Southern Oregon News Review, Thursday, May 1, 1947
Greek Revolution Sets New Trend
Guerrilla Bands Instructed
In Tenets of Communism
W N |l W « » h liif lo n C o r r r ■ p o t iiir iti.
By BAÜKHAGE
autocratic junta. But they were or­
ganized and directed by Moscow-
trained leaders.
Today there is a "revolution” in
Greece. The m ajority of the so-
called "guerrillas" are not Commu­
nists. They are fighting to establish
(they think) a liberal Greek govern­
ment But all of their leaders are
Communists. And the rank and file
are being carefully and thoroughly
indoctrinated in communism. They
raid, they fight, they eat off the
land, they use the weapons provided
by the Allies. But out of each such
FUTURE NAVY FIGHTERS . . . Navy men are right In there
fighting and eating day they take
punching at an early age, aa attested by thin photo of (wo membera
time out to go to school.
of the navy Junior boxing elans (composed of sons of naval officers)
These schools are conducted
at the 29th annual Annapolis Navy academy boxing championships.
regularly from 10 to 12 and from
4 to 6 unless a battle or so Inter­
rupts. In these schools the good
Greek patriots are being thor­
oughly instructed in the philoso­
phy of Karl Marx, Nick Lenin
and Joe Stalin. This Is of rec­
ord. It is fact, not fancy. Mos­
cow w o u ld (unofficially, of
course), probably boast of It
rather than deny it.
Those who graduate with sufficient
communistic "honors” are appoint­
" I t is clear a new national wage
ed political commissars and at­ M OSCOW :
pattern is being formed, he said,
tached to each guerrilla unit.
and that business cannot meet
"NotAfireement
It is easy to imagine what would
higher wages and make price re­
The
conference
between
U.
S.
happen if these forces took over the
Secretary of State Marshall and ductions at the same time. He ad­
government.
Premier Stalin has achieved little mitted that lowering of prices is a
Meanwhile, there is no objection or nothing, in the opinion of Am eri­ "badly needed" change. Any enter­
on the part of the agents of Moscow can diplomats in Moscow. The dead­ prise that can absorb wage boosts
to have the Greeks set up "coali­ lock between Russian and United without raising prices should do so,
tion” governments—they have had States delegations in the Council of he advocated, but he added that few
nearly a dozeh, all of which failed Foreign Ministers seems no nearer could do so. Burdensome taxes also
because the leaders of the various to solution. Basic disagreements prevent substantial price reduc­
parties represented could not co­ on the German peace treaty are too tions, he said.
operate.
It is the price level of farm prod­
great, it is thought, for any easy or
uce, not of manufactured goods,
The failure of these governments, rapid agreement.
the revolt, dissension, unrest, ter­
This pessimistic view does not ex­ that is most out of line, Sloan de­
rible economic conditions, all con­ clude the possibility that some clared. In all likelihood, he pre­
tribute to that great ally of commu­ minor concessions may be made by dicted. consumer resistance to high
nism—chaos.
the Russians for propaganda pur­ price in the perishable goods lines,
Conditions. That is the answer. poses. It is not believed likely, how­ particularly foods, w ill bring "a
more or less serious decline in gen­
The whole of the American policy of ever, that anything important w ill
eral business volume before final
be
achieved
at
this
session.
Hope
“ aid to Greece and Turkey" is in­
adjustment is made.”
tended to change present condi­ that the Austrian treaty would be
tions. To change them the experts completed has pretty well faded.
Main stumbling block in all the T E X A S CITY B L A ST :
tell us we must:
treaty negotiations is the Russian Chaos Prevails
1. Stop the warfare, assure per­
demand for huge reparations. If the
The explosion of the French
sonal security to the people.
Russians would retreat somewhat freighter Grandcamp in a slip in
2. Feed them.
from their position, some arrange­ Galveston bay, Texas City, Tex.,
3. Restore their normal eco­
ment might be worked out, it is was followed in rather fast order by
nomic life, and as a result, their
admitted.
explosion o i the freighter High
normal social life.
While there Is considerable justi­ Flyer, as well as other explosions.
Then see that they are let alone fication for calling this conference a
to take care of themselves. Commu­ failure, American diplomats point Both ships were laden with tons of
nism then w ill die of malnutrition. out that certain fundamental issues ammonium nitrate.
