Tkm OZBGOlf UIATEZULU Calm. Ongoa. Today 1 TnrnTag. Ton 8. 1W
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Wo Favor Sways Vt; No rear Shall Aire
rrcan First SUtesman, March 28, 1831
THE STATESR1AN PUBLISHING CO.
CHARLES A. SPRAGUE, President
Member of Th Associated Press
The Associated Press Is exclusively entitled to the use for publication of all
news dispatches credited to It or not otherwise credited in this newspaper.
t Vi. - "w
Midway Error or Desperation?
Momentous events are occurring in the
Pacific. "Occurring" is correct; the battle is
continuing, and particularly of that phase which
Involves the approaches to Alaska, we have
virtually no information. Thus whatever judg
ments are formed today may need revision.
Yet certain tentative judgments are of
such magnitude that they will not wait. It is
almost certainly true that when the Japanese
attacked Midway island last Thursday, it was
the opening gun in what was intended to be
a full-dress eastward drive. The enemy in
tended to take Midway; perhaps immediately,
certainly later after establishing a springboard
there, to drive forward to the Hawaiian islands.
The second momentous fact is . that the
attempt failed and that in the words of oue
qualified observer, "Japan suffered its greatest
defeat in its brief naval history."
Of the' technical reasons for our victory
there, it may be said that they involve but
one more application of the "land-based air
power fringe" principle which has been estab
lished in such battles as those of Skagerrak,
Dunkirk, Crete, the Philippines, Malaya and
the Coral Sea. Briefly the principle is this:
Sea power, even with some carrier-based air
-power, cannot stand up against adequate land
based air power.
This explanation leaves out of account
but we do not intend to leave out of account
the proven superior skill and resourcefulness
of American airmen. We await confidently the
details of thrilling individual and mass ex
ploits on their part.
But hasn't it occurred to you that in
the Coral Sea and now again at Midway, the
enemy has stuck his neck out voluntarily, in
the absence of any necessity clearly apparent
to us, and taken a major whopping. Why?
It is simple enough to assume that he just
guessed wrong on what preparations had been
made for his reception at Midway. But why
should he guess wrong? Has it not been possi
ble to scout those preparations? And if not,
should he not have guessed at them on the
safe side, realizing America's ability to prepare?
For a second explanation, is it possible
that the enemy failed to learn from his initial
reception in the Philippines, in the battle of
Macassar Strait, over New Guinea and in the
Coral Sea, what American sea and air power
was capable of doing? Is he still suffering from
fatal over-confidence? It is a pleasing suppo
sition almost too good to be true.
There is a third possibility, even more
pleasing to contemplate. It may be that Japan's
situation, in a manner almost totally unknown
to us, is growing desperate. Of course we bomb
id Tokyo from Shangri-La and of course we
can do it again. Of coarse our sea power is
growing. Of course we are getting well en
trenched in Australia. But to the layman it ha3
appeared, on the contrary, that Japan is hav
ing pretty much its own way in its own back
yard. It holds the Dutch East Indies and Ma
laya and Burma, is driving deeper into China.
We have feared indeed that China's situation
is desperate.
Well, all we know is that the enemy has
suddenly elected to play our game, to fight
at a disadvantage in our back yard. Either it
was an error of calculation or an act of des
peration. We'll settle for either but prefer
the second.
From now on, don't be surprised at any
thing. .
Sauce for the Goose
Perhaps it is a superficial viewpoint but
it does seem fair to observe that government's
primary function is that of making and en
forcing laws. More fundamentally, it exercises
that function for the purpose of protecting the
public.
Isn't it strange that government itself is
lawless?
One law upon which our United States
government has placed great stress for almost
a decade, is that which .protects employes in
their right to organize and to strike. But as
more than a million non-military employes
know, they don't have the right to strike.
More recently there has been particular
stress upon maintaining the entire fairness of
. a new law the selective service law. All young
men physically fit should serve in the armed
forces, at least if they have no actual depend
ents, unless their contribution to the public
welfare as civilians clearly outweighs their
military worth and unless in that civilian
occupation they are irreplaceable.
Now this department has made a sort of
pledge to itself, not to "grouse" about govern
ment nor about national administration unless
some fundamental issue is involved. But in this
case we conceive there is such an issue.
It seems that government, which is law
less, refuses to apply the established yardstick
when it comes to selective induction of young
men who are among the above-mentioned mil
lion plus non-military federal employes.
Senator Tydirfgs cites the case of a 21-year-old
so-called expert In the field of "per
sonnel procedure surveys" who has twice been
deferred as irreplaceable, though he is not a
college graduate and had no experience in any
occupation prior to his employment some 15
months ago by the federal government. Among
the million plus, we are led to believe, there
are many such cases.
