La Grande evening observer., May 26, 1945, Image 2

EDITORIAL PAGE
Side Glances
La Grande Evening Observer
Frank Schlro, Publisher
Saturday evening, march 26,
Page Tw
Discovered at Last Perpetual Motion
EVENING OBSERVER'S
PROGRESS PROGRAM
IRRIGATION Complete the Grande
Ronde Valley irrigation project.
LA GRANDE A city of 10,000
Extend the city limits.
State Building Program
Vitally Needed
Oregon voters have nn opportunity
to do a good job toward providing state
institutions with necessary finances to
assure progressive development during
the special election set for June 22.
We in eastern Oregon are particularly
interested because on the passage of
the referendum authorizing a tux levy
for state building funds may depend in
great measure the future welfare of
Eastern Oregon college.
The proposed legislation will levy a
tax for two years, outside the six per
cent limitation fixed by law, of five
million dollars yearly and will create a
state building fund of 10 million dol
lars. Six million dollars of this amount
will be used for buildings under the
jurisdiction of the state loard of con
trol and four million dollars will be
used for institutions administrated by
the state board of higher education.
It should be clearly understood by all
voters that, although in form the tax
is levied against property, actually this
is a mechanical device which was made
necessary by state law in order to bring
the matter before the people.
Kobert Karrell, jr., secretary of state,
pointed this out clearly in a statement
made this week. Actually, he said, "all
the voters are asked to do is ayprove
a mechanical device so the money can
be spent."
The property tax will never be levied
because it is provided in the referendum
that the tax lie offset by surplus in
come tax collections.
And, he pointed out, although it was
thought at the time of the creation of
the legislation that these surplus tax
funds would be collected in the future,
the situation now is that there is al
ready enough surplus money on hand to
more than offset the tax immediately.
In other words, the money is already
collected. What the voters will do in
effect on June 22 is to appropriate it
for use in the erection, maintenance and
equipment of state buildings and insti
tutions. Farrell's statement declared that the
state tax commission will have a surplus
of $15,625,221.51 on June 30, more than
enough to "completely offset the five
mill, two-year property tax provided in
the proposed measure."
There are two reasons for submitting
this proposal to the people. These are
as follows: the legislature was prohibit
ed by law from exceeding the six per
cent limitation in appropriation of
funds; the state constitution provides
that income tax surplus moneys must
be used for offsetting property taxes.
The situation before the voters at
this time is this:
State buildings and institutions des
perately require assistance. We in
eastern Oregon are acutely aware of
this because of the present needs of
Eastern Oregon college and the largely
increased needs anticipated with the
conclusion of war.
If these needs are ignored now. they
will have to be met in the future when
there may be no surplus tax money
available.
The money is already collected in a
surplus fund and is idle. If not appro
priated now for this purpose, it may be
dissipated.
Every voter should ballot on this im
portant measure June 22.
Funny Hit sin ess
rive's-
o
3
O SO THEY SAY
The collapse of the Hitler re
gime in Europe has not brought
to an end the hatred and preju
dic; imbedded tn the European
continent ag-nlnet the Jews y in
tensive nan propngnnda
Rabbi James G. Heller, chair
nun. United Palestine Appeal.
Unless the American people cm
be brought to see that the threat
of inflation did not end when the
shooting Mopped in Euritpc. we
are in Vvt mighty rough weather.
C'htstcf Bowies, OP A director.
i 1 "v- y -.V-V.
r- t v.
-1
'.r '5) (3)1
The Air-r'.tvtni wrt employing
.1 new la k (Ccnrral IV:hmg,
giiint wiu'h no available tire
fKmcr is it(ttve
-.-Col. Joseph ti Ciihy. Dein-it
Ordnance Sr?nrtmft;t office
J-
"Here conic )oc hcVlale ajain from ihor lc
W('U tki.. her. but the cost hvay
'.H-'higv,. O r
Col. Ak-rlln r. Sievtfc:;'y.'to'J
marines, about to cross Asato
iy river mt.i main section o Na-
lu. Okinawa.
Washington Merry-Go-Round
DREW PEARS05
WASHINGTON Most important lesson
to be learned from the dynamite-laden Tri
este controversy is that we should have be
gun three years ago when first proposed by
Under Secretary of State Sumner Wclle3
to build the peace machinery to handle these
disputes.
