PAGE FOUR
Thm OREGON STATESMAN. Satan. Orecon, Thursday Mining. August 23. 194S
refidtt
"No Favor Sways Us; No Fear Shall Aw"
From First Statesman, March 28, 1831
THE STATESMAN PUBLISHING COMPANY
t
CHART. F3 A. S PRAGUE, Editor and Publisher
Member of the 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.
Cateh-as-Catch-Can Reconversion
Those who fought wartime control agencies
and declaimed against regimentation have prov
en false prophets. For the government itself
is setting a fast pace in throwing off these
controls. Censorship is gone and ihe office
closed. OWI has cancelled half of its work and
will wash out the other half very soon. The
war production board has lifted over 200 limi
tation orders on goods. The war labor board
clearly is in retreat. OPA is removing restric
tions on many commodities. Gasoline is unra
tioned, also fuel oil.
The fact is that this headlong rush to go
out of business may have damaging effects. It
lets the door swing wide for. inflation, and
signs point to the unwinding of the spiral ; of
wage-price increases. While WLB says that
wage increases are permitted where price in
creases are not asked for, anyone with practical
sense knows that prices will follow or precede
wage increases.
The explosive material of inflation is on
hand: Money in the hands of the people; scant
supplies in the hands of storekeepers. The
bigger the boom, the bigger the bust.
The war labor board seems to be on its last
legs. In the wage dispute in the lumbering in
dustry it remands the controversy to employers
and unions for fresh attempt at settlement.
WLB simply is bowing out of the situation
which is quite acute, with a strike vote auth
orized. It might as well fold its tent and go
out of business and let labor and management
fight things out in pre-war style. That clearly
is in sight in the immediate future.
The danger is that if the release of govern
ment controls is effected too fast, with damag
ing results, then the advocates of government
regimentation will say " told you so," and
devise new and tighter or more permanent
halters. What we think we are escaping from
we may run into, and be unable to help our
selves. .
Maybe we can take it, however, and emerge
all the stronger. At least all who have advocated
free enterprise are getting a break. The current
scramble for materials, prices,. wages, etc., fol
lows the old rule of every many for himself and
devil take the hindmost. It was always the
hindmost who raised the howl. Now we shall
see .where the complaints come from, in the
government's plan of catch-as-catch-can re-Conversion.
it possible for them to get food at eating places.
So when the impulse come to "eat outvthink
twice, and don't go if you will crowd put a
service man. This applies particularly on jweek
ends. If ! '!'.",-'! f
Manila Censorship
America heard the plans for allied occupa
tion of Japan first from Japanese sources. The
Domei new agency in its broadcasts told of
the dates and places where landings of Ameri
can forces would occur. This news was con
firmed on Wednesday by announcement from
Manila, made by General MacArthur.
Just why this news should be retailed to the
American public through Tokyo is hard to
figure out. No element of "military security"
was involved. The conditions were told to the
Jap envoys on Sunday that was why they
were called to Manila. Only the indifference
of the Manila command to giving the news
gatherers there the facts at the same time
they were delivered to the Jap envoys can
account for the delay. ;
There is an easy disposition on the part "of B
persons in public positions to withhold informa
tion from the public and to" give it out at their
own sweet pleasure. General MacArthur has
held a tight censorship in the Philippines, and
evidently keeps it working even when the war
is over. , j
Memorial for Ernie Pyle .
Hats off to Mrs. (Ernie Pyle who rftoved
promptly to squelch grandiose plans for erect
ing a memorial to her late and greatly beloved
husband back in Indiana, where he was 5 born
She bluntly requeste4 that the plans be aban
doned "entirely and immediately." Her request, !
supported as it is by the fine sense of the
people, should be sufficient to blow the ambiti
ous plans of the Hobsier promoters skyihigh.
