pags roua
The. OBEGOrf STATESMAN, Scdm. Orroxu Friday Homing. April 13. 1345
i - -
- - . ft ,.
rejaouis0iateBmau
s "No T avor Swayt Us;' So Fear Shall Atce"
from First Statesman. March 28. 1831
THE STATESMAN PUBLISHING COMPANY
CHARLES A. SPRAGUE, Editor and Publisher
Member of the Associated Press : - .i
Tie Associated Press Is exclusively entitled to the us for publication of all
news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in this newspaper.
i-v
Rules of Warfare , .
(j Our military forces sometimes make mistakes;
and when those mistakes are in contravention
of international law the authorities are usually
prompt .to admit, responsibility and express
regret. That was the case when some German
prisoners suffered suffocation on a POW train
in Europe. A new-type coach was in use, not
properly ventilated for a warm dayj and as
a result there was loss of life among the pris
oners. General Eisenhower admitted the facts
and announced prompt steps had been taken
to prevent a recurrence of the incident.
Another unfortunate accident occurred when
the Japanese relief ship Awa Maru was sunk
on its return voyage after it had taken relief
supplies for allied internees at some of the
Jap-held ports. The ship was travelling under
safe-conduct. Our state department says that
probably the ship was sunk by an allied sub
marine. It was hot sailing with any lights
visible and was sunk about midnight on April
1. The ship should have sailed with full illumi
nation; but even so it is regretable that it was
sunk. The supplies it had delivered were held
up in Vladivostok for about a year; and now
the Japs may refuse to deliver any more sup
plies for allied prisoners or internees.
In general there has been more criticism of
the generosity of our treatment of war prison
ers than the reverse. But our policy is defended
as being in compliance with the Geneva conven
tion. Prisoners are entitled to the same fare
as soldiers of the capturing country, according
to their rank. Since we feed our soldiers very
well, this means that the prisoners fare well
too. In fact the French complained because the
German prisoners were getting better food and
more of it than they were.
The United States has a good reputation and
wants to keep it. Accordingly it endeavors to
live up to the rules of war. When errors occur
-as they will in big operations, our officers move
promptly to correct blunders or to prevent their
recurrence. We will not have to apologize for
many incidents when this war is over.
Cushions for Kneeling Benches?
Just before the war the rail and stage lines
were installing in new equipment seats whose
cushions and headrests were so soft the pas
senger might think he was sitting on a feather
bed with his head resting on a down pillow.
The material was neither feathers nor down,
butijsponge rubber which consists simply of
rubber latex and air. It is not a new product
.we jhave had rubber sponges for years and
years; but a new application of an old product.
The" result was something adding- greatly to
the 1 comfort of travelers, and when used for
mattresses of those1 reclining on beds or daven
ports. The enterprising rubber concerns see visions
of a greatly broadened market for this product
in cushions and arm rests on furniture. Also,
they think they can sell sponge rubber to
cushion kneeling benches. Heretofore kneeling
benches have been plain board, ' which grows
no softer with time or with the lengthening of
devotions. But selling the churches sponge
rubber cushions for prayer benches may pose
something of a problem. The churches will have
- to decide whether cushioning the kneeling
boards will encourage more people to pray or
whether there is a spiritual value in the discom
fort of kneeling on a hard bench, a sort of
penance, as it were. The saleman's effort to
sell comfort may run into opposition from
those who think that worship needs some meas
ure of discomfort as discipline for the soul.
There will be a big market for the goods
without the kneeling bench trade, for the mil
lions of men, who have slept on hard ground,
or in foxholes or in ship's hammocks or on
, army cots will relish soft beds, the softer the
more welcome; and certainly their relatives
will be happy to indulge them. So sponge rub
ber and all the materials and devices for human
comfort will be in great demand when the
end of the war makes them again available
for civilian purchase. '
. Prince? Drives a Truck
We have seen pictures of the king of Sweden
(perhaps it was of Norway) buymg hia ticket
at the box office of a Cinema like any other
person. But the report that Princess Elizabeth,
heir apparent to the throne of Great Britain,
KUCUI VIS IUV w i
vh round reeentiv nv ner ; uarenis. uie mux i
and queen, wearing overalls while in training i
for the ATS (auxiliary territorial service), goes kj
farther in the direction of democracy than a 1
king buying a ticket to a movie. The princess, Ij1!
