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EDITORIAL PAGE
Side Glances
La Grande Evening Observer
Frank Schiro, Publisher
MpN()AY HVKMNI.'. JULY Hi, IHl't
I'age Two
Might fie a Good Trade to Learn
rLzr. J ur w n Ct aa"st
Vfoi'-'A nrrXECWWvE lr HON. rSSvl
') jk woulp Teach iV"; ' W "
' This lowly peon LtiFJ$&
EVENING OBSERVER'S
PROGRESS PROGRAM
IRRIGATION Complete the Grande
Ronde Valley Irrigation project.
LA GRANDE A city of 10.000
Extend the city limits. '
THOUGHT VOn TODAY
The .soul would have no rninhow h'l
the eves no tears. John Vance Cheney.
Compulsory Training Poll
The suKK'estion of Hops.' Lawrence II.
Smith of Wisconsin alul V. Taylor
of New York that a nation-wide poll bu
conducted on compulsory peacetime
military training in the United States
is likely to appeal strongly to many of
the citizenship of this nation. . .
Certainly this proposed legislation
has heen among the most controversial
that has heen considered in congress in
a long time. Opponents and champions
of compulsory training include, leaders
of outstanding distinction. As groups,
there is nothing to choose between them
insofar as sincere patriotism is con
cerned. Thu record of one group in its
proved devotion to country, taken as a
whole, is about as good as that of the
other.
Fundamentally, the only difference
between them is that they disagree as
widely as the poles on whether the
future security of the United States
demands compulsory training. And it
is not possible for anyone to say with
any assurance which group may lie
speaking for the majority .sentiment in
this country.
In view of that uncertainly, what
could lie more democrat it in this Anieri
rnn democracy than to put the question
Funnii II u sin ess
to a vole of the people? Assuredly it
is a proposition of vital and direct per
sonal concern to practically every fam
ily and every individual in the nation.
No family and no taxpayer would es
cape the effects of a compulsory mili
tary training law.
So, w'hy not let the people express
their attitude through the ballot box?
If the majority favors compulsory train
ing, then congress would have no reason
to hesitate in the enactment of the
necessary legislation. If the majority
vote should be opposed to such training,
then that view should prevail. The min
ority might still disagree with the
majority opinion. But minorities in the
United States, taken as a whole, accept
the principle of majority rule. .
It is . true, of course, that congress
might consider the calling of such an
election an objectionable precedent.
Members may argue that, if a poll is
taken on compulsory training, citizens
will expect a similar lest of opinion on
counlroversial legislation in the future.
And, unquestionably, that might hap
pen. Put, what of it? What could be
wrong with giving the American peo
ple opportunity to express their atti
tude toward any proposed legislation of
vital concern to them?
N't) one can tell with certainly as yet
what- may become of the proposal by
Congressmen Smith and Taylor. Prob
abilities doubtless are very much
against the poll they suggest.
Hut the fact still will remain that, if
congress really wants to know how the
American people feel about compulsory
training, no better way can be found
than to give them opportunity to ex
press their opinion.
" 1 ' ' ' TWO-BIT2A .
v C 'V"A&t- VOO TUTORS WfilMOWT I I
HVV' -''V'i'; souw w row i. i
SO THEY SAY
The quest inn now is not how
lone, ran China stand the strain
it is how nuieh can Japan take
ami how soon will she collapse.
Dr. Wei Tao Mine. Chinese am
bassador to the U. S.
We should never forgot the
mass slaughter of Nankins! and
other eities. and the bestial bomb
inu of Chungking . . . wo should
follow the trail marked by the
blood of the fallen, and rise to
Kess home mighty blows and
hash n the enemy's doom.
Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek.
That's r.c.t my racket.
Frank Sinatra to I'ope Pius
when latter suggested Tho Voice
take up opera.
"And now tell me how much canning sugar I'll gotl"
The people of Yugoslavia are
doing their level btfst to get back
on their feet, but the road to eco
nomic reooery will be long and
hard, and thrv will ntvd help.
Richard C. Patterson, jr.. V. S.
ambassador to Yugoslavia.
