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THE NEWBERRY SUN. NEWBERRY. S. C. WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS U.S. Rejects Stalin Peace Talks; Norway Prefers Western Alliance, Spurns Russian Councif Suggestion (EDITOR’S NOTE: When oplnione are expressed In these columns, they are those o( Westers Newspaper Union’s news analysts and not necessarily of this newspaper.) SOVIET “BARKIS” . . . Like the Dickens character Russia’s Premier Josef Stalin was “willing” to meet with President Truman to talk peace. But the question was: how willing? He is shown above with President Truman when the two met at Potsdam. WANTS OPEN DISCUSSION Truman Won't Talk Behind Iron Curtain It was beginning to look like “Uncle Joe” Stalin and Harry S. Tru man never would get together for a talk looking toward settlement of U. S. and other western powers’ differences with the Soviets. “Meet Stalin behind the iron curtain?" Secretary of State Dean Acheson snorted in disdain, declared in effect that the idea was pre posterous. Acheson went further. He asserted indirectly that the Russian leader was playing politics with peace hopes of millions of people. Anyway, Acheson went on, what might be gained? Hadn’t the Rus sians consistently blocked all efforts in the United Nations looking toward disarmament, control of the atom bomb and creation of a U.N. police force? BUT THE U.S. couldn’t be put in the position of appearing disin clined even to talk about peace, so Acheson left the door open for a parley; but there were some Ameri can conditions this time. The White House, it appeared, would be willing to see Stalin—in Washington. Stalin had said he’d be willing to see Truman—behind the iron curtain. And there the matter stood. Acheson made a further point. The U.S., in any event, would not discuss with Russia alone any points having a direct interest to other nations. As for a “peace” declaration, Acheson declared he fo^nd this puzzling inasmuch as Russia, the U. S.. and all other U. N. members are already pledged “by most solemn treaty commitments not to engage in war with one another.” HE ADDED that the hopes of the world’s peoples for peace are con sidered by this nation to be funda mental, and that the United States would not play politics with these hopes. While it might appear an over simplification of the problem, many might raise the question that if Acheson is relying on Russia's U.N. pledge to keep the peace, why should there be any official U.S. con cern over the entire Russian rela tions puzzle? The fact there is grave concern over the puzzle indicates Mr. Ach eson may have been talking when he should have been thinking. U. N. Facilities Offered If Truman, Stalin Meet The United Nations stands ready to aid in any way it can in any East-West talks, accord ing to a statement by Trygve Lie, secretary-general of the organization. Lie declared he would be “most happy” to have U. N. facilities used for a conference between Josef Stalin and Presi dent Truman if the two leaders were to suggest it. Beyond that he would not go in commenting on the inter view in which Stalin said he would be glad to confer directly with President Truman on a possible Soviet-American peace pact. He added that the U. N. has several facilities which might be used advantageously in the event of such a conference. NORWAY: Standing Pat Norway was drawing no cards. Standing pat, she would play the ones she had. IN OTHER WORDS, the Nor wegians wanted nothing but friend ship with the Soviets, but if it were all the same, they would rather de pend upon security in regional pacts such as the proposed north Atlantic alliance, than upon an alignment with the Soviet union. The position stated by Norway was in answer to a Soviet note ask ing the nation's clarification of its view on the proposed north Atlantic setup. Norway said the United Nations had failed to provide the world with peace and security, and her own people’s “serious concern” for their liberty had convinced the govern ment that it was necessary to seek increased security through regional cooperation in the defense field. BUT THE NORWEGIAN govern ment assured the Russians that it would never agree to foreign bases on its soil “as long as Norway is not attacked or the subject of threats of attack.” And the govern ment pledged itself to support a policy of non-aggression. The decision could be interpreted in no other way than as a definite setback for Soviet expansion-by-in timidation policies. Norway is a small country and vulnerable to Soviet attack. Nevertheless, it has _ British Ration Eased Great Britain has ended eight years of clothes rationing—prac tically, that is. Effective now, any Briton with the money may go into any store and buy a suit of clothes, his wife a dress. And for the first time since January 1, 1940, he won’t have to give 26 clothing coupons for the suit, 18 for his wife’s dress. Coupons, however, will still be required for many articles of clothing. chosen to stand with the western nations—a decision certain to im pair Russian prestige and to show the way, in some measure, at least, how other Soviet-threatened natiops may find the way out of a seeming impasse. PRESS FREEDOM: Losing Ground? Newspapermen and radiocasters from Sauk Center to Gotham would shout “foul!,” claim the opposition was hitting below the belt. A Baltimore criminal court judge held three local radio stations and the news editor of one were guilty of contempt of court because they violated a court rule that restricts publication of crime news. THE