stand
ards again. No, I will not be called upon. but
the high-ranking gold d-braid will speak for us
without ever once consulting the men who
make up the backbone of our once proud
Navy. The WAVES will stay and good men will
leave the service while the admirals yell for
UNIT to strengthen our forces.
I have good reason for being bitter because
I have worked in the same Offices with WAVES
since the day first raised my right hand The
gripes have don't compare with those COM
ing from the boys in the feet who can't get
a shore billet because 1t is filled by WAVE.
That was all very good during the war but
enough is enough.
I don't feel that we are being treated fairly
when see men being put on report for being
out of uniform, while the girls bounce in and
out in dungaree pants. basketball jackets, sad
die shoes and red and blue ribbons flowing
from their pretty heads They were allowed to
wear civilian clothes on liberty long before
enough pressure was applied to proper officials
to give us the same privilege. knocked my
self out for two years to make third class while
watching WAVES sign over for six months with
the promise OF immediate advancement. The
majority of all WAVES are at least first class
or above at the present date. Last year 40 of
us worked on an air show In Cleveland along
with 80 of the Girls in Blue" We were quar-
tered in a crowded. stuffy room at the bomber
plant and required to eat lousy food which
brought staggering percentage OF the men
down with trench-mouth and dysentery. The
girls? They were living and eating out at one
Of Clevelands finest hotels! We don't deny
the women the comforts and luxuries Of life,
but If they can't live up to the standards of
the Navy, they should be home.
Yes, the women will stay because we can't
stand up and boldly voice our small opinion.
Personally, I think I'll 60 "Bongo, Bongo,
Bongo" and be happy in the jungle where
there are no women. A NAVY MAN.
Evening star., 1948-03-11
Church and State

Congress shall make no laD respecting
an establishment of religion, or pro-
hibiting the free exercise thereof 49,
These italicized words are from the First
Amendment to the Constitution, and they
are made applicable to State governing
bodies in the Fourteenth Amendment.
What do the words mean?
On the face of the Supreme Courts
latest Interpretation, the doors of the
public schools have been closed to any
form of religious instruction. It would
appear that the ban extends even to such
thing as the recitation of the Lords
Prayer. If this is true, If the court has
gone to such an extreme in the enforced
separation of church and state, then it
is matter which ought to be of the
utmost concern in an age in which the
old spiritual guides are crumbling under
the impact of materialistic philosophy.
The particular case before the court
involved a course of religious instruction
given in the schools of Champaign, Illinois.
It's validity under the Constitution had
been affirmed by the Illinois Supreme
Court. But the highest court, dividing
eight to one, has struck it down.
paign program, pupils are supplied by
their teachers with cards on which parents
may indicate whether or not they desire
religious instruction to be given their
children. 1t is entirely voluntary. There
is no compulsion whatsoever The program
is interdenominational in character and
is not supported by taxation, the salaries
of the participating Protestant, Catholic
and Jewish instructors being paid by
Champaigns Council on Religious Educa-
ton. The program is informative in
character, and is not of proselytical
nature.
An atheist mother, complaining that her
son was embarrassed because, at her di-
rection, he did not attend the religious
class, appealed to the courts. And the Su-
preme Court, on the basis of these facts,
has decided that the program transgresses
the constitutional ban on the establish
ment of religion"
Justice Reeds dissent was strong and
persuasive. From the = = language of
the opinions" he said, II can only deduce
that religious instruction of public school
children during school hours Is prohibited.
The history of American education is
against such an Interpretation of the First
Amendment" Justice Jackson joined the
majority but he had misgivings. Ex-
pressing regret that the court had not
been more careful in circumscribing its
decision, he pointed out that the effect of
the ruling is not only to ban the particular
program in Champaign, but also "to ban
every form of teaching which suggests or
recognizes that there is God." Other
disturbing questions arise. Is 1t now un-
constitutional for children to sing Christ
mas carols at school plays? What about
the chaplains in the military establish
ment, or the compulsory religious services
at~Annapolis and West Point? Must these
things go, too?
Evening star., 1948-03-11

now face the grim reality of unemployment In
dwindling market for white-collar workers.
Somebody certainly ought to propose a prac.
tical plan to give relief to these fired" workers
not only of the VA but also the other Federal
agencies which are forced to drop faithful and
efncient personnel who put their hope in the
meaning of the word permanent" and their
trust in the agency that hired them. 1 would
suggest the name for such plan be called
Displaced Career Employees Recovery Program
DCERP)." 1t would make fitting COM
panion to the ERP
A PERMANENT 90 EMPLoYE.
Evening star., 1948-03-11
Praises Veterans of Foreign Wars

