Saturday, September 15, 1945

The Charlotte News

Saturday, September 15, 1945

FOUR EDITORIALS

Site Ed. Note: The front page reports that the hurricane had hit the Florida Keys at 1:50 p.m. with winds still at between 63 and 71 mph, with the wind velocity expected to rise above 100 mph as the storm passed over the Keys toward the Florida mainland, still 150 miles away at 9:30 a.m. Winds were at 63 in downtown Miami. Globes were blown out of street lamps and rolled and tumbled with the wind down the streets.

Pedestrians were blown about. Russian sailors in port shouted with delight as they walked along Biscayne Boulevard holding onto telegraph poles and street lights.

A sailor aboard an Honduran masted schooner, Icaros, had been killed near Sunny Isles when he jumped overboard to save his dog, drowning as the boat was driven onto the beach and broken up. Six of the crew reached shore safely.

As touching as it sounds, never waste your life for that of an animal. Let that sucker drown. Save thyself.

Having said that, we note that the chief weather forecaster was named Grady Norton. We once had a dog with a name similar to that who was hit by a car near Pulpit Hill and we promptly picked him up and rushed...

Never mind. They'll probably come looking for us for that one, too, if we say too much.

Anyway, the doggie was DOA, and actually before the careering trip was undertaken to town, a good thing or the trip would likely have killed him, as it almost did us.

But, we got another doggie two days later. Life goes on. Chin up. Can't grieve forever, you know.

Mr. Norton stated that Miami would get a hard blow from the storm but the winds would be somewhat less than hurricane strength. He also said that the core of the storm would swish over the Keys somewhere between Key Largo and Key West.

Mr. Norton, we would suggest that you not make those statements around Johnny Rocco. Life is too precious and we want you to be safe. Take it from Toots.

Pete McKnight stated that the correct term for the meteorological disturbance is cyclone, from the Greek word kyklos, and that in the Pacific they were called typhoons or baguios, the latter having given its name to the summer capital of the Philippines in the mountains.

Lt. General Masaharu Homma, conqueror of the Philippines, once thought to have committed suicide in March, 1942, surrendered to the Japanese police, as did other officers, including Col. Kingoro Hashimoto, believed responsible for the sinking of the American gunboat Panay on the Yangtze River in China in December, 1937. At Osaka, former puppet president of the Philippines, Benigno Aquino, also was arrested.

General Homma denied that he had ordered the Death March from Bataan in May, 1942, but indicated that he would take full responsibility for the acts of his subordinates. Lt. General Shigenori Kuroda, who had also surrendered, had succeeded General Homma in command of the Philippines in May, 1943, and he stated that he had been aware of no atrocities committed against American prisoners during his command, through September, 1944.

General Homma commented that the defense of Corregidor by the Americans had been so successful that he believed that his amphibious assault on the Rock had failed, as he had lost 28 of 50 boats. But then he saw the American white flag of surrender. Had the Americans then been able to launch an offensive, he further indicated, they would have won. Homma stated that he had been forcibly retired from the Army in August, 1944 for reasons unknown. He speculated that it was because he did not like war.

Domei, the semi-official Japanese news service during the war, was permitted to resume operations on a limited basis under complete control by the Americans, but, it was warned, would again be shut down should it continue to publish and broadcast distorted propagandistic reports.

It was disclosed from Singapore that a Malay guerilla force of 7,000 had fought from the jungles against the Japanese for three years. They had received no publicity prior to the surrender. The Japanese had labeled them "communist" and many of the army were party members.

Undersecretary of State Dean Acheson stated in Washington that the suggestion by Premier Higashi-Kuni that America forget about Pearl Harbor was the result of a fundamental misunderstanding of both America and the Japanese position in relation to it. The attack stood not as a symbol of hate for Japan but rather a symbol of Japanese perfidy.

A Congressional committee, led by Senator Claude Pepper of Florida, touring Europe and the Middle East, had met in Moscow with Josef Stalin to discuss formation of an international trade organization.

A photograph appears of a 16-year old Belgian lad who had arrived in Pittsburgh, honorably discharged from his stint in the U.S. Army to which he had volunteered in Europe.