Welles- hammered this home incessantly
to both Hull and Roosevelt but it was only
last summer that Secretary Hull finally act
ed on Welles ideas and called the Dumbar
ton Oaks meeting finally leading to the pres
ent San Francisco conference.
Power politics began as early as two years
ago to be the root of the trouble now blos
soming at Trieste. It was two years ago at
Teheran that Stalin and Churchill batted
their heads together with Roosevelt sitting
in as mediator regarding rival spheres of
influence in the Balkans.
Churchill had wanted the allies to start
their second front through the Balkans part
ly to keep the Russians out. Stalin probably
with his eye on the Balkans argued that
the quickest road to Berlin was across the
English channel and France. American mili
tary strategists concerned only with win
ning the war quickly not with spheres of in
fluence agreed with him.
DWidiag the Balkans
After that was settled and it was agreed
that allied armies would not invade the Bal
kans Churchill and Stalin got down to di
viding up this area ihto spheres of influence.
Stalin pointed out that the British sphere
of influence In Yugoslavia was Croatian and
Dalmatian yet Churchill was working with
a Serb, General Mihailovitch. The Serbs
and the Croats hated each other, Stalin re
minded Chruchill. Therefore, he said, he
would be glad to instruct his man Tito to
cooperate with the British.
This was agreed. And that marked the
, sudden switch of U. S. lend-lease to Tito.
Churchill sent a British brigadier plus his
own son Col. Randolph Churchill to cooper
ate with Tito. Thereafter Mihailovitcn tnc
one-time British favorite was left high and
dry.
Tite Smells Plot
However, Tito's relations with the British
began to cool shortly thereafter and reached
a climax last summer under mysterious cir
cumstances. An airborne nazi division staged
a surprise raid on Ttto's headquarters and
he escaped within an inch of his life.
Tito suspected the British of having tipped
off the nazis regarding the whereabouts of
his headquarters and of collaborating in the
raid.
After that his distrust of the British knew
no bounds. And shortly thereafter when he
landed in Bari, Italy which served as refugee
Yugoslav headquarters, his plane was im
mediately surrounded by several hundred
Yugoslav partisans armed with tommy guns
who would allow no British official to let
anywhere near their chief.
On his last night in Bart, Tito was invited
to dine with General Sir Henry Maitland
Wilson, British comm:inder in the Mediter
ranean. And, much to Wilson's amazement,
Tito turned up with two dozen husky parti
san guards, carrying tommy guns, who lined
up on both sides of the dining room.
"I say, Marshal," remarked General Wil
son, "is'nt this a most unusual procedure?"
To which Tito replied: "This, general, is
a most unusual war."
Tito Bolts to Russians
Next day, Tito flew to Bucharest, con
ferred with Russian officials, and then re
turned to Yugoslavia. His cooperation with
the British was completely dead. Later, the
British planned a commando raid on Split,
an important seaport on the Dalmatian coast,
in order to head off the German army then
fleeing from Greece. But the minute the
commandos set foot on Yugoslav soil, they
were met by Tito's partisans, disarmed, and
sent' back to Italy.
Since then, relations with Tito have been
at swords points. He has become increas
ingly anti-British, considering them respon
sible for subsidizing a strong anti-Tito move
ment among the Croats. He has also blamed
the British for taking several thousand fas
cist Croats, many of them nazi collaboia
tionists, out of Yugoslavia, equipping them
with new clothes and plenty of money, and
sending them back to work against Tito at
the coming elections.
It was definitely agreed at Yalta, how
ever, that the British were to occupy two
provinces of Austria and were to invade
Austria through Trieste.
However, British troops were slow in
reaching that key city at the head of the
Adriatic, so their old friend and enemy got
there first. And in (he rough code of the
Yugoslav mountaineers, possession is nine
tenths of the law.
How much Stalin had to do with Tito's (ac
tual occupation of Trieste is anybody's guess.
Unquestionably he is the general mainspring
behind Tito. However, it doesn't necessar
ily hold that Stalin ever ordered Tito into
Trieste, if for no other reason, because he
didn't need to. Anyone who has been in
Trieste and lived among the Yugoslavs, as
this writer has, knows that they have been
itching for 26 long years to take over an area
which they consider should justly have been
theirs after the last war.
WE, THE WOMEN
Br RUTH MTLLETT
The housewife said, "I don't blame Mrs.
