W—■■———■—^
WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS
New United Nations Attacks Predicted
As Leaders Determine Grand Strategy;
Frenchmen Reach ‘Military Accord*;
‘Push Germans Out of Russia*: Stalin
(EDITOR'S NOTE: When opinions nre espresso* In these columns, they are those of
Western Newspaper Union's new* analysts and not necessarily of this newspaper.)
_Released by Western Newspaper Union. . .
PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT
PRIME MINISTER CHURCHILL
“The President, Prime Minister and the combined staffs having completed
their plans for the offensive campaigns of 1943, have now separated in order to
put them into active and concerted execution.” Official communique at Casa
blanca.
STRATEGY:
On a High Plane
When the initial surprise of one of
the war's greatest stories — the
Roosevelt - Churchill ‘‘unconditional
surrender" meeting at Casablanca
in French Morocco—had died away,
the world waited expectantly for the
carrying out of the principles of
grand strategy laid down by Allied
military leaders.
The Roosevelt-Churchill rendez
vous was the definite tip-oft of big
things to come. The Allied leaders
made it clear that their countries
would dig to the bottom of their re
sources—if necessary—in order to
carry out the extermination of Axis
war power as quickly as possible.
From a gleaming white villa near
Casablanca came the great news.
But only after complete secrecy hqd
officially ended. Correspondents re
garded the meeting as one of the
best kept secrets of all time. Virtu
ally the entire war staffs of both
nations participated in the dramatic
10-day discussions which ended with
a press conference. But the presi
dential air voyage was shrouded in
such secrecy that even some cabi
net members did not know Mr.
Roosevelt was out of town.
No one doubted but that further
important developments would stem
from the meeting. One of the most
widespread predictions is that the
North Africa-Mediterranean area
will soon be organized into a sepa
rate theater of operations. Thus far
the United States forces in that area
have been part of the Eurppean the
ater. Separation of Africa and the
Mediterranean Basin from the Euro
pean theater might well be an im
portant factor in the Allied offensive
campaigns of the year.
Frenchmen Meet
One of the most important
achievements of the conference was
the bringing about of a meeting be
tween Gen. Charles de Gaulle and
Gen. Henri Giraud. Those leaders
of the Fighting French and French
Africa announced that they were in
complete agreement regarding the
liberation of their homeland. But it
was regrettably clear that any
merging of the two movements or
any political alliance between them
was far from being realized.
Offensives Will Tell
While the decisions made by mili
tary leaders are secret, observers
indicated that concrete results
would become apparent with new
Allied offensives this spring.
The basic questions settled ap
peared to be these:
1. The first great effort must be
to drive the Axis entirely from North
Africa and free the Mediterranean
supply line.
2. .If he has not been chosen al
ready, a supreme Allied command
er in Europe will be named.
3. The anti-submarine warfare and
air war against Europe will be
stepped up.
4. Europe will be invaded in one of
three ways: Across the Mediterra
nean, a frontal attack on the chan
nel coast, or a conquest of Norway.
5. Aid to Russia and China will
be stepped up as much as possible.
Of immediate interest to the Unit
ed Nations is the naming of a su
preme military commander. The
name of Gen. George C. Marshall,
chief of staff of the American army,
is most frequently mentioned. Many
observers believed he had already
been decided upon to head the com
mand.
RALLYING CRY:
For Russians
"I declare my appreciation to the
command and to the gallant troops.
Forward to the routing of the Ger
man invaders and their expulsion
over the boundaries of our mother
land.” So declared Josef Stalin in
an order of the day broadcast by
the Moscow radio.
His words, urging the Russians to
throw the Nazis out of their country,
became the rallying cry of the Red
army as it pushed forward in the
big offensives aimed at Kursk,
Kharkov and Rostov. After the fall
of these strategic points there were
still miles of hard battling ahead,
but for the first time since the Nazis
started their invasion of Russia
there were definite signs that Sta
lin’s plea was not idle thinking.
