Japan's Surrender Brings an End to Six Years of Worldwide Struggle

SIX years to the day after World War II began in Poland, it is ending in Tokyo Bay. United States forces have begun occupying Japan. Japanese Premier Gen. Hideki Tojo is in hiding: He will later be arrested, convicted of war crimes, and executed.

Some idea of the brutality of the Japanese Army is given in the stories of mistreatment told by liberated Allied prisoners of war. But that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Meanwhile in Europe, recovery continues and the first glimmers of the cold war can be seen. A Communist-dominated government in Slovakia has already seized factories from their owners - especially if they are Jews - and is preparing to eliminate church and private schools. Coal shortages almost everywhere hinder economic revival, and the Soviets are already interfering with trade between Eastern and Western Europe. Allied foreign ministers prepare to meet to implement the Potsdam accords and negotiate peace treaties with Germany's former allies.

Back in the US, a familiar story: criticism of congressional junkets abroad. Are these trips a necessary part of congressional oversight, or just free vacations for congressmen? The debate continues to this day.