What evidently was started as a proposal for
a $35,000 memorial library in Dana, Ind, ex
panded to contemplate a "landscaped, (lake
studded park and cemetery to which gyle's
body would be moved from fie Jim a." A New
York public relation concern was hired to put
on a money raising campaign with a goal 6f
a million or two dollars. Mrs. Pyle was correct
when she said "This proposal violates every
thing that Ernie was." She. also stated that
Ernie lies where he I would fwish to liej with
the men he served arid loved. , j ,;"
The whole conception seems so foreign to the
character of Pyle, who himself was humble
in spirit, a friend of the private footsoldier,
that its promoters deserve the rebuke which
Mrs. Pyle has thus given them. No doubt a
large sunfcould have been raised, under forced
draft, and "with the deep sympathy felt by the
public for' the war's ) most famous correspond
ent; but it would have been a sorry climax to
the life and character of Ernie. j ;
On Ie Jima, Pyle's body will long be a shrine,
visited by many, remembered and respected
so long as any GI's remain alive. In an elabor
ate memorial in Indiana it would be principally
a spot for ignorant tourists to gawk at. B;
Interpreting
The War . News
By JAMES D. WHITE
Associated Press Staff Writer
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 21.-yP)-To the Japa
nese, one of the great anticlimaxes of this war
must be the ignominious surrender to the Russians
of the mighty Kwantung army in Manchuria, j?
This special garrison force existed for years with
the main purpose of fighting Russia. Its conscious
ness of that purpose was so keen that its trigger-
happy troops got the empire into-
thousands of border incidents withf
Soviet border forces 1 along the
2000 mile frontier between Man-1
tHn-ia and RiVtArio i : 0 t
It got the best men and wea
pons Japan had. It ran its own
empire of nearly 40,000,000 people
and frankly enjoyed the jobi It
staged the Mukden incident! in
1931 which won Manchuria and
its troops helped with the (con
quest of China in 1937. j
All along there' was a struggle
over its exac role between Tokyo
J. D. White
Give Soldiers a Break
Local residents should v give soldiers from
Camp Adair and navy men from the naval hos
pital a break at restaurants. Complaint is heard
that so rhany local people who could prepare
meals at j home eat out that soldiers can's get
proper service at restaurants. We ought to show
these guests full hospitality, and at least make
Editorial Comment
WINGS OF AN OSTRICH
"His imagination resembled the wings of an
ostrich. It enabled him to run but not b soar."
Macaulay, "On John Dryden."
With respect to the war in Europe things have
now reached the stage of erstwhile secret agents'
memoirs, which as always make lively reading.
Itj is disclosed that only the fortuitous seizure
of a German order, blueprinting the German plan
to cut through the Calais region and seal the corri
dor to Dunkirk, made that historic evacuation pos
sible. There are other stirring ; disclosures. Once,
because American intelligence had seized German
attack plans, the Fifth, army was able to create
the battle signal for the luftwaffe, and that prompt
and thorough organization bombed the German
position instead.
And so on. The intelligence story we like best,
which is not widely known, bears upon the notor
ious German lack of imagination: in this case lack
of imagination was just what the German intelli
gence officer should have used.
In the days when the historic Casablanca con
ference was being planned, German agents were
swarming over Spain and Africa, and inevitably
one learned of the impending meeting, a piece
of information which in German hands might have
had disastrous consequences. In the light of results,
here is what presumably happened: The field agent
dutifully sent his coded report to headquarters,
but somewhere In the, chain of communication oc
curred the fatal play of imagination, As a conse
quence, German agents in Africa dozed through
what may have been their sinister opportunity, and
Berlin radio jeered to the world that, to Berlin's
knowledge, Roosevelt and Churchill were meeting
in Washington, D. C. 1
What had happened was that someone, in de
coding the original message, had not been content
to accept the word Casablanca literally. It means
."white house" and the German agent so translated
it -a 2000-mile error. San Francisco Chronicle.
Nevo Behind fiho Novs
By PAUL MAIJ-ON
(Distribution by King r.atur-Syndicate reproduction la whole
t br to part strictly prohibited.) , -
t WASHINGTON,!' August 22
The unity Mr. Truman estab-
.
DUtrflmteJ V Kinr Ft tarts EnJirmU
fcy wrtBfwMBt with Tfc Whirtta St
Full Measure!
and Hsinking, where the Kwantung commander in
chief doubled as "ambassador? to the puppet state
of Manchoukuo. ; .: 1 ;.