For everywhere along the far
flung front—from Leningrad to the
Caucasus—the Reds added momen
tum to their drive. Russian military
quarters estimated that 40 per cent
of the Axis effectives had been
knocked out by the Red winter of
fensive.
At the same time diplomatic cir
cles revealed that United Nations
air and sea supply lines to Russia
were getting much better protec
tion than a few months ago because
losses on these routes have dropped
sharply. One recent U. S. convoy
was reported to have reached Rus
sia without loss of a single ship.
It was indicated that close U. S.
British - Russian co-operation was
making this possible.
FARM PICTURE:
Incentive Plan
Under terms of the new “incen
tive” program as announced by Sec
retory of Agriculture Claude Wick
ard, U. S. producers stand to pick
up an extra 100 million dollars in
subsidy payments to be awarded
for meeting or exceeding greatly
expanded farm production goals.
Applicable to soybeans, grain sor
ghums, peanuts, sweet potatoes, flax
and dried peas, the program would
pay growers of these crops extra
benefits for each acre on which they
exceed 90 per cent of their goal—
up to 110 per cent of that goal.
These are products which are badly
needed in the war effort to meet
deficiencies in vegetable oils and
proteins for animal feeding and hu
man consumption.
Wickard stated further that add
ed labor and materials will have to
be available to farmers if they are
to meet the goals of the program.
‘Land Army
As a means to this end Secretary
Wickard and Manpower Commis
sioner Paul V. McNutt released
their plans for the mobilization of a
volunteer land army of 34 million
farm workers. These would be gath
ered from ranks of women, the un
employed. clerks, and nonwar work
ers from cities and towns.
Aimed at relieving the expected
farm manpower crisis, which ex
perts predict will reach its peak in
mid-summer, this land army would
be gathered by the joint activities
extension agents of the department
of agriculture and by the field of
fices of the War Manpower com
mission.
More than 12 million farm work
ers will be needed at the height of
the farm season, said Wickard. He
pointed out that the total farm la
bor force in December, 1942, was
8,900.000.
HIGHLIGHTS ...in the week’s n< tvs
SAVING: Maintenance of the Of
fice of Price Administration has cost
each American only 90 cents dur
ing the past year, but has saved
each citizen $180 during the same
period, Chester K. Hayes, of the
Chicago regional office of the OPA,
said. One of bis examples: consum
ers are paying only seven cents a
pound for sugar whereas they paid
25 cents during the last war.
TRANSPORTATION: Joseph B.
Eastman, director of defense trans
portation, has called upon taxicab
and bus companies to prepare plans
immediately for mileage curtail
ment in case of emergency. He
has requested operators of 10 or
more vehicles to submit three plans:
For elimination of 10, 20 and 30 per
cent of all presently operated vehi
cle miles.
RATIONING:
Limit Set
With the beginning of rationing
but a few weeks away the Office of
Price Administration established a
flve-can-per-person limit as the
amount of canned vegetables and
fruits which householders might
have on hand, without penalty, at
the beginning of the point system.
This was a drastic cut from the
eight to ten cans which it had pre
viously been expected would be al
lowed.
When the plan gets under way,
persons who have more than the al
lowable limits will have coupons torn
out of their canned goods ration
book up to the point value of the
goods held in excess. This will be
based on one eight-point coupon for
each can over five per household
member.
Excluded from the count of five
cans per person will be cans con
taining less than eight ounces.
ARGUMENT:
Gets an Airing
For weeks Washington has reports
of unannounced differences of opin
ion between Rubber Administrator
William Jeffers and other govern
ment and military officials over pri
orities for the synthetic rubber pro
gram. Finally the dispute was
brought into the open when Jeffers,
in a Baltimore address, lashed out
at army and navy expediters in war
plants.
Congress decided to investigate his
charges and Donald Nelson, war pro
ducton chief, admitted the fact that
a tift in government ranks had re
sulted over this issue. Most Wash
ington sources knew that President
Roosevelt would be required to step
in as arbiter in the dispute.
