WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS_
Army Reduces 1944 Manpower Needs;
Red Forces Sever Nazi Rail Lines;
Action Spreads in Southwest Pacific;
Anti-Subsidy Battle Gains in Scope
(EDITOR'S NOTE: When opinions nr* espressed In Iheso eolomns, they are those of
Western Newspaper Union's news analysts and not necessarily of this newspaper.)
__ Released by Western Newspaper Union. -.
Italy—British troops here are shown picking their way through typical
ruins of village in savage fighting on the Italian front. Adding to diffi
culties were driving rains, which converted many of the small rivers and
creeks running through the mountainous country into swirling torrents.
With the Nazis entrenched in elaborate concrete fortifications hewed
into the rocky terrain, U. S. and British troops moved slowly and cau
tiously along the craggy slopes.
In the Aegean sea, the Germans pounded the Allied held Dodecanese
island of Samos, following their capture of Leros. Previously, they had
retaken Kos. Important stepping stones to Greece, these little islands
also serve as bases for threatening neutral Turkey to the east.
ARMY CUTS SIZE:
Draft Change Voted
As the house sent the senate a bill
calling for the deferment of fathers
until all other eligible single and
childless married men throughout
the nation have been called, it was
revealed that the army had decided
to cut its manpower needs by
548.000.
In addition to the provision put
ting fathers at the bottom of the
draft lists and postponing their in
duction from 30 to 60 days, the house
bill also requires occupational defer
ments be reviewed by appeal boards
within the district where the de
ferred person works. A five man
medical commission would be es
tablished to consider the possibility
of lowering physical standards.
The 548.000 cut in manpower
needs will give the army a total
force of 7,652,000 men. It also was
revealed that the army had saved
over 13 billion dollars out of 127
billion dollars appropriated for its
use, with economics of over 10
billion dollars effected by curtail
ment of the armament, equipment
and airplane programs.
RUSSIA:
Cut Nazi Railroads
Two important railroads in Russia
linking German armies of the north
with those of the south, and running
westward into the big pre-war Polish
cities of Warsaw and Lwow, were
cut by the Red armies.
As the Russian forces severed
these major German arteries, Nazi
forces launched a strong counterat
tack against the Reds in the vicinity
of these rail lines, gaining some
ground. But here, as further to the
south where the Germans claimed
500,000 Russians were hammering
them above Krivoi Rog, the Nazi
positions still were in a fluid state.
To the north, the Reds pecked at
the Nazi base of Gomel, serving as
the southern anchor of their Baltic
line which is hinged on Finland. Ten
classes of reservists in the Baltic
states have been called to military
service by the Nazis.
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC:
Action Spreads
With U. S.. forces being strength
ened on Bougainville for a major
drive against the 40,000 Japs report
edly defending their last stronghold
in the Solomons, Liberator bombers
lashed against the enemy'* tiny Gil
bert and Marshall Island posses
sions, standing out like pesky little
thorns along our supply routes to
the battle areas.
Warding off Jap blows from the
air, U. S. warships moved up Bou
gainville’s west coast to pound the
enemy’s big airplane base of Buka.
Absence of strong elements of the
Japanese fleet in the advanced bat
tle lone suggested that the enemy
was concentrating his formidable
naval force on protection of his 1,500
mile sea lane running from Japan
proper to the rich islands south.
In New Guinea, Australian forces
began moving northward from
Finschhafen toward the Jap strong
holds of Madang and Wewak, from
which the enemy’s aerial units have
been striking at the Allied bases.
FOOD FRONT:
Subsidies Hit
Agricultural directors from five
states joined in the bitter attack
Fred Vinson
against continuation
of the administra
tion’s subsidy pro
gram even as Eco
nomic Stabilization
Director Fred Vin
son was reportedly
considering $9,000,
000 a month subsi
dies to millers to
prevent an increase
in the price of
bread.
Directors from
South Dakota, Iowa,
Wisconsin, Nebras
ka and Florida op
posed the subsidy
program before a senatorial commit
tee, with South Dakota’s E. H. Ever
son declaring government payments
to hold down consumers' prices
was the chief source of inflation by
creating extra purchasing power out
of the money saved buyers.
