I EDITORIAL PAGE
La Grande Evening Observer
Frank Schiro, Publisher
MONDAY EVENING. AUGUST 13, 1945 , 1'uge
'Thanks, but What More Could You Offer Me?'
tomb
I. ' vr-'.V'f'ii
warn
EVENING OBSERVER'S
PROGRESS PROGRAM
IRRIGATION Complete the Grande
Runde Valley irrigation project.
LA. GRANDE A city of 10,000
Extend the city limits.
TODAY'S TEXT
Ho will keep the fuet of his saints,
mid Hit; wicked shall be silent in (holi
ness; for by strength shall no man pre
vail. Samuel 2:9.
How Well Will U Work?
It may have sei'mcd odd to many
Americans thai, the new British rov
ornmont's proposed domestic reforms
were announced by a man who is not
even an official member of that gov
ernment. I ii t as chairman of the Labor l'ai ty's
national executive committee, Prof.
Harold I.aslu'.s importance exceeds that
of the national committee chairmen of
American political parties. .He is not
merely a boss of political campaigns.
He is one of the new yDVernment's
loading philosophers.
Hence, when he outlined the plan to
nationalize successively I h e lhitiU of
KhhIuikI, the coal mines, inland trans
portation and the iron and steel indus
tries, one could be certain that he has
had a major part in planning that pro
gram, and that his counsel will be
sought in carrying it out.
Hut Professor l.aski is still not in
the government. It will be up to the
Members of that government to answer
Funny Husiness
: VOURS OF THE '
fik Jv;";'. " ;; J isTi-i received MALT! I
' CONTENTS NOTED halt! ) i -.-. .':
I V filled WALT
"I think it's going to take the farmer Mrgcent k few
' , back in the groovel" "
Two
to the British people for the work abil
ity of their new program. They must
prove not only that they are "prepared
to give the little man . . . all the pro
gressive chance that he requires." They
must also prove that political monopoly
ia better than private monopoly, and
that public enterprise is more just,
profitable and productive than private
enterprise.
And it will be up to the new govern
ment to take responsibility for the tim
ing and extent of the reforms. Howev
er desirable these reforms may be
and the majority of Britons obviously
want them they must be done right.
Like it or not, the source of much
prewar British wealth and many pre
war Brit ish jobs lay overseas. T h a t
source has been dried up and replaced
by overseas debts greater than the orig
inal investments. As a result, the island
heart and nerve center of the British
Kmpiro is in a precarious financil po
sition. Added problems, (if course, are the
widespread destruction of industrial
and business installations and private
dwellings, burdensome taxes and. not
least, an unfinished war. These must
be wrestled with and solved without
undue experimentation or intemperate
public spending.
The new Labor government has a
great opportunity as well as a discour
agingly difficult task. But its j;rcat
challenge is the same one that the con
servatives would have faced: not how
good is your philosophy, but how well
will it work?
SO THEY SAY
The .l.in.iru'sc uiirUmls meant
il when they siiiil tliey were will
uu; In Uiihl 1(10 year war if
iiivess.ii y. They figured that we
ut'uM it I sn sit-k of fighting that
we would iipiv t,t a negotiate!
I .SUV.
- Vice Adml. Man- A. Mitscher.
Tin- t'nil-.-d S'atrs must never
again repeat the mistake of
tliuuvinc awa its weapons while
the world hiislles with threats
et war.
- - .!.u-ken. Miss.. News.
'1' h e Siipit-n-.i' Court ilv'Olsion
whuh freeil them (tiermau
Ann : u-aii Hiindist.st from a mote
m'imu (luiice tloes not provide
Ko.ul rc.uon for rcstorauon ef cit
i.vnsiiip to seen who have shown
they i.re net Americans at heatt.
I'eit lluioti, M'ti-hf. Times-
11. -i.il.l
Cur em-mi nt e( the new.) that
Hi! -lien. KM-.ott Heesevell want
ed out ? the A'iniv can be con
fined 1. t-A. uord-:'Vholoi'Ml'l?
Sahna. Kan., Journal.
duyi to, yol
Washington Merry-Go-Round
By DREW PEARSON
WASHINGTON President T r u m a n's
friendB in Kansas City are hoping he gets all
his work done before he comes out to Mis
souri again because if he tries to work in his
Kansas City office, it yill be hot.