The quarrel centers around steel
priorities for synthetic rubber
plants. Army and navy officials be
lieve that these plants should be
built only in direct relation to the
military needs of steel for the pro
duction of such items as high-octane
gasoline, airplanes, escort vessels
and merchant ships. Jeffers con
tended that the production efforts
could be worked out in conjunction
with one another and without ham
pering progress in his synthetic rub
ber program.
LEND-LEASE:
Extension Sought
Congress is already considering
the extension of the lend-lease act
by another year—to June 30. 1944.
This early action has been taken to
insure an uninterrupted flow of war
materials between the United States
and our fighting Allies.
Though there are some verbal out
bursts expected on the role of Harry
Hopkins in the program, even Re
publican minority leaders in con
gress predict approval of an exten
sion for the plan. Two years ago
when it was first introduced the
United States was not at war and
there evolved one of the greatest
legislative battles of history over
passage of the measure putting the
idea in motion.
Representative Sol Bloom intro
duced the new measure just one
day after Edward R. Stettinius Jr.,
lend-lease administrator, reported to
congress on how the eight billion dol
lar distribution of aid was made to
our Allies under terms of the pro
gram from March 11, 1941, to the
end of 1942.
DRAFT:
In Reverse
A heartening promise that after
the war the army will do its ut
most ‘‘to see that no man is mus
tered out of military ranks into a
breadline” has been made to the
ROBERT P. PATTERSON
"Dra/f system in reverse
nation by Undersecretary of War
Robert P. Patterson.
Speaking in Chicago, Patterson
advocated a post-war selective serv
ice system "in reverse” to function
as a job placement agency. He ex
plained that war department rec
ords catalog each man according to
occupation and the demobilization
plan would be to inform men about
to leave the army of job opportuni
ties in their own fields.
REVOLT:
That France’s spark of independ
ence has not been extinguished com
pletely by the cold brutality of Nazi
ism was proved when angry French
men fortified their homes in the old
port district of Marseilles, firing
on German soldiers who ordered
them to evacuate the district. Ger
man authorities had ordered the
evacuation apparently as a defense
measure against possible invasion
from North Africa. The move was
made after Nazi officials brought up
tanks, field guns and infantry.
'Hirohito Now' Strategy
Gains New Proponents 4
New Line of Argument Developed in Favor
Of Immediate Action Against
Japanese Empire. 1
By BAUKHAGE
<Vpui Analyst and Commentator.
WNU Service, 1343 H Street. N-W,
Washington, I>. C.
Some weeks ago the story of the
real purpose of the visit to America
of Madame Chiang Kai-shek was
told in these columns. Since then
it has been confirmed by unofficial
statements credited to "Chinese
quarters”—that her mission was a
show-down fight for an immediate of
fensive against Japan. In the in
terim two things have taken place.
The Chinese government has let it
be known unofficially that it realizes
that America is so occupied else
where that a drive on Japan with
China as a base cannot be expected
at the moment. This would seem
to be a retreat. It may be only
a demarche, for suddenly, from sev
eral other quarters including Aus
tralian and Dutch with many Amer
ican voices echoing in between, the
demand for “Hirohito Now” action
is being heard.
It may be team work.
The Chinese course so far is this:
Chiang Kai-shek, discouraged be
cause of the futility of his pleas for
additional supplies and help and
America’s failure to replace certain
supposedly unsympathetic American
representatives in Chungking, he or
Chians Kai-shek.
dered the Chinese military mission
to the United States to come home.
At the same time stories appeared
to the effect that China felt that she
was not being given a position of
equality among the United Nations
when it came to strategy and over
all planning.
Polite Chinese
Then the head of the Chinese mis
sion was called to the White House
and it was explained that if he with
drew at this moment it would embar
rass the United States—would he
please take a nice long trip investi
gating American war-plants until the
disturbance blew over. Perhaps he
had the promise of more of the
products of these plants. But that
has not been made public. In any
case, the Chinese, noted for their
politeness acquiesced. A little later
Britain and the United States signed
treaties with China relinquishing
their extraterritorial rights there.
