Side Glances
Washington Merry-Go Round
By DREW PEARSON
o
o
'EDITORIAL" PAGE
. La Grande Evening Observer
Frank Schiro, Publisher
SATURDAY EVENING, APRIL 21, 1945
l'uge Two
Yeh, How About it, Officer?
j
' Ernie Pyle
"Bravo Men" was thu title that Ernie
Pyle gave his last book. Now he is en
rolled forever amontr them, the brave,
ordinary, unwarlike men who went
forth from America's farms and vill
ages and cities to do the world's most
horrible job in the world's noblest cause.
Ernie Pyle was one of them from the
day he. joined them. He lived with
them, laughed and griped and suffered
with them, and died with them.
Few soldiers had seen more of battle
and death than he. Death had been
near him in England and North Africa.
He had felt the brush of its wings at
Anzio and again in France. He endured
the nearness of death until the shatter
ing effect o fits imminence drove him
away from the front to rest.
But Ernie- Pyle went back. Ho didn't
want to. He feared that the law of aver
ages was against him. Ho did not want
to die, and was honest enough to say so.
And he didn't have to go back. No
commanding officer ordered him for
ward. But lie went back because he was
a brave man and because he had a job
to, do, the important job of telling the
parents and families and friends of mil
lions of American boys in uniform what
they wanted to know. He told them
what the boys were doing and how they
were doing it. Hhe shared their pride
and their sorrow as if he wei'e one of
the millions of families for whom he
wrote.
It is a dear and intimate friend of
these families that he will be mourned.
Americans loved Ernie Pyle as they
loved Will Rogers, and for the same rea
sons. A veteran newspaperman who never
pontificated, an unpretentious lloosier
who never lost his small-town outlook,
Ernie Pyle became not only the most
famous writer of this war but one of
the most beloved men of his lime, lie
richly deserved both the fame and the
affection. That he could not have lived
to enjoy both is another of the unnum.'
bered tragedies of war.
'Replying to Yours of
The 14th'
The state department has embarked
on a program , of explaining and en
dearing itself to what is known as the
common man. Wo like the idea, and we
also have a request for a little explana
tion on this diplomatic note-writing
business. ' . ,
Our curiosity was aroused again the
other day by the news that the resump
tion of normal diplomatic relations with
Argentina would be accomplished by
our charge d'affaires in Buenos Aires
dropping around to the acting foreign
minister's office and leaving a note say
ing that our, embassy had receivqd
Argentina's note of March 14, 19M
not 1945, mind you, 1944.
That was the note which informed
the United States that President Rami
rez was out and President Farrell was
in.
Now, what sort of explanation does
the charge d'affaires give? Does he
start out by saying "I've been meaning
to answer your note for ever so long,
but 1 guess I'm just the world's worst
letter writer?"
Or maybe it's something like this:
"I'm awfully sorry about your last note,
but 1 havo the darnedest habit of carry
ing letters around and forgetting to mail
them. 1 never found my note of reply
until I got out my heavy brown suit
to wear yesterday.!" (Can't fool us
i-'s getting autumn down Argentine
way about now.)
Anyway, he just couldn't say, "Yours
of March 1 Itli received and contents
noted II! months later."
Yes, there are a lot of things we'd
like to know about this protocol of
swapping notes. So, come on, Mr. Mac
l.eish give !
Fiimtti Kttsincss
V 1 Y i-Y
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2
JOi!) ii.Kirnnvni,js .'TV ti V. M"- t-. 11 iwuwm;
'' "I think they've been uied to pasitng the ammumjbi!"
WASHINGTON There are a lot of "ifs"
in. the life of a president, and. two big "it's"
, which swayed the destiny of Harry Truman
were:
1. If Democratic Chairman Bob Hannegan
hadn't come back from a political swing
around the country last spring r.nd reported
to FDR that ric one he met was for Henry
Wallace, Trum'i.n today might not be presi
dent., . .
2. And if, on that eventful July night in
Chicago when the galleries were roaring for
Wallace and the delegates were shouting for
Wallace, Bob Hannegan hadn't insisted on
adjourning the convention, again Truman
today might not be president. That adjourn
ment gave the bosses time to organize, and
next day they, put across Truman. .
Naturally, the man who turned these "ifs"
from defeat to victory is bound to sit at the
right hand of the man whom he makes pres
ident. That is a long way to come for an
Irish boy who was a 21st ward, St. Louis
committeeman at the time FDR was first
elected president. But Bob Hannegan is sit
ting there today.
