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About La Grande evening observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1904-1959 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 13, 1945)
EDITORIAL. PAGE La Grande Evening Observer Frank Schlro, Publisher THURSDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 13, 1945 Page Four- Seems Silly to Ride a Good Thing to Death EVENING OBSERVER'S PROGRESS PROGRAM IRRIGATION Complete the Grande Ronde Valley irrigation project, I.A GRANDE A city of 10,000 -Extend the city limits, A Cheer for the Bureaucrats Cussing the bureaucrats has been a favored and almost universal practice among Americans during the entire war period. Much of It still is going on. And honesty compels the admission that we have done our full proportion ate share of the cussing. But with this confession and still insisting that bureaucrats deserved much of the cussing they received this thought occurs: Isn't it time, and doesn't justice re quire, that the bureaucrats like the devil be given their due? And, if given their due, can any rea sonable person honestly deny that, on the whole and under the conditions existing, wartime bureaucrats did a splendid job and made an indispensable contribution to victory? Emphatically, these statements do not attempt to argue for the perpetua tion of widespread bureaucracy in gov ernment. Heaven forbid! Let us be rid of the war-born alphabetical agencies as soon as the nation's postwar economy will permit. That would be soon for most of them. Hut eagerness to be rid of the agen cies and the restrictions they represent cannot and should not deprive them of any credit due for whatever job they have done during the worst emergency ever to face this nation. We think thev are due a great deal of credit. True, they made many mistakes. There were instances of confusion, bungling and even absurdities. Beyond any question, mun bureaucratic actions mid- policies did more-to hurt' then help the victory effort. But such things were inevitable when one considers that the gigantic agencies usually had to be thrown together over night to tackle jobs which held the fate of a nation in their balance. Far more than offsetting any mis takes made is their record of achieve ments. Prices were not allowed to get out of hand, as they did in world war I and the Civil war. The American people never lacked abundances of food and other essentials despite scarcities of individual items. Necessary mate rials were channeled to the places where they could be utilized best for victory. Production and supply represented mir acles surpassing anything of similar nature in history. And, in all these achievements, the war agencies the bureaucrats played their indispens able parts. Furthermore, it should do remember ed that few of those who served in the more important bureaucratic positions wanted their jobs. They were drafted just as much as any man on the firing line was drafted. They solved when every minute of service must have been miserable because of the criticism and abuse heaped upon them. 1 So isn't it about time that some of us tone down somewhat in our cussing of the bureaucrats? Aren't they deserv ing of at least one lusty, whole-hearted cheer for a job which, on the whole, was amazingly well done? Funny Business O SO THEY SAY Now more than ever before we must make it our business to see that the means to wage war be kept in the hands of those who hate war. James V. Forrestnl, secretary of the navy. I think the management of our broadcasting systems will agree that, by and large, the public re ceives over the nir not neces sarily what it wants, hut what it doesn't complain about. Piul Porter, chairman, federal comnfunications commission. If n man is an American, he dusmves to be treated as an American. His onccstry ti not to bo held against him. That's one of the things we fought war fur. -Pittsburgs, PS., PtW,, The welfare of this country de mands that every boy and girl receive the best preparation for his .future work. , .