But no sooner had this step been
taken than suddenly voices, unofficial
to be sure, but fairly strident, began
asking if this "Hitler first” strategy
was really sound? Couldn’t Britain
and the United States divide our ef
forts and still conquer?
By the time this reaches print
there may be similar statements
from official sources down under, or
from the vitally concerned Dutch,
but meanwhile, either self-generated
or systematically inspired, continual
calls for action in the Far East now
are being heard.
Of course, this is not new. There
were similar demands which had to
be silenced by official utterances
from Roosevelt and Churchill nearly
a year ago which, if they had not
sufficed alone, seemed effective
when bolstered by the launching of
the American and British expedi
tionary forces in Africa.
Air plane* s Role
By a change in the face of the
war, I refer particularly to the role
the airplane is to play. Aircraft is
a vital factor in offensive and de
fensive warfare, but it has been dem
onstrated that airpower alone doesn’t
win and hold. This has been proved
by the success of the convoys which
have "gotten through” in ttie face of
terrible onslaughts by the Luftwaffe.
Two things have served to cut
down the airplane's offensive power.
First, there is the improvement of
anti-aircraft guns and second, in
creased experience in anti-aircraft
warfare. I talked to a British naval
officer who had been aboard two
convoys which fought their way to
Murmansk and three that weathered
the fierce attacks in the Mediter
ranean taking supplies to Malta. He
emphasized the fact that green gun
crews could not meet the onslaught
of the dive bomber. Trained crews
could.
I talked with an American naval
officer who had been through Coral
sea and the battles in the Solomons.
He said that the anti-aircraft de
fense of our most modern warships
was such that fighter plane defense
was hardly necessary, that time and
again it had been proved that this
new equipment could raise a wall
of fire which rendered air attack by
the Japs futile.
Now, how does this affect the
‘‘Hirohito now” argument?
This way: We cannot leave Japan
alone until we are quite ready and
then expect to finish her off with an
overwhelming airforce. As this is
written, in spite of the constant and
terrific bombing by Allied planes,
the Japs have been able to complete
and operate an airbase at Buna, the
nearest Jap outpost to Guadalcanal.
And further, the Allies, in spite of
mass raids, devastating to ordinary
buildings, have not been able to de
stroy the German submarine bases
and submarine plants.
Navy and Land Troops
We must therefore depend on our
navies and our land troops for the
final destruction of Japan. And. it
is argued, every day that Japan has
to increase her fortifications, every
day that she has to exploit the raw
materials of her conquered territory,
the harder it will be to beat her.
It is further argued that Germany
cannot be absolutely beaten without
terrific losses on our side, once she
retreats within her own borders, a
tight area, and can operate on a con
solidated and shortened front.
She can be starved out. Therefore
the argument is: Continue to move
in through the rim of occupied coun
tries until an iron blockade is formed
about the Reich, but meanwhile be
gin an all-out offensive in the Far
East; first, with the capture of
enough of Burma to get an inlet to
China, then, perhaps through the
rest of Burma or Thailand move into
China, re-arm, reinforce her, send
in our own troops and attack Japan
with China as a base.
If that is not done now Japan may
be able to isolate China, may be able
with silver bullets to win some of her
provinces to puppet independence
and completely paralyze that valu
able ally and block off entrance
through her territory, so it is argued
by the "Hirohito now” advocates.
War-Weary Europe
The argument presented by the
same proponents against waiting un
til we have finished "Hitler first” is
two-fold: When Germany finally falls
it will leave Europe and its people,
especially its fighting manpower,
so war-weary that it will be hard to
interest them in a war half way
around the world. We may get less
help than we need for the job.
Second, the process of reaching
into Japan island by island, is a
slow process as we have found at
Guadalcanal and on New Guinea.