Because selective service is building a
reputation for fairness, we don't want to
"grouse', about this matter. But because we
would like to see that, reputation maintained,
we suggest that government, either dean up
this" situation or prove that it doesn't need
cleaning up. v. -
President Roosevelt plans a fireside chat
on the gasoline and rubber situation. Seriously,
we thing it is a good idea. Not so seriously, we
conceive that it will have immediate practical
value. People will stay home to listen, save
both gasoline and tires. Maybe a fireside chat
every night is the aolution to the entire prob
m. - ' . .
News Behind
The News
By PAUL
(Distribution by King Feature Syndicate. In. Repro
duction la whola or in part strictly prohibited.)
WASHINGTON, June 8 A clergyman in
Massachusetts has written me:
"I read your column regularly with interest
and mostly with profit. I am.
v ' Br J
NLfJ
Paa! Malle
mm
"But you completely fail to
appreciate that such a condition has already been
achieved in large areas of our life witness the
civil community and the national state. Only in
the international order do we have the chaos and
anarchy which you wish to preserve. ... I am
sorry to see you sponsor any such idea."
Dear Dr. :
You did not note the limitations in my col
umn. I did not advocate armed violence, but armed
peace. 1 did not want American conquest of the
world or the creation of an American empire,
but only security against the violence of others.
Yes, we "have had, as you say, for 6000 years
in the international order something approximat
ing chaos and anarchy in varying degrees, but I
do not wish to preserve that.
I want to stop it by making our own Christian
country with its ambitions limited to its own
shores, with no appetite for conquest anywhere
else in the world, a supremely self-sufficient mili
tary authority and a powerful example for good.
I want armed Christianity and armed American
ism, as against passive Christianity and a weak
America.
We have tried it your way many times, and
as your letter concedes, it never has worked. Just
trace the history of our efforts with Japan since
the disarmament conference of 1922, and you will
see precisely what I mean.
I came to Washington for that historic con
ference. It initiated me as a reporter here. I then
held the same views as you, even more strongly.
I was impressed deeply with the sincerity of
Charles Evans Hughes, then secretary of state,
who set an example to the world by scrapping
our ships and thus causing other nations to adopt
our policies of disarmament and good fellowship. .
It seemed silly for all of us foolishly to support
great fleets.
Now I know that what Japan is doing to us
was made possible only by our own leadership and
love for disarmament, which began at that con
ference. Japan acquired islands in the Pacific under
the Versailles treaty, (Marshalls, Gilberts and
Mariannas) which were called "mandates," a term
which assumes a facetiousness now in view of
the use to which these islands have been put She
promised not to foritfy them, but did. They are
the air bases and the sea bases which made
possible the Japanese program of aggression, the
fall of Singapore and the Philippines and the
threatening of Australia.
We gave more islands to her in our disarma
ment treaty along with a 3 to 5 ration in naval
craft (they would have 3 capital warships to our
5 capital ships) as a gesture of friendliness and
good will to inspire the bargain. Japan did not
then have 3 ships to our 5.
But under the promise she made that we
were all going to live peacefully thereafter, we .
held our fleet at the index of 5. We stopped build
ing while she built up to a relationship of 3 to 5
with us.
In other words, by our own disarmament
leedership, she held our fleet static, so that she
could build up to three-fifths of what we had.
When she acquired that ratio in a few years, she
then openly broke the treaty. She continued on
building until she acquired equality with us If
not actual supremacy, and started the war at
the time of her choosing by a treacherous attack.
I think you will agree if you look at this
matter fairly that our own disarmament policy
is at fault and is the root cause of our present
predicament in the Far East which has cost so
many lives and will cost so many more.
If we had not stopped building our navy for
fifteen years, if we had not scrapped ships while
others scrapped only blueprints, if we had not
been lulled into a false sense of security and
trust, we would never have allowed Japan the
opportunity to make her Far Eastern conflict
possible.
Why, we even shipped scrap iron and oil to
her up to a few months before the break of her
treacherous attack at Pearl Harbor, so great were
our hopes of peace by treaties and of justice by
example. Shells made of that scrap iron are now
killing our boys. That oil is being used against us.
I have heard it said that the Sixth avenue
elevated in New York, sold to our junk dealers,
finally reached Japan and is now being fired
back at us in the form of shells and bombs. It
could be, under our policy.
Is not the lesson of all this too . plain and
too fresh to be forgotten? Can we now say these
lessons which are multiplied by all the history of
the human race back to the beginning of time
should be swept aside and we shcvld do it all
over again with more treaties and more disarma
ment? Never in the history of the world has a na
tion lived up to a treaty which was against its
interests. Let us not deceive ourselves about
that or believe that even we are superior men
in that respect.
You and I would be the first to advocate
breaking of a treaty by the United States if it
was against what we deemed the best interests
r of our country. How, then, can we be foolish
enough to put our trust in the treaties of others?
