Washington Merry-Go-Round
EDITORIAL PAGE
Br OHW PEARSON
La Grande Evening Observer
Frank Schlro, Publisher
WEDNESDAY EVENING, JULY 11,. 1945
Page Two
Mother Hubbard
, .
r ; l
EVENING OBSERVER'S
PROGRESS PROGRAM
IRRIGATION Complete the Grande
Ronde Valley Irrigation project.
LA GRANDE A city of 10,000
Extend the city limits.
; TODAY'S TEXT ' - lr.
Seek ' ye me, and ye shall live.
Amos 5:4.
THOUGHT FOR TODAY
The trouble is small, the fun is great.
--Goethe.
Answer To a 'Peace Offer'
Sen. Homer E. Capohart of Indiana
was quoted the other day as saying he
hud been "reliably informed" that Jap
an has niade peace offers "which would
be acceptable to me personally." Re
marking he was not at liberty to dis
close reported terms, ho asked, "If the
Japanese promised to give up all ter
ritory they have conquered, including
Jiiinchui-ia, wouldn't that be all right?"
, ' Well, would it?
In considering such a question, it
surely can be assumed the senator
chose his words unfortunately when ho
said, "If the Japanese promised." Ho
knows, of course, that nothing is more
worthless than a Japanese promise, lie
meant, probably, that the Japs actually
woidd give up all conquered territory.
Hut another presumption must be that,
under such a peace, tho Japanese main
land would escape American and allied
occupation.
If these presumptions arc correct,
what about peace with Japan?
True enough, any sort of peace has
strong appeal. Certainly it would save
many lives if we do no lk beyond the
immediate future.
But is it conceivable that criminals
responsible for such horrors as Bataan,
Corregidor, the March of Death, Man-
. ila, Shanghai the list is endless
should be allowed to escape punishment
V for their crimes ?, Even if the desire for
"revenge " could be forgotten, iBn't it
necessary to make sure the criminals
are taught that crime does not pay?
' Would it be other than stupid to
ignore that Japan's manpower losses
have been negligible; despite bombing,
' still is huge? Could any poace be ac
ceptable which would leave the enemy
with a gigantic industry and the man
power to operate and expand it? Could
anyone be so foolish as to believe that
(he Japs, given peace and the oppor
tunity, would waste even a day in start
ing preparations for another war at the
earliest possible date?
Aro the Nipponese militarists to bo
allowed to "save face" before their own
people? Is it thinkable that they, like,
the German warlords in 1918, might be
in position to dictate, either directly
or indirectly, the postwar policies of
Japan? With total victory and com
plete security in our grasp at the price
of comparatively a few more lives,
could we consent to a peace which might
mean death or enslavement for the un
told millions among our coming genera
tions? So we got back to the senator's ques
tion. Wouldn't a peace such as ho out
lined be all right?
K a c h individual is privileged to
answer the question according to his
own view. I'or our part, we are inclined
to ask: "Are you kidding, senator?"
Fun nu Business
SO THEY SAY
American world policy can no
longer he one- of aloofness.
Commander Harold E. Stasscn.
The western problem is not re
conversion, but conwrainn to
something new in the field of
basic or secondary industry, if
that region is tu maintain full
employment for its swollen popu
lation. Gov. Karl Warren of California.
"Thi yar 1 got ona t tan turn into meal il ntctuaryi"
Wo imi.il stand by America,
blip ha.', given us van) aid. and I
am not one who thinks the whole
thing is m-ey because the Pacific
is chiefly an American Uieatcr.
Prime Minister Wi niton
Churchill.
The essence of the democratic
faith is the equal claim of every
man to pursue his facilities to the
humanly fullest for his sake,
but no less for the sake of swiety.
$ittprt!:c court Justice l'c!u
Frankfurter.
WASHINGTON The District of Columbia
looks more like a, peacetime capital this sum
mer than in many years .... For the first
time since the war, the house is now plan
ning a long recess .... This reflects in
creased congressional confidence in the new
White House setup, also the fact many a
legislator yearns for home .... The dollar-a-year
men and brass hats who planned to
check out after Germany's defeat haven't
started their exodus. Instead they've been
joined by hundreds of business men who've
movd in to get their reconversion headaches
unsnarled .... Thousands of returning offi
cers and enlisted men from Europe have
added to the housing and feeding problem.
