__WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS
Auto Industry Faces Tieup In
CIO Demand for Pay Increase;
Trace Nazi Moves for Conquest
Reieaaed by Western Newspaper Union.
(FDITOR'S NOTE: When opinions ere expressed In these columns they are those of
Western Newspaper Union's news analysts and net necessarily ol this newspaper.)
Lean and sober, Hermann Goerlng (left), Rudolph Hess (center) and
Joachim Von Ribbrntrop go on trial for war crimes at Nuernberg, Ger
many.
STRIKE:
Showdown
The CIO’s demands for a 30 per
cent postwar wage Increase to
maintain high wartime “take-home"
pay came to a showdown when
175,000 members of the United Auto
mobile Workers struck against Gen
eral Motors corporation. No. 1 pro
ducer in the industry.
With labor's biggest union locked
against the nation’s greatest operat
ing company, observers looked for
a long-drawn battle between the two
participants, with federal concilia
tor John W Gibson expecting a set
tlement by January 15 or probably
before. Against G M.’s huge re
sources, the UAW reported posses
sion of a $4,000,000 strike fund, with
rumors that the union was prepar
ing for a winter-long siege.
Though original UAW plans called
for a walkout only at G.M. plants
under a new strategy which would
hit at one company at a time and
permit free operation of their com
petitors, the reliance of all other
manufacturers except Ford upon
G.M. for parts threatened to cripple
the whole industry when supplies
ran out or new sources could not
be found. Meantime, UAW held ne
gotiations with Chrysler and Ford
over the pay issue.
UAW'a decision to strike at G.M.
followed the collapse of bargaining
between the two parties, during
which the union turned down the
company's offer for a 10 per cent
raise predicated upon the possibil
ity of price increases for new cars.
Under new OPA regulations, costs
of new G M. vehicles will be about
2 per cent below prewar figures.
Countering the UAW's depiand for
a 30 per cent wage increase, G.M.
declared that production workers
are earning from $1.12 to $1.15 per
hour, with the over all plant average
at $1.18 per hour. If UAW demands
were met. the union asserts, the pro
duction wage would be boosted to
$1.16 per hour, with an over-all aver
age of $1.53 per hour.
As the strike * gan, G.M. con
tinued to pay its 73,500 office and
administrative personnel.
WAR CRIMES:
Trace Nazi Rise
Declaring that high Nazis' own
written records would furnish suf
ficient evidence to condemn them,
U. S. Prosecutor Robert H. Jackson
developed the first count in the Al
lied case against the 20 surviving
members of Hitler's hierarchy,
charging that the party's seizure of
control in Germany constituted the
first step in its plan of world con
quest.
Addressing the four-power U. S ,
British, Russian and French court,
Jackson declared: “We will not ask
you to convict these men on the tes
timony of their foes. There is no
count in the indictment that cannot
be proved by books and records.
. . . These defendants had their
share of the Teutonic passion for
thoroughness in putting things on
paper."
In tracing the evolution of the
Nazi rise in Germany, the U. S.
prosecution recounted the notorious
blood purge of 1934 reportedly insti
gated by Reich Marshal Goering to
crush opposition within the party;
the elimination of all political groups
and confinement of opponents in
concentration camps; the gradual
suppression of labor unions with
the industrialists’ conntvance, and
finally the control of business Itself.
The trial got underway as the Al
lied court turned down the defense
1 ■■■.—1 - -
attorneys' protest against the valid
ity of the proceedings. Asking that
an Impartial opinion concerning the
legality of the court be solicited
from authorities on international
low, the Nazi counsel asserted that
the U. S. had always insisted that
in cases of international arbitration
or Jurisdiction, the bench be filled
by neutrals or representatives of the
interested countries.
Most aggressive of the defend
ants, Goering was gavelled down as
the trial opened and he attempted to
deny the authority of the court, as
serting that he was responsible only
to the German people.
PEARL HARBOR:
Star W itness
One of the star witnesses at the
early congressional hearings In the
Pearl Harbor catastrophe, big,
bluff Adm. James O. Richardson,
who commanded the U. S. navy up
to February, 1941, revealed that the
late President Roosevelt favored the
anchorage of the Pacific fleet at Ha
waii fiver his objections in the hope
of restraining further Jap aggres
sion.