Strong anti - subsidy sentiment
which was looked upon to shelve the
government's program in both the
house and senate, was further agi
tated by the proposed plan to pay
millers about 14 cents a bushel for
wheat to prevent bread price in
creases of from one to two cents a
pound.
Aid Hog Marketing
To iron out problems associated
with the marketing of the record
pig crop, the gov ti
ment moved in vo
directions. First,
Price Administrator
Chester Bowles re
duced the value of
all pork cuts by two
ration points; sec
ond, War Food Ad
ministrator Marvin
Jones announced
support prices of
$13.75 per hundred
weight would be
Chester Bowlei
paid in all markets for good to choice
butcher hogs from 2' ., to 270 pounds.
Bowles’ action was taken to stim
ulate consumption of p-'rk and 100
per cent pork sausage. Lard and
sausages made from other meat
were not affected.
Besides guaranteeing support
prices, WFA authorized farmers to
slaughter their own hogs without fed
eral license and sell to consumers
for 90 days.
OIL:
Seek New W ells
With a projected goal of 24,000
new oil wells in 1944, prospects
loomed for increased activity in
the Rocky Mountain st^es.
Of the 24,000 new oil wells, 5,000
are to be exploratory and the re
maining 19,000 development proj
ects. The immense Powder river
basin in the northeastern section of
Wyoming and southeastern section
of Montana might prove the focal
point of operations.
Congressional action in reducing
royalties on discoveries on public
domain to a flat 12.5 per cent for
the duration and 10 years afterward
furnishes Incentive for action in the
Rocky mountain region.
HIGHLIGHTS • . . in the week’s news
WAR PRODUCTION: The peak
demand in war production has been
passed. Harry Moulton, president
of the Brookings Institute, recently
told the American Finance confer
ence in Washington. He said that
•tocks of raw materials have be
come entirely adequate, and even
excessive in some cases. More
and more cancellations of war goods
contracts are coming, he predicted.
NEWSPRINT: SU11 further reduc
ELECTRIC IRONS: Two million
electric flatirons will be manufac
tured and sold next year, if the WPB
will release materials. Arthur
Whiteside, vice chairman of WPB
in charge of civilian needs, has re
quested that enough metal and other
material be allowed to make 500,000
irons in the first quarter of 1944.
About three million irons were sold
annually, before the war.
BOOTLEQ: As the scarcity of
NEW SICKNESSES
"Jeep Disease" sod "Destroyer
Stomach" are the latest army and
navy maladies.
Because of rough riding in mech
anized vehicles, many Doughboys
have been afflicted with “Jeep Dis
ease," a formation of cyst near the |
base of the spine, with aggravations
resulting from further jostling.
Sometimes, the abnormality Is no
more than a pimple. The medics
chief problem is to discover which
cases are serious enough for sur
gery.
"Destroyer Stomach" has been |
found most frequently in men serv- ;
ing In the rough waters of the North
Atlantic, and is marked by a form
of subacute gastritis due to protract- i
ed sea sickness, irregular meals and
constant nervous tension.
RAILROAD WAGES:
In Congress' Lap
As congress considered a resolu
tion to grant non-operating railroad
employees an eight cents an hour
wage increase, it was announced
railroad employment in mid-October
of 1943 was 4 per cent over the
same period last year, but still 100,- '
000 short of needs.
Congressional action on the wage
increase was sought after the Office
of Economic Stabilization refused to
sanction the award, instead offering !
lowest paid employees a 10 cents
an hour boost and the highest paid
4 cents an hour.
In all, the railroads employed
1,367,817 workers in mid-October, !
with critical shortages existing in |
the operating departments. Main
tenance-of-way and structural clas
sifications showed a 3.57 decrease
from October of 1942.
LAND HOLDINGS:
Vast U. o. Ownership
While Undersecretary of War Rob
ert Patterson announced the war de
partment was giving serious study
to peacetime disposal of its hold
ings of 43,181,183 acres of land, it
was revealed the federal govern
ment owned 383,600,533 acres.
Federal land holdings were equal
in size to the combined areas of
Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, I
Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Con
necticut, Pennsylvania, New York,
New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland,
West Virginia, Virginia, North Caro
lina, South Carolina, Georgia, Flor
ida, Ohio, Alabama, Kentucky and
Indiana.
