Eugene register-guard., April 21, 1940, Image 4

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Page Four.
EDITORIAL PA GE OF THE REGISTER-GUARD
' AN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER
(Publish td every ettfnj ud Sunday!
EDITOR AND PUBLISHER Alton f. Bkr
MANAGING EDITOR WlUum M. TujjmJQ
News SERVICE . Awoctated Preu United Kreu
MEMBER Audit Bureau of Circulation!
En tared at tb Port Office ai Euiena Or ton j wconfl
eUu matter.
The Rcglatr-Guarda poller la Lha eoniDlete and tmvartu)
publication In IU oawa page of aU newt and atatemenU
on nrwi. On thla page tha ad I tori of Th Regiitr.Ourd
offer their oplniona on event of the da and matters of
Importance to the community, endeavoring to be candid but
fair and helpful la the development of constructive eon
munltv poller.
IN THE INTERESTS OF "REALISM"
In all that we have said recently, urging
the realistic view that the war is much closer
to us than the politicos at Washington dare
admit, we have risked the charge of "war
mongering" in the hope that the actual dan
ger of war will perhaps be less if we face
certain facts.
Take this little matter of President
Eoosevelt's pledge to the Latin Americas and
Canada that our Monroe Doctrine shall be ex
panded into a policy of "hemisphere defense."
We wonder how many Americans
who accept the Monroe Doctrine as a
matter of course realize what it is or
how it came about.
While Europe was very busy with Napo
leon, South and Central American neighbors
"upriz" and threw off the yoke of Spain, or
' perhaps exchanged that poke for local die
tatorships. After Waterloo, the Spaniards
. made a deal with the Bourbons in France
under which they were to unite for recon-
quest of the Latin- Americas and split the
loot. At about that same time, Russia was
colonizing our Pacific coast from Alaska
down through this Oregon country to the
Golden Gate.
Things came to a head about 1823 when
Monroe was president and shrewd old John
Quincy Adams his secretary of state. . We
had recognized the Latin republics; nobody
else had. Tory Britain didn't want to, but
, Britain had a growing trade in South Amer
; ica and most of all did not want to let Spain
or France regain a foothold in the western
hemisphere. Britain did want to salve over
some of the hard feelings engendered by the
silly war of 1812 and so did old J. Q.
There were conversations between Can
ning, the wily British foreign secretary, our
minister at London, Richard Rush and
through Secretary Adams it was proposed
that President Monroe should "issue a strong
statement" warning "furriners" to keep
hands off.
,i' It is of record that President Monroe's
first reaction was that we might be taking
ion a pack of trouble. Adams was able to as
sure him that Britain was in on the deal, and
that the mighty BRITISH FLEET would
back us up. The partnership which began
then has endured since; it probably saved us
one war at least.
A world without a British fleet or with
the Sea Power in the lands, say, of Adolf
Hitler would be quite a different place. In
the last week we have seen our Secretary
Hull move into the open with the warning
to Japan not to get too ambitious in the Pa
cific. ' Now we have no thought of trying to de
fend British imperialism nor do we relish
any more than anybody else the idea of "pull
ing British chestnuts"; we even share some
cf the schoolbook antagonisms to "redcoats".
We think the whole "war method" is insane,
and we accept the principle that we should
not make war unless our own interests are af
fected. However there is a fact which
needs to be faced especially by those
of us who are or who have sons of
military age and that is that whether
we liko it or not, the United Stutes and
Britain have been pntners, if not
avowed allies for this Inst 120 years,
in that not-complctcly altruistic com
pact which we revere as the Monroe
Doctrine, and if that is now to ho ex
panded into the still more grandiose
scheme of hemisphere defense, (in
cluding mnyhe Greenland and Ice
land) we should nt least realize what
we arc doing.
Britain is still a more dependable support
than the whole kit and boodle of Latin
Americas, and sentiment-be damned, we can
hardly afford three cheers for her destruc
tion. In the Mailbag we print another brisk let
ter from our critic, N. H. Morns in which he
deplores the scaring of old women and chil
dren and likens the planning of preparedness
and defense to the hilltop watches of patriots
in 1917 and 1918. Nice going, Morris, but we
weren't in thee hilltop guards. We were in
the waterbuckct corner for the great bout
between British propaganda and German
sabotage in 1914 and 19915 and we had front
row for the great "Villa chase" of 1916 at
which a ragged militia was transformed into
an AEF while the "Keep Us Out Of War"
campaign was raging.
