Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 13 December 1944 — Page 14

le Indiana PAGE 14 Wednesday, December 13, 1044 WALTER LECKRONE MARK PERREE Editor © Business Manager (A SCRIPPS-HOWARD NEWSPAPER)

ROY W. HOWARD President

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GET ON WITH THE WAR RITISH and Russian preoccupation in Eastern and Southern Europe prevented the expected defeat of Germany by Dec. 7 and caused Secretary Stettinius’ rebuke of our allies for interference in the domestic affairs of liberated countries, according to the Army and Navy Journal. This is a serious charge from a responsible source. The unofficial but authoritative spokesman of our armed services explains: “Since D-day in France, greater preocciipation has been shown by Russia in her Baltic and Balkan campaigns, intended to insure her security, and by Great Britain in Italy,

Greece and Albania, to protect her lifeline through the Mediterranean to India, than in the achievement of the

many and concentration of all possible power to that end. The result has been that the expectation in Washington that the war in Europe would be over by the Pearl Harbor anniversary this (last) week, hag not heen realized, and. in thé liberated countries there have been Communistic and British interference and clashing which necessarily affect military operations.” ‘Without in any way minimizing the tragic cost of such errors, we would add in justice to Britain and Russia that there have been some mitigating circumstances and that ‘the White House shares some of the responsibility. . » . ~ . ” WASHINGTON'S HOPE of European victory before Dec. 7 rested on the strategy of a Russian offensive on the main Polish front to match Gen. Eisenhower's Rhine offensive. Russian failure to move along the WarsawBerlin road enabled Hitler to shift reinforcements to the west. But unknown restraining factors, besides unusually muddy weather, may have held back the giant Red tank army. The test will come soon with the solid freeze. While it is true that use of British troops and Amerfcan equipment in Greece prevented concentration on the Western front—during a nfunitions and manpower shortage, when we must send American boys under 19 to the front—this- relatively small diversion was agreed to in advance by President Roosevelt at the Quebec conference. We have made too many miscalculations to shoulder all the responsibility on our allies, even if that would do any good. Not the past, but the present and the future should concern our allies and ourselves. a It should not be too difficult for all the allies in Europe to concentrate now on the two major fronts for the quickest possible defeat of Germany. That is not the only job ~_=but it is the first and the biggest. Nothing, absolutely nothing, must be allowed to interfere.

AND ™E HOME FRONT

THE same goes for the home front. The important thing is to get on with the war, get it over. : Undersecretary of War Patterson reminds war workers that our fighting men need, not lawn mowers or refrigerators, but “the stuff to shoot with.” He has been talking along that line for months. While others predicted easy and early victory, agitated for reconversion and fretted over future unemployment, Mr. Patterson warned of the long and bloody road ahead. He has scolded civilian executive agencies and congress. He has talked with righteous anger to industrialists, to labor unions, to the public—to any and every one who has put any consideration or interest ahead of getting the war won. As events have proved, this singlepurposed man has been more right than the others.

But why rake over dead mistakes? The keynote for the home-front attitude, from here on to the finish, has been sounded by Gen. Eisenhower. Addressing a committee of visiting congressmen in Western Europe, the general said the shortage of munitions at the front was due to many causes, including the fluctuating conditions of warfare and the weather. Anyway, he said, let's stop assessing the --blame; the main point is to deliver the guns and shells in the shortest possible time.

NICE WORK, SENOR

BY his testimony in the Tommy Dorsey trial, Senor Antonio Icaza won himself a good bit of newspaper ‘space, a ride back to his native Panama, and the promise that if he ever comes back to the United States, he'll be tried for perjury. That might seem to settle the bill with Senor Icaza. But it-seems to us that perhaps he has a vote of thanks due him. Senor Icaza, through a confusion of stories, succeeded in breaking up the trial over the Battle of the Balcony, or Who Carved the Beautiful Nose, in short order. He

saved California taxpayers some money, if not enough. And he set precisely the proper tone for this pretentious to-do about a blotto brawl. The Battle of the Balcony must have made fascinating reading for the men fighting the battles of Leyte and Saarbrucken and the Cologne plain. But for the sake of those fighting men’s blood pressure, our future domestic tranquillity, and the post-war safety of the litigants, we think Senor Icaza performed a real service in erasing the Battle of the Balcony from the news columns and air waves as quickly as he did.