Now, don't misunderstand me. I say make all
tha sideline treaties you want and do whatever
else extraneous that you want, but first - get your
self the biggest army and navy in the world,
and. keep U. v
Don't sell it out Don't scrap it Don't try
to be a defenseless big brother to the world.
1 say trust only your, own power h you want
peace and security.
Paul Mallon.
MALLON
however, deeply discouraged
with your remarks on the In
ternational situation after tha
war. . . .
"It is positively immoral to
believe that we must remain
definitely in a state of armed
violence, and that the world
must remain under the domi-
nance oi me ricn ana poweriui.
. . . You despair of leagues of
nations to preserve world order,
claiming that they are the
dreams of idealists and cannot
be achieved.
jQL
1 lii fe H
i
I)
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The
Safety Vol vo
Letters from Statesman
Readers
He was just a plain American
boy
Of the breed you find only
here.
And so when his country called
him.
He enlisted with a cheer.
He knew that he was up against
War's game of give and take,
But still he wore that same old
smile
Even on the Isle of Wake.
He had his few buddies behind
him.
And we all wished him well,
But when the Jap stabbed Wake
in the back
He was one of the first that
felL
Only a cross now marks the spot
Where they laid this boy
away;
He gave up his life for you and
me
And the good old USA.
He is but one of the thousands
Who'll be fighting across the
sea;
And if these men can risk their
lives.
There's a Job left for you and
me.
Let'swork to produce the power
they need;
All together with one accord
Invest our money in bonds for
offense
And smash that axis horde.
So far they've been hard nuts to
crack
But don't worry, well get
them yet
And when the war is over and
won
Those bonds will be a sure bet
You 11 get back every dollar
And several more besides
After we've swamped the axis.
After we've turned the tides.
L. L CYPHERT,
Valsetz, Ore.
INSURE YOUd HOME
A6flNST KIUERf
By KIR1CE L. SIMPSON
Wfcte World War Analyst
For Th Sta-man
Whatever tha tactical, strate
gic or psychological purposes of
the Japanese attacks on Dutch
Harbor . and Midway island, the
blunt fact is that the enemy has
received a blow that -could re
vise the whole war pattern in
the Pacific.
Bit by bit, navy disclosures
from Washington and Pearl
Harbor are piecing together a
Japanese defeat of catastrophic
proportions. Corning on top of
the punishment they suffered in
the Coral sea fight, enemy losses
in ships and planes must have
a sinister meaning for Tokyo.
The margin of sea power super
iority, ' afloat and in the air,
gaining by the infamous attack
on Pearl Harbor and American
naval requirements in the At
lantic, is being whittled to the
vanishing point. It may already
have been reversed, even against
an American one-ocean navy to
say ' nothing of two-ocean
strength coming up.
There Is warrant, also, for
the conclusion that the Japa
nese high command fell into a
carefully baited American trap
at Midway, fanred with far
ranging air bombers of the
sister services. Land-based
air power turned the trick. It
presumably caught the heav
ily protected Invading farce
hundreds of miles from Its
objective to send it limping
westward again for refuge,
shattered as an offensive
weapon.
While Japanese battleships
formed part of the naval escort
for transports and plane car
riers, there is little reason yet
to believe that the main fight
ing strength of the enemy fleet
was directly engaged. Judging
by the distances involved from
the nearest Japanese island out
posts, however, it is justifiable
to assume that the best and big
gest Japanese plane carriers
'Crime at
By EDITH BRISTOL
Chapter SO Continued
Flora belle Hunt came down
from the cottage and asked for
some lemons. "Ours ara used
up," she explained, "and I want
to make Miss Dawson some hot
lemonade."
"Isn't she well?" Martha asked.
She faced the visitor as she
spoke, for unless you spoke di
rectly in front of Mrs. Hunt,
she didn't hear you.
"She is kind of miserable.'
In spite of her own burden of
grief and dread, Martha Gregg
was ready with her concern for
other people. "Has she a fever?"
"I I don't know" Mrs. Hunt
looked startled. She started to
hurry away without waiting for
the lemons.
"Wait, I&su will get the lem
ons," Martha insisted. "But you
should take her temperature and
find out if she has a fever. Have
you a clinical thermometer?"
"No--no that is, yes. Yes!" I
was watching Florabelle's face.
The words, "clinical thermom
eter," touched a hidden spring.
That spring was fear. I saw it
flash across her furtive eyes and
quiver in her mouth.
I remembered the broken
glass in the garage of Durfee's
home. Florabelle had no clinical
thermometer but she had own
ed one. And that not long ago.
Impulse may have given me a
black eye once, but I was will
ing to risk another one.
I slipped out of the back door
while Florabelle was waiting for
the lemons. Thank fortune for
once that Issu was slow! I
dashed into the garage and
stepped into the first automobile
standing there it was Lance's
roadster started the motor, and
whirled out of the door and up
the hill before Mrs. Hunt came
out of the house.