"I stated that in my opinion the
presence of the fleet in Hawaii
might influence a civilian political
government," Richardson said, "but
that Japan had a military govern
ment which knew that the fleet was
St-nalor llarkliw (left) greet! Admiral
Richardton at I’earl Harbor probe.
undermanned, unprepared for war,
and had no . . . supply force . , .
without which it could not under
take active operations. ...”
Listing his objections to stationing
the fleet at Pearl Hacbor, Richard
son said there would be difficulty
transporting supplies to the base;
the site lacked security; operations
were handicapped by problems bf
entry, berthing and departure of
large ships; surface and air space
was congested and restricted, and
full demobilization could only be ac
complished on the west coast.
Relating a conversation with Mr.
Roosevelt, Richardson said that the
President told him that though he
doubted that the U. S. would enter
the war if the Japanese attacked
Thailand, the Dutch East Indies,
Malaya or even the Philippines, he
expected thnt sooner or later they
would make a fatal mistake open
ing hostilities.
In October, 1941, Richardson said,
Secretary of the Navy Knox sum
moned him to an important confer
ence at which he outlined President
Roosevelt's plan for a shipping
blockade of the Japanese in case
they reacted to the reopening of the
Burma road supply line lo China.
According to Richardson, the opera
tion called for posting a cordon "f
U. S. warships from Hawaii to the
Philippines and thence from Samoa
to the Dutch East Indies. Since the
Japs took no belligerent action,
however, the plan was dropped.
Warn Against Postwar Credit Boom
Dangers of a postwar "boom and
bust” will be much increased if in
stallment credit is opened up to ex
cessive expansion, warns a report
from the family economics bureau
of Northwestern National Life In
surance company.
With an enormous backed-up de
mand for goods and services, and
over 100 billion dollars in consumer
cash savings overhanging the mar
1' et, the additional stimulus of over
liberal installment credits can be
very dangerous, the report says,
adding that excesses of consumer
credit have puffed up previous
booms.
Total consumer credit reached a
record height of 9t4 billion dollars
in the fall of 1941, of which approx
imately 6 billions was Installment
credit.
PEACE PATTERN:
Bishops' Report
Following closely upon their qual
ified endorsation of compulsory
peacetime training, the Catholic
hierarchy of the U. S. called for the
realistic adjustment of fundamental
differences between the democ
racies and Russia through recogni
tion of fair play so that an atomic
World War III might be avoided.
Demanding a realization of the
ideals for which Americans fought in
World War II. the bishops deplored
the trend of European affairs fol
lowing the Moscow conference of
1943, claiming Russia since had
adopted an independent course on
many matters and sought to impose
its domination over helpless neigh
boring states.
Besides calling upon the U. S. to
provide full support for overseas re
lief, the bishops also assailed mass
vengeance upon the defeated na
tions, large-scale transfer of popu
lations, systematized use of slave
labor and cruel treatment of pris
oners of war.
AIR ACCIDENTS:
Dangerous Trend
In offering civilian aviation inter
ests the full co-operation of the
army air forces for promoting safer
operations, Col. George C. Price,
chief of the office of flying safety for
the AAF, predicted a heavy future
accident toll unless current trends
were reversed.
Declaring that civil air accidents
since V-J Day to October 31 were 70
per cent greater than in the same
period last year, Price said that
with 300,000 planes in the air in the
next five years there might be 48,000
serious crashes and 5,000 fatalities
annually in the early 1950s.
Though flying mishaps in the
army took 26.000 lives and destroyed
22.000 planes during the war, the ac
cident rate was lower than it had
been during peacetime, Price
averred. Army safety experience
would be gladly offered to civilian
agencies to minimize flying hazards,
he said.
Increase Production
Agriculture, manufacturing and
public utilities reduced manpow
er by 50 per cent per unit of
product during the 40-year period
ending In 1939, the National Bu
reau of Economic Research re
vealed after a comprehensive
study. During the same time,
total output of all Industry was
Increased by 200 per cent, with
only 75 per cent more workers
employed. In declaring that the
figures did not Indicate the real
decline, the bureau said that they
failed to reflect the Improvement
In the quality of the product.
