WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS
Allied Forces Continue Tunisian Drive;
Pressure for Tough Labor Legislation
Halted by Continuation of Coal Parley;
Soggy Terrain Hampers Red Offensive
(EDITOR’S NOTE : Whrn opinion* *ro *xprc**«4 In lh»*e rolnmn*. thry nro tho»* of
Western Newspaper Union’s news analysts and not necessarily of this newspaper.)
. Released by Western Newspaper Union. -
A British Bofors gun as it was pulled toward the front in Tunisia by
a British army lorry. Note how the road is lined with German tank
debris. In foreground is a Nasi tank turret. This official British photo was
made after the Allies repulsed the Germans between Thala and the
Kasserine Pass.
TUNISIA:
'Fox' Seeks Cover
When Marshal Rommel threw
back the British eighth army in the
narrow coastal corridor of Tunisia,
it looked like the great struggle of
the Mareth line might resolve into
a bloody battle of attrition. But
then Gen. Bernard Montgomery sent
a strong armored column around
the southern anchor of the Mareth
line and it succeeded in swinging
back and trapping the Axis forces
from the rear.
Thus faced with heavy pressure
from his front and rear, Rommel
pulled out his army from the
Mareth line. As the British took
over Gabes and El Hamma, Rom
mel was withdrawing northward
toward the marshes and salt flats
strung out along the coastal plain.
Here Rommel is expected to con
centrate his army of 80,000 men in
the few passable trails.
Threatening Rommel’s flank for
almost 100 miles up the coastal
plain to the north, were two Amer
ican columns. One was poised at
Maknassy and the other at Fondouk.
Beth overlook roads leading to the
main path of Rommel’s retreat.
Should either of these forces break
through the Allies would cut the Axis
armies in the south off from those
in the north.
BASE:
For Offensive?
When Herbert Morrison, British
home security minister, announced
that the entire east and south coast
of Great Britain to a depth of ten
miles was to become a "restricted
area," military experts began speed
ing up their predictions regarding
the Allied invasion of Europe.
In fact, the official British an
nouncement declared that there was
a possibility that this area might be
used as “a base for offensive opera
tions."
Meanwhile, London sources were
busy issuing bits of information lead
ing friend and foe alike to believe
that as soon as the fighting was
over in Tunisia, the invasion of the
continent would begin. British, U. S.
and Canadian land forces were
massed together with air and sea
power for this action, these reports
indicated, and practically every mile
of coastline was said to be the first
objective of the United Nations’
drive.
BERLIN:
Blocks Busted
One thousand tons of bombs were
showered on Berlin by 400 British
bombers in the 60th air raid of the
war on the German capital. Twenty
one ships failed to return.
The raid on Berlin followed an
equally heavy assault on the Nazi
submarine base of St. Nazaire. Here.
1,000 tons of bombs also were re
ported dropped on docks, hangars
and warehouses. One-quarter of the
city was aflame and seven huge
fires raged.
Continuing to pound Germany's
vital Industrial valley of the Ruhr,
RAF bombers pounded the iron, steel
and coal center of Bochum, which
stands 10 miles east of the great
Krupp steel works of Essen. Bombs
also were dropped on the engine
manufacturing center of Duisberg.
RUSSIA:
New General
All eyes are turned now on Gen
eral Spring in Russia.
Spring thaws along the entire
2,000-mile Russian front are not ex
pected to be severe because of the
relatively mild winter. The degree
of bogginess depends upon the in
tensity of the spring rains.
Soggy terrain has been hampering
the Red push on Smolensk. One
column bearing down on the Nazi
base from the north is reported to
have knifed through defensive posi
tions below Bely. Two other col
umns moving in from the east have
encountered stiff resistance. Rains
have turned the swampy country
into almost impassable quagmires.
Following the Nazi’s successful
counterattack in the Kharkov and
Belgorod areas along the southern
front, fighting in this sector has
abated. Russian troops are said to
hold some positions on the western
bank of the Donets river, gained
during their recent winter offensive.
LABOR:
Tough Legislati on
Extension of the negotiations be
tween the Appalachian soft coal op
erators and the United Mine Work
ers union for a 30-day period stalled
temporarily the pressure for some
of the toughest labor legislation to
be given consideration in congress
in recent years.
