St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 16

PAGE 2C ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, TUESDAY, OCTOBER' 10, 1944 A Foundation Is Laid SI LOUIS POST-DISPATCH Founded by JOSEPH PULITZER Dcctmitt 12. 187 Published by The Pulitzer Publishing TtUphent Addrtu MAin 1111 11 11 Olive St. (1) THE POSTDISPATCH PLATFORM I know that my retirement will make no difference in its cardinal principle; that it will always fight for progress and reform, never tolerate injustice or corruption, always fight demagogues of all parties, never belong to any party, always oppose privileged classes and public plunderers, never lack sympathy with the poor, always remain devoted to the public welfare; never be satisfied with merely printing news; always be drastically independent; never be afraid to attack wrong, whether by predatory plutocracy or predatory poverty. JOSEPH PULITZER.

April 10, 1907. LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE tary action is dispelled by the letdown that comes with peace and by the domestic problems that will result in every country when the war ends. It was assumed in 1918 that there would be speedy agreement on a League of Nations at the peace table; that it would somehow spring full-grown into being out of the world's desperate longing for an end of war. Instead, it became involved in the pulling and hauling of the peace conference, and In politics at home. Both these dangers are being averted by the present procedure.

The security organization is to be embodied in a document separate from the peace pact, in recognition of the impasse that resulted when the two were combined in the Versailles Treaty. The coming conference will have many and difficult problems to consider boundaries, punishment of the aggressors, rehabilitation, and so on. A security organization would again meet handicaps in such a forum. Secrecy was another major cause of the previous fiasco. Mr.

Wilson and Col. House worked out a draft of the proposed League several months before the President went to Paris. Because he did not want to arouse premature controversy, the draft was kept secret until he read it to the conference, on Feb. 14, 1919, more than three months after the armistice. Then its defects, many of which could have been ironed out in advance if the draft had been publicly discussed, became troublesome major issues.

President Wilson made another error by failing to keep the undertaking on a bi-partisan basis. Only one Republican, of little weight in the party, was on the peace delegation. Making the peace became a purely Democratic project, and the President added to the partisan flames by his political appeal to the voters in the 1918 election. His tactics laid him wide open to Republican opposition. When members of his own party also joined the Battalion of Death, the fate of the treaty was sealed.

President Roosevelt and Secretary Hull have been careful to consult with both parties' leaders in Congress, and to keep them informed of every step. Gov. Dewey's representative, John Foster Dulles, was cordially received, even in the midst of a hot political campaign, and the peace organization has not become a partisan issue. The two party platforms indorse American participation, and both houses of Congress, by overwhelming non-partisan votes, urged the action. The work of framing the organization has only begun.

From the debate that is sure to follow publication of the terms, clarification and amendment will result. Party feeling must be kept out of that debate. Every preliminary step shows a sincere desire to avoid the errors of 1919, and the world can be grateful for the promising signs at this early stage. Announcement of the draft for a world security organization, as developed by the Dumbarton Oaks conferees, is not an occasion for jubilation or superlatives. Rather, it is an occasion for such a sober summary as that of President Roosevelt: "The task of planning the great design of security and peace has been well begun." It Is an occasion also for such a warning reminder as that of Secretary Hull: "Much work remains to be done.

Official statements are careful to emphasize a point that must be remembered in all consideration of the plan: the fact that the Dumbarton Oaks conference was only a preliminary meeting. Its participants were Big Four delegates of a grade one notch below the rank of Foreign Minister or Secretary of State. Their duty was to work out the first draft of a security plan, to lay the foundation for the structure which, it is the ardent hope of all the Allied peoples, will prevent a catastrophic World War III in another generation or so. Having completed their draft in six weeks of conferences, the delegates report to their immediate superiors. The Secretary of State and his opposite numbers report in turn to their own superiors, the chiefs of state: Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin and Chiang Kai-shek.

The draft is made public, for appraisal and discussion, to be followed by possible Eventually, the chiefs of state will agree on the exact terms of the permanent organization, which their respective parliaments in turn will ratify or reject. In this opn and democratic process, marred though it Was by the secrecy surrounding the first stage, at Dumbarton Oaks, lies a basis for solid hope that this time a real security setup will be achieved, in contrast with the tragic failure of a quarter-century ago which ultimately led to the present war. Ordinary citizens were just as convinced then as they are today that the nations must cooperate to make impossible the wholesale crime of war. When President Wilson on Jan. 8, 1918, set forth his peace program, the fourteenth point in particular was hailed as a promise of salvation for suffering humanity: A general association of nations must be formed under covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political in- dependence and territorial integrity to great and small alike.