While Manchuria was used as a springboard for
conquests in China, Kwantung officers usually
were not allowed to Ireap much of the spoils. .
Until the European war, the Kwantung army's
main energies were turned toward the "defense"
of Manchuria, but behind that facade its , staff
mapped thoroughly the strategy it -would ' follow
in conquering eastern; Siberia should the chance
arise. - . ' i ,) : ; 1 :j '
The Kwantung army did not take part in the
first of the two most serious border incidents with
Soviet Russia. It was the Korean garrison force
which fought a month at Changkufeng in 1938
before Tokyo could get in tq pull back. But the
Kwantung army was, waiting nearby, ready to
spring. One of jits intelligence officers told me
exactly what this - Kwantung! army would ; do-l-it
would strike, eastward) across the Transiberian rail
way and cut off (Vladivostok, f : j i
The next summer, however f , the Kwantung army
thought it saw its chance, and engaged in bloody
fighting at Nomonhan on the border of Soviet
dominated outer Mongolia. The Reds surprised the
Japanese with their mechanized strength, and 18,
000 Japanese soldiers died before an imperial prince
flew in from Tokyo to order a settlement The
Kwantung chief of staff, LL Gen. Rensuke Isogai,
was cashiered and entered oblivion until Tokyo,
three years later, made him 'military governor of
Hong Kong. .. . :j y :.i ,- if -Fewer
border incidents were reported after" that,
and the Kwantung army settled down as ; an im
mense training organization: Xor imperial troops
needed in China and, elsewhere. Units moved j in
and out, but always the great garrison force was
maintained in full strength, possibly with as high
as 500,000 of the empire's biggest, toughest fighting
men. .
Tokyo's policy changed. The neutrality pact was
signed with Russia, and Japanese eyes turned to
southeast Asia and the Pacific When German at
tacked Russia: in 1041, th imperial command's
influence was firmly enough established in Hsin
king that the Kwantung army did not Jump on
isolated Siberia as many expected it to. f i
How this was effected is becoming plainer; as
the Russians announce the names of the Kwantung
army commander who are surrendering to them.
They are all Tokyo boys, their loyalty to the throne
proven on the field to China or at home. a i
The Russians have reported considerable fighting
in their advance through Manchuria, but their
progress has been so swift that it seems unlikely
that the Kwantung army resisted with anything
like its real potential. On the face of things, the
conservative, weU-disciplined commanders which
Tokyo has moved into Manchuria since 1941 have
succeeded in keeping their once-bloodthirsty troops
inline. . . . , f
.The Russians say there Is little suicide among
the Japanese although much talk about it-fas
one crack army after another lays down Its arms
to a foe it trained yean to conquer. . -
The Literary
Guidcpost
By W. G. Rogers
SLOW TRAIN TO YESTERDAY, fcy
i Archie Rohcrtsoa (Honttaton Miff
lin; S3).
: Every once in a while along
comes a book that's American to
the core, as American as succo
tash and Gettysburg and covered
wagon and Yankee Doodle Dan
dy. Here is another, unique, de
lightful, with facts, personalities
and legend about short-line rail
roads. I
1 The New York Central includes
400 former short lines, the Penn
sy 600. The author lists more
than 200 which carried passen
gers and were still operating up
to two years ago, among them the
Blueberry Express, Tweetsie, the
Footsore & Weary, the God For
got and the Ma & Pa. )
: Robertson writes of these old
dinky ; roads with a fervor that
suggests Thomas Wolfe's roman
tic passion for the railroads,
though this book is marked more
by intimacy and less by grand
eur, j-
The life that centered around
the short lines, the little towns "
they served with surpassing loy
alty, their ardent defenders
against bus, truck and plane, the
hotels which grew up at whistle
stops, the drummers who patron
ized them (and some of their
more hilarious tales), the poets
who have glorified them from
Whitman to Anon, the toy rail
road fans and clubs . . . all these
are properly included in this fas
cinating volume about a disap
pearing way of life, j I
The; few surviving short lines
get their business front an occa
sional passenger, organized farm
ers who require a transportation
outlet which they can pontrol, or
some isolated mill or factory.
