Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 18 September 1950 — Page 14
A SCRIPPS-HOWARD NEWSPAPER i
“Fox W. HOWARD WALTER LECKRONE HENRY W. MANZ - President Editor Business Manager
PAGE 14 Monday, Sept. 18, 1950
2 HERE LE ERT
1.10 a
Partial Payoff ~~
tion of Robert N. Denham as general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). / "”" That, coming just ahead of the congressional elections, is an obvious payoff to Philip Murray, William Green and other union leaders for their political support, given in the past and avidly desired in the future, of the President and his branch of the Democratic Party. 1t is, to be sure, only a partial payment. Mr. Truman has not been able to deliver on his promise to bring about repeal of the Taft-Hartley Act. That's what the union leaders really want, and want more than ever just now, since it would restore their power to enforce legalized closed shops and impose compulsory union membership on present and new workers in expanding defense industries. AFL CRAFT unions, in particular, used such power ruthlessly to enrich themselves in World War II. They exacted outrageously high fees and dues from workers seeking jobs on defense projects—workers who, in countless cases, got only what amounted to temporary work permits. But Mr. Truman has failed to convince many Democrats and most Republicans in Congress that the Taft- ; Hartley Act is as bad as he and the union leaders say. He a! could have had it modified, to meet reasonable objéctions, but he could not get it repealed and the biased Wagner Act restored. « “So, as the pext best thing, he ousted Mr. Denham; whom the union leaders denounce as an “enemy of labor.” He tried unsuccessfuly to do that a few months ago, by asking Congress to abolish the independent office of general - counsel to the NLRB, in the name of “government reorgani- - zation.” Now he has done it on the theory that the general . counsel must be someone who will work in “harmonious relationship” with the NLRB's members. or ~ - » » » » WHEN the Taft-Hartley Act became effective in 1947, Mr. Truman appointed Mr. Denham and the NLRB members and told them that, much as he disliked the new law, he wanted them to enforce it as written and as Congress in- . . tended. - - Mr. Denham and the members have differed and at . times bitterly, as to how the law should be enforced. : The Times believes that Mr. Denham tried conscienti- : ously and courageously to enforce the law as Congress wrote and intended it, and a preponderance of court deci- .. sions seems to support that belief. What results from har- . mony between a new general counsel and the board may please the union leaders, and enhance their power. How well Lit will please rank-and-file union members and the general public remains to be seen.
Quirino Wakes Up ITs good to see leaders of the Filipino goveinment finally facing the facts of life in a sordid world under threat of extended Communist aggression. Both President Quirino and his foreign minister, Brig. ‘Gen. Carlos Romulo, recently have done an. about-face on the menace of the Communist-led Hukbalahaps and have acknowledged that public confidence in the government must be restored. Mr. Quirino says the Philippines are now as much a front as Korea, for an “arm of Communism” is firmly established in the islands. And Gen. Romulo acknowledges that the Red guerrillas have been raiding nearer and nearer, Manila “in a manner which indicates the presence of organized direction with a distinctly political motive.” Also, that the Huks have “taken advantage of deterierating economic conditions.” t. x ® = x = = ie ONLY four months ago both these leaders were snort“ing at “fantastic” press reports that the Philippines gov- ‘ ernment was in dire straits and facing overthrow or collapse. And when, just before the Korean outbreak, the Quirino government played host to a seven-nation Pacific confer--ence, the menace of Communism was ignored on the lofty excuse that “we're not mad at anybody.” . =~ Let's hope the awakening has come in time. It was sparked by a Huk rampage of twd weeks ago when a dozen Luzon villages were raided and nearly 100 Filipino soldiers were killed. Admitting that the Army could not cope with the situation, President Quirino appealed to the people to form “battalions of peace” to aid the armed forces. Then he started a house-cleaning of top figures in the Army and, under public pressure, extended that to a cabinet shake-up. *y Ww = x ® » . N additional reason for Mr. Quinnoe sudden exertion is the imminence of the report by a U. S. economic survey mission sent to the Philippines by President Truman last July. -* The mission is expected to propose a recovery plan calling for the U. S. to send more millions in financial assist ance to the islands—but conditioned on even more drastic reforms from within. America’s obligation to protect the Philippines from Communist conquest is obvious, but the Quirino government must give advance assurances of good intentions if this country is to bail it out of its present prediciment.