Had the agreement not been
reached it had been freely predicted
around Capitol Hill that stern steps
to curb union activities would have
been taken in both house and senate.
One such measure which had been
reported ready for a quick vote was
the Hobbs anti-racketeering bill.
Also the senate judiciary committee
gave a unanimous indorsement to a
measure intended to empower the
President to seize and operate any
mine or factory whenever a labor
dispute halted production. This was
the anti-strike law first introduced
in November, 1941.
This measure had once been al
lowed to die because the White
House had asked the pressure be
taken off.
SKIP-YEAR TAX:
First Defeat
In an action reflecting on both
Democratic and Republican leader
ship the house of representatives re
jected the Ruml skip-a-year tax plan
and the administration's collection
at-the-source plans.
Excited representatives directed
the ways and means committee to
draw up a new bill that would put
the income taxpayers on a pay-as
you-go basis.
Representative Martin. Republi
can leader, had expressed confidence
that Republicans would get across
the Ruml plan to skip 1942 taxes and
let them apply on 1943 income taxes.
Representative McCormack. Dem
ocratic leader, failed to keep major
ity members in line for the admin
istration’s collection-at-the-source
bills. He was in charge while Speak
er Sam Rayburn was absent.
The chamber’s defeat of the Ruml
plan tossed the controversy back
into the lap of the committee. Lead
ers predicted there will be no effort
to revive it until increased tax rates
are considered later in the year.
HIGHLIGHTS .. . in the week't neici
SMALL FAMILIES: Out of the
35 million families in the U. S. in
1940. 85 per cent had two children
or less. The birth rate of 1942 also
fell below the World War I standard
despite the recent record level.
TAXES: Nearly 40 million income
tax returns have been filed, the
treasury reported, and income tax
payments for March approximated
$4,500,000,000.
BUMS RUSHED: On a recent
night, only 629 vagrants applied for
shelter in British institutions. This
was the lowest figure in 100 years.
16,911 were housed during the peak
of the depression of 1932.
DRAFT: Only employment in es
sential industry is now considered
grounds for draft deferment. De
pendency is no longer regarded as
a factor.
CONGRESSMEN:
And Garden Seeds
Out of the nation’s capital came
this message to the country's am
bitious 1943 Victory Gardeners:
Don’t ask your congressman,
whoever he is, for garden seeds.
He’ll be glad to get you all the in
formational booklets obtainable
(from the department of agricul
ture) but he hasn’t been giving away
seeds since 1923.
The practice of giving away seeds
was stopped at that time because
the packets were cluttering up the
Capitol and encouraging great
armies of rats to invade the offices
of the lawmakers.
Requests are still coming in, say
the congressmen, and cannot be
filled for no seeds are available.
The fact that such requests have
been addressed to congressmen in
dicates the widespread interest in
the Victory Garden program.
FARM LABOR:
Neiv Plans
Shortly after he had been sum
moned to Washington as the nation’s
new food administrator, Chester C.
Davis conferred with President
Roosevelt, Secretary of Agriculture
Claude Wickard and farm leaders
to discuss means of handling the
mounting crisis in farm labor. Lat
er, President Roosevelt declared
that while Davis was not yet to
make known his plans, it was rather
definite that a strongly persuasive
program to get draft-age men in
nonessential pursuits to shift to war
jobs, including agriculture.
First objective would now be to
get former experienced workers
back into dairying. It is here that
the farm labor situation is most crit
ical. Employment offices through
out the country are now listing
names of dairy farmers needing
help and county war boards are
urging men between 38-45 with dairy
or farm experience to seek re
employment at these places.
Conscientious objectors may be
released from camps to take farm
jobs; men now classified 4F now on
CLAUDE WICKAKD
The mountinn crisis in furm labor
nonessential jobs will be urged to
get into essential work; selective
service registrants over 45 having
dairy experience will be urged to
get back into that line of work; and
if these methods do not work county
war boards will obtain the names
of experienced dairy workers who
have left the farm and these work
ers will be urged to return.