Since the start of the war, with
rubber and gasoline J rationed,
their revenues have j increased.
Some o! the lines are narrow
gauge; as against the standard
four feet, eight and a half inches.
; Engines run both- ways, the
I caboose is a coach, the; seats may
be ordinary kitchen chairs, and
j the conductor still gallantly gives
i a hand to ladies burdened with
j lunch: boxes, umbrellas, suit
! cases and children. j 1
It was a grand world, and Rob
; ertson brings it back vividly. ,
--i'rf - Big Moving Day
S mUiXXUl Project Underway
By Helen Camp
Subbing for Kenneth L. Dixon
LONDONH-One of the big
gest combination housecleaning-inventory-moving
day projects
in history is under way at sal
vage depots n England as the
VJS. army prepares to move it
self bag and baggage from the
island, i.
Every item from shoe laces
and instrument needles to ar
mored tank transports and radar
sets has to be sorted, cleaned,
repaired, inspected and proc
essed e i t h e r for occupation
forces, return to the United
States, or sale.
At the . Toddington vehicle
storage depot the only one in
the United Kingdom base
Capt. B. L. Graves ! of Dublin,
Ga., is in charge of 14,500 ve
hicles in a space originally
planned for 5000 and is getting
more at the rate of 6000 monthly.
"We're already operating 500
per cent over capacity." he de
clared., "Why, we've got 2,300
jeeps alone. And every vehicle
has to be checked."
At the Ashchurch Ordnance
depot, Ma j. Charles Grosvenor,
formerly of Scranton, Pa., and
East Orange, N. J., is in charge
of 18,450 tons of signal corps
equipment divided into nine
classes and 11,000 items.
"Every time an air base closes
up we get 5,000 more tons of
equipment and the walls just
bulge,"; he groaned. "If I ver
get on' a boat for home they'll
probably yank me off and say
"wait a minute, another airfield
just folded up'." .
In the ordnance maintenance
department of the same base,'
Maj. Harold Beavon, Martins
Ferry, Ohio, supervises the pro
cessing of 500 bicycles daily and
now has 35,000 on hand, all
scheduled for occupation forces.
In the ; only remaining ord
nance repair unit in the United
Kingdom base, Capt. Victor W.
Deacon, of Dearborn,; Mich., de
cides whether vehicle? should be
repaired or salvaged! if they
need 40 to 50 per cent new parts
they are , "canibalized" and the
metal scrap is sold to the
British. r
The engineering department
handles all types . of supplies
from nails and emery paper to
plumbing supplies and telephone
switchboards under Capt. Cary
Wintz, Houston, Tex. In the tube
and tire shop 350 tires are re
treaded and repaired daily. .
Not the least of the headaches
is the disposal of thousands of
tqns of excess British material
unused lend-lease all marked
"frozen" and untouchable- with
out a directive from the ministry
of supply, which says no de
cision has yet been mad as to,
disposal of the goods.
Among the 100,000 tons of e
quipmerrt at the medical supply
depot at Honeybourne, Capt. T.
J. Baumann, of New Orleans, La.,
has charge of scores of British
X-ray machines which are all
excess. It would be impractical
to use them any place outside
of England because there would
be no spare; parts.
"Just call; me 'essential' Bau
mann," he said. "Ill probably
be the last man out of here."
Maj. Richard Freund, of Chi
cago, who has charge of 4500 tons
of excess British ordnance ma
terial at Sshchurch, has his own
solution:
"I know what I'm going to
do," he said. "I'll get all the
American material sorted and
processed and shipped out and
then I'll lock the doors, hand
the keys to. the British and run
for home." :
DtP
SSSDOS
irnnnmra
GRIN AND BEAR IT
By Lichly
! - . !" i i
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V1
irii" .
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O 1M ill
7 : ,
1 i
(Continued from page 1)
(Continued from page 1)
seems to have made liberal al
lowance for such decline in its
budget estimates. It anticipated
a decrease of about $18,000,000
in sales during the biennium.
