WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS
Jap Reinforcements Smashed;
Yanks Weaken Nazi Strength;
Iron Out Huge Highway Program
- Released by Western Newspaper Union .. , ■ —
(EDITOR'S NOTE: When eplnlone are espreseed In these eelnmns, they are thoaa of
Wettern Newspaper Union's news analyste and net necessarily ef this newspaper.)
Supported by tanks in the rear, U. S. Infantrymen advance near Gellen
ktrchen inside Germany on western front.
PACIFIC:
Smash Reinforcements
Despite the fact that ground fight
ing on Leyte island stalled in bad
weather, with November rainfall to
taling 23Vi inches, there was no lull
In action in the Philippines.
As Jap General Yamashita tried
to take advantage of the inclement
weather to reinforce his beleaguered
troops on Leyte, U. S. airmen rose
to combat enemy transports plough
ing through western Philippine wa
ters to Ormoc. In one long assault
on a convoy, U S. aviators sank 10
enemy transports, sending 4,000
troops to the bottom, and bringing
total Jap losses in reinforcement at
tempts to 26 ships with a tonnage of
92.750 and 21,000 men.
Meanwhile, B-29s continued their
raids over the Tokyo industrial area,
encountering moderate opposition.
Infuriated by the bombings, chat
Gen. MacArtkur on Leyte airdrome
with Ace Bong (at left) and Lt. Gen.
George Kenney (right).
tering Japanese news commentators
threatened that “albino apes" para
chuting onto Japanese soil from dis
tressed Superfortresses would be
“killed on the spot by angry peo
ple.”
Japs GvUft
Pushed t the wall in the Philip
pines, the Japs had better luck in
China, where Chiang Kai-shek's ar
mies were hard put to it in an at
tempt to blunt an enemy drive
aimed at cutting the Burma road
to Chungking.
Thrusting westward from their
north-south Juncture at Liuchow,
where they joined to seal off the
whole eastern Chinese coast, Jap
columns stood about 100 miles from
the Burma road, key communica
tions line linking much of the south
ern part of the country.
As the Jape pressed forward, they
claimed 50,000 Chinese troops were
falling back on the big highway bas
tion of Kweiyang, where a strong
stand was expected to block any
drive further northward toward
Chungking. Kai-shek's headquaretrs.
HIGHWAYS:
Postwar Project
Following separate action by both
houses, senators and representatives
got together in the nation's capital
to settle on a definite postwar fed
eral highway program, the first ma
jor public works project planned
for peacetime.
After the senate had approved of
the expenditure of $450,000,000 an
nually for three years after the war
for construction of rural, secondary
and urban highways, the house
passed a bill providing for $500,000,
000 annually for three years.
Under both versions, states would
have to contribute an equal amount
of money for road projects, and
sums would be distributed through
out the country on the basis of re
gional importance. Under the house
bill, for instance, $775,000,000 would
be allotted for rural highways. $450,
000.000 for secondary roads and
$375,000,000 for urban arteries.
WESTERN FRONT:
Battle of Attrition
To the Nazis being pressed back
to the Rhine, the great battles rag
ing along the western front were
“the most ferocious in all history.”
To doughboys of the U. S. Ninth
Fffst, Third and Seventh armies,
slogging forward in heavy gush,
they were the hardest of the war,
with desperate resistance encoun
tered at every step.
With airplane activity limited by
somber skies and rainfalls, the bat
tle was being fought along the
ground, with heavy U. S. field ar
tillery and big, rumbling tanks pour
ing their deadly fire into enemy en
trenchments to clear the way for
the doughboys of the infantry.
Although General Patton's
Third army about the Saar, and
General Patch's Seventh army
east of the Vosges, maintained
heavy pressure on Nazi lines,
the focal point of action cen
tered on the Ninth and First
army fronts between Jullch and
Daren.
East of the small, but strategic,
Roer river, both of these towns are
vital communications centers, with
elaborate highways running in from
the Rhineland to feed other road
ways running to the north and south.