The lessons of history are being recognized and acted upon by the planners of today. Our Government and those of our allies are proceeding cautiously, taking great care to avoid the many errors that brought to nothing the previous effort to create a sane world order. For one thing, we can be grateful that the foundation of the new organization is being laid before the war is ended, before the fine co-operation produced by common ideals and joint mili This Business of "Bias" To the Editor of the Post-Dispatch: It seems to me that those who claim that you are violating the Post-Dispatch platform by supporting Mr. Roosevelt in this campaign have not fully grasped the true import of Mr. Pulitzer's words.

"Independence," when applied to a newspaper, surely does not mean that no stand should be taken on matters of national consequence. Indeed, a paper which failed to take a stand and tried to keep its editorials completely unbiased would be dodging one of the primary responsibilities of the press. The difference between "partiality and "impartiality' is apt to be determined by which side of the fence you are on. When a person claims that the editorials of such and such a newspaper are "unbiased," he really means only that the bias is the same as his own. The function of an editorial page Is to present opinions.

The fact that these opinions may differ from ours is certainly no ground for condemning the paper and accusing it of dishonesty. PHYLLIS McPHEETERS. win Missouri Discriminates To the Editor of the Post -Dispatch: My husband, a registered voter, works verseaa for Uncle Sam (U. S. C.

He has an APO number, but is not In military service. He was denied an absentee ballot by our election commission. Why? MRS. E. WEAST.

TIIE FOUNDATION Letters on the Campaign inland empire it now is only potentially, the Midwest Manufacturers Association, will reap the benefits just as the CIO Missouri State Industrial Council will, and will be just as unwilling ever to give them up. There is a conflict between the views of these two organizations, but the test of time may prove that it is no more than the difference between vision and hindsight. McDaniel: Perennial Candidate To the Editor of the Post-Dispatch: Anent the article announcing the candidacy of Lawrence McDaniel for the office of Jury Commissioner, let me submit to the readers of your paper the political history of this perpetual candidate for office: Assistant Circuit Attorney; candidate for Circuit Attorney (elected); candidate for re-election (defeated); candidate for Mayor (defeated); candidate for Circuit Judge (defeated); candidate for Judge of Supreme Court of Missouri (defeated); candidate for Governor (defeated); candidate for Parole Officer (chosen by Circuit Judges). In view of the fact that McDaniel was the principal in the attempted governorship steal which cost the Democrats the loss of the State of Missouri and City of St. Louis, he should be compensated, like his associates Bob Hannegan and Barney Dickmann, by appointment to high public office.

INDEPENDENT DEM OCR AT. dunk called a conference of Republican leaders." "Aha," says the Inflamed mind, "no one knows what happened at that conference except the conferees themselves." FATRIOT. Hillman's Origin Misused To the Editor of the Post-Dispatch: Returning to camp from St. Louis, I passed a large billboard urging the people to vote for Dewey by threatening, "Do You Want Hillman to Represent You?" Underneath this billboard was another sign which stated that Hillman is Russian-born. The inference is too simple to need explanation.

If Mr. Hillman was born in Russia, so what? Didn't the ancestors of the Republicans also come from foreign countries? It is their good fortune to have got here before Mr. Hillman did, but does that give their present-day descendants the right to borrow a few leaves from "Mein Some of my buddies are guys who came to America at an early age. Perhaps I should have said, "some of my buddies were For those who "were" are buried on the battlefields of Italy, France, Africa and the Pacific islands. In their love for America, I protest the Republican use of Fascist techniques.

PVT. RALPH FRIEDMAN. Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. They Leave Bad Tastes To the Editor of the Pbirt-DIsptch: Dewey has shown himself to be a good campaigner, but a poor statesman. His scare-speech about the administration not going to discharge service men, and how he would discharge them earlier, left a decidedly sour taste in my mouth.

Service men want to get home so badly they can taste it but we have given up too much in this war to quit now before the whole thing is done in such fashion that it will never have to be done again. Dewey, Bricker and the Republican party as a whole have now started on another tack which leaves a bad taste. According to the estimable Republican gentlemen, a huge conspiracy exists whereby the Communists are going to take over the Democratic party, and then secure control of the United States. That sort of campaign, In my opinion, Is the height of un-Americanfsm. After all, we are not children.