-
Nonsense oH
A MERICA'S most distinguished strip teaseuse, Gypsy i Rose Lee, is out with an indignant denial that she ever had any left-wing connections .or sympathies. Miss Lee's art medium, it seems to us, has always been one. that transcends ideologies. Long in the eye of + the public, Miss Lee surely has practically nothing to - '_hide—not even her own hide—and those who recall her
wartime benefit performances can think of her only as x ¥ Seasing over forward to reveal heart-felt, love
Ee a Ae
RESIDENT Truman has asked and received the resigna- .
‘heavy wedges of infantry,
Rea 1 A » i
{ The Indianapolis Times Short Circuit in Push Button War
Tan
ARMY IN GERMANY
By William Stoneman
Escape Route for U. S. Troops
- HEIDELBERG, Germany, Sept. 18 — With good luck U. 8. troops stationed in Germany could escape disaster if the Russians attacked next week. With better luck they might be able to hold the line of the Rhine between Frankfurt and Karlsruhe—for a time. : » The American First Infantry Division dnd the U. 8. constabulary, which is really an overstrength armored division, are excellent, alert, fast moving outfits. They are well-trained and would never “fold”
: before a sudden attack. But they are still only
two divisions and could be wiped out or thrown back by a big Russian pile-driver attack. The sooner more American divisions arrive in Germany the sooner the American zone of Germany will be secure. Until they do arrive it will remain wide open. Most important of all--the area between the Czech frontier and the Rhine can be held for _ some time and the Rhine itself —south of Frankfurt—can probably be held for an indefinite time by a fairly modest force of American troops. This modest force may range between five and 10 divisions, supported heavily by American aircraft. .
Facts Confirmed
"“EXERCISE Rainbow,” staged in southern Germany during the last few days by 38,000 American troops, co-operating with American air and naval units and small French and British detachments, has served to confirm these facts, already pretty evident to everybody who had examined the problem of defending Western Germany against a Russian onslaught. . The maneuvers were planned before Korea and long before it was known ‘that additional American divisions would be sent to Germany. The idea of the. exercise was to see whether American units scattered all over this part of Germany could make a quick getaway in case of Rus8ian attack, regroup speedily just east of the Rhine and then hit back.The exercise was realistic as far as the getaway was concerned. The getawdy was more or less successful. Units moved speedily all the way from Grafenwohr, a training center near the Czech frontier, to positions along the Main and Neckar Rivers, 25 miles east of the Rhine. Excellent staff work and good cemmunications seemed to prevent any theoretical encirclement of any importance.. Here the exercise paused for a day, then
entered a phase that never would have happened
in real warfare. The Americans theoretically attacked and drove the enemy back toward Czechoslovakia. . In real warfare, with the Russians driving backed by armor and clouds of aircraft, along a dozen different routes, there never would have been a counteroffensive by two divisions. Military attaches from other Atlantic Treaty powers turned out in strength to watch this fourth businesslike exercise to be held by American troops in Germany since the spring of 1949.
SIDE GLANCES
corm. soso wea ser me T. M. REC. ©. 8. PAT. OFF.
*This sawboy 3 suit: is old stuff, Mom—nearly all my friends. hove
s | gone out for the tank corps!”
Features of the games that struck them most were: ONE: A large map at briefing headquarters showing Spain and Portugal as the only neutral areas in all Europe. Spanish and Portugubse officers were present.
Only Light Raids
TWO: The assumption that the ‘‘aggressor force” was making only light fighter-bomber raids on Bremen, principal American supply port. Also the assumption that the enemy was running out of aircraft after three days of light losses. THREE: Careful plans for the use of “14 ,000 German laborers” and river barges and boats but not German troops. Also measures for setting up military government in the rear areas of Germany. FOUR: The assumption that there would be minor acts of sabotage and murder by fifth columnists here and there but no wide-scale activity of that type. FIVE: The announcement that the Army had suffered only 255 casualties in the first three days of fighting. SIX: A report from the “chaplain” that “morale was fine” among American troops. SEVEN: The theoretical wiping out of a large force of paratroops dropped near Stuttgart before they were abie to do any damage. EIGHT: The high quality of American officers including Gen. Thomas T. Handy, and Lt. Gen. Manton E. Eddy, commanding general of the ground forces in Europe, a fighting Chicagoan who commanded the 9th division in Normandy and later the XII corps with brilliant success.