Washington Merry-GorRound
By PREW PEARSON
WASHINGTON Harry 'Truman, ' farmer
boy and haberdashery salesman from Inde
, pendence, Mo.J this week sits down to nego
tiate with a member of the British aristocra
cy whose ancestor was the Puke of Marl
borough, and with the steely-eyed product
of the Georgian mountains whose offspring
are us tough as the granite hills which tow
er above them.
It will be President Truman's greatest test.
In addition to sitting down between two
men of opposite temperaments and back
ground who don't particularly like each
other, Truman will find himself embroiled
in, the clash of two great empires.
One of the men the revolutionary rep
resents a country with the world's greatest
land muss which has been straining at tlw
leush to get a warm-water seaport for a
hundred yers. His predecessors,, the czars,
built the trans-Siberian railroad to Vladivos-'
tok in order to reuch out to the Pacific. They
sczed Mnchuria to get ports which were not
ice-bounr in the winter, only to find Japan
blocking their way.
They started down ttirough Iran to the
gulf of Pcrsia'and the Indian ocean, but a
British sphere of influence was in their path.
The other man the aristocrat helped
send allied troops into Archangel and Siberia
after the lust war to encourage' the white
Russian generals to overthrow Stalin's new
Bolshevik regime. His friends in the Brit
ish cabinet also carved out Latvia, Lithu
ania, and Estonia from the old Russian em
pire. The British ristocrat's friends and prede
cessors also helped write the Anglo-Japanese
alliance, aimed at boxing Russia from tho
Pacific. They followed a policy of making -the
Mediterranean a British lake, of con
trolling both its ends, with strategic bases In
the middle.
Stalin's Demands
But now the man who sits down on the
other side of Truman wants Russia to have a
voice in the control of Tangier, the African
port just opposite Britain's famous base of
Gibraltar. Whoever controls Tangier can
partly neutralize Gibraltar.
This man on the other side of Truman also
wants Russia to have a representative sit
ting on the board which controls Suez, jugu
lar vein of the British empire. And finally
he wants Russian dominance of the Dardan
elles, the narrow passageway by which Rus-
from the Black sea.
Truman In Middle
Truman, the man who sits in the middle,
is no revolutionary. Neither is he an aristo
cratic stand-patter. He is a common-sense,
middle-of-the-road man, who believes in
changes when the majority of the people
favor change. He doesn't speak with tho
same broad "A" of Winston Churchill ami
Franklin Roosevelt, and he does not have
the same knowledge or background of Euro
pean affairs. '
There's nothing wrong with Truman's bas
ic ideas. The big question is whether in sit
ting down with two old hands skilled at
playing international poker of the most ruth
less sort, Harry will have the finesse and
background.
One thing lie may have to watch is his
temper. His is a little short. So is Justice
Byrnes'. Both are quick on the trigger, shoot
fast, and straight from the hip. In interna
tional discussions where big things are at
stake, this tendency can break up a poker
game.
Here are the main points on the agenda
which the big three wil Italk about.
1. Agreement for an early peace confer
ence for Europe.
2. The war with Japan.
3. The Dardanelles; whether Russia will
finally realize her century-old ambition to
control this vital waterway.
4. A permanent site for tho new united
nations organization.
5. Recognition of the leftist-controlled
governments of Finland, Rumania, Bulgaria
and Hungary. (Great Britain and the United
Sttes so fur have refused recognition,)
6. Bringing Italy Into the united nations,
and finally settling Italian peace terms.
T. Guaranteeing free elections in various
controversial parts of Europe, including Po
land, where th U. S. is watching Russia, and
Greece, where Russia is watching the Brit
ish. 8. Feeding Europe next winter.
9. Regional treaties, such as the Anglo
French treaty and Soviet-Czech-Polish trea
ty; how are they to fit into the united na
tions security plan.
10. World aviation bases and routes; many
of these problems still remain left over from
the Chicago air conference.
11. Organizing a world police force to be
used by the United nations to keep the peace.
WE, THE WOMEN
Br RUTH MILLETT
Without any speech-making the American
wife of the soldier who fathered an English
girl's quadruplets has made a stand against
the "boys will be boys and you mustn't ex
pect a husband to be faithful in wartime"
attitude that is being too generally accepted
today.
She has stood her ground, refusing to give
her husband a divorce. And she has main
tained her dignity by refusing to try to com
pete with the other woman for her hus
band's affection.
