The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980, September 08, 1944, Page 4, Image 4

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: From First Statesman.' March 28, 1831 ' ..!'. "r
; THE "STATES51AN PUBLISHING COMPANY I
.. CHARLES A. SPRAGUE, Editor and Publisher i!
' -jf.-. .v- ,: Member of theLssodated Press -. ' 1
The Associated Press Is exclusively entitled to the use for publication of til;
news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited tn this newspaper.
Democrats and the League :.
$ The United States News, in reprinting an
article by Wendell Willkie in a recent issue' of
the Birmingham Age-Herald, underscores the
point made by Willkie that republicans alone
were not responsible for the scuttling of Wood
row Wilson's league of, nations. Willkie relates
the battle in the 1924 democratic convention
when Newton D. Baker sought to get an en
dorsement of the league but was defeated in
the resolutions committee and on the floor of
the convention. In February, 1932, when Gov
ernor Roosevelt was looming as a candidate for
the democratic nomination for president the
Hearst papers quizzed him as to whether he still
favored a -league of nations. Roosevelt replied -and
made public his reply that if elected pres
ident he would not favor American participa-"
tion in the league of nations. . r
Thus the claim of democratic politicians
that the republican party was the implacable
foe and the democratic party the loyal friend of
the league of nations is proven false. The par
ties were divided on the issue, and Wilson him
self failed to tir up the public response which
he needed to obtain the ratification of the treaty
and covenant.
' ' The Statesman believes that we should look
With fresh eyes at the whole question of inter
national organization, trying to learn from ex
perience just how we might introduce a better
form of peaceful order. Churning over the de
bates of the 1920 campaign will be of little
profit to either political party. The attempt of
the democrats to make political capital of what
happened to the league of nations is poor am
.munition when the fourth term candidate ran
out on the league himself in 1932 when it was
unpopular.- "
All Is Lost
' For Germany virtually all is lost of the
conquests of 1934-41. The Hitlerites have been '
expelled from Russia. They are .being ousted
from the Balkans. 'France and Belgium have
been liberated. Only Norway, Denmark, Cze-cho-Slovakia
and parts of Poland; and Holland
still have the swastika flag flying, over them,
and there soon it will be pulled down. The "leb
ensraum" for which Hitler led the German na
tion to war has vanished. Back practically at its
old frontiers the German army waits nervously
for the inevitable penetration of the fatherland
itself. And not Hitler for all his vaunted power
and boasting can hold back the' avenging force.
Hitler essayed too much. From his central
core he spread his power over most of. western
: Europe, but his rule, like thai of Napoleon's was
based only on force. , His dominion fell apart
once the component parts saw a chance to re
gain their independence. Federation or even
consolidation of Europe might be a good thing,
but not the Hitler kind of consolidation.; His'
, methods of ruthlessness and frightfulness , de
feated his own purposes. 1 - ,
Injiis vain bid for glory ana for German
"lebensraum" Hitler has brought sdeath to mil- '
lions, desolation to thousands of cities and
towns, ruin Jo great cities and institutions, and
ignominy to his own nation. For all the sacri
fice Germany has nothing in the way of per
manent reward.' Do the Germans "realize that
fact, or do they think it but a second failure
which a third trial might turn into success?
W'. W. MUST ;V
, s make haste; : )
w V- 7 7?r ' -
Fredrlcia Kca Come
. Ncrrow Csccpes " ,
' From. ITd Gastspb
Bishop Cannon
The death of Bishop Cannon brings an echo
of the battles over prohibition. In the years
when it was the law of the land Bishop Cannon
r was one of its most ardent supporters, and as
such became the butt of editorial sarcasm and
cartoonist satire. Pictured. as an arid killjoy,
Cannon was used by prohibition's opponents as
the type which was interfering with personal
liberties.' In this atmosphere of propaganda and
studied contempt for' the law bootleggers grew
more bold, until prohibition went down in a
.welter of . corruption and gangsterism. Bishop
Cannon lived on, but the ge-with which he was
identified passed out with repeal.; The liquor
'traffic is now legalised; and the century-old
battle against intemperance is thrown back al
most to its beginnings, .the urgent need now
being one Of education in personal morals. .