so her commandant saysi has learned to driva f
a truck and is doing very well at it, even In
heavy traffic. He says she is not rash and" drives
"with thought for others on the road," which
certainly is commendable in a truck driver. '
Perhaps being in the ATS she doesn't have
to have a union card. But over here,-unless
she was in -a uniformed service she'd have to
have a card, or Dave Beck wouldj run her
truck into the ditch. " u 1
Let's see, Elizabeth is the great- great grand
daughter of Queen Victoria, whose; name is
identified with social correctness.. Her grand
mother, Queen Mary was also a model of pro
priety. What a shock it would b for these
worthy matrons to see their descendant, who
is already being trained to become queen of
England, wearing overalls and driving a truck, No Doubt About First Choice
The very fact that she can do this is a tribute
to her good sense and -that of her .parents.
Abo it gives one explanation of why the English
royal house continues to hold its -job while
most of the other monarchs of Europe are
"unemployed." "
, i . j.-:h mZH&l
I -IV .1
Will W'rI MMK
mmm if mm. wjm&ffim
mMSdOSAS js&ijpu mm i ;
....-. J . -
v ! if. , ; .-j .- . - , - g S - j J
4 .
Liberated American i
Correspondent Has .
Woes In England
PkUlililtolWFi
By Godfrey H. P. Anderson
(Substituting tor Kenntth lDixon)
LONDON-P)-I must be the
unluckiest war correspondent
ever. -. .
Just one week after getting
out of the bag in Germany X got
into it in England. But this time
my "captivity" . only lasted, five
- hours. ' j: . , ?
It happened thiway. Within
five minutes of landing from an;
; American military aircraft at an
airdrome in Kent, after flying
from Paris, I attracted the eager
; scrutiny of a British security
officer. Although fully docuj
mented, I apparently posed- him
a new problem.''5 '! ' '' . .-
".We've had escaped prisoners,
we've had prisoners repatriated
on exchanges and we've had peo-
pie who evaded the enemy in
occupied territory 'but we've
never had a liberated prisoner
through here," he explained.
A protracted series ; of tele
phone calls followed. Once I
heard myself referred to as "the
prisoner and a further refer
ence to an escort : : ;-
For three hours X waited at
the airdrome while telephones
rang and much government time
and money were consumed.: My
request to be allowed to com
municate with ' the Associated
. Press or my home were refused.
Then I was loaded into a truck
with an RAF sergeant who had
orders to deliver me' at a desti
nation somewhere in Bucking
hamshire. , "
I thus got glimpses of London -streets
as a prisoner again after
being three and a half years' a1
prisoner. '
During the drive I asked the
RAF-sergeant what he would do
if I tried to escape. "Would yo
shoot?" 1 asked. i i
"I dont know. I've got no
instructions," he said. : i
I was almost , tempted to try
I it and see what resulted, j
At a reception camp in Buck
mghamshire, a colonel, a captain.
, and a WAAF officer set their
" heads together to consider what
to do with me. It seemed that
I had been taken there for in
terrogation because the ' rules
: said something like that, but no
one knew of any precedent 'for
interrogating a liberated war
correspondent -
The WAAF officer solved her
; part of the problem by telephon
ing higher authorities. They said,
"We don't touch war correspond
ents." That suited me. j
The colonel suggested a drink
or a meal in the mess but I man-
aged to convince him that what
: I really wanted was to get home
' and that quickly. Finally I se
cured by release conditional
upon reporting the next day.
It certainly was harder to get
Into England again than it ever
was to get out of it
Tho I Literary
Guidcpost
Br W. G. Rogers
Snow in Cascades ;
Santiam pass must be a beautiful sight now,
with some nine and a half feet of snow piled
there. It has been many years since there was
any such snowpile there. It will provide water
for forests and streams well along into the
summer. On the east side the heavy snows
will provide an abundance of water for irri
gation. -:t ' ." . i
Snowfall in the Cascades la' very irregular.
