_WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS
Congress to Probe Diplomacy of
State Department; Maneuver to
Modify Demands of CIO Unions
___________ Released by Western Newspaper Union. ■
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Rhea opinions are espressed In these columns, they are those ef
Western Newspaper Union's news analysts and not necessarily of this newspaper.)
Although handicapped
by an almost complete
lack of tools, these Ger
man prisoners of war in
PW ramp at Fowey,
England, still managed
to turn out this varied
collection of toys to help
All Santa's bag for little
Britons. The amateur
workmen included a for
mer Berlin judge, a doc
tor from Hamburg and
university students.
U. S. DIPLOMACY:
Duplicity Charged
Long under fire for its implemen
tation of American foreign policy in
the wake of U. S. victories on the
battlefield, the state department
was scheduled for congressional in
vestigation following ex-Amb. Pat
rick Hurley's charge that some of
its personnel had worked counter to
his efforts to promote the uni
fication of China.
In loosing his bombshell on Capi
tol Hill, Hurley declared that cer
tain professional diplomats were in
viting future conflict by siding with
the Chinese communist party and
the imperialistic bloc of nations in
keeping China divided against
itself and unable to resist encroach
ment.
While he worked for a democratic
China which could act as stabilizing
Influence in the Orient, Hurley
charged, some state department of
ficials told the Chinese communists
that his activities did not reflect the
policy of the U. S. and they should
not enter into a unified government
unless retaining military control.
Agreement to Investigate the
state department followed the de
mand of Senator Wherry (Rep.,
Neb.) for an inquiry to determine
whether there was any variance be
tween U. S. foreign policy and the
Potsdam declaration and whether
the foreign service was interfering
with domestic affairs in South
America, influencing other coun
tries towurd communist govern
ment, or clashing with the army
and navy over occupation policy.
Meanwhile, Gen. George C. Mar
shall. ex-chief of staff, prepared to
embark upon his duties as special
envoy to China in the midst of
Chiang Kai-shek's redoubling of ef
forts to unify the country and open
the way for vigorous postwar eco
nomic expansion. In announcing his
program to modernize the country,
Chiang declared the No. 1 goal
would be the improvement of trans
portation to facilitate an exchange
of materials between the various
regions.
LABOR:
On Defensive
Heretofore on the offensive with its
demands for higher wages to main
tain high wartime pay, the CIO was
suddenly thrown back on the de
fensive with the Ford Motor com
pany's proposal that the United
Automobile workers pay a $5 a day
fine for workers involved in un
authorized strikes.
Ford asked for this protection
against production losses as officials
continued negotiations with the
UAW, whose leaders have main
tained that the industry can afford
80 per cent pay boosts without rais
ing prices because of large re
serves and promises of substantial
profits from huge postwar output.
While UAW immediately chal
lenged the effectiveness of a fine in
curbing wildcat walkouts. Ford offi
cials Insisted that the union could
axert sufficient pressure on its lo
cal* to prevent unauthorized strikes,
slowdowns and controlled produc
tion.
Meanwhile. General Motors, re
versing a previous stand, agreed to
consult with government officials
concerning resumption of negotia
tions with the UAW after the union
gave ground in its demands for a 30
per cent wage increase. With the
company holding out for a modifica
tion of terms, the UAW declared
that it would seek no wage increase
necessitating a rise in prices.
With the work stoppages in G. M.
plants threatening to paralyze prac
tically all of the automobile indus
try because of its dependence upon
G. M. for parts, a further menace
to reconversion was posed in the
United Steel workers vote for a
strike if leaders deemed one neces
sary to enforce demunds for a $2 a
day wage raise.
OPA refusal to grant steel manu
facturers price increases until the
conclusion of the year's operations
permits closer study of their profit
also has hardened company re
sistance to the UAW demands. To
the union's assertion that the indus
try could well pay the increase out
of alleged "hidden profits," manage
ment has replied that government
findings have classified the so-called
"hidden profits" as reasonable busi
ness reserves assuring future expan
sion.
WAR CRIMES:
Pleads Innocence
First major axis personage to be
brought to trial for war crimes.
Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita, erst
while "Tiger of Malaya" and Jap
commander in the Philippines, flat
ly denied charge/ of countenanc
ing rape, pillage and murder and
then rested his case.
As the Allied military tribunal pon
dered the case, Yamashita consid
ered appeal to the
U. S. Supreme
court In case of
conviction on
grounds of illegal
ity of the pro
ceedings. Previ
ously the Philip
pine Supreme
court had refused
a similar protest,
with the demand
the defendant be
freed for trial be
fore civil author
ities.
In taking the ^en. yaniashiU
stand to deny
charges against him, the squat,
browned Jap general declared he
ordered none of the atrocities re
lated by scores of witnesses or con
tained In hearsay evidence ad
mitted by the court. To the accusa
tion that he had planned the exter
mination of the Filipinos, Yamashita
declared that common sense indi
cated the impracticability of killing
18 million people.