Adding to the federal government’s
vast land holdings, the army and
navy purchased 15 hot 'Is at a cost
of $15,000,000. Some of these hotels
have been returned to private own
ership, like the Stevens in Chicago,
bought for $5,528,101 and sold for
$5,251,000.
WAGES FOR HOUSEWIVES
Declaring housewives are the only
category of workers who ai<; denied
monetary recognition for their serv
ices, a British member of parlia
ment has proposed payment of
wages to homemakers “who have a
full-time job cooking, scrubbing and
bear'ng children.”
According to British law, family
Income is the sole property of the
husband, and much ado recently
was raised over the regulation when
a court upheld one man’s claim to
40 cents a week his wife had saved
while taking in roomers over a 17
year period.
WORLD RELIEF:
Predict Needs
Approximately 134 million people
in Europe and Asia will be in need
of assistance after the war, the Unit
ed Nations Relief and Rehabilitation
administration estimated. Of this
amount, 84 million will be Chinese.
To check such epidemics as ty- I
phus and tuberculosis that have
wracked Poland and France, it was
revealed UNRRA will send special
units into reconquered areas. Peo
ple moving from one section to an
other will be funnelled through cen
ters for feeding, vaccination and
quarantine.
Food or supplies shipped into dif
ferent countries will be placed in
charge of the governments in con
trol.
Lend-Lease Foods
Lend-lease food shipments abroad
equal one-eighth of the U. S. supply,
the Foreign Economic administra
tion revealed. Civilians are receiv
ing three-fourths of the production.
Figures show that in tjie first nine
months of this year, lend-lease food
shipments include 3.2 per cent of
total milk products; 10.6 per cent of
dried eggs; 13.9 per cent of edible
oils and fats; and 21.2 per cent of
canned fish.
Shipments of canned fruits and
juices equal 2.S per cent of total
supply; dried fruits, 21.1 per cent;
canned vegetables, 1 per cent; dried
beans 10.3 per cent; dried peas, 14.2
per cent; com and corn products, 0.1
per cent; wheat and wheat prod
ucts, 0.9 per cent; and butter, 2.3
per cent.
WAR GARDENS:
Victory gardeners will be expect
ed to raise at least 25 per cent more
next year than this, delegates to the
National Victory Garden Institute
convention resolved. They met in
Chicago.
Other resolutions ask for an in
crease t allowance of about 33 per
cent irom the WPB on tools, fer
tilizer and insecticides, and for or
ders permitting garden clubs to
buy 600,000 pressure cookers for can
ning. Extra gasoline was asked for
people working co-oper ve gardens.
International Unity Aided
By Moscow Conference
Results of Famed Tripartite Meeting Con
tinue to Grow; Spirit of Compromise
Achieved in Moscow.
By BAUKHAGE
New$ Analyst and Commentator.
WNU Service, Union Trust Building
Washington, D. C.
Some weeks before Secretary Hull
left for his Mission to Moscow, I
interviewed him in his office in the
state department. Shortly after he
returned, he received a number of
us in that same office and gave us
an informal talk about his trip.
One of the things which impressed
me greatly as I heard the secretary
in the course of the hour-long meet
ing, telling us sidelights on his re
markable experience, was the way
one word which he had used in his
talk with me kept cropping up again
and again. It was the word “under
standing." He applied it to personal
relationships and exchanges be
tween the members of the tripartite
meeting and to the whole discussion
and the decisions which grew out
of it.
Ii. seemed to be a case of progres
sive understanding.
In our first conversation, the sec
retary, indicating the papers which
covered his great desk, said they
all dealt with Russia. I did not know
then that there was to be a Moscow
meeting. And he made the point
with considerable emphasis, that
there was so much suspicion on the
part of persons discussing the Rus
sian situation that it was exceeding
ly hard to work toward an agree
ment.
Open Discussion
Then, in his talk on his return,
he repeated this thought, saying that
many people, because of their deep
prejudices, had made it hard to
bring about an understanding be
tween the three nations. He said
that when he left for Moscow, he
felt that much of the misunderstand
ing was due to misinformation which
all the parties shared concerning the
others. In order to correct that,
every effort was made at frank and
open discussion and, as a result,
questions which had been consid
ered most difficult to solve auto
matically disappeared.
