T
111
EDITORIAL PAGE 1
La Grande Evening Observer
, . Frank Schiro, Publisher
FRIDAY EVENING. SEPTEMBER 28, 194.1 Page Two
1 1
The Broth Should Be More Savory Now
J ''''
A Time of Confusion
Kijfht now there is a jfotnl dual of con
' fusion in the public mind over the high
ly important matters of occupation
policy for Japan and demobilization of
i our 'own army.
'';,Sonle of' it comes from official sour
ces and some from unofficial but im
portant army spokesmen. General
Eiclielbei'Ker has said that if the Japs
behave themselves the occupation may
.. not last more than a year. General
Wninwrifiht, with his painfully ac-
. uuired knowledge of Japanese charac
ter, says it should continue for 20 years.
General Harney Giles has upped the oc
cupation estimate to a full century.
Generals won't decide the length of
occupation or initiate any formal gov
ernment policy, though they may be
consulted. . When the slate department
announced that Japanese policy would
be made in Washington, not by Ameri
can occupation forces, it was stating
an obvious fact. It was also, by gen
eral agreement, rebuking General Mnc
Arthur. This rebuke may have been called
forth by the general's remark about,
i educing the occupation forces in Japan
to 200,111111 in six months. Or it may
have been because of some unpublici.ed
disagreement over policy or operation
between Washington and MacArthur
headquarters. At any rate, it succeeded
in getting the public pretty well mixed
up.
Some people seem to have the idea
that the 'JOO.Oimi figure applies to the
whole.postwar army in the Pacific. They
are disturbed by the feeling that we are
taking unnecessary chances with Japan.
In other quarters there is an appar
ent fear that the army is retaining a
lot of men needlessly, although the im
mediate size of our force in Japan is not
the determining factor in demobiliza
tion. Probably most of this confusion is
inevitable, and probably the only re
medy for much of it is patience. It
takes almost as long to unwind from a
war as it does to wind up for one. There
are still supply and transportation prob
lems, as well as separation-center bottle
necks, to slow the rate of demobiliza
tion. But there is an element of danger in
this impatience. Every family with a
member in the armed forces wants that
member home as quickly as possible.
That is right and natural. And because
it is, it might tempt some congressmen
and other officials to turn the whole
thing into a poltical football.
Congress already has its. eyes on the
19-lt elections. And what the country
doesn't need right now is a scramble
((' legislators to see who can make the
most promises for quickest demobiliza
tion, and to introduce numerous hurried,
ill-considered and time-wasting bills to
implement those promises and impress
the voters.
The immediate result could only be
more confusion. And the ultimate re
sult might be a national defense based
on blind faith in the atomic bomb and
another skeleton army and navy.
Funny Business
SO THEY SAY
W nri cnmniR out of this war
a murh poorer nation . . . Rov
i rnni( nt should offor every pos
sible encouragement to individ
uals and -ndustry to produce and
save and create now wealth, and
should imt its own expenses to
:he bone.
Altoona, Pn Mirror.
Only men and women who live
up U the reliRious and ethical
pniu-iplcs of the Bible can ftwir
a ntee the democratic way of life,
lasting pence and the survival of
our civilization.
Habbi Jacob Hoffman, New
Yoik Citv.
H is strange indeed to realize
that the very thinjts that were
(oiKt'd in the finance of war will
soon add immeasurably to the
life that beckons across the broad
plain? of peace.
Bayonne, N. J., Times.
"We're reconverting Inking out five-dollar billi and
putting iioneil"
Love, of oourw, makes the
world ko round, but almost as
often it makes jt ro lopsided.
Sahna, Kan., Journal.
Washington Merry-Go-Round
Side Glances
By" DHEW PEARSON
WASHINGTON Economy-minded mem
bers of the house appropriations committee
are not letting any grass grow under their
feet. Chairman Clarence Cannon of Mis
souri, Parsimonious John Taber of New
York, and tightfisted Richard Wiggtesworth
of. Massachusetts, ranking republicans, are
cutting expenditures to the bone.
But they're under plenty of pressure from
their colleagues to permit continued federal
operation of the child-care centers. These
centers, which make it possible for working
mothers to leave their children in compe
tent hands while they are on the job, are
scheduled to be closed next month. The pro
test against closing them has been strong.
