Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 30 August 1945 — Page 18

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"PAGE 18 Thursday, Aug. 80, 1945 _ "ROY W, HOWARD * WALTER LECKRONE President Editor

HENRY W. MANZ Business Manager

(A SCRIPPS-HOWARD NEWSPAPER)

Price in Marion County, 5 cents a copy; delivered by carrier, 30 cents a week.

% Owned and published @aily (except Sunday) by Indianapolis Times PubMshing Co, 314 W. Mary-

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«CP ¢ RILEY 5551

Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Woy

“THE PEARL HARBOR REPORTS "0 all the other Pearl Harbor stupidities, the government : now adds another in publishing its reports en that disaster on the very day Japan is being occupied. But if the purpose was to bury them under the news from Japan, it has failed. These belated reports are making plenty of noise, and the reverberations will be heard for a long time. They should be. The Pearl Harbor fiasco was the most terrible in our military history. Nobody will ever know how many thousands of casualties resulted, how many months the war was extended, because the sentries at our backdoor were caught surprised and helpless,

_ Member of United Press, Scripps-Howard Newspaper Alliance, NEA Seryand Audit Bureau of tions.

Taxi News Reports By Douglas Larsen

WASHINGTON, Aug. 30.—The two best news

collection of “handouts” and the taxi drivers. From both of these sources the forecast is stormy weather. Cdbbies in this town probably make more money than: 90 per cent of the government employees and more than 95 per cent of the newspapermen. As a result this lucrative occupation has attracted some pretty shrewd observers of humanity and current alfairs, They have their finger on the pulse of the town's population. They know who's coming to town and they know who's leaving. A With group riding in effect, they hear the inside debates on what's coming off during the day when they drive their fares to work and, on the trip home how it came off. They have more inside information than any touts at a race track. More than one congressman has heen known to send his secretary out taxi riding to find out what's really going on or what the current thought is on some subject.

Cab Drivers Keep Ears to Ground

SINCE THE peace announcement the drivers have kept an especially alert ear to the ground. From their trips back and forth to Union Station they report succinétly: “The businessmen are leaving and the politicians are arriving.” Most “group gossip” concerns: Whe is being fired first, and will their apartment be available? Will Washington win the pennant this year? The rumor that Ickes is going to stay at Interior for some time. What they're going to do with the Pentagon building. What congress will do. “Handout” is the trade lingo for a press release,

Hitherto the full facts have been Suppressed on security grounds. The Roberts report of January, 1942, had to be | restricted in range. The new reports are not complete. |

Since they are army and navy reports on army and navy | Scratchers. If ever a line from one of these hand- | outs gets into print its author feels grateful.

failures they cannot be entirely disinterested and objective. There is disagreement on several important points between | the two boards, and between the boards and their reviewing | authorities. Under the circumstances, the last word has not been said. s 2 = THE secretaries of war and navy, like the Roberts report, find that Gen. Short and Adm. Kimmel were at fault. Because they were in direct command, they must share the blame. But how much? Short, who had the primary job of defending Pearl Harbor, was surprised and unprepared to meet the attack, the army board concludes. One cause of the extent of the disaster, it says, was Short's failure “adequately to alert his command for war,” Secretary Stimson agrees. The navy board tends to excuse Kimmel, It argues that the army was chiefly responsible, and that Kimmel was given inadequate materials and information by Washington. But Adm. King says Kimmel “should have judged more accurately the gravity of the danger”—he should have assed air reconnaissance, rotated ships in port and taken Secretary Forrestal agrees. But no court-martial is directed for either Short or Kimmel. The official excuse is that they were removed from command and retired; that their errors of judgment were of omission rather than commission and do not justify trial. We think this decision is grossly unfair to Short and Kimmel, regardless of their obvious responsibility, They have asked for trials. They have been condemned, so it is only just that they be given full opportunity to defend {themselves and call witnesses, Until they have had their day in court, there will remain public suspicion that'they are being made to shoulder the mistakes of others as well as their own. = THIS ISSUE of Washington's joint responsibility was hinted in the Roberts report and is stated bluntly in some of the current findings. Adm. King finds his predecessor, Adm. Stark, shares the blame—in not giving more information to Kimmel, in failing to appreciate the significance of certain developments, and in some lack of efficiency in organization, Secretary Forrestal agrees. But they say that the faults of Stark, as of Kimmel, were of omission rather than comnission. : The army report goes much further in blaming the war department. It says the department failed to keep Short informed and failed “to direct him to take an adequate alert.” It specifically names the chief of staff, Gen. Marshall, and the war plans division head, Maj. Gen. L. T. Gerow. - While Secrétary Stimson agrees that the war and navy departments could have been more efficient, he condemns the criticism of Gen. Marshall as “entirely unjustified.” President Truman also defends Marshall. In our judgment the evidence shows that Marshall had a clearer understanding and acted with more decision than