As the great battle of attrition—
wearing down—rose in tempo, this
highway network was vital to the
Germans in rushing troops and ma
terials to the endangered front, and
then transferring them to the north
and south.
inaicauve or me great pressure
General Eisenhower was exerting in
this sector was the report that his
opponent, foxy Field Marshal von
Rundstedt, had transferred troops
from the Dutch front to the Julich
Duren sector to cope with the Allied
powerhouse.
No sooner had the report come
through than it was announced that
Canadian troops had taken the field
on the Dutch front, increasing Al
lied pressure back In this sector,
and giving the German high com
mand no rest.
Slowed In their frontal as
sault on Budapest, Russian
armies crossed the Danube to
the south of the Hungarian cap
ital to thrust one spearhead
northward toward the embattled
city and another westward to
ward the Austrian frontier, less
than 100 miles away.
SEDITION TRIAL:
Death Ends It
With the death of 65-year-old Jus
tice Edward C. Eicher of Iowa, the
seven-month-long, and at times far
cical, sedition trial of 26 defendants
in Washington. D. C., came to an
abrupt end, with small chance of
resumption.
Although government counsel said
the trial could go on if both the U. S.
and defendants agreed to the selec
tion of another Judge, it was recalled
that a federal court previously had
ruled that justice required comple
tion of a case by the same judge and
jury and no substitutions could be
made, even with consent Thus, the
government was faced with the al
ternative of starting new proceed
ings.
Even though the trial of the 28
defendants, accused of trying to un
dermine the morale of the U S.
armed forces and establish a Nazi
form of government in this country,
had already taken up seven months,
government counsel revealed that
at least six more months would be
necessary to complete presentation
of its evidence. With defendants'
attorneys expected to consume an
additional three to six months, the
case promised to last about a year
and a half.
Meat: The largest production of
beef and veal on record for any
November was made at federally
inspected meat packing plants last
month, according to a review of the
^livestock and meat situation today
by the American Meat institute.
Total production of all meat last
month was 1,539,000,000 pounds. This
was 6 per cent more than that pro
duced in October.
Fat Calf: Seven hundred and sev
enty-flve thousand dollars in war
bonds was the sale value of a pure
bred Holstein bull calf at Omaha re
cently. A life insurance company in
Omaha •‘bought" the calf for $380,000
in bonds and then they offered it for
sale again with the Douglas County
Dairy Breeders association paying
$375,000 for the animal, which they
will put in service.
CANADA:
Worst Crisis
Although pudgy Prime Minlstei
MacKenzie King looked to a vote
of confidence from Canada’s parlia
ment over the question of partially
conscripting the home army for
overseas service, it was expected
to come only after one of the most
severe crises of the country.
Principal hostility to King's com
promise proposal to send over 10,
000 of the home guard to the Euro
pean front to bolster the volunteer
force came from the province of
Quebec, where the French, long al
lowed to keep their own speech and
customs and religion, stood firmly on
their traditional opposition to con
scription.
Where the rub came in was thal
King long has depended upon Que
bec for political support, and the
province, almost to the last, pressed
the prime minister to abide by hii
government’s earlier pledge against
conscription for overseas service de
spite his obvious effort to compro
mise by restricting the number o!
draftees to 16,000.
Despite Quebec’s violent opposi
tion, King relied upon his com
promise to draw some support from
its representatives to ride out the
storm.
Yanks in Battle
With the greater number unknown
heroes, U. S. soldiers, slogging
through the mush on the western
front Into Germany, are only identi
fied in the muss as members of the
various army units driving on
ward.
Included In General Simpson’s
9th army battling along the Roer
river were the 2nd armored divi
sion, the 29th, 30th and 102nd
infantry divisions, organized in
the 19th corps.
With General Hodges’ 1st
army fighting east of Aachen
were the 3rd and 5th armored
divisions, and 1st, 2nd, 3rd. 4th,
8th, 9th, 28th, 38th, and 104th
infantry divisions, organized in
5th, 7th, and 8th corps.
General Patton’s 3rd army
driving into the Saar included
the 4th, 6th and 10th armored
divisions, and 5th, 2Gth, 35th,
80th, 90th and 95th infantry divi
sions, organized in the 12th and
20th corps.