Wives have been sold a bill of goods dur
ing this war. On the one hand, they have
been told that the wife who hus an affair
with another man while her husband is over
seas is a complete no-good.
In England the other day a soldier, ac
cused of strangling his wife when he return
ed to find her bearing another man's child,
was acquitted of a murder charge. Said the
court: "The provocation was such that an
ordinary, frail man might have done what
he did. While her husband, a very excellent
man, was overseas fighting, she was con
sorting with other men." '
That is one side of the picture that' wives
are shown. The other side is that the war
weary soldier is entitled to love wherever
he can find it, and that wives mustn't get
upset over that.
So it is heartening to find a woman who
hasn't been taken in by any such one-sided
set of wartime morals; one who stands up
for the belief that separation brought on by
war doesn't give a man the right to be un
faithful to the wife who is waiting for him,
and that "the other woman" has no real
claim on a husband.
Marriage hasn't been helped or dignified
any by the too common acceptance ',hat in
war time only the wife is expected to be
faithful. And women are the ones to make
it clear that such marriages aren't good
enough for them, and that they expect faith
fulness even when it isn't easy.
Behind Scenes in Washington
By PETER EDSON. La Grande Evening Observer Washington Correspondent
WASHINGTON Cutting off Pullman
service for rides of less than 450 miles is just
the first bite, says J. Monroe Johnson, of
fice of defense transportation director.
Next bite will be to cut Pullmans oft runs
of say 750, 900, or 1,000 miles or under. Next
bite will be a straight percentage cut of all
remaining sleeping car service. Maybe both
those bits will be taken at once. Should
these cuts still not provide enough sleeping
cars for the movement of troops, then get
ready for travel rationing of some kind, pos
sibly a system of priorities such as is used
by the airlines.
If travel rationing comes, it will probably
be before the Christmas holidays rush. If
the railroads can just manage to squeeze
through the holidays with their peak travel
loads, there may not have to be travel ra
tionings. As far as holiday travel rush is concerned,
says Col. Johnson, paraphrasing the once
popular song, this is "Where Every Day's a
Holiday," only instead of the next line be
ing "and skies are always blue," it's "rush,
multiplied by two."
Uest guess is that U. S. rail travel may be
tight for anothei two years. Only escape is
for the war against Japan to end in less than
a year. What most people don't realize about
this crisis is that it takes seven long train
rules to get a soldier re-deployed from Eur
ope to the Pacific. He lands at an Atlantic
port. First ride is to the staging area, prior
to furlough. Then ride home. Back to as
sembly center a month later; move to base
camp, to training area, to staging area, to
port of embarkation. Peak of all this travel
wil: come in Fcbrtiaty and- March. Moves
om and two will end in April; three and
four should be compWd by June 1. The
others will go on for .mother three months.
What is happening is that all the troop;
:hat were moved to K..:ojv in the 40 months
after Pearl Harbor, arc b0;ng brought back
home and moved to the Pueific in 10 months.
ind, this involves moving all these troops aM
the way across the continent west-bound in
stead of just part way across the continent
as they were when east-bound.
This puts a burden on the seven western
trunk line railroads which they are not able
to bear. While the excess in both was sup
plies and troops might move through gulf
purts and the Panama canal, this is too slow.
An estimated 15 percent of the Pacifc war
traffic will move over this southern route,
but even so, it won't relieve the pressure on
the continental rail lines.
Add to this burden a further ball-up. Orig
inally it had been planned to string this re
deployment over 18 months. Some place
along the line, the army decided this time
should be cut practically in half. So, instead
of handling the scheduled 150,000 troops in
June, 205.000 were unloaded at Atlantic
ports. That was when ODT had to get tough.
In July, the same kind of jump is being
made. Instead of a mere 250,000 troops to
bo returned from Europe, the number will
be over 350,000. The only way to handle
this increased burden is take more pullmans
away from their regular runs.
The real cause for sorrow in this predica
ment is what to do about the absolutely es
sen'ia! civilian travel. If business men can't
mine freely, tho war effort, the government
and the whole civilian economy will suffer.
I3ut how to give them travel priorities and
keep unessential travelers off the railroads
is the great unanswerable. It's no job for
CPA, which has enough things to worry
about. Travel rationing is the problem of
the railroads and the ODT. Railway ticket
ag.'nts rtow unofficially give preference to
busmejs men wanting preferenc and are get
ting by. But barely.
