PAGE TOU2
The Q3ZGOXI STATESMAIL Jfcuenv Orecst Friday Korx!ag; December 22. 1S41
Wo Facor Stray U$; No Fear. Shall Awe f ,
' From First Statesman, March 23, 1831 r ! - w
THE STATESMAN PUBLISHING COSIPANY.
CHARLES A SPRAGUE, Editor and Publisher
, Member of the Associated Press V
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.
Surprise on Western Front ; -'
We know so little of the facts about the Ger
man counter-offensive in the Belgium-Luxembourg
sector that it is impossible for home front
commentators to speak or write with any, degree
of authority. There has been almost a complete
news blackout since the German blow struck.
Insofar as this news-suppression may be need
ed to conceal information from the enemy,, we
are ready fir acquiesce in the censorship. But if
It is merely to save the people at home' from
bad news and let it seep out gradually, or if it
is to cover up bad performance on the part of
American officers or units, then we do not like
it. The fact that the OWI representative has
been working to get release of fuller informa
tion indicates that the censorship is not due
strictly to desire for security.
.- What has been conceded Is that the Germans
have launched and carried forward a massive ,
counter-attack, supporting it with sufficient
strength to carry it for 35 miles, through a
breach in our lines of some 60 or 70 miles. That
is a mighty blow. The preparation of it must
have taken weeks.. The real mystery is over
the surprise which evidently was inflicted on
the firstarmy. . '
, To learn what the enemy is doing or is plan
ning is the job of army intelligence. If this sec
tion gives accurate information the command
ers can dispose their forces to meet the antici
pated thrust Intelligence depends on reports
; of various kinds, and now uses aerial recon
naissance extensively. Just how Germany
i could pile up sucK strength of eight or nine in
fantry divisions and five or six armored divi
sions without detection is what we do not un
derstand. It js true that fog has keptTmr planes
'grounded much of the time, but it would seem
that, observation planes could have done patrol
work enough to spot troop movements on such
a scale and concentrations of armor. .We will be
getting fuller reports from correspondents soon,
.we hope, "and then may get the full story of the
: surprise, sit may not be a pretty one.
Americans are warned that this thrust is a
'big thing." While it will not do for us to get
', panicky, .the situation is serious because of its
, losses and because it may prolong the war for
many months. But ' we must -brace ourselves
both for the reverses and for the casualties. We
can hope, tod, that this German expenditure will
exhaust their strength so much that the war's
end may be hastened in consequence.
"Dora to Dover"
Our ""staff correspondent" in London j writes
about a trip to Dover, the much-bombed and
shelled city on the English channeL ,From his
letter we quote:
No Mass Return of Japs
There will not be mass migration of Japanese
flack to the west coast. Thousands of former
residents who were moved from the coast back
'in 1942 have established themselves in other
parts of the Country. They will not want to
return. A very considerable number now re
side in Chicago, running small hotels and room
ing houses and engaging in the occupations as
' they did oh the west coast.
i Returning Japanese would find it hard to ob-
tain housing here, unless they owned houses or
had leases on them, which was not permitted to
lien Japanese. Moreover, they do not want to
come back if they are m physical danger or if
the community is set against them.
Those who own property here, . and many do,
will want to come back to recover their prop
erty. This will be true of Japanese farmers;
- and if they return their rights must be re- -fpected.
; . .,: . x-y-';:
Undoubtedly a question will arise over,, the
damages done to Japanese-Americans by the
f' evacuation order. One estimate is that, claims
up to $400,000,000 will be filed against the gov
ernment. Those who were citizens with no rec
ord of disloyalty can claim damages for loss of
property or business or earnings of same be
cause they 'were removed as a war necessity,
i Aliens probably have no right of recovery. -No
recognition of such claims has been giveiy
but without doubt pressure will come for -such
recognition. In the end congress may appoint
tome agency to examine such claims for dam-
age, and ; provide funds to pay .. the approved
claims. ,:. ::;x ;: " ,Vv " - - - -
There is a growing' realization even in the
"hot spots' like Hood River and Gresham that
constitutional rights cannot be denied.- Instead
of organizing to resist the return of Japanese
' these communities might better form commit
r ' tees to study the question, endeavoring to pre-.
