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About La Grande evening observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1904-1959 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 22, 1945)
Side Glances Washington Merry-Go-Round EDITORIAL PAGE Br DREW PEARSON La Grande Evening Observer Frank Schlro, Publisher WEDNESDAY EVKN!N(J. AUfJUST 22, 1945 Page Two Flexible Guys, These Japs 1942 Jjt&GSSi0 " jJl Uk,i Exit the Black Marketer Sure to be one or the first casualties of pence is the black marketer, n 11 il there will be none to mourn his passing. Not even those whomay have putron ized him will shed any tears when this peculiarly repulsive human vulture is . put out of business. 'fills does not surest the expecta tion that nil shortiiK'es are likely to end immediately. Scarcities of many com modities are likely to continue for some lime perhaps a year or two in some items, such as sugar and perhaps other foods. But the black tmrltet in gasoline and this was one of the worst al ready is at an end as result of the lift ing of nil ration restrictions upon this product. Tobacco products have be come somewhat more plentiful very re cently.'. The general situation already is better, and there seems every reason to expect that improvement will be continuous. The fact that improvements are Ink ing place probably will discourage trading with the black market racke teers who can supply items thai still are scarce. People will be more inclin ed to wnit, since they have reason to hope that the waiting will not be much longer. And more people will be reluc tant to pay the exorbitant prices the black marketer demands. Whether this type of raekeler is go ing to enjoy the fruits of his betrayal of country remains to be seen. Prob ably, insofar as prosecution and crim inal penalties arc concerned, most of them will escape. A few doubtless will be accused, tried and convicted, but these are likely to be the exception rather than the rule. More may be trip ped because of evasions of income tax " laws." Hut many almost certainly will "get away with" their violations. However, there often can be worse punish m e n t m than those inflicted through legal processes. The disgrace of a revealed violation frequently be- comes a worse penalty than jail burs or a fine. The black marketer is sure to dis cover if he has not discovered that he must occupy a position which will lack much of being that of an esteem ed citizen. He is known for what he is to enough people to insure that the brand of homefront traitor will be upon him through all the days of his life. His patrons and certainly ho one can hold any brief for the m have demonstrated by being black market patrons that they aren't the type to aid the marketer in concealing his rec ord and identity. From this time for ward, every black market dealer must live in the constant danger of beins shamed before the world. The same threat hangs over his family and every one with whom he may be associated. As a consequence, there will be few to envy the outlook for the black mar keter. Regardless of how big his bank roll may be, not m a n y of those who have tried to "play ball" on the home front during the war would be willing to trade places with him. Funny business 1 f ' m U - " - . - - - '.' '-f.'-j.-V' ;; :;'o 3.'' o SO THEY SAY We've learned that life's too short lo waste any of it hating our own kind of people. Plying Officer William Bray ley, Montreal. Tiie world has grown so small, and the perils of lawlessness so great, that it would he suicidal to refuse to vest powers of con trol m men and nations of under standing and good will. Alpena. Mich., News. l)..r nation has open fortunate ."iiring this war in owning auto mohilrs which have been devel oped to provide such a high de grtv of dependability and long lite. John Oswald. General Motors Corp. "I think h was a ration board olltciall" t hope he (PrniAent Truman) continues his policy of clejniiig h'liiK, and begins with the war itip'jrtmfnt -Uep. John E Rankin of Minis- WASHINGTON Whether t we like it or not, the American people are going lo hear a lot more about the emperor of Japan. In fact, during the next several years that we govern Japan we ought to make it our job to know almost as much about Tokyo's gov ernmental system as we know about our own. This writer happens to oppose the views of certain emperor-appeasers in the U. S. state department. Nevertheless, it is only tail' to examine the facts on their side care fully. About 20 years ago, when Hirohito was only prince regent, this columnist made sev eral trips to Japan, got acquainted with one of Hirohito's intimate aides, and heard many complimentary things about the young man. Actually, the recent history of the Jap anese emperor is closely Interwoven with the history of American troops in Japan. We helped give the emperor a new start in life when Commodore Perry first opened the doors of Japan in 1852, and if it had not been for the landing of Perry, there might "he no royal family of any potency in Japan today. Now, 83 years later, American troops, once again landing in Japan, are scheduled to operate through the emperor perhaps also giving him a new lease on life. It was not an atomic bomb, but an inven tion almost as revolutionary, the steamship, which opened up Japan to U. S. troops the first time. When Commodore Perry and the U. S. S. Mississippi, first steam-propelled man-o'-war to circumnavigate the globe, ar rived off Japanese waters, the government of Japan was split between Emperor Osa hito, then the weakest af weak figureheads, and the shogun, or premier, then the real ruler of Japan. Perry, knowing who the real ruler was, signed a treaty with the sho gun, not the emperor, whereby the hated foreigners were permitted to come ashore and enjoy commercial privileges. This started a wave of resentment against the shogunate. The merchant princes and feudal leaders, Already down on the shogun because