The Evening Sun from Baltimore, Maryland • 21

SECOND SECTION PAGE 21 PAGE 21 SECOND SECTION Baltimore, Tuesday, THE EVENING SU October 67 1942 The Forum Yes, But Inside- people the kind of stuff Secretary Wickard keeps giving out sounds crazy. It all boils down to this: Must meat be rationed? Then let's get on with it. And that goes for all other items. If we have to do it, we can and we will. We don't have to be wheedled into it.

even of New York's home crowds and made them popular favorites such as we have not seen in a decade. There was something in the dash, the resourcefulness and the dauntlessness of the St. Louis club that represented a national spirit as well as the soul of baseball at its best. MM iS is not in itself evidence of viciousness; it is merely a clownish get-up. The name, according to some authorities, originally was "root" suit.

Other authorities offer vague and unlikely derivations of "zoot." Our idea i3 that some colored tailor, having turned out a particularly fetching creation, exclaimed to his customer: "Boy, is you got a suit? You got yo'se'f a zoot!" It could be (and probably is) as simple as that. The baggy shape of the trousers, with the cuffs so tight, is readily enough explained. Any youth who engages in jitterbug exercises in ordinary pants will quickly get the knees baggy. The zoot suit, by making baggy knees a part of the style, eliminates the need to try to get those baggy knees pressed out again. The tightness at the cuffs merely keeps the loose pants from flapping up and down.

What seems strangest of all is the appearance of a kind of suit which requires the use of much cloth just at a time when the nation needs to conserve cloth. Indeed, the ordinary "stock" suit looks much more patriotic. And there is always the suit of khaki and the suit of navy blue. Neither has any zoot lines whatever, yet their wearers look very sharp. THE EVENING SUN Published Every Week Day By THE A.

S. ABE LL COMPANY Pact Pattymon, President Entered at the Poetofftre at Baltimore as econd-claas mall matter. Subscription Rates of the Sunpapers Morning Evening Sunday 1 month 65c 65c 45c 6 months $3.50 $3.50 $2.60 1 year $6 00 $6.00 $5.20 Editorial Offices Paltimore Sun Square Washington National Press Building Hew York Herald Tribune Building London 40 Fleet Street Circulation of Sunpapers in September 1942 TTM 1 Morning 163.352 153.920 Gain 9,432 Evening 170.526 163.248 Gain 7,278 246,981 224,398 Gain i2.583 3Iember of the Associated Press The Associated Press Is exclusively entitled to the use for republication ot all news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited In this paper and also the local news published herein. All rights of republication cf special dispatches herein are also reserved. BALTIMORE.

TUESDAY. OCTOBER 6. 1942 Why Not Now? Even before debate on the current revenue bill has been concluded, the Treasury is back with a request for more money. Secretary Morgenthau says that the current bill is inadequate; nd doubtless he is right. Warfare as we and the other United Nations are fighting it comes high.

Well, then, how is the money to be raised? We find it hard to see how, this time, a general retail sales tax can be evaded. In ordinary times there are sound arguments against the imposition of a general sales tax. But in times like these the arguments against a sales tax lose their validity. Looking at the sales tax purely as a money-raising device, it has the virtues of being highly productive and extremely reliable. Further, it has the great advantage that it is spread over all elements in the population.

It bears on those who are already paying substantial income tax, and who this coming year will find their income tax doubled again. It bears also on that very large element in the population which so far has not been subject to heavy taxation. And it is precisely this element in the population the wage earners which, so far, has benefited financially by the war, benefited by greatly improved opportunities for work and substantial increases in income. Ultimately, as one source of revenue after another is exploited to the utmost, the sales tax will have to be considered- Since.no one doubts the wisdom of paying as much of the cost of the war as is possible out of current income, the sooner Congress screws up its political courage and gives the sales tax its serious consideration, the better. rrERE, you will say, are a couple of attractive row Houses not IjL unlike thousands of others in Baltimore, row houses of the sort that thousands and tens of thousands of Baltimorcans would be delighted to claim as a home.