We have no respect for President Roose
velt's brand of "neutrality" and we have less
for Pretty Boy Dewey's glib promise that he
can keep up out of this mess. We have com
plete respect for earnest pacifists, but we do
not believe in their formula which is so much
like old. Doc Coue's rigamarole:
"Every day in every way, we are
getting better and better."
We have been and still are partners in
certain world arrangements. Our pals, the
British, French, Dutch, Scandanavians have
been pretty decent thugs. Now we have
Angry Adolf, Bumbling Benito, Big Joe Sta
lin and the Little Brown Man muscling in
It's very distasteful, but our published
foreign policy is about as silly as that of the
pius Chicagoan who said he didn't mind Ca-
pone so long as he kept out of Evanston, and
Winetka. Mister, these little pledges for
hemisphere defense and status quo in the
Pacific are QUITE AN ORDER. If our pals
fail to win their fight!
IN THE EDITOR'S MAILBAG
FREE SPEECH FOR NEUBERGER
For some time now our old pal Dick Nue
berger has been trying to get a speaking date
at Salem to tell "Why I Am A Liberal," but
first the Salem Chamber of Commerce and
then the Salem Realty Board turned him
down. This leads the broad-minded Salem
Statesman (Governor Sprague's paper) to
protest, saying:
This paper does not mind saying
that it would like to see Neuberger
speak in Salem on his liberalism
topic or any other reasonable one; it
hopes that he will be magnanimous
in overlooking previous blunders and
accept a future invitation to speak if
one is given and maintained as it cer
tainly should be. Yet in making this
statement it does not regard itself as
proposing revolution; nor if it made a
contrary one would it believe itself re
actionary.' It does believe that what
Neuberger has to say will be the pro
duct of skillful and well-read mind, ,
and will very probably be worth hear
ing, whether one agrees or not with the
statements made and the faiths pro
pounded. In a sense this is a liberal
attitude; in another sense it is reaction
ary, since even the Tsars read revolu
tionary pamphlets that they might bet
ter deal with their authors. One pre
fers in this case to believe that it is
common sense, which might well have
been adapted earlier.
Un-huh! Salem might as well get it over
with, because if Salem doesn't cash in on the
situation the astute Dick will. Salem busi
ness men might even learn a few tricks. Con
sidering the volume of inaccurate and mis
leading tripe on Bonneville and public owner
ship which the ingenious youth has peddled
to eastern editors, Salem should ask him to
expand the subject to "Why I Am A Liberal
and How I Get Away With It."
PRICE OF SPEEDING UP
Safety of American railroads has been
one of our boasts since the turn of the cen
tury. All steel trains, heavy rock roadbeds,
automatic signals and stop devices, the uni
formly high character of railroad personnel
all these things have made American rail
roading a pattern of safety, despite an occa
sional wreck.
However, the speeding up in recent years
to meet motor and airline competition has
brought new hazards. There is no evidence
that Friday night's wreck of the New York
Central's Lake Shore Limited was the result
of sabotage as was the case in the wreck of
the Union-Southern Pacific streamliner in
Nevada last summer, but the heavy death
toll in both of these wrecks emphasizes the
extraordinary hazards of extra speed.
These wrecks seem to say that roadbed
construction and maintenance has not kept
pace with the new motive equipment. Time
was when a skilled and alert engineer could
nurse his train to a safe stop after derail
ment, even at 50 miles an hour. At the new
high speeds, the smallest rail break may
mean a disastrous pileup on account of the
added momentum.
All same with your own car. At 40 or 50
miles an hour on a dry road and with mod
ern brakes in good condition you can stop in
a few yards. At 80, you can't stop in a city
block.
Ajax McGurk says this war is setting a
new record. Both sides are wining. Nobody
except "the other fellow" is getting hurt
much.
As we understand President Roosevelt's
generous offer of hemisphere defense we're
going to protect the Latin Americas whether
they like it or not.
Mussolini's position is described as highly
strategic just like that of the guy who had a
bull or a rattlesnake on either side of the
barbed wire fence on which he sat.
The fishing weather hasn't been so good,
too cold, but Blue River Bill says that's one
way to escape the candidates.
JUST ANOTHER PACIFIST
PUGENE (To the Editor)
As a fairly wide reader of edi
torials and articles on all sides
of this war situation, I want to
congratulate you on the Sunday's
editorial so vehemently criticized
by another reader. I happen, also,
to have heard the Barnes "wise
cracking" lecture referred to. I
suspect Mr. Barnes had no idea of
being taken seriously except to
urge our keeping out of this war.
We seem pretty well agreed upon
that objective.