-tUov, Thomas E,' Dewey of ey Washington Merry-Go-Round Side Glances By DREW PEAHGGN 7t" WASHINGTON Those who watched Pies ldent Truman operate with Stalin at Pots dam say he employed a masterful technique. In the evenings he drank' and sang with Stalin. They literally had their arms around each other . . . But next day during diplo matic negotiations, Truman was formal, po lite, and cold as steel . . . Some military ob servers see significance in the make-up of the army's Pearl Harbor board and the fact it criticised chief of stuff General Marshall. One member was Maj. Gem Henry Russell of Macon, Ga., who commanded the divi sion made up of Georgia national guards men at Fort Jackson, S. C, from Septem ber, 1940 to May, 1942. Then just as the di vision was about to go overseas, he was re lieved . . . This was in line with the army's frequently unfair policy of taking commands away from national guard officers in favor of West Pointers and regulars . . General Russell resented this bitterly. He had spent almost 20 years with the Georgia national guard and had a fine overseas record in the last war. So he protested right up to Gen eral Marshall himself. Marshall, however, refused to change the order. Russell stayed homo and eventually became a member of the Pearl Harbor board where he helped find Marshall guilty of neglect . . . Gen. George Grunert, who headed the Pearl Har bor inquiry, an A-l officer, is another who had trouble at the top. Serving in the Phil ippines under MaeArthur along with Lieut. Col. Dwight Eisenhower, both he and Eisen hower got in wrong with MaeArthur and were sent home. It was the best break Eisen hower ever had . . . Grunert enlisted as a private, never went to West Point. Cupid Over Congress One congressman bachelor traveling in Europe almost didn't come home a bachelor. He is Rep. Mel Price, former corporal in the army and now a democrat congressman from east St. Louis, 111. He had a close call from cupid and at first he didn't know it. Price was in Rome, anxious to study the Roman civil government and knowing no Italian, enlisted the services of an American Red Cross girl who said she spoke the lan guage. She went with him to question local Italian officials. ) Arriving in a room of. Rome's municipal building, the girl began to quiz the clerk regarding his duties. Apparently her Italian left something to be desired. ..;; , v . Smiling at the two Americans, the clerk left the room, but came back and asked them to sign the register. The girl had completed her signature when Congressman Price no ticed a priest entering the room, smiling broadly. ' ' . . Whereupon the gentleman from Illinois ' got suspicious. .Using sign language and a few words of Italian he discovered he. was being asked to sign a marriage register: The" priest Was on hand to tie the: knot the min ute he had signed. Price departed immediately.- - ' ''' !. Capital Chaff " "' Senators are looking forward to better, eating, now thai Derwin Darling has come back from two years in the marines to re sume management of the senate restaurant . . . Alleged United States opposition to the Kilgore unemployment compensation bill cracked open last week. Forty-seven state administrations were reported opposed, but it now develops that Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Oklahoma, Washington and Califor nia are definitely for the bill, with Connect icut and several other states about ready to support it . . . When Nelson Rockefeller was eased out of the state department, work ers in the building were Startled to see truckers removing the furniture from his office. He had furnished his suite with his own furniture. When the truck pulled away, even the chandeliers, which were Rocke feller's persi.na' property, had been taken. Different i. ..ring the reoerjt reparations riegotia tions in Moscow, Ambassador Averell Har riman frequently reminded U. S. colleagues how the Russians had cleaned out every movable piece of nazi machinery from their zone of Germany, even removing machinery from what later became the American zone of occupation in Berlin. Harriman termed these operations "loot ing." When the U. S. reparations party got to Potsdam Harriman inspected several plants in the area which the U. S. had taken over from the Russians'. All had been stripped clean. Harriman kept muttering, "those Rus See WASHINGTON . ... Page 6 WE, THE WOMEN By RUTH MItLETT Parents who don't think their 18-year-old kids should have to go ihto the army how that the war is ended are making their voices heard through their congressmen. They don't want their boys to "have their lives interrupted" at this point. It is only human for them to see the problem from their point of view. But they might be more willing to see Johnny get into uniform if they stopped to look at the situation from somebody else's point of view. Let them look at it for 'instance from the point of view of a war wife whose husband has already put four years overseas, broken only by one two-month's leave. He is still overseas. His wife