Truman's two-room suite on the sixth floor
of the federal building in Kansas City hap
pens to be one of two offices which can't be
air-conditioned. The building's air condi
tioning system can't be hooked up to these
two offices.
However, one other office attachment,
hitherto lacking, has now been remedied
a telephone. Throughout all his career as
a senator, frugal Harry Truman never had a
telephone in his office in the federal build
ing. Instead, he stepped next door and used
the phone of U. S. District Judge John Cas
kie Collet.
Although nothing can -be done about the
air-cooling, a telephone has now been in
stalled in the Kansas office of thopresident
of the United States.
Army. Hoards G.I.i
Some of the reasons behind the war de- I
parlmenl's insistence, on keeping a tremen
dous two-front army to fight a one-front
war, also behind the sudden scramble for
conscription, have becomp clearer since Pots
dam. Brass-hat insistence on keeping veterans
busy picking up cigarette butts when they
have ample points to obtain discharge, has
been puzzling members of congress. Also
it's not generally realized that the army and
navy together plan to reduce their size by
only 10 per cent during the coining year,
despite the new atomic bomb, despite Ger
many's collapse, and despite the fact that it
is a physical impossibility to transport such
a large army to the Pacific.
The June strength of the army, immedi
ately after V-E day, was 8,.'i00,0urmen. Be
tween June 1!145 and June l'Mli, the army
brass hats plan to discharge approximately
1,300,000 men. But, meanwhile, General
Hershey has announced the army plans to
continue drafting men at the rate of 100,000
a month, which, in 12 months, means an
additional 1,200,000 men.
This is something the army has not ex
plained. For, unless this policy is changed,
the army by next June will be about the
same size it is today.
All this is why senators and congtessmen
have been- blowing off steam in recent
weeks. Even staunch Democrats are begin
ning to admit privately perhaps Governor
Dewey's campaign charges about keeping
men in the army after the war were right.
U. S. Army in Germany
Meanwhile, one secret commitment made
by President Roosevelt at Yalta has now
WE, THE WOMEN
By RUTH MILLETT
"Too much petticoat rule," said a proba
tion officer who was diagnosing what was
wrong with a 15-year-old who had gotten
into some minor scrapes.
That may be good diagnosis but what is
the cure in these times when kids have to
' grow up entirely under "petticoat rule?"
The majority of women who must bring
up their children without a father's help
try to do a good job. But a mother isn't
naturally equipped to be both a mother and
a father.
For the most part, nobody has given war
wives help in bringing up their kids. The
men left in a community could have organ
ized to help war wives with the problem
of bringing up their sons but they haven't.
It has been left entirely up to the women,
and the average kid with a father overseas
doesn't come under the influence of men at
all. At home there is just a mother, and at
Behind Scenes in Washington
By PETER EDSON. La Grande Evening Observer Washington Correspondent
By DOUGLAS LARSEN
WASHINGTON. Aug. Hi One of the first
man-on-the-streel reactions to Russia's dec
laration of war on Japan was "Yes, as soon
as we've got the Japs licked with our atom
bomb they decide to get in on the kill."
Stories that the Russians knew nothing of
the atomic bomb strengthened this idea. But,
regardless of whether the Reds were in on
the bomb secret, their declaration of war on
Japan is the climax of a plan carefully
worked out by the Big Three since the de
feat of Germany, maybe longer. It com
bined to deal one of the most crushing one
two punches in the history of modern war
faro. When it was decided Russia would fight
Japan, U. S. officials agreed the Reds would
need more fighting eiuipment; deploying it
over the vast rugger teaches of Russia from
the distant western fumt for use against the
Japs would be a toug:i job. The quickest way
would ho to ship it from the west coast of
America directly across. This had its many
complications too. but here's how it was ac
complished. For months almost all available Russian
ships have been arriving at Seattle and oth
er coast ports. They've been loaded with all
kinds of war material and then sailed in al
most a straight line 4.200 miles to Vladivostok.-
This port is the best place to unload
for strategic distubution to equip and pie
p.e.e Russian troops for the job ahead. The
route the ships took is the amazing part ef
t i whole plan; they boldly sailed between
Hokkaido upper island of the, Jap home
Coup, and Haiafuto. winch is the Jap con
.lolled half of the S.ihkalin island; t!w.'.
practically through the heart of Japan. Com
ing from between these islands, they entered
leaked out. This is one reason why the war
department is so anxious to rush a peace
time conscription act through congress even
before the war is over.