Fighting alongside the French
in General Patch’s 7th army
east of the Vosges were the 3rd,
36th, 44th, 45th, 79th, 100th and
l(J3rd U. S. infantry divisions,
organized in 6th and 15th corps.
Among other units reported on
the western front were the 82nd
and 101st U. S. airborne divi
sions and the 7th U. S. armored
and 94th U. S. infantry divisions.
NEW FACE:
Smiling Diplomat
As elder statesman Cordell Hull,
73. passed from the presidential
cabinet, his place
as secretary of state
was assumed by
personable Edward
Stettinius, 44, an
other of the nation’s
b i g business men
who have made
good recently in
governmental ranks.
Son of a Morgan
partner, Stettinius,
Edw. Stettlnlus talked out of join
ing the ministry,
started his own business career in
the stock room of a roller-bearing
works, then rose rapidly as vice pres
ident of General Motors and, at 37,
as chairman of the U. S. Steel cor
poration. Smiling, hearty and blunt,
Stettinius has been chiefly noted for
his ability in handling people.
Secretary of State for 12 years,
Hull held the post longer than any
other American in history before
forced out by ill health. In the posi
tion, he worked for a freer world
trade through his reciprocal agree
ments, and from the first advocated
use of force for the suppression of
aggression. An old line southerner
in a new deal government. Hull was
considered a tempering factor in a
liberal administration.
FARM INCOME:
lip Again
With income from crops 10 per
cent greater than last yenr. and re
ceipts from livestock and livestock
products 4 per cent more, farm in
come for the first 10 months of 1944
totalled $18,430,000,000, 6 per cent
above the same period in 1943, the
U. S. department of agriculture re
ported.
At the same time, the USDA said
that farm prices, which have only
changed about 2 per cent within the
last year, would probably remain
exceptionally stable for several
more months.
With the 1944-’45 domestic supply
of the four principal feed grains put
at 132.500.000 tons, the USDA de
clared that not only would all re
quirements be met, but additions
would be made to reserves, cut sub
stantially in the 1941 -'43 feed years.
WAR RONDS
With government outgo In the
first nine months of the present fis
cal year ending in July totalling $82.
000.000,000, and receipts equalling
$35,000,000,000. Uncle Sam will be
forced to borrow $47,000,000,000. War
Finance Director Ted Gamble said.
Of the $82,000,000,000. Gambel re
vealed, $72,000,000,000 will be spent
on the war and other government
uses, while $10,000,000 000 will rep
resent money needed to redeem se
curities maturing within the nine
months.
Congressional Machinery
Is Slated for Overhauling
Bulk of Complaints Against the Legislative
Branch Are Inconsistent, but Committee
Setup Needs Revision.
By BAUKHAGE
I\'ewt Analyst and Commentator.
WNU Service, Union Trust Building
Washington. B. C.
It is an old American custom to
take a pot-shot at congress when
ever something goes wrong and no
body else is handy to blame, no
matter whether the trouble is dust
storms, sun-spots, Jaundice or Just
plain grouch.
You may recall that this feeling
reached an unhappy high in the fa
mous ‘‘bundles - for - congressmen”
campaign of 1942. Some practical
Jokers in Seattle seized on the civil
service retirement bill which made
all government employees, includ
ing members of congress, eligible
for pensions, as an excuse to start
the horseplay. By the time the silly
season arrived, everyone with an
overdose of prickly heat was taking
it out in one way or another on the
poor legislators.
That was very funny to every
body except the recipients of the
bundles — and a few thoughtful
people who know that the great
est danger to a democratic gov
ernment is lack of confidence
in the parliamentary body. They
knew, too, that most of the sins
of congress are due to the fact
that some of the congressional
methods established by the
founding fathers have grown
out of date.
As one congressman put it to me
the other day: ‘‘We can’t be ex
pected to handle billion-dollar bud
gets with a penny-gnte setup.”
In July. 1943. Senator Lafollette
(Progressive) of Wisconsin intro
duced a plan for the reorganization
of the committee structure of the
senate. This year the senate ap
proved the appointment of a joint
committee on organization of both
houses. The Smith committee in the
house, Senator Maloney and Repre
sentative Monroney and others car
ried on, until today the chances seem
bright for consideration by the 79th
congress of a plan to streamline
the machinery of the govern
ment's legislative branch.