Parking spaces along the Potomac are crowd
ed on hot nights with G. I. Joes and G. I.
Janes and government workers searching for
a cool breeze. Washington is more peaceful,
but still jammed.
Adding to the crush are the Truman boys
who have descended on. Washington ... .
They fall Into three categories: (1) the. Mis
souri boys, friends of Truman and Bob Han
negan looking for jobs, patronage, and juicy
political plums .... (2) the Pauley boys
from southern California friends of former
democrat treasurer Ed Pauley who've rushed
into town to climb on the gravy train.
They're brash and crude for the most part,
have little respect for the taxpayers' money,
and already have their eyes on the gilded
dome of the capitol. Third group are the
"battery K" men. These aro the World War
I vets who saw service with Harry Truman
In 1917-18. Most are satisfied with a brief
"hello" and a handshake from their hero.
Others cling to the wrought iron gates of the
White House, think that their comradeship
with the new chief executive is a guarantcee
of a soft government job.
Truman Heyday
Truman's own aids in the White House
are still impressed by their now surround
ings .... Some feel Truman's rise gives
them a blank check to use his power for
their own ends .... One youthful aide has
been bragging about having Truman's po
litical enemies shadowed, their wires tapped
.... Truman, a sworn enemy of wire-tapping
when in the senate, will probably clip
their wings soon .... Most powerful man
in the Truman entourage is chubby, cigar
smoking Brig. Gen. Harry Vaughan, one of
the "battery K" boys, who buzzes consider
able advice into his chiefs ear, but now finds
It being accepted with less frequency .. . .
The hangers-on are still having a field day
around the White House.
Center of administration power has part
ly shifted from the White House to the sec
onnd floor of the Mayflower hotel, where
Bob Hannegan holds forth in democratic
headquarters .... Judge Welburn Mayock,
the committee's new general councel, uses
the office to lobby for California oil inter
ests .... George Kllliom, the new treas
urer of the national committee, who has been
using a meat-ax to collect money for the
committee from business men may find him
self chopped down soon .... One ardent
democratic supporter of many years' stand
ing hearing about Killiom's tactics, said,
"He'll collect so .much money we'll lose
In '48. Everyone he taps for $5,000 will feel
like contributing twice as much to the re
publicans to boot the Pauley crowd out."
Meanwhile little is happening to set the
stage for democratic victories in the con
gressional elections next year .... Hanne
gan is already in hot water with labor, par
ticularly the CIO, which he has been studi
ously ignoring. Labor leaders, who poured
out millions to help Roosevelt last year,
claims they can't even get a glass of water
from the democrats when it comes to buck
ing oppressive legislation in congress, and
are now making threats to move over to the
GOP camp.
Republicans: Harmonious
Farther up Connecticut avenue at repub
lican headquarters things arc harmonious
.... The republicans are sitting back, aro
quietly laying the groundwork for a high
powered congressional race next November
.... What they need most of all are some
issues .... GOP'sters, including Chairman
Herbert Brownell, are confident they'll find
plenty in a few months, are hoping that Tru
man stubs a few toes politically soon ....
Republican Chairman Brownell has a mil
lion dollars to spend on the elections, but
he's holding on to it, timing his shots so
they'll do the most good.
WE, THE WOMEN
Br RUTH MLLETT
A six-year-old girl entering into a grown
up discussion about jobs thoughtfully an
nounced: "Mother, I'm going to college and
make myself a school teacher. But you save
me a man to marry."
But unless we change things 'during the
next fifteen years that little girl may find
out the bitter truth that there are many
places in this country where a woman can't
be both a wife and a school teacher.
In many of the small towns and cities
where there has been a traditional ban
against hiring married teachers and a policy
of kicking women out of their jobs when
they are human enough to take unto them
selves husbands, boards of education have
had to wink at the ban during these war
years.
They have either had to do that or close
their schools, for so many of their footloose
single teachers were lured away from their
jobs by work that paid better, exacted Iqss
from their personal lives, and gave them
a better chance to hunt husbands.