X
Henry Kaiser has bought the patents for
helicopter designed by IB-year-old Stanley Hil
ler; jr., of. Oakland. Maybe Kaiser will do bet
ter with it than he did with his famous cargo
plane.
Editorial Comment
TRAITORS "-'
Times get tougher for collaborators as allied
armies close in on Hitler's shrinking fortress. We
read frequent news stories telling of what happens
when Frenchmen, locate some of their traitors crin
ging in cellars. The stories-will continue with var
iations as the -armies march on other occupied
countries. Hearts, if traitors have them, must be
quaking in Prague-and,Oslo and Copenhagen. -
We are not forgetting that there are certain
Americans among the enemy. We should soon have
news of Ezra Pound, poet, born In Idaho, who, chose
to live in Italy and make fun of American crudity.
He. spoke over Rome radio, praising Ifussolini and
his social reforms. One wonders whether his son,
Homer Shakespeare Pound, lived to grow up, and
what he thinks of his father. T
In the Berlin region somewhere is Fred Kal
tenbach of Iowa. Broadcasting in April, 1941, he
said the Germans were getting a big kick out of
news that Roosevelt was going to send war material
to the Red sea on American ships, adding, to make
it more amusing: "It won't be long now until the
Germans will be getting a lot of secondhand Amer
ican war materiaL" . The answer to that is that
they're getting it, but it isn't second-hand. .
, Another of these is the South Carolinan,.Robr
ert Best, who refused the opportunity to return on
the Gripsholm "in the interest of history.". When
he spoke on the radio for Goebbels in a typically
Nazi blast cl anti-Semitism, he said he was exper
iencing for the first time "the situation which comes
with a perfect ' realization of freedom.' That is
something he should enjoy , fully while it lasts,
which is not going to be much longer now. : ,
There are others, Jane Anderson of Georgia,
Douglas Chandler and- Edward Leo Delaney of Il
linois and two German-born naturalized American
citizens. O "r-x ,
All eight of these are under indictment for trea
son. We have not , forgotten. San ' Francisco
Chronicle. " "
Second Dunkirk j.
The World war is on the verge of a second
Dunkirk, with positions reversed. There was
grim justice in the assignment of the British
army for the advance along the channel coast,
which has carried them through Brussels and
Antwerp, and given them a position behind the
Germans at Calais, Dunkirk and iOstend. For
the 100,000 German troops penned between the
British lines and the channel there is no route
.of escape. There WH1 be no salvation for them
"by sea, as occurred for the British 300,000 in
( 1940. ry.-J ::;,;:'! --j:,, ,' ' V fft " "
The zeal of the British to seal the doom of
the Germans on the channel is increased by their
desire to end the robot bombing Of their home-
land. Reporters say it was the primeobjective
of the British, that they were, more concerned
with the damage from the bombs to their homes
than with anything else. Their energy is being
rewarded, for as soon as present ammunition is
exhausted the bombings from Pas de Calais
must cease, and Holland will be a temporary
and unsatisfactory substitute.' j :
l ( Already England is breathing more eas-
ily, seemg an end to the five years of fear and
intermittent destruction which have haunted
its people. ! ' ' - i "
"Summons to Berchtesgaden" -1944
Ground action has absorbed; most of news
attention, but the air fighting on the continent .
continues on a great scale. The task of aerial
destruction should become much! simpler when
the airfields of France and Belgium are made
into bases with adequate supplies. The "haul"
will be made much shorter when, the planes do
not have to fly back to British bases.
- Oregon is producing over two million tur
keys again this year. That is something to gob
ble over, not crow. I - '
Another thing -if we'd been having a state
fair we would be sure of fine rains. "
Interpreting
Thenar! News ,
By KIRKE L. SIMPSON
ASSOCIATED PRESS WAR ANALYST '
. The shape of a vast and powerful Russian- v
allied nut-cracker attack designed to crush : nazi ;
Germany into submission before winter is-Vecom-
ing more clearly defined with every official bulle- j
tin although some sectors ; remain! cloaked in se- !
crecy for security reasons. ; - P ' -
v And the first official hint now, comes of simul- ;
taneous Russian and allied drives j toward a June-
tion In the southeast to lop off the Balkan penin- -sula
as Brittany was sheared away. .