High Service Record
FROM top brass down to platoon leaders .
there is a high percentage of officers who have won the D. 8. C. and the silver star in action and an obvious absence of duds. Use of the Main-Neckar line, plus the mountainous area north of Heidelberg, as a holding line east of the Rhine struck observers as a happy way ‘of blocking Russian progress to the big river, temporarily. The Rhine itself would undoubtedly have to serve as the main Allied defensive position after preliminary holding battles to the east. Whether the Allies can plan to do any better than this will depend upon how many divisions arrive.
FOSTER'S FOLLIES
JERSEY CITY—A carnival palm reader, advertised as expert at seeing into people’s futures, asked police to find her missing automobile. Her crystal ball was in the car.
She read the mind or well-lined palm; Tomorrow held my mystery. She looked ahead serene and calm; The future was just history.
But times have changed and now 'tis said, About the past she's wistful. She wonders just how far ahead Are car and ball of crystal!
By Galbraith SELECTIVE SERVICE Some Reservists Bitter
WASHINGTON, Sept. 18—Defense. officials are concerned over the attitude of the men who are being drafted am called
back into active duty.
On top of that, reports from Selective Service headquarters indicate the rate of men trying to dodge the draft by various means is higher than World War II. And the ma- .. chinery set up by the services to consider deferments from calls to active duty is being swamped
AS FAR as the services go the worry is that reluctant recruits might not make good fighting material and that the future reserve programs are going to need some severe overhauling. Letters from men soon to go in, and interviews with them, tell the story. Here is a typical letter from a man in an organized reserve unit who ‘has just gotten his call: “When they signed me up they led us to believe that it was just a question of march _ a couple of times a month and get paid for it. And in the — case of war everybody would be in and I'd be ahead of the other fellows,
Re atl ial Pe ii
“1 do not agree with a word that. hy! but | will defend to the death your it." - ‘Chief Should Be Fired’
By L. B. Sheldon, City. I have just read that our Chief of Police has postponed a hearing concerning the unlawful conduct of two policemen. This is not a matter of penalizing ‘the two officers but a matter of covering up and not . wanting to do anything about it. Not only should the men be fired, but also nt chief for
1 any RT * enter. into. the ahs The. fact is that the Fight of the individual was not _ respected. :
> + & MAY I ask what our civil organizations are going to do about it? This is adnatter of principle whether a minor official can violate the law and get'dWay with it. That is exactly how things started In Europe where little Hitlers made their own laws without getting their fingers slapped. Are our civil organizations. going to be part of all that? I particularly ask Mayor Feeney—who appointed Chief Rouls and therefore is responsible -—to read this article very carefully. Indianapolis does not want a man as the head of the Police Department who either does not know or does not. want to respect the laws of the United States.
‘World bingraae Needed’ By J. H. Schackmann. The shooting phase of World War II ended in 1945. The years since have brought no peace. During. that time most of us individually did nothing to promote a better understanding among the peoples of the Earth, except perhaps to wonder what we could do. What could we have done? What can we do now? } What many could have done, and can vet do
— especially those with growing children and
who therefore have a great stake in the future of the world--is to promote the teaching in
DEAR BOSS .
"schools, and. the learning by adults, of the international language.
own, that need is now. * ¢ . ‘ BECAUSE they know no international language, most of the delegations of the 59 . members of the United Nations cannot even talk directly to other delegations. They are de-~ pendent upon interpreters. and translators. What a situation! An appreciation of that situation’in internaJom ro 1 play in world rr if Mickie & chanc® ‘Because English is spoken over su a large area of North America, we have hot Dana , the importance of this international language,
and have lagged far behind many other nations.
in the teaching and study of it.x We ought to catch up and even surpass them. We. can if we will. Our outstanding position ‘athong- nations today makes it important that we do. en -
AS THINGS stand, most of us cannot comsmunicate directly with people like ourselves in other countries and tell them what sort of folks we really are. Things might be different, in time, if we could and did, even if their governments were not always friendly to us. This international language is the most mod-
ern of languages (not yet seventy. years old);
and, compared with any other, is almost unbelievably easy to learn. Its name is “Esperanto,” and current information about it may be obtained from Esperanto, 114 West 16th St., New York City.