It may be weeks before any reli­
have been aired, and that Secretary
able facts can be secured—even as
Marshall has had an opportunity to
to the origin of the first blast. Hun­
present American policy to Russia
dreds lost their lives, the injured
and the world.
may reach thousands and property
NEWS REVIEW
Parley Still Deadlocked;
Higher Prices Predicted
Basement Homes Solve Crisis
(This is the second in a series of
stories shotting houj American inge­
nuity helped solve America’s prob­
lem—the GJ.'t No. 1 headache—hous­
ing.)
"Children in Orphanage Because
of Housing Shortage” —that was the
headline on a story in the St. Cloud,
Minn., Times—a story that went on
to say: "Three applications were
made this week by parents seeking
admission for their children in the
St. Cloud Orphan’s home. The par­
ents were unable to rent or buy
living quarters. Rev. Jerome Biele-
jeski, in charge of the home, said:
‘This institution is no place for a
child with a mother and father who
can ‘ provide a home for him. Our
principal objective is to care for de­
pendent and neglected children and
orphans. These children have not
been neglected — except by soci­
ety.’ ”
That was two years ago. It stirred
the people of St. Cloud. They set up
an emergency housing committee
whose first action was to pr:nt a
blank form to be filled out by people
who needed homes. Within a few
days. 200 families had registered—
nearly 1,000 people with no place to
live.
To take care of the most urgent
cases, the town (population 28,000)
obtained 100 trailers and set up two
camps. Then it turned to the houses
which were being built—very slowly
because of the lack of material, par­
ticularly lumber. Also these houses
cost more than most returning vets
could pay.
There is a concrete block plant
In St. Cloud.
"Why,” Mayor Murphy asked
himself, “ can’t we make use of
that? Isn’t there some kind of house
we can build using concrete? . . .
Why not basement houses?’’
St. Cloud had used basement
houses before—in the depression
days of the early '30s, when people
who couldn’t afford to build com­
plete houses built basements with
the hope of completing the structure
later.
The mayor agreed to underwrite
the construction of the first five
basement houses in October, 1945.
Today there are 175 of them in St.
Cloud.
The basements are approximately
24 feet by 30 feet, with concrete
block or poured concrete walls, ris­
ing approximately two feet above
the ground. Each basement is di­
vided into two bedrooms, a living
room and dinette, with a kitchen in
one corner, and a bath. Some roofs
have a small rise, others are flat,
with tarpaper laid over what w ill
some day be the floor of houses. The
cost is $2,600, and the buyers agree
to build the rest of the house within
three years, if possible.
One of the first G.I.s to move Into
a basement home was C liff Gan-
field. C liff was 20 months in the
infantry in the South Pacific, made
two landings on Luzon and went in­
to Japan with MacArthur’s troops.
When he first got a job in St. Cloud
with a department store, his wife,
Sarah, and daughter, Karen lived
with her folks in a town in the
northern part of the state.
Others in the community followed
the lead of Mayor Murphy. Among
them were young Don Strack, who
returned from the army late in 1945.
Before the war, Don had worked
with his father, who is a contractor.
Don wanted to build houses for his
pals, back from the army, and so
he started constructing basements.
He says that construction time is
about three to four weeks, not
counting delays for materials. Strack
has completed 12 basement houses
and has several under construction
now.
Other people in the community
have built basement houses for sale
or rent to veterans. Among them is
Ralph Borrowman, city engineer.
And some vets have started to build
their own homes. George Schuler,
former sergeant, who spent 23
months in the European theater, is
one who is building his own base­
ment home.
A local church also is being built
like basement homes. Redeemer
Lutheran church has built a base­
ment, which has two white crosses
rising above the hatchways now
used for entrances.
H IG H E R P R IC E S :
Sloan Says So
Still higher prices are coming
soon, according to one of the top­
flight business executives of the
country—Alfred P. Sloan Jr., chair­
man of General Motors corporation.
In a speech before the Economic
club of New York, Sloan blamed de­
mands of union laborers for wage
increases.
damage of millions is certain. The
loss to the Monsanto Chemical
plant, in immediate vicinity of the
initial explosion of the French ves­
sel, w ill reach 20 million dollars.