The President arrived in Kansas City for the weekend, and after a haircut from his old barber friend, Frank Spinna, visited his old haberdashery partner and friend, Eddie Jacobson, there purchased eighteen pairs of socks, in all colors of the rainbow, at least, he thought.

In Detroit, United Auto Workers vice-president Walter Reuther announced the intention of the union to petition for a strike vote at General Motors, impacting 325,000 workers. He expressed the hope that no strike would be necessary. The Kelsey-Hayes Wheel Co. strike had already left 50,000 workers idle at Ford plants and indirectly impacted another 75,000.

Children, aged 3 to 5, in Attleboro, Mass., had been playing with cyanide crystals which they had swiped from the basement of a jewelry company. They played with the crystals, used to clean the jewelry, until their hands burned, but, fortunately, did not lick their hands or they would have been dead, according to the police. Their mothers had used ordinary soap and water to wash off the deadly poison, the appropriate remedy.

Never break and enter and swipe, lest you lick your light fingers and then wind up...

The Navy announced the cancellation of 38.5 million dollars worth of outstanding orders for chewing gum, candy, cigarettes, and other such sundries. The manufacturers could deliver up the goodies to the civilian market.

For Christmas, you can be sure to stock those stockings with 45 million packs of chewing gum, 70 million candy bars, 15 million tins of salted nuts, a million bottles of shaving lotion, 450,000 pounds of soap chips, 28 million bottles of soda with 70 million paper cups to go with it, 22 million ice cream dishes, 23.5 million cartons of cigarettes, and 51 million cigars, to make every child on your list happy on Christmas morn.

Princess Elizabeth had been thrown from a horse at Balmoral Castle and bruised both of her legs. The accident was not serious but prevented her from attending the Aberdeen youth organization parade the next day. Princess Margaret, however, would attend in her stead.

Well, Your Majesty, if we may be so bold, though of the Colonies, we offer hope that, by now, this omission to the Aberdeen youth organization has been duly provided remedy.

Bruised legs. Likely story.

We came up with some excuses in our day, but really...

On the editorial page, "Who Won?" wonders at the continuing reports out of Japan regarding the arrogant attitude of the Japanese press and leadership in relation to their defeat. Admiral Nimitz had found the flow of statements harmless, that it was just talk.

The liberated prisoners of war, however, were resentful of what they considered "kid glove" treatment of the defeated enemy, while General MacArthur assured that there would be no such soft treatment.

The piece remarks that it was a curious state of affairs, that Germany in 1919 had shown no such defiance and no one had assumed then, as was the assumption being expressed presently by Allied Headquarters with regard to Japan, that the occupation of Germany could have then been concluded within a year.

"Vets at School" suggests the need for tailoring the curricula of colleges and universities to fit the specialized needs of veterans returning to college or attending for the first time, some undoubtedly only wanting to learn some particular field of endeavor, such as business, and not necessarily interested in obtaining a degree.

Thus far, in North Carolina, only North Carolina A&T at Greensboro,  a black college, was so engaged.

"Dollars Help" discusses the renewed friendship between the United States and Finland and its trade relationship.

During the period between the wars, Finland had enjoyed a favorable balance of trade, with a 3 to 2 ratio of exports to imports. During that time, only small payments were demanded by the U.S. on the war debt.

Now, Russia was taking most of Finland's exported wood pulp, the chief export previously to the U.S. So it would be worth watching as to how the balance of trade would develop with Finland into the future, that it was a good bet that the nations who carried out the most trade with the United States would be most eager to pay off their debts.

"Noise, Is It?" finds that, while other cities in the region were passing anti-noise ordinances, Charlotte had such an ordinance on the books and had for years, but, nevertheless, noise pollution downtown continued for want of enforcement. The fine for blowing a horn unnecessarily was $10, but the police paid the law no heed and consequently neither did motorists.

The excerpt from the Congressional Record has Representative Frank Carlson of Kansas discussing the full employment bill and the provision to extend unemployment benefits to $25 per week for 26 weeks to supplement state benefits. He examines the impact of the bill in light of the existing state measures.

Drew Pearson discusses the difficulties in the initial stages of secret hearings before the Senate Military Affairs Committee in determining whether to start the hearings on the rate of Army discharge forthwith or to delay them until the Office of Mobilization and Reconversion director John Snyder and Surplus Property Board chair Stuart Symington returned from Europe. Some of the committee wanted to hear from the Army immediately, especially as to why men were being retained in service stateside with meaningless duties, picking up butts and polishing the planes.