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any other high officer in Washington. le was out of the |

city on important maneuvers when his assistants made their worst mistakes. During that period he was doing the work of many men, and with an almost miraculous batting average. We regret that the chief of staff, the main architect of our victory, is smeared. But he is big enough to take it. ;

The same applies to Cordell Hull. The former secretary of state was unjustly side-swiped by the army repost. But his reputation is too well established to suffer from | such far-fetched imputations.

n » » » n » “ OUR MAIN objections to these reports is that they almost ignore the chief culprit. That “was not an individual but a system. In part Short and Kimmel and Washington were victims of the system, and so was the nation. The system separated the fighting services; it obscured inefliciencies, it encouraged rivalry and jealousy, it caused con-

flict of commands, it forced division of responsibility, Some of those’ evils have been reduced by the fires of war, and by efforts of Marshall and King and their field commanders. But not all have been eliminated: They can't be as long as the system remains. When America really learns the lesson of Pear] Harbor, the President and congress will act on the recommendations of Secretary Stimson and others for a close co-ordina-tion of all the fighting services under a single unified defense department. Meanwhile, the whole story has not been told and apparently’ will not be until there are courtsmartial and full investigation by an objective appropriate civil authority,

‘NOT SOAP OPERAS, PLEASE N the face of all the news about how industry is rushing

and how these will be available about Christmas time, we k the broadcasters are due this warning:

Texas newspapermen have a different name for it. 7 .ey flood every city editor's desk each morning from every branch of the government pressure group down to the League of Left-Handed Dandruff

But they are a clue as to what's coming up that can't be ignored. Weeks and months before an im-

barometers in the nation’s capital are the morning's

portant issue flares up, the various sides will begin |

bombarding news offices with slightly slanted background material on the question. Not so much designed to get into print, they are to convince the news writer by a process of ceaseless pounding that any action other than what they propose would throw the nation into complete chaos. Some of the material is serious and intelligent, representing the wishes and aims of millions of persons or millions of dollars. Much is plain “crackpot” stuff. Some is borderline. The government's handouts can be anything.

Scanning the Morning's Handouts HERE ARE examples from ene morning's haul of some of the better material showing where their sponsors’ interest lie regarding the post-war world. The U. 8S. Chamber of Commerce weekly report called “Business Action” headlines an important story, “Tax Reductions After Jan. 1 Virtually Assured.” The C. I. O. headlines its weekly publication, “See 10 Million Out of Work by 1946.” A DuPont news release says, “Nylon has established itself in an outstanding way in the field of textiles and synthetic bristles.” From the Veterans of; Foreign Wars comes the statement: “The V. F. W.-today challenged the growing tendency of war-nurtured government agencies to perpetuate their activities and jobs in the postwar era by cutting themselves a piece of ‘vetera pie.’ ” ’ The Automobile Asseciation announces: “Welcoming the return of the full fuel tank after four years of a gas shortage, AAA warned motorists that neither their cars nor the rubber on them can stand high speeds.”

