Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 9 August 1945 — Page 18
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“The Indianapolis Times
PAGE 18 Thursday, Aug. 9, 1945 ROY W. HOWARD - WALTER LECKRONE ~~ HENRY W. MANZ . President = Editor Business Manager
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Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Woy
RUSSIA ENTERS THE WAR RUSSIA'S declaration of war on Japan right on top of the atomic bombing should end thé conflict quickly. Whether it will or not, no Occidental can predict—Jap mentality has fooled us too many times in the past. ~~ Certainly Russia's action can be no great surprise to Tokyo. Months ago Moscow had denounced the nonaggression treaty and called Japan an aggressor. Russian negotiations with China had been followed by the Potsdam communique. -In that Stalin joined with President Truman and Prime Minister Attlee in praising Italy for. declaring war on Japan, and.in reference to joint Big Three military strategy sessions. And the Japs knew of growing Soviet concentrations in the Far East. It may appear to many here and elsewhere that Stalin did not make his final decision until after the atomic bomb already had sealed Japan's doom. But high American officials have long believed that Russia would enter this war in approximately three months after German defeat— the time required to shift Soviet strength from the European to the Asiatic front. That of course explains the Washington policy of continuing large lend-lease and miltary aid to Russia after the German armistice, when Russia was no longer our combat
ally technically. ; . # LJ
8 » » N any event, Russia's late entry into the Pacific war indi- + cates that she will be called upon to make the least sacrifice there, though she paid the highest price in lives and destruction of any ally in the European war. : Russia will gain more from Japan's defeat than any nation except China. = The Russian-Japanese conflict of interests and ambitions is of long standing. Jap militarism is a worse threat to Russia, a close neighbor, than to the United States. . The fall of Japan will leave Russia the only strong power in the northeast orient. Indeed Pacific victory will benefit Russia so much that there will be no need for her to set up any separate security belt in Asia, such as she now dominates in eastern Europe. The United States, having assured Pacific victory virtually alone, has a right to insist on a peace settlement of international security rather than the war-breeding aggrandizement of any one ally. : :
. » = How much Russia will suffer, and how much more the United States must sacrifice before final victory, depends chiefly on the Japanese people. The hope is that they will break away from their mad leaders to escape the destruction of which President Truman has warned them— a doom made certain by the atomic bomb. That the Jap .dictators themselves are ready for unconditional surrender is too much to expect. Their kind has repeatedly demonstrated a suicide complex. For them surrender means trial and punishment as war criminals. They could have saved their country before by sacri-
Director Price enlisted the aid of John H. Sorrels, ex-
re
| REFLECTIONS— Sh
Top War: Secret. By Jack Lockhart |
(Mr. Lockhart is former. chief of .the press division of the office of censorship.) .
“PATRIOTICAILY delayed by a free press.” That could have been the dateline on the most important news story of world War II which broke across the front pages of the nation's newspapers this week. It was the story of the splitting of the atom. That story was the best kept secret of the war, It should be shouted today and go down in nists
without legal compulsion, coerciorf,” edict, almost without reasonable explanation or argument—joined in subordinating their news initiative to the national welfare. : ® What newsmen knew about our work to split the atom, our ‘German, Japanese and Italian enemies would have given anything to know. We moved fast: Two billions dollars, millions of man-hours, thousands of acres, hundreds of elaborate buildings, intricate and complicated machinery, uncounted hours of laboratory work and research and analytical, constructive thinking. In three huge scattered plants reared in unsettled areas, in dozens of laboratories across the nation, in Washington, London and Canada, men risked - their lives and gave their hours in the race. Other thousands worked at jobs they did not understand, at work for which they could see no purpose, because they had been told the life of the natjon depended on it. ad Big Business, Big Secret COMMUNITIES appeared where there had been only woods, populations of small towns increased, newspaper circulations jumped by thé