At Yalta, Roosevelt gave a promise that
the United States would keep an army of
500,000 men in Germany for four to five
years. Half a million men is a tremendous
force to keep overseas in peacetime, espe
cially when the executive power to. main
tain such an army automatically ends short
ly after hostilities cease.
The selective service act expires May 15,
1046. That act permits the president to de
ploy troops overseas without congressional
authority until six months after the war.
The first war powers act also expires six
months after hostilities. So unless a con
scription act is passed, or some new power
given the White House, an American army
of occupation in Germany would be illegal.
President Truman, however, is known to
have a lot of new ideas on this subject. At
Potsdam, he arranged for the withdrawal of
most of the American army from Italy. He
also proposed that all allied troops get out
of the occupied countries as soon as possi
ble with the exception of Germany.
This is one of the most important prob
lems now facing Truman. Those who know
him well think he will be against manpower
hoarding by the brass hats and will favor
the national guard-ROTC system of mili
tary training.
Under the Dome
Working for the senate may mean more
prestige than working for the house. But
the pay-off on the house side is far better.
During the session just ended, the congress
men not only voted $2,400 annual expense
money to themselves (which the senate re
fused to do for itself) but also voted raises
for employes. The house parliamentarian,
who was on a salary of $8,500, compared
with $6,500 for the senate parliamentarian,
got a raise of $1,000 and an additional $500
so long as the present parliamentarian is in
office. This brings his salary to $10,000 . . .
the house chaplain receives $2,500 compared
with only $1,680 for the senate chaplain; the
house journal clerk receives $7,000 compared
with $5,000 for the senate journal clerk; and
the house postmaster receives $5,000 com
pared with $3,600 for the senate postmaster.
. . .Representative John Sparkman, Ala
baman, believes in doing things in twos. He
has the only set of twins working as secre
taries in a congressional office, Anne and
Alice Canterbury of Huntsville, Ala. And
he's bursting with pride right now because
two Huntsville boys Lieut. Cecil "Bushy"
Bolton and SSgt. Paul Bolden will shortly
be given the congressional medal of honor
in a joint ceremony.
school there are women teachers.
Boys' organizations in most communities
are suffering from a lack of men leaders.
Yet, when the "petticoat rule" proves inef
fectual or downrigh damaging women get
the blame.
It isn't blame they need. It is help. Bring
ing up children without a man's example
and firmness is something they don't bar
gain for, whether the father is out of the
picture because the home is broken perman
ently or temporarily because of the war.
One of the things that women regret most
about having their husbands away at war
is the responsibility it throws on them for
being both mother and father to their chil
dren. They know the kids suffer from having
only a woman to guide and discipline them.
And they are more anxious than anybody
else for the "petticoat rule" to end as soon
as possible.
the sea of Japan and then Vladivostock. As
much of the sea anywhere that can be said
to be Jap controlledw, this route is through.
But the Russians were neutral as far as the
Japs were concerned, and went through un
molested. The Japs may have guessed what the car
go was, but if they did, they decided against
risking immediate Russian entry into the
war. It was a gamble they lost. '
Just how much war equipment got through
is still a military secret, but the Big Three
must think that the Russians are now to
back up the threat of fighting, if necessary.
To what extent the declaration was all a part
of the first atomic bomb attack is a matter
of specultion, but whether by chance or by
plan, its effect couldn't have been better.
When and if the Reds meet the Japs on the
battlefield, it could be almost any place
along the border. There is 85 miles of Soviet
owned island of Sakhalin, and Japanese
Karafuto. A vast expanse of Soviet land
tenches Jap held Manchuria on the north
and northeast, while a peninsula of Red ter
ritory dips southward along the coast of the
sea of Japan, touching an eight mile strip
at the northeastern tip of Japanese Korea.
The boundary in all is about 2000 miles lor.g.
The Siberia-Manchuria boundary is mark
ed for nearly all of its course by great riv
ers. Vulnerably close to these rivers is the
vital trans-Siberian railway, all important
connecting link with Vladivostok.