But you can't always tell by externals, these days. This house, less than a year old when the photograph was taken recently, is lived in by a shipyard worker, his wife and two children. But our Architec-tural Correspondent, who had a look at it with officials of the Health Department, says that's only a part (roughly, one sixth) of the story. In addition to the man, his wife and their two children, eleven board' ers occupy the first and second floors. And as though that weren't enough, "hot beds" had been installed in the basement, where ten additional persons slept in shifts.

Thus in this modest six-room house no less than twenty-five persons were living. Each of the boarders paid $10 a week for meals and lodging, yielding a total income for the dwelling of $210 a week. The plumbing facilities consist, of one bath, one toilet and two sinks, of which one is in the basement. You can't always tell by external appearances. War-Time Changes Iii English Education Keep letters down to 200 words if possible, sign your own name, give your correct address.

No unsigned letters will be printed. The President's "Secret" Trip To the Editor or The Evening Sun Sir: It was surprising to read the criticisms made by the nation's press when it was finally permitted to disclose Mr. Roosevelt's whereabouts and activities during the past two weeks. To the average reader, these editorial blasts vere reminiscent of the squawks of a spoiled child who is deprived of some one thing he desperately craves. It must appear to the average citizen that the press has become so warped in Us viewpoint that it will do anything, and jeopardize anyone, for sensationalism.

The public has become used to the guarding of vital military information. Every day your columns report Nazi claims and state that Allied sources refuse comment for strategic reasons. Have you considered the possible consequences of revealing the President's trip or even the fact that he was absent from Washington? He was in Seattle an easy trip for a Jap bomber from Klska.He covered 8,000 miles of railroad at any point a saboteur could have worked havoc. And such a catastrophe would have involved countless "innocent bystanders" as well as endangering our Chief Executive. Yet our sensation-crazed press would risk all this for the sake of their so-called "free press" rights.

If our newspapers continue to mislead their readers by such editorial vituperation, "freedom of the press" will be lost through public rage, not through Government regulation. J. F. Apsey, Jr. Towson, Oct.

4. Housework And War Work To the Editor or The Evening Sun Sir: A great many childless married women and women with grown children today are oblivious to the war situation. They bemoan the mutilation and murder of men, destruction of cities, while they placidly sit in their living rooms hearing accounts of these things over the radio or reading them in the newspapers. They sit comfortably resting after putting in a hard day taking care of a three-room apartment. Some find housekeeping so tough a job that they must hire help to do the cleaning so that they may have more time to discuss the horrible war conditions, taxes and the unbearable sugar and fuel-oil rationing.

War. efforts, to them, mean the efforts of a soldier fighting to hold his position from the enemy or the effort of a worker in war production to produce more and more. These women have a false conception of what war effort means. They certainly don't help to win the war by keeping the house or apartment tidy seven days a week. Does it take all day seven days a week to keep it so? The average ambitious woman can do ordinary housework in a few hours a day, and a lot of them do.

What do they do the rest of the day? They go to movies, visit and gossip. This is valuable time wasted potential war production hours thrown to the wind! If these women would use this time in some real war effort instead of talking about it so much we might get somewhere in reaching our production goaL I suggest the wonderful training program offered at various schools, day or night, to women interested in helping the war effort. The training period is short, instruction is given by capable teachers, and after the training period is completed, a good-paying job awaits the student. Why do not more women avail themselves of this training, which is absolutely free? Joseph Koval. Baltimore, Oct.

5. Points From Letters A War Mother's Appeal I have just lost a son only 20 years old, who was fighting with the marines. He was so proud of the Marine Corps, and he has made us all proud of him. I have another son, 17, doing his part in the navy. And so I am appealing to alt defense workers to help this nation put down its enemies.

When lose our loved ones, we realize then that we should work harder and faster. If every one knew how I feel, I know there would be no slowing up anywhere. Mrs. Mary Flanagan, Towson, Md. The President's Secrecy With regard to the President's trip through the country, I have noticed that the press has assailed the censorship.

Don't you realize the importance of the trip and that a knowledge of it might be of help to the Axis? The President's trip was just as important as troop movements or a convoy. When President Roosevelt is sure it is safe to make a press statement concerning his trip, I am sure he will. G. 1L Kopp. Past And Present Mr.