Odt's Col. JohnsiVi makes these statements
not with any idea of throwing a scare, but
simply to state the facts in another effort to
make people stay home. Or stay off the
r..;lroads, at least. As far as the railroads
ire concerned, the war is just beginning.
CQffl. IMS HV HIA 6f BVICC. IMC. T. M. BEO. U. 6. PAT. Off. ' ' '
"Are you pre-Pearl Harbor?"
O McKENNEY ON BRIDGE
Br TO E. McKENNEY. America's Cu4 Authority
REFUSING TO TRUMP
OFTEN BREAKS BID
The team-of-four event at the
Detroit tournament was won by
a Chicago team consisting of Al
Weiss, who recently lost the
world championship masters' in
dividual by one-half match point.
He was playing with his favorite
partner, Arthur Glatt. Their
teammates were Jules Bank and
Maynard Adams.
The runners-up in this event
983 "
8 5 4 3
Weiss .
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South West North East
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17
were from four different cities:
Peter Leventritt of New York,
Joe Cain of Indianapolis, Ralph
Kempner of Chicago and Harry
Fineberg of Cleveland. Here's an
interesting hand that helped
Weiss and Glatt win the cham
pionship: Questions & A nswers
Q What does the expression,
"Old Lady of Thrqadneedle
Street" refer to?
A The Bank of England.
South returned the ace of clubs
after winning the first trick, even
though there had been only one
in dummy. Weiss, however,
wisely refused to trump! but in
stead discarded a low diamond,
and South now led a diamond.
As it happened, the queen could
have won, but that was no par!
of the planned play. The ace
won, and three round of trumps
were played. Then the ace and
king of spades were cashed, dummy-entered
with the seven of
trumps, and the losing diamonds
were discarded on the spades in
dummy.
o IN FORMER
YEARS
30 Years Ago
Mr. and Mrs. L. Knapper and
party of Joseph and Mr. and Mrs.
L. Caviness of Joseph returned)
to their homes after spending a
few days here and taking in the
Liberty Bell celebration and th
Cove cherry fair.
The new rim to the city reser
voir has been tested out, a brim
full supply having been allowed
to run into it. It will be emptied
again and some further repairs
done in spots.
Q How much did the steel in
dustry spend for war expansion,
and what is it expected to spend
for reconversion?
A Magazine Steel Facts esti
mates $218,000,000 annually for
war, and $200,000,000 for reconversion.
Q How much milkweed floss
was collected last year in the gov
ernment's campaign to gather it
for use as a substitute for kapok
in life preservers?
A Children and high school
students gathered 1,700,000
pounds, enough so that program
is abandoned for 1946.
IS Years Ago
Comparing the divorce and
marriage totals for the first six
months of the year 1929 and 1930,
the latter year shows a decrease
of eight in marriages and two in
divorces. From January to June
1929, a total of 73 couples secured
licenses to enter matrimony; in
the same period this year, 65 ap
plied for the licenses. Fifteen
divorces were granted the first
quarter of 1929 and 'only 10 in
the second quarter, making not
much lass but a decrease never
theless. 10 Years Ago
A hot weather record was es
tablished in La Grande the 14th,
the highest since the recording
of weather was started back in
1886, with the mercury at 108. A
heat wave was experienced
throughout the northwest.
A thick bank of clouds in the
south covered the first two stages
of the moon eclipse here last
night, but La Granders were able
to see the spectacle shortly after
the earth's shadow started leav
ing the fact of the moon.
This Curious World
I THE UNITED STATES NAVV BUILT : C
FIVE ROBOT PLANE BOMBS
vss.' -z
THEYBORE LITUe" RESEMBLNCE-TOrHE7
' SSV-I r ) ABOVE BUZZBOMB OF THIS WAR, HOWtVER, (
' AND WERE NEVER USED BECAUSE OF THEIR.
COM. IMS ."" 5E"VICt-
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ma 4rt v '
9 BUAMOMa
1
SETS 113 NAME FROM THE 6REEK
NAME "'AGAAACAS," WHICH MEAN)
UNCONOUERASLE.
7 )7 T. M KO. U. S. MT Of f-
ANSWER: On Boothia Peninsula, in northern Canada
NEXT: A rojbin that stopped the army.