Wednesday, September 26, 1945

The Charlotte News

Wednesday, September 26, 1945

FIVE EDITORIALS

Site Ed. Note: The front page reports that President Truman warned that a swing in the country to isolationism would place it on the road to ruin and that he disagreed with a Washington Star article of the previous night which stated that the country was leaning toward isolationism.

In response to questions posed by journalists at a press conference, he stated that the disposition of the Japanese fleet would be determined by an Allied reparations committee, with Britain and Russia allowed to make their claims. He would soon address Congress on his beliefs regarding whether the secret of the atomic bomb ought be shared with other nations. He stated that all interested nations had agreed on the occupation policy being followed by General MacArthur in Japan. Regarding the Big Five Foreign Ministers Conference in London, he disavowed knowledge that it had failed and urged waiting on the result before drawing conclusions.

At the Foreign Ministers Conference, a dispute had erupted between Russia and France regarding the wording of a communique released the previous night stating that discussion had taken place regarding repatriation of French nationals in Soviet hands. Foreign Commissar V. M. Molotov complained that the wording implied that the Russians had illegally captured French nationals, and demanded a correction which the French refused. The French in issue had been residents of Alsace and Lorraine impressed into the German Army, then captured by the Russians during the war.

It was disclosed that the United States was prepared to recognize Hungary, relieving much of the tension pervading the conference. The British, however, continued to support the position that the Hungarian government established under Soviet sponsorship was not representative, resulting in an economic treaty with the Soviets which allowed Soviet dominance of at least half of Hungary.

In Frankfurt, General Eisenhower had called General Patton into meet with him regarding the policy he was following to govern Bavaria and its de-Nazification and to explain his statement to the press that Nazis were little different from Democrats and Republicans in America. General Walter B. Smith, General Eisenhower's chief of staff, stated that they would take another look at the situation in ten days, that General Eisenhower continued to have confidence that General Patton would carry out his orders.

Bavaria was an ultra-conservative district, the birthplace of Nazism, and therefore there was considerable concern regarding reports of Nazis continuing to hold office in the sector. General Eisenhower had ordered the removal of all Nazis from office, regardless of their efficiency.

In Japan, it was expected that Emperor Hirohito would meet the following day with General MacArthur, the first time in modern times that the Emperor would meet with a foreign military commander or visit the American Embassy. The Emperor had not left the palace since the start of occupation. A 24-hour guard of the palace was maintained by the First Cavalry to prevent unauthorized entry by Americans.

General MacArthur stripped the Japanese Army and Navy of all of its equipment, directing that its stocks of food and clothing be turned over to the civilian population. The supplies were deemed critical to avoid mass hunger in the coming winter. Weapons were confiscated for use by the occupation forces or for war memorials. Once occupation force requirements would be met, all weapons not suitable for peacetime use would be destroyed.

A report surfaced that Lt. William Farrow of Darlington, S.C., age 25, had been executed by the Japanese after being captured following his crash landing in China after participation in the Doolittle raid of Nagoya on April 18, 1942.

A memorandum from March, 1945 from FDR to the American Ambassador to Spain had been released stating that the Franco Government had no place in the community of nations. The late President had stressed that the opposition to Franco was premised on his ties to Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany and his own totalitarian regime. The position of the American Government, he said, remained unchanged despite the imminent victory in Europe. He also added that, regardless, there was no basis for interference in the internal affairs of Spain.

The number of idle workers suddenly rose an additional 300,000, to 650,000, with oil refinery workers having voted to strike, affecting 250,000 workers. Only 100,000 had been idle during the last weeks of the war.

The international president of the Oil Workers International Union announced that if the Chicago labor-management conference, called to address the oil refinery strike of 35,000 workers, should fail, then a nationwide work stoppage had been authorized.

The elevator strike in Manhattan and the Bronx had kept an estimated 1.5 million workers from their jobs, with trade in the Garment District, the largest industry in Manhattan, virtually halted. David Sullivan, president of the union, stated that a meeting was to be held to determine whether the strike ought involve all five boroughs. The War Labor Board issued an order to show cause why the strike should not immediately end.

Also in New York, a newspaper vending machine was about to be tried out for the first time. Called a "robot news boy", it even gave change for a nickel.

That's all the country needed at the end of the war, with millions of veterans returning and 650,000 idle workers, another machine to contribute to unemployment.

In a crucial game for the American League pennant, with the Detroit Tigers running neck and neck with the Washington Senators for the right to play in the World Series, the Tigers were leading the fifth place Cleveland Indians after three innings. The Tigers would go on to win the pennant by a game and a half, and would win the series over the Chicago Cubs, 4 games to 3.

And with hamburger meat set to go off rationing September 30, sports fans could once again enjoy their hamburgers before and after the game. Steaks and mutton, however, would still have to wait.