But many of the school boards that are
letting married women teach, now that
they can't fill teacher vacancies with single
women, haven't voted to do away with the
old "no married women teachers" rule. That
is still on the books, and will be unless the
citizens of such communities get riled up
over the injustice and stupidity of that kind
of senseless discrimination.
Anybody would see exactly how ridicu
lous such bans against married women teach
ers really are if they had to explain to a
little girl that in some places she couldn't
be both a wife and a school teacher, but
would have to choose between the two.'
And they would undoubtedly find out how
such a rule cuts down on the quality of
teaching personnel if they cold hear a bright
little girl of even six saying emphalically:
"Then if I can't be both, I guess I'll just get
married."
Behind Scenes in Washington
Br PETER EDSON, La Grand Evening ObiarTar Washington Correspondent
WASHINGTON, July 11 Easiest way to
get a line on this new united nations organ
ization and charter which the U. S. senate
will be arguing about for the next few weeks
is to porsonulize it by seeing what Edward
Stettinlus's new job will be as head man
of the American delegation to UNO.
The Stcttinius appointment is still sub
ject to senate confirmation, so he isn't in
yet. But, he has been designated by Presi
dent Truman as U. S. representative on the
intrim organization which will function till
UNO gets going. After that, he has been
designated as U. S. representative on tho
top, 11-nation security council and as head
of the five-man delegation which will rep
resent this country in the 90-nation gen
eral assembly.
In all, there will probably be several hun
dred members of the U. S. delegation at
UNO headquarters if you count the depu
ties, alternates, technical experts, translat
ors, secretaries and military men. But there
will be about ten top jobs one membcf of
the security council, one or two members
of the council's military staff committee, of
generals and admirals, five members of the
general sembly. probably one member of
the economic and social council, on member
of the trusteeship council, oie member of
the international cutt t,f justice.
These top mm will probably have the
rank of ambassadors, or maybe Slottinius
will rank as an ambassador and the others
none of whom has yet been named will he
ministers There is no protocol to decide
what they will be railed -Mr. Aintassarinr.
Mi. Minintcr. Mi . Couni illrr, Mr. Assembly
man. Mi. Member or what. Their pay ha-,
not been determined, either. Ambassadors
now get J) 7,500 and ministers get $10,000
and $12,000 a year plus living allowances
ovei-s.'as.
Stettinius will officially be holding "two
of these jobs as member of the security coun
cil and head of the five-man delegation to
the general assembly, though he'll get only
one paycheck. . He U h.tvr plenty to do in
the council job alont. Provision is made in
the charter that he can turn his council seat
over to somebody else say the president or
the secretary of slat or some ambassador
or general or admiral whenever there is
a particular subject to be discussed on which
the other fellow is better qualified to speak.
This council of 11 members will be "the
most exclusive club in the world." Repre
sentatives of the Big Five; United States,
Great Britain, Soviet Russia, France and
China will sit in Jhe council as permanent
members, the othor six to be chosen by the
general assembly for two year terms with
out the right to succeed themselves. The
council will be organized to do business at
all times, moving its meeting place around
to wherever it has work to do and can do
the most good at its principal job, which is
to maintain world peace and security.
Just how much authority council member
Stcttinius will have in committing the Unit
ed States to decisions of the security coun
cil has not been determined and will bo
settled only when congress passes enabling
legislation, after the charter is ratified, au
thorizing the United States to participate in
UNO and providing money to pay the sal
aries, travel expenses, and bills for paper
clips, scratch pads and files.
It is likely that all U. S. representatives
to the united nations organization will be
given pretty broad powers, though there is
some cagey opposition to that. The idea
isn't as dangerous as it sounds at first, be
cause the trans-oceanic international tele
phone, radio communication and airplane
now seem here to slay, and it would be only
a matter of minutes or hours before any rep
resentative at UNO headquarters could find
out how the home government fell about
things and get his signals straight for the
next play in any international game. In
addition to which, any representative of any
country who tried to commit his govern
ment to a course of action which wouldn't
have support at home, would be a bigger
chump than has yet been born.