. In the east, Russian forces capitalizing on gaps
' cut in the German defense front keyed to the Narew ;
river, pushed deeper into the critical Vistula-Bug
triangle above the confluence of the two major
Polish streams northwest of Warsaw. The curving' j
Bug. front is the vital link of the German line de-J
fending the Danzig corridor approach to the Bal
tic or Berlin.': -h'-O .-' W "'
4 It is formidable obstacle to Russian deploy
ment into the rolling plains that lead northwest
ward to German frontiers but is already outflanked :
by Russian penetration of nazi lines on the Narew -
7z ' above Serock. Red forces are reported now driv-
TVN TO TEE LEFT - 1 ' . . . ing into the narrow Bug-Vistula triangle itself to
A former Romanian diplomat in this country 1 complete the break-through. . It would mean a re-
The Literary
Guidcpost
i V By Jehn.Selby
."Steamboats' CemaJTnie"; '
' ) by James .Thomas Flexner
Viking; 3.50). ; ' c
No season produces too many
' books that are useful, and Just
as attractive as they are valu
. able. James Thomas Flexner has
done a book of this sort in his
"Steamboats- Come True." Other
men have recognized the same
-' situation as Mr. Flexner, and
have done something about it,
' too. But this is certainly the
most amusing effort to let at the
, truth I have seen- in ioag '
while. . ,. :
If someone says, who invemV
i ed the steamboat?'' 'the anawer -,
is pretty OQiely to be "Turton." -'
And the chances jara fhafiiuf '
first successful steamboat will be '
identified ! aa the "Clermont,"
and its passage up the Hudson
river will.be nescribecL Actually,
' Fulton did not invent the ateam-
boat any more than Hr. Flexner
did everything needed to -pro- .
-duce .such m vesari -was -already '
invented, and these had been
combined! successfully many
.years before. 3Ior did Fulton call,
the boat; the "Clermont" Fur
thjermoret,Tullon was not prima-
; rily interested in producing
' steamboats in any , case, but
i -thought of them a, profit
1 makingsiae!ine; he' waa enam
ored -of the submarine, and try--ing
-hardrta sell it io a number
, of nations. Although he did not
: dream up .submarine, be did
sell it to Napoleon I, Pitt, and '
: later to the;, government of the
United States.' Fulton was quite
a lad. ; . j : " : ';' .
" There are at least nine other
candidates for thei position of
1 steamboat inventor, but Mr.
Flexner's favorite is Fitch. Fitch
was an eccentric He was a sur
veyor, and eventually was cap
tured by ; the Indians and had a
diiucuit .tune of Jt. He was a
brass' founder, a silversmith,
clockmaker, cartographer and a
good enough .mechanic to build '
a steam engine. He even believed
himself, at one time, to be the
.Messiah of a b r a n d-new cult
ranking with" Christ and Mo-hammedi-;
-:K .k-ij: l,.-,'-But
these eccentricities did not
keep him from building a steam
boat of his own in 1790, 47 years
before Fulton's made its' trip to
A Story of a Dead City
CANNES, France-(Delayed)-(ff)-This
capital city of ther
world's eternal children of sun
light the rich, fashionable wan
derers of countless cosmopolitan
sets stands silent i and almost
deserted as the Seventh army
doughboys roll on toward Italy's -famed
Riviera.
Taken after the German garri
son general twice decided to sur
render and '-twice changed his
mind, the city to which Napoleon -fled
from Elba and Jimmy Walk
er from New York shows some
damage from bombardments, but
not as much as might have been
eamected.. i '
Fighting for the city was spor
adic but spottrly intense, CpL, '
Sohert Powers jot Baton Rouge,
Tji pointed to spots where trees .
1 mnd " shrubbery j w e r e whittled
-flown by mortars and machine- ?
guna along a road entering the -
"And they planted mines all
around, .be said. "They didn't
get to plant as many as they
wanted because they finally ran
out in a luirry, but still there's
plenty.. Better stay in the roid-
die of Ihe road."
' He'd hardly finished speaking
when some luckless French civil- .