of high taxes, rallied round the em peror. A virtual prisoner in Kyoto, the aged em peror broke forth in verse: "Perish my body 'neath the cold clear wave of some dark well. But let no foreign foot : . Pollute the water with its presence here." And with a child's misconception of the tremendous .power of Perry's "big, black fireships," the emperor issued an order that no foreigner could set foot on Japanese soil wearing hats or any article of "barbaric" clothing. . This was the cue for the feudal lords to build up the emperor at the expense of the sfiogun, and a few years after the shogun signed his treaty with Commodore Perry, the war lords assasinated him. Tokyo at that time was so crowded with "jo-I" or "aline-haters" that no insurance companies could take the risk of underwriting policies on the lives of Americans in Japan. This wave of alien-hating, plus the strat egy of the feudal barons in strengthening a rival to the unpopular shogunate, took the Japanese royal family out of virtual impris onment and started them on the road to their present powerful hold on the Japanese peo ple. Much of this build-up was synthetic. It would have made even Ivy Lee, publicity genius who sold the American public on John D. Rockefeller, green with envy. It was under the Emperor Meiji, grand father of Hirohito, that the royal family en joyed its most important reign. Meiji came into power 16 years after the arrival of Com modore Perry, and put an end to alien-hating. By so doing, he consolidated his own power. It happened that some foreigners had fail ed to fall on their knees when the daimio of Bizen passed on the streets of Kobe, and the daimio's troops, armed with new American rifles, fired on the disrespectful barbarians. The foreign governments involved demand ed an apology, not from the daimio of Bizen, but from the emperor of Japan. He prompt ly gave it, and simultaneously gave notice that control of foreign affairs henceforth was centralized in the person of the emperor, not in the daimios. Prior to this, the emperor of Japan had been kicked around more than almost any crowned head of Europe. They were jailed and assassinated at the pleasure of the sho guns and war lords. They had been exiled, had to flee for their lives, and one of them lay unburied for several weeks while his son took up a collection to pay the funeral ex penses. But it remained for the Americans who pried open Japan's door, plus smart public relations on the part of a group of powerful merchant princes and military men, to make the emperor of Japan what he is today. WE, THE WOMEN By RUTH MILLETT Gasoline rationing has ended! That will, perhaps, mean more to one section of the feminine world than to others the women ' whose husbands belong to share-the-ride groups. That is, if the trouble a New Jersey court blames on the war-born share-the-ride scheme is true thoughout the country. Ail too often, says the court, the little group becomes too cozy, and pretty soon some worker wants a divorce to marry a worker he has had time lo get chummy with on those long rides to and from work. While sharing rides has been necessary, Mama couldn't protest Papa's stopping on the corner every morning to pick up some pert young thing working in the same plant. Nor could Mama say anything about his waiting for her after work each evening to drive her home. It could have become a pretty cozy set-up and apparently often has with every body's official okay. Mama was in no posi tion to argue. But once there is gasoline, Papa can just expect Mama to start saying who she ap proves of riding in the family car. If it can't be worked out any other way, just leave it to Mama to decide Papa doesn't need the car after all, and she is tired of carrying groceries, etc. Then Papa will be in a car pool that is a closed corporation. He'll ride to work be side Mama, who'll go back to the good old days of driving him to work and picking him up each evening. The gasoline shortage gave Papa a freedom he may never know again. Behind Scenes in Washington By PETER EDSON, La Grand Erenlng Obaaryar Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 Millions of re turning veterans the estimated 80 percent of men in service who don't have reemploy ment rights face bitter disillusionment. Most of industry is covered by union con tracts which establish the seniority rights of workers. The unions contention, upheld by war labor board ruling, is that a veteran cannot use his service seniority rights in get ting a new job. Once he gets a job, they say, and passes a satisfactory probationary period, then give him seniority according to his length of service in the armed forces. During the reconversion period practical ly every factory or plant will have laid off some workers. Result will be call-back lists of varying lengths. How will it be possible, then, for a vet to get a job in one of these factories until everyone who had a job dur ing the war goes back to work? It won't, AFL admits. In other words, according to the way the unions look at it, theoretically employment will have to rise above the war time peak before there is a chance for a vet eran to get a job. Lessening the seventy of this situation, however, will be the old men, women and transplanted war workers going home who won't answer when the call-back list is read. But recent surveys show a much smaller percent of these workers expect to drop out of tiie later market than was previously esti mated by war manpower commission. For months this question of veterans' job rights has been hotly debated among un ions, veterans organizations and the govern ment. On the issue of veterans' getting new jobs the unions appear to have ended on top. The "super seniority" issue of reemployment, is still up in the air. Selective service would give the man hack his job with no questions asked. Unions would permit a vet to bump a worker only if the vet had more seniority, pins set vice