It is predicted that these general
methods will be used in solving the
labor problem in all other lines of
farming in addition to dairying.
Also in the offing is the organiza
tion of a "land army" to help har
vest the nation's food crops this
year. English - speaking workers
from the Bahama islands and Ja
maica may be brought in for work
in the East and Mexicans may be
used in the Southwest.
RATION DATES
April 11—C series of red stamps
becomes valid.
April 12—Expiration date for
Period 4 fuel-oil coupons.
April 18—D series of red stamps
becomes valid.
April 25—Last valid date for
stamp No. 26, good for one
pound of coffee; E series of red
stamps becomes valid.
April 30—Expiration date for
A, B, C and D series of red
stamps.
May 21—Last day on which
Coupon 5 In “A” gas ration
book is valid.
May 31—Last day for use of
stamp No. 12, good for five
pounds of sugar.
June 15— Last valid date for
stamp No. 17, good for one pair
of shoes.
September 30—Expiration date
for Period 5 fuel-oil coupons.
LONE FORTRESS
A single American Flying Fortress
wrote its own page of history in the
South Pacific when it forced a Japa
nese convoy of four fast destroyers
to turn tail as it attempted to re
inforce New Guinea garrisons.
The Fortress spotted the convoy
in the same Bismark sea area
where a Jap convoy of 22 ships was
sunk in March. Although the weath
er was so bad the bombardier had to
drop flares to illuminate the target,
he scored a direct hit on the stern
of the largest destroyer.
Little Evidence Seen of
Farm Land Speculation
Rural America Seen as Bulwark Against
Post-War Depression; ‘Nervous Gentlemen’
Admit Possibilities of Speculative Wave.
By BAUKHAGE
News Analyst and Commentator.
WNU Service, Union Trust Building,
Washington, D. C.
If you see a cheerful glow along
the horizon of rural America these
evenings, you’ll know what it is—not
a prairie fire or the neighbor’s barn,
but the happy light of burning mort
gages.
The farmers of America have had
their lesson. They aren’t throwing
their money around this time. They
are paying their debts. They are
becoming the solid citizens of the
nation. They are building a bul
wark against a post-war depression
that can save the nation financially,
unless . . .
Right now, the financial health of
rural America is better than it has
been in many a long decade. But
certain nervous gentlemen are be
ginning to worry. Will the farmer
keep to the straight and narrow or
will he be tempted to put down an
option on distant hills which are be
ginning to turn an alluring green?
Listen to what one of those cau
tious gentlemen in Washington,
Frank Wilson of the department of
commerce, has to say. Why, you
may ask, does the department of
commerce, whose job it is to look
after the welfare of the city man,
worry about the farmer? Well, when
the farmer goes broke, the city man
closes up shop. But, a word from
Mr. Wilson:
’’While the level of farm values
throughout most parts of the Middle
West has increased 10 to 15 per cent
in the last year, and the transfer of
farm properties has been greatly ac
celerated. there is, as yet, no evi
dence of the recurrence of the de
structive speculation in farm lands
which followed the First World
war.”
So far so good. But here is Mr.
Wilson’s postscript:
“Farm lending authorities through
out that area, however, admit that
conditions are in the making from
which a speculative wave might re
sult unless price control measures
can be effective in holding farm
prices at or only moderately above
present levels.”
Mortgage Survey
The department of commerce
made a survey of the farm mortgage
situation in 19 states where the bulk
of the food production for war is
being made.
The federal land banks and the
Farm Credit administration which
has been watching this situation like
a hawk has plenty of data. One out
of every ten—or more than 100,000
—farmer-borrowers from the 12 fed
eral land banks and land bank com
missioner repaid his loan in full in
1942.
In the 19 states the department of
commerce studied, according to the
1940 census, there were more than
three million farms, more than half
of all the farms in the country. Their
total value is well over half the total
value of farm lands in the country.
The survey of this territory, just
made public, shows that in 1940, ’41
and '42, indebtedness of farmers to
the Farm Credit administration
dropped a quarter of a billion dol
lars. This includes the drouth area
in Kansas, one of the states hit hard
est by the drouth, 10,000 farmers got
out of debt and Kansas borrowers
kept right on paying until they had
deposited a million dollars in the
“future payment fund” to anticipate
labor Installments. Similar statistics
could be reeled off for other areas.
