Side Glances -
Washington Merry-Go-RouncI
EDITORIAL PAGE
Br DREW PEARSON
'
La Grande Evening Observer
Frank Schiro, Publisher
MONDAY KVKN!N(. AUGUST fi, 1915
1'uge Two
Kami-Krazi
"-'' C I'.l J ii' III ii i i . '
EVENING OBSERVER'S
PROGRESS PROGRAM
IRRIGATION Complete the Grande
Ronde Valley irrigation project.
LA GRANDE A city of 10,000
Extend the city limits.
"I
Same Old Aims, Not
The Same Old Plan
For more yours Hum the country
cures to remember the government has
been trying to hit upon an agricultural
program which will satisfy all concern
eel: the farmers by giving them ade
quate and equitable income without
regimentation; the rest of the public by
keeping the prices of farm products
within the reach of the consumer and
by not levying too much tax for the
aid of agriculture.
Comes now the new member of the
agriculture department's reorganization
committee, one VV. U. Ronald of South
Dakota, with a proposition which, in
the modest manner usually adopted by
the originators of such plans, is design
ed to add IT) Million dollars (maybe even
25 billions) to the national income. The
best part of the deal, however, (be sure
and get this) is that the thing could be
accomplished and still eliminate at least
half the agriculture department, and
thus reduce the tax bill by that amount.
Ronald calls the fanner a "poor rela
tion" because "he has not even received
the cost of production." To labor the
obvious, Konald says "give the farmer
a fair price and a large part of the de
partment of agriculture imiv be abolish
ed." Konald says he would replace the
AAA with a national conservation asso
ciation, to be entirely fanner adminis
tered and supported by assessments of
the membership. This, at least, is some
thing new. No one has ever before sug
gested it might be logical for the fann-
Funnij llusiness
er himself to run and support his own
agency; previously, it has been custom
ary to have a political appointee in the
high job in the farm program and to
support it out of general taxation.
What. Konald would have the farmer
do in the way of program is pretty
much what has been attempted with
varying degrees of success for the last
lfi or 20 years. His plan calls for con
servation payments, government com
modity loans and an acreage allotment
program.
One thing in his dream will not appeal
to a large number of rugged individual
ists and there seems to be no particular
reason why it ought to: lie would make (
membership compulsory after it hud'
been established and approved by 70
or 80 percent off the farmers. "Com
pulsory" never is a pretty word.
Further provisions of Ronald's plan
merit study, including the proposals to
finance the program by taxing the
farmer on his own produce. He would
get the lax back by complying with
conservation regulations. If he had a
penchant for conservation iand rated
more than 100 percent ho'd get back all
of his tax, with a bonus. Where the
bonus would come from, Konald didn't
say; probably from the usual source
of bonuses.
Other parts of the program include
the "ever normal granary" which
has been standard for years; the com
modity loan but made through pri
vate banks with government guaran
tee; ami the blended prices for export
able conmiodiies, to enable the farmer
to meet the world price a scheme
which needs looking into.
All in all. the plan seems to be a mix
ture of old and new; new methods of
putting into practice old ideas which
have proved more or less sound in the
past. One of the most, attractive fea
tures of the plan, of course, is the re
duction of the department. Here, in
deed, is something different, even revo-lutionarv.
"O.
a, y"
J ... Ii'. I. .Ill"
"Now do wo go homo, It's lull!"
o SO THEY SAY
Slap-dash legislation is a poor
way for congress to show its ap
planation of the veterans of this
war.
Houston, Texas, Press.
Uolh Britain and the United
States realize that in the ease of
Japan, as in the case of Germany,
half measures would be fatal.
London Times.
The Dutch are naturally demo
cratic. They have been so for cen
turies. That was one of the rea
sons they were ablo to become
so united in resistance tu the Ger
mans, who are naturally the op
positc.
Dr. E. E. Menton, chairman of
the Netherlands Foundation for
Recreation.
Th.- people of South America
O like the air age. It is biirB.ng
theni new high standards oi liv-
' O
-Mrs. l.vdia Van Zandt. Wash
'"titon, D, C.
o
WASHINGTON John. L, Sullivan has
gone about his new job of being assistant
secretary for naval aviation In a refreshing
manner. Even before he took the oath of
office, he went out on Adm, John McCain's
flagship during one of the biggest opera
tions against J a p a n, cruising within 17U
miles of the Jap coast.