JUDGE, John B. Gray, Jr., held, in a two-hour verbal opinion that broadcasts of information about a convicted murderer, before his trial last summer, constituted not only a clear and present danger to the fair administration of justice, but “an obstruction to justice” in the accused’s right to a fair trial. The court agreed with a defense contention that the nine-year old rule was an “abridgement of the freedom of the press,” but asserted such an abridgement “is justified because it conflicts with an equally potent constitutional right of an accused to a fair trial.” NEW SHUTTER: Powerfully Fast A new fluid eyelid for a camera can blink and take a picture in 1-25 of a millionth of a second. This eyelid is an electrical shutter with no moving parts. It’s fast enough to see any one of 25 things happen ing within a millionth of a second. THE SHUTTER is a murky fluid that blocks light. Two electrical contants are immersed in it. When a current is passed through, the liquid becomes transparent for an instant—as if a bottle of ink became water clear. The photographic plate is exposed to the action in front of the shutter for only the fraction of time when the liquid is clear. The length of exposure is governed by the volt age applied. The shutter offers a new way of slowing the action. The shutter was announced at the winter meeting of the American institute of electrical engineers by A. M. Zaren, Stanford research in stitute, Los Angeles, and F. R. Marshal] and F. L. Poole, U. S. naval ordinance test station. AMONG OTHER war-inspired de vices being used in industry, the “snooper-scope,” which could “see” a man in the dark a quarter of a mile away, now is being used to find faults in power transmission lines. It spotted the enemy by his body heat as it was supersensible. PENSION BILL: Vets Must Wait Little possibility was seen by con gressional leaders for enactment of a veterans’ pension bill during the current session. The administration is openly op posed to any such measure, being quoted as saying a program already offered “could not be considered in accord with the program of the President.” THE PROPOSAL to which the refence was made is a veterans’ pension bill to give servicemen of the last two wars a $60 .monthly pension when they reach age 60, plus disability payments. It is es timated this would cost almost two billion dollars the first year, with later outlays reaching multi-billion dollar levels. Under this measure, sponsored by Mississippi’s Rankin, a veteran need only to have served 90 days in -either world war to qualify for a pension. The extra disability pay would range from $20 to $120 a month, with no proviso that the disa bility must have been incurred in service. Veterans administrator Carl R. Gray, Jr., said that while he was neither opposing nor favoring the legislation in his capacity as vet erans’ administrator, its magnitude must be weighed closely now to prevent unwarranted financial out lays in the future. He pointed out the cost burden might be so great as to endanger the entire veteran- compensation program. PRESIDENT TRUMAN was on record with this statement: "The necessity for new or extended bene fits for veterans without service disabilities should be judged not solely from the standpoint of ser vice in our armed forces, but in the light of existing social welfare pro grams available to all veterans and non-veterans alike.” Mr. Truman also said in his bud get message: “The program of vet erans’ services and benefits should reflect the fundamental fact that our primary long-run obligation is to dependents of veterans deceased from service causes, and to vet erans disabled in the service. At the same time, we should preserve and stress our basic objective of assist ing the recipients of these benefits to be as nearly as possible self- reliant and self-supporting members of our society.” All of which indicates that vet erans of both world wars expecting pensions and disability allowances had best be prepared to wait awhile. f Washington Digest Army, Navy, Marines Join In Big Caribbean Maneuver . By BAUKHAGE News Analyst and Commentator. WASHINGTON.—About the time these lines are in print, 35,000 American soldiers, sailors, fliers and marines and a hundred ships will be shoving off for the greatest peacetime maneuvers in our history. Providence permitting, your correspondent will be on the scene. , A strange and sinister “aggressive force” which will have seized and fortified the island of Vieques in the Caribbean will be bombarded by sea and air, attacked, and (we trust) captured by a joint marine corps and army expeditionary force landed by navy ships and planes which have fought their way past enemy planes, and submarines. The purpose of this undertaking KATHLEEN NORRIS Failing Marriages Bell Syndicate—WNU Features By KATHLEEN NORRIS BAUKHAGE SATURATION: Claimed for Taxes Millions of Americans would agree with the premise: Taxes in America have reached the satura tion point. Former President Herbert Hoover made the assertion to congress. As a remedy, he suggested unsnarling a century of government red tape, a slash in federal spending. FOR ALL HIS earnestness and the force of his figures, Herbert Hoover, “great engineer” of the depression, was a voice crying in the wi.der- ness. While President Truman outlined the need for vast federal expendi tures for world social and economic improvement, as well as for defense measures, he had said nothing about reduction of government expendi tures. There was nothing in his an nounced program relating to any such