Its budget; shows further' ac
cumulation j is contemplated, for
it puts down $7,427,173 as the
estimated balance at the end of
this biennium. The chances are
that its ' balance will be con
siderably larger than this esti
mate, j
What I am getting at is that
the state is salting away profits
in concealed pockets. True, the
money will probably come in
handy, and it is good business to
"get while :the getting is good."
However, the general rule based
on long experience is to discour
age hoarding of public funds.
; - Cities are complaining because
of the burdens they have to
carry. They have a very legit
imate claim to a far larger share
of liquor revenues than they are
getting. Decisions on disposal of
liquor revenues . Test with the
legislature, j not the commission
- or budget i director. The next
legislature should review the sit
uation and not just let funds
pile up, unused.
from the scene
upon which It
was first evi
dent, and most
effective in
congress. -
The prelimi
nary peacetime
haggling is
evolving Into
the same old
bitter, uncom
promising and Fai Mn
destructive struggle for control,
and the natural backwash of
such political wars in times of
crisis, elements of uncertainty
and confusion are beginning to
appear. It may become the new
deal all over again if it runs the
course upon which It is begin
i t What started it is discernable.
The end of the war brought all
the patent remedies and 'isms
Of the new deal days out of Pan
dora's box, winging freely and
fluttering loudly, as if they had
(never been defeated or caged.
Even the old-age pension groups
(as announced by California's
Senator Downey, the Townsend
advocate) considered peace the
occasion to start what is known
as "a drive" for its fandangled
economic ideas. A social secur
ity fight is the second planned
step of ' the assembling ; session
(hearings next week) and be
hind it is the cooped-up pro
gram to kill free enterprise in
medicine by socializing doctors,
provide golden spoons for all
mouths from the cradle to the
grave, and such.
But the essence of the re-developing
struggle appears in
' stark simplicity in the compara
tive ways in which the full em
ployment bill and the Burton-Ball-Hatch
bill are being han
dled. The full : employment
measure is a labor unions bill re
quiring the government to fur
nish jobs while the Burton-Ball-Hatch
measure calls for a rea
sonable pro-labor reorganization
of the unpopular Wagner act
system.
The unions bill, under the
leadership of new dealing chair
man Wagner of the banking com
mittee, is being launched with a
promotional campaign, while the
union reform has been hidden,
with trumpets, under abuse
heaped upon it by the unions,
i It is true Mr. Wagner's show
did not get off to a sensational
start. The first day's parade of
witnesses broke down with an
epidemic of flat tires. The new
dealers had planned to get it of!
to a rousing start by having
General Omar Bradley, fresh
from victorious fields in France,
promote the idea. He made it
rather plain he did not know
much about the bill, as he had
been at his veterans post only
a short time. Advocates from
Veterans organizations talked
most of promoting free enter
prise and employment (rather
than unemployment), although
one endorsed the measure.
f Ohio's Senator Burton says his
thus-stymied biHto inject logic
i fcto e Wagner act has met a
good response from the rank and
file of people, even in the unions,
where many workers want la-
- bor to assume its responsibilities.
But. he and other moderates
have secured no place for them
selves on the congressional a
genda, although they think some
thing more punitive to the un
ions than they want an anti
Closed shop bill or drastic labor
- curtailment measure will come
unless a moderate reform course
is followed.
The tendencies in these events
t.