The case against Yamashita was
complicated by the apparent divi
sion of command in Japanese
ground, naval and air forces in the
Philippines. While as ground com
mander Yamashita said he had or
dered the withdrawal of his troops
from Manila for warfare in the
mountains, Nipponese naval detacn
ments remained within the capital
for the fighting which heavily dam
aged the city and exposed civilians
to danger.
Meanwhile, the trial of 20 top
Nazis proceeded apace in Nuern
berg. with the U. S. prosecutors
drawing from voluminous evidence
to prove charges of German con
spiracy for aggressive warfare.
Citing a statement of Diplomatist
Franz Von Papen that southeastern
Europe was Germany’s hinterland
and must be brought within the
political (rumework of the Reich,
U. S. Prosecutor Sidney Alderman
quoted documents to show that Hit
ler had delegated Von Papen to de
velop a program of Nazi infiltration
into the Austrian government to
take it over after the aborted
putsch of 1934.
Find Novel Uses for Radio Surplus
Laboratory technicians who are working with the Reconstruction
Finance corporation in developing methods of disposing of three to five
billion dollars worth of new and used radio and electronics equipment no
longer needed by the armed forces have found that antenna tube sections
can be cut into small sizes and converted into toy whistles for exuberant
youngsters.
Toy whistles are only one of a number of adaptations that have
been worked out by RFC and industry technicians in an effort to develop
'peacetime markets for the vast quantities of radio and electronics equip
ment and components that are deemed of no further use to the military
services.
PEARL HARBOR:
Kept Top Secret
Because of a desire to keep secret
the U. S. breaking of of the Japa
nese code, the intercepted mes
sages revealing Jap political and
military moves were beknown only
to nine top officials, Maj. Gen. Sher
man Miles, former head of army in
telligence, told the congressional
committee investigating Pearl Har
bor.
Along with President Roosevelt,
others possessing knowledge of the
decoded messages included Secre
tary of War Stimson, Secretary of
State Hull. Lt. Gen. L. T. Gerow,
head of the war plans division, Sec
retary of the Navy Knox, Admiral
Stark, chief of naval operations, CoL
R. S. Bratton of the army intelli
gence staff, Gen. George C. Mar
shall, chief of staff, and Milos.
Though Maj. Gen. Walter Short
and Rear Adm. Husband Kimmel
were not apprized of the breaking of
the code. Miles said, they were kept
informed of the course of events.
However, with officials anticipating
an attack in the far east, Short
and Kimmel were advised to take
only such action as they deemed
necessary at Pearl Harbor and
guard against sabotage.
When asked what significance
was attached to a decoded Jap mes
sage of Sept. 24, 1941, asking espion
age agents in Hawaii to advise
Tokyo of the disposition of the
American fleet in Pearl Harbor,
Miles replied: "Taken alone, it looks
exactly like what we know now it
was—a plan for bombing Pearl Har
bor. But unless we look on it with
hindsight, it was only one of a great
number of Jap messages seeking in
formation on our warships. It was
perfectly normal for them to De
I doing so. , .
Loses Half of House
If'hen the town ol Silver l.ake,
Minn., decided to widen Center
street, the village council attempt
ed to induce Mrs. Clara Caspryik,
44, to move her five-room resi
dence, extending Id feet into the
area required for the expansion.
Not only did Mrs. Casprysk re
fuse a proposition for the town to
move the building back and pay
her fKOff, Mayor Frank llandes said,
hut she also ignored a court order
to relocate the structure, leading to
the judge’s permission lor the vil
lage to remove that part id the
property blocking the improvement.
After a crew of carpenters j virtu
ally sawed the building in half,
Mrs. Caspyrzk was left with only
one bedroom intact, the tiling
room having been completely shorn
and the kitchen, dining room and
an upstairs bedroom bisected. He
cause she had no other place to
live. Mrs. C.aspryzk, who is crip
pled by arthritis, returned to make
her home in the one remaining
bedroom after a brief stay with her
brother-in-law.
GERMANY:
Review Rule
With French obstruction to Allied
plans for a central administration
for Germany resulting in the eco
nomic breakup of the Reich and dif
ficulties for a restoration of nor
malcy, the U. S. was asked to study
the advisability of revising the Pots
dam declaration pledging this coun
try to its present course.
In urging a re-examination of
U. S. occupation policies, Byron
Price, former director of the office
of censorship who undertook a spe
cial mission to Europe for Presi
dent Truman, declared that the Ger
man people were nursing old and
new hatreds with increasing bitter
ness as their sufferings increased
and disposing themselves to what
ever new leadership desperation
may produce.