thousands, advertisements for help appeared across the country and on the air. This secret was not a little secret. It was big business, American style. : And big business is big news. Newsmen, editors, photographers, radio commentators saw and heard these things. They asked questions. They picked up part of the story here and part there. The press and the radio were silent. They kept silent, and showed that they could fight for democracy on the home front. Sunday they had their reward in those atoms éxploding in Japan, rocking the Japs’ home islands to their bases. To know how this happened you have to go back to the beginning to the first month of the war when Byron Price, executive editor of the Associated Press, was called to Washington to set up the office of censorship. : For the press division of the office of censorship,
\
ecutive editor of Scripps-Howard Newspapers. He was joined by N. R. Howard, editor of the Cleveland News, and gathered a staff of experienced newspaper men. J. H. Ryan, now interim president of the National Association of Broadcasters, headed up the broadcasting division. i Please Don't Mention Atoms
IT WAS announced that censorship would be voluntary, on an honor and responsibility system. Washington was startled. Press and radio earnestly assumed the obligation. : Late in June, 1943, little more than 18 months after we had been at war, a strange request went out from the office of censorship. It asked the press and radio not to publish or broadcast any information about war experiments involving atoms and a list of unusual eqtiipment, substances, and elements. Just that, nothing more. Science writers who had been . writing about U-235 and U-238 quit writing about them. Then the big business began. The “Manhattan Engineer district” came into being, but without any explanation, The “Clinton Engineer Works” near Knoxville, nearly disrupted the life of the northeast end of Tennessee. Land had to be condemned and families moved out of thousands of acres for the building of the huge Hanford Engineer Works near Pasco, Wash. There were reports of an ultra-secret, heavily-guarded project in New Mexico. World-fa-mous scientists disappeared from public view.
The Press Kept the Secret | ALL THE components of the world’s greatest press
heard about these things, in some cases looked at them. They went to the office of censorship to ask
ficing themselves, but to them apparently the only Japan worth saving is their own caste and its religion of conquest. Therefore, if they have their way, they may choose to go on fighting and pull all Japan down with them. We assume the President in his broadcast tonight, after Russia's action and the atomic bombing, will appeal again to the Japanese people to force unconditional surrender before they are wiped out. May that appeal succeed!
WHAT'S TO LOSE? : SECRET sessions of heads of government are not a Soviet Russian invention. They are a historic tradition. And though preponderant American sentiment favors the open
about them as they were careful to ask about all things involving military information and security. The office of censorship had been fully informed by the war department of the importance of this project, the location of the plafits, the people and various interests involved. Thus the office of censorship could guide the press and radio. The list of those who gave the United States victory in this grim race, who made the atomic bomb and atomic power possible in our time and in good time, is a long one. It includes government officials and military men who had the daring to risk two hillion |dollars and their reputation on a gamble. It includes scientists with a vision and the ability to create reality from that vision. It includes civil service workers and skilled and unskilled workers and .all the other who
and public threshing out of differences, as exemplified at San Francisco, secrecy is the classic. atmosphere in which international troubles have been settled and deals made. There is something to be said for closed-door meetings. They probably permit move freedom and candor of discussion, and less embarrassment surrounding compromise and tentative commitments. But there is certainly one thing to be said against them. They haven't prevented the recurrence of wars. It is hard to believe that the world could have fared any worse throughout history if diplomacy had been .conducted through “open covenants openly arrived at.” And it seems to us that if this government would use its strength and good offices to persuade the heads of other people's governments to let the people know how their fates were being decided, things might conceivably be better. The world has little to lose through fewer Yaltas and Potsdams and more San Franciscos.
