davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1951-08-12

Douglas and Mr.. Truman, over the
appointment of two Federal judges
in Illinois, is brewed of two distinct
ingredients. One is the Senator's
conscientiousness. The other is the
Presidents active dislike for Mr..
Douglas.
About seven months ago, at a
luncheon, Mr.. Douglas expounded
the theory that if there was any one
thing for which a member of the
United States Senate could be re-
membered, it was for the quality of
his judicial nominations.
At that time he was searching his
soul. trying to decide on the finest
nominees for the judicial vacancies in
Illinois. But when he finally came up
WIN MS three recommendations
President Truman snubbed him on
two OF them, and submitted his own
. nominees.
Ihat was the beginning of dispute
In which the President has placed
himself in an impossible position. Mr..
Truman plainly underestimated the
strength of the Douglas sense of
political rectitude.
Town and Gown
To know Mr.. Douglas is to get a
pretty good idea why Mr.. Truman and
other organization" politicians fire.
quently dislike the Illinois Senator.
This dislike is the anti-intellectual
resentment of the loyal party hack for
the newcomer from the halls of ivy, a
phase of the town and gown" enmity
that has existed since the beginning
OF intellectual class consciousness.
There are cynics about Washing
ton who insist that Mr.. Douglas is
always running for the presidency
that he was running even when he
prevailed upon the late Frank Knox,
Secretary of the Navy, to get him into
the Marine Corps at the age of so, in
World War II.
But Mr. Douglas didn't act much
like candidate when he had his arm
nearly blown off, and permanently
Withered, in the Pacific.
Nor does he act like candidate in
battling the President to the bitter
end over matter of conscience in
the judicial nominations. No Senator
ever advanced his own political career
by fighting his own President.
tchica&o Daily News service)
Evening star., 1951-08-12
That School Teacher From Illinois

Whenever people discuss Senator
Paul H. Douglas, which is pretty
often, they usually wonder what his
"angle" is. Does this Illinois Demo-
crat want to be President Is he a
publicity hound? Is he sincere? And
so on, through cocktails, soup, entree
and far into the night.
1t is quite possible that Mr.. Doug
las doesn't have any angle; that
each new day is moral obligation
on him to perform his chores like a
man henpecked by his conscience. II
this is true, it may help explain why
in two and half years in the Sem
ate, he has been an enigma and/or
pain in the neck to SO many people
in Washington, including President
Truman.
The simple fact is that Mr.. Doug
las acts like a man who was an eco
nomics professor and a distinguished
one, for 80 years. He has two at
tributes that one expects to find in
conscientious professor. He has
great independence of mind, and he
has the classroom habit of thinking
aloud.
These two traits, plus meticulous
and perhaps fussy Quaker conscience,
have combined to keep Mr.. Douglas
in the public spotlight, where new
man in the Senate is traditionally
supposed to be out Of place.
Instinct for ToIeronces'
Mr.. Douglas independence of mind
is better described by friend as an
instinct for tolerances" in a political
situation. This instinct keeps the
Senator away from extreme posi-
tions. He pleases the conservative
today and the liberal tomorrow. But
both tend to be wary of him.
Mr.. Douglas committed near sac
rilege in his first few months as a
Senator, when he cast a jaundiced
eye on Government expenditures with
the observation that ito be a liberal
one does not have to be wastrel."
Mr.. Douglas was denounced in the
Senate cloakroom as a publicity
seeking upstart for attempting to
lay hands on projects in the rivers
and harbors bill. He got nowhere
at first. But his two-and-a-half-y year
campaign for using the surgeons
scalpep on the Federal budget is
beginning to take effect in spots.
Just as the cons ervatives might
Evening star., 1951-08-12

Danish Parliament, and became ef-
fective June 8. Improvements there
are a part of the NATO defense
program.
The Air Force used four snail
bases there in the last war, along
with weather stations. The Danes,
it has been announced, will cen
tinue to operate the weather sta
tions spotted along the rugged coast.
Next in the North Atlantic chain
of bases, now being used by rela-
lively short-ranged jet fighters, is
Keflavik, on the southwest tip of
Iceland.
A United States security force of
Army, Navy and Air Force personnel
arrived there last May at the invita-
ton of the Icelandic government.
The mission of the force is to CO.
operate with Iceland in carrying out
Evening star., 1951-08-12
Defensive Pincers