With German agriculture and in
dustry seriously impaired during
the closing stages of the war. Price
said the U. S. must also decide
whether to deliver foodstuffs to the
country to prevent starvation and
epidemics this winter and help re
move some causes for unrest.
LABOR-INDUSTRY:
Meet Imus
Started with high hopes, the labor
industry conference called in Wash- [
tngton, D. C.. slowly ground toward
its conclusion with indications that
no Important new machinery would
be constructed for the speedy set
tlement of employee-management
disputes.
In seeking orderly procedure In
drawing up an original contract, the
conferees recommended collective
bargaining first, then conciliation,
and finally voluntary arbitration. In
cases of grievances under existing
contracts, the delegates resolved
that pacts should incorporate provi
sions for settlements without resort
to strikes, lockouts or other in
terruptions to production.
As the conference faltered toward
its end, with neither side apparently
disposed to surrender any of its
bargaining advantages, labor-indus- j
try representatives approved a pro- j
posal to meet for consultation when
ever they saw fit.
SCHOOL LIGHTING:
Best Pays
In a detailed report to civic lead
ers on lighting and seeing condi
tions, the Miami. Fla., Kiwanis club
declared the progress of pupils In a
properly lighted room in Tuscum
bia, Ala., showed two-thirds less
failure over a test period of two
years.
At Lebanon, Pa., a 28 per cent
improvement was shown, and at
Cambridge, Mass., the failure ratio
in the fifth grade was one to three
in favor of better lighting.
SSB Finds Workers Want
Jobs, Not Pay to Be Idle
Only One in Six Who Lose Jobs Ever Ask for
Unemployment Insurance, and Even
They Soon Leave Rolls.
By BAUKHAGE
News Analyst and Commentator.
WNU Service, 1616 Eye Street N. W.,
Washington, D. C.
Two men who have been life-long
friends will have occasion to re
member the month of August, 1945,
for a long time to come, Sgt. Peter
Pugh, waiting for invasion on an air
craft carrier off the coast of Japan,
heard that the war was over. Hank
Haines, welder in a medium bomb
er plant, drew with his pay envelope
a notice that his job had come to
an end because medium bombers
were no longer needed.
Of course the sergeant was not
discharged Immediately. Neither
was Hank—not immediately. He had
two weeks. Then he went downtown
to file his unemployment compensa
tion claim and put in an applica
tion with the United States Em
ployment Service for a new job.
Within six weeks he was back at
the aircraft factory, but Instead of
welding parts for medium bombers
he was working on the engine of a
giant passenger plane.
Then Peter came home. Before he
went off to the Pacific he had
worked at the same plant, did the
very same type of work Haines was
now doing. Peter needed a job and
since he was a veteran, Haines once
more had to give up his position and
file another claim with the unem
ployment compensation office.
Fiction? The names are. But the
stories contain facts that have been
happening thousands of times in all
parts of the country since the war
ended. Facts like these are telling
some important things to an agency
in Washington that was set up at
the bottom of the depression to try
to help people meet the economic
crisis that comes to almost every
one some time. This agency is the
Social Security board, and I am
thinking particularly of that division
of it which administers the state un
employment compensation laws.
The sudden end of the war brought
manifold problems to this agency.
Like many others, it had expect
ed reconversion and demobilization
to be gradual processes and unem
ployment aid was ready to meet that
situation. But the atomic bomb
changed the picture and suddenly
millions of men and women were
thrown onto the labor market. There
was a sudden rise in claims for un
employment insurance as the coun
try grappled with the problem of
creating jobs for the workers who
were no longer needed when war
contracts . were terminated and for
the boys who were doffing uniforms
for mufti.
Facts on
Jobless Pay
In this first experience of its kind
since the SSB came into being some
important facts are being uncov
ered—answers to such questions as:
What Is the truth about peace
induced unemployment in this coun
try?
When on the average will the un
employment compensation periods
run out and the crisis become acute
if there are not enough jobs?
What kind of people are asking
for Jobless pay? Is it true that they
are taking this money and not both
ering to look for work?
Let us see what answers the Em
ployment Bureau of the Social Se
curity Board is finding to these ques
tions as experts here in Washington
and in the field sift through a great
mass of data. First, I might say
that unemployment compensation
claims at this writing are a good
barometer of the unemployment
throughout the country brought on
by the war. Later this would not
be the case. When there is a long
period of heavy unemployment, peo
ple who have been out of work for
four months or more would not ap
pear on the claims lists and there
fore would not figure in the statis
tics. But the situation is different
today. The rise in unemployment
is fresh and the periods of payment
have not yet been used up by many
claimants. So the rolls reflect a
true picture of the situation.
As these lines are written, the sec
ond wave of unemployment to hit
the country since the war ended is
mounting as the first wave recedes.