Prompt assistance by state offi­
cials, federal authorities and Red
Cross units as well as Houston, Gal­
veston and other Texas firefighters
and police, the cooperation of air
lines, railroads and doctors, nurses
and ambulance workers, prevented
the loss in life from reaching sev­
eral hundred more,
A few hours after the first blast
Texas City was the scene of chaos.
Ten fires sprang up within a few
hours. The concussion wrecked
buildings in the center of town, and
fires completed the destruction of
many sections of the industrial city.
The residential section was about
the only section not leveled. Homes
and buildings in Houston. Galveston
and other cities were thrown open
to the evacuees, who wandered
around in a daze. The shock was
felt 10 miles away and the fires
could be seen for 100 miles. Even
airplanes exploded in the air.
Atomic Control Possible Now
IN FULL SPLENDOR . . , This
night picture, with the Washington
monument in the background,
shows the cherry blossoms in the
nation's capital in all their glory.
Article 51 of the United Nations
charter provides a basis for pos­
sible compromise on an atomic!
energy control plan which bypasses
the veto problem.
" I f it could be agreed that illic it
production or storing of fissionable
m a'.'rials constitutes evidence of in­
tent to commit armed attack, then
nations could automatically, once a
violation had been certified, proceed
to take enforcement action without
waiting for explicit Security Coun­
cil approval,” points out Dr. Fox.
TO OFFSET EXPORTS
Record Wheat Crop Forecast
WASHINGTON. — Although wheat
stocks In this country have been
drained to extremely low levels by
record-breaking movement of grain
and flour to war-riddled European
countries, prospects are that the 1947
production w ill be sufficient for all
home needs with some to spare. It
is revealed in a department of agri­
culture report.
The winter wheat crop Is expected
to hit a record of 973,047,000 bushels
while the spring wheat crop is indi­
cated at 265,000,000 bushels In pres­
ent crop prospects. This output, the
department indicates, is ample to
care for all needs despite the carry-
Big Business with Capital B—
VA Tackles Stupendous Job
By WALTER A. SIIEAO
Seul Analisi and Commentator.
WNU Service. 1616 Eye Street, N Vi.,
Washington. IT. C.
WASHINGTON.—The Greeks had
a word for it—the word revolution,
1 mean. It was antistasis, I believe,
as nearly as I can transliterate the
Greek alphabet.
But until very recently it meant
something quite different from what
it means in Greece today.
1 won’t attempt to telescope the
history of the Hellenes back to
Helen of Troy,
the first success­
ful s h ip b u ild e r ,
who. we are told
launched a thou­
sand ships, not
by floating a war
bond issue but on
her face, as it
were. But look­
ing back only in­
to the memory of
our oldest diplo­
mats. or even
s o m e o f th e
younger ones, we
are fam iliar with
BAÜKHAGE
the program. It
usually started with the "colonels.”
It wasn't a too strenuous or blood­
thirsty affair. A few colonels got to­
gether. They marched on the palace
or the war department or the state
department, had a few polite words,
put their own cabinet in, shot off a
few shots which damaged at most a
few more or less innocent but curi­
ous bystanders and that was that.
But—there came a change.
The revolution which followed the
“ liberation" of the Greeks from
Nazi occupation was quite a differ­
ent matter. It didn’t come from the
top and work down. It came from
the bottom and worked up.
The Allies had armed the “ resist­
ance," the Greek patriots who
fought the Germans. But while the
Allies poured in such material aid
as was possible, just as they helped
Tito in Yugoslavia, the Russians
were pouring in something else.
Propaganda. The Allies learned, too
late, the true physiognomy of the
revolution which opposed the gov­
ernment.
The “ liberation” was
a revolt engineered and carried on
by the enlisted men, not the high
officers. And its leaders were com­
munist-indoctrinated.
The m ajority of the rebelling
Greeks were not Communists. They
were not fighting to establish a com­
munist regime, but to overthrow an
RATES FOUR STARS
over of only 140,000,000 bushels on
farms as of A pril 1,
Although exports of flour and raw
grain were the prim ary factor in
creating the low old crop stocks, high
prices served as another factor in
inducing farmers to sell their grain.