~» WORLD" AFFAIRS—

Hara-Kiri By William Philip Simms

WASHINGTON, Aug. 30.—After -Japan’s doors were opened to the world by Commodore Perry in 1853, a naval officer named Taki Zenzaburo ordered his ship to fire on the foreign settlement at what is now called Kobe. By way of apology, the mikado ordered him to commit hara-Kiri. The order was carried out with pomp. Seven foreign powers sent envoys to witness the ceremony. This took place in the dark hall of a Shinto temple. In front of the high altar, on 4 sort of dais, was laced a square of snow-white mats four or five inches thick. In the middle was a strip of crimson felt. From the high-beamed ceiling hung a profusion of gilded ornaments and lanterns. There was just enough- light to see what was going on.

Suicide—With Trimmings THE FOREIGN diplomats sat on the right of the dais. Seven Jap officials sat on the left. After a tense wait in deepest silence, the doomed man entered the tenipie,—dressed in the strictest ceremonial. He even wore the peculiar hempen wings reserved for-imperial occasions, Young, stalwart—he was..only 32—he walked with slow, measured tread, his head erect. Behind him came his second—his best friend. Zenzaburo mounted the dais. Twice he prostrated himself before the high altar. Rising and 4 turning his back on the altar, he slowly kneit ona the crimson patch in the middle of the snow-white mats, sitting erect on his heels which is an attitude of respect. Now .an attendant came forward with a small stand. On it, wrapped in spotless tissue, lay the wazizashi, short-sword or dagger. This was sharply pointed with edges keen as a razor, With a deep bow, the aide handed the sword to Zenzaburo, who received it solemnly with both hands and raised it reverently to his forehead. Then he carefully laid it on the mat in front of him. Letting his ceremonial garments fall to his waist, the Jap. officer tucked his kimono-like sleeves under his legs so that when he fell he would fall forward. | No gentleman committing hara-kiri wants to fall | backward. Picking up the dagger, with great deliberatibn, he plunged, it into. his left side, drew {it slowly across his stomach to the right side, then thrust it sharply upward. And all the time the expression on his face never changed.

Friendly Decapitation STEPPING FORWARD a pace, Zenzaburo's second and best friend raised his heavy samurai sword and, at one stroke, severed the suicide’s head from his body. It was the coup de grace. The foreign envoys rose and filed out. Japan had officially apologized and the incident was closed. We are beginning to occupy Japan. We are about to pick up again where Commodore Perry left ofl. There are those who insist the Japs are like everybody else. If we don’t like the way they behave we'll simply ‘pin their ears back. This is a grave

trouble to ourselves as possible, Rightly, because we defeated Japan almost singlehanded, the allies have left all occupation arrangements to us. This places a tremendous responsibility upon the United States. It is up to us to study Japanese psychology, see what makes the Japs tick. Otherwise, unwittingly, we may provoke an explosion and hurt ourselves. We have defeated Japan. “We have wrung from her unconditional surrender. She is prostrate. And it is all just and proper retribution. But for that very reason our own dignity and our own self-respect require that we do not needlessly kick her, even emotionally, now that she is down. . It is vital that we deal with the Japs prompt! and vigorously {f they overstep the bounds. Some of their hotheads may try on us what Zenzaburo tried on the foreigners at Kobe. If so, we must make them smart for it. But we must not invite attack by doing something which, however trivial

radio program be going to hear and see over

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Hoosier

| “NOT BECAUSE OF OPA {BUT IN SPITE OF IT” By €. D. C., Indianapolis | “OPA Is in a Dither,” says a | Times headline. Now we think of | news as being something unusual Iso that don’t make news. However, a lot of people regard the OPA as something born in a wartime emergency when in reality it was prop{agated back in 1931 at a time when

