Tuesday, July 31, 1945

The Charlotte News

Tuesday, July 31, 1945

FOUR EDITORIALS

Site Ed. Note: The front page reports that Allied carrier planes destroyed or damaged 207 Japanese vessels and 430 planes during the weekend, at Kure and Maizuru naval bases. On Saturday, two carriers, the Amagi and Katsuragi, along with the cruiser Tone had been wrecked, in addition to the other vessels already announced.

Destroyers moved into Suruga Gulf, where the Navy bombarded Japan's largest aluminum plant, at Shimizu, 80 miles southwest of Tokyo.

Eight Japanese additional cities, plus four of the eleven previously warned, were warned by General Curtis LeMay that they would be visited with total destruction unless surrender forthwith occurred. The message was delivered via 710,000 leaflets dropped on the cities by six B-29's. The eight added cities were Mito, Hachioji, Maebashi, Toyama, Nagano, Fukuyama, Otsu, and Maizuru, industrial and transportation centers on Honshu. The drop also occurred over Nagaoka and Nisinomiya on Honshu, Kurume on Kyushu, and Hakodate on Hokkaido.

The original list also included Tsu, Aomori, Ichinomiya, Ogaki, Ujimada on Honshu, and Uwajima on Shikoku, all destroyed in the B-29 raid on Sunday morning. Kuriyama on Hokkaido was also on the initial list of eleven but was not mentioned among the intended targets stated this date.

The leaflets warned that other cities might also be hit. They urged evacuation of civilians from the cities. Fifty-two cities had already been struck by incendiary bombs.

Neither Hiroshima nor Nagasaki were on the two lists.

In Northern Luzon, the Sixth Infantry Division the previous day had captured Hugao Ridge, following an assault lasting two weeks, placing the troops within six miles of Hungduan, the last known hideout of General Tomoyuki Yamashita, the "Tiger of Malaya". Hungduan was accessible only by a narrow, winding trail.

In Potsdam, Premier Stalin returned to the conference after a two-day absence because of a cold. Foreign Commissar V. M. Molotov had attended the Sunday session but no attempt had been made the day before to continue the talks pending Stalin's return. It was believed that the conference would end on Thursday or Friday.

In Wiesbaden, a cache of narcotics, valued at between five and twenty million dollars, had been found by the 65th Infantry Division aboard the Hungarian river steamer Leder. The crew chief of the vessel denied knowledge of the presence of the cargo. The cache included 220 pounds of morphine and drug production equipment.

General Maxime Weygand testified in Paris at the treason trial of Marshal Petain that the defendant had sent a secret telegram to Admiral Jean Darlan ordering him to cease all operations against the United States and Britain at the time of the landings in North Africa November 8, 1942. It was the first indication that Petain had any role in stopping resistance action of the French during the invasion.

General Weygand took full responsibility for the armistice with Germany in June, 1940, saying that organized resistance had become impossible and that he considered it his duty, therefore, to sue for peace. President Albert Lebrun had been the first high-level person in the Government to suggest the armistice, doing so in a meeting of May 25, 1940.

During the testimony, Marshal Petain rose and spoke for three minutes, thanking General Weygand and assuring that he had fulfilled his duties as commander in chief of the French Army.

Former Vichy Premier Pierre Laval was expelled from his place of imprisonment in Spain and flown to Austria where he had surrendered to United States authorities. Arrangements were being made to hand him over to the French. He had already been tried in absentia, convicted of treason, and sentenced to death in Marseilles in October, 1944. It was customary, however, to re-try the absent defendant when captured.

Strikes had left between 34,000 and 100,000 workers off the job during July. On this last day of the month, there were about 40,000 striking workers. A strike at Crosley in Cincinnati had left 5,000 off the job and stopped production of vital radio and radar equipment.

In Buffalo, N.Y., a nine-year old girl had been kidnaped by a man riding a bicycle who had offered her a ride. Her twelve-year old sister saw her get onto the bicycle and ride away.

A 20-year old woman who had been inside one of the elevators which fell 80 floors after the Empire State Building had been struck Saturday by a B-25 Mitchell bomber, was alive. She had been alone in the car at the time and remained conscious throughout the ordeal. Her injuries were limited to burns, bruises, and a possible back fracture.

She had explained that the elevator car had stopped and shuddered, then began its rapid descent. A flash of fire enveloped the woman at one point but only lasted a moment. It was plummeting so fast that she felt the car was leaving her behind. She hung onto the rails to avoid floating.

At the bottom, the car crashed into a buffer cylinder which plunged through the floor of the car to the ceiling. The concrete floor at the bottom of the shaft was completely crushed by the impact. All of the car's cables had been severed, including the automatic braking cable. Only air pressure in the shaft had somewhat slowed the car. It was deemed a miracle that the woman had survived.

On the editorial page, "Man and Himself" suggests that too much super could put man back in the soup, as evidenced by the B-25 crash into the Empire State Building. It was the super-colossal structure, the building to which everyone pointed and proclaimed as man's great achievement into the heavens, which had found its limits in the fog.