SOMETHING TO CROW ABOUT

Zelow a fee than the knowledge that New York,

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prime objective of our armies—the prompt defeat of Ger-

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War Reports

By Robert Duncan

SOMETHING DIFFERENT and unusually exeiting in the “now-it-can-be-told” field .is Jan Kargki's “Story of a Secret State” Hofghton Mifflin, $3). : ; A lieutenant army, Karski ‘and his unit were driven pell-mell back from the German border when Hitler invaded. ‘

slans, he escaped, returned to Warsaw, and found his way into service. of the underground. For four years he served as laison officer between the political and military authorities, and™as official courier to the Polish government in London, His escapes from the gestapo and ordeals at.their hands transcend anything to be found in a Hollywood spy. thriller; the admixture of the mundane with the near-melodramatic, his refusal to portray himself as a hero, his matter-of-fact narrative style all combine to give the flavor of eonvincing truth.

Jan Karski

Presents Picture of Polish Underground

THE BOOK is a picture of the Polish underground as whole, 4s well as a personal experience story, Karski tells how they printed and circulated newspapers, some cleverly disguised propaganda and news,’ others outright in their deflance of the Nazi authorities. There are occasional flashes .of grim humor, but grimness, stark heroism and faith form the keynote of this remarkable book, which cannot help but create deep admiration and sympathy for a gallant people. » ~ . “MANY A WATCHFUL NIGHT,” by John Mason Brown (Whittlesey House: $2.75) is, among stories of the invasion, in a class by itself. Written by a navy officer who in civilian life was a dramatic critic, it is sub-surface writing, recreating with keen perception the atmosphere, the sheer drama of the greatest show John -Mason Brown or any other yeporter ever reviewed. The author was aboard Adm. Kirk's flagship, Augusta, and it was his job to report happenings over the ship's public address system to men belowdecks, as he had in the Mediterranean. But much of the best of his narrative concerns the weeks andthe final days leading up to the invasion, The suspense of those first few days of June, the actual “takeofl,” the summons to battle action, and the awe-inspiring aftermath are all recorded with

high skill, . = =»

By-Product of Pyle Picture : “SITUATION NORMAL” by Arthur Miller (Reynal & Hitchcock: $2.00) takes its title, of course, from the army's “Snafu,” or, as it is sometimes translated, “Situation normal; all fouled up.” Miller was asked by Hollywood to get some background material for the film version of Ernie Pyle’s book. Miller's assignment was to travel around from camp to camp, and get to know GI Joe. He began at the beginning. He saw a trainload of homesick “Jeeps"—raw recruits who stood in awe of one-day ‘veterans, pass through the first stages of transition, He listened lo gripes at a glider camp, visited an infantry replacement center, learned army organization and psychology. The book is a composite portrait of the American soldier, although there is no such thing as the “average,” “typical” GI Joe, and Mr. Miller's findings

should do much toward making the GI real on the

screen,

WORLD AFFAIRS—

Watch on the Rhine By William Philip Simms

WASHINGTON, Dec. 13. - There is reason to believe that the new Franco-Soviet pact, just negotiated by Gen. De Gaulle at Moscow, placed Russia squarely behind France's demand for a new strategic frontier on the Rhine: This would not necessarily mean, however, that France aims to aunex the Rhineland as an integral part of the republic. Many Frenchmen perhaps a majority—are opposed to such territorial acquisitions. These tend to favor internationalization of the area —including the Ruhr and the Saar—leaving it more or less autonomous under allied control within the framework of the world organization planned at Dumbarton Oaks.