In mild winters little snow accumulates. And
as a general rule the accumulation of snow
seems to come in the late winter. We shouldn't,
be getting snow in April" for example, but we
are. This, spring's "winter" which has delayed
planting may help crops to mature by supplying
moisture in late summer where irrigation is
required. This gives some compensation for the
cold spring. j
The German V-bombs ran up a bad .score of
casualties in England before they were stopped,
as now it seems they have been. The dead num
bered 8436 and the injured 25,101. l Hitler had
been ready to launch these robombs immedi
ately after Dunkirk he might well have reduced
all of London to a shambles; He was planning
on shooting 10,000 bombs a day when the allies
seized the Calais robot roost last summer. It's
something to think about in contemplating a
third world war; and gives another reason for
making the second world war the last.
A captured German general, name undis
closed, say i that the invasion of England in
1940 i was vetoed by Cornoral Hitler himself
Mebbe so, mebbe so; but from here on out it
i will be easy for .the generals to blame Hitler for
! the mistakes, especially when they are out of
i Ms grasp. : ' - ,
Editorial Comment
f CRITICAL TRANSPORTATION
Passenger car. transportation has reached a state
ef alarming depletion, according to the executive
committee of the American Automobile association.
Only a miracle can keep millions of vehicles from
going off the roads by the middle of the year.
,The committee finds that the nation's stockpile of
new cars has disappeared; that the average car is
eight years pld; that the mileage remaining in the
rubber now on cars is less than one-third of that
at the time of Pearl Harbor; and that the tire
production program has been pared down to fewer
than 800,000 a month as contrasted with a mini
mum requirement of 2,000,000 a month. In addi
tion, it finds that there is an acute shortage of
batteries, while their production schedule is inade
quate, and that overwhelming . maintenance diffi
culties are accelerating the rate of motor car
depletion. Millions of the nation's cars are about
ready to fall .apart, according to the studies which
have been made. The association urges that the
war production board speed upjlans for the re
lease of steeL machine tools, and the clearance
of manufacturing channels to make possible "re
sumption of passenger-car production at the earliest rtA
possible moment after victory in Europe.
Obviously, continued unlimited supply of war
needs is the first requirement Everything else must
take second, place to that But if we dip below
the 20,000,000 units which the office of defense
transportation and other government agencies them
selves agree is the minimum which must be kept
' rolling on the home front not for pleasure but
; for purposes of essential transportation production
for war will be retarded. The picture drawn by the
- AAA report calls for study and appropriate action.
New York Times. - .1
Tankmen captured a train loaded with V-2
bombs somewhere in Germany. This gave al
lied scientists the opportunity to study tho
mechanism by which the rockets were driven.
Man's ingenuity was surely used to evil pur
pose In devising these lethal weapons.
Interpreting
The War"-News
By KIRKE L. SIMPSON
ASSOCIATED PRESS WAR ANALYST '
American tank columns; have not only swiftly
punctured the Elbe river defense line, last water
hazard on the road to Berlin, but flowed to or be
yond the Saale in the south to menace Leipzig and
even Dresden across the broad open central plain
of the German heartland.
At least three major units of General Eisen
hower's multi-army command, are running virtual
ly abreast in an assault pattern designed apparent
ly to rip a 100-mile-wide corridor of conquest from
west to east to a Junction with Russian allies still
poised on the Oder-Neisse line. And only now are
the Eisenhower, forces .reaching on the central
German plain the best terrain for mechanized
maneuver they have met since they crossed the
Rhine. ;- - ;
It cuts the time potential before north and
south Germany can be split wide apart for mop-ping-up
to a matter not of days but possibly hours.
Nor is there yet any conclusive evidence that the
hazi high command can rally the force anywhere
to halt the allied advance without stripping its
eastern front so thin that Russian hordes would
come pouring in for the kill,
The crossing of the Elbe at Magdburg came so
suddenly that pending lifting of the news blackout,
it seems probable a bridge was taken intact in
. the area. '
Events seem clearly to Justify published sus
picion in Russia that the nazls are virtually invit
ing allied occupation of all central Germany while
massing troops eastward to bar similar Russian
advances except at highest casualty cost ;
Behind that may still lie some faint nazi hope
of an ultimate Russian-Allied quarrel over occupa
Con spoils or policy and zones of control. It seems
an impossible and fantastic conception even for
Hitler's henchmen, but no other explanation has
yet been offered fear German failure to regroup
along any of numerous natural defense lines once
the Rhine had been breached unless it is due to
sheer lack of men and means.
