Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About La Grande evening observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1904-1959 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 25, 1945)
EDITORIAL PAGE La Grande Evening Observer Frank Schlro, Publisher SATURDAY EVENING, AUGUST 25, 1915 Puge Two Please, Please Not Now! 1 shell- ''msmsmmg shock mm&m EVENING OBSERVER'S PROGRESS PROGRAM IRRIGATION Complete the Grande Ronde Valley irrigation project. LA GRANDE A city of 10,000 Extend the city limiU). TODAY'S TEXT It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman. Proverbs 21: IS). Our War Debt If all the words that have been writ ten about our obligations to the return ing servicemen were laid end to end, the resulting text would be very mo notonous, indeed. Yet, in view of recent experiences, and in view of the imminent return of millions more of our war veterans to civilian life, it seems necessary to go over the subject again. It would be absurd to think that the average person does not roaliezu his obligation to the men who b r a v e il death, and in too many cases met death, that we at home might go on enjoying freedom from the horrors of bombs and shells and our neighbors do feel indebted toward t h e s e men. lint in evory-day practice that feeling seems to be repressed, and we have this picture: The fighter turns in his gun, puis on civvies, and tries to find a job and home for his family. Time after time he's told by indifferent landlords that if he has children he's out of luck, it' he finds a place, the rent is too high for his uninflated pockclhook. In many cases lie finds his old job filled and he's shunted into an insignificant spot which barely complies with the draft law's requirements. If he wants to build or buy a house, lie finds himself snarled in the red tape of the ti. 1. loan mess. Tf he's lucky enough to get a business loan, he's im mediately prey for all kinds of sharp shooters. Is this the reception we planned for our sons and husbands and brothers? Can we blame these men if, after re pealed instances of such mistreatment, lliey become bitter and wonder if all those things they were told about fighting for a better world weren't just a lot of nmlarkey? There is, of course, an obligation on Hie part of the veteran. The young fellow who left a job as a junior clerk to enlist in the air force, became a bomber pilot, commissioned as major with the corresponding high pay, cannot expect to step into such a high-salaried job as soon as he steps out of uniform. Nor can he expect that everyone be meets will know how many t hues he's been decorated and treat him with added deference. He m u s t learn to slow down the tempo of his living, and go along with the restric tions that have been necessary in war lime and which will continue, in many instances, for many postwar months. Tlie majority of fighters are so re lieved to be through with killing thai I hey are glad to live quietly and ask no favors, but there are a few who must learn. Just as some of us on the home front must learn that our debt to these men is not just a popular say ing, but must be put into daily practice. Funnu Husitu'ss " -MiM.mtii in . SO THEY SAY 1 it Kurd him (llirohito) as no diffcicnt from HitliT and Musso lini, ;md he should bo dealt with accordingly as a war criminal. Sen. John I.. MeClellan of Arkansas. Foreign trade can contribute one out of every 111 postwar jobs. George W. Mason, president, Nash-Kelvinator Corp. With proper industry and plen ty of hard work, south Mississip pians can provide themselves and help provide the markets with the articles for which t!c nations is ?i ms al"'d. Laurel, Miss, Leader-Call. "I had 'em put on in cams we get in cl.e contact with the onemyl" Th" Rroat size of America, cou pled V.h the bimic American chaiaiioristie of disliking any thing which is different or strange, will constitute one ot the barriers to good human relations Dr. Margaret Mead, ethnologist, American Museum of Natural llistoi v. Washington Merry-Go-Round Br DREW PEARSON (Note Drew -Pearson Is on vacation. Dartyl Zanuck, lamed head of 20th Century-Fox, contributes this column on post war Germany.) By DARRYL ZANUCK Producer of "Woodrow Wilson" HOLLYWOOD To my mind, the most disturbing and sinister fact about Germany today Is that it is a nation without a con science. Not long ago, 1 visited Germany and other sections of Europe at the invitation of the psychological warfare section of the war de partment. I went there as one of a group of film executives, sent to study at first hand what war, as it is fought today, does to men and women and nations. In the course of that tour, we talked to many people. Among them were military leaders and diplomats, high-ranking repre sentatives of various governments, men of religion and men of low estate, men and wo men who had lived through the terror, some scarred and some ennobled. But shocking as it may seem, we failed to find in Germany even one person with the slightest sense of shame or war guilt. They have no realization of the scope or enormity of their crime against mankind. They have no compunction. They have become, it seems to me, a people without a soul. Rev. Martin Niemoller Two men whom I met in Germany and talked to at length two men of totally dif ferent antecedents and outlook summed up for me the German frame of mind today. One was Pastor Martin Niemoller, the fa mous U-boat commander of World War I who defied the nazis from his pulpit ahd spent eight dreadful.years in a concentration camp. The other was Max Schmeling, for a brief time the world's heavyweight cham pion, now a tavern keeper. I ran across Niemoller in Frankfurt. He speaks excellent 'English. He had intended going with his wife to a tea that afternoon but gave that up when he learned we