He was quite clever, and got the
laughs and applause he worked
for with his warped handling of
truths and half-truths: but like
you, Mr. Editor, there were many
in that audience who had to grit
their teeth and hang onto their
seats to permit him a continued
orderly hearing. Actually the
"mastiff" mentioned by Mr. Morse,
got that respectful hearing by vir
tue of the self control rather than
the timidity of many present. For
there are those of us whose sense
of humor doesn't tickle into hilar
ity at mention of what is happen
ing in Europe and China, no mat
ter how cynically the subject is
treated.
Like you, we will agree that
much of Britain's imperialistic
past has been tainted with cold
self interest, but. anybody, laugh
off if you can, the fact that where
her flag has gone, there, too, was
planted the Englishman s hard
won institutions of free speech
free press, religious tolerance and
trial by jury. Were Mr. Barnes
forced to quit America, where then
would he choose to dwell? In Hit
ler's Germany; in Nazi terrorized
Scandinavia; in the Balkans where
three war-mongering dictators
cast their shadows; in Japan, or
within striking distance of her,
cruel bombers? Or would he be
more likely to take root again in
one of those freed but loyal por
tions of the British Dominions?
But returning again to your ed
itorial, many of us are with you
100 percent. As fathers and mo
thers of soldier-age sons, we too
say "uelB keep out of this war,
but we do not agree that success
ful peace-keeping is best accom
plished by a meek acquiescence in
the hellish tactics of sword rat
tling dictators. Surely the fate of
the Finns, Danes, Norwegians and
various other minority groups, ar
gues that consistent and inoffen
sive neutrality peoples minding
their own business, if you please
is no guarantee of peace. It would
seem, rather, to invite aggression.
On the other hand, a UNITED
and voluble anger on the part of
America, even if it doesn't imme
diately halt Hitler's spread of hell,
may at least help somewhat to
keep his would-be pals thinking
instead of shooting. .
Sincerely yours, '(
A. T. OSBORNE,
1860 Onyx, Eugene.
which fits the test of true realism,
which according to my meager
training consists of facing facts
and calling a spade a spade.
Some how or other your atti
tude reminds me of that small
band of brave, "patriots" who
kept watch for German air raids
on the hills surrounding Eugene
in 1917 and 1918. If you must
scare little children and old wo
men please, oh please, get some
thing more plausible than this im
pending "blitzkreig" or for cats
sake call Orson Welles.
Sincerely,
M. H. MORRIS,
460 East loth.
MORRIS AGAIN
JUGENE (To the Editor)
Congratulations! You have at
last discovered that Americans
can delude themselves, but did
you ever stop to consider that they
can do it without help. Hard real
ism is fine, let's talk a little of it
for a change.
Lets go back to elementary
military science, even the green
est freshman learns in the basic
course at the University that the
difficulty of invading a foreign
country increases more than- pro
portionately with the water borne
distance. My map tells me that it
is less than three miles from Ger
many to Norway, but it over
twelve hundred miles or more
than four times as far from Ger
many to the closest point on the
American continent, which Is a
barren waste mistakenly named
Greenland by some "Norsk who
must have been snow-blinded by
the glare from the coastal glaciers.
Germany has not been greatly
successful in overcoming the re-
istance of Norway, though the
total Norwegian army wouldn't
have greatly outnumbered Wash
ington s little band of patriots.
Would it be easier for Hitler's
boys to cross some twelve hundred
miles of Atlantic In a crippled
merchant fleet defended by a
navy scarcely equal to our Asiatic
fleet? Maybe they would sail
ight up the Potomac to Washing
ton. According to the Armaments
Year Book of the League of Na
tions for 1938 the entire German
fleet, built and building at that
time, totals only 351.529 tons, ot.
which only 152,000 tons are bat
tleships. At the same time the
United States fleet consisted of 1,-
427,155 tons, of which 534.000 tons
were battleships and 351,700 tons
were cruisers many of which are
equal In size to the famous
pocket" battleships. The ratio of
our fleet then to their is 4.06 to 1,
the battleship ratio 3.51 to 1, while
the ratio of submarines, Ger
many's most highly touted weapon
is 5 to l. e nave 107.805 tons of
undersea craft while Germany
had 21,963 tons in 1938. These fig
ures are the latest available ac
curate one and would accurately
measure the relative size of the
fleets at the outbreak of the war.
(It takes about two years to build
a war ship you know), and do not i
tane into consideration the loss of
uie t,rai fcpee and a number of
other German ships In the present
war.
I can picture this great fleet
standing down in the Caribbean to
cietend , d. R.'s fishing grounds!
while the Germans sailed the Graf j
V, noosis right UD the Potomac
to bombard the Whitehouse.