"We gave It the final test. Boss, and It's a success! By Christmas
weH have a 'Tiny-Tot-Atom-Smasher' in every toy shop la the eeuntrjrP
Evidently the liquor commis
sion has had to cut some of its
prices to move some of its mer
chandise. ' JThat seems the only
way to explain the showing that
while there was an increase in
ales of. $6,045,700 last year, $5,
610,605 was absorbed in cost of
goods sold. The commission
must have sold a lot of stuff at
less than its regular mark-up of
40 per cent. ' How much of this
stuff may still be on hand is not
.reported. It does seem that the
commission should move to de
crease its heavy inventories, es
pecially in view of the expected
resumption of normal distillery
operation. - - - -
Leag
Isaak Walton
ue Asks
For Park Strip
The Salem Isaak Walton league,
represented by Chris J. Kowitz,
petitioned the county court Wed
nesday to set aside, a narrow strip
of, county owned land alonsr the
North Santiam river above Gates
for a public park and recreational
area. .-;".. '..',
, The land is about a mile and a
half long, and is situated between
the highway and the. river! The
league's application states that the
time will soon come when citizens
ins the area of Salem will not be
able to get to the river because of
trespass signs unless the proper
ty is reserved for toe benefit of
the public The petition also ask
ed that in event the county re
fused the request, and decides to
sell the area in question, that the
club be given, first chance at the
purchase, i. . v
! A memorial was also presented
which asked that when the county
in the future sells any lands a
butting on a stream or lake stock
ed with fish and where the lands
are adaptable to park or recrea
tion purposes that an easement or
right of way for use of the pub
lic be reserved, f
have frightened many congress
men. One senator, whose name
I withhold, has been led to be
lieve socialism is thus coming up
rampant to seize this govern
ment also, or work some kind of
revolution' in it, fresh from its
war victory, I do not think his
is a common viewpoint yet in
congress but all are aroused by
the efforts of class groups to
wresi economic iwiuwi uw mvn
own hands and destroy the pat
tern which brought victory and
few congressmen profess to see
the outcome. '
One thing is plainly visible
Mr. Truman has a Job on his
hands, lest be lose the reins of
control to pressure groups as Mr.
Roosevelt did. He is getting to
the time when he must fight to
defend the unity, he first a-chieved.
IT r ':!. '' 1 ;
Heed tor mas
Club Theme of
Rotary Speech
' .i
If the men of World war I had
had a Dads club to back them up
when they returned they would
not have become the forgotten
men of their generation.' This was"
the opinion - expressed by Arch
Stafford of Omaha, representative
of the American Dads club at the
Rotary luncheon Wednesday noon.
Plans and aims of the organiz
ation were outlined by the Omaha
member of the 'Rotary who has
been visiting all parts of the Unit
ed States in the interests of the
organization.
While many veterans organiza
tions are working for; the welfare
of the returning service man,
many fathers of .these men, are
not eligible for membership, he
said, in stating the clubs aims.
He protested the plan of tax
supported state educational insti
tutions that plan to charge serv
ice men non resident tuition fees.
W. H. Baillie, vice-president.
presided at the meeting in the ab
sence of R. L Elfstronv who is
in the hospital. Dr. Egbert Oli
ver, coordinator of the local can
neries, spoke briefly on the value
of the cannery business and urged
Rotary members -to encourage
members of their staffs to help
pn night shift work in coming
peak months. -
Guard Reveals
7 Promotions,
Assignments
Seven promotions, appointments
and assignments in the Oregon
state guard were announced by
acting Adjutant General Ray F.
Olson here Wednesday. They were:
First Lt William J. Pendergrast,
Jr., promoted to captain. Inf., and
assigned to troop A, cavalry, with
station in Portland.
Charles E. Fitch appointed ma
jor, inf., and assigned to head
quarters with station in Portland.
Lt.! Col. Frederick H. Drake pro
moted to colonel and assigned to
state staff as, judge advocate gen
eral, with station in Portland.
N.. R. Gilbert, president Rim
Rock riders. Bend, appointed a
member of the armory board of
control with headquarters at Bend.
Whiting F. Martin appointed 2nd
It inf., and assigned to Co. G,
2nd battalion, Portland.
Captain Wallace J. Ehlert, Co.
' --t iUMVi W HIQ i
reserve list upon his own request
LOAN KATES ANNOUNCED 1
CORVALLIS, Aug. 22.-(JP)-Lban
rates on the 1945 crop of
Oregon oats will average 48 cents
a I bushel, AAA announced today.
Lane county's rate is 48. Marion's
1
Match her beauty
: with a dicanond
- I : from
EVEIIS
Impressive S-diamond
I engagement rings.
' . . .
v- Extended Payments
S39 Court Street
i