Barbs—
WITH the price good steaks are bringing cattle should be the laughing stock of the country. > 4 THE quickest way to silence a A circle is to ask who is the oldest.
. By Dan Kidney | 4
Attack on » Marshall Resented
WASHINGTON, Sept. 18—Dear Boss—Once more Sen. William E. Jenner (R. Ind.) vitiated the effectiveness of his arguments by the violence of his oratory on the Senate floor. This time it was his unmeasured attack on Gen. George C. Marshall. Not since Indiana sent Arthur Robinson to the Senate, back in the Ku Klux Klan era, has so much verbal ranting been dumped on the Senate carpet in a single speech. The result was about the same as ‘when Robinson would launch his bitterly GOP partisan attacks on FDR and the early New Deal. Senate colleagues seemed embarrassed at such a show of complete insensitiveness. Even those whe would approve of parts of the criticism, resented such methods in what has been called “the greatest deliberative body in the world.” ~
Light Not Heat
THEY know that parliamentary government should be based on light and not heat. And they
. resent all ranting in the Hitlerian manner. That -was why the cultured, conservative Sen. Leverett
Saltonstall (R. Mass.) arose, as soon as Sen. Jenner exhaustively sat down, and said in his ° quiet manner: “I wish I had the words and the voice to express how strongly I di ee with many of the statements which have t been made by my colleague the Senator from Indiana. “If there is any man in America who is decent and clean it is George C. Marshall. If there is any man whose public life has been above censure and whose public actions have been for
PREPAREDNESS
the public interest duffng my span in publie life it is Gen. George C. Marshall, “Whether we disagree with some of his judgments or not—and I do--1 believe from the bottom of my heart they were made for the best interests of our country, regardless of himself.
‘Life Not a Lie’
“I WISH I had the vocabulary to answer the. statement that Gen. Marshall's life is a lie, becausé if there ever was a life spent in the interest of our country, a life that is not a lie, it is the life of George C. Marshall.” Sen. Jenner had not only called Gen. Marshall “a living lie” but impugned almost everything he has done in both the military and statecraft fields. : He caustically condemned him for helping Europe with the Marshall plan and for not helping Nationalist China encugh.
‘Military Dictatorship’ “HE argued. that as Army chief of staff he should have disobeyed President Roosevelt, even if the President is commander-in-chief. : At the same time he argued that Gen. Marshal! should not be made Defense Secretary because that would be putting a soldier in a spot reserved for civilians. Doing so will lead to a military dictatorship, Sen. Jenner shouted. Just what a chief of staff disobeying his commander-in-chief would lead to he didn’t define. Maybe he is unfamiliar with the definition of anarchy.
By Andrew Tully
Air Force still Main Defense
WASHINGTON, Sept. 18—Despite Korea, the Afr Force is still top dog in the Pentagon's plans for defending America if there is another world war. Korea, of course, is supposed to have made the flying boys look bad. But that isn’t the way the top brass sees it. To them Korea—for all its admitted bitterness—is still a side issue to the main danger, which is Russia. And they still feel our best weapon againtt the main danger is the Air Force. “Put it this way,” said a Defense Department spokesman. “The best defense is still the best offense—and the Air Force remains the only branch of the Armed Forces which can attack on short notice.”
Referring to Major War IF THIS sounds like Louis Jdpnson's famous speech about hitting the enemy at 5 o'clock if he strikes at 4, that’s all right with the De-
'* fense Department.