Son of a Policeman
' Hannegan was born in St. Louis 42 years
ago, son of a St. Louis policeman. He went
to school in St. Louis, coached the swimming
team at St. Louis university, practiced law ,
in SI. Louis and eventually became city boss
of St. Louis., To Bob Hannegan there is
nothing about St. Louis or Missouri that c.in
be Wrong, which perhaps explains why he
left no stone unturned, including strong-arm
tacticsh at Chicago, .to nominate his fellow
Missourian, Harry Truman.'
. However, it was not until Hannegan w.ii
29 years old and the same year Franklin
Roosevelt was elected president, that he ac
tually got into politics,. That was through
fate, as it usually has been with Hannegan.
There was a five-way split in his ward,
and democratic leaders wanted one man who
could weld all fuctions together. Popular
Bob Hannegan was the man they chose a3
city committeeman to do it,
It was in 1932, the fateful year FDR wo-;
elected pre3ident, that Hannegan first met
Harry Truman, then a city judge at the other
end of the stale. He helped Truman with
his senatorial) campaign a year later. After
that he became city boss at St. Louis and got
his first big break in 1942 when Truman ar.d
Senator Bennett Clark were, engaged in a
battle over Missouri patronage.
Unknown to each other, both Truman and
Clark had selected Hannegan to be collector
of internal revenue for St. Louis. Finally
Clark called up Truman and said he wanted
to get together to discuss the appointment.
"Before we meet," said Truman, "I want;
e SO THEY SAY
There aro plenty of us left
I. to try hi block and run in
tt rfoivnco, as he had taught us,
' nt the man win carrier1 the ball
l; 1:0110.
--Hep. I.yiulon 11. Johnson (D.) of
Tex j.-;.
We cannot have prosperity in
tomorrow or. hair, n iwever much
ajH'aivtit K'.oiitut there may be
toi hale.
- t'r. J. t'.. Morann, eililjr The
Journal, notional education as
sociation. At first Japanese ships trav
eled singly. Then they had to
abandon that And piovido con
vc'Vs,,tl,en air cover for ' the con
ys. They were force! to move
closer 1 and. closer ,-to the China,
coast. traicluiR fiwi harbor ta
liarljov. They tried hard to keep
,' ) the-! road opcti, but they started
-Hear Ailml. Frank D. Wagner,
Seventh (fli)et air force com-
(Vjmander.
you to know that I am for Hannegan."
Tax Ciar Hannegan
So it was unanimous and Hannegan go
the job. He turned out to be a crackerjocb
collector of internal revenue. One reason he
worked so hard was because of the way the
newspapers attacked his appointment. He
was first on the job in the morning and las',
to leave at night.
All this time he was telling Mrs. Hanne
gan that he would get out of politics soon.
But in 1943, when Guy Halvering wanted to
step out as commissioner of internal' rev
enue, Secretary Morgenthau asked Helvcr
ing, together with tax sleuth Elmer Irey and
assistant, commissioner George Schoeneman,
to recommend a man to take his place. Han
negan's name headed all three lists. By that
time Hannegan had pulled his St. Louis rev
enue office up from last on tht efticien;y
list to near the front.
Meanwhile, democratic leaders, fishing
around for a new chairman of the national
committee, and receiving a turndown from
Judge Sherman Minton, turned to Hanne
gan. Calling him over to the White Hous",
Jimmy Byrnes said: "Frank Walker wantj
you to be chairman."
Hannegan worked out a little speech
which he would give the president declining
the job.
When he walked into the executive office;
however, FDR said: ,
"Come over here, Mr. Chairman, I war",
to be the first to shake your hand. I am
sure you are going to do a bang-up job as
head of the national committee."
Hannegan started to mumble his litt.ie
.speech, but the ' president wouldn't even
listen. After he left the White House, how
ever, Hannegan literally bombarded Roose
velt with letters teling him what a poor
chairman he woud be, how good he was as
internal revenue commissioner, and how he
owed it to the country to remain where he
was.
The letters gave Roosevelt a big laugh,
and he sucked Hannegan in a little deeper
by giving him the first tip that he woud run
for a 4th term.
Missouri Watch Dog
The rest of the story of Bob Hannegan,
how he helped sell Roosevelt on Truman,
how he put Truman across at Chicago, is too
fresh to need retelling here. Since elections,
Hannegan has put across one thing whicn
not even Jim Farley ever did successfully
he badgered Roosevelt into announcing be
fore a full cabinet meeting that future politi
cal appointments must clear with Hannegan.