action. True, there have always been one or two individuals in every congress who have sought to stick a finger in the hole in the dike of federal outlay, but to date the stopper has never approximated the cirmumfer- ence of the orifice. Indications were that it would be thus in the 81st congress. HOOVER RECOMMENDED con solidation of 1,800 bureaus, commis sions and divisions, but lurking in the background, ready to raise its awesome head at any moment, was patronage. Patronage means votes and votes mean legislative tenure, and with the one fattening off the other, Mr. Hoover’s recommenda tions commanded respect more for their temerity than for any hope of their adoption. New Stamp ...MINNESOTA TCRRITOHbU. CENrcNNIAl X XAB — >aaa X ia* This three-cent Minnesota ter ritory centennial commemorative postage stamp will be placed on sale the first time on March 3, 1949, at St. Paul, Minn. ATOM RAYS: No Deformities Are victims of atomic bombings likely to product grotesquely de formed offspring? Many scientists believe that is one of the terrible effects of atomic radiation. There are as many more who disagree. But the U. S. army atomic energy commission has said no evidence of abnormal offspring had yet been found among the Japanese exposed to radiation a’. Hiroshima and Naga saki. is officially described as "to ad vance and ensure combat readiness for Fleet Marine Force Atlantic units, and to pro- v i d e amphibious training for Army and Marine Corps units.” Admiral W. H. P. Blandy, command er-in-chief of the Atlantic fleet will be in over-all com mand. Lieut. Gen. Keller E. Rockey, USMC, will com mand the joint mar ine corps and army expeditionary troops which will be composed of the second marine division and the 65th infantry, Caribbean command. Many of these men are vet erans of Pacific landings and the North African operations, but, the experts tell me, there are many things to be learned for great progress has been made in amphibious training since the war. This is the first operation of its kind since the merger of. the arm ed services has been in effect, and nothing approaching it in size has ever been attempted in peacetime. Of course the marine corps was virtually bom amphibious and for the past 28 years has perfected the methods which were used in the late war. Now they serve as the instructors in this particular field of activity for the other branches of the service. Maneuvers which get compara tively little notice in the press are largely regarded by laymen as a 1 spectacle or as a series of highly technical military problems which are too complicated to follow. As a matter of fact, the actual man euvers are a small part of the opera tion compared to the planning which dates back to the days when Caesar took his famous tenth le gion from small boats onto the soil of ancient Britain, or before. Perhaps the earliest important invasion from the sea in modem times was one of the most unsuc cessful - - - the ill-fated Gallipoli bat tle when the British troops were al most annihilated in their first at tempt to invade Turkey in World War I. Intensive study of this de bacle was made in this coun try, and the marines had made great strides long before World War II made such train ing necessary. Very few peo ple realized this. In fact, many people probably think that the Japs had a special patent on amphibious tactics. As one officer expressed it to me, there is nothing secret about this method of fighting. It is simply a question of “know-how.” A vast conglomeration of minute detail which is not used at all in ordinary land fighting. For example, an infantryman takes for granted that he and his rifle are more or less one piece. But the first time he has to go over the side of a ship I and into a small craft, he suddenly i finds he is faced with a major prob lem in assuring not only his own arrival on the beach but, what is equally important, the simultan eous arrival of his gun. If you have ever tried to crawl down a net with no equipment whatever, you realize it requires all the hands you have. But long before D-day. thousands of details have been worked out hundreds of miles from the scene of action. As one officer put it, the stack of charts that have to be drawn are a mile high. Beans, bullets, shoelaces—all are part of the picture quite as much as radar and range-finders. The little island of Vieques will be pounded with tons of shells, hauled, mauled, captured, and de serted, and then go back to a sub tropical siesta. But what happens there on and before March 2 and 3, 1949, may be of vital importance a decade hence.. A New Truman Going to Work As the Ides of March approach, the hew administration swings into its stride with a good deal of honey moon fervor still in the air. From the day of the first White House press and radio conference after the inauguration, it was clear that we had a new President. Washington reporters had be come usfed to several Harry Tru mans. There was the very grave and not very certain man who was called in 1945 to a job which he didn't want and never expected tc have with the shadow of tragedy over him. A man who was at first so anxious to reassure the country that there would be no break in the continuity of leadership that he sometimes rushed in where a more experienced man might have feared to tread. There were many “off-the- enff” remarks with some dis astrous results. Then came a period when he leaned over backward with caution; after that, the period when his own party seemed to be faUing apart and it was no secret that the man in the White House