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France Wants the Menace Removed

WHAT EVERY FRENCHMAN does desire, regardless of political opinion, is greater security along his Eastern border, Three times within living memory he has seen his country invaded by the Germans, who used the Rhineland as a springboard. He wants the menace removed, once and for all. Two of the three richest coal and iron producing regions of Europe are the Saar and the Ruhr and contiguous territory. The third is Upper Silesia, over which Russia is certain to extend her control. These are Germany's arsenals, Sandwiched in between, Germany would find it impossible to mount a new aggression as long as the new Franco-Russia alliance holds firm. Annexation of the Rhineland, however, is not. to be entirely ruled out. Marshal Foch insisted that the Rhine was France's natural frontier and it is significant that the armistice of 1918 gave the British and Americans, as well as the French, bridgeheads astride that stream. Hitler's first real move leading

land. Foreign experts also favor shifting France's geographical frontier to the Rhine, ’ Moscow has not gore on récord on this subject, A majority of the Poles are opposed to extending their Western boundary as far as the. Oder. But Moscow is pressing for some such frontier and the chances are that there is where it will be. And Russia may prefer a similar solution on the Rhine,

France Needs National Unity Most

BUT, VITAL though it 1s, a frontier on the Rhine is not all France needs for her future security and greatness. She needs national unity even more. A strong, independent France is indispensable to the survival of democracy in Europe, but a whole series of Gibraltars in the Rhineland will not suffice unless the French people unite behind it. y Strongely enough, Moscow also holds one of the principal keys to this situation. That is because the French Communist party is so potent. In the years leading up to this war, the Communists, Socialists and Radical Socialists alone had an overwhelming maJority in the chamber of deputies.

: greatness, INJOTHING recently has strengthened our faith in our. ¢ live fowl shortage, has opened its poul- | political differences

at last count all 2000 potential broilers |

in the Polish]

Taken prisoner by the Rus- )

up to this war was to reoccupy and fortify the Rhine- |

| ElsEnrower:s WR Ln WILY

The

Hoosier Forum

I wholly disagree with what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it.—Voltaire.

POLITICAL SCENE— Pigeonholed By Thomas L. Stokes

WASHINGTON, Dec. 13.—Examination of old files is interesting and often illuminating, even “when they are only three years old. For ‘example, the writer, in running through some back news stories, came across three he had written in October, 1041, about & ‘ bill introduced by Senator Hatch (D. N. M.) which would prohibit ex-government employees from : practicing before any government department or agency for two years after they had left government service, : t This bill was prompted by the lobbying activities of Thomas @. Corcoran, former Néw Deal official, then about a year out of government employ, which had been disclosed partially before the Truman com. mittee of which Senator Hatch was, and is, a member.

Corcoran Is Still Active

MR. CORCORAN is still active and has been much in. the news of late. . This is, for one thing, because of charges by former Assistant Attorney General Norman . Littell that Tommy Corcoran had influenced decisions by Attorney General Biddle, which Mr, Biddle now denies, and, for another, because Mr. Corcoran has been mentioned in connection with the sale of Radio Station WMCA in New York to former Assistant Secretary of Commerce Wdward J Nahle Mr, Corcoran has haan summoned to appear in secret session before the special house committee which is investigating this matter. Checking up on what had happened to the Hatch bill, the writer contacted the New Mexico senator, The measure had never even gotten out of committee. The senator still has the bill in his files, along with some interesting correspondence from government officials to whom he wrote concerning the bill. ~ The correspondence shows that at the time there were 2161 former employees of 16 government agencies who had practiced in the previous five years before these agencies. Since then thé size of this business has not diminishd. The reports to the senator did not cover every agency.