I nave always liked the Reals-
er-Guard and your policy of hv- I
ng your paper open to 'nil sides!
of a question. Likewise vour nm i
stories seem to (it the later docu- j
ments better than those of larger!
uwa uncoiuuu capera. All of
DISAGREES
UGENE (To the Editor)
Your recent editorial flourish
calling for crisis consciousness
concerning allegedly ominous de
portment of certain bad boys in
Europe sounds repeated pleas that
we "face the realities." Very
well, let us face the realities and
in view of them examine the con
sistency of some of your state
ments. In your editorial "Will the U. S.
Enter This War?" you call for an
unmistakable, if not unescapable,
declaration that "we do not coun
tenance' outlawry." In the same
editorial you call for a similar
declaration that "the whole weight
of this nation's influence is with
the allies." In order to reconcile
these two recommendations one
must ignore the reality that the
dictators do not stand alone in
sin.
Who forced on a vanquished
people one of the most cruel and
unjust treaties in all history? The
allies. Who committed what Kirby
Page calls the worst atrocity of
the century, namely, starvation of
the German people by blockade
for seven months after the signing
of the armistice? England and
France. Who broke promises as
to the booty Italy should get for
helping the allies in the World
war? - England and France. Who
by repression of the German peo
ple smothered a republic that
otherwise probably would have
survived and prevented the rise of
a German Messiah? England and
France. Who blocked the chance
for disarmament in Europe in the
mid-20's? England and France.
Who maintained high tariffs
that helped drive such countries
as Italy to economic desperation
nurturing dictatorship. The Unit
ed States. Who is the recognized
master of intrigue and propagan
da? England. In the present war
who planned or contemplated in
vasion of the Scandinavian coun
tries for the purpose of gaining
an advantageous stronghold from
which to strike the enemy? Not
Germany alone, but the allies as
well, according to an editorial in
the Jan. 17 issue of the Christian
Century.' - Incidentally, who prior
to 1914 contemplated invasion of
Belgium as an avenue to enemy
territory? Not Germany alone, but
the allies as well. In the present
war, who have violated the rights
of Scandinavians under interna
tional law? Not Germany alone,
but England as well. Who in the
present war has trespassed more
upon American interests than any
other country in such matters as
seizure of mail and detention of
ships? England.
If, therefore, we follow your
advice of refusing to countenance
outlawry, not only must we cross
the . Atlantic and cleanse of sin
those beneficent allies to whom
you recommend lending the full
weight of this countrys influ
ence; in addition we must linger
in western Europe long enough to
lift Italy's and Spain's faces to
respectability; proceed to uer-
many and Russia for further
clean-up; board the trans-Siberian
railway for eastern Asia and there
sweep Japan out of China; and
finally return home and with our
inexhaustable energy clean our
own house, for by that time we
will have a dictatorship that will
owe apologies to no one.
ORVAL ETTER,
2200 Willamette.
Lines From
The Library
LEWIS JACOBS has written i
critical history of the Amer
ican movies called The Rise of the
American Film which has been
purchased by the Public Library.
The story of the film is presented
as a commodity, as an art and as
a social agency. The history be
gins in 1896 and is carried through
to the present time. The evolution
of this industry as a social force
is one of the most original and
better parts of the book.
Of Human Kindness by Ruth
Comfort Mitchell is a story of
drama on a California dairy ranch.
It is primarily the story of Mary
Banner who comes of an old aris
tocratic family in San Francisco.
She meets the hardships of ranch
life and the threats to her family
happiness with great fortitude.
There is a picture here of ranch
life and the Okies who came to
California which is not pictured
in Grapes of Wralh. Many peo
ple will read the book because it
does give the other side of that
story.
'.
Clarence L. Andrews who
worked for years as a teacher and
as a government employee in
Alaska has written The Eskimo
and His Reindeer in Alaska. Since
the scarcity of food for the Eski
mos in. Alaskan waters, the rein
deer is the main means of sub
sistence for the Eskimo. The
problem there is a serious as that
of the Indian in the United States.
A well studied and well pictured
account of Eskimo life is given,
Including information on his foods,
his arts and crafts, his religion
and superstitions.
Elizabeth, whose real name Is
Mrs. Mary Beauchamp Russell,
will probably be remembered best
for her Enchanted April. She has
again written a novel after five
years of silence and titled it Mr.
Skeffington. Lady Skeffington had
been one of England's beauties,
had divorced her wealthy Jewish
husband, and then gayly aban
doned herself .to enjoying life. At
fifty, she finds old age catching
up with her and her mind goes
back to her husband. The solu-
BUTTER-KRUST
THAT GOOD BREAD
BAKED BY WILLIAMS
Applegates
new correctly styled
furniture moderately priced
Main floor Miner Bldg.