was disappointed and unhappy. Then came a gradual change which even many of his intimates did not realize, a change that grad ually culminated in the combative confidence which most of his sup porters failed to share. Washing ton watched his election campaign with considerable admiration for his fighting spirit but without being convinced that even he, himself ac tually had the confidence he- dis played. Then came the election upset and two months later, the tremendous turnout at the inauguration. There was evidence for those who could recognize it, in the manner of de livery of his inauguration speech, that here was still another Truman. At that first press and radio con ference, it was plain enough. At last he was his o\yn man. He felt he had earned his office. He prob ably had felt all along that he was fully competent to carry on its re sponsibilities. But now something had been added: a controlled self assurance. I think Mr. Truman was sin cere when he told a luncheon meeting of the Democratic party’s finance committee that there were a million men in the United States who would make a better President, but it was his job and he would carry it out. He was simply saying that he realized there were men in the country with great er ability than he had. He didn’t say, nor did he think, that he didn’t have enough abil ity. If events prove that he hasn’t, he probably will be the first to admit it. That is my own interpretation and is offered for what it is worth. It is an impression based not only on what Harry Truman has said and done, but largely on the way he has said And done it. If he continues to handle himself in the way he has since the election, the men in government and out, in his own party and out of it, will find him a lot easier to deal with. Like wise, he is going to be proportion ately more successful with those with whom he has to deal. Press Conferences Have Changed, Too At a recent White House news conference, an old timer came up to me and remarked that the last few times he had attended these gatherings, all of which had been especially well attended - (well over 100 reporters) he couldn’t help thinking back to the days of Taft when, as he put it, Robert Small of the Associated Press and perhaps one of two others who used to be sneaked into the back door of the White House for confidential talks with the President, but no other newsmen or women had any access whatever to the Chief Executive. I was not in Washington then but later I came to know Small very well and I know he was known as “the fair haired boy” of the Taft administration. It was the first time I had ever heard the expres sion. Small was a brilliant news man and Taft was very fond of him. I well recaU the ex-President (Taft was then chief justice) com forting Small’s father at Bob’s fun- eraL The former White House re porter was comparatively young when he died. I do not know how the press corps felt about Small’s inti mate relationship with the White House—or the other fortunate ones who were given these ex clusive privileges but I doubt if it occurred to anyone to sug gest the possibility of having regular open press confer ences. Teddy Roosevelt, how ever, did call in press associ ation men on occasion. And yet such a situation (no reg ular conference) seems incredible today. No President would dare refuse to see newsfolk and stand up to questions which sometimes are more impertinent that perti nent. AMERICA comes first with me in everything. Ninety-nine times in a hundred she stands head and shoulders above the rest of the world. In the hun dredth case I pass as lightly over her shortcomings as I can and hope—and know—that coming gen erations will correct them. So one evening some weeks ago I was made really unhappy by the quite innocent and unaffected talk of a certain French professor. We happened, as we sat about a friend’s fire, to get on the subject of European marriage and th» en tirely different attitude in which young persons overseas approach this tremendous subject. And as I listened, I had uncom fortably to admit in my soul that theirs is a wiser attitude and a wholesomer plan than ours and one calculated to build better homes and children, better com munities and . better men and women. Accept Marriage Naturally "Marriage with our women,” he said, “is an accepted state. It is not an experiment. The girl be comes a wife just as definitely as sho is a French woman, blonde or dark, short or tall, hardworking, well-to-do or somewhere between. Married, she and her husband can afford so much or so little; he needs her help in the shop or res taurant or farm, as a secretary or with the hospitality that maintains his position. They want and are expected to have children. “They face the facts,” he said. “They do not attempt to deny or elude them. They make the most of what they have. Our women like the quiet certainty of mar riage, with its plans, protection and ... we feel that we gain more ... companionship. It is not with us a springboard; it is a deliberately chosen new way of life. We give up much—old ways, old freedom, old amusements. But we feel that we gain more. “Alimony is low, among the great body of France’s sober and industrious people of the great mid dle class—the people whose scheme includes villas, cars and country holidays and a couple of steady family servants, whose position is quite as definite and respectable as those of their employers. No Need for Pretense "Youngsters,” she said, "ap proach marriage with care and with the help of family interest and advice. Their