And the secretary pointed out that
as the conference progressed many
points immediately developed where
what might be called the “selfish in
terests” of each nation were dis
covered to be common interests.
He explained how military co-op
eration had been achieved as the
need for it grew and how, with this
development, it became clear that
similar co-operation must be estab
lished along political and economic
lines, especially regarding an in
ternational organization to preserve
peace.
The secretary set off for Moscow
under a hail of attack from one sec
tion of the press which labeled him
"anti-Russian.” If there ever was
justice in such a charge, which Mr.
Hull emphatically denied, he came
back with no such feeling. In fact,
he made it clear that he was now
convinced that few countries had
more in common and less in con
flict, especially in the economic field.
Unconvinced
Although all of the official state
ments issued in Moscow and in Lon
don and Washington after the dele
gates had returned to their respec
tive homes, stressed the accomplish
ments of the conference, their im
portance and the probability of their
effect on future negotiations, still
there were those who chose to see
great gaps yawning and unbridged
between the three nations.
Of course, only time can tell how
thorough the common understanding
really is and how far the respective
nations will be able to go to hold to
b unity of purpose through the
stormy times ahead. But there have
already been evidences that a spirit
of compromise was achieved which
did bear actual fruit.
This was true in the case of Italy.
Some time ago, a magazine article
appeared which purported to out
line the plan by which the countries
liberated from Axis domination
would be governed by the successful
Allies. Tfie plan was a pretty rigid
one, with the AMG (Allied Military
Government) seeming to be rooted
deeply into the governmental fabric
of the liberated nations. There was
criticism here to the effect that the
United States was taking on the re
sponsibility of running the world and
it was predicted that there could
never be an agreement between
three victors, one with a hereditary
monarch, Britain; one with a com
munistic form of government, Rus
sia; and one, a democratic republic,
the United States.
The test came in Italy. After the
parleys at Moscow, the AMG was
limited in its functions, taking over
only the districts nearest the front.
An Allied military commission was
formed which is making maximum
use of the local native civilian offi
cials.
Italian Government
But what about the government
which the Allies would accept as
satisfactorily representing the will
of the Italian people? Surely Britain
would demand that monarchy be
given a chance to remain in power.
Surely Ru_ v would have no traf
fic with kings and would instead de
mand a strong left-wing set-up.
The supposed American compro
mise was a temporary regency, that
is, a liberal regent such as Count
Carlo Sforza who was in exile from
the Fascist regime and who left
America shortly after the surrender
of Italy. The little son of the crown
pHnce would remain the symbolic
head of the state. Many said that
neither Russia nor Britain would ac
cept this suggestion.
However, although no definite step
has been taken, semi-official sources
have indicated that when Rome is
recaptured and Marshal Badoglio,
now premier, steps out, there will
be virtual agreement on the part of
the three victor nations on the Amer
ican compromise. All that remains
will be an agreement on the part of
the Italian people. Even if the lat
ter is not achieved, there is evi
dence enough already of tripartite
compromise and unity to seem to
confirm the success of the Mission to
Moscow.
* * m
Economic Questions
The ways and means committee
of the house has only been able to
agree on methods of raising one
fifth of the money which the govern
ment says it is necessary to have
to continue the war. Not only has
it been unwilling to tax the higher
brackets further but it also is afraid
to recommend the sales tax be
cause that affects the largest group
of voters—everybody.
Naturally the first thing that a citi
zen leaps to defend is his pocket
book. The administration has at
tempted to lay down as a goal a
maximum net income of $25,000 in
wartime, perhaps twice as much in
peacetime. Now perhaps the Amer
ican people don’t want to put any
limit whatever on incentive. Never
theless, there is always an outcry
against the accumulation of wealth
and we know that when wealth be
comes concentrated, panics result.
If the various influences resisting
taxation which will bring down their
ceiling on incomes succeed in forc
ing congress to defeat such laws, and
granted the rest of the people ac
cept the defeat, democracy is not to
blame. The selfish group has won—
and it has won, not because con
gress wants to please a few voters
but because congress has been con
vinced that the special interests are
represented by a majority of voters
—in other words, the majority wins.