; vent such concentrations as would prove so
i cially offensive, and to absorb into community
life those who do return. - ?
Editorial Comment
V ; : :
TIME TO SPEAK UP
If the Army and Navy Journal purports to speak
authoritatively though not officially from the view
point of the armed forces, and it does, it has cer-
tainly performed a most egregious disservice both
for itself and for the Army and the Navy whose in-
' terests it presumably has at heart The allegation,
published recently, that th Allies have failed to
break through on the Western front largely be
cause of British and .Russian preoccupation with
political considerations in the Mediterranean and
-. the Balkans, respectively, would have been in rath
er, poor taste and inexpedient, to put it mildly, if
uttered, by a strictly civilian commentator. Com
log from a source which implies some reflection of
' Army or Navy views, it is inexcusable. -
Such a statement could put the American armed
forces under the suspicion of disclaiming responsi
bility for their own difficulties and hastening to
lay the blame on other shoulders. That is not in
- accord with the Army and Nary tradition of sports
, manship; it is lika blaming a team-mate for delay
ing a touchdown.. The American public under-
stands the difficulties which the Allied armies have
faced on the Western Front and there has been very
little disposition to criticize the military leadership.
Even if there were; we believe, the overwhelming
majority of Army and Navy men would wish to ac-
"' cept their fair -share of the blame and defend them
, selves directly against any excess. ; ; r
But the statement has been made and stands, un
fortunately, in black and white. It seems up to the
Army and Navy now to officially repudiate the
Journal's -viewpoint and thus free themselves, as
well athe country, from its somewhat shoddy implications.-
Christian "Science Monitor. ,
."Yesterday, more or less in a mood to get"
out of town at any cost, I took a train for Dover
in pouring rain, j which continued until I got
there or; .rather, went through there.- The .
ticket said there were two stations, 'Priory and
Marine.' i I decided f d like to get off at Ma
rine, but found myself five miles out of town
on the way to Deal before I realized we weren't
going to "Marine.; I inquired about buses at a v
nearby pub, then legged a mile or so along a
wet asphalt road through fields to the nearest
village of St Margarets, which lies in a swale -
: about a mile back from the lip of the chalk
.. cliffs. : There, in an inconceivably musty old
hotel, I " had a not-too-bad lunch with, by
chance, a British chaplain of captain's rank
who happened to come in. -. He remarked about
having some ribs broken In an. auto accident in
Belgium in September. I asked about life in -the
army, and we had a pleasant chat. ...
"Anyway, from St Margarets I went by bus
to Dover, where on general principles and to
see the town best from the height I first vis
ited the castle. It's a military establishment
of course, as all castles are in this country, but
the sergeant-major , sentry or officer' of the
guard took a fairly good view of my navy card
and an Admiralty pass I had along, -and let me
in. Once in, I could beat around as I wanted
to; and in fact found the castle deserted com
pletely. I wound up in a medieval stone star , '
way in one of the towers,' and finally came out
on the roof, quite the finest sightseer's perch in
the neighborhood. '
"You coiild look down on the town and see
the sad sight induced by four years' off-and-on
shelling from the French side, which was, by '
the way, invisible. Later, after looking about
the castle a bit more, and at the still standing
Roman lighthouse at the edge of the bluff, I
came, down into the town and saw the rows of
. musty, caved-in houses, chipped and torn-away
walls, and littered piles of mouldering plaster
and pulverized brick which the-Germans had
left there, without ever themselves having seen
the place except from the air and that at their
imminent peril. . X1
"The town is knocked about and more than
one street had hardly an inhabited building,
but instead the sort of decaying remains of once ,
reasonably stout business- and shop-structures.
There was even a smell, as of disintegration,
still lingering in the damp, mildewed interiors.
"Like all British towns, the place didn't have,
so far as I could find, and I tramped about for
three hours, a single hotel open for tea on Sun
day, and nothing else, either, except a cinema
after five o'clock. : I did finally find a bakery
shop that was serving food of a sort, and had a t
meal before getting on a train back, where I .
chewed the rag with a couple of British offi
cers on the subject of small arms.''
