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THE NEWBERRY SUN, NEWBERRY. S. C. Washington Di9cstj Czech Refugee Confirms Crack in Iron Curtain By BAUKHAGE News Analyst and Commentator. WASHINGTON.—Is the Union of Soviet Socialist Repub lics cracking? That’s an idea which is being toyed with by some wishful thinkers in Washington while others consider it one of the most dangerous playthings that ever got into the hands of unwary diplomats. In any case, the theory is worth examining. It appears to have been encouraged by some members of the little group of highly intelligent but also highly prejudiced people who form a constantly growing segment of Washington society—the political refugees from the countries on the Soviet borders. One can, however, trust this group for certain basic facts. Recently, I learned one of theses facts which may surprise you. OX course, you recall that Soviet diplo macy always has explained what we call its aggression as simply a desire to surround itself with what it de scribes as “friend ly” countries. The refugees of whom 1 spoke are living proof that not all of the inhabitants of Russia's satel lites are friendly. However, most of us have been led at least the govern ments and the controlling Com munist minorities which support them have been able to produce a degree of mutual affection which satisfies the Kremlin. After Tito's action we wondered. What about the frontiers between these countries and Russia? The answer came from an anti communist, recently arrived from Czechoslovakia—one of the many persons who are seeping out of that and other satellite countries every day. He was asked in my presence if the frontier between his country and Russia was open, in the sense that travel was permitted under the same conditions that obtain between normally friendly nations. The Czech laughed. He said: “The border between my country and Russia is no tighter than a dam would have to be to keep a drop of water from getting through.” I have heard the Russian frontiers of other satellite nations similarly described. My informant also outlined other significant conditions in Czechoslo vakia, first reminding us of three Important facts: 1. Czechoslovakia is the most industrialized of all the satel lites. 2. It is also the most demo cratic in the realistic sense we view democracy. In other words the country is thoroughly indoctrinated with the kind of democratic methods we know. This is due in part, of course, to the fact that so many of the men responsible for formation of the Czech republic spent many years in the United States and were made thoroughly fa miliar with American methods. It is also due to the fact that they had a long period of prac tical experience in putting these methods into effect in their own country. 3. The Czechs had a very high standard of living com pared to the other satellites. These factors, taken together, made the Czechs particularly vul nerable to a Communist coup. When it came, because of their demo cratic training and high standard of living, the Czechs were partic ularly unhappy as an aftermath of Communist methods and Russian domination. In other words, the Czechs had more to lose than any of the other countries within the Red orbit. Greater Problems Are in Prospect Czechoslovakia is not yet thor oughly communized. There is still a certain amount of open criticism. There have been no wholesale purges. Undoubtedly, these will come, but when they do—and herein those who believe that the Soviet position is weakening are encour aged—the prospects are that the harder the Russians crack down, the greater problem Czechoslovakia will present to her Kremlin over seers. BeToreTEe - coup that ended in the death of Masaryk took place, it was estimated that perhaps 20 per cent of the people had been indoctri nated with communism. Another 10 per cent were sympathetic, chiefly from a theoretical point of view. My Czech informant declares that it can be reliably estimated that the taste of practical communism which the people have had now has reduced that communist score to 15 per cent. He also confirmed the recent statements about the army—though he gave no figures—made by Gen. Antonin Hasal who escaped to the American zone of Germany in the middle of July. Hasal said that 70 per cent of the enlisted men and non-commissioned officers in the Czech army was anti-Communist. My informant put it this way: "The air force, many of whose members fought with the R. A. F., is almost entirely pro-Western. If the Reds hadn't drained the tanks of all the planes before the coup. most of them would have flown away.” Many did anyway and Czech planes are turning up con tinually in Western controlled areas of Europe. This occurs in civil aviation too because many of the pilots are former members of the air corps. But if the Red government can not trust the air corps, it has even less confidence in the Czech armored force. It has been necessary to immobilize it But the greatest friction caused by partial communiza- tion Is felt in the nation’s econ omy. Everyone suffers, at least indirectly, because of this, but it can be seen most clearly among workers. Recent fig ures, which were made avail able to the public, indicate that there is a sharp falling-off in the man-hour productiveness. This could be attributed either to conscious sabotage or to a feeling of indifference and re sentment caused by reduced pay and restrictions on the union labpr mcvement. Before the Russians moved in, 75 to 80 per cent of Czechoslovakia's foreign trade was with non-Com- munist countries. This * has been considerably reduced