Andrew Bpden wrote about the businessmen of today who have added to the nation's wealth, but have had "nothing more than a common-school education." The men he glorifies belong to a past generation. The complicated world in which we live today demands a far-reaching education. If a boy wants to join the service he should do so, by all means. On the other hand, if a boy is able to further his education, he should certainly take advantage of the opportunity. B.

Sneeringer. Behind The Facade When the city's inspectors make their house-to-house inspection of local housing conditions, we trust they won't be deceived by a smiling facade. Overcrowding, inadequate and faulty plumbing, fire hazards, vermin and germ-breeding filth can give the lie to the elegant brownstone front of yesteryear's mansion or the shiny-new face of a less but up-to-the-minute tile-bathroom, kitchen-cabinet domicile right out of the bricklayer's hod. Close by, on this page, we give you evidence that human congestion to the point of health danger is not confined to festering slum areas. Here is the kind of house that is the pride of many a self-respecting workman.

Any community would be happy to think that it is typical of its housing conditions. For the average family it meets all the requirements of light, air and sanitation. But when this one-family dwelling, adequate in every respect as such, is made to serve a purpose for which it was not designed and equipped, it becomes a worry to the City Health Department, for obvious reasons. It isn't necessarily the structure, then, that is the root of unsatisfactory housing. Just as often, it is the use that is made of it and the habits of the occupants that create the menace.

And unless our inspectors get beyond the vestibule, as they did in this instance, they are likely to miss conditions that are every bit as unwholesome as those to be found where dwellings are obsolete by modern standards. Oil In Britain If, as Correspondent Henry J. Taylor reports, "rich, thick," highest-grade Pennsylvania-type crude oil is gushing out of the ground" in England, that is news of the first importance, as the dullest of us must realize. Great Britain has plenty of refineries to take care of it. However, Mr.

Taylor is in error when he says that though every geological feature from Land's End to the Orkneys has been explored, "never, until now, has there been the slightest indication of oil." As a matter of fact, there are in Great Britain extensive coal fields, and where there is coal, oil is likely to be found. Long before this, petroleum has been found in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, North Staffordshire, Yorkshire, Cumberland, Lancashire, Shropshire and in parts of Scotland. But these findings have been mere seepages discovered in the working of collieries. There also are large deposits of oil shale in both England and Scotland which have been estimated to contain some 900,000,000 imperial gallons, of oil. But only in Scotland have the fields been worked successfully.

Quite possibly, in view of the war demand for oil, it has been found expedient to put larger areas into production. But oil seepages in collieries and deposits of oil shale are far different from gushers, which send out a continual flow of oil running into thousands of barrels a day. That is news that makes the heart leap. We hope these reports are substantiated. Popular Champions Whether or not there is another World Series in 1943, the contests that decided the championship for this year should serve to keep the place of baseball high in the memories and hearts of the public.

It was everything that a World Series should be, with a daring, great young team breaking the long domination of the New York Yankees and treating record-making crowds to the kind of play that keeps baseball in favor as the sport of sports. The St. Louis Cardinals from first to last did everything that they were not expected to do Their greatest pitcher tried twice to beat the Yankees and failed both times. Nevertheless, the club that had overtaken Brooklyn in the National League when the outlook seemed hopeless, accomplished what no other opponent of the Bronx Bombers ever did. It swept four straight games; it shut out the fearsome hitters in one contest, outslugged them in another and finally beat them in their own specialty home runs hit in the pinches.

As in the competition for the pennant, the St. Louis team simply refused to be overawed by the long odds against it and the great reputation of its antagonists; to be rattled by errors, to be discouraged by seeing the Yankees wipe out a lead or take it. On every occasion the Cardinals had the reserve of heart and determination to overcome their own mistakes as well as the best pitching and batting that could be thrown against them. It is no wonder that their play captured the imagination and enthusiasm Our Suhmarine Toll The Navy Department's announcement that the new submarine Grunion must be presumed lost in the Pacific records the loss of our fifth undersea ship since the beginning of the war. The loss of any ship, or rather of its brave crew, is, of course, saddening.