were in the city As one of Germany's foremost anti-nazis, we were naturally eager to talk to him. For his part, he was obviously just as eager to talk to us. We wasted little time in preliminaries. He had spent two years in solitary confinement after his arrest but when Germany plunged into war, he offered his services and his life as a U-boat skipper. We explained it vas difficult for us to understand this. His ans wer was measured and solemn: "I don't expect you to understand. I ex pect few people to nderstand. It's difficult for anyone to understand my state of mind unless they, too, have spent time in solitary confinement. "I had two consciences. On one side I asked myself: 'How can I support a state that is controlled by these horrible beasts?' On the other: 'How can I turn down my country, my Germany?' " Always a German And yet, knowing this horror and having experienced it in his own person, this man would not have hesitated to kill for the nazis. For, in answer to another question as to what would have been his conduct had he been restored to active military service, he said bluntly: "To the best of my ability I would have served Germany and fought as courageously as I could. . "Germany is guilty of permitting a mon ster like Hitler to come to power," he said, "but our war guilt ends there. Once Hitler was in control,, we were powerless." Max Schmeling Curies I met Max Schmeling in Hamburg. He was immaculately tailored and in excellent health. And he bore a white card issued by the military wHich apparently exempted him from the curfew and similar miitary requirements He cursed Hitler and the nazis ferociously and he told us, with seeming honesty, he'd been induced to enlist in the paratroopers by deceit. "They told me they wanted me to get in as a paratrooper by way of making propa ganda and stimulating enlistments in this branch," he said. "They also said I was too old for this kind of action and they didn't intend to use me in battle. But shortly after I got in, I found myself jumping over Crete. I broke my leg and hurt my back and that ended my service." He, too, like the others I spoke to in Cer many, seemed unconscious of the horrors perpetrated by his country on the rest of Europe. "It was all Hitler's fault Hitler and his nazis." They seemed to feel they were altogether blameless, living in a world apart. WE, THE WOMEN By HUTH MILLETT The war meant a lot to you even if you un dyour twin sister weren't quite four .when the peace came. "Why do some kids have their Daddy's home, and Lynne and Petey's Daddy just sends letters by the mail man?" "Well, you see, there's a war and . ." "When is daddy going to Lynne and Petey a little black puppy dog?" "When the war is over and daddy comes home." "Why doesn't daddy come home? I want my daddy to come home tonight." "Your daddy wants to come home, too, but he can't come home until the war is over." "When is the war going to be over? I want the war to be over now " And then one day when the grown-ups stuck by the radio hour after hour a man's voice said: "The war is over." Said it with such finality, it was a pronouncement even little kids could grasp. "The war is over," said the little boy. "Then daddy is coming home." "Yes, he is," said mama. But it was all a mistake. A mistake hard to explain to not quite four-year-olds. Then, at last the news again. And this time it was real. This time it meant that grown-ups were as excited as kids, and making more noise, blowing horns, ringing cow bells, shrieking whistles and noise makers which they told the kids to take good care of so they could save them always. v But back to the old question: "WHEN will daddy come home? Will he come home tonight?" "No Not tonight kids. But some day not so very long away. Some day and this is the wonderful thing some day, for sure." "Honest-to-goodness, mommy?" "Honest-to-goodness, Lynne and Petey." Behind Scenes in Washington By DOUGLAS LAHSEN NEA Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 Technically there is no more censorship of news. Byron Price, office of censorship head, formally ended it with a flattering statement on the splendid job the various media of news dis semination had done in co-operating with him. Newspapers countered with praise of what Price had done. It is generally agreed that within his sphere Price did a sensational job with his assignment. It was plenty tough, but he kept a clear head, never got carried away with his duties and everybody ended up happy about it. During his period of service with the U. S., however, he saw an ugly development in the various federal agencies which he tried unsuccessfully to stop. Under the disguise of war censorship practically every agency, whether its function had anything to do with the war effort 01 not. plugged up virtually every legitimate no,vs source. The order went out that no government employe, re gardless of rank, could speak to the press unless what he said was cleared and cen sored by the public relations office. In addition to this strangulation of news within the agencies, office of war informa tion ordered that the official agency an nouncements be cleared with OWI No gov ernment employe was permitted to speak to the public about any subject until his script had been cleared. That is why so manv officials were prohibited from taking part in open forum discussions or debates. Only a few top men who could be trusted to s.iv nothing out of line in the heat of an argu ment wore given this right. This was po litical censorship plain and simple. Byron Price fought against it. But since the end of the war there has boon no relaxation of this type of censorship. A few "now.it can bo told" stories will come out. but the struggle to keep anything out of print that might not look so good for tlu ugenoy continues. . Both