Part of the time, Sullivan held no official
position (not yet having taken the oath), so
lolled around on the carrier's deck in a khaki
uniform with no. insignia, getting acquaint
ed with the men, He came back with a heart
ening conclusion.
"The chief American weapon of this war,"
he said, "is not any new invention, but the
ingenuity and courage and especially the
spirit of these kids. It's the most inspiring
things in the world, the way they operate
as inspiring as a religious service. They
Will be loafing on deck as if they hadn't a
care in the world.
"Then, suddenly, the planes start coming
in, and they are right on the job just as
efficient as clockwork. And if one group is
having trouble with its planes, you'll see
another crowd rush over to help them. There
never was a greater job of teamwork, in
genuity and especially spirit ever seen in
this country and that's true of all the navy."
Sullivan pointed out that out of 399 offi
cers aboard his carrier, only five were reg-.
ular naval officers. '
"That," he added, "is a tribute to what
youngsters can learn to do in an emergency."
In addition to the training of green offi
cers and men, Sullivan, emphasized that
every ship in admiral McCain's task forces
was almost new. "You look out over the
horizon," said the assistant secretary of the
navy, "and as far as the eye can see ships,
ships, and more ships, all their keels laid
since Pearl Harbor another great tribute to
American industry, labor and ingenuity."
Mrs, Truman Shadowed
When Mrs. Bess Truman and her daugh
ter, Margaret, first arrived at the White
House in Independence, Mo., close friends
of the Truman family found it almost im
possible to contact them except by mail.
Six secret service men who "lurked in
the White House bushes," as the town folks
put it, stopped anyone who attempted to
WE, THE WOMEN
By RUTH MILLETT
reach even the front porch of the Truman
home at 219 North "Delaware street. And
every time the first lady or her daughter
Margaret would drive to the town square
or appear on the streets, secret service men
shadowed them.
Folks in Independence didn't like this.
Resentment ran high. After all, commented
some of the citizenry, the days of Quantrill,
Cole and Bob Younger (Missouri bushwhack
ers who headquartered near Independence
and rode with the James gang) were over.
Independence wasn't like what it used to be.
Eventually the first lady learned about
this sentiment and it's almost a daily occur
ence now to see either Mrs. Truman or Mar
garet on the streets unescorted. Anyone who
cares to can stop and talk with them.
The secret service men. have been rele
gated to their Independence retreat the
garage behind the Truman home.
Naval Training
While most of the navy's operations have
shifted to the Pacific, one of its most im
portant though unheralded jobs is still being
performed along the Atlantic coast the
training of pilots and carrier personnel.
Seventy percent of all carrier personnel in
the Pacific have been trained under "fleet
air quonset," the Massachusetts headquar
ters for training on the Atlantic coast.
Murky weather frequently existing along
the Atlantic coast is more similar to the
rainy monsson weather around Tokyo, and
carrier personnel have to operate in bad
weather as well as good.
Chiefly responsible for the A-l job of car
rier personnel training are Commodore Gor
don Rowe and Vice Admiral Patrick Bellin
ger. They are now working to streamline the
use of planes for training purposes, in order
to keep as many planes as possible working
every minute.
The public didn't know about it at the
time, but last fall a typhoon caused U. 3.
carriers to lose a disastrous number of
planes, many of them swept off carrier
decks.
Results was that pianes used for training
had to be rushed from the Atlantic to the
Pacific. Despite this, however, the intensive
training program continued at top speed.
A Wisconsin farmer has advertised for a
wife who is willing to be a mother to his
five-year-old son. He can't understand why
he hasn't found a satisfactory answer to his
ad since he has heard that there are "2,300,
U0U women between the ages of 20 and 34
without a Chinaman's chance of marrying."
Well, maybe here's the answer:
The Wisconsin farmer's advertisement
would naturally be regarded as another "help
wanted," item since he stressed the fact that
the woman he was looking for would need
to be a successful farm wife, would have
to understand children, be industrious, etc.