Kstimate of the number of Jap troop?
w hich could be thrown . against the Russians
ranges from l.'WO.OOl) to 5.000,000. It must
be remembered that in this remote inner
Asia region of deserts and nomads, the Rus
eiRBi defeated the Japs in lSt.S! in an un
declared bol der war.
Side Glances
COPy. 1W BY MTBrBVlCE, IKC. T. H. RtO. U, 8. PAT. Off.
"You butchers will wish you had some friends after the war when
we downtrodden common people arise!"
o McKENNEY ON BRIDGE
By WILLIAM E, McKENNEY America's Card Authority
ETERNAL FINESSE
IS HAND'S BIG 'IF'
The mail I receive from the
boys overseas is a source of great
pleasure. The letters have a little
interesting story to tell. One came
in recently from figt. Harland J.
A 10
V AQ 10 8 6
A K 97
742
J8?05
43
V 93
892
9
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W E
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Dealer
A92
VKJ74
10 4
KJ 10 8
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A KQ
V52
Q J 6 3
AQG3
Duplicate East-West vuL
South West North East
1 4 Pass 1 V Pass
2 N T Puss 6 Pass
Opening 4b 9 14
Clark, who says that being over
seas has not lessened his enthusi
asm for a good bridge game, and
he still follows our column in his
home-town paper.
,; ' Sergeant Clark wrote about the '
hand shown today, which I ran
O BARBS
President Truman says the new
atomic bomb means a rain of ruin
for the Japs. The latest war cry
is up an' atom!
Uncle Sam tells us there will
be plenty of radios for Christmas
gifts. We doubt, however, that the
music will have charms to soothe
the savage appetite.
If there were no old maids in
the world, who would use the ex
pression, "We girls?"
The best tips in connection with
vacation are those you save by
not taking one.
The leaves will soon begin to
blush to think how green they've
been all summer.
Many of us were all washed
up on butter long before some
of it was sold to soap makers.
Victorious Russian generals are
living in rent free apartments
in Moscow. Imagine even find
ing an apartment!
This Curious World
OF THE HUDSON,
COLUMNAR
ROCK STBUCTURE?
ALONG THE BANKS
OF THE HUDSON
RIVER, WERE
Ff3t?AAPn av
I V
7 ACT S T1ve SUKiEONJ
ANSWER: Scotland. .
NEXT: He carries e weight on his shoulders.
1
!
in rny column Jan. 4, asking mf
readers to maneuver around and
make six diamonds.' It happens
that, with West holding the nine
of hearts, six diamonds can be
made by finessing the. ten of
hearts, then cashing the heart ace
and ruffing one of the high hearts
which East is forced to cover. I
am running the hand again today
to show you Sergeant Clark's so
lution, a very neat squeeze.
South wins the opening lead
with the club queen, cashes three
rounds of diamonds and three
rounds of spades. If East discards
a heart, the finesse of the heart
ten and the ruff of a heart will
establish that suit. If he lets go
a club, declarer, who has discard
ed a club on a good spade, can
ruff a club in dummy and estab
lish a good club.
O IN FORMER
YEARS
Thirty Years Ago. Aug. 13
: Company D, second Oregon
volunteers,, celebrated the 17th
anniversary of the fall of Ma
nila. Members recalled the siege
of the city and the landing at
Cavite. (Most of the names of
places were also easily recalled
30 years later).
E. B. Morelock suffered a
broken ankle at, Elgin when a
rope with which his cow was J.
tied got tangled around his feet.
The cow ran away and threw
him to the ground.
Fifteen Years Ago, Aug. 13
The local post of the American
legion left for Baxer for the state
convention, with the drum and
bugle corps to follow the next
day and to stay for the full three
days of the meeting.
Stevenson A. Hall, one of the
charter members of Rotary club
at Seattle, was a guest of La
Grande Rotarians at dinner.
Ten Years Ago, Aug. 13
Contributions were continuing
to the Amos L. Helms first aid
car and had mounted to $1,055.85.
The game commission an
nounced there would be no open
season on sage hens and the
grouse season was set from Sept.
20 to Oct. 25.
A hearing was set by the pub
lic service commission on the
Spruce street highway subway.
j i n in ; n
rm will if
nil il'llJ
T. M. PCC. 0. 8. PAT. CPT.