In addition, a committee of
lawyers has just completed a four
year study on the reorganization of
congress, the results of which have
found favor in congressional circles.
I think it apropos at this point to
offer two quotations, one from the
works of the historian Charles
Beard, mentioned by Senator LaFol
lette in an article he wrote on the
subject, and another from the arti
cle itself.
_1_.nU.
Xllla is w i id L iiiBvuttax
“As a more than casual student of
the Congressional Record, I venture
this opinion: It Is possible to pick
out of the Record for the past 10
years addresses (not orations)
which for the breadth of knowledge,
technical skill, analytical acumen,
close reasoning and dignified pres
entation, compare favorably with
similar utterances made in the pre
ceding century by the so-called
great orators.”
LaFollette. subscribing to this
opinion, adds frankly, “There is, to
be sure, more trash — bad poetry,
demagogic claptrap, and clotted
nonsense—in the Record of the past
10 years than there was on the an
nals of congress from 1789 to 1799.”
(Aye, aye!)
The senator reminds us, however,
of the extremely complex quality
of the problems which congress has
to face today and the distractions
to which the members are sub
jected, and then, comparing the con
gress about which he is writing (the
76th) with the first congresses, he
says he is convinced “that for dis
interestedness, absence of corrup
tion, and concern with the public
good, the present body is of a high
er order.”
And that is a sentiment which,
in the humble opinion of this writer,
is substantiated by the majority of
objective students of the two bodies.
All Democratic Institutions
Suffer During Wartime
The present legislators, if they
wished to be as tritely exasperating
as many civilian slackers in this
cur time of national stress, could
answer some of their critics with
a shrug and a reminder that “there
is a war on " When a war is on the
toughest fibered of democratic in
stitutions suffer
The inconsistency of the bulk of
the complaints against the legisla
tive branch of the government in
the last two years can be seen when
it is realized that the two most popu
lar charges offered were either
that congress was a "rubber
stamp” or that it was "obstruc
tionist,” which adds up to a con
tradiction.
Because of the fact that the
growth of the country has de
manded an Increase In the
body of administrative and
executive law, congress Is
forced to delegate more power
and more functions to the ad
ministrative branch. To over
come this trend In so far as
possible will be one of the ef
forts of the reorganization, of
which 1 will speak In a mo
ment. Meanwhile, it Is Interest
ing to note that Senator LaFol
lette himself called attention to
the accomplishment of the Tru
man Investigating committee in
exposing executive errors al
ready committed and In pre
venting others by the mere
threat of “ever present exposure
and censure.”
The one field in which congress
can greatly increase its efficiency
and in so doing, not only checking
willful aggression of the administra
tive and executive branches but ren
dering a real assistance to them and
to the whole nation, is in a re
organization of the committees and
their methods.
Congress at present is not
equipped to offer sufficient con
structive help in the writing of
legislation and therefore, frequent
ly, the last word goes, by default,
to the interested government
agency, or that particular pressure
group armed with the technical in
formation necessary to bolster its
case.
Representative Smith of Virginia,
in the report of his committee to in
vestigate executive agencies, brings
out this point, as others have. The
report says:
"Today a large percentage of the
most important legislation is . . .
painstakingly drafted by the very
executive officials who are intended
to be the recipients of the powers
which the legislation delegates.
Furthermore, the same officials
are generally the only expert and
fully informed witnesses to testify
before the legislative committees of
the congress having jurisdiction
over the proposed bills. If there are
opposing witnesses they do not, as
a rule, represent congress or the
people generally but rather some
special group."
Expert Knowledge
Needed on Many Bille
That does not mean that there are
not men in congress who know as
much and more than many of the
persons appearing before them in
favor of, or in opposition to. a par
ticular bill But even a senator can’t
be all things to all men.
Then there are the well-heeled
lobby groups with their technical
experts.
What can a committee with a lim
ited appropriation do In competition
with a private group with funds to
hire the best legal or technical
brains in the country to present its
case? How can a member of a con
gressional committee be expected to
know as much about a subject as a
member of a government depart
ment who spends his whole time on
the particular subject involved?