Even life-long Republican Henry L. Stim
son, secretary of war, smiled and promised
to comply.
WE, THE WOMEN
By RUTH MILLETT
She's an old lady living alone and she
doesn't think she is doing anything to help
the war effort. That is a real cause of con
cern to her.
Yet, in the summer she works long hours
in her garden, growing enough vegetables to
carry her through the winter months.
She keeps a few chickens, too, and shs
does all of the work around her house and
yard-M-'vcn the heavy work.
She buys just as few scarce articles as
she can get along with, and puts everything
that she can save into war bonds.
Several neighborhood boys serving over
seas get boxes of food from her regularly.
One day of the week she doesn't count her
own at all. On that day she goes to the Red
Cross early and work a full, uninterrupted
day. ,
But it bothers her that she isn't doing any
thing for the war effort.
As a matter of fact what she is doing is
no small thing. She is, to the best of her
ability taking care of herself, shouldering
her own load.
If everybody in the country did just that
much the force of it would be felt.
But the little efforts of such people can
be so quickly cancelled dut by the "me
firsters" who fight over scarce commodities
and get everything they can for themselves
even if it means cheating and black mar
ketand who don't try to do any of the lit
tle things they might do, simply because
they are little and unimpressive.
Behind Scenes in Washington
By PETER EDSON. La Grande Evening Observer Washington Correspondent
WASHINGTON Is "freedom of the air"
as embodied in the fifth freedom of the in
ternational civil aviation executive agree
ments drafted at Chicago going to be the
ruination of U. S. air commerce? That is the
$04 question which senate foreign relations
committee members apparently want ans
wered before they put their stamp of ap
proval on the permanent civil aviation con
vention now before them for ratification as
a treaty.
Under this fifth freedom a British airlino
might fly to Australia by way of the United
States and Hawaii, picking up or setting
down U. S. traffic along the way. Or a U. S.
airline might fly to India by way of Ber
muda, Gibraltar and Cairo, picking up and
dropping British traffic along the way. The
former would be a commercial advantage to
the British, the latter a commercial advant
age to the U. S. Is it a fair swap? This is
freedom of the air.
Fieedoin of the air grew into the five free
doms of the air at the Chicago conference
on international civil aviation last fall. They
are the right to fly over foreign territory;
the right to land on foreign territory for re-,
fueling and repair: the right to land passen
gers and cargo from the country whose flag
the plane flies in a foreign country to which
it flies: the right to pick up foreign traffic
for its own country, and finally the whop
ping big fiftli freedom which would allow
any plane of any nationality to fly to any
other country and pick up or discharge traf
fic ult.ng the route. o "
The White HnUiie, through the department
of , state, has by) executive agi'Si'mont do
( ctarcd these five freedoms to be binding on
this governi'nr nt. The voices w nich rise in
protest advance these throe arguments
agaitVrt )it;.
Eighty per cent of the postwar interna
tional aviationilirtffic, passenger and citr,!.!,
will originate .in the United (Sfotes.vJW.iij'
SMI
f WmM
oOw. mi rt CT evici. inc. t. m. beo. v. a. pat, off.
"You remember Fred, Molherl He's the boy- who gave ui thou
extra large sundaes at the drug store I told him we were having
steak for dinner!" '
o McKENNEY ON BRIDGE
By WM. E. McKENNEY, America'e, Card Authority "
HOW WOULD BYGONE
PLAYERS HATE NOW?
As I look over the list of life'
mastors I cannot help buL think
of some of the old names of years
gone by and wonder whether or
not, if they were playing today,
they would be listed' as life mas
ters. There is Joseph B. Elwell of
New York, without a doubt one
of the greatest writers on bridge
whist, the first game of tha
bridge family. Some of you may
recall that Elwell w;.s murdered
AQ43
V 93
75
A 109 8 7 5
A62 N A 1"7
VJ 10 82 W E754
A K Q 8 s J'OSfl
K2 1 Pealer I QJ6
Elwell
A A K J 9 8 5
V AKQO
None
432
Bridge-Whist
Opening 4 K.
23
trump were cashed and then El
well led spades until West ruffed,
and claimed the balance of the
tricks, thus making four odd.
' Of course, today we would play
the hand at spades because five
odd could be made here without
much of a problem.
Questions & A nswers
Q How long has Japan held
the Ryukyu islands?
A Since conquering them in'
1609. They were annexed to the
empire in 1876.