Ex-Employees Prohibited From Practice THEY SHOWED that five of the 16 had regula-

“DOESN'T MAKE SENSE TO ME"

By Mrs, Laura A, Allen, 634 N. Hamilton ave., Indianapvis Here is a question I would like answered: We claim we want to disarm Germany, so that she can} never start another war, then why arm our boys and train them to fight and do the very things we want to stop Germany from doing? Doesn't make sense to me. Teach our boys how to live in peace with other countries, not how to kill them. n s . “FLAGRANT VIOLATORS OF TRAFFIC LAWS”

By Disgusted, Indianapolis

After constant observation, in my opinion we have, without a doubt a group of drivers in this city who are the most flagrant violators of traffic laws and the law of respect for the rights of others that can be found anywhere in the United States. They are the mail truck operators.

Now I'm well aware of the fact that they are required to maintain a schedule, but does that make it necessary for them utterly to disregard safety at all? -- Among the many incidents I have witnessed, the other evening a mail truck was proceeding east on Tenth st, approaching Ritter ave. Not far back was a trackless trolley going the same direction, When the operator of this truck got to the cor« ner he stopped to make a pick-up from the box. Instead of pulling in out of the line of traffic, which could have easily been done, inasmuch as Pleasant Run blvd. angles in to Tenth st. at this point, allowing plenty of room this driver, who had absolutely no regard tor the rights of others, stopped abruptly, leaving his truck parked in the line of traffic, thereby causing a traffic jam. If the operator of the trolley had not been on his toes, he would have made mincemeat out of the mail truck, and might possibly have ine jured or killed someone in the trolley. All because this mail truck driver didn’t have brains enough to think of anything else other than his own convenience in not having te turn the steering wheel a trifle to the right.

This is the type of treacherofis driving you will see day after day

(Times readers are invited to express their views in these columns, religious controversies excluded, Because of the volume received, letters should be limited #o 250 words. Letters must be signed. - Opinions set forth here are those of the writers, and publication in no way implies agreement with those opinions by The Times. The Times assumes no responsibility for the return of manuscripts and cannot enter correspondence regarding them.)

always your fault. Incidentally, they aren't even required to have a driver's license of any kind.

I'd very much like to have the readers’ opinion on this. Can't something be done? I doubt ft. You see, Uncle Sam runs it.

. » " “WE CANNOT AFFORD TO BE UNPREPARED” By Young American, Indianapolis I, too, read the editorial on peacetime conscription and also the article written by P. H. 8. 1am a member of the younger generation, the generation that will benefit if this proposal becomes a law, I think it is one of the best ideas to come from congress this year. If P. H. 8. would look up his history, he would find that America has been unprepared for ever war of her ory. Sometimes by sheer luck sometimes because of a weaker foe, American forces have built up sufficient power to become the vice tor. In the case of the present war, our allies did the majority of the fighting while American forces became what they are today, the greatest in the world, We cannot afford to be caught unprepared in case of future wars. A next war, if any, will'be of such scientific magnificence that an unprepared nation will be fatally crippled. The dreaded robot bomb of the present war is just a suggestion of what science will produce in future wars. As for P. H. 8's statement that

by these mail truck operators. Also, if they hit you, try to collect. It's

peacetime conscription has failed in Europe, well, do we Americans have

to accept other's failures as our own? Why not prove to the world, as well

las many such as P. H. 8, that mili-

tary draft can be successful if attempted in the right manner. The drafting of women, should be one of the provisions of the proposals.® The discipline given, often excluded from their own education, will only aid th€m in becoming more efficient citizens. Another of the numerous good points of military draft is that it will eliminate much of the job short age, expected with the return of servicemen, by draining off approximately 10,000,000 young men f: the labor markets annually. Peacetime conscription is an absolute must as the only answer to a Safe democracy, if we expect to keep America’s democracy. ProRoosevelts please note. . ” .= » “LET'S ALL GET DOWN TO BUSINESS” By Lester R. Jones, Indianapolis Let's start a drive on. men who are doing nothing to kelp the cause. For instance, a man and his wife I know of ride around in a big car, using up the gasoline, to collect the nickels from his music boxes and collect the proceeds from these pick-and-win tickets that are causing people to waste their money, which is needed to provide for their home, and for a much better cause, could put this into war bonds. Comb taverns and poolrooms, for instance, and you could also pick out thousands of available men. Then let's go on to people drawing good salaries for guessing the weather. No human qgn-tell how nature is going to act so it looks silly to pay out millions of dollars for people to guess. other worthy cause, How often have