parents know the young man, his background and his record. The girl knows what money she will have to spend and her mother and father advise her as to outlay. Everyone knows everythirig, so there is small need for display or pretense. “Once married, she is—married. Her house, her linen, her children and her hospitalities are all-impor tant to her. Her husband comes first. He must be comfortable; he must be made to feel himself loved. He has faults; so has she. But tradition and training save them both from many pitfalls that your young married persons know and of which they become victims. “The families and friends do not drop in on them unexpectedly dur ing the first year. They are not expected to take groups of young friends to expensive night clubs and foot the bill. Children are ex pected, and with the coming of children the woman finds herself more important than before. She is wife, mistress, mother, house keeper. That she remains balanced and self-controlled and equal to doing her duty means that every thing else in the household goes well.” He told me that psychologists do not do a good business in France, in the Scandinavias or among Bel gian, Swiss and Polish wives. These are women with a job, a position and affectionate home ties to keep them balanced. Weigh these three elements and you will see what is lacking in the lives of so many thousands of our young married women. Our young wives don’t know where they stand. And too often the husband is as un fit for partnership and as confused as the wife. She wants amusement; she wants her sitting room tom to pieces and done over; she wants a fur coat. What she wants has no reference at all to what money she has to spare for it. She and her husband go to cocktail parties and evening bars, quarrel, come home half-sick with a sense of frustration. Released by WNU Features. By INEZ GERHARD I N RADIO, if you say “Mary Margaret” everybody knows “Mc Bride” is understood. The fabulous M. M., far handsomer than her pic tures indicate, told me she’d been forced into everything she had done —publicity, newspaper work, radio. She must have been an excellent reporter; she is one of the best in terviewers on the air, yet has the MARY MARGARET HcBRIDE rare gift of making her program sound completely spontaneous. She says she chooses guests whome she finds interesting, feeling that they must interest others also. And she accepts only those sponsors whose products she believes in; those en- thusiasitc plugs are completely sincere. * Novelist James Hilton, whose “Hallmark Playhouse” is on CBS Thursdays, is celebrating applying for U. S. citizenship by writing his first novel with an American locale. It won’t be Hollywood, where so many of his books have been dramatized, and so many of whose stars have been on his pro gram. He feels it is not truly representative of America. * Columbia Broadcasting Sys tem seems to be aiming at the slogan "Yon name ’em, we’ve got ’em.” shortly after Bing Crosby switched to CBS, Red Skelton followed; come fall, he’ll join their Sunday night parade. * Television may have Hollywood scared, but there is nothing wrong with the motion picture industry that pictures like “A Letter to Three Wives” won’t cure. With a perfect cast, an excellent story, fine direc tion, this 20th Century-Fox produc tion has everything that takes pay ing customers into theatres and gives them the worth of their money. * If you look closely at the fire scene in Columbia’s "The Man From Colorado" (set in 1865) you’ll see an airplane in the sky. It got in accidentally—was patrolling the area for any spreading of the fire. * “Let’s get it straight about my reaction to the great open spaces of Arizona," said Jane Greer, co-star of RKO’s “station west.” It isn’t true that I fainted when I saw my first rattlesnake. I merely screamed so that people came running from Flagstaff, 30 miles away. And when I saw a big taran tula in the toe of my slipper, I was leaving my tent anyway." William Holden is a great out doors man. But now he is under orders to stay out of the sun. He plays an escaped killer in "The Dark Past” an dhas to preserve a prison pallor played without bene fit of make-up. * The new March of Time, "On Stage,” shows what only insid ers usually see—what goes on behind the semes of two suc cessful plays now running in New York. They are “Anne of the Thousand Days,” starring Rex Harrison, and “Red Gloves,” starring Charles Boy er, both of whom appear in the picture, along yith many other famous people of the theatre. Smiles Hibernation “Freddie, can you name an ani mal that hibernates in the summer time?” “Yessum, Santa Claus.” * Mutual’s delightful "Twenty Ques tions,” now in its fourth year, stars three members of one family—Fred VanDeventer, the well-known news caster; his wife, Florence, and their son, Bobby. Their skill and in genuity are likely to make their fa mous guests on the program seem tongue-tied, while the audience, knowing the answers, laughs and listens. * On an Arizona location trip Guinn Williams won a .22 target rifle by placing first in a “flying tin can” event. He donated his prize to a raffle for the benefit of a veterans’ hospitaL Won over Dick Powell, among others. * William L. Shircr was later and later getting home to Sunday din ner following his broadcast. Mrs. Shirer was irked, till she found that he was staying to talk things over with John B. Kennedy. Now she just ashe Kennedy to dinner. Change of Posittoa ' "What became of that charming secretary of yours?" 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