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WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS
Curb on Wheat Production Is Lifted;
New Foods Restricted as Housewives
Get Initial Taste of ‘Point’ Rationing;
Red Army Drive Meets New Successes
(EDITOR'S NOTE: When opinion* are repressed in these columns, they are those of
Western Newspaper Union's news analysts and not necessarily of this newspaper.)
Released by Western Newspaper Union. .. „ - , —
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Hailed as the new scourge of the submarine, this mighty new land
based patrol plane, the Vega PV-1, may prove to be the navy’s answer
to undersea warfare. The PV-I carries “ash can’’ depth charges, or
torpedoes, and is the first sub-buster in production to fill the navy’s need
for twin-engined, land-based aircraft with plenty of range and striking
power.
POINTS:
For Rationing and Study
Moving quickly, government agen
cies placed three varieties of food
under control as the nation lined
up for registration for the No. 2 ra
tion book to be used for canned, bot
tled and processed vegetables, fruits
and juices.
Shortly after the department of
agriculture announced rationing of
dried beans, peas, lentils and dried
and dehydrated soups, the Office of
Price Administration placed whole
sale ceilings approximating 40 cents
a dozen on eggs and froze prices of
fresh vegetables at the levels pre
vailing between February 18 and 22.
These moves put almost 95 per
cent of all food under some sort of
government regulation. The OPA’s
action came as the nation’s house
wives still studied the effect of the
newly announced point values of the
various canned, bottled and pro
cessed foods rationed. To many,
point values proved much higher
than expected and undoubtedly will
lead to numerous revisions in family
fa re
On top of all this came reports
from the Capitol that cheese, but
ter, fats and oils might be included
in the next rationing program,
scheduled for meat.
WHEAT BAN:
Has Been Lifted
AAA wheat marketing quotas for
1942 and 1943 have been suspended
in w'hat was announced by the de
partment of agriculture to be a
move designed to insure adequate
wartime supplies of the grain for
food—human and livestock.
Under the marketing quota sys
tem only wheat grown under their
AAA planting allotments could be
sold, used or fed by farmers. Excess
wheat so disposed of had been sub
ject to a 54 cent per bushel penalty
tax for the 1942 crop and it previous
ly had been expected that this pen
alty would amount to 60 cents on
the 1943 crop. With the quotas sus
pended these restrictions were lift
ed.
Secretary of Agriculture Claude
Wickard declared that when the 1943
quotas were announced in the fall
of last year this country had a rec
ord supply of 1,613,000.000 bushels
of wheat—enough to supply normal
needs for two years. At that time
farmers were asked to use extra
wheat land for other war crops. New
consumption of wheat for human and
livestock food has gone up and as
a consequence the restriction had
to be lifted to insure supply.
RUSSIANS:
Continue Drive
There was little pause for cele
bration as Russia's army marked
its 25th anniversary but well the
Nazis knew that the Russians had
an army. For all along the broad
front the German retreat continued.
From the northern anchor of the
Axis line in South Russia at Orel
to the northwest Caucasus the Red
drive pushed Hitler’s troops toward
the Russian border,
Premier Stalin's message on the
anniversary proclaimed the mass
expulsion of the Axis forces was in
flood tide and would not soon abate.
He praised his soldiers for their
fighting spirit and urged them to be
unrelenting in their future battles.
Meanwhile the Berlin radio admit
ted the Reds were smashing through
in several sectors near the Dnieper
river but this source also declared
that “the far reaching aims of the
enemy had failed."
NORTH AFRICA:
Counterattack
“The Americans of Washington’s
day faced defeat on many occasions.
We faced, and still face, reverses
and misfortunes."
When President Roosevelt uttered
those words, 10 days ago, he was
thinking in part of the North Afri
can front But "reverses and mis
fortunes" are a far cry from "de
feat.” The battleground of southern
Tunisia was the scene of an Allied
reversal—depressing only to those
who were over-optimistic.
In three places American and
British forces checked the pace of
a German advance in Tunisia. One
Nazi column, attempting a desper
ate push on to Thala, was stopped
four miles south of the town. Bomb
ers and fighters checked another
strong attack on the road leading to
Tebessa from Kasserine, and far
ther north, near Robaa, a heavy
German patrol ran into serious trou
ble when it attacked British forces.
It was sent rolling back by crack
British infantry
The Nazi column moving toward
Tebessa was bombed by continuous
relays of American warplanes.
Fighters and bombers attacked the
Kasserine bottleneck in more than
a score of missions.
But it was evident that our forces
had suffered reverses.