Women have. been besieged by "help wan'
ed" ads since the start of the war and they
have been promised a lot. Such things, for
instance, as a five-day week, time and a
half for overtime, a well-cooked lunch at
cost, ideal working conditions, chance for
advancement, and so on.
The farmer asks that his applicants be un
der 42 years of age, of good habits, even
temper, intelligent, with an open mind, an
understanding heart, etc.
But he doesn't promise much except him
self. He rates himself as being healthy, hav
ing regular habits and average good looks.
Men who want wives have a lot of com
petition in these. Himc's when women "can
just about dictate their working conditions
and pick their jobs. And there is the im
pression among the womenfolks that farm
life isn't the easiest life in the world for a
woman. They know that the average farm
er, who has fancy equipment for the fields,
doesn't always have it in the kitchen.
So if the farmer really wants a wife, may
be he had better figure out some induce
ments that would make the job of farm wife
look as good as the jobs the city oflers.
Behind Scenes in Washington
By PETER EDSON, La Grand Evening Obierrer Washington Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 In these uncer
tain times of reconversion it behooves re
sponsible public officials in charge of this
shift from war to peace to know what they're
talking about or else hush up. Two recent
incidents illustrate the point.
A recent charge that the army was tak
ing railroad battalions and converting them
into combat artillery seemed worth check
ing. The charge was made by Col. P. Mon
roe Johnson, director of ths office of de
fense transportation. Its apparent purpose
was to show that the war department was
resisting the efforts to get experienced rail
road operations men discharged from the
armed services. The conclusion drawn was
that the army was thus contributing to the
present U. S. transportation crisis.
Inwstigation reveals Colonel Johnson's
charge is the truth, but not the whole truth
by a long shot. The unit referred (o consists
of 115 men. They were members of the two
railway operating battalions involved in the
Paris black market scandals last winter.
They stole army gasoline and sold it to
Frenchmen for $7 a gallon, cigarets for $10
a carton, chocolate bars at $1 each. One hun
dred and fifty men were caught, courtmar
tinlcd and convicted. Thirty-five got 20 to 50
year sentences.
The other 115 men were given a chance to
clear their records by service in combat. All
accepted and further agreed to forfeit then
pay till value of stolen goods was made
good. They were put in an artillery unit
for combat training. Then the war ended
in Europe and the unit which had seen no
action was assigned to the Pacific to give
the men a chance to win honorable dis
charges. General Eisenhower made this decision
and its wisdom is hardly open to question.
While the war department comes up with
a clean nose in this first instance, the rec
M'd isn't so good in the second case, which
is this: principal reason given by war de
partment spokesmen for unwillingness to
discharge skilled workmen like lumberjacks,
i;0il miners or railroad workers who may
have jobs waiting (or them v4.4h.at the British
tried this system after the last war and the
tumps mutinied.
Investigation shows this argument is no
good for two reasons. First because the Brit
ish demobilization riots after the last war
had nothing to do with the system of dis
charge by jobs classification. Second because
the British now have another system of dis
charging men of certain skilled trades, and
its working.
The British army today grants discharges
on two bases. Class A discharges to the old
er men with longest combat service. It is
similar to the U. S. system of discharge on
points. Then the British have class B dis
charges for skilled laborers whose services
are needed at home. By the end of 1945 the
British hope to have 750,000 class A and
75,000 class B men discharged. In other
words, one out of every 11 British soldiers
gets an occupational discharge. The skilled
laborers getting these preferential discharges
are largely building and construction work
ers who can be put to work immediately in
relieving Britain's admittedly huge war
damage and rehousing problem.
The British experience and example would
therefore seem to indicate that a system of
limited occupational discharges will work.
After a week's wrangling among U. S. gov
ernment manpower authorities in Washing
ton, the war department now seems to have
come around to this way of thinking. This
is indicated by the announcement that some
1,300 high point ex-railroad workers are to
be given expedited discharges which will re
lease them for civilian railway service by
Aug. 10, while another 2,000 will be released
by October.
The railroad discharges set no precedent
for the army's granting occupational dis
charges to high point coal miners or lumber
men who are also badly needed in U. S. in
dustiy. But it is recognition that this kind
of manpower problem can be worked out
to keep everybody armed services, war
agencies and private industry reasonably
happy.