raises veterans OIL TOTelgn wars
To the Editor of The Star:
It's sad situation when subversive books
have been used in our public schools for years
and nothing was done about it until the Vet
Grams of Foreign Wars of the District demanded
their removal Even after this courageous Or
ganization requested the School Board to take
these books out of the schools. the Veterans of
Foreign Wars was forced to ask congressional
action because of the arrogance of the school
authorities
Your editorials about this condition have
puzzled me- How can you expect children to
become good citizens If they don't get the
proper training? The report Of Dr. Millers
committee is alarming. to say the least. If
the Veterans of Foreign Wars hadn't brought
this to the public's attention, we would still be
in the dark. We need more organizations like
them. AN OBSERVER
Evening star., 1948-03-11
VA Permanent Employees Plight

To the Editor of The Star
On December 20, 1s45, the War Department
issued Circular 388, announcing: 1.-THE Veterans
Administration has urgent need for the i'm
mediate employment of civilians to carry on
its rapidly expanding activities" Then, when
the war ended commanders were urged to re-
lease noncritical personnel "other than Regular
Army" who would be accepted by the VA for
employment. The applications Of many serv-
icemen and women released by the War De-
partment were gladly accepted by the VA on
a temporary appointment basis. Next, the
Civil Service Commission announced examina-
tions and those who passed the tests were
given supposedly permanent status.
But now thousands of those theoretically
permanent employees OF the VA all over the
country are being "fred"-allegedly because Of
ineff1ciency. Yet hundreds of them have eff
cheney ratings of excellent" and none of them
less than satisfactory" These people are being
dropped not because the work-load is any less.
On the contrary the work-load is increasing
as more and more World War II veterans avail
themselves of the rights granted them by the
GI bill and the Rehabilitation Act. The only
explanation given as to why these permanent
employees of the VA are being fired" is that
the agency is overstaf1ed and the budget must
This raises the question: Who Is responsible
for the overstafing in the first place? Certainly
not the perplexed workers who are being let
out after the better jobs elsewhere which they
might have taken have been filled by others
who apparently used better judgment. Why
were these fired" workers given permanent"
status in many cases less than year ago?
Should not the number of persons necessary
to carry on the long program OF the VA
have been known definitely two years after
the close of the war? Was 1t a case OF feather
bedding? Has the Treasury suddenly gone
broke, thereby forcing the firing" of thousands
of needed workers? (The billions being appro-
priated for other causes, the liberalization OF
many benefits and the excitement about pay
raises for Federal workers would not indicate
that we are short of money! Did somebody
blunder in >the expanded organization of the
Veterans Administration? II so, should the
innocent victims (recently appointed "perma-
nent" employes) suffer for the blunder? What
ever the answers to these queries may be.
they offer little consolation to the workers
who In good faith accepted what they thought
actually to be permanent employment but who
Evening star., 1948-03-11
things go, too?

cause. Shipping of this sort is damaging to
the morale and the prestige of the State
Department at a time when both should
be of the highest quality. Congress should
put stop to such responsibility on the
part of few of it's members.
Evening star., 1948-03-11
Drama Critic Replies


1t Is all right for Mignon Bell TO disagree
with my review Of THE Chocolate Soldier"
Each Of us Is entitled to an opinion. However.
If Mignon Bell persists in the notion that my
Judgment was based upon being old enough 10
have seen the original company, only hops
she Is chairman Of my draft board In the next
war, could have used her as such back there
In 1o4c. JAY CARMODY.
Evening star., 1948-03-11

Letters for publication must bear
the signature and address of the
aOrtter, although it is permissible torin
Dr1ter knoion to The Star to use
nom de plume. Please be brief.
Evening star., 1948-03-11
BY THE HAsKIN SERVICE.

O. How does the number of employed single
women in the United States compare with the
number of employed married women?-S. B. T.
A. In April, 1947 there we're 16 1928, 900 women
IA years of age and over in the labor force
in the United States OF these 379 per cent
were single; 46.2 per cent were married; 159
per cent were widowed and divorced.
@. Can an owl move its eyes?-N D. r.
A. Owing to their form the eyes of the ova
rotate only slightly in their sockets. so that
the owl must turn its head to follow any object
at which its gaze is directed.
@. How many makes of automobiles formerly
manufacturer in the United States are no
longer being made?-T. N. W.
A. There have been more than $4,000 differ
ent makes of passenger automobiles manu-
factured in the United States. At the present
time, not including few prospective cars not
yet on the market, there are 20 makes of auto
mobiles being manufactured in the United
States.
@ Which require more food ducks or
chickens?-W. B. r.
A. The Department OF Agriculture, poultry
division. says that ducks require much more
food than do the same number of chickens.