This system of global outposts
may resemble a giant pair of
pincers on the map. But it is no
instrument of an aggressive war
plan-as the Krenlin, for all its
protestations, knows full well.
Essentially, it is this-a piece of
the free worlds defensive arma-
ment which is absolutely necessary
to any attempt on its part to deter
Russia from striking at it, or to
strike back if war actually starts.
Important sections of the non
Communist world are within easy
range of Russia'S great weapon, the
Red Army. That weapon cannot be
neutralized unless the Communist
world can be brought within range
of our great weapon, the power to
strike from the air.
The extent to which interconti-
mental bombers could be used effec-
lively, and the possibility of such
technical developments as the pow
ering of airplaneS with atomic fuels
these are, of course, interesting
subjects for speculation. They have,
indeed, promoted rosy dreams
among some of the roster of our
dreamers. Very soon, if not imme-
diately, some say, we may have no
need for overseas bases.
Meanwhile, however, the effort to
protect ourselves and our allies
must be based on present realities.
And the present reality is that we
are relatively impotent without
bases.
The bases we currently are devel-
oping or improving are designed to
become a permanent, or at least
Semipermanent, network for the
effective deployment of the 95-
group Air Force now authorized.
The setup in Europe has been inte-
grated with the joint defense effort
of the North Atlantic treaty nations.
There to Stoy
Since the planners cannot now
foresee a time when Western Eu-
rope or the vulnerable areas of the
Pacific can protect their own inter
ests without American help, these
bases are being built to last. They
will be fitted with two types of in
stallations, one designed to stay put
10 years, and the other for at
least Is.
The new bases will be different in
other respects, too, from those
abandoned with such speed and
pleasure after We and VI days.
During the war, taxpayer shacks
or tents were good enough for men
who were sure that neither they nor
their quarters were there to stay.
Today the planners are striving
Nith the funds in hand to construct
Evening star., 1951-08-12

he entered the Senate. But the labor
leaders were shocked when he took
less than an extreme position on
legislation to supplant the Taft
Hartley Act. Before the f1asco of
Taft-Hartley repeal" was over, the
extremists wished that they had ac-
cepted the Douglas instinct for
tolerances." and taken half a loaf,
instead of no bread.
Thinking Too Loud
The habit of thinking aloud has
on a couple of occasions put the
Senator in bad with President Tru-
man. On one such occasion, he made
the idle observation that perhaps
Secretary of State Acheson should be
written off as a war casualty. On
another, he advanced the suggestion
that both parties nominate Gen.
Eisenhower in 1852.
The present 4pnf1ict between Mr..
Evening star., 1951-08-12

the Great Circle route to Scandi-
navia and Western Europe. Facili-
ties here and at nearby Goose Bay
on the coast of Labrador are being
strengthened. Across an arm of
the North Atlantic construction
crews are at work this summer at
undisclosed points in Greenland.
Agreement in June
1t is known that the principal
wartime base on the southern tip
of Greenland is inadequate for
modern aircraft because it hes deep
within twisting ravine walled
with granite. Whether a bigge.
base with fat approaches is under
construction somewhere in Green
land Is matter of speculation,
but it seems not unlikely.
An agreement for the defense of
Greenland was approved by the
Evening star., 1951-08-12