under pres sure from Russia, but even now some 60 to 70 per cent of her ex ports go to Western Europe. Virtually the entire output of the great Skoda arms factory goes to Russia. The output is largely heavy artillery. Production of small arms for Russia also has been stepped up greatly. Chance of Revolt Termed Small Objective observers admit that there is small chance of an open revolt. That isn't the Czech method. They are great underground work ers, but they haven’t the enthusiasm for blood-letting that pjople like the Yugoslavs have. If, however, the Soviets became involved in war, undoubtedly the Czechs would join heartily with those they consider their liberators. Those persons who predict a crack in the iron curtain base part of their argument an on attitude among Czech leaders which is said to parallel that of Tito’s supporters in Yugoslavia. That is this ques tion of nationalism. There have been recent reports from Europe that Czech Premier Gottwald, who always has been considered Mos cow’s right-hand-man in Czechoslo vakia, is about to fall from Soviet grace for the same reason Tito fell. Gottwald is a lifelong Communist who was won over to the Marxian philosophy before he had an op portunity to see it put into effect in his own country. He was an apt and willing student in Moscow, but he apparently cherished the illusion that his own country could accept the communist form of government and still maintain its identity and its independence. The utter domin ation by Russia has become not only distasteful to Gottwald but also to at least two other members of his cabinet, including the minister of justice. Gottwald is not the leader that Tito is and he probably can be brushed aside. But the viewpoint he has come to represent is pointed out as one of the weaknesses of the Russian system. There is one other fact which cannot be hidden from the eyes of any careful observer with some military knowledge of Czechoslovakia. That is that the military preparations in the country which the Russians have carried out are almost 100 per cent defensive. Apparently, the Russian fear of invasion from the West is greater than their desire or ability to pre pare for offensive warfare. As proof of this, my informant told me that although one of the scarcest consumer products in Czechoslovakia is paper, two of the biggest mills manufacturing it were limiting their output to blackout paper only. These are some of the reasons back of the theory which the people who believe in the old military axiom that you mustn’t under estimate the enemy say is dan gerous. • * # Britain's labor government of Att lee and Bevin declared the dock ers’ strike a national emergency, the first such proclamation since 1926 when Bevin himself was a strike leader. Proves how you can make the shoe fit, even when it’s on the other foot. • • * If you keep on your toes you’re not likely to get down at the heel. BAUKHAGE to assume that BUEACHERITE . . . It’s a far cry from the cloistered dignity of the United Nations to a soda pop spree in the stands of the Olympic games, but Trygve Lie, U. N. secretary-general, seems happy about it. BEANS SPILLER . . . Eliza beth Bentley, who says she headed a huge Communist spy ring in the U. S., told a senate investigation subcommittee that she gathered secret military and political information from some 50 government employees. VOTER ... “I wonder,” quipped President Truman in Independ ence, Mo., when an election worker asked him if he was a Democrat or a Republican as he went to vote in the Missouri primary election. FULLERETTE . . . There’s something new under the sun— a Fuller Brush woman, commer cially known as a Fullerette. This one is Mrs. Rae Hiter of Springfield, Mass., first woman in U. S. to be appointed by a dealer to sell line of cosmetics and soap. FACE TO FACE AT LAST . . . Although each was afraid the other might steal the show. President Truman and Gov. Thomas E. Dewey of New York plucked up their courage and shook hands smilingly when they met for the first time since they were nominated by their respective parties. The occasion of their meeting was the dedication of New York’s new Idlewild airport, largest in the world, and the air show was good enough to make them both forget politics. REVIEWING STAND IN ISRAEL . . . Government heads of the Jewish state of Israel are shown on the reviewing stand taking a salute from the passing troops during the big military parade that marked “Nation Day” in Tel Aviv, capital of the new Jewish state. Left to right are Minister of Finance Kaplan; Premier David Ben Gurion; Brigadier Jakob Dori, chief of staff, and Minister of Labor Bentov. IT’S ALL PLANE TO HIM NOW . . . PracticaUy any airplane seems big to a small boy, but when you come up against a mammoth like this the total effect is almost overwhelming. Ten-year-old David Bonvouloir of Washington, D. C., is completely nonplussed by the tremendous bulk of this new navy airliner, a Lockheed Constitution, recently christened and opened for public inspection. NEW CHAMPION . . . Freddie Mills, England’s cuntribution U the leather pushing trade, upset all the dope when he won the light heavyweight champion ship from Gus Lesnevich on points. RANK INSUBORDINATION . . . Ninety high school seniors from 45 states attended the third annual American Legion forum to study government operation in Washington. During the coqrse of their tour they visited the Pentagon building to see the army setup, and Chief of Staff Omar Bradley himself sat up for them. Billy Ray Clark of Jones boro, Ark., named “secretary of the army” by the forum, even got a