when it is remembered that we doubtless have some scores of submarines in operation, nearly all of them at very great distances from, their home bases, it will be realized that so far ours is quite a remarkable record, especially when it is recalled that of the five vessels lost one was wrecked not by the foe but in collision while another was deliberately destroyed to prevent its capture at Cavite. And as against these losses our submarines have sunk seventy-four Japanese ships, probably sunk nineteen more and damaged an additional twenty-two. That means that for each American undersea craft lost we have destroyed or put out of commission twenty-three enemy vessels an exceptional ratio in our favor. These figures also remind us of a fact too often overlooked by the public when it considers the war at sea that, active as Axis submarines, especially the German U-boats, have been, this undersurface fight is by no means a one-sided affair. The submarine is a weapon in our hands, too.

In the case of Germany, of course, we have no means of making use of our submarine flotillas. Nazi commerce was swept from the seas long before we were attacked and the Third Reich today offers our submarines no objectives. But Japan is an altogether different case. Japan is an island empire and a naval power which must depend upon its sea communications for its own economic life no less than for the defense of its many distant conquests. Consequently, Japan's scattered fleet units and her merchant marine provide our undersea ships with their chief targets, and against these our submarines have operated brilliantly, effectively and, all things considered, at exceedingly small cost to ourselves, despite daring and far-ranging activities, since Japan has no allies of any naval strength and since she lacks the capacity to replace her shipping losses, the cumulative strain of our submarines' toll promises to become an important, perhaps a major, factor in the future course of the Pacific war.

Zoot If you have observed a young man walking along the streets wearing a pair of. baggy trousers, gathered in tightly at the ankle, and a loud, pearl-buttoned, tight-waisted coat with flaring "skirts" reaching down almost to the knees, what you saw was a zoot suit. The phenomenon of the zoot suit, mentioned rather casually in these columns some time ago, and later dealt with at some length in our news col-' umns, is difficult to explain. Its origin is in doubt. Nobody seems to know how it got its name, or what; the name means.

Although snappy colored boys could be seen zooted on Baltimore's Pennsylvania avenue a year or more ago, very few such suits were seen on downtown streets here until quite recently. Now they are fairly common wherever jitterbugs gather to perform their eccentric jerks to the accompaniment of that bizzarre Congo cacophony known as "swing music." And the phenomenon is national. Zoot suits are to be seen in New York's Harlem, in Detroit, in St. Louis, in New Orleans, in Los Angeles. It is interesting, and possibly it should be a little alarming, to note that there seems to be some correlation between zoot and violent crime.

In a report on a wave of criminal violence among the Mexican youths of Los Angeles, reference was made to the fact that the ringleaders of the young gangsters wore zoot suits. The staid New York Times, in its reports of violent crimes in Harlem, including the "mugging" of service men, has mentioned zoot suits. Last week two white youths, one of whom was wearing what was described as "extreme zoot," entered the New York public school which they had formerly attended and, after "showing off" by breaking rules against smoking, profanity, began to haze an undersized male teacher and eventually shot him to death in the school building. Probably there really is no more definite relationship of zoot to crime than this: that the wearer of a zoot suit, an outre garment, would, by definition, be a show-off, given to bragging and lacking in balance. Such a youth, it might be plausibly argued, would be more likely to engage in gangsterism than would a you th conventional taste.

Certainly the zoot suit HIT are cadet corps' in the elementary and secondary schools where from the ages of 12 to 16 they obtain some of the fundamentals. More serious training is carried on by those in the 16-18 age group. Last January 1,500,000 of these, both boys and girls, were required to register. They are encouraged but not compelled to participate in the war effort. Each of the war services, male and female, has its training corps which acts as a pool for recruits as they reach the conscrip tion age of 18V years for boys, 20 years for girls.

Thus, for example, there are 160,000 boys in the Air Training Corps learning to be pilots, navigators, radio operators and gunners, while their sisters prepare for service in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force. There also are farm corps, forestry corps, naval corps, army corps and Home Guard corps. In England free compulsory education ends at the age of 14 years. It had been planned to raise the age to 15 years in September, 1939, but this was prevented by the war. A fee is charged at secondary schools corresponding to our high schools) and they are intended only for those children who plan to enter professions or to proceed to the colleges and universities.