Truman for deciding not to hold regular
press conferences. It must be an awful
strain to have to face a roomful of report
ers, all asking all sorts of questions."
Well, maybe. But handling reporters is
a knack that ought lo be easy for a woman
to acquire.
For the average woman though she may
never be questioned by a reporter in her
life grows up with the idea that anything
she says may be quoted, and perhaps hell
against her.
Furthermore, she is always being ques
tioned by the town's busybodies, who in
their determination to satisfy their curiosity
without seeming to be really inquisitve. can
phrase questons as subtly as any veteran re
porter. Any smart wife knows well enough the
importance of being careful about what she
says about her husband's business affair".,
and "Harry never tells me a thing about hi
business," has come o be a stock answer of
clever wives.
So the average woman, just through hvr
associations with other women, o:ight to be
well-equipped to handle a press-cor.ference.
That is, if she can hold her own at a hndg?
party, telling only so much of here'if and
her affairs as she thinks is suitable for town
publication.
Behind Scenes in Washington
By PETER EDSON, La Grande Evening Observer Washington Correspondent
SAN FRANCISCO An international
shipping war to capture Pacific ocean tradt;
formerly carried by the Japanese merchant
marine is now being planned in west coast
ports.
Best estimates are that of the pre-war Pa
cific tonnage In and out of American ports,
U. S. ships carried 25 percent, the Japs 40
to 45 percent, British, Dutch, Norwegian and
other European flag ships dividing the re
maining 30 to 35 percent.
When the war is over. Japan isn't going
to have any merchant marine left, thanks ti
American submarines and bombers. And if
west coast shipping men have anything to
say in the matter, the Japs won't e-er again
be allowed to build up their fleet to beco.n-?
a maritime power.
This offers U. S. shipping a golden oppor
tunity. European countries have their oH
trade routes to reestablish and their fleets to
build up. China and Soviet Russia may
have some ambitions to build ocean-going
fleet. But whether any of these nations
will be interested or able to take care of
anything beyond thir own immediate and
most pressing demeetic needs it a great ques
tion. Japan's cheap labor, cheap ship construc
tion ami operating costs, plus ample govern
ment subsidies for a!! merchant marine wil
ing under the Japanese flag resulted in
f.e ght and passenger rates so low that no
other nations could comevte in the pre-war
Pacific. But with the Japs now out pf the
eompcttlive picture, the hnpes that Ameri
can ship operators can capture a large par,
of this Pacific trade are dotmitely brigltt.
iccf rding to Aucb men as Hugh Gallagher
t the Matson lines. Rust-ell Lutz of the
Ainckah President lines, and John E. Cush
I'f.tf the war shipping administration.
To keep try, American flag on the Pacific
will take some form of subsidy, t,hey and a:l
other slMtVung me;eem to agree! But they
emphasiie that this question of shipping
Usidics is pretty generally misunderstood
and in any case the amount of sub.idic. pa a
out will always be less than the cost of hav
ing to build up a new merchant marine from
scratch, as this country has had to do in two
world wars.
Cost of the War I fleet was $4,000,000,000.
That fleet was scrapped when congress and
American public opihon as a whole refused
to support a U. S. merchant marine. Tiie
cost of the War II fleet will be between 12
and $15,000,000,000. If this modern fleet s also
allowed to go to the scrap heap, it will only
mean that U. S. foreign trade will again have
to be dependent on ships of other nations.
The argument is sometimes made that the
United States should allow other nations to
carry American imports and exports, '.Us'.
because their lower wag" standards permr.
other seafaring nations like the British and
Norwegians to do this hauling cheaper, sec
ond because this permits these other coun
tries to acquire dollars with which they can
buy American exports. If U. S. foreign trade
policy is laid out along these lines, it can
only mean another life loss for the Ameri
can merchant ship cat, which can't b ox
pocted to come back ever;- time it is killed
off.
Subsidies to keep U. S. ships afloat after
the war can be applied in several ways.
First as a ship construction subsidy, which
is reaily a subsidy to U. S. shipbuilding la
bor. V. S. law does not permit any U. S.
shipping line to operate a vessel built in a
foreign country, where costs of construction
are much lower. Therefore, if a U. S.-bui't
ships costs $10,000,000 dollars and the same
ship could be built abroad for $6,000,000, the
V S. ship operator ;o make a profit must
show profits on a far grater initial invest
ment, which is a tetrilile handicap.