mountains in Spain is anybody's
guess. Talks are said to remain in
the exploratory phase, with neither
the British nor French inclined to
welcome Frances government into
the NATO fold.
Link in the Choin
The solid fact remains that CO.
operative rights there, or in the
narrow strip of Spanish Morocco,
across from Gibraltar, would sup
port the bases being expanded, as
described above, along the nearby
Atlantic Coast of French Morocco.
Lagos in the Azores, developed by
agreement with the Portuguese
Government as an important sta
tion on the wartime air route to
the Orient, remains as a vital
strategic link with North Africa
and the Mediterranean areas.
Eastward along the Mediterra-
mean coast to Libya, the Americans
are extending the runways at
Wheelus Field near Tripoli. The
right to reopen the base was OBJ
tanned from Great Britain, as the
occupying power, as long ago as
1948.
The country, Libya, is scheduled
to become independent next jan
uary l, but there is every reason to
believe the new government will
extend the agreement.
The reactivation of Wheelus, dur
ing the height of the Soviet squeeze
on the Berlin airlift, was said to be
for the purpose of providing a way
station for supply flights to Ameri-
can missions in beleaguered Greece
and Turkey.
Roads End at Dhohron
Another reason was the support
of the American airbase at Dhahran
in highly strategic location on the
Persian Gulf, in Saudi Arabia. The
right to construct this base was
obtained from Saudi Arabia in 1916.
and the agreement has since been
renewed.
Dhahran now is the end of the
road to the East-with the excep-
ton OF military transports, which
have right of passage through
American-built fields in Pakistan
and India. Planes in the transport
category pass through Karachi and
New Delhi, or take the southern
route by Bombay or Ceylon to reach
Singapore or the Philippines.
Evening star., 1951-08-12
Overseas Bases For the Protection Of the Free World

THE LANDING of 1000 United
= States Air Force troops in Casa
blanca made only brief news item
last week, but the implications were
worldwide. For what happened in
French Morocco means Uncle Sam
is speeding construction of the far
flung system of airbases with which
he hopes to protect the free world
from Russian aggression.
This extension of our bases is part
of the coStliest military construc-
ton program ever assumed by the
United States in war or peace. A
$5.7 billion authorization will be
taken up by the House Tuesday. Of
this amount, $22 billion has been
earmarked for overseas inStalla-
tions; the rest, for Air Force, Navy
and Marine construction in this
country.
The House Military Affairs Com
nittee recommended that the Air
Force receive SIS billion (about 10
per cent? of this overseas construc-
ton money-at about the time that
Chairman Vinson, Democrat, of
Georgia called for an air arm of 1853
instead of 95 wings.
The building up of suitable naval
and ground, as well as air, bases is
involved in our attempt to secure a
stronger global foothold from which
to face the future. But the Army
and Navy have had 150-year start
on the Air Force in acquiring the
bases they need. And airbaseS are
to the modern world what sea bases
we're in the days when Britannia
ruled the waves and guarded the
peace. 1t is, therefore, with the air
bases that we are primarily con-
cerned here.
Iron Ring, Says Moscow
The system of overseas airbases
we are building up has been de-
scribed by Soviet propagandists as
an iron ring" encircling Russia.
Perhaps it is. The fact remains
that the postwar years have seen
the U. S. S. R. continuing to arm
and expand, while her former allies
disarmed and withdrew from stra-
tegic areas.
Long before Korea it was realized
that the vacuums thus created were
an open invitation to Communist
aggression. Mont Communist areas
all around the Red bloc periphery,
including Europe itself, lay exposed
to the threat of land armies and a
tactical air power as yet unmatched
by the combined forces of the free
world.
The atomic bomb probably has
been the controlling, restraining
factor, in the tense years just
passed. But now this advantage
may soon be neutralized.
And so our bases are being REIN
forced, with the full agreement of
the countries involved, eastward
through Newfoundland, Greenland,
Iceland, England, France, Germany,
French Morocco, Libya and as far
east as Saudi Arabia. At the same
time, they are being strengthened
and extended westward - through
Alaska, the Aleutians, Japan, Oki-
nawa and the Philippines.
Evening star., 1951-08-12
This How We Look the Kemn But It's All in the Point of View