'ian set off two mines a few yards
to the left of the road. The road
bridge: itself had exploded from
' an unexplained causes few
boors' before. Two vehicles were
hit by other mines within a radi-
hb of 15 yards one a Red Cross
jeep, the other a track carrying
powers and other soldiers. "
Near the beach stood the castle .
of Henry Clews of Wall street '
, fame. A soldier who had spent
. the night there -said it had been
the scene of "a pretty rough lit-
tie scrap.":
fWe shot at it when the Ger
mans were inside and then we .
; got inside and they shot at us,"
; he said, v I -" - U-k V- ' -i:
Within Cannes itself there are
some signs of struggle manifested
Albany." Nor did they interfere
; with the operation of. the Fitch
boat for several months on a re-
gular schedule, its- ports being
Burlington and Trenton in New
Jersey, and Philadelphia. After
thai summer Fitch's mind ap
pears to have clouded a bit, and.
certainly h boat was left to roC
' Mr. Flexner has brought a lot
of Americana to life in his book.
"THE YOUNG IDEA" By Mossier
'predicts that postwar Europe will adopt a modified
socialism and proceed by stages to full socialism.
Word from France is that the people's political tern
per is "not communistic, but far to the left,- The "
. Dutch underground has notified the governmentr
ia-exfle that the people favor a form of socialism
under the crown. Sweden already has a good start '
i: toward state, socialism.- Jry, " Y"; :
All of which should not. be the signal for a lot
of lericani to start looking for a deep storm cel
lar. A swing to the left is the most natural reac- '
tion of a fascist-dominated Europe., even In those "
countries where fascism was not actually in control.
A swing to the left is also natural in a group of
countries, which still has a peasant class, and other
barriers which breed poverty and discontent
It is not accidental that the United States has -achieved
itj high standard of prosperity and com- -fort
under a system of private capitalism operating
In a free democratic republic. The system has its
operational faults and, abuses, but basically it Is
strong, popular and successfuL ' - -
What we need now is a sound plan for putting '
t' at system back .on a peacetime basis with fewer
lault3 and abuses than it had before, and a willing ;
ni cooperciive belief In it fey all of us who must t
' : ..ke it wtik. ' '"' ' " r' : -r-' '-r
, Fill t r "ed as It undoubtedly wCl be filled
i z-.i v,2 r i ret 3 locking for red beymen.-,
laider ti2 Led. Albany Democrat-Herald.
turn to fast maneuver operations in the east over
terrain well suited to tanks and even deep raiding
to the enemy rear ; by Russian Cossacks. It must
mean, too, German retreat Jn the east to ill pre-j,
pared German frontiers to stand final seige as the'
retreat from France and Belgium! has exposed the
western borders of the reich to now developing al
lied frontal mass attacks. - j ".
v .. Official reports confirm the creation by Amer
ican armies of Moselle and Meuse bridgeheads
within striking distance of : the nazi "west wall
defense lines-although the exact positions of most
advanced-elements is still a guarded matter for
military reasons. There seems.no doubt however
that south of the indicated Moselle -front between
Metx and Nancy, American and French elements '
of the Mediterranean Invasion army may already
have linked arms with American Third army com
rades close to the upper1 Rhine. -
Press reports from' allied : headquarters in
France intimate some disappointment that Third
army supply lines failed to keep pace with forward
elements that once stabbed into Germany itself.
But in view of the German "west wall" fortifica- '
tions now to be faced, General Patton Is apt to need
big, long range guns for-the work ahead of him. It
takes time to bring them up with their stores of
ammunition, but it will save American lives If they
. are at band to join allied air power in blasting open
the' roads to the Rhine and beyond
; ..
- el fcSA f ' ' X
PORTLAND, Sept 7.-C?VA
steam water heater caused the
strange clanking thought by the
George L, Dewaides to be a van
dal throwing-rocks on their roof,
; police reported today.
Other mysterious occurrences
attempts to set the-house on fire,
slashed screens, and. anonymous
phone callsceased after a detec
tive was posted there. But they
I tLisk this upsweep docs something to me don't you, momT haven't been explained.
ATt
by the barbed wire entangle-1
ments,, which had been yanked:
off the streets, and hurriedly con-s
structed barricades. French civ
ilians who were busy showing, the
soldiers where the mines were lo
cated said the retreating" Ger
mans forced them to dig holes to
plant the destructive weapons.