1942—GUADALCANAL—1945
IX the dawn of Aug, 7 three years ago American marines landed on Guadalcanal island. That same night other marines went ashore at Tulagi harbor or Florida Island and on Gavutu and Tanambogo. The tide of the Pacific war turned three. years ago. For seven months the allies in the Pacific had been on the defensive. Now, said Adm. Nimitz and Gen. MacArthur, the time had come to attack. It was Jap and jungle the marines were ordered to conquer. They conquered. By the following Feb. 9, Tokyo was ready to admit it. Japan announced that its troops had been withdrawn from Guadalcanal and the Buna area of New Guinea. Today the men of Halsey and MacArthur plunge on to victory, far beyond the first, bloody tracks on ‘Guadalcanal. The mighty sweeps to triumph will not be stayed.. Let us not forget, however, that courageous start three years ago today. : : ———————— A BLAMELESS HITLER _ A LOIS HITLER, Adolf’s half-brother and former proa prietor of a Berlin beer tavern, has been found blame- . less of any war ‘guilt by the British army. In fact, Alois may have contributed indirectly to the cause of right and justice by staying behind the bar. For if it's true what they say about the 2 per cent soapy-tasting h's brew that passed for beer in wartime Germany, the ki \ must have offended a lot of palates and
it
made this thing out of their minds and bodies. | But if this was to be done ir war—as |t was done —it could not have been -done without the whole,
| v | effective co-operation of the nation’s press and radio.
|
WORLD AFFAIRS—
Reich Rule
| By Marshall McNeil
WASHINGTON, Aug. 9.—Careless management of Germany, even under the. severe rules laid down at Potsdam, might allow her to
tomorrow that the press ‘and news .broadcasters=r.|
Hoosier Forum
“I wholly disagree with what you say, but will defend to the
“WHY DO OUR POLICE CLOSE THEIR EYES?”
By Mrs. A. Butcher, Indianapolis If this letter is in print soon my faith in The Times will be restored. Every day there is another series of sluggings and servicemen being robbed. Why do our police close their eyes to these happenings. Because these people are armed? July 25 about 10:45 p. m. a father of three small children was shot hy a member of our police force in west Indianapolis, leaving this family destitute—no money, no food after a few days without the bread winner. And has any memebr of the police force a right to shoot when a vagrancy charge is all that can be placed against the person. If an arresting officer had to care for the family he leaves fatherless he would leave his gun in the holster
actually frightened the teen age girls in -question is still running loose, to pounce on them again. If this (worthy?) member of our L P.D. could see this little group as I see them day after day, the babies wondering why daddy is in City hospital and the brave little mother, her faith in her husband intact, trying
officer) would hide his head in shame. But he probably thinks the job well done. I'll be glad to tell
anytime. A little boy on the South side loses his tricycle and everyone is so, $0 sorty. But three little boys lose their daddy and who cares. » » ” “POLICE FORCE I8 SUPPOSED TO BE PROTECTION” By R. M. Curtis, Indianapolis Incidents, such as occurred on Ft. Wayne ave. and Alabama st. on July 25, of which Mr. Joe Theobald was the victim, should be reported to the proper authorities immediately. There is a crime the city of Indianapolis, but from numerous recent occurrences it appears that all the police have to do its arrest, or attempt to arrest, innocent persons, instead of spending their should-be . precious time keeping law and order where it is being violated. It is very obvious that if a policeman doesn't even know what is or is not a traffic violation he has no business on the Indianapolis police force. It is about time something was done in regard to such matters, as
regain her war-making power. This ‘is the view of at least tudent subject, who 1s familiar with discussions on the fu- | ture of Germany, which took place here prior to the Big Three meeting This disturbed over what are the differences between the Potsdam plan and the Americar proposals for postwar Germany... These were contained in joint chiefs of staff Directive 1067, | the result of debate within the informal planning | committee on Germany. The plan is called IPCAG.