adequate housing and community
facilities, as well as runways,
hangers, machine shops and storage
depots. For the question of how
many families can accompany their
men overseas is a vital morale
factor.
Hundreds of World War II air
fields abroad cannot be fitted into
present needs, or have disintegrated
because of the temporary nature of
their construction.
The demand now is for strategic
locations - broader, longer and
stronger runways-with fiat ap-
proacheS for jet aircraft and bomb
ers three times as heavy as in the
last war. Jet planes burn three
times the fuel that their predeces-
sors did, and require bases at lower
attitudes than comparable World
War II types.
Maintenance, navigation and com.
munications problems are more
complex.
Bunyon in Morocco
But if America faces new prob
lens in the construction job she has
undertaken under the overseas base
program, she also has new tools and
skillS with which to tackle those
problems. What has been happen
ing in French Morocco, for instance,
is a much bigger and more exciting
story than the little one about the
arrival of new troops which made
the papers last week.
What has been happening there
is demonstration of an entire new
technique in tanning the wilderness
"a technique which makes the ex-
ploitS of the fabled Paul Bunyan
seem picayune by comparison.
We are well established in French
Morocco, and growing stronger
every day with the cooperation of
the French. It took us exactly go
days to complete a huge new land
ing field at Mouasseur in time to
receive its first heavy bombers on
July IL.
The massive machinery that did
the job was on its way overseas
almost before the ink was dry on
the international agreement giving
us permission to go to work. The
"cat skinners" who went ashore with
their bulldozers-the Army engi-
neers and former Seabees with the
heavy equipment-were old-timers.
The mighty earth scoops, rock
crushers and conveyor belts went
into action. The great reinforced
landing strips began to roll out like
giant carpets. The speed of the op-
GRAFTON was astonishing-a man,
moving at an easy walk, could Just
about keep pace with the advance.
A Emile runway would take shape
in just about an hour.
One of the most enthusiastic
spectators was Gen. Hoyt S. Van
denberg, U. S. A. F. Chief of Staff,
whose report on his return lifted
some of the security wraps on the
North African projects.
The forerunner of the technique
dates from Saipan, Tinian, Guam
or okinaWa' where machinsky be-
Evening star., 1951-08-12
Eastward PRONG

At least half our overseas base
program still is secret. In the cur
rent legislation, more than 81 bill
lion is asked for projects about
which the military is unwilling to
say anything publicly.
Yet the general design of the
program is clear. Across the top
of the world we are pushing two
strings of bases from which we can
hope to bring our strength to bear
where it will count.
Newfoundland is lands end on
Evening star., 1951-08-12

the defense provision of the North
Atlantic treaty.
The big base, with its long ocean
approaches, was built by the United
States in the last war. The name
was changed from Meeks Field to
Kef1avik when the base was de-
militarized soon after the close of
the war
independence and Sensivity
The present agreement, which
can be terminated on years
notice, opens the defense facility to
the joint use of the NATO Allies.
The people of Iceland are fiercely
independent and politically sensi-
tive to any threat to their SOW
ereignty.
Under the agreement, however,
the Icelanders will continue to
direct civil operations from the base,
which has become an important
stop for commercial airliners on the
North Atlantic route.
In England, the Strategic Air
Force began to share Raj facilities
when the Russians were trying to
force their former Allies out of
Berlin three years ago.
The highly explosive period of the
Berlin airlift brought out the B-2es
in considerable numbers. This ro-
rational training duty from bases in
the United States reached down to
Furstenfelbruck, on the edge of
the Russian zone.
II some squadrons continued to
North Africa during this period of
crisis, very little was said about it
publicly. A whisper of the former
code name, Silver Plates" was
enough to rattle the teeth of the
staunchest security officer. The
plates" were supposed to be
B-29ers trained for A-bomb op-
erations.
The Raj still shares its facilities
and a few larger bases have been
turned over to the Americans. De-
tails of new construction plans are
still classified, although the U. S.
A. F. admits to units at 10 Brit
ish fields.
Lesson h Berlin
The expansion of Templehof at
Berlin under pressure was a lesson
for the veterans of the Army Corps
of Engineers as well as other inter-
ested parties in the vicinity. New
techniques picked up here were
added to those learned the hard
way all around the world.
Across the Rhine, in France, a
huge air depot at Chateauroux is
being activated and expanded this
summer under the mutual defense
assistance program.
This depot will be charged with
supplying material, technical aid
and maintenance support, including
overhaul, to the NATO countries.
An Air Depot Wing and Materiel
Control Group will operate the base.
Some new construction is contem-
plated" the Defense Department
admits.
What may happen over Thea
Evening star., 1951-08-12
Westward Promo