Many children at the age of 14 are now going directly into war industries. Conspicuous in the wartime educational system are the technical colleges. In these, thousands are trained for skilled crafts of many kinds. The technical colleges turn out radio men, electricians, machinists, munition workers, foremen and supervisors, canteen managers, cooks, firemen and so forth. At the top of the education system stand the universities.

Since the war, registration has dropped from 50,000 to 37,000. It is said no student is now at a university unless it is to the advantage of the state for him to be there. Nontechnical students are allowed a year's deferment from the draft, technical students from two to three years, and medical students five years. All those physically fit are required to take military training in officer training corps. Perhaps the best summary of the situation is to be found in the statement of an English educational authority made a few months ago "Today the education service, though seriously depleted, hampered by lack of accommodation, and heavily burdened by new and onerous duties, is functioning more strongly and stands in better repute than ever before." This may be attributed in large part to the teachers who, according to the same authority, have displayed "devotion beyond praise." Gob Humor From the Anacostia Naval Air Station News Seattle Sadie says' Sailors are a sinful lot I like 'em! Sailors take all that you've got I like 'em! They make you walk to picture shows At dances they walk on your toes I don't know why but goodness knows I like 'em! Sailors really mean no good They'd fool a woman if they could I like 'em! They never hear you holler, "No." The order "Stop!" to them means "Go!" But when the lights are turned down low I like 'em! Attention, Dr.

Byrd Now that the University of Maryland, under Coach Shaughnessy, is back in the left-hand side of the football scores again (Maryland 34, Connecticut Maryland 14, Lakehurst Naval 0), we would like to call attention once more to the fact that the University Hospital is still without a superintendent. Dr. H. C. Byrd, president of the University of Maryland, apparently is a man who believes in the motto, "First things first." Being a former football player, and former coach himself, he naturally regarded the need of the university's football team to win some games as being of paramount importance.

For three seasons Maryland had been decidedly unimpressive on the gridiron. To remedy this, President Byrd went after Clark Shaughnessy, famed exponent of the formation, and fetched him to College Park with a $10,000 contract. Thus far, this the Terps have been doing fine. We wish we could say the same for the University Hospital. Since December 31, 1939, this very important hospital has been getting along somehow without the services of a superintendent.

For awhile it had an acting superintendent, a busy physician who had neither the time nor the special training necessary to the management of a large hospital. But now the hospital does not have even the services of an acting superintendent. The army took him some months ago. Everything in good, time, of course, and everything according to its importance. Getting a superintendent for the University Hospital, in these short-handed war days, may not be quite as important as getting a big-time coach for the university eleven.

Still, it's pretty important, and so let's hope that the chief executive of College Park gives the matter his attention soon. There are some people who consider it even more important than getting a coach. Mr. Billopp High Finance Mary has some money of yours left over from a birthday check entrusted to her. She bought a necktie with part and has been meaning to return the rest.

The child is vague as to the balance. Incidentally, she made some purchases downtown and placed them on your account, but promises to repay you. She is only waiting to extricate her long-distance telephone calls from your next bill, so she can pay in a lump sum. Johnny asks if you will help him finance a rather expensive, set of symphony records, he paying for most of it out of his savings. That reminds you that you advanced Johnny a couple of dollars several days ago from which you have not heard.

However, rather than discourage the boy's musical aspirations, you consent to sharing the expense, using the remainder of the birthday check, now in Mary's keeping. To make matters simpler you agree to give your personal check for the records, letting Mary and Johnny reimburse you. It develops that Mother gave Johnny a dollar a day or two ago out of which to pay for lunch, returning the change to her. You, incidentally, loaned her a dollar for gasoline, from which change was due. So she suggests that you obtain the money direct from Johnny.