ARMED FORCES:
Let George Do It
“Since when has America adopted
as its national policy, ‘Let George
do it?’ ’’ asked Robert P. Patter
son, undersecretary of war, as he
discussed the need for putting
10.800,000 men into the armed forces
by the end of this year. He defend
ed this plan by declaring that this
was the number needed as judged
by the commands and stalls of both
the army and the navy.
“Full account has been taken of
the ability of American industry and
labor and agriculture to produce the
supplies needed by our forces, our
Allies and by our civilian economy,"
said Patterson, and he went on to
point out that China had been actual
ly engaged in warfare for five and
j a half years, that Great Britain
by the defense of its homeland had
come the closest of the United Na
tions to an "all out” struggle and
further advanced the point that the
Russians “have killed more Nazis
than all the other United Nations
combined."
Then he inquired whether it was
U. S. policy to “Let George do it!”
U-BOATS:
Still ( prat e Menace
Sinking of two American trans
ports in the North Atlantic with a
loss of 850 lives underlined a state
ment by Secretary of the Navy
Frank Knox that the submarine re
mains a grave menace to the en
tire Allied war effort.
Coincident with his statement,
Knox revealed that an American
destroyer succeeded in trapping a
U-boat in the Atlantic and sinking
it with a barrage of five-inch shells.
An American gun crew aboard a
freighter fired four shots to sink a
Jap submarine that had torpedoed
and severely crippled their craft in
the Pacific, Knox also revealed.
Germany is building U-boats fast
er than we are sinking them, Knox
said. The new submarines have
longer cruising range than the old
and can submerge to greater depth.
The U-boat menace is expected to
j rrtich its peak this spring.
HIGHLIGHTS . . . n the week’s news
CANCEL FAST: Catholics in the
Chicago archdiocese will not have
to fast during the approaching Lent
en season Archbishop Samuel
Stritch suspended the fasting regu
lations on papal authority. In
creased productive efforts and the
rationing program are believed to
have led to the decision. Meatless
Fridays k ill "'main in effect, how
ever
LOST: According to Wilfrid Gal
lienne, British consul. Britain has
lost 2,798 bombers in raids over
Germany.
AFRICAN RESOURCES: Ameri
can ships used to transport food and
other goods to French North Africa
have returned to the United States
loaded with cobalt, ore, cork and
tanbark, raw materials obtained
from the occupied territory.
ALLIED ACTION:
Renewed Demands
Renewed demands in London for
a second front came from two
sources on the heels of Josef Stalin’s
warnings that "the enemy has not
yet been defeated.”
Ivan Maisky, Soviet ambassador
to London, in a fighting speech de
clared that Russia expects "an early
realization of the military decisions
taken at Casablanca.”
While acknowledging that the suc
cesses of the Soviet army were
“very encouraging," Maisky point
ed out that they were being achieved
at a tremendous cost of Russian
lives and property. It is natural,
therefore, he said, that the USSR
expects early Allied action.
Speaking before the house of
lords. Lord Beaverbrook reiterated
demands for a second front, declar
ing that “Whatever may be the
plans of the Germans, we should |
strike and strike now before they
can regroup their divisions ... If
another attack is made on Russia,
June may be the date, so we must
strike quickly if we are to be ready.
We must invade northwestern Eu
rope now.”
FINLAND:
Tired of W ar
Ever since the re-election of Pres
ident Risto Ryti the world had won
dered whether Finland would make
a bid for separate peace with Rus
sia.
When Finland called home her
ministers to the Vatican and Ger
many the rumors of a separate
peace bid were given impetus. But
official dispatches from Helsinki an
nounced that Georg A. Gripenberg
and Toivo M. Kivimaeki, ministers
respectively to the Vatican and Ber
lin, had been summoned home “fort
ARCHBISHOP SPELLMAN
Visitor to the pope
a conference in connection with the
reorganization of the government.”
Two factors gave credence to such
belief. First was the possibility that
the Vatican might be asked to act
as intermediary (bolstered by the
visit of the Most Rev. Francis J.
Spellman, archbishop of New York,
and Pope Pius XII), and second was
a suggestion made by Undersecre
tary of State Sumner Welles that
Finland discontinue immediately
"effective military aid to the mor
tal enemies of this country.”
RATION DATES
March 10—Last day of registra
tion for institutional users of
rationed foods.
March 13—Period 5 fuel-oil cou
pons, good to September 30, be
come valid.
March 15—Last valid date for No.
11 sugar coupons, good for three
pounds.
March 21—Last valid date for
Stamp No. 25, good for one
pound of coffee.
March 21—Last day on which
Coupon 4 in "A” gas ration
book is valid.
March 31—Final date for first in- i
spection of passenger car tires
for "A” card holders and mo
torcycles.
April 12—Expiration date for
Period 4 fuel-oil coupons.