One thing that has helped the debt
payment is the inability to get into
further debt—for automobiles and
other commodities which just aren't
for sale.
Will that memory fade? Will the
farmer’s money begin to burn a hole
in his pocket? Will those green pas
tures just over the hill begin to lure
him beyond his means?
As I said, the cautious folk in
Washington are a little worried
These are some of the danger sig
nals they see:
A possible rise in values which
cannot be exactly predicted or ex
plained. But which is always a pos
sibility, if not now, after the war.
Then there will be an accumulation
of cash; there will be a lot of war
bonds in the safe deposit box or in
the old sock. There will be a lot of
husky young sons returning from the
war for whom fathers will want to
buy farms, there will be perhaps an
increased demand for farm products
as new foreign markets are opened
or the United States begins to help
feed a starving world.
In some places, there is evidence
of the tendency toward speculation
now. Lenders in Iowa are offering
money against Iowa farm land as
low as 2*4 per cent. Speculation in
livestock is going on in some places.
But there is no trend now toward the
wild buying of World War I.
"And,” says Mr. Wilson, "if the
tremendous gains in the farm in
debtedness situation can be held, the
capacity of the great agricultural
areas of the nation to absorb the
flood of products that will come to
all markets after the war will be
tremendous.”
The financial fate of post-war
America is pretty much in the hands
of the farmers. Let’s hope he won't
let it (and his spare cash) slip
through his fingers.
• • •
Two-Way Attack
On ‘Beveridge Plan*
When the administration’s "Bev
eridge plan” for increased social se
curity and post-war adjustment was
made public, congress proceeded to
make it plain that they intended to
pigeon-hole it. The general impres
sion was that it was laid away be
cause it was too "socialistic” to suit
the right wingers or even some of
the middle-of-the-roaders.
But do not think that all the op
position came from one direction.
The first adventure of the new social
security program was. in reality,
very much like the “Charge of the
Light Brigade” for there were “can
nons to right of them” and also
“cannons to left of them” which vol
leyed and thundered. As I said, the
offensive from the right was taken
for granted. But the attack of the
left wing, while not as vocal, seems
to be just as vehement. There is
proof in a press release which prob
ably was released by very few pa
pers. It comes from the “People’s
Lobby” in Washington, an institution
which believes in "public ownership
of natural resources, basic industries
and essential processing and distrib
utive agencies.”
But the “People’s Lobby” thinks
the President’s plan is nowhere near
socialistic enough. In fact, it is just
"another trick ... to try to lull the
people into a sense of false security
while economic royalists continue,
through ownership, to dictate the
standards of living of the American
people.”
• • •
Washington—
Geometric City
The other day, I heard on a radio
broadcast the statement that Wash
ington was a geometric city. We
have so many squares and circles
and other geometric figures—Dupont
circle that I pass every day, Lafay
ette square with its historic memo
ries (not to mention its squirrels)
where 1 spend my extra seconds; the
Octagon house, built by a wealthy
friend of George Washington, where
society was lavishly entertained in
the early 1800s, now preserved by
the American Institute of Architects
which bought it to preserve its state
ly beauty as well as to house their
offices; the sprawling Pentagon
building of the army, "a city with
a roof over it.”
With this in mind, I was suddenly
impressed with the new patterns im
posed on Washington since the war,
the human figures, two of which I
watched over my lunch in a restau
rant the other day. At the next
table were, not circles nor squares
but human loops and bulges.
One was a slim man in eyeglasses.
His nose was a loop, his smooth hair
was looped back over his forehead.
His gestures were looped, the back
of the wrist bent and higher than
his fingertips as he dangled his ciga
rette—I could only think of the paws
of a lackadaisical pup begging for
a sweet.
His partner was Mr. Bulge. The
bulge began below the wrinkle in his
vest and it was the only thing that
kept him far enough away from the
table to save his bulging nose from
reaching the soup I could hear him
inhaling. His hands bulged like the
padded arms of an overstuffed chair
In a hotel lobby. His cheeks were
pink and bulging hams.
