In Washington tonight the official Christ••• tree was lWited -- but who did it? The tree on the lhite House lawn was fixed up, ready for illumination, and a crowd of two thousand was gathered to hear a message from President Tru ■ an -- broadcast from bi• boae town Independence, Mi s souri. According to traditions, the President li&ht• up the tree - and tonight that was to be accoapliah by pushing a button at Independece. But eometlitg peculiar happened. Th• Preaideatial Yoice ca■• 01er the loudapeaker, pronouncing the Chriat■ aa •••••••• and then caae a place in the scri p t where the President, out in Independce, was to push the button. But before he got to that point, the lights went on in adYance. Just as be was about to go into the paragraph saying that he was go i ng to press the button, the bulbs on the tree flickered, di ■■ed out and then brightened in full glory -- while the Presidential voice at Independence had not yet arrived at that point. What had happened? The chiaf electriciaa at the lhite Bouae •••queried.Be explained that an electrician had been assigned to awitoh on the lighting, in case the presidential croa1-countr7 button pushing did not wort. Be said he thought that this special electrician, through soae kind of ■x aix-up, had beaten the President to the punch -- or rather, beaten hi ■ to the illuaination. D In Bethlehem, they~ having an old-taahioned Cbriat■ as this year. At the birthplace of the Saviour, things have gone back · tr the ••1• and cuatoms of ti ■ ee gone by. The Palestine war haa cut off electricity for the lights in the church of the lativity and other Holy Placea. So1 tbey've gone back to laapa and candlea. lell, the little town of Betblehe ■ bad• loag biatory before electric lights were ever inveated, and tonight the hand of the clock ha• turned back - aa they celebrate the traditional ritual of Cbri1t••• Ive. There'• a light of la■ pa, •• of old, aad ~ ••p•ciall7 the glea■ of ayrtad• of ~dl•~• [B,&ICI In Paris, the French Rational Aasembly spent Christmas eve night -- or at least part of it_ in passing a budget. This came as a climax to a political fight, the Pre ■ ier stating that he would resign if the budget bill was not approved. The measure calls for the appropriation ot yaet _ quantities of fr a ncs, a ■ ounting to six billion six hundred millions ot· dollars - to finam e the economy of France under the Marshall Plan. The 1o•ern■ent •• at Paria iai baa insieted on hi1her taxea, to enable )'ranee to do its ahare in collaborating with the European rec0Yer7 progra ■• There has been bitter opposition, the rrench haYing an acute dislike for paying taxes. But tonight, just as Santa Claus was getting ready for his visit, the lational Assembly passed the budget. i, ,. The uecurity vouncil of the united Nations has n • to deal ~ith t o accusations of truce viol a tion - Indonesia lind ~alestine. •hich , ould seea to be a good aeQl of the same thing - the UM called u p on to do something about the ~utch in Java and about the lsreall• in the iegeb. The action on Indonesia today was - a cease-fire order. lt seems as if the U B were always issuing those coam~nds - to stop shooting. The reaolutioa adopted today was a co■ µro■ iae - in that it did aot deaand that the forces of the ietherlanda withdraw to ' poaitiona they held before they launched their auddea offensive against the Indonesian hepublic. The7 are ■erely re uired a halt where they are - stop the attack. The ~utch ~re showing little sign of yielding. Their attitude, fas expressed today, would seva to in~icate that they will not atop until they've taken full ossession of republican territories. They are still pushing on both in Java and the neighborini island of ~um a tra - the 1n d onesians p utting up little effective resi s tance. Ho ev e rt there continue to be si g ns of guerril la w r - D utch troops ordered to stay close to their b rracks in the invaded areas. This, an obvious p recaution against guerrilla attacks. - In the case of Palestine, the Security Council toda7 voted to hold an emergency •eeting on Monday, to consider the new Jewish offensive in the aouthern desert. The Arabs are charging - •Flagrant violation• of tbe truce. Iii u.e...ioethftltl eneM. 1hey are de■ andin& anarily th . t the U I take action against Iarael. So oa Monday all this will be taken up, with the likelihood of another - •cease fire• order. In the Negeb, itself, there is word of beaYJ Jewish attacks against Egyptian forces, troops of haaaering away on the ground - although a later diapatca from Tel aviv sa1s that ailitary action has died down. ' One dominating f~ct would seem to be - the raina. ,. The normally dry and desolate Negeb is ~ ~ - IA4A4•~ . . : 5 ~ ~ ilZ, Lc/)E1"1, • • • n p e ~~ t a e ■ ~ , • u.prrrf ;,,~;:: ---t .ti A :.a. ii 8 , <a , co TL _ fil.QA A late dis p atc h tells of Inter-American action in the dispute b etween Costa Rica and N icaragua. The organization of American States calls upon both republics to guarantee that they •ill not take hostile action, one against the other. • The Western Heaiapbere group baa alao decided to set up a military coaaiasion to police the border between Costa Rica and licaragua.