The northern half of New Guinea,
a long-held Japanese stronghold, will
be harder to conquer than the part
now won back by MacArthur’s men.
We know that the Japs will not sur
render. We know that in some
places, like the Netherlands Indies,
where a large part of the population
is at best indifferent, the Japs can
live off the land.
It would mean fighting every inch
of the way against "no surrender”
troops while the main Japanese
armies were moving into China, for
tifying the gateways to the continent.
Those are some of the arguments
we may expect to hear frequently
these days. Madame Chiang Kai
shek. when she recovers, may find
it easier to be insistent upon aid
than her husband's unsuccessful mil
itary men in Washington were.
Meanwhile the going In Tunisia is
tough and the military men are in
clined to say, "one field, well tilled”
is enough of a job for them at
present.
BRIEFS . . . by Baukhage
Suppose you lived in Hawaii (from
a magazine by that name) “The first
harrowing nights of blackout, when
the whole family lived in the bath
room ...”
—Buy War Bonds—
i Some members of the War Labor
board are inclined to make deci
sions which they know the board
can’t enforce, with the easy explana
tion—let the President settle it.
Educators are fighting to keep a
few of the 200 colleges which the
army and navy wants to take over
for military training, for normal
higher education.
—Buy War Bonds
Thirty million people will make
out income taxes this year—hun
dreds of thousands of farmers
among a great many who have nev
er made out a tax return.
Farmers’ Problems
Now Exceed Others’
He Must Supervise
His Three Main Jobs
- ■ ..
| The farmer’s problems in this war
are much more difficult than those
of most other people, says Roy E.
i Moser, extension economist of the
Massachusetts State college exten
sion service. This is due mainly to
the fact that the farmer must finance
both his job and his home at the
same time. The majority of people
work for someone else and their jobs
are financed for them. On the other
hand, the farmer’s opportunities to
The greatest production of all time
which is planned to fill needs that
have been determined in advance:
That is the American farmer’s an
swer to the challenge of war.
be of service equal those of any oth
er group.
The production of essential
foods is equally as important as
the production of planes, guns,
and ships. And it will continue
to be important long after the
roar of battle has stopped.
Mr. Moser outlines three main
jobs of farmers in the present emer
gency.
The farmer’s first and most
important job is to make the
farm produce its maximum of
essential foods in spite of labor
shortages, lack of machinery,
and other problems.
The farmer's second job is to get
his debts in shape by reducing pres
ent debts to a safe basis. Moser
points out that there is no conflict
between the reduction of debts and
the war bond program. Income
paid on debts does not compete with
the war bond effort.
His third job is to invest in war
bonds when debts have been reduced
completely or to moderate amounts.
It is imperative that farmers as well
as other citizens eliminate unneces
sary spending and loan these sav
ings to the government by investing
in war bonds.
Agriculture
• in •
Industry
By FLORENCE C. WEED
Cereal Straws
“The time is coming when the
farmer will become the supplier of
the materials used in industry.” This
forecast was made by the late Fran
cis P. Garvan, first president of the
Chemical Foundation Inc.
Cereal straws are a fine example
of the industrial possibilities of farm
products. For years, they have been
used in making paper and more re
cently in making fiber board. Most
! of the 84 million tons of straw is
produced in Kansas, North Dakota,
Oklahoma, Illinois, Indiana and
Ohio. Wheat straw is the most im
portant industrially and about 575,000
tons are used for paper and paper
board each year. Wheat straw
yields the best quality product al
though some rye and barley straw
may be combined with wheat with
out altering the quality. One prob
lem is that of collecting it econom
ically from individual farms.
Straw has a long history as a
paper making material being first
used in Germany in 1765. In the
United States the first straw paper
was made in 1828 by William Ma
gaw of Meadville, Pa. The industry
still continues in this country and
i science has developed several im
proved pulping methods to lower
costs and improve the product.
Rural Briefs
Moderate but definite Improve
ments were apparent in the food
situation of the United Kingdom
from the spring of 1941 to the out
break of war in the Pacific, accord
ing to British nutritionist reports.