Best available estimates . figure at least three
score and perhaps 80 German divisions concen-
on the east front against the Russians.
-COCKS AND BULLS IN CARA
CAS," y oif Brtew (Hoaghttm
MUTUa; S2.7S).
Caracas, which has some pf
the crackling sound of a swear
word, is a place lush and fruitful
in many jthings, but rich princi
pally in book material. Some
years ago we had Ybarra's
"Young Man In C " and now we
have "Cocks and Bulls in C ."
If we get many more books like
these, well all be flying off to
Venezuela. Olga Briceno, though
she has traveled widely, remains
faithful to her country. She
writes a hymn of praise.
It is true that she hated Gomez
the Tyrant as she calls him; that
she deplores the poverty, favors
"rational and gradual racial min
gling.' and thinks "his majesty,
man," possesses' some traditional
advantages over women in the
Venezuelan social scheme.
But on the other hand, the
poor and the servants often en
joy the benefit as she regards it,
of being; taken into the midst of
such kindly families as her own
and 'treated like relatives; to' a
certain degree she defends the
touching! dependence of the ig
norance on 1 saints and saints
alone for the cure of "every
human ill" and every misfor
tune; and she believes there's
nothing quite the equal of an
ardent Venezuelan suitor . .! .
though I confess I can't believe
North American girls would en
joy such examples of their elo
quent compliments as she quotes.
Venezuelans keep no track of
time or money; they don't tip;
they go to movies, a native the
ater, cock and bull fights; they
send their girls to convent
schools but let their boys run
wild; their men fish- and hunt
and their women still stay
pretty much at home and run
the household. j .
While this is, I suppose, a vol
ume of, no staggering impor
tance, I find it very pleasant
The author ; makes you relish,
somewhat as she does, customs
which . date back to Columbus.
- She doesn't approve of them, and
.she is herself a "modern'
woman; but she has a reverence'
for them which, in a book writ
ten in New; York, is agreeably
quaint I :l ' r I
News Behind the News
- ! By PAUL MALLON : .
(Distribution by King Features Syndicate, Inc. Reproduction In whole
- or in part strictly prohibited.) '
raoi i Malloa
Frontal assault against the defense-in-depth system
the foe has Lad ample time' to create must be
a bloody business. 4 Kf -
Yet allied spearheads already beyond the Elbe
are even now beating at rear supply and-tom-munications
hubs of German armies in the east
They are - immediately threatened with being
squeezed to death on a broad front between the
allied hammer blows and ? the , Russian Oder-Neisse
anvil block yet have made no clearly indicated
move toward a two-front realignment to meet that
periL -
I have empires, intend to take
i them back, firmly believe in
1 them.1
I Thus we are entering into a
J new world in, which we alone
1 (unless we include China) among
j the major powers really believe
I in the Atlantic charter doctrine
f and insist upon practising it
The question is how this clea
vage will work out? Can we suc-
3 cessfully conclude the Dumbar,
; ton-San Francisco treaties under
I these circumstances, and get
- them securely ratified? If we do,
- can we then live in friendly
J peace under them? i
Or is It time for alteration or
a change in our policy? How
; much? Should we get military
I bases? Keep the Philippines?
! Close more tightly in upon Latin
j America as is Russia upon Po
I land, etc?
i ' There . are some authorities
f who think our position is sound
i and can be permanently main-'
I tained. Certainly our stand
i should gather the small nations
J toward our side, or at least those
i left loose. We could make quite
! a formidable world bloc of small
nations behind us perhaps.
But if we must fight on the
I council for our position, we will
certainly be on the losing side,
i There Russia, Britain and France
.could control the course. China
and the United States would no
f doubt be a minority.