TTo holders ' of A ffasalin rnrd- t rwlav (
Christmas, because the No. 14 coupons become
valid. - -
; . ---J -t : .XX- -v. XX, ,X.-X
Interpreting
"The War News
K1RKE L. SIMPSON
- ' ; ASSOCIATED PRESS WAS ? ANAXTSW N-ir' f V
Official Allied 'disclosure that the Nazi counter
attack in Belgium had stabbed to within 18 miles
of the vital Liege communications hub has an omi
nous sound unless it is recalled that the news was
:'. . two days old. f -.-AAf: . . ? ;V - '.'ir-'.l-I
What happened, in . the subsequent 48 hours is
what really mattered. Military security still cloak- -ed
the details except for piecemeal and more nearly
up to date bits of front line information from cor-.
respondents drifting back from the American First
army command centers , .
Checking those advices on the maps, there is
nothing to indicate that the 35-mile deep puncture
in American lines there is wide enough to be men
acing. Key towns along its whole northern flank
have been held or retaken, by American troops.'
That First army "counter measures" reported in -process
..relate particularly to that front covering
the southern perimeter of the Aachen bulge and the
Liege and Maastricht crossings . of the Meuse goes
. without saying. That stretch of the counter-attack
front from Monschau east of the reich frontier
to the point 35 miles to the west where, a Nazi arm
ored spearhead has cut the Liege-Bastogne-Arlon
highway in Belgium to come closest to Liege prob-,
ably holds the key to the ultimafe result Of the bold
and risky German venture. ; " i- ; ti '
..... Along that front American forces currently are
reported holding an : important towns and "villages
: including ; Monschau, i Butgenbach, Malmedy and'
Stavelot The line appears to conform generally
. to the route of an eastern feeder of the Iieg-Lux-'
embourg railway most if 'not all of which' is in'
American hands to provide quick lateral communi-
cations at the front l .1
The- second day Nazi penetration southwest of
Stavelot, disclosed, by a further limited lifting of.
the Allied news blockade, was westward, not to
' the north.. It is to the north that the danger to Al
lied communications with the Aachen bulge lies and
; it is there also, within the bulge,, that the whole
- American Ninth army and the left wing of the
American First army are concentrated. i -
Due south of Malmedy American troops also held
St With at last reports. If so the base of the Ger-
" man salient driven across the Liege-Bastogne high
way is less than 5 miles in width at that point It
is dangerously narrow for its depth, obviously ln-
: viting cutting off attacks from the northern flank.
r Loss of the use of the-Liege-Bastogne highway
along the northern section of the front Is the most
serious result Of the new two-day-old German pen
etration. It was a very useful link connecting the
two wings of the First army; but not an indispensa-
, ble one. The Liege-Bastogne railway and a west
ern loop of the Liege-Bastogne highway running
bj way of Marche still closely oin the north and
south elements of the First army, well behind the
active front. a -
t Press reports front Allied main headquarters tp
. pear to reflect Allied staff acceptance of the view
. of most military writers that the German counter-
- attack is being contained but still has not been defi-
- nitely checked.
There is little doubt remaining, however, that the
' foe. has accomplished his chief indicated purpose
. and brought the great Allied winter offensive drive
. at least to a temporary halt General Eisenhower's
plans will have to be recast even if the Nazi drive
in Belgium and .Luxembourg is finally sealed off.
41
Yank Sarcj Trades
Sus XMvIag Job
For Soup Making .
ST ttwimni wtta Thm Wrakifitoa tu t
A Tip From Uncle Sam
THo Literary
Guidcpost
By John Setby
SITCATION NORMAL,"- ky Arthur
,, MUler (Beyaal Httchcoc.fc: rr ;
Quite a while back a cetn
movie producer sent Arthur Mil
ler out into the world of the mil
itary camps with an idea. The
idea was that it would be nice to
produce a movie that really did
express the soldier the kind of
movie that could be shown in
Army camps without rousing
horselaughs all over the place.
- Mr. Miller was a good choice
for that sort of assignment He's
not very old, he had some expe
rience knocking about the world,
and he has a certain amount of
what the universities still call
education! There were two more
qualificationstoo. One was that
he has a ready sympathy which
he is not ashamed to show, and
the other is that he can write.