While man could make fog as easily as could nature, he could not, at will, make it dissipate. Then came the Mitchell, designed as the super-bomber of its day, capable of producing 2,500 horsepower for each of its two engines.

Yet, at the controls of the super-plane, headed for the fog-enshrouded super-building, was only frail and sometimes mistaken man, incapable, in any event, of seeing through the fog.

In consequence, there had been a disaster.

The people streamed into the streets from the world's tallest building, terrified.

"So it may go with us all one of these days. We will know too much, do too much, for our good. We will have got too big for a mere mortal's britches."

"Closed Shop?" suggests that the burning secret of Potsdam was whether Premier Stalin would accept the invitation to join the war on Japan. It would certainly be the final blow to the Japanese were it to be announced.

Some military experts believed that Russia's entry to the war would be welcomed by Japan as giving it an excuse to surrender without losing so much face. They could tell their people that the surrender had been brought about by Russia's stab in the back, preventing Japan from defeating America and Britain.

The war in the Pacific was going well without Russia's help and so it was likely that President Truman and Secretary of State Byrnes were none too eager necessarily to grant large concessions to Russia to enter the war. Substantial Russian military support would likely only be in China and the Chinese would not welcome it. Britain and the U.S. likewise would be somewhat less than hospitable. The Russian forces in the East were relatively small compared to those in the West. The Russian Navy was not strong or capable of being deployed offensively. And the Russian air force would be of little value in bombing Japan. Vladivostok was only 250 miles closer to Tokyo than Okinawa.

With Russia in the war, it could have input to the determination of the disposition of the post-war territory which Japan had forcibly occupied during the war, and might seek to obtain Russian control over Manchuria and the warm water port at Port Arthur.

Thus, despite the ostensible offer of participation in the war to the Soviets, it was only extended tepidly.

"Look Who's Talking" remarks on some spotty Washington reaction to the Labor Party triumph in the British election, as announced Thursday.

Senator Wayne Morse of Oregon suggested it hearkened the beginning of the era of the common man.

Senator George Aiken of Vermont viewed it as a natural revolt against the concentration of power, wealth, and resources in the hands of the few.

Senator Pappy Lee O'Daniel of Texas found it to be indicative of radicalism at work in England, just as in the 1944 U.S. election.

Representative John Rankin of Mississippi described it as a "Communist trend" which should serve as warning to Americans.

The peculiar thing about the statements was that the first two were from Republicans, a party thought conservative, while the latter two were from Democrats, thought to be the liberal party.

"Two in Dissent" comments on the two dissenting votes of Senators on Saturday in the final overwhelming ratification of the Charter. The two dissenters had been Senators Henrik Shipstead of Minnesota and William Langer of North Dakota. The usual isolationist voices, Senators Burton Wheeler of Montana, Robert Taft of Ohio, Pappy O'Daniel, Robert La Follette of Wisconsin, and W. Chapman Revercomb of West Virginia, remained silently receptive.

Only four Senators were absent from the vote, including North Carolina's Josiah W. Bailey, who gave as excuse that he was certain of ratification and so saw no reason to remain in Washington for the vote.

Despite easy ratification, there remained some obstacles in final implementation of the Charter, especially with regard to how it would impact Security Council use of U.S. armed forces in the event of a decision to repel aggression. Some Senators wanted the Senate made effectively a part of the Security Council.

So, concludes the piece, the Charter, overwhelmingly approved, passed to the other 49 signatory nations for approval without necessarily the full faith of many of the 90 Senators who had voted for it.

The excerpt from the Congressional Record has Senator Harlan Bushfield of South Dakota objecting to part of the policy enunciated by the Department of Agriculture for the post-war, as stated in its publication of January, 1944. It had indicated that the national policy should not be to support everyone who wanted to undertake farming, without consideration for the individual's contribution to the national welfare. Senator Bushfield found this statement to be suggestive of government control of each American in choosing his or her occupation.

The other objectionable statement was that private property, when it conflicted with the public interest, had to bow to the public good.

Senator Elbert Thomas of Utah wanted to know how the farmer would respond, to which Senator Bushfield responded that he did not understand the question. Senator Thomas sought to clarify and Senator Bushfield stated that he believed he understood how the farmers would respond, to which Senator Thomas replied that he knew how they would respond.

Senator Bushfield was glad to hear it.

Drew Pearson discusses the decision of Henry Morgenthau to resign as Secretary of the Treasury before V-J Day, despite President Truman urging him to remain until that time. Mr. Morgenthau wanted the President's assurances in writing to quell rumors in the public that he was going soon to be replaced. The President had indicated that he would have to think it over, at which point, Mr. Morgenthau stated that if that were the case, he should tender his resignation, which he did.