Feed grain officials also were un­
perturbed over reduced farm stocks
of oats and barley, prim arily be­
cause of a substantial increase in
corn stocks, compared with a year
ago, and the fact that the corn is of
much better quality than in 1946.
Winter wheat was seeded under
favorable conditions and ample sup­
plies of soil moisture In the fall of
1946 resulted In generally satisfac­
tory germination and excellent fall
growth. Cold winter weather has
prevented excessive early plant de­
velopment, thus improving yield
prospects.
Rye was reported planted under
generally favorable conditions in the
fall of 1946. Growth and develop­
ment of the crop was said to be
satisfactory in the fall and early
winter because of good moisture
conditions, but cold weather after
mid - December
retarded
plant
growth.
However, the crop has
progressed satisfactorily and no un­
usual losses are apparent.
WASHINGTON. A slightly built, grayish, baldish m an
w ealing the fa tig u e uniform of n four-star gen eral, sits be­
hind a huge desk in the m am m oth, block-long V eterans’ a d ­
m inistration building. He is, without doubt, am ong the busiest
m en and has one of the biggest jobs in the world. He is Gen.
O m ar N. B radley, ad m in istra to r of v eteru n s’ affairs.
He brought with him to V eteran s’ adm inistration the
sam e qualities for which G eneral Eisenhow er gave him « qual
com m and with G eneral M ontgomery on the w estern front
«luring the w ar and which m ade him one of the m ost respected
co m m an d ers, one of the ab lest tacticians and disciplinarians
in the arm y .
Although eligible for retirement.
Gener.l Bradley accepted the as­
signment by President Truman In
an effort to bring to a state of effi­
ciency the badly-managed, over­
grown
Veterans'
administration
created after the last war and
bogged down in red tape and bu-
reaucracy.
General Bradley took into VA his
resourcefulness as n m ilitary leader,
hi.i bent for democratic action, for
efficiency, for loyalty and discipline
and his respect for the G.I.s who
fought and won a war, thousands of
them under his direct command.
Streamlines Agency.
He has streamlined VA; he has
decentralized the administration
into regional commands. The Job
is one of the most stupendous und
far-flung tasks in the world today.
General Bradley is head of the
biggest mutual insurance business
in the world with policies In force
totaling 35 billion dollars on the
lives of some five m illion veterans.
He directs a medical program
which hires 5,000 doctors and cares
for 90,000 patients.
Providing beneflts and relief in
one form or another for more than
14 m illion World War II veterans,
VA maintains a master file of 24
million veterans or their dependents
who have received active beneflts.
At the present time, approximately
18,300,000 Americans are veterans
of some war.
For instance, VA has on its
mailing list about 28,000 Kellys,
17,500 Cohens, 2,000 Kominskis,
16,000 Shultzrs. From tills tre­
mendous number of former
servicemen, VA has received as
hi?li as 11 m illion piece* of mail
In a month.
General Bradley heads one of the
country's largest loan ngencies and,
as of February 1. VA had approved
loans for 639,200 G.I.s amounting to
more than $3,421.000,000. Although
a m ajority of these loans were for
Homes and farms, they ranged all
the way from the veteran who
started a diaper service in Spartans­
burg, S. C., to the farm boy who
wanted to purchase a new harrow
in Arkansas.
Wholesale Purchases.
A purchasing committee of tre­
mendous magnitude is another of
VA's activities. This agency buys in
mass lots for veterans' hospitals
such as 676,000 pounds of breakfast
cereal at one time, 144,000 pounds of
salted soda crackers, 7,014 albums
of records for juke boxes, 800,000
volumes of books for hospital li­
braries.
As of February, 1947, more than
2,430,000 ex-G.I.s were in schools or
on-the-job training under provisions
of the G.I. bill. Approximately 385,-
000 private business firms were con­
ducting on-the-job training courses.
About 1,000 G.I.s are obtaining edu­
cation and allowances for study in
foreign schools.
In addition. General Bradley ad­
ministers pension and disability
payments to veterans, which run
into the billions of dollars, and bur­
ial benefits, which also run into the
billions.
Under terms of one law, he
bought more than 6,000 automobiles
for war amputees. He also directs
a service to supervise legal guard­
ians and custodians of about 141,000
wards of VA, children of deceased
veterans.
Benefit Payments High.