salute from the general. Hershey’s Draft Plans N OT all the details have been released officially yet, but Lewis Hershey, selective service di rector, gave a brief report on draft plans to a closed-door session of the senate-house armed services committees recently. He told the solons that the se lective service machinery would be ready to process the first batch..of draftees by October 15, but esti mated the second call would not come before January 1. Hershey told the senators and congressmen there was strong pres sure—at that time—to start drafting 19-year-olds first, since they were not ready to settle down and would be less likely to be upset by army service. The two armed services commit tees, however, argued the opposite. Unanimously they agreed that the 24- and 25-year-olds should be tak en before they passed the eligible age. This was later decided. The selective service boss estimated that 9,0*0,000 youths were available for the draft, but only 1,386,000 would be eligible under the loophole-riddled plan for deferments. Of those who will be caught, the bulk are un der 22 since many of those over 22 served in the recent war. The number eligible for the draft in each age group was broken down by Hershey as follows: 25-year-olds, 8,000 ; 24-year-olds, 15,000 ; 23-year- olds, 19,000 ; 22-year-olds, 22,000 ; 21- year-olds, 222,000 ; 20-year-olds, 475,- 000; 19-year-olds, 635,000. • • • Race for Uranium Most encouraging sigi^ on the atomic-energy horizon is what the Russians now are doing in Saxony. Low-grade uranium deposits are found in this southern Ger man state and the Russians have been working feverishly to mine them. They have been us ing a great deal of labor and going to great lengths to scrape up this uranium, which is so low grade that in Canada it would be ignored. The fact that the Russians are taking all this trouble over such poor quality uranium in Germany obviously means only one thing: They don’t have any worth-while uranium of their own in Russia. • • * Corporation Gravy While the cost of food to the housewife has zoomed, here is what has happened to the dividends of big corporations. The figures were presented re cently by plain-talking Democratic Sen. Joe O’Mahoney of Wyoming, as compiled from official reports: Profits of 100 corporations after taxes: 1940—$1,875,000,000. 1945—$1,943,000,000. 1947—$3,730,000,000. O’Mahoney also cited a Federal Reserve Board report, stating that business profits this year will ex ceed the dizzy high of 1947. Point ing to individual corporations which have shared in this bonanza, he re ported that General Electric com pany now is making profits in ex cess of 20 per cent of net worth. General Motors, 19.9 per cent, U. S. Steel, 10 per cent. The 1947 profits of General Elec tric, before taxes were paid, were five times greater than its 1939 prof its, O’Mahoney charged. Meanwhile, he declared, wage in creases have been obliterated by inflated living costs, as evidenced by the fact that American consum ers are paying 37 billion dollars more for what they buy this year than in 1946. • * » Cabinet Pains President Visitors who called on President Truman at the White House after congress opened, found the chief executive hipping mad at some of his top executives. He was par ticularly irate with Secretary of the Army Kenneth Royall, Under secretary of the Army William H. Draper and the army’s chief of staff, Gen. Omar Bradley. Mr. Truman said he was fed up with Royall and Draper for their sabotage of White House policies. Draper’s policy of re building Germany at the ex pense of her neighbors and Sec retary Royall’s inept handling of army racial discrimination had got under his skin. The President was more hurt than angry at the way his fellow Missourian, General Bradley, had reaffirmed segregation and the army caste system 24 hours after his commander-in-chief had issued an executive order curbing segre gation. • • • Spaatz Speaks One reason air chief of staff “Tooey” Spaatz retired from the army was that he felt he could do the air force more good on the out side. For the first time, he now is preparing to speak his mind fear lessly in a flood of magazine and newspaper articles. Unhampered by military restric tions, Spaatz will tell bluntly how he thinks America should meet the threat of another war. SALESMANSHIP IS DEAD Speakers at a national conven tion of salesmanship executive* declared that the sellers’ market is over and that salesmanship, now at its lowest ebb, must devise new techniques. Lowest ebb is an under statement Salesmanship, in the eyes of the customer, has become not only dead but mummified. In the period of shortages and wide customer demand the average salesman has ceased to function, except in the manner of a deep freeze unit. • It has become an exploit similar to a polar dash to approach the fellow who was supposed to be in terested in selling something. « The customer's greatest need in contacting a salesman has been proper defrosting equipment. • It has been years since we saw a clerk or salesman in many fields smile, register inter est or show half of 1 per cent po liteness toward the buyer. We have frequently had our lower extremities frozen on the trip from the store or agency en trance to the salesman's desk. • The old-fashioned American sales man who used to spring to his feet when a customer appeared, extend the glad hand, show a keen desire to be of service and cultivate good will or bust has largely disap peared. We can remember away back when, even if the staff had no stock on hand, it never greeted a cus tomer with that “less than the dust beneath