people were cold, hungry and halifnaked. When the New Deal came into power, a lot of relief agencies were formed, including the CCC which later became the WPA and

then its stepchild, the OPA. Probably these relief agencies were first formed for humanitarian purposes. However, the half-pint tin horn politicians that came out] of each ward and precinet to run the show soon discovered they were| a bang-up political racket that could | keep the New Deal in power forever. | Knowing the general public has 8] short memory, they soon found, as| the records will show if anyone wants to check them, that by putting out plenty of relief orders and WPA jobs just before elections, they | could vontrol the elections. Now| this worked quite well in peace but in wartimes a real emergency came

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

‘SIXTY THOUSAND TONS OF SUGAR FOR SPAIN

By Si Moore, Indianapolis Sixty thcusand tons of sugar for Spain. This is going from Louisis ana, not Cuba, That is where a lot of your sugar is going. It would not be anything to gripe about if the starving children, that Buteh Franco has made miserable by his sadistic slaughters of their parents, got the sugar But, as in this country, the sugar will go to those who turn it into semething for which they can get a much bigger price. That is commerce, or something, and should not be mentioned perhaps, but if someone did net mention these bright moves we might think we are still living in the period of the more abundant life when all you had to do was go to

Forum

(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 ho way implies agreement with those opinions The Times. The Times assumes no responsi. bility for the return of manuscripts and cannot enter correspondence regarding them.)

old gang in WPA and from other relief agencies were drafted for the jobs and they added a few crackt professors, quite a lot qf brokbe Ds ote, Wha food Sol a smelly commissary, stand in line that had never been able to make|for two or three hours and get good and a few brankrupt grocers. | some sugar—just like that. Those Added to this there are a lot | Were the grand old days. Somewhat of sincere but misguided volunteer like living in Europe under one of workers for the OPA who think! those ignorant dictators that wore

they are being patriotic and Hoy Urns buttons, gold braid and a pisOl.

knowing they are mere stooges for| : . a political machine. The iatest new | Of course, few of our children wrinkle the OPA has up its politi- remember the planned depression cal sleeve is to keep the grocers from |'hat was engineered to break the

{going bankrupt after the war, It morale of the country and make it would not occur to them, of course,|vote for regimentation, just for a i

that if 8 man is not capable of run-| change. As some one has remarked,

up as it was kriown the public would | pio his business that he cannot never stand for a WPA in wartimes. | oo in business anyway. They point The New Dealers knew if they|i, "the 100,000 business casualties were to continue in power that 8|,¢¢e; the last war but fail to men{bigger and better political racket|y;,, tne 200,000 or more they have would have to be found. Knowing|.iready caused during this war. they had been able to control the| neither do they mention that convotes of the people in peacelimes| yiijong are entirely different. There by the food that went in their |; the story, Mr. and Mrs. Con-

mistake if we wish to occupy Nippon with as little |

{many thought they were getting a {setup that stood for something, |only to find that it stood for any(thing. But the children remember {too well the bungling and desuetude, las well as the greed and cowardice that allowed this country to listen [to the honied and shibboleth of the

[vicious circle of political, religious

stomachs, they accordingly organ- sumer. These are the people the and economic dictators that were

ized th OPA for war.

farmers, packers, wholesalers and

steering us into war. Hitler and

I suppose that only a compara- grocers_have been taking their or- | Hirohito were picked to start the tively small number of people eVer| gers from and the only reason we conflagration after Franco had laid realized how the OPA was thrust|pave enough food today is not be-|!he fire with aid we sent him when upon them. Pirst came a series Of | ause of the OPA but in spite of |e was battling freedom and democ-

gala stories in newspapers {rom people who claimed to have been in England telling of the healthy, pink-cheeked people - who were healthiers than ever on account of food rationing. The boys on the radio did ‘their part, too. That we are exporters of food while England is importer or that the poorer clags of people in England are not only born with empty stomachs but usually die the same way never occurred to them at all. Then Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt made a trip to England presumably to hobnob with royalty. However, she came back with such a glowing account of food rationing that the politicos were no ionger able to re-

sist and the OPA was born. The

it. F ” n .