seniority. American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wais have been trying to get a test cao be. fore the courts. It has been hard liexause no employ! has hn willing to set himself up as the "bogey man." Slapping back at the unions for their stand on new jobs for vets Rep. Harold Knutson, R., Minn., has introduced a VFW bill which would make it mandatory for an employer to give a veteran service seniority for new jobs. It goes even further. For the five days of each week in service it would give the man five days seniority. For the sixth day it would give a man a day and one half and for the seventh day it would give the vet two days. The bill is in the house mili tary affairs committee. Employers are strong for giving the vet erans more rights for new jobs although it is doubtful if they would want to go as far as the Knutson bill. During the war many inefficient workers have gotten on the pay roll. The cream of the nation's manpower has been in uniform. It's of dollar and cents value to manufacturers and employers to grab these men. Naturally these employers would like a free hand in placing the best available men and best producers in each job but they are treading carefully so as not to strain further relations with the unions. The auto industry', in the tight grip of the CIO United Automobile Workers union, will be the hardest for the veteran who hasn't had a job before to get into. The strength of the UAW would be threatened if they weren't able to offer some guarantees of post war job to the thousands who became new members because of their war jobs. Re sult is their exclusion of veterans from com petition. Their argument is that seniority is a property right belonging to the work men who now have the jobs. This whole problem, of course, only ap plies to jobs in industry. It is estimated that industry should provide about one quarter of all employment and that about one quar ter of all the veterans will try to get jobs in industry. After the whole things gets hashed over by interested parties the same conclusion is always reached there must be full employ ment. But that is a goal toward which little progress has been made. 11 1 n . 8-13 com ww wiipsuma. we. m. au. .. , 1 "Look at him, Moml He just loafs out here In the kitchen and grins ever since you said I was the only one you could trust with ' the dishes!" O McKENNEY ON BRIDGE ' By WILLIAM E. McKENNEY . America's Card Authority QUEENS KEY WEAKER HAND TO BIG SLAM Numerous systems have been devised for slam bidding, but I have found that too often they fail to get into the right contract unless you use a little common sense along with them. Today's hand came up in the Q 10 7 4 V A96 Q74 J 32 A J 8 6 3 QJ 10 2 86 74 N . W E S Dealer 52 V 8 5 4 3 532 10 8 6 5 AAK9 K7 A K J 10 9 AKQ Duplicate Neither vul. South Wst North East 2 Pass 2 V Pass 6 N. T. Pass 7 N. T. Pass 23 no ace, they would bid three no trump. Over North's two-heart bid, South in most cases bid six no trump. It is surprising that most of the North players now passed. It is true that South knew his partner held the ace of hearts, but South had . bid two diamonds and North's queen should make his whole diamond suit solid. In addition North held the queen of spades, and in my opin ion he should not have found u hid of seven no trump a problem. O IN FORMER YEARS South Shore tournament in New York, and most of the South players opened the bidding with two diamonds. North bid two hearts to show the ace. With two aces the majority of New York players would bid four no trump over the opening two-bid, while with a trick and a half but 30 Years Ago A new planing mill has been installed at Minam by Burt Ack ert and the output of three saw mills will be handled through the plant this season. Fire fighters were called up river to handle a slashings fire on Spring creek. It burned over about five acres but did no dam age. Rev. L. G. Clark of tho'Presby tcrian church was assigned the duty of preaching the union serv ices Sunday at the Baptist church. O BARBS And so most of the world turn ed out to celebrate and went Jap happy! When General MacArthur said, "I will return," he neglected to mention that the Philippines would be just a stop-off on the way to Tokyo. Some men become proud fa thers and pass out cigars others just pass out. 15 Years Ago Eastern Oregon tennis tourna ment opened at Union with Worth Oswald one of the nation's rank ing players attracted. Yearly flower show was set for Sept. 6, according to Mrs. W. C. Perkins, chairman of the commit tee. The show was to be held in the ballroom of the La Grande hotel. The Flying Fleet, a nationally known group of commercial fly ers, was to give a series of free exhibitions at Gekeler field, a mile and a half east of La Grande. A Tokyo broadcast to the Nip troops said, "We have lost, but this is temporary." The wbrd must have a new meaning. By the expression, "So sorry," shall we always know the Japs just a sorry race! Sixteen operations are needed in making the ordinary sewing needle. 10 Years Ago The city commission adopted a resolution designating both na tional banks here as city deposi tories. The mercury shot up to the 90s the day before with a minimum the night before of only 55. Progress of La Grande in the last 16 years amazed Richard E. Hackman, who returned for a visit after living many years in Los Angeles. This Curious World HAVE BEEN MAKIN SUICIDE ATTACKS' FOR CENTURIES WHEN A BEE USES ITS STINOER, IT OES. 1 '5 ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT MINERALS IN THE BOOY... SO IAVPORTANT THAT A MAN CAN LIVE LON&SR ON SXir AAfO WATS THAN HE CAN ON FOOD AND WATSR WITH THE SAiTAMMOVMO. am. tM IT NW WKVKC. MC ANSWER; Daniel Manning of New York, first secretary of the treasury under Graver Cleveland. it FEDERAL TAX STAMP SEEN ONI U.S. Automobile windshields THESE DAYS SHOWS A PICTURE OF "O. MANN INS." WHO WASSJf J i? T M PIC U HT or. . HEXT: Are diamonds found In Borneo?