has lived alone for four years and for four years has had full responsibil ity for bringing up their son, who was a chubby two-and-a-half year old when his Dad was shipped out of the country before America was at war. . ." j-. Now' he is a tall kid,- going -off" to schools He needs his Dad at home far more than parents need their grown sons around the house. ' y Furthermore, that man, already set in his profession, had his life interrupted by mili tary service much more (drastically than would any young man's life be interrupted who hasn't even finished his education. There is one pile of letters on congress men's desks that have a perfect right to be there. The ones from wives whose men have served long periods of time overseas and are still writing home. "I don't have any idea when I'll get out of here." ' ' But however much parents personally may hate to see their boys who were for tunate enough to miss action in the war get into uniform to help maintain peace logic, justice and necessity aren't on their side. Behind Scenes in Washington By PETER EDSON, La Grande Evening ObaeiTer Washington Corretpondenl WASHINGTON The lid can be lifted a little now on planning for the military gov ernment of Japan. The impression prevails that the United States is occupying Japan today in about the same fashion it occupied Germany after the first world war loosely and with disastrous consequences leading to the second world war. The Japanese situation is therefore worth examining closely to see if the old mistakes are being repeated. In the sense that the Japs are being al lowed to keep a form of government of their own choosing, the comparison between Ger many in 1918 and Japan in 1945 may be true. Actually, that is not the whole story. A joint committee of state, war and navy and other government department planners have been working on plans for the occu pation of Japan for over a year. They pre pared a number of plans to meet varying situations. The most extreme called for complete government of Japan with the emperor re moved. The most lenient called for govern ment of Japan by its war-time government. The plan actually adopted is between the two extremes, but closer to the latter than the former. Right or wrong, it was decided to retain the emperor. Removal of the kaiser in 1918 didn't keep Germany from going on tho rampage a generation later. If the Japanese emperor had been remov ed, ordcis to the Japanese people would have read, "The U. S. military government in Japan" orders thus and so. Under the plan adopted, tho eiders to the Japanese people are written by the military govern ment just the same, but they read, "Wo the emperor of Japan" orders so and so. After the orders are written, they at given to the Japanese government to pass out as their own. In this respect, the military govern ment imposed on Japan is more strict than in the token occupation of Germany after the last war. Huw& will work out rernains to lie seen. Chief of military gowmment on General Mai-Arthur's staff is Brig. Gen. William . $rist..JWjfr 3ltTfhin8Uii Jus' bef"re COW. 1t4 It NtA ItHVKH, WC. J. M. MU V. . MT. Off. . 9- "I hope you give me better grades in English this year I spent the summer reading ever so many comic books!", - j O McKENNEY ON BRIDGE By WILLIAM E. McKENNEY America's Card Authority MRS. W AGAR PLAYS GOOD MAN'S GAME Mrs. Margaret Wagar of At lanta, Ga., came to t h e recent national tournament and, as us ual, walked away with a cham pionship. She won the national Mixed team - of-four champion ship and finished second in the women's pair event. It has often been said that Mrs. Wagar plays a man's style of game. I don't know whether that is compli mentary or not, as today there are several fine women players, like Mrs. Wagar, who are said to play better bridge than men. Mrs. Wagar lost no time in get ting to six diamonds on today's hand. She won the opening lead in dummy with the ace of spades. She did not discard a heart, as she might have to ruff out two hearts and a club. She discarded a club from her own hand, pro viding for the establishment of "the fifth heart. A small diamond was led from dummy East played low, Mrs. Wagar went in with the queen, cashed the ace of hearts and ruffed a heart. She returned to her hand with -the AQJ10 9 V 10832 2 J654 A A87654 5 10753 K2 W E S Dealer AK32 VCiJ4 A J8 Q 10 9 3 Mrs. Wagar A None VAK976 KQ964 A87 Duplicate Neither vul. . South West North East 1 Pass 1 A ' Pass 2 Pass 3 ' Pass 6 Pass Pass - Pass Opening A Q. ' f . 