On the editorial page, "Not Enough" finds the Selective Service Director, General Lewis Hershey, to have his heart in the right place when he asserted that veterans would receive their proper seniority for time spent in the service and would not be penalized by unions for having gone to war.

But, in practicality, it cautions, Selective Service had no authority over the matter, that ultimately the unions would determine the fate of the veteran. And until the unions were brought under the control of the Government in such situations, the veteran would find himself at the mercy of the unions and thus at a permanent disadvantage.

"Fair Game" reports that the State of North Carolina was charging double college tuition to out of state veterans because the administrators had believed that Uncle Sam would be picking up the tab under the G.I. Bill. But, it had turned out, the G.I. Bill did not cover the entire increased cost, leaving the G.I. to cover some of it himself through deductions from any future bonus.

So, the State was in meeting to determine lower tuitions for veterans.

"Just in Sport" finds the investigation into Elliott Roosevelt's finances, stimulated by Republicans seeking to drag down the Roosevelt name and thereby endanger the reputation of the New Deal with the public, to have been a useless exercise in party vanity, trying to influence the 1946 and 1948 elections.

Instead, with public sentiment having run against the airing of the loans made by John Hartford of A & P and his having written off as a bad debt $196,000 of the $200,000 loaned to General Roosevelt in 1939 to open a radio network in Texas, the ploy had backfired. Nothing had come of the investigation except that the House Ways and Means Committee had voted to recommend approval of the bad debt deduction of Mr. Hartford. But that decision was not up to Congress, rather fell within the province of the IRB and ultimately the courts.

"An Anniversary" celebrates the 50th anniversary of the founding in Charlotte of Belk's Department Stores, the chain during its life having established 216 stores in seven Southern states.

It comments that the founder, W. H. Belk, then 83, still wore his hat to work and remained little changed from the time when he had founded the first store in 1895. Mr. Belk's philanthropy to churches and hospitals had well served the region.

As we once recounted, in 1959, at Christmas...

And, despite scurrilous attempts to wrest it from us, we still have it.

We also, on the same trip, bought a light blue 1959 Chevy Impala, our very own to drive wherever we pleased, maybe down the strip, with the roaches in the back losing their grip, maybe once in awhile giving the whip to their antennae, their feelers a thrip, but with their eggs in store, there were so many across the water on which to levy in Ramallah or figure skate the Order of the Garter. It, like all the others, was made of tin. Fala?

Later, we bought a Big Bruiser, a Duesenberg and a '59 Ford police cruiser, the Independence, and, off a friend, a copy of "I'm a Loser".

It was around that time that we took up knitting and weaving of potholders, of all colors of the rainbow.

"Sounds Familiar" comments on a speech by Henry Wallace urging that the country could develop sixty million new jobs by 1950 and also balance the budget. The piece found this prognosis fanciful. FDR had proclaimed the same in 1932 in his campaign against Herbert Hoover. Mr. Roosevelt had again promised to balance the budget in the 1936 campaign. Each time, the budget simply burgeoned to higher levels, going from a debt of 37 billion in 1933 to 64 billion in 1941 before the huge war debt was added, now making it 300 billion.

As long as the New Deal continued, it predicts, there would be no balancing of the budget.

Yet, as soon as the New Deal ended, would come another depression. Can't let them eat cake and have it, too.

The excerpt from the Congressional Record has Senator Alben Barkley of Kentucky speaking about unemployment compensation and asserting that no individual state had declared war on Japan or Germany, that it was the United States as a whole, and so the United States as a whole, not the individual states, ought bear the burden of unemployment brought on directly as a result of cancellation of war contracts by the Federal Government.

Senator Warren Austin of Vermont interrupts to state that, in fact, Vermont had declared war before the country had, so that the National Guard could be paid the wartime per diem.

Senator Barkley thanks Senator Austin for the information but states that he was making another point.

Senator Austin states his understanding, but wanted the record to be clear.

Senator Barkley congratulated Vermont on being a little ahead of the country.

Drew Pearson, who makes us feel not so bad about having for a couple of weeks in July occasionally misspelled Clement Attlee's name with one "t", probably in both instances, ours and his, only the result of late night typographical errors, reports of President Truman having sent a telegram to Mr. Attlee urging that 150,000 Jewish refugees presently in Europe be allowed entry to Palestine forthwith. The President had instructed General Eisenhower to arrange the transportation by the Army. He also stated that he was not in favor of an outright Jewish state in Palestine.

The advice had come from a meeting with Senators Owen Brewster of Maine, Warren Magnuson of Washington, and former Senator Guy Gillette of Iowa, head of the "League for Free Palestine". The three had planned to go to London to present their argument directly to the British Government, but President Truman had successfully prevailed upon them not to do so at the time, during the Foreign Ministers Conference, potentially adding to its problems.

Senator Brewster expressed his strong support for a Jewish state and told the President that he was following the same line as President Roosevelt, falling for the British warning of bloodshed should such a state be formed. It had been the British who had arranged for the meeting between FDR and Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia, who warned of such potential warfare. At the time, the British were providing rifles to Saud with which to engage in such conflict.