my chariot wheels” manner, and when every salesman or clerk realized that there was no percentage in making a customer feel that a visit to a salesroom or store was like a trip through the icepack. • Too many salesmen today don’t even bother to show rou tine civility. They have de veloped complete indifference to a high art. They give you the old “This is all so unnecessary and annoying” look if you ask more than two questions of 10 words each. They give you the definite feeling that you are In dulging in a futile dialogue in an Eskimo igloo. * The other day we went to an auto salesroom back home and found even the head of the com pany giving an over-all demonstra tion of how to freeze the prospec tive buyer in three simple lessons. He was on the floor supposedly as sisting, and at the moment talking listlessly with a prospect. We drew near and awaited our turn. The gent walked off to a far corner without as much as an “Excuse me, I’ll be With you in a moment.” * Up to this time we had assumed that at least the boss knew the fun damental rules of holding customer good will. • • • TRANSFER OF DUR0CHER It was obvious that Mel Ott couldn’t stand up against Leo Durocher: He was using catchers for catchers. * Many good gags have followed the Durocher incident but we liked Walker Cooper's "All catchers out for infield practice, boys!" when his team got the news. • How to score the Durocher play puzzles us, but we would be in clined to say that he slid from first in Brooklyn to second in New York but was called out by Rickey for failing to touch Brooklyn bridge. • » • "Supreme Court Justice Murray Hearn, president of the Brooklyn council for social planning, said the outbreak of juvenile crime constitutes an emergency in which it is essential to enlist the help of every citizen."—News item. What! No dismissal of the situation with a denunciation of the parents and schools? • • • Fashion experts say that skimpi ness in bathing suits has gone the limit and that a "new look” cos tume soon will appear, which may include a return to the bloomers, blouse and stockings milady used to wear at the beach. This will ag gravate traffic. Think of the crowds that would be drawn to the beaches by the sight of women with clothes on. Charges of communistic control of store unions in New York are growing by the hour. We now hear that to all queries how to reach a department, the information clerk says, “Just keep bearing to the left all the way.” And Ima Dodo insists she went to the hardware department for a hammer and was told she couldn’t have one unless she took a sickle. • • • War is war. And so is peace. Green Old Age “Did your grandfather live to a green old age?” “I should say so! He was swindled three times after he was 70.” Hard Rations Stranger (to 'soldier in lunch wagon)—How come you’re not eating out at camp tonight? Soldier—Well day before yes terday a mule died and we had hamburger. Yesterday the cat died and we had rabbit stew. This morning the cook caught two skunks, and I figured I’d rather eat in town tonight. Practical Results Mr. Horner—Jasper, how are you getting along in grammar? Jasper—Swell. I ain’t had a bad mark since when school begun. Petting Party Bob—You know that poor fam ily with eight children down ‘the road? I bought vhem a dachshund as a gift. Roy—Why a dachshund? Bob—So they can all pet him at once. Subtle Difference Bill—Is your cousin looking for work? Jill—No, not at all. He only wants a job. Dry Cleaning “I’m all upset. The doctor said the only way to cure my rheuma tism was to keep away from all dampness.” “What’s so tough about that?” “You don’t know how silly it makes me feel to sit in am empty bathtub and go over myself with a vacuum cleaner.” Seek Big Noise To Scare Fish The United States fish and wild life service wants to find a noise which will scare young salmon away from the huge spillways and turbines that have been built in tbe Columbia river. For years salmon have used the river as they come from the seas to seek fresh water for egg-laying. The old-timers among salmon have sense enough to use the fish ladder* and elevators. But young fish, bom above the dam, try to come down the hard way, through spillways and turbines. Thousands are killed. If a noise can be discovered which will scare the young salmon in the right direction, a lot of fish Uvea will be saved. 1 =!====== MOROLINE PETROLEUM J t*L L \ Try //eaMfa/ lemon in Wafer - The juice of a lemon in a glass of water, when taken first thing on aris ing, is ali that most people need to insure prompt, normal elimination. No moro harsh laxatives that irritate the digestive tract and impair nutri tion ! Lemorr in water is good, for you! Generations of Americans have taken lemons for health—and generations of doctors have recommended them. They are rich in vitamin C; supply valuable amounts of Bi and P. They alkalinize; aid digestion. Not too sharp or sour, lemon in water has a refreshing tang —clears the mouth, wakes you up. It’s not a purgative —simply helps your sys tem regulate itself. Try it 10 dayk USE CALIFORNIA SVNKIST LtMONS Fiery, Smarting Itch of Common Skin Rashes Don't stand such torment another hout I Just smooth Resinol Ointment on your irritated skin at once. See how quickly its medically proven ingredients in lan olin bring blissful, long-lasting relief. GIVIS when cold miseries strike FASTREtiBF W'vS'M* 7 - RHEUMAT1SM NEURITIS-LUMBAGO MCNEILS MAGIC REMEDY BRINGS BLESSED RELIEF Largs Bottle 1 mu waosl'U?- Small Size Mel » MltlM: ItE Sill M IIIECtEI « It III till lilt tlltiS»IT IIH •• miifi II fin I ■«»IU III! ts, las, minwiltl *. TfMMI