Washington Is learning new les
sons in human geometry.
B R I E F S . . . fcy Baukhage
The personnel section of the Japa
nese ministry of commerce has pre
pared a set of "laws of etiquette”
1 which is to be distributed to Japa
! nese olTlcialdom throughout occupied
Manchuria. The "laws” cover such
details as "posture, attitude, salute,
honorific address and address to sub
ordinates.” The manner of one’s
demeanor at meals and the manner
of telephoning are detailed.
By removing unnecessary frills
from scores of articles, ranging from
hairpins to industrial power trucks,
WPB last year saved 600,000 tons of
steel, 17,000 tons of copper, 180,000,
000 yards of cloth. 30,000 tons of
leather, 450,000,000 feet of lumber,
227,000 tons o< pulp, 35,000 tons of
solder, 8,000 pounds of tungsten and
enough man hours to build 23 Lib
erty ships.
Released by Western Newspaper Union.
MENTAL AILMENTS
There are ailments in which the
patient recovers more rapidly in a
hospital than in the home and others
in which the home surroundings are
Dr. Barton
best sifted for rapid
recovery. This means
in some cases that
there is something
about the change to
hospital life from
home life that be
gets contentment and
relaxation, and in
other cases the "nat
uralness’’ of the
home life reduces
feelings of fear, anx
iety or misgivings
about outcome of ail
ment.
What about slight mental ail
ments?
At first thought it would seem that
a patient suffering with mental de
pression, obsessions, anxiety, should
recover more rapidly amid home
surroundings. On second thought,
however, the very nature of the
home life with its deadly daily rou
tine, quiet or noisy, the overanxiety
of the family about the patient or on
the.other hand the feeling that there
is nothing wrong with him (or her)
and that kindness would be a mis
take, interferes with recovery.
Trying to prevent neighbors know
ing or guessing that the patient is a
“mental” case also puts a strain on
family and patient.
Doctors D. M. Hamilton and J.
H. Wall in the American Journal of
Psychiatry report the results in the
treatment of 100 patients in hospital
instead of the home. Treatment
was given at the Westchester divi
sion of the New York hospital.
As with the majority of this type
of mental ailments most of these pa
tients were above the average in
intelligence, the majority had gradu
ated from college and some were
engaged in professions. The out
standing symptoms in the order in
which they occurred were tenseness,
depression, anxiety, obsessions and
compulsions, hypochondriasis (per
sisting in believing he has ailments
despite evidence that he has not),
weakness and fear of insanity.
The hospital treatment consisted
mainly of interviews with the pa
tient and supervision of his daily
activities to fit his needs and abili
ties. The average length of hospital
stay was 8% months. A followup
study, four to 14 years after this
hospital treatment, showed 46 com
pletely recovered, five much im
proved, 17 improved, making a to
tal of 68 of the 100 who had bene
fited by the treatment. These were
not insane patients, but patients who
were not properly balanced.
• • •
Symptoms of
Angina Pectoris
When a pain occurs in the region
of the heart, it is only natural for
the individual to fear heart dis
ease, because heart disease does
cause pain in and near the heart re
gion, especially under the breast
bone.
What is called angina pectoris—
viselike gripping pain in the chest—
may or may not be a symptom of
real or organic heart disease, but
the patient should know what angina
pectoris is and learn not to be afraid
of “sudden death.”
In the Canadian Medical Associa
tion Journal, Prof. John A. Oille,
Toronto, points out some of the out
standing characteristics of angina.
For instance, angina lasts from
about one to 30 minutes, averaging
about three minutes. The pain is
continuous and is not a little stab
lasting only a second, which comes
and goes for about 15 minutes. Pains
lasting for hours or days are too
long for angina.
Pains that have been coming daily
for months or years are coming too
often for coronary thrombosis (coro
nary occlusion) and are likely due
to arthritis in joints of spine.
“Angina is a ‘wave’ of pain and
is never a shoot, a stab or a prick.
Angina is always the same kind of
pain in the same patient; that is, it
is never a sharp stab followed by a
dull ache.”