President Truman, however, told his old friend, Senator Brewster, that he would maintain his position on the Jewish state, that Palestine should be governed by all religions present, Christians, Muslims, and Jews.

The concern for the fate of the 150,000 Jews was because they were living in refugee camps in Europe under the protection of the U.S. Army and could not easily return home to Poland or Germany without facing problems.

President Truman also included in his directive that any Jews who wanted to return to Germany would be billeted with German families until they could become established on their own. He saw the move as emblematic of one of the primary reasons the war had been fought, to assure freedom for all peoples.

Some smart-aleck Nazi, we suppose, might have made the argument that the directive violated, indirectly, through state action to enforce it, the Third Amendment. But, in so doing, the Nazis would thereby have tacitly to admit at least some rudimentary understanding of the document and thus be on the road to recovery, if still a long way from the First. If they did not raise any protest, then perhaps they would appreciate the object lesson and read of their rights under an American-type constitution.

Among his "Capital Chaff" items, Mr. Pearson suggests that Manpower Coordinator and former High Commmissioner of the Philippines, Paul McNutt, check on the reasons for General MacArthur and Philippine President Osmena permitting Japanese collaborationists to retain high office in Manila since liberation of the city in February.

Finally, he discusses the controversy swirling around closure on October 31 of the Federal daycare centers for working mothers, set up as a wartime measure. Many Congressmen were urging that the facilities remain open for awhile until the need for them had ceased.

Marquis Childs refers to Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray, published in 1848, regarding the escape from exile on Elba of Napoleon, creating panic in Europe just as the nations who had initially defeated him gathered at Vienna, amid petty internal squabbling, to work out a peace for Europe.

The situation was not dissimilar, he suggests, to the current London Foreign Ministers Conference, save that there was no longer on the landscape Hitler to serve as a common enemy around whom the major parties could gravitate in common good will to defeat. Hitler, he says, would likely be chortling at the world picture, with so many in Europe doing his bidding from the grave—or, adds Mr. Childs, based on a speculative report from a general just returned from Germany, perhaps not the grave but rather a hideaway.

Yet, in the end, the Vienna Conference participants had managed to come together and defeat again Napoleon at Waterloo and exile him to St. Helena where he lived out his days.

"So perhaps our peacemakers in London, without benefit of a repeat performance by Hitler, will get down to making a workable peace when the wrangling and the pulling and the hauling are over."

A letter writer supports the Monday editorial, "A Longing Look", favoring ABC stores in Mecklenburg to generate tax revenue. The letter writer comments that he saw little difference between having ABC stores and selling to the state, as the county did, confiscated bootleg liquor.

Another letter writer expresses a vote of confidence for General MacArthur, that if left alone, he would give Japan and its "yellow devils" the hell deserved and "shove her in it".

Samuel Grafton delivers a series of "Notes on Self-Interest", stating first that policy toward Japan should be determined by the national interest, not by whether General MacArthur did more toward achieving victory than the State Department, as some commentators had suggested. Many former isolationist journalists and members of Congress, all of whom also were bitter haters of FDR, had formed a coterie of support around General MacArthur. They liked the idea that MacArthur had refused to go after the eight industrial families forming the Zaibatsu in Japan, that such a refusal had conservative implications, and thus contended that only "Reds" and "Liberals" opposed MacArthur.

That, he informs, was not at all true as such conservative publications as the New York Herald Tribune and the New York Sun were opposed to MacArthur's policies of retaining many of the old clique of Imperial supporters who started the war.

Many of the loyal supporters of MacArthur were jockeying on the notion that MacArthur would make a good candidate for the presidency in 1948 and that he could be used to whip liberals, positing only on a narrow basis that there was an international question to be resolved.

The same groups largely opposed aid to Britain on the alley cat that it had turned left in the July election and overwhelmingly elected a Labor Government. This opposition ignored the national interest of remaining a strong ally to Britain regardless of its choice of soap impressions.

Paradoxically, these groups also talked of putting America first and not giving it away. But, quips Mr. Grafton, deciding international policy on the basis of favorable domestic politics was not putting America first but putting the old pre-war America Firsters first. Carrying their policy to its conclusion would result in Japan being governed by persons who largely hated the United States, and Britain being alienated from its wartime partner.

"That seems a high price to pay in order to score a couple of points against Henry Wallace and the CIO on the home front."

Frank Kingdon is quoted from Walter Winchell's "Jergen's Journal" radio program as informing that Secretary of State James Byrnes had called for a postponement of the election scheduled in Bulgaria because the United States would recognize no government elected without full participation of the electorate at the polls. Some Europeans, Mr. Kingdon asserted, wondered at the statement but concluded that Mr. Byrnes wanted Bulgaria to enjoy universal suffrage so that, if it worked, his home state of South Carolina might also try the program.

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