Fortunately, the situation Is
curable. One answer Is—greater
specialization on the part of the
members of congress. This can
be accomplished by cutting
down the number of committees
upon which a member is allowed
to serve. In the house (with Its
larger membership) a member
can concentrate on a single com
mittee’s work. In the senate,
I know of one case where a
senator round that all six com
mittees on which he served were
scheduled to meet at the same
time on the same day.
Another solution for the problem
would be provision for employment
of non-political experts, both tem
porary and permanent, to advise
committees on purely technical mat
ters This arrangement now ex'sts
but in such a limited degree that it
is hardly effective.
B A R B S . . . by Bnukhane
Washington is 8-lth on a list ot 92
cities in lung afflictions. Still
sound of wind, anyhow, l hear you
remark.
• • •
Under the Hull reciprocal agree
ments, tariffs to 3d per cent are
only 1 per cent lower than they
were before 1913 and 8 per cent
higher than under the Underwood
act of that vear.
The French atr ministry has tem
porarily suspended voluntary enlist
ments in the French air force be
cause "the number of applicants ex
ceeds the number who can be en
rolled and instructed.”
• • •
Congress is going to streamline
Itself. I wonder if the congressmen
will have to diet down to a svelt
silhouette to match.
STAGE SCRE
Released by Western Newspaper Uni op.
By VIRGINIA VALE
ALFRED HITCHCOCK,
lx who’s just signed to pro
duce and direct one picture
a year for five years for Selz
nick-International, came up
the hard way. The master of
suspense began his career in
England by sweeping the cut
ting room floors. In the years fol
lowing he filled almost every job
connected with the making of mov
ies. When he finally picked up a
megaphone and began directing, he
turned out such immediate suc
cesses as "The Lodger,” “The 39
Steps,” "The Lady Vanishes,” etc.
Now in England producing govern
ment shorts, he’s due back soon to
begin work on the Selznick-Intema
tional “Notorious,” which will star
Ingrid Bergman. She also has
“Spellbound” coming along.
-*
Remember back three or four
years when Sylvia Sidney was mak
ing pictures that always seemed to
put her into drab costumes, in drab
stories? Well, just wait till you see
her in "Blood on the Sun,” the Wil
mm ———
SYLVIA SIDNEY
liam Cagney production. Her ward
robe used to consist of a black dress,
a gray dress, and a flannel night
gown, as a rule. Now she’ll wear
six daring evening gowns and an
eye-opening negligee.
-*
From now on we’re going to be
hearing about movie stars who were
discovered when working in televi
sion. Shirley Hunter’s one. She’d
always wanted to get into pictures.
She and her mother moved to Holly
wood in 1936, and Shirley studied
singing, dramatics, everything that
could help toward attaining her goal
—and landed in television. A scout
for a major studio saw a telecast,
she was sent for, given a screen
test, and there she was in the mov
ies! You’ll see her in an outstand
ing role in “Delightfully Danger
ous.”
-*
It was no hard luck for Marc
Platt when he sprained his ankle
and couldn’t do his spectacular
dance routine for Columbia's “To
night and Every Night.’’ The direc
tor used the time thus gained by
ringing in an extra kiss scene for
Marc and Janet Blair.
-*
Sergt. Robert Foster, a tank crew
man on the French-German battle
line, went to a movie provided by
the Army Pictorial Service. Too
tired to notice the name of the pic
ture, he fell asleep. He was awak
ened when the GI's began whistling
at a gorgeous girl shown in Techni
color on the screen. He nearly fell
out of the hayloft where he'd been
napping—she was Jean Colleran, in
“Cover Girl”—also Mrs. Robert
Foster!
-*
Umbrlago, Jimmy Durante’s “little
man who wasn't there,’’ will be the
little man who’s everywhere this
Christmas. A Des Moines woman
started it by sending several pack
ages to her son, in camp, for sol
diers who don’t get holiday pres
ents. Inside each package is a card
saying “To Umbrlago.” Other moth
ers heard of the idea—as a result
Umbriagos all over the country will
receive unexpected gifts.