AMERICAN LEGION:
Take Stand
Ending its 27th annual convention
ir. Chicago, 111., with all of the char
acteristic hi-jlnks, the American
Legion took its stand on the leading
controversial national questions of
the day, demanding:
• One year of compulsory military
training for all yopths, with ade
quate basic training and either ad
vanced technical or scientific in
struction, when qualified, or further
schooling in ROTC units.
• Retention of the secret of the
atom bomb and the establishment
of a civilian board for scientific re
search in military material.
• Financial assistance to friendly
foreign countries not imposing trade
restrictions and then for construc
tive purposes only.
• Unification of the army, navy
and air forces into a single com
mand. ,
Following election of former Gov.
John Stelle of Illinois as national
commander, the Legion honored two
World War II vets as vice-command
ers, Fred LaBoon of Chickasha,
Okla., and Dudley Swim of Twin
Falls, Idaho.
MASS TRANSFER:
Move Germans
Because of agitation within the
countries governing their areas of
residence, millions of Germans will
be shifted to the amputated reich
this winter despite a lack of fuel
and rolling stock needed to trans
port them.
In all. some 6.000.000 Germans are
to be moved from Poland, Czecho
slovakia, Austria and Hungary by
next summer, with the U. S occu
pation zone receiving 3,200,000; the
Russian. 2,750,000; the British,
1,500,000, and the French. 150,000.
Disposition of another 6,000,000 Ger
mans from East Prussia and other
former sections of the reich has yet
to be determined.
Allied determination to resettle
millions of Germans in midwinter
followed previous denunciations of
forced mass migration from many
quarters, Winston Churchill, for one,
rising in commons to protest against
such action because of the tremen
dous dispossession of property, pri
vation and suffering involved.
Sa&ncsL Jodcu^ ...
New fabrics from chemistry, even
to a cloth from grass and possibly
a rayon from seaweed, strongly sug
gest that we are witnessing a large
scale revolution in textiles, the
American Chemical society tnurnal
declared.
The host of new synthetic materi
als includes new satins and silk like
fabrics for evening gowns and lin
gerie. soft nylon threads for wool
like socks and sweaters, and Vin
yon with 100 per cent recovery after
stretching.
r - □
UNRRA lest of Sentiment
For World Co-Operation
; - . ' ■ V 1 - -
Faith in Ideal Necessary to Continue Work
Of Allied Relief Agency After Reports
Of Early Difficulties.
—
By BAUKHAGE
Newj Analyst and Commentator.
WNU Service, 1616 Eye Street, N.W.,
Washington, D. C.
The forces in Washington battling
for world co-operation are finding
the going tough. It is hard to get
people to have faith in collective
security when they witness such
things as the breakdown of the for
eign ministers’ conference in London,
Russia’s reluctance to co-operate in
the Far East advisory commission,
Argentina’s espousal of the ways of.
the dictators. At times it seems as
though, internationally speaking, de
mocracy were approaching the win
ter of its sorest discontent.
It is unfortunate that in the midst
of this period of suspicion and anxi
ety, a yes and no vote has to be
taken on a matter that may mean
life or death, and to that extent
peace or anarchy, to hundreds of
thousands of people in Europe. I
refer to the 500 million dollar appro
priation for UNRRA which has been
winding a precarious way through
congress.
By the time these lines appear,
that appropriation which congress
previously authorized may have
been granted. There has never been
much doubt as to its final approval.
But the danger lies in the effect of
proposed reservations.
This appropriation bill is con
sidered a bell-wether. If it goes
through unencumbered, it may
mean that other measures affecting
our relations with other nations are
fairly safe and that such isolation
ism as exists in the country (and,
therefore, in congress) is less than
one-third of the whole.