-~aa- :Co•1ii1sion oo wbiea fi•e nations are to be 1 11 • vpa---• ~ ..!f ne pu•po••• ~e ■ ake sure that aei the1 eoa ta Illa• ,_ aeP ~~a•e ■ al• viel••e their ••••••'eee, This is th e first drajatic action ~,J •hi• is bei11114ea~nder the aathoritJ of ' the lnter-Aaerican Defense Pact....- concluded at the Conference at Rio, the treaty in which the A■erican . Re p ublics agreed to intervene, should there be . a.-easion against any of its ■ e ■bera under that authorization, the League of We1tern ie ■ iapbere States to aent a Coamission down to Central A■erica, eae ■ate I\ an investigation on the spot. This Commission baa now returned, and reports that ther e is no question but that Coeta hica was right in charging that licaragua aided a revolftionary in•aaion of Coata Rican territory. The Coaaiaaion etatea: •The re•olutionary ■ o•e which de•eloped in Costa Bica waa organlzed principally in licaragua.• But at the aaae tiae, Costa Rica itaelf, did not eaerge tree and clear of blaae - the Coaaittee fiading that the Costa Bicaa Gowernaent waa giYiDI help to what ia called - the Caribbean Le1ioa. Thia - ia an outfit deaigne~p reYolutionar:, troullle, and the Caribbean ~egion baa been cauaing alar■ for aontha in Central Aaerica. ' All of which ia tbe baotgrouad for toai1bt1 ,z .... . deaand - that both Coata~and licaragua gi•• guarantee• that they will not take boatil• action a1ainat eaob otber. ~ounds like the Inter-•aerican League pla7ia1 ... the paet of.-. Western Beaiepbere United latioaa. ,... JQIIQ - ~ diaapprove of MacArthur's Cbriataas a■neety - while the rest are described aa ...... bewildered. , TOIYO T o kyo r e p orts that th e J ~ panese ar e giving a aixed reception to General MacArthur's Christmas amnesty-- the drop p ing of charges against seventeen top ranking war cri•inal a . These were t o have been put on trial, but no• tbeyLre included in a general aanesty decreed by t h e Supre m e Coamander. Many Japanese are said to be questioning the logic of International Justice - eeven hanged, including Tojo, while other defendants ,ere sentenced to prison. But no the seventeen, still to be t~ied, are set free. Among those exqcuted was For■ er Pre ■ ier Hirota, a high leader of the Black Dragon Society -- which terrorised tbe Far t ast. ~et, a■ong thoat who now gain aaneatr, i• aa A extreaist na•ed Iuzu, who at 6ne ti ■ e was head of the Black ~ ragon Society. The Japanese are said to feel th at, if the victor ■ in war did not wan~ to go a h Aad with the Internatio n al trials, they mi g ht have permitted the Japanese tbe ■ selve1 to set up courts for the trial of war cri ■ inals - like the D e-Nazification courts in Germany. POPE - There's a report from Roae that Pope Pius ftrl ~ trie to rev nt the exec tion of Tojo and the other Ja bnese brlor s. A news agency in Rome states that the ontiff received a etition fr~m a group of Japanese Catholics, asking him to do hat he could in behalf of the conde ■ njd. ope ius, says the ne s agency, 'At once got iD touch with the Onited cittites buthoritiea.• If so, it was to no avail - as we all know. T o d a y / . ~ X ' t ! . ~ issued a ~hristmaa •••••&•• in which he called for future punishment for wlir criainals. necommending - life iaprisonaent. The Attorney General aakea a 1tateaent olearini Lawrence Duggan, the Foraer State Depart ■ ent Official who juaped or fell to his death. Attorney General ~lark refers to the fact that Duggan••• qu e stioned by the F. B. I., and aaya the r. a. I dd~ - report ACN!:A)\ hia ~.:-• A loyal eaployee of the Unite4 · State• Governaent." The attorney General did not aa . , .whether or not Duggan had been infor ■ ed that he b • ~ ha~leared.. All of which is accoapaniwd by new agitation againat the Coamittee on Da-Aaeri~•D Aoti•itiea. for exa ■ ple, an attack today by Ira. ileaaor Boo••••lt. A"nd there are deaanda that the Coaaittee be abolished, or, at least, its procedure cb~nged. Today, spy