-*
The unhappy voice of the Post
man on “George Burns and Gracie
Allen" show is Mel Blanc's. The gruff
voice of "Hubert Peabody.” father
of “Phoebe” on the “Jack Carson
Show” is Mel Blanc's. And the
stuttering squeal of Porky Pig in
the movie cartoon is—Mel Blanc's.
-*
Mary Mason, who's gay little
“Penny” on the Blue Network’s
“My Best Girls,” says she couldn't
have avoided being an actress Her
mother played in early Western
movies, and Mary was so entranced
by her mother's work that she
couldn’t imagine any other career.
-*
ODDS AND ENDS—Another 'teen
age lyric sopruno is being launrhed in
the movies; she’s Donnu Lee, who
makes her screen debut in IlKO’s “The
Body Snatcher.” . . . IFarriers have
changed the title of Joan Crawford’s
picture back to the original “Mildred
Bierce"—no matter uhal it’s changed
to in future, ue’ll say no more about
new titles for it. , . . Errol Flynn wilt
hare eight Lading ladies in “The Ad
ventures of Don Juan." . . . Lilian Fon
taine, mother of Joan and Olivia da
Havilland, makes her screen debut
in “The Lost IT eekend’’ . . . 40% of the
profits of "Hollywood Canteen" will go
to the Hollywood Canteen
A Thrilling Surprise
For This Christmas
F\0 YOU know a young house
keeper who would love to
make a home for a family of dolls
in this charming Colonial house?
It is easy to make from scraps
of plywood or from panels with
BtMOVABlt --P3
FRONT FOSTf N5
ON WITH
HOOkB
am "mm
Lag WINDOWS
Wf DOORS
V V*ws INTO
OATH AMO
II KITCHEN
and other
^teatum*
cut out
and clued
ON WALLS
moan
may be made
to FIT NEW OR OLD
BOOK SHELVES
slight flaws nof/ available for civ
ilian use. It is even possible tc
make the front, partitions and
other special features to fit book
shelves that you may have now.
Another important feature of
this house is that it fits into a 28%
inch space against the wall, where
it won’t be stumbled over.
• * •
NOTE—Pattern 273 gives Illustrated di
rect* is and dimensions for making the
combination doll house and shelves shown
nere; also actual-size outline drawings for
the doors, windows, shutters, fireplace and
views into up-to-date kitchen and bath.
Directions for coloring these features and
gluing them in place, making flower boxes
and other details are included. To get
this pattern, address:
MRS. RUTH WYETH SPEARS
Bedford Hills New York
Drawer 10
Enclose 15 cents for Pattern No. 273.
Name.
Address.
CLASSIFIED
DEPARTMENT
FEATHERS WANTED
DO YOU OWN A FEATHER BED?
We also buy new Geese and Duck feath
ers, quills, horse hair and furs. Send to
FARMERS STOKE. Mitchell. So. Dak.
FEATHERS WANTED. NEW OR OLD
Ship or write to STERLING FEATHER
Co., 011 North Broudway, St. Louis. Mo.
ARC WELDERS
NEW AC AND DC ARC WELDERS avail
able without red tape; immediate delivery.
OMAHA WELDING CO.
1001 Jackson - - Omaha, Nek.
FOR SALE_
M. E. DUDLEY Funeral Home for Sale.
II. E. WHITTNEY, Admn.
Churdan - Iowa.
STALLION FOR SALE
GENTLE CHESTNUT SADDLE STAG.
LION, 5 yearn, four Htnckinu^ real ii»d.v
idual. $300. Ronald White, Anselmo, Neb.
CANARIES WANTED
WE WILL Ul'Y ALL YUUlt CANARIES
SINGERS AND FEMALES
Any quantity. Write tor our latest prices.
MAX QUISLE It UIKII CO.
Omahu’n Pet Store Since 1HSS
113 No. 16th St. Omaha, Nebr.
at first 9^
SION OF A QJ
0 O®*1*
w ™*666
Cold Preparations as directed
Preserve Our Liberty
Buy U. S. War Bonds
WNU—U 50—44
Tonight/
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ST/M&zsjrg
chest and back **
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