“LET'S TRY TO GET BACK TO GOD'S OWN TIME”

By C, C, Miller, 2141 Singleton st. : Today’s Hoosier Forum contained a letter from one Hal P. Smith, Indianapolis, voicing his sentiments on the daylight “savings” (?) time. You can say what he said again, and I hope that with _the.return cf normalcy in most affairs, this item will be included. Let's hear from some others of the same opinion, and try to get back to God's own

racy. The plan has worked rather well, and the best blood has been spiit in the finale in the Pacific. But the same vicious circle is hack at the council table, It is setting up the industries of Germany, building new powder plants here, and, of course; Franco may need that sixty thousands of tons of sugar te make the first mess of powder. for enother profitable slaughter, 3 r » "

“95TH DIVISION PRETTY

FUCRY TO GET HOME”

time, which is, I think, pretty uni-|By M. Russell, 1635 Martindale ave.

versal, and we do not want to he out of tune with the universe, or do we?

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“Ths Frick if fo keep your oye on

to us, may 4 toil i ;

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Carnival —By Dick Turner

hangs that may fall out of his pocketsl”

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8g the 95th thinks it's awful they are to be redeployed to the Pacific. They were pretty lucky being sent overseas last August, 1044, and now home on furlough. I know some boys that have two or more years of service overseas duty in ETO and have been shipped direct to the Pacificc, my flance being one of them, He has 18 months overseas, four/of them in combat duty with the 366th infantry in Italy and hes since been shipped to the Philip. pines with no furlough. Yes, they are lucky just being able to come home. They are right when they say let some of those that have been here without seeing overseas duty go. But think of the thousands of unlucky guys. Just look up their records. This will probably never make print, but it's true anyway. It's pretty hard to take sometimes when you think of the unfairness of some things. They were given an equal chance to fight, now why aren’t they given an equal chance to enjoy the peace they fought so hard and unselfishly to attain? . Regardless of what some people want to believe we are human beings also and we desire to pe treated as such, <Ineidentally, my fiance is a pre<-Pearl Harbor veteran.

DAILY THOUGHT For as many as have sinned without the law shall also perikh without the law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law.—-Romans 2:12.

OUR human laws are but the

4 cl the jumper—=never mind any loose

copies, more or less imperfect, of fle sctrndd laws, so far

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POLITICS —

|United Forces:

By Charles T. Lucey

WASHINGTON, Aug. 30.—Merging of United States land, sea and 2 air forces into a single national defense department is urged in a report made to the joint chiefs of staff by 8a special committee of officers, The joint chiefs are understood to have had the report for several months hut have not made it public. Legislation providing such a merger has been introduced, and it was reported today that attempts to get action on it will be pushed as soon as congress returns. This is expected to bring demands that the study of the feasibility of merging the land, sea and air forces Into a single overall department be made public. ‘The commission making the report was headed by Lt. Gen, Harold L. George, commanding general of the army air transport command. Military sources will disclose nothing of the report's contents, but it is regarded as carrying special weight because the views of U. 8. fleld commanders all over the world went into its making.

army and navy

Generals for It—Admirals ‘Against

THE ARMY and the army air forces have lined up solidly in favor of a single national defense depart ment, put the navy generally has opposed it. The admirals for the most part haye argued for keeping the naval forces separate. Secretary of the Navy Forrestal committed himself only to what seemed a limited form of unity of the services. He suggested keeping the joint chiefs of staff and co-ordinated boards. Most plans for a single national defense department envision a eivillan secretary, a eabinet member at the top, with three undersecretaries—one each for air, sea and land, The three branches would be “co-equal and co-ordinated.” Army officials openly condemn the present system under which ‘“compartmentalized” army and navy personnel often do much the same job without letting the other know what is going on. They insist that it is costly in point of economy and detrimental to the best planning for defense.