Q What is the difference be-,
tween chocolate and cocoa?( :
A Chocolate is the cacao bean
processed to retain its 50 per cent
fat and oil content; for cocoa, the
oil and fat are eliminated.-,
Q Where are the Frisian is
lands? A Off the Netherlands coast.
should not the United States keep this busi
ness for its own airlines instead of permit
ting the airlines of other countries to grab
off maybe 50 per cent of this traffic? Since
the United States has the traffic which other
countries want, it is argued that the United
States should keep its own business, flying
its own traffic in its own planes which the
foreign governments must necessarily admit
to their shores to benefit at all.
While U. S. transport planes are now the
best in the world, it is maintained that oth
t countries, particularly the British and
French and Russians, will in time build
planes just as god. Having lower labor stan
dards, they can build them cheaper, and
With equal access to American air traffic,
they will be able to undersell U. S. plane
manufacturers and take away this business.
Furthermore, foreign wage rates being
lower than U. S. wage rates, foreign airlines
will be able to operate at less expense. They
will therefore be able to run airlines at low
er passenger and freight rates and to take
away U. S. traffic.
Now all these arguments have the old fa
miliar ring of tariff protectionists. To beat
them down, advocates of freedom of the air
talk something like this:
The days of high tariff wall protection are
over. They helped bring on the last depres
sion and they can well bring on another af
ter this war is over. The way to increase
trade, increase U. S. business is through
freer intercourse among nations, in the air,
on the seas or on the ground.
American efficiency can beat any kind of
foreign competition any time and any place.
It was done in the auto world aad H con
be dsme in the aviatiim, world. '" p
KiHellyr; -wc have more to gairi-y freedom
of the air than we have to lose, a We want to
fly every .place and don't wan: to be shut C
out. If f shut others out of the U. S., heist!
can we expect them to let us fly ta.their
Same 26 yearsago in a mystery
that still remains unsolved. .
iln Elwell's day there-was no
bidding. -The dealer named the
trump or bridged it to his part
ner and spades ranked as the
lowest suit in the deck.
Elwell elected to play this hand
in hearts rather than spades.
Realizing that one of his oppon
ents must hold at least four
trump, Elwell discarded clubs on
the first two diamond tricks,
West then shifted to the king of
clubs which was won in dummy
with the ace. Three rounds of
O IN FORMER
YEARS
IS Yean Ago
Richard Lyman of La Grande,
sophomore in pharmacy at Ore
gon State, college, was one of the
89 students placed on the scho
lastic honor roll for the past
term.
Jack Denny, Robert Oesterling,
Robert Cunliffe and Raymond
Cook were among the students
who went to Pendleton to attend
the track meet.
New building in La Grande
during the last week reached a
total of $4,750, bringing the total
permits for the year to about
$170,000.
Q How crowded are Ameri
ca's hospitals? "' .
A There were 16,036,848 ad
missions in 1944 one '.flirt every .
two seconds." - "-'" -"
Q For what special purpose
do army's quartermasters Use
maps? j '
A Clothing issues. They have
maps keyed to clothing require
ments for any month in any part
of the world. -'
Q What were France's first
exports to the United States aft
er liberation?
A Cognac and perfume. '
Q What does the German
name Westphalia mean?
A Western Plain.
Q How many students enrolled
at famed Heidelberg university
(founded in 1386), now in allied
hands?
A Before the war 1760, nearly
, a fourth women. Eight other Ger
man universities had larger enrollments.
Q What world-known family
founded its business at Frank-.
furt-on-the-Main, Germany?
A The Rothschilds. The bank
ing dynasty which has financed
wars and industrial combines
began in the shop of Mayer An
selm Bauer. Its sign said: Zum
rothen Schilde (At the Red.
Shield).
This Curious World
6CT THE NAME oCKCR
FROM THEIR USE IN
HUNTING WOODCOCKS
IN EN&LAND.
T. M BEG. U PT. OFT.
QuoTag Odds
counties?
15ENJA.VMN
BELIEVED ELECTRICITY WAS
A flXVO....
THAT POSITIVELY CHAR&EO
MATTER CONTAINED AN SXCfXt
0" THE FLUID, WHILE
NEGATIVELY CHAFED AUTT5
VVAS 4AC1CtA& IN ITV
- (-.)
i) NEXTi Is DDT
"Sa,S BEEF BECAUSE THEY
k.iN i oci HCTCKj ' AiK-x
EDNA LEISFRITZ, '
a Jekyll and Hyde?