June 15—Last valid date for
Stamp No. 17, good for one pair
of shoes.
_I
GUERRILLA WAR:
Along Salween River
Although the Japanese continued
their advance along the west bank
of the Salween river in China’s
Yunnan province, informed quarters
said that the Japs were not trying
for a major break-through but mere
ly were feeling out the Chinese lines.
Chinese guerrillas achieved "fine
results” in harassing the rear of J
the Japanese line on the banks of |
the Salween, according to a Chung
king communique
In Washington. Edward R. Stet
tinius, lend-lease administrator, told |
the house foreign affairs committee ;
that the United Sta'es will leave "no 1
stone unturned" to get increased
material aid to China. Stettinius j
answered charges by Representative
Maas of Minnesota, a marine re
serve officer who saw action in the
Pacific, that “we are not getting all
the aid we can to China."
MERCHANT SEAMEN:
Lauded by Marines
Charges that merchant seamen re
fused to unload ships at Guadalcanal
were denied by a house naval af
fairs subcommittee which reported
that in all cases American merchant
seamen co-operated fully with ma
rines in the Solomon Islands. The
subcommittee's report included let
ters from highest marine corps of
ficials praising "co-operation, ef
ficiency and courage" of U. S. mer
chant seamen.
Civil Pilots Eagerly
Await Army Assignments
Rapidly Expanding Air Force Will Be in
Need of 400,000 Aviators; Good Future
In Skyways Seen in Time of Peace.
By BAUKHAGE
News Analyst and Commentator.
WNU Service, Union Trust Building,
Washington, D. C.
Washington, of late has become
increasingly air - minded and al
though the war has caused it, peace
will benefit.
A recent advertisement expressed
j the idea strikingly. It said: “We ex
ist upon one globe and inside an
other. Our planet earth is the cen
ter of a larger air-globe . . . both
globes, as one unit, follow the same
orbit. We take our air with us and
always have.”
It is our activity in that larger
globe, the heavens, which is going
to be vital to America when the war
is over. Now we are concerned with
small sectors of the sky, our scat
tered air fronts. Later we shall be
concerned with linking them all to
gether in peaceful and profitable air
commerce.
In recent weeks, many members
of congress have been giving thought
to preparation for that day, and “x”
thousand (the number is a military
secret) young men who have in the
past months learned to fly under the
Civil Aeronautic Authority’s War
Training program—the boys who
will be the nucleus of our pilots aft
er the war—are fairly bursting with
impatience to spread their wings.
Train Civil Pilots
America is planning a military air
force of some three million men.
Since the rule of thumb says eight
men on the ground to one in the
air, that means we are going to need
some four hundred thousand pilots.
The “x” in the “x thousand” men
I mentioned as being civilian trained
Many pilots like these, who have
been trained under the Civil Aero
nautics Authority program, are
eagerly awaiting a call to regular
army service. Many have qualified
for combat duty while others expect
to enter other phases of flying serv
ice.
or in training does not equal four
hundred thousand now but it will
help. Before we went into the war,
this need was visualized and the
Civil Aeronautics Authority created
the civilian pilots training courses to
which there was a tremendous and
enthusiastic response. Not only from
boys and men of "fighting” age
which is young for combat pilots but
of fellows from 18 to 37 who could
become flying instructors—or could
pilot transport and cargo planes.
Some of these civilian trained pi
lots are enlisted in the United States
Army Air F'orce Reserves, those who
passed the physical and age require
ments for combat flying. The oth
ers hoped to get into some kind of
military aviation service other than
combat.
The army in January called all of
its enlisted reserve except those
who were in the midst of a college
term (they will be called when the
current term is over). But because
of lack of facilities for training, the
reserves who were in the air force
have to be called slowly and those
who are found to be eligible to quali
fy as flying cadets will begin their
final military instructions by April
first. The complete list of colleges
where they will receive this train
ing will soon be announced.
Meanwhile, the boys in the re
serves and those who are training
for transport flying are becoming
very restive. They have been given
free instruction and subsistence but
j
they receive no pay as flying ca
dets do, and they have to furnish
part of their own uniforms. Many
gave up jobs to take the training or
are hesitating to take jobs because
they expect to be called. Some of
them have been "expecting” a long
time and their morale has sunk to
the depths. I have talked with many,
of them and they have my sympathy
for they are so anxious to spread
their wings, so anxious to serve their
country and so weary with waiting.
Of course, some have been able to
get into the air force, but not many
have, and the brass hats of the army
incline to look down their noses at
anyone not army-trained.