In the larger assembly, even
with Russia's three votes to our
I one, we would appear to have a
I better chance of a majority, but
I the assembly is not to make the
s importane decision, and the Rus
: sian position puts entire respon
I sibility in the council, as indeed
does the text of the agreement
Yet win or lose, we would, by
j continuance of this policy,: con-
tinue to stand for our ideals. I
suspect this is the basis upon
i which the administration now is
I moving toward and beyond San
Francisco. ' -
To me personally, however, it
seems a change of front is neces
I sary in the interests of national
security and maintenance of our
4 now existing primary- authority
i as a world power. I think there
is an essential and somewhat
suicidal weakne-w in the extrem
ity we are pursuing, renouncing
all hopes of getting anything
out, of the war, delivering bases
to an international trusteeship,
leaving the Philippines open to
the next invader, etc. M :!
It should not be necessary to
"THE YOUNG IDEA" By Mossier ' STES
- VU1SUTCI SUUU JHW we.
Interests . to the fullest as the
others are doing. We could have
a temporary postwar policy based
on national - urity with the
promise to moderate it anH create
maximum freedoms for' all small
people as soon as world condi
tions warrant i i
For instance we might be able
to maintain the Philippines a lot
freer under our wing, than by
letting her fall under some other
wing. If we, need Iceland, for de
fense or even for commercial
purposes in a world of empires,
we should have it i ..
We are not Nazis. There is no
thing onerous about our demo
cratic Influence. Perhaps the ex
tension of our power democrati
cally might well save the world
from worse things. ,
The tentacles of these facts, at
least are laying hold of events,
and guiding the course of rorld
developments. ; "... ,'; " i , I -
WASHINGTON, April 12-
The sub-surface tentacles which
are somewhat confusedly direct
ing events leading up to the San
Francisco conference, seem to
me discernible as follows:
The i Russians are determined
to get a big na
tions world or
der. Stalin is ir
revocably com
mitted to em
pire building.
He does not
want small na
tions interference.--'
-
Everything he
has done of im
portance ha s
been a blow in this direction I
his claim for exemption of the j
big powers from punitive action J
as aggressors, his demand for 18 1
votes in the assembly of small
nations, his hegemony in Poland,
Rumania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia
and other small nations. !
The United States is pledged !
with equal determination to the ;
cause of the smaller, powers as i
the basic guarantee of the Atlan- ;
tie charter, the four freedoms
and the whole Roosevelt theory I
of the war. I ' I
Our government initiated the
pledge against territorial ag-
grandizement It is carrying the
policy to such extremes that it
will not even take the; defense f
bases our navy wants for post-
war, bases we conquered, but '
proposes that these be held in
an international trusteeship ' by
the new league of nations., As a
consequence of this policy, the 1
Philippines already are asking f
their independence for next year, I
instead of the year following.
So we are gathering the small
nations into the fold of the new j
world order at San Francisco, ;
largely on our own leading ini- ;
tiative, while both the British
and Russians display their lack
of enthusiasm for the importance
of our effort by seeding ambas-1
sadors of lower rank than the
other delegates. S I
Frankly, the British appear in t
all ways to lean toward the Bus
sian side of this basic world pro-
position. They are an empire at
ready. Early in this war Church- i
ill made plain that he! did not!
take leadership in .this war .to
preside over the dismemberment J
-of the British empire. The Brit- i
ish believe in empire as a way of ?
lif e. .
The French and Dutch also .
DTP I
(Continued .from page 1)
has come. The body which had
won out over a dangerous illness
a score of years ago and. had
borne the strain and grind of 12
years of responsibility in (high
public office in times of severe
depression and global warfare,
finally became exhausted. The
sleep of rest became the sleep
of death; f
For millions of Americans the
news of Mr. Roosevelt's death ,
brought deep and sincere grief.
He had been their leader, the
man whom they trusted, the one,,
whom they elected four times '
to the presidency of the United
States, twice in violation of long
settled tradition. Nor will the'
sorrow be confined to this coun
try. -Roosevelt Wad a ' world f !g- ;
ure; known and-respected" in 'all
save enemy lands. Millions of
people over the world, will feel
that they have lost a friend, one
who sympathized with the lor of
the common man and sought to
' raise him to a higher level of
living. Even among bitter politi
cal foes in this country there is
regret over Roosevelt's death,
because of the resulting uncer
tainty in the management of
affairs. !
It is usual on the passing of
a great public figure to make an
appraisal of his life and work.