Some, of the issues whiolf CmSv.iller-As-strrblyn-an
Stc'timu r-.ey have to p,u on
w.ll be looked over in the next issue.
Icon. imviitmict.inc. T.n,ra.u,i.wT.pm
"Your dad spent his vacation listening to the radio now I have
to call him every day and tell him how Cowboy Zeke, Dr. Zump
and Nellie the nurse are getting alongl"
McKENNEY ON BRIDGE
By WM. E. McKENNEY, Amerlca'a Card Authority
BIDDING PLENTY HOT
IN FRONT-LINE GAME
I get many interesting letters
from our members throughout
the world. I just got one from
Lou Fagon. Ho could not tell me
where he was located, but he did
say that they had no duplicate
boards. Since the boys wanted
to play duplicate, they made
some out of corrugated paper.
Most of the boys had never play
ed duplicate before, and the me
chanics of the game got them a
little confused. He said he and
his partner certainly got mixed
up in the bidding of today's hand.
Of course, his bid of five hearts
was intended for blackwood, but
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12
small spade from dummy. The
drop of the singleton king al
lowed him to pick up the whole
spade suit, and he ran the dia
monds and discarded from dum
my until it was own to the sin
gleton king of hearts and the ace
and nine of clubs. In his own
hand he had the queen and three
of clubs and the deuce of dia
monds. When he led the last
diamond, West had to let go of
either the ace of hearts or the
jack of clubs.
o IN FORMER
YEARS
30 Years Ago
Mr. and Mrs. Norman Frees re
turned home during the week
from their wedding trip and are
at home for the present on First
street.
On July 8, Lynne Bohnenkamp,
son of Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Bohn
enkamp, and Miss Nellie Pickens
were married at the home of the
bride's parents, Mr. and Mrs. W.
B. Pickens. The ceremony was
performed at 6 a. m. by the Rev.
G. L. Clark of the First Presby
terian church
his partner forgot and, holding
four hearts to the king, he im
mediately bid six hearts. Now
Fagon went to six spades, only
to have his partner bid seven
hearts. Well, he did not want to
play a hand with a vacant suit,
so he bid seven spades and West
made the mistake of doubling.
The opening lead was won
with the ten of diamonds, and
Fagon was careful to play a
Questions & A nswers
Q How did President Truman
break precedent on his trip to the
Pacific northwest?
A His airplane flight was the
first ever made by a president
within the country.
15 Years Ago
Mrs. George Gekeler and son,
Mclvin, and daughter, Jean, ac
companied by Donald Spencer,
have returned from Walla Walla
where they spent the weekend.
Mr. and Mrs. C. W. Bingner are
on a several weeks trip to Alasko.
Miss Sadie Small and Miss
Ruth Johnson have returned from
a trip to Nampa.
Q What percentage of Amer
ican wounded in the European
theater of war was saved?
' A 96.1.
10 Years Ago
On the national holiday, mem
bers of the Gekeler family gath
ered at Pine Cone and spent the
day together. A picnic lunch was
enjoyed and then visiting and
swimming filled the rest of the
day. Attending the picnic were
Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Hughes, Mr.
and Mrs. W. A. McCall and Ar
thur, Mr. and Mrs. Ernest DcLong
and Alma, Mr. and Mrs, Vernon
DeLong and two children, Mr.
and Mrs. Ralph Robinson and
daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Arch Con
ley, Mrs. Jabe Conlcy, Mr. and
Mrs. Kenneth Brown and three
daughters, Mr. and Mrs. Roy
Spencer and Lec and Robert.
This Curious World
H' M A P ZERO OH A FAH(fENHEir THERMOMETER 1
.Vi i W I IT IS ALSO FORTY BELOW ON A
'Jf CENTIGRADE THERMOMETER.
e
COPR. IMS SY NU ftCRVICC INC.
WHEN ITJTUESD4V EAST OF THE
IIM I CX;NMMUN4L UAI t LINK, a
what day is irji;srEsroF it r
c p
BftSTfiRS LEAGUE BALL GAME,
BlN&HMTON BEATSCRANTON
II TO r, YET GOT ONLY
ANSWLK: Wednesday.
NEXT: Bfr on th winj.