To is '(w)ng the situition. it is argned tnit.1
American built ships should be sold to priv
ate operators at cost.vquivalent to foreign
construction costs, the government paying
the subsidy. U. S. and foreign shiptjldg lines
would then have an even start and could
compete on more equal terms through ship
ping ccniercr.ee agreements on equal ratei
i 1
- - - K- .
jam. miir nx soma. mc r. u. kc u. s. pt. off.
"I'm sending some pictures of those movie dancers thai were
here, and I'll tell her they're native girls I don't want her to
get the idea this is a deserted island!"
O McKENNEY ON BRIDGE
By WM. E. McKENNEY, America's Card Authority
SETS UP A FINESSE
BY GIVING UP LEAD
(This is one of a series of
hands from the recent world'-!
championship masters' individ
ual tournament.)
Charles Goren, who won the
world championship individual
by half a point this year, gave
me today's hand as one of his
most interesting in the tourna
ment. Charlie made six no trump
A KJ 10 7 4
V43
73
QJ32
I Mrs.
N Eberson
Q9 ui r sAti
VAK75 VY tM02
K 10 65 S A9842
A107 ' A K 8 0
Dealer East
A632
VQJ986
QJ
. 954
Duplicate Neither vul
East South West North
1 Pass 2 V Pass
2 N. T Pass 3 Pass
3 N T Pass 4 Pass
5 Pass 6 Pass
Opening Q. 28
rounds of trump, dropping the
queen and jack. She led another
heart and then ruffed a heart.
Her next play was the king f
clubs. She now led a small club
and won in dummy with the ace.
The ten of clubs threw North in
the lead and if he returned a club,
she would be able to ruff and
discard a spade from dummy.
He electad to return a spade
and she let it ride to dummy's
queen, thus making six odd.
o IN FORMER
YEARS
30 Years Ago
Miss Ruth Russell, one of La
Grande's foremost equestrians,
was appointed to represent La
Grande in a convoy of girls to
greet Governor Withycombe at
the Union stock show. Each
town in eastern Oregon was in
vited to send a girl and her
mount to the stock show ,to act "
in the capacity of cordon of hon
or for the governor.
Ray Alstott, Earnest Waldan
and Fred Read left for San Fran
cisco to attend the fair.
when he got a spade opening and
gave up a heart trick by playing
a small heart to the ten spot and
then developed a squeeze.
However, top score on th
board went to Mrs. Fred Eberson
of Pittsburgh. The bidding is
that of Mrs. Eberson and hc-r
partner. Alvin E. Goodman uf
Philadelphia.
Mrs. Eberson won the openiig
heart lead with the ace. took '.wo
Questions & A nswers
Q How has the war affected
use of automobiles?
A Federal works agency esti
mates number of private auto
mobiles on the road has been re
duced 14 per cent since Pearl
Harbor.
15 Years Ago
Walter S. Price, George Ander
son and Mr. and Mrs. Waymn
Scott drove to Baker on a busi
ness trip.
A total of 3,600 poppies Wr
sold in La Grande by the Amer
ican Legion auxiliary and a corps
of boys and girls.
The Rev. and Mrs. Lester Car'
son and children, of the Gospel
mission, went to Seattle on a vacation.
Q How many miles of main
line railroid track arc there in
the United States?
A 230000.
Q What was the airplane pro
duction of the United States in
1944?
A Airman's Almanac puts it
at 96.369 planes valued at S19-400,000.000.
10 Years Ago
The La Grande city tennis
team won its opening intercity
contest of the season at Fcndle
ton. 7 to 6. The team from La
Grande included Dudley Starr,
Jean Taylor, Bob Oesterling,
Burke Inlow. Norman Sting. Lyle
and Clive Wilson, Mary Frees.
Mr. and Mrs. Fred Fox, Mrs. Le
ona Chausse. Marion Chausse,
Burnett Chausse. Betty Bohnen
kamp and Helen Melville.
Miss Margaret Milne, a teach
er in the Huntington schools, re
turned to her home in La Grande
after finishing the school, plan
ning to spend the summer with
her parents, Mr. and Mrs. A. W.
Milne.
This Curious World
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NEXT: The firil wl of gear
i