In heart disease, such as coronary
thrombosis, the pain may and often
does come on while at rest or dur
ing sleep, whereas in angina the
most frequent cause is exercise or
excitement. “One must find out ex- !
actly what the patient is doing at
the instant the pain occurs; fre- i
quently patients will state that they
get a pain under the breast bone
only after eating, when in reality
the pain comes on only in ‘walking’
after eating. Angina comes during
exertion, not afterwards.”
• • •
QUESTION BOX
Q.—Is cancer contagious?
A.—Fortunately cancer is not con
tagions; there is no need to worry.
Q.—What are the symptoms and
what is the treatment for a fallen
stomach?
A.—Your best plan would be to
have a barium meal and X-ray ex
amination. This will trace the food
not only as to the position of the
stomach, etc., but give other valua
ble information. A supporting belt
i helps most cases.
Time to Check and
Recondition Tractor
Points for Checkup
Routine Are Listed
If you want to save yourself some
exasperating moments in the field
this spring—and make your tractor
last longer, too—W. C. Krueger, ex
tension agricultural engineer rt
Rutgers university, suggests you
thoroughly check and recondition
the tractor now.
*‘It doesn’t make any difference
whether a tractor has been in stor
age all winter or whether it has
been in occasional use—it still needs
a general reconditioning,” Krueger
says. And he lists some of the points
of the check-up routine as follows:
If battery equipped, make
sure unit is fully charged and
that all connections are tight
and that the battery is firmly
supported and braced.
Take out spark plugs, clean and
re-gap and replace those with ap
preciably worn terminals.
Oil magneto, wipe out distribu
Perry Thompson, Indiana farmer,
gives hungry tractor a feed of pre
cious gasoline and gets going.
tor cap and flush impulse coupling
with kerosene, lubricate.
Flush the water cooling system
thoroughly and All with clean rain
water preferably. Tighten all con
nections and replace worn or gum
my hose.
Thoroughly clean oil filter or in
stall new element.
Thoroughly clean air filter accord
ing to instructions; change oil in oil
bath type.
Check and flush entire oiling sys
tem by first pouring a mixture of
gasoline and light lubricating oil,
half and half, into each cylinder
through the spark plug hole and
crank the engine until the mixture
has been forced out of the holes. This
washes old oil from cylinders, valves
and pistons and helps loosen piston
rings. Use the same mixture for
flushing the valve operating mech
anism under the valve housing cov
er. Flush the crank case with kero
sene, drain and refill with proper
grade oil. Drain gear box and crank
case and refill with specified grade,
of lubricant Thoroughly grease and
oil all points as specified in the lu
brication chart.
Start the engine and operate slow
ly, watching for any unusual condi
tions. Sticking valves can be loos
ened with kerosene applied to the
valve stem.
Pasteurize the Cream
To Keep Butter Sweet
Many farm people, making butter
for home use for the first time in
many years, are anxious to learn
how to keep butter from developing
a rancid flavor. According to For
rest C. Button, professor of dairy
manufactures, Rutgers university,
the answer to this question is pas
teurization of the cream.
“The heat of pasteurization makes
inactive the raw cream enzyme,
which causes deterioration of the
fat,” Professor Button explains.
"Pasteurization is a simple proce
dure: Just put the cream into a
can or pail; place this container in
a large kettle, boiler or other suit
able container partly filled with wa
ter; place this on the stove and
bring the cream to a temperature
of 145 to 150 degrees Fahrenheit for
30 minutes. A shorter method is
to heat the cream to 165 to 170 de
grees for 10 or 15 minutes, but the
30-minute method is the standard
procedure. The cream should be
stirred while being heated.
When the pasteurization process ts
completed. Professor Button says
that the cream should be cooled to
50 degrees Fahrenheit or lower and
held at this temperature for at least
three hours before churning in order
to insure firm butter granules.
The Vanishing American
The farm laborer, today’s vanish
ing American, has disappeared down
one of two separate channels—the
armed forces and industry. A high
percentage of the skilled specialists
who operate the mechanical gadg
ets of both army and navy have
been from farms. Equipped with
the rugged physique that comes from
long hours of hard work in the open
farm boys have been gratefully ac
cepted by all the armed forces and
are serving their country well.