Another current issue which is
very much before congress is the
threat to little business. Right now.
70 per cent of the war contracts are
| held by about 100 firms.
Senator O’Mahoney is proposing
a measure which would produce an
incentive on the part of the invest
ors, that is, those with large capitals
to spend, to invest in small rather
than large business; that would be
done by making taxes on big busi
ness so heavy so that the profits re
sulting to the investor would not
be as large as if he had his money
in small business.
Small business has to be protect
ed, it is admitted, if free enterprise
in America is to continue. If any
single group or groups manage to
convince the elected officials of the
country that they can muster
enough votes to defeat the people
who are responsible for such a tax
plan, it is obvious that the majority’s
will will be frustrated. There again
it goes back to the individual. In
dividuals who do not vote destroy
the democratic processes by permit
ting a minority of the people to be
come the majority of the voters.
BRIEFS. ..by Baukhage
Declaring that the German regime
In Austria is opposed by practically
everybody, the Swedish n&vspaper
Nya Dagligt Allehanda reports that
Austrians are now greeting each oth
er with the salute "K D F.” a pun
on the German expression “Kraft
Durch Freude" (“Strength Through
Joy”). "K D F,” the paper said,
•t&nds for “Kaputt Durch Fuehrer”
(“Defeat Through the Fuehrer”).
• • •
WPB has directed manufacturers
of flashlight batteries to distribute
approximately 20 per cent of their
fourth-quarter production to farmers
to assist them in the care of young
stock during the winter months.
Even under point rationing. Amer
ican kitchens will use enough tin
cans in one year to provide steel
for almost 23,000 medium tank. or
900 destroyers.
• • •
Castor Beans Furnish
Base for Insecticide
U. S. Can Grow Needed
Poisons, Say Chemists
For a number of years the United
States has been importing many mil
lions of pounds of insecticides and
the bases for insecticides from for
eign sources, many of which are now
cut off by the war, J. Edmund
Good, vice president of a chemical
company, told members of the Mid
American Chemurgic conference
and the National Farm Chemurgic
council at their joint convention in
Cincinnati, recently.
Raw materials for the larger part
of our food insecticide needs today
can be grown right on the nation’s
farms, he continued. Probably 90
per cent of those importations
upon which we formerly depended
can be replaced with products from
our own American farms. There is
a direct connection between an ade
quate domestic supply of insecticides
and our domestic crop of castor
beans which was recently begun.
A newly developed insecticide,
commercially called "Spra Kast,”
is derived from the castor bean
Farm Victory Gardens
I TELE FACT I
ONE out of every five farms does not have
its own vegetable garden.
plant, including the stems and
leaves. Because of the many uses
for castor oil in vital war products,
there has not been sufficient quanti
ties of castor plants available to
manufacture any important quantity
of the new spray, Mr. Good said.
This situation may improve, he went
on, if dehydrated castor bean leaves
can be obtained. We know that we
will have to have very large ton
nages of materials to meet 1944'g
demands for the finished product.
For example, one of the large cit
rus growers in Florida had a crop
this year that was much greater and
of better quality than last year, and
was still better than the previous
year’s crop. This is the first year
that he used the new insecticide ex
clusively.
Somewhat similar results were ob
tained with potatoes in Maine. Two
or three years ago when we began
experimenting with the spraying of
vegetables, we watched those ex
periments very closely. The results
obtained in the years 1942 and 1943
satisfy us that the spray will ade
quately protect vegetables from the
insects that infest them, and will pro
duce a better quality of vegeta
bles. And remember, Mr. Good em
phasized, that no imported materials
need be used if castor beans were
grown in this country in quantity.
All the possibilities of the new in
secticide have not been explored and
experimental work is going on con
tinually. For instance, it has been
combined with sulphur or copper
and used in commercial applications
for control of red spider, purple
mite, six-spotted mite, rust mite,
melanose and many soft-bodied
worms that infest vegetables.