Most of the committee members were of the opinion that it was disgraceful that the Army was placing material demobilization ahead of human demobilization.

It was eventually determined that since the war had ended, the hearings would be open to the public.

Mr. Pearson continues to expose absurdities in the failure of discharge of men with adequate points in bases around the country, bragging that eight hours after a piece he had written appeared September 10, regarding Col. Richard Kight of Morrison Field in Palm Beach not wishing to discharge men with adequate points, a rush order was prepared for the discharge of 200 men.  

Finally, he relates of Senator Clyde Hoey of North Carolina having told the story of stopping by a small town church and being told by the minister that the church had fifty members, of whom 50 were active. The Senator found that to be an admirable record, suggested to the preacher that it must have been in tribute to his preaching skills. The minister replied that what he had meant was that 25 of the members were active for him and 25 were active against.

The column then notes that the Republicans had failed, by 10 percent, in their attempt to obtain 50-50 representation on the Congressional Pearl Harbor Committee.

They could have, of course, put Ms. Luce on the committee, in which case the Republicans would have possessed the majority.

Marquis Childs again looks at President Truman's 21-point message to Congress, saying that some of its important provisions had been overlooked. He cites the provision relating to preservation of capital natural resources, timber, iron and other ores, depleted by the war.

Forest conservation had been worked out by octogenarian Gifford Pinchot, demonstrating the interdependence between resources ecosystemically. He had taken his concept to President Theodore Roosevelt during the first eight years of the century and the President had embraced the concept, calling for a conference of all state governors in 1908 to discuss natural resources, a first such gathering of its kind.

The Forest Service developed from that beginning.

Mr. Pinchot was still active, having developed just three years earlier a life-saving technique for sailors cast adrift in the ocean. Mr. Childs asserts that he was one of the heroes of the war.

The temptation to see the future world as governed by atomic energy, thus making obsolete natural resources, was a narrow viewpoint. He favors another national conference to adjust to the future changes in the world inexorably coming.

Dorothy Thompson comments on the low morale of American soldiers in Europe and the rapid decline of American prestige, primarily because the soldiers had not been adequately trained for their occupation duties. Two New York Times reporters, Gladwin Hill and David Anderson, had informed that the G.I.'s did not understand why Germany had to be occupied and were often acting in a manner offensive to the citizenry of the Allied countries.

Mr. Anderson had provided the example in Brussels that American officers had attempted to take some German girls to a dance given by the Belgian underground, that the girls along with their escorts were then very nearly lynched.

It was understandable that the men, having completed their combat mission, could not understand why occupation duties could not be undertaken by men in the United States who had not yet served overseas. Nor did they wish to be redeployed to the Pacific.

Ms. Thompson, during her trip abroad, had reported in July that public relations liaison between the American troops in Paris and the French populace was wanting. The French resented the fact that the officers occupied the best hotels in Paris while the French barely had food to eat.

In the end, it appeared that better training was in order for the pattern of behavior required for occupation.

Samuel Grafton comments on that which the column had the day before, the bill introduced by Representative Hatton Sumners of Texas to provide the death penalty to anyone giving away the secret of the atomic bomb.

The bill would effectively silence American scientists from communicating in any manner openly with regard to nuclear physics. Even colleges likely would be unable to give lectures in any but the most rudimentary principles, at least not without an F.B.I. agent present to monitor the lectures. Ultimately, physicists would be consigned to live only among themselves and intermarry with other physicists.

It appeared to Mr. Grafton to be a form of isolationism. It plainly had restored the notion of insularity once maintained by virtue of being between two oceans, that security having been obliterated by the coming of the airplane. And as long as the nation was the sole repository for the atomic secret, it could maintain that sense of security. But it was illusory, for, eventually, the atom would be split by the Biggest Swiss of other nations.

The mistake therefore of the Sumners mentality was to assume the unrealistic belief that the nation would indefinitely possess the secret unto itself.

Question of the day: If the bottles were, as probably so at the time, 6 oz. per, then how many ounces would each cup hold, assuming equitable distribution of all to all? You have one minute to answer. Go.

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