"We were angry when they;
made us put them here," one
said, "but now we are glad. We
can show you where they are." :
All along the streets and parks
stood empty boats, tmTwahni
by mines in the harbor and the
warships in the sea. ,
. An official representative of
the consul of a neutral nation,
whe was resident in Cannes for
20 years, said almost all the fa
mous hotels had been out of bus-
iness since the early days of Ital
ian occupation. ; v
He said the size of the enemy
garrison had varied, with
strength going upward as the in
vasion scare increased. From the
time the Germans took over from
the Italians, he said, the efficien
cy of the defenses was on the up-
ward trend, with the beaches
mined and machineguns covering
all approaches from the sea.
Safety Valve j
Letter from StUntnn Readgra
BOOSTS ' TAX FOK AGED i
To the Editor: -j
Twenty-five years ago, Oregon
started this nation upon one of
the i greatest constructive tax
programs m history 'by merely
placing a small tax upon each
gallon of gasoline used for trans
portation purposes, and imme
diately using the revenue for one
. specific purpose:, to build and
maintain better highways. This
- program has now - revolution
ized our entire highway system.
' This - fall, the clear ' thinking
voters of Oregon are going to
start another tax program that
will eventually revolutionize our
entire economic system, just as!
completely and successfully as
the . gasoline tax has done for
our highway system. :
Now, -money Is the gasoline
that wet use to keep our eco
nomic engines running.' Oregon's
employment and retirement mu
-tual Insurance plan will merely
place a small tax upon the dol
lars usedwith certain exemp
tions in our economic engine.
The .revenue therefrom will
again be immediately used each
month for another specific pur
pose: to - build ' and maintain a
permanent highway of buying
power among, our physically un
employable citizens over IS and
those who wish to retire at 60.?
- By adopting this scientific In
surance program on Nov. 7, Ore
gon will again, lead America
: this time . out of the economic
"mud of the past into stabi
lized economic security for the
future - f
MAUDE P. LEWIS,
" 3308 Lake Road, j
Portland, 2, Ore. ,?
Portland Residence
Ridded by Vandals ;
, "' SOUTHERN FRANCE, Aug.
Sl-(delayed) - V?) - Alter three
years of aiding the French un
derground with funds and food,
the first time New York socialite
Isabel Townsend Pell now
known- as "Fredricka" or "the
girl, with the blonde streak"
started active maquis work, it al
most proved, fatal. " -
' Orders given her by "Joseph,"
her first maquis chieftain after
tier escape from .an axis prison,
were to return home and help
hide fleeing maquis and incom
ing allied parachutists. This was
about a year ago.. '.
She was to get detailed in,
structions through a - maquis
youth who was to identify him
self by asking "how are the
twins? ; i - " . ..: , !
But Joseph was killed and sev
eral patriots captured by the ges
tapo. Someone cracked and gave '
away . the plans.;-. Fortunately,
word reached her first and she'
DTP
9331008
(CnoUnued trtim Page 1)
the Normandy operation was a
feint
: 3rd, the fumbling and hesita-1
tion in meeting the invasion. In
its initial stages, when success
was teetering, no vigorous coun
terattack was - launched. The
subsequent blows which were
struck were local, separate op
erations, largely defensive ; in
character. The one exception
was the assault at Mortain at the
joint of ' the Normandy-Breton
peninsula operations, which,',
though tactically correct,' was
too little and too iateJ ; -v ;V
4 th,- an apparent - absence f .
plan for lines of retreat and de
fense. In; the more than three
years of occupation there was
time both for constructing de
fenses, which was done, and- for
planning coursesof action -for
most every eventuality in the
way of invasion. This latter was
not done. It seems that the Ger
mans were confident that the :
coastal defense line would hold,
'end made no preparations i for
retreats which might be used to
reform troops for victory in bat
tle. When the eggshell of . the
coastline was-cracked the inside
prove so soft a rout followed.- j '
5th, unwise use of reinforce-;
ments Even when the noose was '
being, tightened at the base of '
Normandy the-' German com
mand kept pouring armor and
men into the pocket to the
amazement of allied observers.