get down to business, have everybody use his head, stop all unnecessary waste, withdraw all people who are holding unnecessary jobs and non-essential jobs, and hurry and get this thing over. If you had a son in the hands of the Japs, you, too, would feel the same way, ” » . “HOW ABOUT REPAIRING SOME OF THE CARS?” By A Dally Passenger, Indianapolis I've just finished listening to the “trolley trio” and they suggested that passengers can help transportation: problems by moving to the rear of the car and riding between the hours of 10 and 4 Well, that's all right, that's sound advice, but how

one of 116 passengers on an E. Michigan car, number 1037, last week, between. 5 and 5:30, coming home from work- when a lady tried to get off at East and Washington,

Use this money for some}

you said, I wonder if that weather | 3 man will ever guess right. Let's all|

tions of thelr own restricting the practice of former employees. They prohibited ex-employees from practice, for two years after they left government service, in cases involving matters which they had handled while employed by the ‘department or agency. Some agencies had more stringent requirements covering other phases of practice. These five are the treasury, labor and agriculture departments, the patents office of the commerce department and federal communications commission. Senator Hatch's bill is much broader, since it would forbid all practice by ex-employees before any government department for two years. Tommy Corcoran has represented clients before & number of departments and agencies. He was nominally attached to the Reconstruction Finance Corp. while in the government, but was active as a sort of general utility man for the President and also was a “talent scout.” He placed many key employees in various agencies who later were useful to him in his business.

No Such Rule in Justice Department

THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT has no regulation covering practice by former employees. Attorney General Biddle wrote also that his department did not keep a list of lawyers who appeared there in cases, as these appearances were informal in nature. If the justice department had kept a list it would have included Mr. Corcoran. Mr. Biddle also wrote another letter in which he

“At a recent press conference I was asked what my attitude would be on legislation along the lines of that proposed by you to supplement the existing prohibition against the practice of law by persons recently resigned from the government service, “I replied that I favored the general idea. I do not have any specific suggestions to make, nor did I%so indicate at the press conference. It was, as I have stated, a general observation that further legislation on the subject might be appropriate.” But nothing has ever been done, and the business still goes on, as recent developments show.

IN WASHING TON—

Parting Speech By Daniel M. Kidney

WASHINGTON, Dec. 13.—~Unless the United States revives interest in and insists on the high moral principles of the Atlantic Charter, our war goals will be lost and the peace steps taken at Dumbarton Oaks will be violated, Senator Gillette. (D., Iowa) told his colleagues in his final formal speech in the senate. A member of the senate foreign relations committee, Senator Gilx 3 lette failed of re-election. It is reported that he will be appointed a member of the surplus property board after his retirement. . His speech was no plaintive wail of a lame-duck, however, but one in which he insisted that the Atlantic Charter ideals be restored to both the, war and the peacé, Nor did he spare the administration in the matter. \

Davis Denies Charge Against OWI

“I HAVE been told that Elmer Davis of the office of war information was given a directive 10 months ago which proscribed the use of the Atlantic Charter in OWI publicity material,” Senator Gillette charged. Mr. Davis's

office denied that such was the case

and President Roosevelt which produced the Atlantic Charter. The dramatization was broadcast on the third anniversary, last Aug. 12. Since the 24 united nations signed the principles at the White House in January, 1042, Senator Gillette said the United States should be on record at all times to see that these high principles are carried out.

gave his approval to Senator Hatch's bill, as follows:

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