Washington Di9GStj For World Co-Operation Faith In Ideal Necessary to Continue Work Of Allied Relief Agency After Reports A Of Early Difficulties. •- __ . ■ :— , I By BAUKHAGE Nmet Analyst and Commentator. WNU Service, 1616 Eye Street, N.W., Washington, D, C. The force* In Washington battling for world co-operation are finding the going tough. It is hardto get people to have faith in collective security when they witness such filings as the breakdown of the for eign ministers’conference in London, Russia’s reluctance to co-operate in the Far East advisory commission, Argentina’s espousal of the ways of file dictators. At times it seems as though, internationally speaking, de mocracy were approaching the win ter of its sorest discontent. It is unfortunate that in the midst of this period of suspicion and anxi ety, a yes and no vote has to be taken on a matter that may mean life or death, and to that extent, peace or anarchy, to hundreds of thousands of people in Europe. I refer to the 900 million dollar appro priation for UNRRA which has been winding a precarious way through congress. By the time these lines appear, that appropriation which congress previously authorized may have been granted. There has never been much doubt as to its final approval.' But the danger lies in the efiect of proposed reservations. This appropriation bill is con sidered a bell-wether. If it goes through unencumbered, it may mean that other measures affecting our relations with other nations are fairly safe and that such isolation ism as exists in the country (and, therefore, in congress) is less than • ~ one-third of the whole. .„. It is true that there have been loud and emphatic demands that such knowledge as we possess con cerning the atom and its potentiality 'be kept strictly to ourselves even though scientists say it cannot be less than common knowledge—even the ‘’know-how” to turn it to mili tary of commercial use — within • few years. But I believe that if you will submit to careful analysis the expressed sentiment of congress on this subject, it would reveal a line-up which takes little consider '%qtion of any international aspects of ‘'thb/uie pfstomte energ/. In other WPjrds, . the viewpoints so far ex pressed have differed as to whether I this hew force .has been looked at as something to sell at home and file Question has been whether it be produced under state control or by private enterprise. The question of > internationalizing the bomb has re mained in the domain of theory. t' A look at the arguments for and against UNRRA and the reaction to .Item gives us a much clearer pic -turn of tendencies, isolationist or otherwise, of the arguer. V. S. 'Support Vital „ ~ When a congressman casts his Cote “aye” or “no” on the bill to appropriate the money for UNRRA ‘ he is not simply virtually voting aye ’ or no on whether we help feed starv ing Europe. If he votes no and the . noes have it, there will be no UNRRA. True, all contributing na , tions ,put in the same proportion of J their national income — 1 per cent | —but it so happens that 1 per cent ' \Ot the national income of the United States is . nearly three-quarters of thie entire sum contributed. Your voter knows this. And he can’t help . Realizing the UNRRA is symbolic of 'American participation in any world ' organization. Without this country's advice, consent and support, oq world organization can exist. And likewise; with American'support mi , nation can afford not to go along. Another filing that the congression al voter knows when he votes on UNRRA is that it is far from per fect He knows that the personnel, the efficiency, the standing of the or ganization have improved tremen dously in the last few months since \ >’ It has been able to get the person £fiel it required* which it couldn't get ;; *. before because of the manpower and brainpower shortage due to the war. ' ' But he knows it is still hampered !" by its polyglot nature and he has to Juve faith enough in its purpose to make him feel that the risk of fall-* l ure is worth taking. Because .UNRRA, like any international or i ganization, is everybody’s baby, it can easily become nobody's baby. IEach nation has been only too ready to criticize it, always excluding their own representatives’ functions, eg course. UNRRA has suffered great* ly from a poor press because the task it faced was well nigh impossi ble in wartime. V The bad news, therefore, ©verbal; anced the good news as far as ire ports of progress on the part of the Active, contributing countries were concerned. From the passive, recipi ent countries naturally there were plenty of complaints. These “sins of omission” were ballyhooed. The other side of the story was not. It was the sad and familiar tale of priorities, a story many a business man can ten. Even when UNRRA had money in hand tor food re quired (although some of the con tributing members are very slow to pay, the United States still owes a little less than half of its allot ment and authorization), it was im possible to get the combined food board, which decided who got what, to allot any to UNRRA until the armed forces, the domestic market, the lend-lease, and the liberated countries who had money to buy, got theirs. And even if the food was available, frequently there were no ships in which to transport it. That situation has changed. Food is now being delivered to Europe. By Christmas it will be moving at the rate of half a million tons a month. But the memory of past de ficiencies lingers and doubt as to future performance could easily be used as an excuse to defeat the measure unless one is really con vinced that UNRRA’s job is so im portant it must succeed. And there we get down to the nub. of the whole argument For to agree with the thesis that UNRRA’s objective is de sirable is to agree that the good of one is the good of all and the good of the other fellow is the good of the us—“us” standing for the United States. It is easy to show that millions In Europe will starve this winter unless they get food from outside their own borders. It is easy to prove that in those countries which are UNRRA’s concern — the ones which were in vaded and which cannot pay for food.