And it should demonstrate that the spread
ing on misleading information about t h e
background of these issues is bad business.
It m a form of rumor mongering (hat signi
fies the existence of a home front industrial
fifth 'column. Tliete will be trouble enough
in this pc.rixxl of readjustment from produc
tion (or war to production for peace. Creat
ion mistrust will only make it worse.
7
COWt 1W IY UtA MBVrCj, IWft J. M. IHO. U- f MT. Off.
"Now here's a lovely one this is really super-sloppy!"
O McKENNEY ON BRIDGE
By WILLIAM E. McKENNEY America's Card Aulhorily
BIDDING, PLAYING
EQUALLY IMPORTANT
Every day someone is sure to
ask, "Which is more important,
the bidding or the play?" Both
play an equally important part
in your game. You cannot get
very far in contract bridge if you
do not get into the right contract;
when you do, you must be able
to play the cards well in order to
make a large percentage of your
contracts.
It was surprising to note in a
recent duplicate match that to
day's hand was played by every
pair except one at six hearts.
Only one pair played it at six
spades, which West doubled. Of
course there was not much to the
play of the hand. Declarer won
the opening lead and then led the
queen of trumps. West covered
P BARBS
This is August, hottest month
of the year, when the ladies try
on their new winter furs.
and dummy won, and the king of
hearts was cashed. A small heart
was led and East put up his best
defense by ruffing with the nine-
K73
VQJ 10
K J 104
K 10 7
A A 10 6 5
VK987532
6
A
W E
s
Dealer
93
A872
J9432
4QJ84
A
Q953
Q865
Duplicate Both vul. "
South West North East
Pass Pass I V Pass
1 A Pass 3 Pass
3 N. T. Pass 4 N. T Pass
5 Pass S Pass
6 4t Double Pass Pass
Opening Q. '
Boys will be taught homemak
ing in St. Louis schools. Darn
those socks!
A Cleveland landlord, gives a
war bond to every baby born in
one of his apartments. Nice little
bundles, eh?
An intensive campaign against
rats is scheduled for fall. Things
are tough all over for that family.
People w h 0 go over Niagara
Falls in barrels may be only train
ing ftr rides in day coaches.
Belgian government voted
against return of the king. Leo
pold seems to agree the trip isn't
necessary.
spot; but South over-ruffed with
the jack. The trumps were pick
ed up and declarer conceded a
diamond.
P IN FORMER
YEARS
Thirty Years Ago
Work has commenced on the
new Methodist parsonage. It will
. be a six-room bungalow, with a
large porch and wilt face, on
Spiing street.
A new and natty line of Tarn
O'Shanters has just been received
at the Golden Rule store.
Members of the Neighborhood
club have petitioned the city
commission to provide a separate
ward for women prisoners in the
city jail. Some action to this
end will likely be taken at the
first opportunity.
If you aaauire a bald head, keep
it under your hat.
Regarding (he high pirice of
suspenders, all we have to say is
that it's a holdup.
Fifteen Years Ago
The Cemetery Memorial works
has just recently moved into its
new home at 2213 Adams avenue.
. With the summer well under
way, the Union county market
road program is also making con
siderable progress.
Single girls aren't the only ones
who are looking for a husband.
Loose conduct often gets you
into tight places.
Never strike a woman while
the iron is hot.
Ten Years Ago
Safeway store managers and
employers and their families en
enjoyed their annual picnic at
Pine Cone yesterday.
Union Pacific and Greenwood
kitten ball teams were dead
locked today for the leadership
of division A in the city league
play-off schedule.
This Curious World
7 rx
if 1 11 -J
WILL NOT ONLV SHARE ITS NEST
HOLE WITH OTHERS OF ITS KIND,
BUT WITH A FAMILY OFtC.
COPR. IMS BY NtA SERVICE. INC.
y3
WERE A SISN OF BEAUTY AVtONS
EARLY MAYAN INDIANS, AND
MOTHERS TRAINED THE EYES
OF THEIR CHILDREN TO AJSjME
A PERAVANENTCRCSS.
T. M. ta. V. I. MT. Off. 07
WHERE'S gLAA-Eg P"
ANSWER: Iceland.
NEXT: Do orchids grow wild in. the United States?
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