We can remember the time when the Japanese invaded China under the slogan of eliminating the Red menaceyes, and many big business men who today support the Republican party sold steel to the Japs in such quantity that some of it was left over to be thrown at our boys. We can remember Hitler's rise to power on the slogan of the Red menace. Hitler, too, manufactured a plot the Reichstag fire. There is no Red plot. Communism is no issue in this campaign.

Socialism is no issue in this campaign. The the originality and the leadership to bring forward real Issues in a progressiva way, find it necessary to resort to the outworn tactics of all reactionary parties. SGT. NATHAN OSER. Will Rogers Field, Ok.

So Now We're Un-American To the Editor of the Post-Dispatch: Your editorial of Oct. 5, "Bricker and His Bogies," is a disgrace to your paper. To take the part of Sidney Hillman, who Isn't fit to be called an American citizen, in my opinion, and to discredit a sincere patriot like Gov. Bricker, is enough reason for me to discontinue my subscription. Nor am I the only one In these parts who feels that way.

If you persist in such un-American propaganda, you deserve to lose subscribers. I. W. DAUTENHAHN. High Ridge, Mo.

What Berle Actually Said Employing a device sometimes used by prosecutors whose zeal exceeds their scruples, Mr. Dewey has made a man seem to say almost the diametrical opposite of what he actually said. The recipient of that treatment is Adolf A. Berle, Assistant Secretary of State and long-time New Dealer; the occasion, Mr. Dewey's speech last Saturday night.

"Over a period of years," Mr. Dewey quoted Mr. Berle in his latest effort to substantiate a charge that the administration seeks to make this country a Socialist state, "the Government will gradually come to own most of the productive plants of the United States." Here is what he did not quote: "If," wrote Mr. Berle, "the Government undertakes to create wealth by using its own credit over a period of years," then it will increasingly become the owner of industry. Mr.

Dewey could have made the statement himself; he has said the same thing on frequent occasions; it is self-evident. Mr. Berle continued: If the country desires to make wealth creation a function of government (I personally believe it must do so in larger measure than it has heretofore), the choice should be the considered choice of the country, and not the result of a policy of drift. In any case, it. is true that there are vast areas in which the Government probably cannot act effectively.

No argument for Mr. Dewey here, except with the parenthetical insert, which Mr. Berle later shows he means to include more such things as TV slum clearance under USHA, public improvements made in New York under LaGuar-dla. Further: In a democratic organization of economy, the obvious end should be to permit and require private initiative to do as much of the work as it can, consistent with maintaining the national economy on a reasonably even flow, distributing the burdens meanwhile that no class will be unduly favored, no class unduly burdened, and a maximum of opportunity be provided for everyone to use his abilities usefully with corresponding reward. If that be Socialism, then by reiterated confession Mr.

Dewey is a Socialist himself. Be that as it may, this little affair confers rather special interest on the statement, in the same Dewey speech, that "on Jan. 20 of next year we will restore honesty to our Government so that its spoken word can be trusted." The Moving Finger Has Writ It was in the year 1944, and getting on toward winter, that St Louis was rent asunder by the War Between the Leagues. Great was the noise and many were the mighty deeds of the Fratricidal Pffft. Let history remember.

Let it be remembered how Galehouse restrained the Cardinals to seven hits, so that at the final accounting two hits had won for the Browns, and bright new history was made. Let it not be forgotten how Sylvester (Blix) Donnelly struck out six of the first nine Browns who confronted him; how Musial and Danny Lit-whiler and Sanders banged out their home runs; how Cooper blanked the Browns. There were giants in those days. It is recorded how, after six contests, the Cardinals emerged as champions of the world, and the Browns were vanquished though glorious. And East Side, Webster Groves, all around the town, peace descended on the land that had rung and resounded with civil war.

And it is a matter of record that the City of the Sainted Louis came then from its hour of trial to the happiest and most prosperous inning it had ever known. Plenty of Fuel, If When the Deputy Solid Fuels Administrator for War, C. J. Potter, said yesterday that there will be enough coal for all St Louisans this winter, he premised this fine state of affairs on a reasonable attitude on the part of consumers. There will be enough, Mr.

Potter said, "if customers will take what the retail dealer advises." Consumers who refuse to accept perfectly good fuel, and delay laying in their winter's supply in the hope of getting precisely they most prefer, will risk running short. This is not a good time for being choosy. It is an excellent time for being reasonable, and, as long as the fuel available is of good quality, accepting it instead of waiting on a highly problematical supply of a first choice. Gov. Bricker says he is neutral, but can anyone imagine him cheering for the St.