bunters, of the Co ■■ ittee adaitted they they aay ba•e aade an error. They aay ha•e aade a aistak e -- when, after Duggan ju■ped or fell to hi• death, they diaclosed the f~ct that he had been aentioned in the espionage inquiry. Congreas■1n Mundt and Nixon, gi•e the following explanation:- They say that, i■mediately after Duggan'a death, they were questioned by news reporters. They were aaked - did the CQ ■ aittee have any teati ■ ony peftaining to Uuggan? This, they said, left them in a dile ■ aa. They had three alternatives - they could ha•• told the newaaen there was no auch teati ■ ony, whioh would have been false. Taey co1H:• h••• ~•le••••••• ~ They could have refused t.o aay aaythiag, which would have given ground for aur■ iae ■ and guesaea. Or they could ai ■ ply releaae the te•ti ■ ony. This laat ••• what they dide- giving th 1 reporters a transcript of the state■ent ■ ade by the ,~ti. Co■auniat editor, laaac Don LeYine/\~ teatilied that the one-ti ■ e red agent, Whittaker Cbaabera, had aention e d D uggan aa one of thoae in toe State ~ Depart ■ ent who had given him secret docu ■ ents. Jtta ,i Cha ■bPr s bas since denied. In the Committee today, there was dieoussion about possible changes of pro c edure, but it waa decided not to d o anything until the new Congress conYenes - which will ,ut the Coamittee on On- Aaerican otivities under deaocratio control if it ia continued. Later news -- a statement by Mrs. Duggan, WilO declares that her husband was not ad•ised tbat he had been exonerated by the F.B.I. She says, howe•er, that he was not worried in any way. [nowing tbat be - ' had not been involved in the Communist Espionaa• rina, - be was n~t disBJxbed by the ~·.s. I. investigation. Ira. Duggan 1a7s he is convinced that her husband's fall from a sixteen story window•• was accidental. Here's about a small town fire depart■ ent _ the kind of story that's familiar in Aaerican lore and legend. But this one really happened, as A evidenced by the ~ financial fact that it's included in the nineteen - !prty-~ight list or insurance clai ■ s that were paid up. In a town in Oregon, an apart ■ ent hotel caught fire, and the local aaoke-eaters started out to extinguiab the blaze - only they didn't start right away. They couldn't get the fire wagon going, ao ■ething wrong witb the ■ otor. Then, failing to - fix the aotor, they pu1hed the fire truck to the scene of the blaze. When they got there, the tire ■ en found their bo1e ••• frozen. It was rigid and ~hoked with ice. Local citizens helped out, by atoaping on the hose, and breatiq the ice until the water could get through. The~ it was discov _ red that the tireaen had forgotten to bring the nozzle tor the hose - and fire fighting was held up while so ■ebody ran back and got the nozzle. By this time two hour~ had elapsed, and you can ---- - - fJII IIIPBAICL2 gue11 the rest ot the atory - the apart ■ ent hotel burned to the ground. IELIIXfl Late this afternoon, the bell on the new1 teletype began to ring - the familiar signal a bulletin. ~o this afternopn l ca ■ e to attention, the ■ore 10 as the bell kepton and on -- it 1ounded like a headline ot headlines. Then, I noticed the rhyth■, a familiar pattern - Jingle Bella; The teletype••• playing that old Chriataaa ditty. I looked at the newa page, and there a lot of l'• were being rapped out line• of 1'1, tbat were shapping up in the fora ot a bell. ft..•M {J ting of Chriat ■ aa Card on the teletype, followed by Yuletide Greeting• fro ■ tbe United Prer.1. And all the while the tinkling 1ound waa dru■■ ia1 out - Jingle Bells ; The voi6e of the news saying-· Merry Chriet ■ aa. RESCUE - - The Mavy has ordered an icebreaker to go along with the Aircraft Carrier Saipa ~ in its atte ■pt to re10u~l ven stranded flyers on the Greenland Ice Cap the carrier ■a7 need a bit of toe-breaking, puahing its way into Greenland Fjords. FiYe helicopters are being taken along, to go ho••ring - c c ~ ~ .... , •• .,e- down 4nto the Ulacier MY~aeven hundred teet high, ~ t o " ~pick up the ■ arooned air■ en. ~o•e•er, tbe report tro ■ Greealand i1 tbat i i the weather~now co ■paratively favorable for re1oue •o•• by glider, and it aay be that the caa1llray1 •111 be taken out before the aircraft they~ther : for Chriat■aa - ,\ deaolate apot on this earth. carrier arri•••• But in juat about the ■oat 11 kit of auppliea "'1tf/ A have been dropped to the ■ ,AYuletide dinner and every- thing - to ■ ake Christ••• as Merry as poaaible on the Greenland ~ce Cap. rJ.J.~-to-J/J~~ ~ - ~~ w°G,(WVl. ~~ ~ ~ - - tA. ~ , ) ( . ' ~ .