Especially in the west.
A score of Pacific coast congressmen met
Wednesday morning with federal works ad
ministrator Gen. Philip Fleming to reach a
solution to this problem. Fleming told them
child care was never contemplated as a
permanent federal project, annd would have
to be taken over by the states.
Rep. Richard Welch of San Francisco in
sisted, however, federal operation until the
states arc ready to take over is imperative
at least until G. I. fathers are back on the
scene.
"It is still a war problem," Welch said.
"If you could see the pitiful letters on my
desk, you would have no doubt about it.
Hundreds and thousands of mothers, whose
husbands are still in the army, are desper
ate at the thought, the child centers will
close down. They can't live on soldiers' pay,
and they want to know how they arc going
to keep their jobs if they have to stay home
and take care of their children."
General Fleming, who personally wants
to keep the centers open, said he is aware
of these problems, but it was clearly un
derstood at the time congress voted the
money that centers were to be operated
only as a war measure.
Freshman representative George Miller of
San Francisco then asked Fleming if it were
not true that the FWA has legal authority to
keep operating these centers as long as the
funds are available.
Fleming replied that that is true.
"But," he added, "we have an understand
ing with the appropriations committee that
as soon as the war ends we are to liquidate
the program."
Liberal Representative John Coffee of Ta
coma, Wash., who is a member of the ap
propriations committee, remarked he knew
of no such agreement.
NoteWestern congressmen do not main
tain that child care should be a permanent
federal project, but that more time must be
given for states and cities to take it over.
Merry-Go-Round
The entire California delegation in con
gress will go to the White House to demand
that President Truman intercede with the
RFC on behalf of the western steel industry.
They feel Jesse Jones' old friends In the
RFC are prejudiced in favor of eastern steel
and want to close down wartime western
steel plants . . . President Truman may go
to New York on Columbus day to make a
major address . . . While the British delega
tion in Washington is negotiating for a loan
or gift, London is trying to swing a big fi
nancial deal with our political enemies in
Argentna. Implication is that unless the Brit
ish get what they want from us they will
cement closer relations with fascist Argen
tina . . . Army and navy brass hats have
taken another step which won't endear them
to civilians. They have reserved every room
in every hotel in Philadelphia for the week
end of the army-navy football game. No
civilian can reserve a hotel room in Philadel
phia during the weekend without army
navy consent . . . watch former governor
Diicker of Ohio as a dark horse republican
candidate for the 1948 presidential race. Har
old Durton's promotion from the senate to
the supreme court leaves the way open for
him . . . Secretary of Stale Byrnes, who has
already gobbled up OWI and the office of
strategic services, is now inheriting the for
eign economic administration and lend-lease.
This will make his state department one of
the biggest of all government bureaus.
WE. THE WOMEN
By RUTH MILLETT
The governor of Indiana has asked one
of the senators from his state to see if he
can't get President Truman to set the date
of Thanksgiving right away so we won'i
be wondering about it.
Perhaps the governor is as fed up with
uncertainty as the rest of us and figures it
is now time to give folks a few certainties
besides death and taxes to live by.
We thought most of our uncertainties
would, be over withthe end of the war
and of course we were relieved of the big
gest, most important one, "When will the
war end?"
But thousands and thousands of Amer
icans overseas and their families back home
are still nagged by another uncertainty.
They haven't the slightest idea when the men
will get home.
And thousands and thousands of workers
and ther families are facing an uncertain
future, because they don't know what or
where the next job will be.
There is still, a(so, the uncertainty of
when many of the things we need to buy
will be back on the shelves.
And thousands of parents are wondering
what the future holds for high school age
sons whether they'll be called on to get
into uniform or will be allowed to continue ,
their educations uninterrupted.
There is so much we don't know in this
post-war ' world, that life, except for the
one big IF, seems almost as uncertain as it
did in wartime.
So no wonder the governor of Indiana
thinks it would be nice if we could count
ahead of time on Thanksgiving's being a
certain day.
We need to be able to count on a few
things. We're weary of living by "If's" and
"When's."