It was a matter of minutes to
reach Hidden Cove. I parked
before the cottage and knocked
at the door.
"Come in," called Miss Daw-
She was reclining on a couch,
coveted with a blanket as white
as the silken strands of hair
blowing around her face. Again
I realized how strikingly beauti
ful she must have 'been twenty
years ago. .She could not have
been past her early fifties How,
but 'the great, dark eyes, the
. white hair and far-away ezpres
. sion, made her seem years older.
"I beard you were not feeling
well," I plunged right in. "So I
T came up to see if there was any.
thing I could do for you."
J That was kind of you, my
dear." Miss Dawson's voice was"
, languid but her smile was bright
"t see very little of young people
up here in this secluded spot and
-1 . appreciate your coming. I
' hardly know what - is going on
in the world."
"Miss Gregg wanted me to ask
you if you had a fever"
At mat instant, I heard Flora
belle's car driving into th yard.
were assigned to tha task fores
and apparently suffered tha
heaviest damage.
Thai the enemy fleet has
lost im a stogie operation both
a onridfrabta egaaeat of its
loag-UsUmco striking power
and also had Its vision Im
paired. Carrier-borne planes
are the eyes of any fleet as
well as Its loarest range guns.
Wltboot oJek replacements,
the whole Japanese fleet la
the Pacific mast be left grop
ing blindly to meet American
fellowtrp attacks.
Taken in conjunction with
Japanese midget submarine at
tacks in Sydney harbor, Aus
tralia, and subsequent trivial
bombardment from the sea oi
southeast Australian points, the
Midway-Dutch Harbor raids be
gin to look like diversion moves.
Repulsed in the Coral sea at
tempt to push southward across
American-Australian communi
cation lines, Tokyo may hava
hoped to draw much American
naval strength - both northward
into, the north-central Pacific
zone and southward in Australian-New
Zealand waters. With
the protective American naval
air screen for Pacific communi
cation lines thus thinned out, an
opportunity to strike a punish
ing blow at the American-Australia
supply routes might have
come.
It still might come; but Mid
way has put a crimp in any
such Japanese plan. However,
the day when the American
navy can carry the fight to th
foe, island by island, base by
base, may be much nearer than
it is is yet possible to foresee.
There is sound reason lor con
cluding that the Japanese have
been strurk the most telling
blow of 'ds war one that
must inevitably lead to a re
treat in the Pacific sooner or
later and bring the jugular vein
of the whole Japanese conquest
dream, the China sea communi
cation lines, within striking dis
tance of American forces.
Castaway'
rd better get the question asked
and answered before sh cam
in. "Has Mrs. Hunt taken your
temperature?"
"I don't think I have any
fever," Miss Dawson answered.
"But Florabelle told me she had
broken her thermometer a few
days ago and until she gets
new one from town I don't know.
I'm sure it's nothing serious."
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Mrs. Hunt's black eyes flashed
resentment at me as she cams
into the cottage and found ma
there. But a neighborly call on a
sick acquaintance isn't anything
you can make a fuss about.
"You got here pretty quick,"
she said, sullenly.
"Yes," I smiled. "I wanted to
see if there was anything I could
do for your patient."
There was nothing I could do
for her. But she bad done some
thing for me. Now I knew that
Mrs. Hunt had been in Durfee's
garage the night he was killed.
If she was involved in the Durfee
killing, then might she not be
concerned also in the other kill
ings? Mrs. Hunt stood glaring at me
as Miss Dawson spoke again.
"There is something you could
do," she said. "When your house
boy drives in to town tomorrow
-or the next person who goes in
have him bring out our things
from the drug store, like he did
a few days ago."
I cannot explain what clicked
in my mind at that instant Nor
why r remembered then an inci
dent that had been forgotten for
the past week. But suddenly,
with Miss Dawson's words, it all
spread itself before my memory.
If I had been completely discreet
I should not have mentioned it
But I spoke before I thought
perhaps while I was thinking ii
through.
"We did hava some medicines
at our house for you, didn't we?
You came and got them from th
ranch house, didn't , you. Mrs
v Hunt? And you waited in th
hall tor several minutes, while 1
was telephoning, didn't you?"
"I dont know what you an
talking abouf she said, in tha
. toneless voice that annoyed mi
1 stared straight at the pock
of her white uniform. "And yon
always carry a fountain pen it
your pocket dont you, Mrs
: Hunt?" ... X was moving toward
her now, white hot 'with excite
ment ,,as the facts I had over
looked clicked into place in mj
. mind. : v.v ' - '
: "1 dont know what youtt
: talking about" Florabelle said
again, and walked into the kitch-
l zouowed her.
- (To be continued)