Plan Goes to Eisenhower THIS IS the plan reported some wecks ago as | having: been turned over to Gen. Eisenhower. Res. | lease of its terms appeared certain several times, but it never was made public. | President Truman studied the plan before he left. There is hope here that he will spell out some of the more obscure passages of the announcement he signed with Premier Stalin and Prime Minister Attlee. The Potsdam plan says that “measures shall be promptly taken to effect essential repair of transport” in Germany, GT IPCAG dealt also with the necessity for providing transportation, but" it did not contain such specific language, according to the student of the two plans, He fears, apparently, that German heavy industry may be given new life under the direct order from Potsdam portation. a This might mean that, German steel mills would be put to work making rails, and providing steel for bridges, cars or locomotives, Steel is the prime essen tial to the manufactyye of munitions. The Potsdam declaration says that in reorganizing German economy, first emphasis shall be on the
development of agriculture and peaceful domestic industries, .
Steel Production May Rise
S80, IT WILL depend upon smart administragors to sce to it that while Germany's transportation s¥stem is repaired to furnish essential service, there shall be no threaténing by-products, such as a strong iron and steel industry. - . Similarly, /it will take smart administration to make effectiVe—but fot too ‘effective—the Potsdam
one
observer is
to provide the country “essential” trans-
the police force is supposed to be a
nuisance.
till<he could be sure. The man that
to carry on alone, he (the arresting!
death
(Times readers are invited to express their views in these columns, religious controversies excluded. Because of the volume received, letters should be limited to 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 ty The Times. The Times assumes no responsibility for the return of manuscripts and cannot enter correspondence regarding them.)
“HOPE JAPS ARE BOMBED TILL THEY BEG FOR PEACE”
By Mrs. Clara Lane, 1342 Shepard St. I have a son missing over Osaka, Japan, and it burnt me up read what Mr. Kennedy wrote the Hoosier Forum. Mr. Kennedy, if you Lkjnk the Japanese are so nice, why 't you go over there and live? e how they would treat you. I gan hardly stand to think my son .might be a {prisoner of those dirty heathens. | They asked for if—1 hope they bomb Japan until they get down on their knees and beg for peace. It's too bad the boys have to fight ard die
wave covering
for someone like you who can stay
him what I think of his behavior |, | the good old U. S. A. and blow
off how human the Japanese are. | Wake up, Mr. Kennedy, read the {papers and see how they treat our prisoners, especially those on Bataan. Do you still think they are human and that we shouldn't ireat them so harsh? I want my son home just-as much las you do, but when he does come {home I want him to stay and not {have to go back in a few years to | tinish off those dirty rats. , 5 a “HAVE GOOD AND BAD POLICE IN ALL TOWNS”
By H. L. Hightower, Indianapolis I have been visiting your town for 30 days and I compliment your fire department, ambulance service and the Red Cab. And I was think ing the police department was okay till I read Joe Theobald’s letter in The Times of Wednesday, Aug.l. But I guess we have good and bad police in all towns. I know we have in Bowling Green, Ky. And another thing is the lard situation. I was offered a 15-pound bucket of {lard if I had the points. (And I | had the points for use as I cannot
of the |#means of protection—not a public! find any meat or lard in Bowling
Green to spend them for).
ve sys Side Glances = By Galbraith
AN
declaration 4 ae.
RW
About the ‘standard of living in Ger- |
ing.
your right to say it.”