Army Fliers Experts
Of course, there is no denying that
flying a training plane and flying a
combat plane are two quite different
things. As one air force officer, who
really is sympathetic with the CAA
program, said to me:
"Remember that a man who has
spent fifteen to twenty hours in the ;
air is not a combat pilot. You might \
be able to take off from a field in a I
60-horse-power crate and land all
right but that doesn't mean you can
handle a 25-ton, four-engine job with
its 200 instruments and spend per
haps 12 to 14 hours in the air with
out seeing anything but those 200
instruments.
“Of course, you’ll get along faster
the first days in school if your moth
er has taught you your ABC’s.”
That is the attitude of the profes
sional. It is hard to take and a lot
of people in the army and out think
it is somewhat cavalier. They think
that if it hadn’t been for leaning
very heavily on tradition, a lot of
these boys who have their "ABC’s”
would be showing their stuff right
now instead of breaking their hearts
waiting. They feel it is pretty hope
less. They are wrong there. It
won’t be long now. But it is easy
to understand how that fine enthusi
asm can fade when the effort, the
time and the sacrifice of civilian
plans seem to be passed over with
little more than a shrug.
It is to be hoped that shortly after
this appears in print, the boys will
be on Uncle Sam’s payroll. They
have friends in Washington who are
working for them. Then, even if j
they have to mark time a little long
er, they will feel that their Uncle
believes they are worth their salt, j
Burma Air Road
It is easy to see the reason why
these and a lot of other boys will
be needed in the air now. We are
going to open a Burma road of the i
air. Supplies are going to China by
that route now but it is only a
trickle. We have the transport
planes and many more of them will
soon be in service. And what the
air traffic will bear is not to be
sneezed at.
An airplane that can carry five
tons, or ten tons, can make a run
in a couple of hours which would
take two weeks on the ground. Of
course, moving freight by air isn’t
the most economical way but money
doesn’t matter in war. And it must
be remembered that in peace time,
it is cheaper to ship by water than
by rail. But where would America
be if it weren't for the railways?
After the war, it will be the same
with the airways, which are being
blazed by bombers and will be fol
lowed by freight and passenger I
planes in a happier day.
Every time our bombers take off,
something is learned that can be
turned to peace-time profit. And so
far, we have not begun our bombing
in Europe One observer who knows
aviation said to me just after Casa
blanca:
"All we have done over Germany
and France so far is really experi
mental. It is really a testing. A
few sporadic daylight raids. The
bombings by the American air force
are insignificant compared to what
will be done when we get under way.
And remember: we’ve got good
weather coming up."
And so the "x thousand" boys
who have learned to fly—most of
them—will soon have their chance.
One of the enthusiastic supporters
of the civilian pilot training pro
gram said to me:
"Don’t worry. Unless the war stops
suddenly, the army will soon be say
ing: ’Can you fly? All right, here’s
your plane, get in.’ And when peace
comes, civilian demand is going to
keep 'em flying."
BRIEFS • . • by Baukhage
At the engineer school. Fort Bel
voir, Va., incoming mail is read with
eager anticipation. For that school
■ operates a suggestion system. Any
envelope in any day's mail may
have a revolutionary suggestion.
The suggestion system is more
than a year old. To date, 11 per
cent of the suggestions have been
approved and put to use. More sug
gestions are wanted.
The rag market is now the great
shopping center for newlyweds in
Nazi-occupied Paris, according to an
article in the French newspaper La
Semaine.
. . .
Babies in Nazi-occupied France
are no longer dressed in pastel
shades of pink and blue, according
to an article in the Paris Soir. “Lay
ettes are now made In dark colors.”
J
Physical Fitness Program
Prepares Girls for War Duty
With patriotic forethought for the United States govern
ment’s growing needs for women in the armed services, the
University of New Hampshire has inaugurated a war pro
gram of physical fitness through exercise. Here at Durham,
N. H., hundreds of girls are
being made fit for WAVES,
WAACS or SPARS, in case
they want to join these wom
en auxiliaries to our forces.
In addition to making the
girls better qualified for en
listment in these branches of
the service, their health in
general is being built to top
peak, an invaluable asset in
whatever career they may
choose for themselves.
Left: Moving in unison to
rhythmic music these University
of New Hampshire students
lean forward and raise their
legs by their ankles as they sit
on the floor.
Gymnasium instructor, Margaret Mochel, beats a tom-tom while
the girls go through exer
cises in the gymnasium.
As part of their physical
fitness program these stu
dents (right) are taking a
high uall in stride. They
also march and do calisthen
ics to music. In bad weath
er they train indoors.
Below: The students also
go in for cross-country or
downhill skiing (no jump
ing). Here they are pictured
on skis. This is particularly
beneficial exercise.
^ Although there teas snow on the
ground, the weather was particularly mild as
these short-clad students ran the zig-zag for poise and balance.