Behind Scenes in Washington
By PETER EDSON. La Grand ETentna Observer Washington Correpotident
WASHINGTON Probe deep enough in
any labor sore spot and you will find be
neath the now cause of trouble an old in
fection which was never properly healed.
The Kelsey-Hayes Wheel company, strike
in Detroit is no exception. Its labor relations
record is written largu and long in the Wash
ington files of the U. S. conciliation service
and war labor board. It has been having
labor troubles lor years. When Michigan's
Gov. Harry F. Kelly announced he would
start an investigation into affairs at Kelsey
Hayes, he was merely putting his finger on
a perfect cose for clinical study.
One of the principal conditions that stands
out is that Kelsey-Hayes management has
never had a formal written labor contract
with its employes. The employes are organ
ized and they do have a union. It is a branch
of the famous Amalgamated local 184 of
the CIO United Auto Workers.
This Amalgamated local 184 is the crea
tion of Walter Reuther and it takes in the
employes of nearly 100 plants on Detroit's
west side which do not have U. A. W. units
of their own. All have contracts except Kelsey-Hayes.
The record shows the Kelsey-Hayes unit
of the union has asked management for a
contract to cover working conditions, and
the company has also offered the union a
contract. But neither party has been able
to accept the terms of the other, so over
a peiiod of years, labor relations hove been
allowed to drag along undor an armistice
that continually breaks out in open warfare.
When a new grievance comes up, settle
ment must be negotiated. By common con
sent, it has been agreed that the minutes
of these negotiations shall set precedents for
future cases of the same nature that mny
arise. B:V there tire plenty of situations not
covered and this leaves the field of dispute
wide open.
Most labor disputes eventually arc reduc
ed to a clash of personalities. Kelsey-Hayes
troubles offer no exception to the rule.
Head of the company is George Kennedy,
its president and principal stockholder and
chief negotiator with his employes. They
regard him as a tough homhro. He is a man
of strong will and a lot of convictions on
what he considers rights.
On the other side of the picture, a leader
in the Kolsoy-Ha.ws union is one Chester
(Moon) Mullins, a hot head of the irrespon
sible variety that can be found in almost
every union or club or society ever organ
ized. The Mullins record shows he has been
fired by the company 13 times for discipli
nary reasons. Somehow, because he was a
union officer, perhaps, in the settlement of
thj Kelsey-Hayes disputes by Reuther,
George Addes or other top officials of the
U. A. W., Mullins has always been rein
stated. Last April, Mullins and a dozen of
his associates threw a supervisor out of the
plant. The management promptly fired all
13. That caused a strike. The case went to
the Detroit regional war labor board which
named a panel to investigate. The panel
recommended that all 13 should be rein
stated to their jobs but when this report
came to the regional board, it decided that
only nine should be reinstated and that
three. Moon Mullins among them, should be
fired. The 13th character in the dispute ap
parently decided t h e thing wasn't worth
fighting for, and left the state.
This regional WLB decision was handed
down Aug. 20 four months after the orig
inal incident that started the fracas. In the
meantime, labor relations at Kelsey-Hayes
hadn't improved any, both management and
the union appealed the decision to Washing
ton and on Aug. 23, the employes went out
on strike.
The Kelsey-Hayes case has today been
magnified out of all true proportion. It now
has national economic and political signif
icance and you are led to believe that it is
holdng up the whole reconversion program.
Actually, it isn't anything of the kind. The
case history is spelled out in detail here
just to show how trixialities become trag
edies, and h o w incompetent mankind at
time seems to be in dealing with them.
COW. 1M t) HCA SIBVm. M6. T, M. IC 1). . Ml. Off.' ' '
"I had almoil forgotten about these canned goods I borrowed
from you but. when I read that they were no louger rationed
it reminded mel" -
O McKENNEY ON BRIDGE
By WILLIAM E. McKENNEY
America's Card Authority
SQUEEZE PLAY COMES
NATURALLY TO LEBHAR
Two of the most popular men
in bridge, M. A. Lightmon, Mem
phis, Tenn., and Bertram Lebhar,
jr., New York, finished first and
second in the World Champion
ship Masters Pairs this year.