“THREATENED Now WITH GREATEST EVIL”
By T. W. Lloyd, Indianapolis A strong Communist sentiment In this country will prove to be a great blessing and may be our only alternative as we are now threatened with the greatest evil of our national existence. We are moving fast to a condition of big landed estates, and maybe enforced farm slave labor—such a bill was up before congress. The rich and prosperous city people, including, as it seems, most of the big politicians, judges, law makers, executives, all have big farms. It is said the farm bloc is stronger than the government. It is all plain to see. We had an example of what this regime
lions were on starvation. Our socalled surplus food was destroyed, to make a.scarcity and high prices for the farm bloc land owners, We now have a mild sample: of subsidized planned scarcity. After the ‘war, when the government quits buying, we will see the real thing. This is an innovation of the New Deal but is embraced by both parties. Then in this glorous land of ours, the heritage of all, abounding in natural wealth, not half of our people can buy a small, plair home with their wages from useful work, nor the things necessary for plain, decent lvYet there is no dearth of big houses of 15 to 50 rooms of enough scarce material to build a small town. Same can be said of the land. The door is closed on the poor man there. The right to own a part of God's earth is a priceless heritage. It is freedom itself. When our economic policy denies that right we are not a free people in-a free country. Owning or possessing more land than, with one's industry, will produce a modest living is contrary to natural law. It is un-American, un-Christian. It prevents other from exercising and enjoying their inherent rights and living a n 1 life. If we can't have these things individually, let us have them collectively. It is shameful that who may, can’t own’ and enjoy a small part of this beautiful land of ours. Let us curb this paganic greed — if it takes communism to do it. ’ ® LJ » “NO SOFT PEACE AND NO PITY FOR THE JAPS”
By Eddie Mitchell, Indianapolis You may not put this in the paper but I just want to give you my opinion about the man that wrote “Japan Asked for Peace, Why Must We Fight On?” He wants to give Japan a soft peace. He is trying to pity the Jap civilian. He is trying to compare the Jap civilian to the American soldier. “He thinks they are just as good as American goldiers. He has two boys in the army. 1 have a brother in the army, and I want him back just as much as that man wants his boys back. _ If we give the Japs a soft peace all the thousands of boys will have died in vain. These boys are fighting to free the world from slavery. If ‘we give the Japs a soft peace naw it's just asking for the Japs to start another war in 20 or 25 years. My sons and my brother's sons and all the younger generation of that time will have to fight another war. We have to give the Japs a peace like we gave Germany. We have to strip them, just like we stripped Germany, ° No soft peace for Japan and no pity for the Jap civilian. If we pity the Japs we are letting all those thousands of boys die in vain, Maybe that man never heard about Pearl Harbor. Has he‘ ever read about Bataan and all the bloody battlefields? Let him visit a Jap concentration camp. |
- DAILY THOUGHT Dearly beloved, avenge not yours selves, but rather give place unto wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord ~Romans 12:19. ;
will do a few years back when mil-|
1roLTicS—
World's Food|
By Thomas L. Stokes
WASHINGTON, “ Aug. 9.—When Judge Samuel I. Roseman returned from an economic survey of liberated Europe more than three months ago, before the end of the war : with Germany, he said in his report to President Truman that “the immediate and long-range economic situations of these liberated countries are extremely serious.”
reported. He urged that “the Washington machinery Jor ale
dent delegate someone to examine this machinery and recommend changes “designed to eliminate the complexities which now exist.” ’ More than three months later: those “complexities” still exist, Some feelingly call it “a mess.”
The Bureaus Take Over
lies in a diffusion of authority and responsibility among numerous agencies. Directly involved in hans dling the foreign food program are the combined food board, the foreign economic administration and the agricultural department. The last is represented on the combined board by Secretary of Agriculture Anderson, but it also has independent powers in
also is involved as respects over-all policy. In addition to Secretary Anderson, representing our country, the combined board includes a repre sentative of Great Britain, Maurice Hutton, chief of the British food mission here, and J. G. Gardiner, minister of agriculture of Canada, operating under it are numerous commodity committees. These commodity committees study the over-all world situation as regards their respective commodities and make recommendations to the combined food board which, in turn, makes allocations. But the board's authority is not final. Its decisions are sube ject to approval by the three countries. >