I shall not attempt that now for
Franklin D. Roosevelt save to
say that without doubt he will
rank among our greatest national
heroes. The fierce antagonism
that raged over his political pro
gram as embodied in thefnew
deal" will die out in timei His
radical reforms directed toward
saving, through modification, the
old economic system will be ac
cepted, as they already have
been, as part of the scheme
of things. His leadership of his
country and of the United: Na
tions through the fires of war
and into the fair prospect of
world order will give endurance
to his name and fame. , I
i raw i
lift h
' - . -At!lC','
IMS' (MM Sy.feafe.lM. fYL&Ti
Instantly, in every mind. When
.the fact of Roosevelt's death, reg
istered In one's consciousness
came concern over the future.
Immediately questions' tumbled
Into the mind: What wQl happen
now on the war fronts? What
about the framing of the peace?
What about the coming confer
ence at San Francisco? Who will
guide our nation in the councils
of the nations? What policies
will prevail ' on the domestic
scene as we reconvert ouf " ac
tivities from war to peace? How
competent will Harry S. Truman
be as president? j
It Is indeed a serious time for
'a change of this characferj The
people voted it down when It
was proposed last fafl. A higher
1 hand has interposed and ordered
the change; and the man on
whom the burden of the presi
dency falls is one who has not
hitherto impressed the country
as being of presidential stature.
The situation Is indeed grave;
but it is not 'without precedent
When Lincoln was assassinated
and crowds in New York became
excited and agitated, a young
' army officer, .James A. Garfield,
addressed the people from the
' balcony of j the New York cus
toms house and said:; "God
reigns and j the ; government at
Washington; still lives." -The
American people still have that
optimism, which stays with them
in hours like the present There
will be no defeatism; there may'
-be anxiety, but pot despair.
The military plans are work
ing out so well that there wQl
be no change or serious inter
ruption due . to i the president's
death. In the field of foreign
affairs Tryman is altogether in
experienced, but It may be pre
sumed that he will retain and
rely on the present staff in the
department! of state which' is
fully acquainted with Roosevelt
plans and 'purpose in th writ
ing, of 4he peace. . . r
The organization of the United
Nations as outlined at Dumbar
ton Oaks will in all probability
be effected at San ; Francisco.
What will i be missed will be
Roosevelt's prestige as well as
jhis comprehensive knowledge of
.affairs and his singular deftness
In the field of politics.. On the
domestic scene changes may
come, swiftly. The leader's death
gives a signal for a fresh strug
gle for political power which
may result In very different
political alignments.
j
Aristotle wrote: ""There Is a
cropping-time in the generations
of men,' as in the fruits of the
field." 1
tr 1 1 M ' .. .
r l anjtun nooseveu naa reached
his "cropping-time" 'after a life
full of high political adventure.
The record of his- words, and
deeds and of his" Influence on
the stream! of history will fill
many books. We shall not soon
see his like again.
OSC Student
A, , i . ...
CORVALLIS, April 12-(jrp)-ci.
vitian student enrollment at Ore
gon State college was up 12 per
cent for the spring term 1S23
students with 2fifl nMir.,fiilf.
in engineering courses boosting
Women students continue to 5
dominate the campus although en
rollment of civilian men jumped
last year. Woman students total
48- per cent above the spring term
1408, men 414. ; ; ; j.
The increase bears out the col
lege's prediction a year 'ago that
enrollment then had reached the
low point for wartime and grad
ually would increase. v
Creosote, carbolic acid, naptha,
napthalene, photographic develop
ers, tear gas and a host of Chem
icals can be made directly from
coal tar. .1 !
"Let's not fa here the tUact ceiUng's always so crowded?1
GLENNS FERRY, Idaho-KP)-Seaman
Second Class Glen Lar
sen came home on leave and:
. Found bis family quaran
tined with 'scarlet fever; f
Went magpie hunting and ac
cidentally discharged , his shot
gun, blowing off four toes, j
STEVEIIS ;
UenUficatlon Bracelets
EXPANSION
BRACELETS
l ; Imc Tax ; i rfT!rK r
. 1L5 4 .
j j . Fer His Wrist Watch j
.,,'r.i-
Eogravlng la our own shop
-5 letter
Divided Payment- "
838 Court Street