war and navy departments have re iterated orders to civilian and military per sonnel that nothing is to be given to the press that isn't first cleared through public relations. This idea of an agency having the vested tight to okay any news coming out of it is almost becoming accepted as a fact within the government. From time to time, public-spirited officials come out with something that exposes cor ruption and inefficiency. They feel that their duty to the people they serve is great er than to the bureau head. Too often this "leak" is a half-truth, planted to knife an enemy in the back. Denials all around will follow. It usually ends with the accuser get ting fired, or transferred if he has enough pull. Most enterprising reporters have their contacts in the various agencies in order to by-pass the public relations office This situ ation results in much misinformation. The iron-clad understanding between a reporter and his contact is that he will never quote hmi or reveal his source of information. Knowing that reporters are pretty reliable in this respect, contacts are tempted to hand out bits of information as "feelers" or to further their own ends. Instead of having to duck around corners and sneak into offices for news, Byron Price would have complete freedom of all news sources. A reporter would be able to get a statement or information from a government official speaking independently. He could check it and get the other side of it. if it's a controversial subject. In light of the facts, ho could weigh the news value and give it to the public. With newsprint scarce, much of what has gone on in the government hasn't been con sidered sufficiently important to compete with war news. As a result things which normally would have gotten a complete air ing in the press have had sketchy treatment. From now on it will be a struggle between nos-gatherers and the bureaucrats who would like to remain holed up in anonymity in their bailiwicks. Side Glances v ,f am. mm a sovici. wq t. h. ku,. B. . mt: tru B x' "That soda jerk couldn't tell me ice cream to take out till I iold him it was for a sick person but I really am still sick from those greenapples we ale!" ''( o McKENNEY ON BRIDGE By WILLIAM E. McKENNEY America's Card Authority NEVER GIVE UP ON A WEAK HAND "Never say die" is a good rule in a bridge game. In today's hand, for example, it looks as if the declarer may have to lose a spade, two diamonds and two clubs Well, here is what hap pened. The opening lead was won with the ten of hearts, the heart king was cashed and the queen overtaken by dummy's ace. The jack of diamonds was played and A J 5 2 V A874 J 1053 A 9 5 AQ83 V 952 Q92 KJ62 N W E s Dealer A9764 V 3 K7 B A A Q 10 4 3 A A K 10 V K Q J 10 6 A84 A87 Duplicate Neither vul. South West North East 1 V Pass 2 V Pass 4 V Pass- Pass Pass Opening V 2" ' " 27 suit broke, establishing dummy's five-spot. The six of hearts was led to dummy's eight and the seven of clubs discarded on the good diamond. The jack of spades was led, just in case East might have the queen, although West was pret'.y well marked with it as East had discarded some spades. South went up wi'.h the king, then led the spade ace. West, still wanting to keep out of an end-play, dropped the queen of spades. Thus on a hand that looked rather hopeless, declarer made five-odd. o IN FORMER YEARS allowed to ride when East re fused to cofused to cover. West won with the queen. On the sec ond heart trick East had discard ed the club three, trying to mis lead the declarer as to the loca tion of the club ace. Now West was afraid to play a club, lest he lead into a tenace, nor did he want to lead a spade. The nine of diamonds was led back, dum my played the ton, East the king and South won. He cashed his good eight of diamonds and the 30 Years Ago A progressive trick in farming that promises to increase the pro duction of field peas in this valley has been turned by Frank Mc Kennon on the McKennon-Led-better ranch near Alicel. The trick is simply that he Tan the .poas . through a combine --with-"good success. -'"'"" Two Fords at noon today tried to occupy the same spot on the pavement at the same time, and though the machines are not mon sters, it couldn't be done. Husky dents in the noses of each ma chine were the results of the experiment. BARBS Wasn't it a thrill, folks, on that first plenty-of-gas drive through the country, to sec real cows and chickens? 15 Years Ago A program of pleasing charac ter has been chosen for the con cart to be given by the municipal band Tuesday evening at River side park. The first part of the program will be given over to arrangements of southern melo dies, and the program will fea ture this "Old South" mus'.-! Shortly we'll be getting while shirts from Uncle Sam and he'll be getting our shirt come income tax time. With the wartime speed limit off, remember that the faster you go. the faster your tires do likewise. A short, short story The Allies went to Potsdam and the Japs went to pot. 10 Years Ago Two projects were formally launched today in La Grande, the $90,000 undergrade crossing pro ject on Spruce street, sponsored by state, city and railroad with government money, and the new gymnasium on the E. O. N. cam pus, sponsored by state and school district with government money. Arnold Haneke, 17-year-old La Grande country club profession al, who is still in high school, fin ished 12th in the Idaho state open golf tournament at Boise during the weekend, carding a score of .308 for the 72-hole play. ' This Curious World &s. S OUTGROWS FV I COPR. 194$ BY NEA SERVICE. IMC. THE HEAVY END OF A MATCH IS THE LIGHT END, " Sstft C. J. BOVEK, o 8-27 UNEARTHED IN UTAH IS S5TI MATEDTO BS 20 AMLtlON "TEARS OLD ITOI'SWUTTLI FROV. MOCER SEClES. T. M MO. U. MT. Vf. NEXT: How long will an iceberg last?