Really write. This does not mean
that Mr. Miller is one to whip
adjectives all over the corral. It
means that: when he starts out to
describe a man or a situation or
an emotion, the thing stays de
scribed. -. I
He was interested in the en-
News Behind the News
By PAUL MALLON
(Distribution by King Features Syndicate, Inc. Reproduction ' In whole
or in part strictly prohibited.)' !
: .WAS HINGTON, Dec. 21, war to save Poland. That Is how
Mr. Churchill's cold cutting of the this war started.' While the Brit
Curzon line through Poland came fah and French were in Moscow
as a shock to the public, but not trying to . make a deal with Sta
lin, Hitler announced a non-aggression
' pact "with him' (August
21, 1939) to run for ten years
whereby neither would oppose the
other.. This no doubt called for
division of Poland because Rus
sia' moved mi-and took! her half
less than a month later. !
Meantime Hitler invaded his
half of Poland (Sept 1) and Brit
ain declared war two days later
when Hitler did not 1 answer
Chamberlain's ultimatum : to with
draw hazi troops from Polish soil
(Britain had a treaty with the
Poles undertaking . to protect
them.) ' h
But the Bntisn do not now
feel or act disillusioned.
to the diplomats
involved.
A year or more
ago , even the
newspaper me n
in London knew
Britain had an
understand in g
with Russia for
this very Stalin
acquisition of
pre-war Polish
territory They
were not per- '. i . .
mitted , to write Jt publicly, but
they discussed it freely . among
themselves.
The deal was Reached long back
before the recent Churchill and
Eden visits to Moscow, perhaps
as far back as the Tehran confer
ence, as now reported.
..h--z- .....
"4.- 7
Pael MaHoa
History may measure j Church-
Hi's conciliation against the Brit-
for practically the past two years r' T t
t.:. J7-j ,u: impressed with. Russia's subse-.
listed men, but writes well about toward working the exiled Polish sucfss in Jtir nazi in-
their officers.: He finds a great government in London around to
number of little things that nev- acceptance of the Curzon cutting,
er seem to get into print the re- " There was not much' deception
sentment - between paratrooper in Churchill's position.. Last Jan-
and ordinary air-borne man, for tiary and' February he .publicly
one small illustration. The for- imDlored the London Poles to ac
cept the western Curzon slice
The sensational way he pre
sented it to parliament as a cold
as me bored men sitting around hav- KZn inentr . rfiffAt European peoples without outside
in the blackout smoking with T r, influence. ?
mer gets twfee the pay of the
latter. Miller can go out on night
maneuvers,! and draw from them
a set of wonderful, pictures, such
vasion of her own soil and have
come to accept the theory that
she deserves anything reasonable
on her Western frontier, although
the concession violates every
American position on the war
from the Atlantic charter to the
Stettinius announcement a few
weeks back urging free determi
nation of their governments by
their heads drawn down into
their overcoats; such as a clever
' colonel handling his erring lieu
tenants so expertly that not one
man even (flushed' when i cor
rected, f: '::
V Boys being outfitted, mum
bling about camp in the vague
. state between civilian and sol
dier, boys fwatcbing expert' ac
tors show them how to do things
and how not to do them, lonely
boys,- young racketeers, praying
boys and cussing boys all of
them are drawn in all kindness.
Mr. Miller does not do - much
conclusion findings, but whenhe
does, they are good conclusions.
tion which was pressing him on
the Greek affair.
His own liberals, laborites and
trade unionists (and : our new
dealers) hid been reprimanding
him for opposing the left wing
and communits elements in Greece
so he presented ' them with the
Polish case in which he had sold
out to those elements. Such
adroit politics rather nullified
their campaign .against ' him on
the' Greek matter. ( " ? MT ; l r'xhl
Here no one knows what to . say
(see state department announce
ment of Monday). Or rather they
He thinksf for example, that our know what they are eager to say.
was
Issued in. respect to Italy and
Greece,- where the British were
Interfering, but no exception was
mentioned of Poland which - the
Russians are taking. ; .