It is true that there have been
loud and emphatic demands that
such knowledge as we possess con
cerning the atom and its potentiality
be kept strictly to ourselves even
though scientists say it cannot be
less than common knowledge—even
the “know-how” to turn it to mili
tary or commercial use — within
a few years. But I believe that if
you will submit to careful analysis
the expressed sentiment of congress
on this subject, it would reveal a
line-up which takes little consider
ation of any international aspects of
the use of atomic energy. In other
words, the viewpoints so far ex
pressed have differed as to whether
this new force has been looked at
as something to sell at home and
the question has been whether it be
produced under state control or by
private enterprise. The question of
internationalizing the bomb has re
mained in the domain of theory.
A look at the arguments for and
against UNRRA and the reaction to
them gives us a much clearer pic
ture of tendencies, isolationist or
otherwise, of the arguer.
U. S. Support
1$ Vital
When a congressman casts his
vote "aye” or "no” on the bill to
appropriate the money for UNRRA
he is not simply virtually voting aye
or no on whether we help feed starv
ing Europe. If he votes no and the
noes have it. there will be no
UNRRA. True, all contributing na
tions put in the same proportion of
their national income — 1 per cent
—but it so happens that 1 per cent
of the national income of the United
States is nearly three-quarters of
the entire sum contributed. Your
voter knows this. And he can't help
realizing the UNRRA is symbolic of
American participation in any world
organization. Without this country’*
advice, consent and support, no
world organization can exist. And '
likewise, with American support no
nation can afford not to go along.
Another thing that the congression
al voter knows when he votes on
UNRRA is that it is far from per
fect. He knuws that the personnel,
the efficiency, the standing of the or
ganization have improved tremen
dously in the last few months since
it has been able to get the person
nel it required, which it couldn’t get
before because of the manpower and
brainpower shortage due to the war.
But he knows it is still hampered
by its polyglot nature and he has to
have faith enough in its purpose to
make him feel that the risk of fail
I ure is worth taking. Because
■ UNRRA, like any international or
j ganization, is everybody’s baby, it
\ can easily become nobody's baby
Each nation has been only too ready
to criticize it. always excluding their
own representatives’ functions, of
course. UNRRA has suffered great
ly from a poor press because the
task it faced was well nigh impossi
ble in wartime.
The bad news, therefore, overbal
anced the good news as far as re
ports of progress on the part of the
active, contributing countries were
concerned. From the passive, recipi
ent countries naturally there were
plenty of complaints. These “sins of
omission” were ballyhooed. The
other side of the story was not. It
was the sad and familiar tale of
priorities, a story many a business
man can tell. Even when UNRRA
had money in hand for food re
quired (although some of the con
tributing members are very slow
to pay, the United States still owes
a little less than half of its allot
ment and authorization), it was im
possible to get the combined food
board, which decided who got what,
to allot any to UNRRA until the
armed forces, the domestic market,
the lend-lease, and the liberated
countries who had money to buy,
got theirs. And even if the food was
available, frequently there were nc
ships in which to transport it.
That situation has changed. Food
is now being delivered to Europe.
By Christmas it will be moving at
the rate of half a million tons a
month. But the memory of past de
ficiencies lingers and doubt as to
future performance could easily be
used as on excuse to defeat the
measure unless one is really con
vinced that UNRRA's job is so im
portant it must succeed. And there
we get down to the nub of the whole
argument. For to agree with the
thesis that UNRRA’s objective is de
sirable is to agree that the good of
one is the good of all and the good
of the other fellow is the good of the
us—“us” standing for the United
States.
It is easy to show that millions in
Europe will starve this winter unless
they get food from outside their own
borders. It is easy to prove that in
those countries which are UNRRA’s
concern — the ones which were in
vaded and which cannot pay for
food — starvation will lead to dis
ease, riots, revolt—and death. And
we know that under such conditions,
nations turn to totalitarianism and
when that fails, to chaos. We also
know that unless we help tide these
people over, we cannot expect
to sell them our surpluses because
"you can’t do business with a
graveyard." Nevertheless the isola
tionist would respond, what of it?
Let’s stay in our own backyard.
Therefore, the voter, weighing
UNRRA’s past errors with its fu
ture potentialities, will vote for jt
only if he still believes that world
co-operation is something worth tak
ing a risk for.