4 O BARBS Peacetime ice cream shortly will replace the wartime variety on the market. The thought of it, melting in your mouth, instead of the container, is pleasant. A Missouri doctor says 40 is the ideal age for love. Wonder how old he is? We'd guess about 40! Proposals . in President Tru man's first peacetime message in cluded plenty of work for every body including congress. Thrift is one thing that is worth a lot of money yet doesn't cost a cent. ace of clubs and ruffed anoter heart. Now she led a trump to ward her hand, and E.ast with aee-jii'ck could win only one ,' trump trick. O IN FORMER YEARS Thirty Years Ago La Grande's aster growers this afternoon and tomorrow come into their own. The aster show sponsored by the Neighborhood club in reality began today, for yard judges toured the city to pick out the most attractive aster beds in the city limits. '. . So completely has the water situation reshaped itself that the O-W shops were connected up with the city mains today after having been shut off for several weeks during the water famine. full instructions on military government. First orders issued by General MaeArthur under these instructions have already been posted. . General Crist's military government forces will consist of more than 4,000 specially trained officers. About" 1,500 have had ac tual military government experience on Sai pan, Okinawa and other Pacific islands lib erated by MaeArthur and Nimitz forces. For the past year, some 1,800 more officers have been undergoing special training in eight U. S. universities where military government schools have been in operation. As these schools have now been closed, their facili ties of nearly 700 specialists in Japanese language, industry, law and customs have been moved to Japan. They are supplement ed by specialists on sanitation, communica tion transport and so on, withdrawn, from Europe. All these military government of ficers have had pin point training for spe cific assignments, mapped in advance. . Japanese government will be controlled " from the top. All members of the cabinet, for instance, must be acceptable to General MaeArthur. Orders to provincial pr munici pal governments will go through MaeArthur ... .. to the responsible heads of Japnese govern ment. If a mayor or police chief turns out to be uncooperative he will be told to re place the offending official with someone acceptable. General MaeArthur's forces and his mili tary governors will not occupy every fish ing village. His combat troops on the main islands will number only between 750,000 and 1,000,000. They will occupy only the key governments and communication centers, with main forces in strategic centers, from which they can move to put down any dis orders. In broad outline, this is the administrative setup for governing Jipan. hi addition ther i" is the formidable job of revamping the Jap-'-' anese economy to put it on a peace basis," eliminating the potential to make war just as completely as it is being eliminated in Germany today. That means doing a fa' There is strong sentiment in favor of bringing all our armed forces under one command and the sooner that command is "go home" the better the boys will like it. Fifteen Years Ago Twenty-five La Grande coun try club golfers will go to Pen dleton tomorrow for an intercity tournament, play to be based on the Nassau system. IVORY WAS VALUELESS Before the Arabs came, ivory had no intrinsic value in the in terior of Africa. Natives killed elephants merely for their flesh. They could not trade the ivory for . anything and it became so plentiful that it was used for fences, door posts, roof supports and hundreds of other ordinary purposes. Ten Years Ago The works progress adminis tration is being asked for five armories instead of four for east ern Oregon, it was learned here today. Originally, reports' of the applications sent to WPA listed only La Grande, Baker, Pendle ton and The Dalles. Now word has been received that an appli cation also was sent for an ar mory for Union. '" This Curious World i r y -.arm wr V ' " i j rTT 'r-i-'rr n IT " -"- - " - V. Qa:I7--M -rue i cpDBO . M FIRST ANCIENT CHINESE fl UKUIUA TO RE; U AWAKENED AT A CERTAIN TIMB PLACED A GRASS ROPE 8ETWEEM THE TOES AND LI6HTED THE END AS THE BURNING ROPE SHORTENED, rrs heat Aroused THE SLEEPER. COPfl. IW BY NCA SERVICE. INC T. nu v. . rAi. OFF, 'you can have a little MOtTH AMD ALSO A LAH.SE ONE," Jiff DOW3THY WEST, O i W.'i clpueBLA DC LA MIMA DC iOS UPDIKIUNCULA u. THE ORkrINAL NAAE OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, -