Louis Reds? History of Our Veteran Policy Offers Many Lessons for Today "Wins Johnny Tomes Marc hint" Horn," hj Vtxmm Wrctrr. Honghtoa Miff lis (.., Bolton.) That thoughful men intend veterans get more intelligent treatment than they have ever had receives additional confirmation in this volume by a Guggenheim Fellow and professor at the University of California. Already the author of some excellent works on American social history, it is not to be wondered that Mr. Wecter has seized upon a topic very close to the consciousness of millions in and out of the United States. So pertinent is the subject and so substantial is the treatment that one may regret the author did not take time to write a shorter and better book in place of this rather overstuffed and sometimes naive compendium.

Moreover, publishers heed to be reminded that cluttering up the text with a sprawling mass of materials is not a happy way to avoid the repellent parade of footnotes. Basing his account on a wide If not significant selection of soldiers comments, Wecter has surveyed the pattern of postwar years in America's three major struggles-the Revolution, Civil War and World War I. Certain tendencies characterized all three eras. At the same time, notable differences have existed, of which the most conspicuous is the growing realization that the war is by no means over when, the last shot has been fired. The GI Bill of Rights and such volumes as this one and Waller's recent "Veteran Comes Back drive home the keenness of this feeling.

After the Revolution, the lack of planning for the returned soldier, though tragically wasteful, was in part redressed by the availability of land and the fact that the Continental had not been completely torn out of his normal environment. The War of 1812, like the Spanish-American War, involved too few men to call for muck forethought. The Civil War In many ways presented the most critical situation of any American war: one large section of the country had been defeated and the aftermath gave rise to the most bitter partisan politics. Furthermore, as the Treasury raids clearly proved, the extended franchise made the veteran a force for demagogues to conjure with. World War I left disillusionment after enthusiastic idealism and required rehabilitation of men who had fought a foreign war.

I The present conflict has all the complications of the last war and many of its own. People may as well anticipate a letdown in enthusiasm, a revival of old complaints about the manners and morals of men in uniform, and tensions between soldier and civilian. If, however, they as Individuals recognizee these prospects and if the governments-national, state and local face the complexities of rehabilitation in time, the United States may avoid many if not all those shameful and tragic episodes characterisUo of bygone postwar eras. The moral of Mr. Wecters account is that the time is now, for it is later than we think.

CHARLES F. MULLETT. University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo. Conundrum To the Editor of the Post-Dispatch: What is the difference between F. D.

Roosevelt and Coal Oil Johnny? Answer: Coal Oil Johnny spent his own money. SKIPPY. 1 Who? To the Editor ft the Post -Dispatch: Do you really think that Dewey is Incompetent? As a prosecutor, was he incompetent? As a Governor? Well, was he? There are those who feel that Dewey may not be wholly competent, but how can anyone with a sixth-grade intelligence say he Is incompetent? I wonder, really wonder, If you had the control of a many-mllllon-dollar business and had to choose either Dewey and Bricker or Roosevelt and Truman as ita top executives, whom you would choose? R. M. ELLIS.

University City. Insulted To the Editor of the Post-Dispatch: Roosevelt has Injured the intelligence of the- American people during the past six years, cumulatively, to an extent that it will take many years to regain what we have lost (if we ever regain it). And you add insult to injury by giving your approval to his effort to regiment us. I appreciate that he has many followers of the Fascist, Communistic element led by such Americans as Browder and Hillman, and their -sanction of him did not add insult to injury. But I had always respected your heretofore unbiased views.

What's the reason for advocating regimentation? Do you think we are going to have it thrust down our throats, and that by getting on a bandwagon now you might get a few favor from our Fuehrer? UNO BETTER. Cape Girardeau, Mo. Partisan Threat to the Peace To the Editor of the Post-Dispatch: Senator Burton of Ohio proclaims an amazing and dangerous political doctrine. He says: "To get full co-operation en foreign policy, we need an anti-Roosevelt President. It will eliminate personalities, prejudices and partisanship to a greater extent to have a Republican President than if we don't." That is "rule or ruin" to a fare-you-well.