So UNRRA becomes a test of how
well this belief is standing the test
of misunderstandings and disap
pointments on the diplomatic front
which we have faced in the past
weeks. *•
• • •
We hear a great deal about the
difficulty of understanding the Japa
nese mind and many people have
their fears as to how we are going
to get along in the years ahead dur
ing which we will occupy the coun
try and attempt a reconversion of
Japanese thinking as well as eco
nomic life.
Recently I had a long conversa
tion with an officer who had inter
viewed some of the more intelli
gent Japanese officers captured in
the Philippines just before the sur
render. Several remarks of one of
these men illustrated the difficulty of
reaching the enemy mind.
My friend asked the prisoner:
“What did you think of our propa
ganda?”
“It made us laugh.” the Jap re
plied.
“Be specific,” my friend said.
"Well, you sent us leaflets saying,
‘Surrender; come over to our lines
and receive plenty of hot food and
cold water.' We laughed at that. We
had plenty of cold water in the
mountains What we wanted was hot
water."
Water, to a Jap, meant in this
case a bath. They bathe in very hot
water. That was what they wanted
and couldn’t get. To the Americans
—water means, after the heat of
battle, first, a drink.
_ _ _
BAHBS . . . by Raukhnge
Three wheeled "bugs" — little
tear-drop cars run by an airplane
engine — will soon be available
at around a thousand dollars. More
use for DDT
• . •
About 800 “tasters" in 26 shoe
factories were among the many
strikers of the day. The question is
how long can a laster last when he
isn't lasting?
The department of justice has
over 97 million fingerprint cards.
But they don’t all belong to crooks.
They’ve got mine among others.
• • •
The rubber manufacturers say
there is going to be a revolution in
sports wear, curtains and wall cov- I
erings. They can be coated with new
substances which will resist not only
water but oil and grease.
EX ORE INFANTIUM
IITTLE Jesus, wast thou shy
J Once, and just so small as I?
And what did it feel like to be
Out of Heaven, and just like me?
Didst Thou sometimes think of
"there,”
And ask where all the angels were?
1 should think that I would cry
For my house all made of sky;
1 would look about the air,
And wander where my angels were;
And at waking 'twould distress me—
Not an angel there to dress me!
m 4? it*
HADST Thou ever any toys,
Like us little girls and boys?
And didst Thou play in Heaven with
all
The angels, that were not too tall,
With stars for marbles? Did the
things
Play "Can you see me?” through
their wings?
Didst Thou kneel at night to pray,
And didst Thou join Thy bands, this
way?
And didst they tire sometimes, being
young,
And make the prayer seem very
long?
And dost Thou like it best, that we
Should join our hands to pray to
Thee?
I used to think, before 1 knew,
The prayer not said unless we do.
And did Thy Mother at the night
Kiss Thee, and fold the clothes in
right?
And didst Thou feel quite good In
bed,
; Kissed, and sweet, and Thy prayers
said?
m
acf fife? fife?
'T'HOU canst not have forgotten all
A That it feels like to be small:
And Thou know’at I cannot pray
To Thee in my father’s way—
When Thou wast so little, say,
Couldst Thou talk Thy Father’s
way?
So, a little Child, come down
And hear a child’s tongne like Thy
own;
Take me by the hand and walk,
And listen to my baby-talk.
To Thy Father show my prayer
(He will look, Thou art so fair),
And say: "O Father, 1, Thy Son,
Bring the prayer of a little one.”
, .•.:
A ND He will smile, that children’s
** tongue
Has not changed since Thou wast
young!
—Francis Thompson
First Christmas
Tree of Christkind
Christkind, whose name has been
modified into Kriss Kringle, brings
gifts and happiness to German chil
dren at Christmas time.
St. Nicholas comes around, in Ger
many, on his liturgical feast day—
December 6—his pockets bulging
with apples and nuts and trinkets:
well and good; but, since the central
idea of Christmas concerns the birth
of Christ, Christkind brings the
Christmas tree and presents.
Christkind is not the Infant Jesus
himself: he is a messenger sent by
the Holy Child.