Johnny reminds you that you promised him half a dollar for cutting the grass and assumes you are continuing his allowance which he can deduct from the amount owed you for the records, the borrowed two dollars and the lunch money change. And Mother claims credit for, the pressing of your suit for which she paid. The more you contemplate the jumbled finances of the family the more you wonder whether you can consider yourself still solvent, and whether the mess can ever be untangled without engaging a certified public accountant. CHRISTOPHER BILLOPP A BOUT a month ago a letter in The Evening Forum posed this question: "With America's public schools opening in the next few weeks, I cannot help but wonder how the English educational system has been affected by the war and in what manner the American schools may have to be altered." We then stated that we would endeavor to obtain information bearing upon the subject. Through the courtesy of the British Information Services we have since -received a number of bulletins and articles which, though they omit some important details, contain much interesting material A comprehensive report would require more space than we can spare, but here are a few notes that may give some indications of what has happened: Before the beginning of the war, plans had been made to evacuate the school children and mothers with babies from the target areas, including "chiefly the large cities.

On Thursday, August 31, 1939, in anticipation of In immediate air raid, 1,500,000 persons were successfully removed to the receiving areas. However, the raids did not then materialize and thousands of the evacuees began to return home. As a result, there were many children in London and other big cities where schools had been closed. It was not until February, 1940, that the schools were reopened and the Truant Act was brought back into force. This is regarded as the lowest point in English education during the war.

But many of the evacuees have remained in the country. Thus it has been necessary to maintain schools in the cities and also in the rural receiving areas, both for the country children and for the remaining city evacuees. That has meant the crowding of some rural schools and inferior equipment. On the other hand, city children have benefited greatly from the good air, more nourishing food and more regular hours of sleep that the country provides. They have learned much about gardening, poultry, live stock and other features of farm life.

The country children, too, are believed to have profited greatly by their contact with the city children. An interesting result of the war has been the establishment of thirty camp schools for city children. They resemble boarding schools. Here the children live in one community with their teachers, pursue their courses and also tend gardens and live stock. They have a distinctly vocational character.

Another change caused by the war has been the providing of food at the schools. Eighty per cent, of the children now receive a daily ration of milk at less than cost or free. In addition, early this year, the number of meals served by the schools Had mounted to 300,000 daily and it is estimated that the total will reach a goal of 1,000,000 daily set for the end of this year. Important also has been the increase in nursery schools for the "Under Fives." These are designed to relieve mothers for war work. Each school has a trained nurse as matron and also a teacher.

Children are fed, bathed, entertained and rested. Some schools are open from twelve to fifteen hours a day, while others are resident nurseries where the children live permanently. There are about 900 in all. At the age of 12 years, and in some cases earlier, English children now begin their training for the war. These Soft Persuasions Claude R.

Wickard, Secretary of Agriculture, keeps talking and writing about the food supply, but he doesn't get anywhere. In an address last night in Chicago he talked about the necessity of "dealing with our food situation realistically and speedily." But how? He wasn't specific. In the current issue of the American Magazine he writes about the necessity of making sacrifices, and then suggests rationing at the annual rate of 130 pounds of meat per person which is exactly one pound per person less a year than was the average consumption between 1930 and 1940. In his American piece he proposes that, since poultry is plentiful, America make the "sacrifice" of substituting chicken occasionally for roast beef. What is Secretary Wickard trying to do steel us to the fearful hardship of eating one pound of meat less a year? Convince us we must sacrifice for victory by eating more fried chicken? All these so gentle hints, these highly tentative suggestions, these soft persuasions they must sound incredibly stupid to everyone who has any realization of the true American temper.

Americans don't have to be coaxed into eating a pound of beef less per year; they don't need to be gradually hardened to the point where they can get along on roast chicken instead of prime ribs of beef. If told frankly that certain foods must be strictly rationed, Americans will immediately accept these restrictions without bellyaching. But they are confused and bewildered when people in high places keep shooting off about "sacrifices" and then urge more chicken. There is no point in sacrifice for its own sake, of course. Sacrifice alone will not win a war.

But the American people are not so dumb that they fail to see what is going on in the rest of the world. They know that the Russians are suffering frightful losses in the battle against our enemy. They know that the British, who have had more civilian casualties from bombings than this country suffered on the battlefield in the first World War, are on very short rations and have been almost since the war started. There is an increasing number of Americans who have lost husbands, sons, fathers in far-off places where we are in desperate I esnflict with the enemy. To these.