In effect, it is saying, "Elect Dewey or we will wreck the peace." Wreck it not on Its merits or demerits, not on principle, but on partisanship alone. Is Senator Burton going to vote that way? Is that going to be the controlling Influence in other. Republican votes? I fear it is, because the great majority of Republicans In Congress voted for partisan reasons against every proposal by the administration to prepare for the war before war was declared; and after World War I enough of them voted par-tisanly to wreck the peace. Rather than elect a Republican President, would it not be safer to defeat the Republican PATRIOT. Charleston, Mo.

How We Are Cockeyed To the Editor of the Post-Dispatch: Your editorial last Sunday, "Th-3 Cry of 'Red'," seems to me a rather cockeyed defense of the administration. You quote Dewey's label, "the ill-assorted, power-hungry Conglomeration of city bosses, Communists and career bureaucrats which today compose the New Deal," and seem to imply that this is not true. Yet it is a well-known fact that they are just that. Your own editorials have at various times said so. Have you forgotten "Dictator Roosevelt Commits an Act of War," in September, 1940? As Dewey said last week, the President is a little late in denying the support of the Communists.

Certainly the Russians turned back their former allies, but who provided the machines of war with which they did it? Certainly they menace the Germans from the east but what is the mystery of why they stopped at Warsaw when they were almost within reach of Berlin? Could it have been the impending presidential campaign? Have you forgotten that Russia tried to undermine our Government, just as Germany did with the Bund? You refer to the slight Influence of the Communist ticket based on the 1940 vote, and ignore tne fact that even a well-organized minority of 50,000 caused considerable anxiety amongst many of our citizens. With so little influence, how did they manage all the industrial strife such as that created by Harry Bridges? OBSERVER, On Overtime for Show Lt. Gen. Brehon Somervell's order reducing the Army Service Forces' 54-hour week to the normal eight-hour day should be pondered by other sections of government for its possible personal application. Sensitive as they are to the appearance they make before the public, all Government departments and agencies are understandably reluctant to hew to the regular 40-hour week, even though they can get all their work done in that time, when others are working six days.

Unfortunately, for the good impression they create upon the citizen and taxpayer by working a longer week, the citizen and taxpayer has to pay. As rapidly as they can revert to hours without overtime, they should do so. Vision and Hindsight The CIO Missouri State Industrial Union Council has thrown still more popular support behind the MVA idea by giving its advocacy to plan. We hope this also means that the Council is going to become an active and unremitting worker for MVA. At the same time, the Midwest Manufacturers Association, through its directorate, has come out against MVA on the ground, it says, that the Tennessee Valley Authority, the prototype, represents unwarranted intrusion by the Federal Government into the affairs of state and local governments." When state and local governments are not able adequately to develop their resources for themselves, because of inherent limitations, it is, according to the Midwest Manufacturers' Association, an "unwarranted intrusion" for the Federal Government to help those states and localities realize their destiny! When, however, the Missouri Valley is developed, when it has become actually the great Bricker's "Inflamed Mind" To the Editor of the Post-Dispatch: Mr.

Bricker says, "No one knows how deeply the President of the United States has involved us in secret agreements." To ease Mr. Bricker's mind on the subject I suggest the reason no one knows is that none have been made. Mr. Bricker says, "For the most part, Casablanca, Cairo, Teheran and Quebec are only names on the map. What happened at those conferences in terms of international commitments remains for the future to reveal." Even Mr.

Bricker ought to see that something did come out of those conferences. It would seem logical to me to assume that the patent results from those conferences were the things talked about, instead of pretending that some bad international schemes were hatched. What a wide vista is opened if one allows an inflamed mind to imagine things! Example: "Mr. Bricker on his arrival at Po- Fears Communist Conspiracy To the Editor of the Post-Dispatch: I have always been a loyal Democrat, and today, as always, I class Franklin D. Roosevelt as one of our greatest Presidents.

But sad events are casting questionable shadows. Since the Communists have liquidated their legal party, it is plain to see the influence being extended by Sidney Hill-man toward a flourishing conspiracy to undermine American democracy. We must be on guard against this. J. L.

MYERS. University City. A Warm, Sympathetic Novel In "Hard Facts" (Viking). Howard Spring tells, warmly and sympathetically, the story of the love of a young English, clergyman for a woman whose sinful past made marriage impossible. Interwoven with the beautiful and tragic romance is the story of Hard Facts, the first penny newspaper of the late nineteenth century, its founders and scholarly young editor.

The author's skill in creating human characters, which made "My Son, My Son" a great success, again is used to attain nobility of emotion and pathetic beauty. A manufacturer is making automobile tires from dandelions. And resisting the temptation, we hope, to call them Dan-D-Tires..