• » •
The use to which land is put and
the treatment it receives are among
the primary factors governing farm
income, agricultural experts point
out.
"This colorful afghan was mack
by clever fingers from the best
parts of old woolen garments put
together with odds and ends of
bright yam. Even trousers and
fitted jackets yielded strips of the
i size required.
By holding the goods up to the
light it is easy to find the unworn
parts. These are cut out roughly;
'CROCHET/)
AROUMDA
BLOCKS A/
WITH As.
WBfUV'
8 DARK »
BLOCKS I
7V5"
LIGHT
7X5
36 DARK
I4'X5“
36 LIGHT
14 X 5
I .! f t ~i r._
washed with mild soap in lukewarm
water; rinsed with a little soap in
warm water; and pressed while
damp. The pieces are then cut
accurately according to the meas
urements given here. Single
crochet stitch is used around all
pieces, and the sketch shows how
the pieces are sewn together.
* * *
NOTE: Today nothing should go to
waste. Even furniture may be recondi
tioned and made to do for the duration.
Book 7. in the series prepared for readers,
contains 32 pages of illustrated directions.
Readers may get a copy by sending to:
MRS. ROTH WYETH SPEARS
Bedford Hills New York
Drawer 10
Enclose 10 cents for Book 7.
Name ..
Address .
COLDS'MISERIES ^
PenetrO
For colds’ coughs, nasal congestion, muscle
aches get Fenetro—modern medication i n a
mutton suot base. 25*. double supply 35*.
Treatment of Animals
In character building, which is
our chief business in this world,
very much depends upon our treat
ment of the animals committed to
our care.—Ruskin.
Raw, smarting surface relieved amaz*
ingly by the soothing medication of
RES1NOL.
Need of Medicine
It is as expedient that a wicked j|
man be punished as that a sick I
man be cured by a physician, for ij
all chastisement is a kind of medi
cine.—Plato.
Pull the Trigger on
Constipation, with
Ease for Stomach, too
When constipation brings on discom
fort after meals, stomach upset, bloating,
dizzy spells, gas, coated tongue, and bad
breath, your stomach is probably "crying
the blues” because your bowels don’t
move. It calls for Laxative-Senna to pull
the trigger on those lazy bowels, com
bined with Syrup Pepsin for perfect ease
to your stomach in taking. For years,
many Doctors have given pepsin prepa
rations in their prescriptions to make
medicine more agreeable to a touchy
stomach. So be sure your laxative con
tains Syrup Pepsin. Insist on Dr. Cald
well’s Laxative Senna combined with
Syrup Pepsin. See how wonderfully the
Laxative Senna wakes up lazy nerves and
muscles in your intestines to bring wel
come relief from constipation. And the
good old Syrup Pepsin makes this laxa
tive so comfortable and easy on your
stomach. Even finicky children love the
taste of this pleasant family laxative.
Take Dr. Caldwell’s Laxative Senna com
bined with Syrup Pepsin, as directed on
label or as your doctor advises, and feel
world’s better. Get genuine Dr.Cald well's.
ill ft ■ VE j I ft ] I I Efl ^B
1 mcnt has boon used !>y so many millions I
/ of sufferers from simple Piles. First, I
PAZO ointment soothes inflamed areas I
— relieves pain and itching. Second. ■
PAZO ointment lubricates hardened. ■
dried ports—helps prevent cracking and E
soreness. Third. PAZO ointment tends I
to reduce swelling and check bleeding. I
Fourth, it's easy to use. PAZO oinl- I
ment's perforated Pile Pipe makes ap- I
plication simple, thorough. Your doctor fl
can tell you about PAZO ointment. 1
Bjll 'lirglPIl'lll) Wi PPPPrmffM
1'. SINK A SONG OF
V* KITCHEN THRIFT
P SINK YOUR
IP DIMES IN WAR
ft SAVINGS
H STAMPS