HOURS
Precious hours to spend in de
lightful rest or recreation are
yours when you use our laun
dry service! And peace of mind
too, for our reputation Is our
guarantee of perfect workman
ship.
yiS3EugeneLauntiry
CD
178 West 8th Ave. Ph. 123
Band Box Cleaners
"Where prices are right and service is of the highest quality"
Young married men and a lot ol older ones too,
have asked for a simple plan tor financing home
construction which will not keep them "chained to
debt" all the rest of their natural lives.
Eugene First Federal offers the "Easy Payment"
home financing plan. It pays building bills yet
gets you out of debt in record time.
Ask about details.
tion is particularly well handled.
The entire book makes enjoyable
reading against an authentic back
ground. Book-of-the-month se
lection for April.
We, The Parents by Mrs.
Sidonie M. Gruenberg is the win
ner of the Parent's Magazine's
annual award for the most out
standing book for parents pub
lished during the year just past
The book offers parents construc
tive help in working toward solu
tions and an understanding of
their basic problems.
A delightful and charming book
which gives a chronicle of herbs
and savory seeds is Rosetta E.
Clarkson's Magic Gardens. The
history of more than two hundred
plants is given. Practical details
of old time gardens is presented
and many old recipes and house
hold hints are included.
In a recent listing of the best
sellers in England at the present
time, we note the following fam
iliar titles whldTarT
WSJ
Friendship:
Brittain, f-T
Richard 7
Hermann RauschrJa2 J
Destruction (Publ& M
under the title
.
OAKKmcrZH'
cial)-Elm Rebek ,JN
rgTUUn S?f-Si0n $
a. L. Derf linger ol rlX
i visitor. Thi degreTT
April 27. TtamdSa
Mrs. Viola Flock.
tne team would nr.
the team be. present JKM
room. The commlttefS
was Mrs. Grace JenJSH
0rr a"d Mrs. kSS
it-1"" rinn
I Federals
AND LOAN At
Eugene's
AVINGS
SOCIATION
There's Ao Ham
In Trying!
"V "rVf T A T"I T
xuu ivciy jjc a winner
Any woman (IS years and older) can enter
The Carrie Carter Talent Contes!
Grand Prize
Class A
(Girls 15 to 25 years)
A Farnsworth Radio, value
528.95 from the Garrett Ap
pliance Store. Plus the right
to enter the regional finals
for the National Prize.
Grand Prize
Class B
(Women over 25 jein)
A Dormyer Electric M
Mixer, value $22.50 from 11k
Rubensteln Furniture C.
plus the right to enter Qu
regional finals for the Si
tlonal Prize.
OTHER PRIZES:
A S7.9S G. E. Electric Clock from Lyons and Pettrs.
A Woman's Locket, value $5, from the Jewel Box.
A Modernistic Kal-Klock, value $10, from Everybodfl
Drug Store.
Any pair of Collegienne Shoes from the stock of flit Bd
Shoe Store . . unli. 7 oc
A $5 script book of theater Uckets from the McDoni
i neater.
HERE ARE THE RULES:
a This contest is open to all girls and women 15 je"
I age and UP. of amalni etan4ln .vnnt fmDlOTta
ht3!i'oC M!and" Company, their advertising arencles,
Mutual Broadcasting System. KORE. nrf th. families of
employees. This contest Is being conducted solely te
jnd encourage new dramatic talent. Contestants will be M
H . own dran"c material or will be given scrip
the Carters of Elm Street," from which they can choo
Prizes: In addition to the local, there will be two national prW
in age category of 15 to 25 (class A); other to winner b i
category of 25 and im in... n i. . . nwciw
written into the script to suit the winner's talent, on the"W
or Elm Street' for two weeks at the rate of S112.50 pr
kJTif ,1? "P"" of winners to and from Chicago to t
. C V,"dcr ComPany together with living expenses darts
stay in Chicago.
KORE will record voices of winners in both Class A and Bj
these recordings will be sent to the regional finals for JmH
Local auditions will be held up to and Including May
(AU applications will have to be In no later than 3Iy W
Local elimination audition to be held week of May UJ.
eliminations from the seven semi-finalists (semi-final audit"
IZ ""! lue stuatos). will appear on m
...r ...ruonam Theater May 17th for final Judging for rep-
. ... .t ,,gltmai auditions. The Judfliir win uc "
Enter Today Send Your Name and Addresi
to The "Carrie Carter Talent Contest" c KORE
248 Miner Building
DAVro A CUD, See. Ttma
Telephone 1217
kl.
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it.
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