10 7 6
987
878
AKQ8
A A J42
10 4
A 10 5 3
765
W E
S
Dealer
K 985 3
05
QJ4
J 10 9
Lebhar
A Q
AKQJ32
K92
4432
DuplicateBoth vul.
South West North East
1 Pass t A Pass
2 Pass 3 Pass
4 Pass Pass " Pass
Opening K. 29
Lightman and Pfc. Robert Apple
yard won th-a event; Lebhar and
Simon Rossant finished second.
Lebhar, a sports broadcaster,
talks so much about double plays
and squeeze plays and all the
terms describing baseball arid
hockey games, that it was only
BARBS
A wallpaper manufacturer says
no new designs may be expect
ed before next July. And little
Johnny answers, "Oh, yeah?"
natural ho should employ a
squeeze play on one of the tour
namcnt hands to win a nicQseore.
Unfortunately, both Lebhar and I
his partner had three small clubs,
or there would not have been
much of a problem in the' hand.
West cashed three rounds ol
clubs, so Lebhar had to make the
balance of the tricks. When West
shifted to a spade, he went up
with dummy's ace and ran off his
six heart tricks, retaining in dum
my the spade jack and the ace
ten of diamonds, and three dia
monds in his own hand. East
could not hold the.king of spades
and the three diamonds.' '
o IN FORMER
YEARS
Thirty Years Ago )
Yesterday's meeting of Toll
Gate road boosters at Toll Gate
in the Blue mountains was a
big success according to word
brought from Elgin. Nine auto
loads of F.lgin boosters met 20
carloads of Walla Walla boosters.
They met at the summit and took
up the proposition' of building a
road across the Toll Gate district,
using the old road a portion of
the way, and adding to ittohere
needed.
Time of arrival of the carload
of bass due to arrive today noon
has been postponed until tomor
row noon. At that time sportsmen
will be ready to take the bass
to the waters of Morgan lake and
the slough near the Makin' place.
Meatless Tuesdays and Fri
days are over for New York. It's
enough to make the big city folks
lick their chops.
Tires made Of nylon are in the
offing! Look, Mabel, you have a
runner in your front left.
Now that hnthinp suit: arp hp-
ing laid away, why not change
me iamous expression to
Moth Ball?"
"One
It's a relief not to have to have
a drag with the corner druggist
in order to get cigarets.
Questions & Answers
Q When was Hong Kong ced
ed to Britain by the Chinese?
A In 1841, just a century be
fore the Japs captured it.
Fifteen Years Ago oi:
Elgin, 20 miles north . of La
Grande, is systematically check
ing up its losses today following
a $50,000 fire that swept part of
of town Saturday afternoon, and
for awhile menaced the entire
business district and nearby res
idences. Arrival of the La Grande
pumper truck, manned by local
firemen, resulted in stopping the
spread of the flames and finally
brought the fire under control.
Ten Years Ago
A special election was called
for Friday afternoon by the school
board for the purpose of voting
on the proposition to bond the
school district to the sum of $12,
000 for the erection of a new
school building. The election
went about four to one in favor
of a new building.
Now Council of American Business the
liberal offshoot of businessmen who think
National Association of Manufacturers alfd
V. S. Chamber of Commerce are too conserv
ative will hold its first convention in Chi
cago, Oct. 10-12. N. C. A. B's Washington
representative, ex-Rep. How.ird J. McMur
ray of Wisconsin, is in charge of plans. Idea
of the first session is to set up a national
board of directors with a representative in
major industry lines, then announce a pros
pectus of liberal business principles. It will
probably be close to the present adminis
tration policy.
,
This Curious World j
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X OUR SUPERSTITIOUS (! ! ; f ip U
1 ANCESTORS BELIEVED. A ! ! fTy t VjlLiK
5- rtJlVZ') AN M3U COMPLETE THESE!
' jYL iaWvuSo GU-SMTAND ?h
vMV O, AND . CAAN AN
ISA PARASITH- AND
ITS SEEDS WILL- NOT 3RCW
T. W. (KG. V. 1 FAT. Off. 9-2?
AN8VER: Gilbert and Sullivan, ham and c$b; Damon nl
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