Authorities Overlap FEA, which participates in the program through representation on the combined board, also has the separate function of issuing export licenses. In this capacity it has power to change allocations, not of the total amount, but as among countgies, In doing this, it has produced friction. Further, there are conflicts of authority between FEA and agriculture. FEA cannot move in some respects without approval of agriculture, There are other conflicts, but these are enough to illustrate the “complexities” which hamstring an efficient and effective program. Nowhere presumably is there any one authority which can sit down, take all components of the food probblem—army, domestic and foreign—and lay out a program. . In some quarters it is suggested that the state department should have over-all control, at least to the point of formulating an over-all policy. A report embodying such a proposal has been prepared in the state department for submission to the President. The argument is that, basically, the problem is an international political problem, and the state department should formulate the policy. Others suggest that existing agencies could handle the problem in the present set-up if a specific probe lem is laid down and the agencies are properly coe ordinated to carry it out without present friction
IN WASHINGTON—
House Race By Peter Edson
WASHINGTON, Aug. 9. = A great race ‘between Senator Bob Taft of Ohio and Senator Bob Wagner of New Yofk came down the: stretch on the last day congress was in session. It ended in a photo finish, or mayb Wagner by a nose. It was a race to develop a post war housing policy. Senator Wagner is, of course, the author of near] all the New Deal legislation on housing. And, a chairman of the senate “Banking and currency com
mittee, he presides over the early destiny of an new housing legislation that comes up. Taft is a minority ‘member of the banking and currency committee, but he is also chairman of senate post-war subcommittee on housing. That ha made him top man in the long series of hearings o post-war housing policy, They began in June, 1944 and ran until February, 1945. They enabled Taf to. steal the ~housing spotlight from Wagner. natural rivalry ‘as well as a traditional politica jealousy developed. : : Twice during the Taft committee hearings Wag ner rose to announce that this was only an adviso subcommittee and had no authority to do anything about legislation, which would have to he referred to his, Wagner's banking afd currency committeey later on. Taft went ahead, however, and took five month to prepare a report which, he filed on the" last da the senate was in session. «The report is one of th most liberal and far-reaching programs for the de velopment of public housing ever to get before con gress. Taft has a reputation as a conservative whi is sometimes called a reactionary,
Senator Taft's Recommendations HE HAS been the Republican’s number one criti of many Democratic proposals. Knowing these factd any Washington observer will pick up the Taft re port and read with amazement what the senator fro Ohio proposes for a’ long-range government housin, program: » A single agency with a single head to promote a government housing activities. Tax reductions corporations owning housing developments. Dow. ward revaluation of property for new housing. De velopment of more rural housing. More assistance t cities in rebuilding slum areas. Disapproval of t rent certificate subsidy for low-income families. Re view of the anti-trust laws to eliminate monopoly an racketeering practices of both business manageme and labor organizations which conspire to restrid housing productivity. Taft includes statements that public housi should not compete with private housing. He favor state and local government co-Operation with t federal government on future housing developmen Also, he does not believe that public housing sho be imposed on communities that do not want it, ~ But anyone reading this report and not knowl the author would never guess it was written by Se ator. Taft. It is that liberal. It is everything, public housing advocates have been asking for.
Democrats Lead in Photo Finish IT WOULD be too much to expect the Democra would allow Taft to steal this dream-house right. ou of their own back yard. While Taft was writing hj report, Senator Wagner, in collaboration with Senatd Allen J. Ellender of Louisiana, representing the sena committed on education and labor, were busy pre paring a new housing bill. Having sat in on all t Taft subcommittee hearings, Wagner apd Ellend were able to write into their proposed bill most ( the reforms hdvocated by Taft, and a few othe besides. And the two Democratic senators also filg their bill on the last day the senate was in sessio providing the aforementioned photo finish; The Wagner-Ellender bill gets the play becau it is a step further along—a definite proposal f¢ legislation. But it is 65 pages long and it takes § | lawyer to figure it out. The Taft report, on the oth hand, is only 23 pages long and extrem
Both are recommended reading for anyone inte ested in public housing and post-war private housin
too. Bullders, contractors, realtors, landlords an building trades union leaders whd start reading t
THOSE who plot the destruction
of others often fall themselyes.—
fore bedtime shouldnt count on getting too muc J in these proposals to
AT
“Except in the rural, food-raising areas, a dane | gerously low level of nutrition generally exists,” he |
| | | { |
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focating supplies to liberated areas should be simplis fied and streamlined.” He suggested that the Presi~ |
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AS POINTED out previously, the main trouble here |
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