Approximately six million veter­
ans have received unemployment
and self-employment compensation
»benefits through VA and United
States Employment service.
Most of the VA administrative
problems, which were at an ex­
tremely low ebb when General
Bradley took over, have been due
to the mushroom growth of its activ­
ities.
How long w ill the nation be
paying huge pension lists? In
March, 1946, VA made the final
payment to a dependent, closing
the rolls on the War of 1812,
Payments still are being made
to 49 dependents of Mexican war
veterans, while 916 veterans
and 2,392 dependents of Indian
wars still are getting monthly
cheeks. There are 116 Civil war
veterans, with an average age
of 100, who are still receiving
payments.
A V IA T I O N NOTES
YOUNG FLY. OLD 1)0 NOT
When Americans are young and
have little money, they fly. When
they get older and begin to earn
more, they don’t lly.
Two interesting curves In graphic
form tell this story In a study en­
titled "Age Study of the Flying Pub­
lic ." made by Civil Aeronautics
administration.
The study reveals that almost 50
per cent of all pilots are found in
the two age groups of 20-24 and 25-
29 while |«ersons in these groups
comprise only 19 per cent of the
total population 16 years or older.
Less than 5 per cent of persons in
these age groups eurn $5,000 a year.
Two-thirds of the people who earn
$5,000 a year or more are between
the ages of 35 and 55, but the pro­
portion of all pilots in those age
groups drops sharply from 10 per
cent at 35 to almost nothing at 55.
Beyond 35, the percentage of
pilots drops rapidly. Apparently
Americans quit flying completely at
65 although there are known to be
several sexagenarian pilots still
active in the United States.
II 1s cheaper to operate an air­
plane than an automobile for
business,
Arthur
Whitcomb,
Keene, N. IL, eontraetor In­
sisted In testifying before the
New Hampshire legislative com­
mittee on aviation. He reported
that he (lew his own plane 27,004
miles last year on business at
an average cost of 514 cents a
mile. Jle drove his ear 18,000
miles at an average cost of 8%
cents.
FEES REDUCED
A 20 per cent reduction In fees for
recording ownership of aircraft and
aircraft liens, from $5 to $4, became
effective May 1, under orders of
C ivil Aeronautics administration.
The charges were instituted last
August under a congressional man­
date to CAA that it defray the cost
of service operations through serv­
ice fees whenever possible.
Other charges levied by CAA In
accordance with directions of con­
gress include $10 for issuance of
air agency certificates to flying and
ground schools, mechanic schools
and repair stations, and $5 for issu­
ance of certificates to parachute
lofts.
Even airline pilots scurrying
back and forth across the con­
tinent can’t escape the watchful
eyes of their wives. Mrs. Jack
Jenkins of Cleveland insists a
short wave radio hand on the
living room console Is a neces­
sity for pilots’ wives. When her
husband, who pilots an Ameri­
can Airlines flight from Cleve­
land to Nashville three times a
week, returns from a flight, she
always has dinner on the stove
and his slippers ready. She
picks up his position report to
the airport on their home short
wave hand.
SETS SPEED RECORD. . . Unit­
ed A ir Lines’ new four-engined
Mainliner 300 (Douglas DC-6) set
a new official coast-to-coast air­
line speed record of 6 hours, 47
minutes, 13 seconds on a 2,400-
mile flight from Santa Monica,
Calif., to New York City. The
Mainliners now are in scheduled
service.
Plagued By Changes.
VA officials say that the peak of
payments to veterans and depend­
ents of World War I was not reached
until 1940.
In the meantime, congress passes
new laws and changes those on the
books, creating new administrative
headaches. More than 200 bills af­
fecting veterans were Introduced in
the first two months of the 80th
congress.
Cost of administering the VA pro­
gram for the fiscal year 1947 is ex­
pected to be approximately 8 billion
dollars.
HELICOPTER POLICY
Helicopters w ill perform their
growing
transportation
services
with a maximum of safety and a
minimum of noise, the helicopter
council of A ircraft Industries associ­
ation has assured aviation authori­
ties. Pointing out that "u tility of the
helicopter can be developed only by
taking advantage of its unusually
safe and useful flight characteris­
tics,” the council urged that regula­
tions be adapted to permit operation
of helicopters in urban areas.