: Now "freedom of peoples' Is a
policy Which the United States
can permanently defend. - It has
solid moral background. But
Churchill and Stalin are working
toward something contrary divi
sion of spheres of major-nation
influence over people. That Is a
course of expediency. Justifiable
by present day facts, but without
any moral ground whatsoever.
For example,' it is quite true
the war's about
men should know better.what but doubt If it would do any good -.SJSIS
its overpowering L army. , exists
alongside her. Thus it is physical
ly Impossible to have what we
want at this time.
It also may be physically im-
:.'" By Rata Cowan ix -'(Substituting
for Kenneth I Dixon)
NAPLES, Dec 12-(Delayed)-(jp)-Sgf
Frank Kauffman heart
a woman is driving the bus he
used - to ; drive
' back , in New
port, Ky, but
thafa okay
with him,, for
he feels he has
invaded the
feminine field
and . hat done
quite well
thank you. .
nine Jul r.
Kauffman has -l,J,-uV.-J
supervised theKenncth U Dixen
making of 2,896,400 quarts of
gOUPA "
. The sergeant has charge of a
kitchen that feeds 16,000 to 21,-.
000 persons daily. Most are Ital
ian civilians employed at a port
operated by the US Eighth army ,
port of embarkation. - j
The members of the . house
military affairs committee vrere
" taken, during their visit herei on
a tour of this port commanded
by CoL John Hines, of Wilming
ton, NC. ' ':;x'.r:
Since the army, took over In
Safety Valve
LETTERS FROM STATESMAN
READERS i
To the Editor: " f . , .
There have been a blast and a
counter-blast irf the local press
regarding the recent serious fire
at the Capital City Transfer com-.
' pany building. The most import
ant item of news was entirely
left out of the criticism, namely,
that the fire was put out;; and
secondly, that the fire was con
fined to the original building.
For your own Information at
tend the next good-sized fire and
watch the chief for, say, thirty
minutes, get up close. j
The writer-. also . makes' no
, claim ' to being a fire expert;
1 however, it Is high time that the
'following facts be considered by
Salem residents as to our fire
. department: ' , "" " : '
The Salem fire department has
almost a dozen of its younger
men in the armed forces at the
present time. . ' . k '-X :
By all standards, the four local
fire houses are very much uhder
manned. ,
. Much equipment Is
or obsolete," :
The Salem fire department la
an excellent one from a person-;
nel standpoint Composed mainly j '
of responsible, intelligent jand
courageous citizens, with long,,
experience, and training with
what equipment we have. jTheir ,
business is to fight fires.
Chief Buck Hutton is neither
a diplomat nor a politician jthank
God !
His job is fighting fires and ,
commanding his department end .
brother, he does both. He jknows
every building, hydrant Vehicle
and bit of equipment power line,
and person or thing related to
fighting Salem fires.
He will go quickly to the most '
, dangerous and vital point at a
fire, and his men naturally fol
low such leadership. He as al-
ways been on the Job, attends all
fires. Is honest and courageous .
to a fault '- - . '
He will say yes or no loud
enough to hear, on any Subject -.
you wish, walks on both sdes of '
all street, and will tell any or
' all to go to hell, and more, at
the slightest provocation, if any.
Folks, we've got a good fire chief
and fire department Amen.
Paul Herdinkfr
November, 1 1943, the- port has
handled nearly 8,000,000 tons of
. shipping, i ' - ,
. Lt CoL Paul Oizeaux, of Tow
gph, Mi, port labor, control of-
' . ficerj said that one month the
port surpassed the tonnage han
dled in the port of New York.
.The .harbor facilities have luuy.
;Hed up to 14,00a tons daily. .