— starvation will lead to dis ease, riots, revolt—and death. And we know that under such conditions, nations turn to totalitarianism and when that fails, to chaos. We also know that unless we help tide these people over, we cannot expect to sell them our surpluses because ‘‘you can’t- do business with a graveyard.” Nevertheless the isola tionist would respond, what of it? Let’s stay in our own backyard. Therefore, the voter, ' weighing UNRRA’s past errors with, its fu ture potentialities, will vote for it only if he still believes that world co-operation is something worth tak ing a risk for. So UNRRA becomes a test of how well this belief is standing the test of misunderstandings and disap pointments on the diplomatic front which we have faced in the past weeks. > - ' > • • • ■ We hear a great deal about the difficulty of understanding the Japa-. nese mind and many people have their fears as to bow we are going to get along in the years ahead dur ing which we will occupy the coun try and attempt a reconversion of Japanese thinking as well as eco nomic life. ‘ Recently I had a long conversa tion with an officer who had inter viewed some of the more intelli gent Japanese officers captured in the Philippines Just before the sur render. Several remarks of one of these men illustrated the difficulty of reaching the enemy mind. My friend asked the prisoner:. “What did you think of our propa ganda?” ; . * .“It made us laqgh,” the Jap re plied. “Be specific," my friend said. "Well, you sent us leaflets saying, "Surrender; come over to our lines and receive plenty of hot food and cold water.’ We laughed at that. We had plenty of cold water in the mountains. What we wanted was hot water.” Water, to a Jap, meant in this case a bath. They bathe in very hot water. That was what they wanted and couldn't get. To the Americans —water means, after the heat of battle, first, • drink. 5 BARBS . . . by Baukhag• Three wheeled "hug** — little teer-drop cart run by an airplane engine — wilt won be available at around a thousand dollars. More use tor DOT.. ■ ■*:.. #: About 100 ‘‘testers’’ in tt factories were r among the many strikers of the day. The question Is bow long can a laster last when he *rw' iAfri'*'** 'i r *3* f lb* department at Justice has over 97 miUlon fingerprint card*. But they don't all belong to crooks. They've got mine among others. • • • The rubber manufacturers say there is going to be a revolution in sports wear, curtains and wall cov erings. They can be coated with new substances which will resist not only water but ofl and t How Christmas * Is Celebrated 1 In Peacetime • ; —£—- •. Most Countries Will JHonor ! Day With Their . Local % ! Yule Pageants. ! ' —— Christmas is Christmas from one corner of the e&rth to the other. This year the day means something spe> , cial, a period of thanksgiving for the 'end of a long bitter struggle. While most nations will celebrate the day in reverence to Christ,, the customs ▼ary in different countries and dif ferent regions. , ' r RELIGIOUS PARADE . ..... . - .... • . » y • :-r*i For eight evenings before Christ mas, there is a religious procession held in Mexico at the head of which the figures of Joseph and Mary are borne. A lighted taper is carried by each member of the group, and they go about the streets singing Christ^ mas songs. Admittance to a home is sought every night. On the ninth evening they are admitted and a re ligious ceremony conducted about the straw-filled manger of the Christ Child. ;■ •••-• ‘CRAZY COW* FIESTA For week* prior to Christmas, the children of Colombia thrill to the painstaking preparations for a glori ous fireworks celebration. “Vacas Locas,” — “Crazy Cow," is the fire works on the Christmas fiestas in each village square, when men don fireproof garments and- crawl into the wooden framework of a cow loaded do^n with sizzling firecrack ers and glittering Roman candles. PARADE OF MASKS In the region*, ot Unrasch, Swit zerland, young people go from house to house wearing ipu^a And elabo rate headdresses, Representing houses, ships and biblical scenes. Edbrmous cowbells ate-worn on e leather harness. . These "merry makers denceandyodel until they are thrown a few coins. POLISH WIGIUA The Polish Wlgilia, or Christinas feast, jymbeliMp;; tfEh*: Last Sue- ~ per,” and, is the feature of their Christmas celebration. Twelve types of dishes,’-prepared in their in dividual1 style, are served only once a year and at this time. ' " ' After me feast, this lights are put out andbowli "Of huts, raisins'and fruits and Christmas cakes and , candles are passed around and eaten by tbs'* tree in J