At the present time workers are
being discharged because they are
being displaced by servicemen who
are being demobilized. The first
wave was made up of those persons
who found themselves out of Jobs
because war Industries had to con
vert to peacetime operation.
In the first wave about six million
workers found themselves out of
work as a result of the ending of
war contracts. Of these, three mil
lion shifted to peacetime jobs right
away without any interruption, two
million registered in unemployment
compensation offices and about one
million are unaccounted for—they
may have found other jobs without
registering in the unemployment of
fice, or they might have gone on
vacation or retired. About 1,100,000
former war workers of this number
found it necessary to draw unem
ployment compensation. Right now
the claims for jobless pay are drop
ping each week and Social Security
officials say that means the full im
pact of the first wave of unemploy
ment—the reconversion wave—has
been felt. The bulk of the war work
ers have been laid off. The bulk of
those who are going to file for bene
fits have already done so.
What’s ahead, then, is the second
wave—the unemployment which will
come as an aftermath of demobili
zation.
It is estimated that from six
to nine million servicemen are
S destined to return to Industry
in the next 9 to 12 months. In
addition, about two million
workers who have been In gov
ernment service during the war
will be looking for new Jobs.
That means that about eight
million persons will be thrown
on the labor market in this
second wave which will come
as a result of the end of the war.
Crisis Looms
By 1947
As nearly as can be judged. So
cial Security officials see a crisis by
1947 if there are not enough jobs.
That is, they expect that unemploy
ment compensation payments will
carry people over jobless periods
until about 1947, by which time pay
ments will have been used up. Since
the amount of compensation and the
length of time for which it is paid
are based on previous length of em
ployment and wages, it is plain that
a period of spotty employment will
affect a worker’s future benefits.
A different type of person is ap
plying for jobless compensation
these days than when the system
was set up in the days when apples
were being sold on street corners
and unemployment was a major
threat to family security.
In the early thirties workers
collected their benelits for the
entire period of their eligibility
and still were without jobs. As
of this moment they are col
lecting for an average of four
weeks and then getting jobs. To
day more women are applying
for unemployment compensation
than men. Skilled workers make
up more than 50 per cent of the
claimants; semi-skilled rank
next In number.
As unemployment comes into the
national picture again and efforts
are made to get more complete job
less legislation out of Congress, ar
guments are heard that people who
are able to get unemployment com
pensation do not bother to look for
jobs. This is answered by the So
cial Security Board on the basis of
what they have been finding out
from the postwar claims.
They point out first that little bet
ter than one in six of the persons
who lost their jobs as a result of
reconversion is receiving unem
ployment compensation payments.
This shows, they say, that a worker
prefers a job any day to being paid
for not working. Moreover, they
point to the fact that over 750,000
persons, or about 35 per cent of the
workers who filed claims initially
since V-J Day. have already left the
rolls and taken jobs. Then there is
the testimony that in two represen
tative cities where special studies
were made it was found that two- i
thirds of the workers who left the
claim rolls took jobs before they
drew any benefits at all They say
that other cases can be cited to
prove the point.
Meantime, as the second wave of
jobless workers hits the labor mar
ket, the unemployment compensation
agencies prepare to handle growing
claims for jobless pay unless—and
until—peacetime industry gets its
wheels turning to provide the jobs
that are needed.
BARBS . . . by B auk h age
When we hear all this talk about
how the schools and colleges aren’t
educating their students 1 can't help
thinking of two of the hest educated
men 1 know, Louis Bruwnlow, for
mer commissioner of the District
of Columbia and authority on civic
administration, and Watson Miller,
recently made head of the Federal
Security administration. Neither
finished grade school.
There Is talk of running General
Spaatz, former commander of the
U. S airforces in Europe, for gov
ernor of Pennsylvania in 1946. Well,
so far nobody has defeated him.
• • •
About 18,000,000 women were work
ing on V-J Day. And now they say
if they and the teen-agers and the
over-agers would go home it would
settle the employment problem.
Household
Spare that brassiere by washing
it after each day or two of wear.
’Twill last longer, fit better.
—•—
Try trimming an old whiskbroom
into a sharp V-point for cleaning
hard-to-get-at corners and crev
ices in furniture and floors.
— •—
A paste made of baking soda
and water will remove coffee
stains from enameled kitchen
ware.
—•—
Inasmuch as nuts absorb mois
ture, they should be placed in boil
ing water for a few minutes be
fore adding them to cake or bread
dough. Otherwise they will make
the baked product dry.
— •—
Apply a little colorless nail pol
ish in the area where a buttonhole
is to be worked. As the polish
dries, it stiffens the cloth and
working the holes is thus made
easier.
Beware Coughs
from common colds
That Hang On
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, 6 ronchftit
kil-rat,:;l
DEATH TO RATS-MICE-MOLES
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says Good Housekeeping Magazine regarding this
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