Much? of the supplies destined
'for . the Italian .front comes
through this, the 'second largest
port in the. Mediterranean in
peace-time. Supplies also"' are
' (Continued on page 14)
rnj
worn ou'
Republican Senator Vandenberg
walked around all last week with
Oregon Ship to Launch Peech obviously sticking out
t . pi . xvr V t on his chest He could barely re
VlCtory Ship West Linn strain, himself day by day, saying
PTIRTTlAVn T.aM ft : fK9i - ISsk, waa silawtnir MAaefeltA 0
Oregon Shipbimding corporation his views because he did not know P?81 to taX? 'r!
today labnclied ' the West Linn, whether It would help or hurt the ?le Geee Itfly elsewhere
first of two victory ships to situation to offer them and he
be named for Oregon towns, delivered only half yesterday, x v
Launching of the La Grande Is - The disillusioning fact of the
planned for January. , matter was that Britain went to
because leftism is a world move
ment, non-democratic Russian and
dictatorial m nature i but be
cause this is so, temporarily,
should we abandon what we know
"THE 1 YOUNG -IDEA" By Mossier" "c'-T
' -i . , ' -' v In short, should we abandon
, the American game of freedom of
. peoples to condone or accept the
. ; European game of spheres of in
fluence? . , ,
That is the case and the issue.
ia7,732 Apply
For Stickers
A total of 137,732 appUcations
for. 1945 motor , vehicle registra
tion stickers had been received at
, the state department here up to
, Wednesday night Secretary of
State Robert S. FarreuV jr, an
nounced Thursday.
Farrell said more than 100,000
stickers have been mailed to ap
plicants or issued over the count
em in the Salem and Portland of
fices. He estimated 440,000 motor
vehicle- registrations for 1945 as
- against approximately 425,000 this
year. " ' '
The 1942 license plates will be
retained. - . ' .- ; r-
Learnlnr this stnffs il"y. mom. what wilh the earning of the
,x , postwar kltchenf ;
Salem llzn Elected
PORTLAND, Dec. SH-Lloyd
Riches, Salem, has been! named
first vice-president - of - Columbia
Empire Industries. The new pres
ident "will, be Thomas' C I Young,
Portland. : ' '
(Continued from page 1)
es in so exposed a political situ
ation as the northwest In Ne
braska, American is selling its
operating; company, with its Om
aha system, to a group which
will divide it for public owner
ship and operation. Undoubtedly
if Bonneville administration had
the money and the1 authority it
would pick up all the electric
companies of American in the
northwest for similar disposal.
- With early settlement of the
affairs of Portland Electric Pow
er company, bankrupt, in sight
its chief subsidiary, Portland '
General Electric, might Consider
this a propitious time to acquire
Northwestern Electric However,1
such a. merger was voted down
some 18 years ago and will hard
ly be revived. It might touch off
a fresh campaign for municipal
ownership in Portland. -
The recent defeat - in Wash
ington of the measure that pro
vided machinery allowing PUDs
to combine to take over private
systems will prevent Washington
PUDs, "which pretty well blanket
that state as far as legal or
ganization, is concerned, from
taking over American's subsidi
aries there, though deals might
be worked out by negotiation if
1 American really wants to sell to
such organizations.
In Oregon the PUD movement
. has been slow, and there s is nd
adequate machinery in the way
of municipal corporations to take
over the Oregon units, although
the Hood , River. PUD t had an
ambitious scheme which, if. car
ried, would have permitted
wholesale acquisitions.
; American Power c Light is
still resisting SECs dissolution
order In the courts, but has pre
pared Its plans in event it losses
its case. While it would be given
plenty of time to dispose, of
properties it cannot retain, the
fact that these companies have
"for sale" signs on them will
start a lot of speculation. Bank
ers will seek to- get, some busi
ness, and financial and utility
operators will seek to get control
of ' these valuable properties, if
not directly through American,
then through accumulation of
stock in the operating companies
when it is on the market Sup
porters of public ownership will
see tiie golden opportunity i of
getting hold of these established
utilities without the agony and
uncertainty of condemnation
proceedings.
. It is pUiiwto see that the util
ity situation in the northwest, if
the American goes through with
Its program, will become, as the
military men say "highly fluid."
I
Stevens
1
w
i
Diamonds - Watches - Jewelry .
.' , - I x x "
Only-2
SHopplntj
Dccysl
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r w
We have enr exceptioncdolloction 61 oosa dla-
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tn a mounting ot your choioe right here in our
storel -
There is tull time to have your gifts purchased
here, engraved by Chrisbnas.
Credit If
Desired
Credit If
Desired'
ii - . K.