Mr. Johnson's been kidded a lot about that crack, but he wasn’t talking about a war in Korea when he made it—he was referring to a major war, plus the atom bomb and the B-36 long-range bomber. So Korea hasn’t changed things a bit as far as the over-all concept of fighting a major, war
is concerned. The plan is still to: hit flussia fast
and hard with the and the A-bomb if she attacks us. To hit her airdromes and her sources of supply in order to destroy her striking force be--fore it can hit us, over here. There'll be radar and interceptor planes, for defense, but the emphasis will be placed on attack, on destroying the ability of the enemy to
B-36
. By Douglas Larsen
strike at America through the skies. As the joint chiefs see it, our vital strength in time of war lies in our war plants. If they're destroyed or crippled, the war is as good as lost,
It will be the Air Force's primary mission
through such long-range attacks on the heart of the enemy—to prevent such an eventuality.
Big Air Force Budget
ALL you have to do to be convinced of how high the Air Force is riding is to look at the Defense Department’s budget figures for the fiscal year 1951. A good bit more than the lion's share is going to the fly boys. The budget for all three services and the defense department totals $24,993,000,000. Of this amount, $9,309,000,000 is earmarked for the Air Force. Increases are in the works all along ‘the line, ‘new airplanes. The Air Force, during fiscal 1951, will spend- more than $4 billion on new planes, of course, but the most significant one is for just about three times the amount it spent in fiscal 1950.
‘After War Started
ANOTHER item of significance is that it was after the Korean war started—not before—that the joint chiefs agreed on an Air Force of 69 groups, and they have not geen fit since then to change their minds. As Chairman Carl Vinson (D. Ga.) of the House Military Affairs Committee sees it, the Air Force will be boosted from 48 groups to 58 by July 1, 1951, and to 69 by July 1952. And he did demur when Air Force men insisted it probe ably would be necessary to expand even further,
Over call to War
If there ever was need: to understand this language, in addition to one’s
It pnd ap ak
_ Naturally ‘there are as many different reactions as there are men being called up. But a sort of resigned ‘bitterness about the whole thing seems to be the typical feeling.
“NOW .T've beén called up and everybody else is staying home, In spite of what they tell me about job guarantees when I get back I know that the smart guys who stayed out of the organized reserve will get the promotions while I'm gone and a couple of years of my life will have gone for
nothing as far as my earning - power - is concerned. Believe me, this is thd end of any Te-
serve units for. me and plenty of other guys in my outfit.” It's unfortunate, but what
He says has a lot of truth in
it. Another reservist, a navigator, who has just received his call, states his opinion: “They got me and I know it. I'm going in but they can’t make me like it. I'd feel better if I didn't know. about all
the profiteering, black markets ~~
and graft that goes on while a few -of ‘us out there do ail
the fighting. We didn’t know
about those’ things last time, but we sure do now.” . The news of strife within
the services since the war and the more recent bitter denouncements of former Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson and Secretary of State Acheson haven't helped the attitude of the draftees and reserves who face service. A Marine reserve captain makes this typical comment: “Last war when you led men on the beaches you were convinced you were part of the best-equipped, best trained fighting force in history. And you thought you were saving the world for freedom. This made it easier when your men were killed and wounded. : ” ” » “I DON'T know how I'd feel now, seeing my men die because maybe a squabble in the Pentagon had resulted in not -enough—of the right kind bazookas. Or maybe having’ the feeling that whole thing ‘was just a mistake made by the State Department’s striped pants boys. I don't know what I'd say if my men were to ask me about these things.” As a result of the prominence given to international af-° ‘fairs since the war, many of the young men about to ‘be. drafted are pretty savvy about the world situation in general.
This probably inspired the fol-
lowing comment from a youngster who had just received his notice to report for induction, - ~ » “IT probably wouldn't have seemed s0 bad to be drafted to fight the Nazis. We knew we had to fight them. But I'm not so sure about fighting North Koreans. I'm just not sure why I have to fight.” And . another one from a boy about to be drafted: “My father fought to save the world for democracy. My brother fought to preserve freedom. But they haven’t told me as yet what I'm supposed to save.” » » - MILITARY men, comment. ing on these attitudes, say that -enthusiastic patriotic fervor has always been exag‘gera as a factor in why men accept service in the past. “They go because they gotta £0.” ‘one officer says.
But the experts who are
most concerned with this attitude do admit that that 2o% of whipping up morale and fight ing mood in the men takss today is going to be tougher . than * ever has been, for the
ts a 's a job Ege require a big. sineers effort by the services,
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