It is not claimed that this insecti
cide will kill all insects. In some
cases it seems to act as a repel
lent; in other cases as a contact
poison on sucking insects such as
aphids, thrips, lice, mealy bugs, leaf
hoppers, and red bugs; and controls
chewing insects such as beetles, leaf
rollers and caterpillars. A few of
the many crop insects that have
been reported to us as being con
trolled are:
Beans: Mexican bean beetles,
aphids, leaf rollers.
Beets: Flea beetles, worms.
Cabbage: Imported cabbage
worms, cabbage loopers.
Cucumbers: Melon aphids, mel
on worms, beetles.
Potatoes: Aphids, beetles, leaf
hoppers, leaf rollers and flea beetles.
Spinach: Flea beetles, aphids, cab
bage loopers, worms.
Tomatoes: Fruit worms, flea
beetles.
Lettuce: Worms.
Peas: Aphids, weevils.
The purpose in mentioning these
details and properties is not to em
phasize one insecticide particularly,
Mr. Good said in closing, but to
point out that an efllcient insecticide
can be made from farm crops grown
in the United States for the United
States. f
Farm Notes
Expenditure of a few cents for a
vermifuge, such as phenothiazine,
for goats, is considered a good in
vestment by veterinarians.
• • •
More than a million pounds of
beeswax a year is heeded for use in
war products, adhesives, waterproof
ing for shells, belts, machinery, and
protective covering for fighting
Dianes
tlncle J^hil\
The older a man gets, the hap
pier he is that he wasn’t allowed
to have his own way as a boy.
Agitators who want to set the
world afire usually find the world is
like wet wood—it won’t burn.
Traveling often takes the con
ceit out of a man, but coming
home puts twice as much of it in
him again.
Some men dislike being
alone. Perhaps afraid of be
ing judged by their company.
REGISTERED BOARS
Berkshire registered boars by Luhr’s Sew
Hope 8th, the sire of 1st and 2nd and
Grand Champion gilt, also 1st and 3rd and
Grand Champion boar at the Nebraska
Berkshire Breeders Association Show and
Sale. Kenneth Markussen, Route 1, Fre
mont, Nebraska.
For Bole: Registered Chester White
spring hoars. Smooth, thick, easy feeding
kind. LeRoy Larsen, Herman,* Nebraska. ^
AT FIRST m
sign of a WJfi
Cr?(>66
666 TABLETS. SALVE. NOSE DROPS
jmMiBmiA
GOOD-TASTING TONIC
Good-tasting Scott’s Emulsion contains
natural A and D Vitamins often needed
to help build stamina and resistance to
colds and minor ills. Helps build strong
bones and sound teeth, too I Give good
tasting Scott’s daily, the year-round!
£> Recommended by Many Doctors
rfri to w fcl
■ ■w M | B _ ■ w
TRY OVERNIGHT CARE
FOR MISERABLE COLDS
tho way grandma did. She used mutton
suet she medicated herself to relieve
colds’ coughing and muscle aches. Now
mothers just rub on Penetro. Has base
containing old reliable mutton suet, with
modern scientific medication added.
25c, double supply 35c. Get Penetro.
SNAPPY FACTS
ABOUT
RUBBER
Group riding Is a rubber-sav
ing procedure which is rapid
ly gaining acceptance. The
average number of persons
per car throughout the coun
try prior to July I, 1942, was
2. In six months it jumped to
2.44, and at the beginning of
May it had increased to 2.66.
The greatest gain has been in
rural industrial areas, where
the average is now 3.17 per
sons per car.
Bottled air may be a regular ac
cessory In the postwar automobile,
making the car owner Indepen
dent of roadside stations when
emergency tire Inflation Is neces
sary. The air bottles, nowused by the
Army, can be refilled at any air line.
■ttaflEEmnya
How To Relieve
Bronchitis
Creomulsion relieves promptly be
cause it goes right to the seat of the
trouble to help loosen and expel
germ laden phlegm, and aid nature
to soothe and heal raw, tender, In
flamed bronchial mucous mem
branes. Tell your druggist to sell you
a bottle of Creomulsion with the un
derstanding you must like the way it
quickly allays the cough or you are
to have your money back.
CREOMULSION
for Coughs, Chest Colds, Bronchitis