Need Unity in Four Fields THEY ARGUE for four chief fields in which there should be complete unity. “First is operational. This war has shown plainly, they say, that land, sea and air forces must be used

together, and they insist that the top command must think not in terms of one but of all three. Training should not be held to one field but should be rooted in all three. Second is research. Top officials cite the contributions of science to warfare—jet propulsion, rockets and atomic bombs in this war, for example—and contend the U. 8. should concentrate its vast military research facilities under one department rather than having army and navy working separately. Third is purchase and supplies. Thousands of persons are detailed to work in the vast military forces, and it is contended that there could be big savings both in manpower and money if such actiyities were under one head. : - Pourth is intelligence — The gathering of worldwide information on which military planning is based. Today it's scattered about considerably. Put it together in ene division and the results will be superior to separate operations, merger advocates say. Secretary of War Stimson has praised the coOperation between army and navy in this war, hut has insisted that voluntary co-operation, no matter how successful, will never be as effective as some form of ecencgntrated authority from the top down. President Truman, as a senator, came out slampang for unification of the armed forces. As chairman of the war investigating committee, he reported he found many evidences that unification was needed.

IN WASHINGTON~—

Tokyo Junket

By Earl Richert

WASHINGTON, Aug. 30.—Twiddling their thumbs here are a lot’ of men in foreign military missions. They are awaiting the decision of Gen. MacArthur and the combined chiefs of staff on the eomposition and size of the forces that will occupy Japan and Japanese held territories.

with Japan are eager to be represented by at least a token force in the occupation armies, Holland, for example, wants to partieipate in the occupation. It had planned to send 8000 light infantry troops to the East Indies in September and October. : The future role of this group now depends upon the decision of the supreme allied commander. Most likely they will be sent to Dutch territory.

Cenada Has Troops Ready

volunteers to go to the Pacific to figh} alongside our troops. Whether they are now to be sent remains to be decided. > The French had three divisions in training at home, one brigade at Madagascar and 1000 men in Indias who were scheduled for the Japanese war, Their immediate future rests with Gen. MacArthur, but they likely will be sent to French Indo-China. Australia plans to send about 6600 men into Japan proper as an occupation force, along with some air and naval forces, Australia also will have the prin-

100,000 Japs on Bougainville, New Guinea and New Britain. laya to take charge of the repatriation of an entire Australian division which was captured there early in the war. British officials here expect that only a small token force of their men will ‘be sent into Japan proper. Their main occupation job, they say, will be in cleaning up Sumatra, Java, Burma, Indo-China, Hong Kong, etc. i The British, in the meantime, are eontinuing their draft with broader age provisions than President Truman has recommended for the U. 8.. He has proposed continued inductions of men 18 through 26 with a two-year limit on their service. *

British Still Draft Men

THE BRITISH are still‘ calling up men between the ages of 18 and 27 and say this will be continued “for a long time” to permit the return of veterans who have served overseas for many years and the re-

lease of older men. France has compuleory conscription and is calling up men when they reach the age of 20 for two years’ Students may be deferred and take their military later. Australia’s conscription law pertaining to men between the ages of 18 and 35 is still on the books but few are being called under it. Australia’s army during the war was largely composed of volunteers. ' Canada suspended its conseription law immediately after V-E-day.- But its draft was only for defense f at home and only a handful of conscriptees re sent overseas to fight with its volunteer armies. Russia, whose occupation role in the’ Pacific is till as hazy of those of the other powers, started compulsory military training for all 15 and 16-year-olds shortly after V-E-day. 2 Holland had

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Most all of the minor powers that were at war |

CANADA HAD been training a force of 30,000 §

cipal role in aceepting the surrender of approximately |

It will send a parachute battalion to Ma- |

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