Segments of the- 15th army were
pulled across the Seine in a be
lated attempt to stop the allied
advance. Thus the ' reinforce
ments were sacrificed instead of
being expertly used to turn the
tide of combat or cover1 an or
derly retreat - - if "
th, disintegration in : retreat
There seemed to be no chain of
command directing withdrawals.
The units were left to scramble
for themselves. :Mvr
j The German generals let their
armies be caught in t h e - trap
which their own master strate
gist, General Count Schlieffen
had taught as the tactic for the
offense. The Americans followed
ScWieffen's dictum which is the
real base of modern warfare:
"How is 'the enemy's wing to
be attacked? Not with one or
two corps, but with one or two
armies, and the march of these
armies . should be directed, not
against the enemy's flank, but
against, his" line "of retreat m
emulation of what was demon-
was prepared when the gestapo
came. By feigning ignorance and
fright she managed to escape ar-
L IT 1 I I .
icsu iucj .cjfc uer unoff sur
veillance In the hope of trapping
others but' even that failed. -
, - She continued to organize the
' maquis in the Cannes area, and
learned j to forge identification
" papers. .v She supplied food,
clothes, 'arms and ammunition,
and her house became a Tegular
recruiting - station. ; Her . new
chieftain was the , famed "St
,Paul,H probably the best known,
maquis j ! leader in southern .
France, f - -
She had several dose scrapes
with the gestapo, . although us-
vance.
After a . few false .- alarms, -
however; we got careless," : she
said. ' "That caused the closest
calL"- . !
' She .was expecting a maquis
band to pick her up one night lor
a special job. (She was termed a -"crack
shot" j by the French.)
When the doorbell rang she saw
'a group or men in the shadows.
."Naturally t thought it was the
maquis," she said, "and called
cheerily to them in French. The
answer came gruffly from an ob
viously German throat: This is
the police. We are going to search
the house - ' '
, "Two big apes seized me while
one little monkey poked a sub
machinegun at my heart There
were 20 of them in all. I told
them it seemed like a lot of su
permen needed to search a house
with only three women.
They held the machinegun on
"me in the bathroom while I
dressed but seemed to get more
decent as I continued to feign
anger while they tore up the ra
dio and ripped out desk drawers.
"I really was terribly worried.
1 was so tired the evening before
-that I had carelessly- failed to
bury, some identification papers.
They .were hidden in a book
ctse." ;
-'. . But the men overlooked them
and finally left with three large
American flags. She asked that
one be left her. 1 They - laughed:
"Don't Worry. You will see it
again soon enough."
Despite the cryptic remark a
month passed and nothing hap
pened. ; .,. Gradually intelligence
work was added to her duties, as
well as organizing women's dem
onstrations in Cannes.
During the last few days be
fore the - American invasion
..things happened fast . f
The Germans started j building
huge gun emplacements nearby.
' (Continued on Page 3
strated at Ulm, In the. winter
campaign of 1807, and at Sedan.
This leads immediately to a dis
turbance of the enemy's line of
retreat and through it to dis
order and confusion, which
gives an opportunity for a bat
tle with an Inverted front a bat
- tie of annihilation, a battle with
an obstacle in the rear of the
enemy.
It is probable that the Hitler
izing of the army spread the
poison of disaffection among
the wehrmacht The field offi
cers knew' they had a strong
enemy in front to' fight and a
military freak in their rear to
satisfy.! After allowing for this
and for their lack 'of reserves'
' and or air cover ihe conclusion
seems Inescapable that the Ger
man generals failed in the cri
sis. Both in the first world war
and now j in the second, when
' their initial burst failed to bring
a decision they proved,incapable
of sustaining - the war to final
victory. In this war both Rus
sian and British and American
generals have showed greater
ability, in the conduct of large
scale warfare. This., fact ought
not to be without significance fnr
the future. "
Stevens
GIFT CANTEEN!
in
nrrrr
;!LjiJ
m
i
Gift Suggestions!
Watches, IJeatlf I eat lea
Eracelets, XUUfolis, Dog'
Chains, Elars, Comb aad
. Brash Sets.
Gifts purchased- from
Stevens and Son will be
wrapped and mailed
without charge.
Credit -:.-. , ' !
If Desired
Army
. Sept. IS to Oct. IS
Navy, Uarines, Coast Gaard ...
. . Sept IS to Oct II
t'-ft