Initially, Mr. Morgenthau was slated to remain at his post until the President returned from Potsdam, but when the President had boarded the Augusta for the trans-Atlantic voyage, he had changed his mind, pursuant to the advice of Secretary of State James Byrnes. The decision was made based on the order of presidential succession under then current law, that if Mr. Byrnes and the President died during the trip, Mr. Morgenthau would become President. Thus, it was decided that War Mobilizer Fred Vinson would immediately step into the job at Treasury.

To make the decision more palatable to Mr. Morgenthau, Judge Samuel Rosenman offered him the position as permanent American representative to the Bretton Woods board, a proposal he had help to father. Mr. Morgenthau had happily accepted the offer. The proposal, however, still not approved by the President, was radioed to him by Judge Rosenman, and no response came. Apparently, Mr. Byrnes had convinced the President not to make the appointment, and so Mr. Morgenthau left office after eleven years a disappointed man.

Historians, opines Mr. Pearson, should remember that Mr. Morgenthau was appealing to the Army and Navy to build more planes, expand machine tools, and rush artillery to England long before the danger in Europe of Hitler and Mussolini had been realized by most of official Washington.

He had also tried to stop sale of scrap iron and oil to Japan, which had nevertheless continued through July, 1941, had hounded the State Department in an effort to end the exports. He had once even flown to Hyde Park to obtain the President's signature on an executive order to stop the shipments, only to have Joseph Grew of the State Department overrule him.

Mr. Morgenthau had been the first to cut off gold shipments to Fascist Argentina. He had likewise sought to nix aid to Franco's Spain. He had cut through red tape to get Lend-Lease shipments to the Russians when Stalingrad was under siege in 1942-43.

He had constantly ridden herd on Cabinet members who were dilatory in their undertaking of duties, especially when related to preparedness for the war. And, says Mr. Pearson, no one who occupied that role was going to be very popular.

At the end of the day, however, it was Mr. Morgenthau who singularly had done more for the war effort than anyone in the Roosevelt Administration except the President, himself.

Marquis Childs, who has suddenly come to look almost identical to Samuel Grafton, comments on the British election and the two opposite characters of Winston Churchill and Clement Atlee. Mr. Atlee was viewed as reserved, inarticulate, liberal, somewhat suspicious, cautious, and a man of his party. The contrast between Churchill and Atlee was parallel to that between Roosevelt and Truman.

Mr. Atlee lived in the suburbs, made a poor impression on strangers. Once, in 1941, Mr. Childs had interviewed Mr. Atlee in New York and found him quite ill at ease, not wanting to participate in the interview.

Just as the Democratic Party was divided between North and South, so was the Labor Party divided. While Atlee, Herbert Morrison, Ernest Bevin, and Hugh Dalton represented the bureaucratic center of the party, Aneurin Bevan, Harold Laski, and George Russell Strauss represented the left wing.

The extent to which the left could make claim on the victory would be told by the number of representatives they managed to land in the Cabinet. Mr. Atlee could not ignore their contribution if it had proved decisive in the election. They would want quick action on socialization of natural resources, while the right wing of the party would wish to exercise caution in effecting change.

One of the primary reasons, Mr. Childs posits, for the defeat of the Conservatives was the rhetoric during the campaign. Mr. Churchill had charged Labor with intending to establish a "gestapo" to suppress all free opinion. It had reminded of the wild charges brought against Roosevelt during his re-election campaigns.

The tone of the campaign was said to have been set by Churchill's friend, Lord Beaverbrook. The outcome had been a rebuke to those who had favored removal of all controls and a return to normalcy.

Dorothy Thompson wonders whether, in the wake of the election results, Winston Churchill was contemplating to himself the lines of Shakespeare: Blow, blow thou Winter wind/ Thou art not so unkind/ As man's ingratitude.

No one else would dare defeat him after such an admirable accomplishment of his task in the war, other than Britons themselves.

Mr. Churchill, she suggests, had defeated himself by becoming the head of the Conservative Party during a time in which he misread the people's desires for change. He thought that he could carry the party to victory on the strength of his personal popularity, but discovered that it was not sufficient. He had given voice to perceptions of Britain being taken over by a Labor "gestapo" and Communism.

The love affair between Churchill and the Conservatives was analogous, she finds, to the love professed of King Edward VIII to Wallis Simpson. Mr. Churchill had lost the vote of the soldiers because nowhere did soldiers want a return to the pre-war world, as was favored by the Conservatives in Britain.

The Economist had written on July 7, two days after the election, that Churchill had made it difficult for himself to play the role of post-war peacemaker by accepting the party leadership. He had also made it impossible for him to be viewed as a rallying point for social and economic regeneration. He had condemned himself and the country to narrow party politics.

The war leader had been dismissed by the people and the peace leadership was yet untested. But Mr. Churchill had at least remained in power long enough to set foot in the remains of Hitler's Chancellery.

A letter writer finds the victory of the Labor Party in England to have been "one of the most important chapters in human history", regarding it as a victory for Socialism.

No one yet dared reckon with the notion, but this 1,333rd day since the attack on Pearl Harbor closed the last full month of World War II.

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