Alaska occupies in the Pacific the
same strategic position commanded
in the Atlantic by Newfoundland.
1t is the jump-off point for the goth
century Northwest Passage to the
Far East.
In Alaska, and along the grim,
volcanic chain of the Aleutian
Islands, we are due to spend some
$214 million on airbases which al
ready have been strengthened con-
siderably.
Construction is being pushed on
key interior bases of Alaska at Ladd
and Eielson, along with Elmendorf
on the ice-free southern port Of
Anchorage.
Most of the work must be pro-
grammed far in advance. Con-
Struction costs are far higher than
in the United States. Most of the
skilled labor is imported for the
brief period of summer.
Tundro and Permo-Frost
Nothing substantial can be built
which does not reckon with the
tundra and the perma- frost be-
meath. The tundra thaws into mud
and freezes as solidly as the perma-
frost in early fall.
The housing problem is acute, al
though money at last is available to
improve the situation. Training
rotation of combat outfits allows
the personnel to live with their
families at least part of each year,
but tours of outpost duty will
lengthen as the Air Force builds up
to strength.
The bases scattered along the
Aleutians are mostly weather out
posts and emergency landing fields,
with the exception of that on
Shemya, near the terminal point of
the islands northeast of Japan.
Here it was necessary to extend the
facilities for the airlift to and from
the Korean zone of operations.
The Korean war, of course, has
vastly extended the capacity of
American airbases on Japan.
Bock to Okinowo
Further south and west, Okinawa
once again is feeling the weight of
American construction machinery.
Airbases scraped out for reception
of the B-29s moving up from the
Mariannas are being extended and
modernized. Construction activity
centers around Naha and Kadina,
where the bombers are back in
some force.
In all, $64 million worth OF con-
Struction is authorized for the
island. With anything like the air.
power mustered there in the closing
days Of war in the Pacific, Okinawa
would command the approaches to
the great Yangtze and the proud
est cities OF China.
A real striking force there could
support the British at dong Kong
and Singapore-and possibly dis
courage revolutionaries in French
Indo- China as we'll
Further south and west lies Clark
Air Force Base on Luzon, just north
of the Philippines capital of Manila.
Hundreds of smashed Jap war
planes long since have been claimed
by the surrounding jungle, while
the work of restoration goes on to
prevent another such catastroI he.
Evening star., 1951-08-12

gan to roll out coral runways with
in Tommy-gun range of the Japa-
nese defenders. Since then the
machinery has been enlarged and
improved, under the stimulus of
the postwar construction boom.
Evening star., 1951-08-12
By Edwin A. Lohey

BY Edwin A. Lohey
want to embrace Mr. Douglas for his
economy in Government ideas, how
ever, he'll drive them off with
high-flown statement about his be-
lief in social welfare expenditures in
time of peace.
The labor movement accepted Mr..
Douglas as one of their own when
The journal. (Caldwell, Ohio) 1934-1961, 1951-03-15
orHE " isE
BY E. o. BOND

What in America, we have, is
a result of what, as Americans,
we are.
The chains of habit are too
weak to be felt until they are
too strong to be broken.-Sam-
uel Johnson.
The shortest life is long enough
if it leads to a better, and the
longest life is too short if it does
not.
Never waste time reflecting on
opportunities you have missed.
While reflecting you might miss
some more.
Whatever happens, do not lose
hold on the two main ropes of
life hope and faith.
Remember when you talk you
only repeat what you already
know, but if you listen you may
learn something.
He who buys what he does not
want will soon want what he
cannot buy.
Where you are is of no mo-
ment, but only what you are
doing there - Petrarch.
War does not, and never can
prove which side is right, but
only which side is the stronger.
Alimony is like paying install
ments on car after the wreck.