Once upon a time a wood cutter
and his family lived at the edge of
Christmas trees have become a
big business. Santa inspects the
supply.
a great forest. The family was very
poor; nevertheless, when a strange
child appeared before their hut one
Christmas Eve he was hospitably re
ceived and tucked into the warmest
bed.
The sound of heavenly voices
awakened the household at mid-1
night. Looking out of the window,
they saw the child they had har- j
bored clad in radiance and sur-!
rounded by a choir of angels.
Revealing his identity, the child
called attention to a Fir Tree which
stood nearby resplendently decorat
ed with lights and apples, silver
nuts and threads of gold.
"I am Christkir.d,’’ he said. "My
emblem shall be this Fir Tree which j
shall bring Christmas happiness to
good children."
Heathen Mistletoe
The churches have never sane-j
tioned the use of mistletoe in the
decoration of a religious edifice be
cause of its heathen origin. There
are 800 varieties of mistletoe grown
in various parts of the world. Some
species have bright red or orange
flowers and purple fruit. The New
England mistletoe is so small a
plant that botonists overlooked it un- '
til 1871. It is a parasite which may !
kill its host tree. The mistletoe is
deep in legends of interest.
»
IV ANTED; Meteors and meteor craters,
my specimen examined free. Drop me •
i ard for more information. J. P. Ullman,
'lurchard, Nebraska.
~~ RADIO TUBES
RADIO TUBES FOR SA1.E. Send card
srating types needed. The Arbor Co.,
Nebraska City 1, Nebraska.
COLDS’ CHEST TIGHTNESS
quickly loosened by Penetro—
Grandma’s old-time mutton suet
Ideadeveloped by modern science
intoacounter-irritant, vaporizing
salve that brings qui ck, comfor t
ing relief. 25c, double size 35c.
PENETRO
BASE WlCM IN MUTTON SUET
Gas on Stomach
Relieved in 5 minutes or double money back
When eices* stomach acid causes painful auffocat
biK gas, sour stomach and heartburn, doctors usually
prescribe the fastest-acting medicines known for
symptomatic relief —medicines like thoseln Bell-ana
Tablets. No laxative. Bell-ans brings comfort ml
»ffy or double your money hack on return of bottJw
to Q«. 26c at all druggist*.
f Enjoy the feeling of energetie
well-being 1 Take good-tasting
Scott's Emulsion right away, if
you feel tired, rundown, unabia
to throw off worrisome colds—
because your diet lacks natural
AAD Vitamins and energy-build
ing, natural oils I Scott's help*
build energy, etamina. resistance.
Buy *t your druggist’s today!
SNAPPY FACTS j
awuo
RUBBER
Special sponge rubber table
cloths, developed by >. f.
Goodrich, attached to tables
in factory assembly lines en
able assemblers to pick up
small metal parts without
fumbling.
Officials predict that tire produc
tion may jump to nearly 4,000,000
passenger car tires a month during
the last quarter of 1945.
Spare tires should never re
main idle until other tires are
worn out. Rubber needs to be
"exercised" to keep it in best
condition.
The new B. F. Goodrich all-synthetic
Silvertown passenger car tire ac
tually outwears prewar natural rub
ber tires.
Relief At Last
For Your Cough
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 yoa
a bottle of Creomulsion with the un- r
derstandlng you must like the way it
quickly allays the cough or you are i
to have your money back. V
CREOMULSION
for Couchs, Chest Colds, Bronchitis
May Warn of Disordered
Kidney Action
• Modern life with its hurry and worry.
Irregular habits, improper eating ana
l drinking—its risk of exnosure and infec
tion—throws heavy strain on the work
of the kidneys. They are apt to become
> over-taxed and fail to filter excess acid
and other impurities from the life-giving
blood.
You may suffer nagging backache,
headache, dizziness, getting up nights,
leg pains, swelling—feei constantly
I tired, nervous, all worn out. Other signs
of kidney or bladder disorder are some
times burning, scanty or too frequent
urination.
■ Try Doan's Pills. Doan's help the
| kidneys to pass off harmful excess body
waste. They ha\e had more than half m.
V century of public approval. Are recom
4 mended by grateful users everywhere
Ask your neighbor/
I
