Washington. D. C.
SriU'ONTKAC TOR PROBLEM
Every train to Washington brings
a group of small business men with
rumpled collars and bulging brief
cases. They've heard high officials
declare- that the defense boom
should be evenly distributed.
They've read about a subcontract
ing program for the smaller firms.
So they come to town loaded with
biue-prmts and inventories of ma
chine tools.
The visitors wait patiently in de
fense offices to ask the same ques
tion: "Whon rtn wo i?ot enntrarts
or subcontracts?" Then they go
home empty-handed, cussing the
"bureaucrats running the defense
program."
What they don't know is that the
issue of subcontracting is being
fought over daily, and with increas
ing bitterness, at the inner confer
ence tables of the Office of Produc
tion Management. The question is
whether OPM should crack down on
the bit* primary contractors and
force them to farm out their piled
up orders.
The powerful big industry clique
says. "No." It argues that forced
subcontracting would be costly and
unreliable. Bob Mehornay, a liberal
small business man in charge of
subcontracting, hotly denies this
and is battling to overrule them.
The Cold foots are that although
200,000 firms are available for de
fense contracts, 90 per cent of the
orders awarded during the last half
of 3940 went t'-* 600 !urrtc concerns.
Arid 114 of them got 95 per cert of
all contracts over $100,000, amount
ing to $6,668,800,000.
? ? *
ARMY MORALS
Genial Mark McCloskey, the Fed
eral Security agency's recreation
expert, has the soldier's moral lapse
figured down to one crucial hour.
This hour is the one during which
he waits for a bus or train to take
him back to camp.
McCloskey, whose job it is to wor
ry about such things and work with
the army and navy, has doped out
that if time drags heavily during
that hour of waiting the soldier may
make for honky-tonks ? and who's to
blame him?
"The smart thing to do." McClos
key says, "is to brighten up the
terminals. Give the boys a place
to shoot pool, get some good chow
at low prices, and read new maga
zines. Some pretty waitresses for
the boys to kid won't hurt any
either."
He doesn't think a tour through
the museum of art or a brisk walk
do much to combat temptation. In
stead he'd like to see every town
near a camp organize an honest-to
goodness information bureau for the
men.
"If the boys want to go to a
dance, get a date, visit with some
patriotic family, or see a ball
game, the community ought to ar
range it for them," contends McClos- i
key.
He beams when he mentions the
200 girls at the Tom Huston pea
nut factory at Columbus, Ga.,
who volunteered to act as host
esses for soldiers at dances and so
cial events.
ACTION ON HOUSING
Housing for civilian defense work- j
ers, one of the most muddled phases
of the defense program, now looks
as if it is going somewhere ? thanks 1
to the quiet intervention of Mrs.
Roosevelt and Frederic A. Delano,
uncle of the President and chair
man of tho national resources plan
ning board.
Both exerted their influence
through FDR, himself. The First
Lady told him of shocking housing
conditions among defense workers
which she had seen in several cities,
and warned that there would be se
rious consequences unless something
was done quickly. Delano urged
Roosevelt to get behind the C. I. O.'s
plan for prefabricated homes.
? ? ?
WILLKIE CAN WEAR SHOES
Much water has gone over the
dam since Secretary of the Interior
Ickes labeled Wendell Willkie a
"barefoot Wall Street lawyer." All
is sweetness and light now between
Willkie and the New Deal ? which
includes Mr. Ickes ? since Wendell's
outspoken support of the lend-lease
bill.
However, one inquisitive reporter
at a recent Ickes press conference
wanted to be absolutely sure. "In
view of recent developments," he
queried, 'Jdo you still think Wendell
Willkie is a Wall Street barefoot
boy?"
Replied Ickes: "I think anybody
has a right to wear shoes in Wall
Street in this kind of weather."
WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS
By Edward C. Wayne
U. S. Would Speed 'AH Out' British Aid
With Appropriation of Seven Billions;
Landing of British Troops in Greece
Adds Confusion to Balkan Situation
< EDITOR'S XOTK ? When opinion* nrr f*prr**fd In lhf*f column*, the;
Released by Western Newspaper Union.'
With the labor situation in the defense industries much in the news
these prominent labor leaders called at the White House to discuss with
the President the formation of a national mediation board for settling all
disputes in defense production. Photo shows: (Left to right) H. C. Bates,
president Brickmasons and Plasterers union; O. W. Tracy, assistant secre
tary of labor; Sidney Hillman. defense commission; Allen S. Haywood, C.
I. O. official, and A. Johnson, locomotive engineers official, :is the group
left the White House.
SPEECHES:
Two Leaders |CSW
In an address that was carried by
radio to all parts of the world, Presi
dent Roosevelt called for an Amer
ican "total effort" to provide nations
resisting aggression with the war
implements they need. Speaking
before a gathering of the White
House newspaper correspondents,
the President declared in effect that
the aim of the United States is "total
victory" over the dictators. He said
that this cannot be achieved without
some very definite sacrifices on the
part of the American people.
He called for a maximum output
of war materials by the United
States and stressed the high impor
tance of national unity. He ex
pressed the thought that the British
people and their Grecian allies
needed ships, planes, food, tanks,
guns, ammunition and supplies of all
kinds. He followed this with the
statement that America would pro
vide them with all these things.
Day later Adolf Hitler spoke to
his countrymen and told them that
no amount of outside help would per
mit the British to defeat the Axis
powers. He did not refer directly
to President Roosevelt's speech.
Germany, according to Hitler, has
been preparing throughout the past
winter for a final drive to victory in
1941. He predicted that this final
victory would come "on land, sea,
or air or in any part of the earth."
BRITISH:
First Again
The British, who have been try
ing their utmost to gel the jump on
their Nazi and Fascist opponents
since Germany made hash out of
French and British armies on the
West Wall, apparently had beaten
the Germans to the punch on the
northern Greek front.
The story camc, not from British
sources, but from the Nazi officials
in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. The move
had two important objects, appar
ently, one to attempt the hopeless
task of keeping Yugoslavia in line,
as a possible Nazi opponent in a
drive on Greece, the other to put
troops into position for a swift and
powerful defense against a Nazi in
vasion from Bulgaria.
The story was that 100,000 sol
diers, including shiploads of muni
tions, tanks and other mechanized
equipment, sufficient for five full di
visions, had been landed and were
taking up positions on Greek soil
opposite to the estimated 500,000
Nazis in Bulgaria.
The original informant said that
official denials could be expected
both from the Greeks and the Brit
ish.
However, entirely unofficially,
British authorities told correspond
ents in London that the reports of
the landing of the British forces in
Greece "probably were well found
ed."
Germany immediately denied any
knowledge of the movement, and as
the Greeks were not letting news
paper men into that territory, but
indeed were evacuating everyone in
expectation that it would be a bat
tleground, the entire story was im
possible of positive confirmation.
The same report said that Ger
many was wheeling her mechanized
forces and her planes into position
for immediate attack.
According to reports brought to
Belgrade by neutral diplomats, five
ships a day have been coming into
southern ports in Greece, and have
moved forward to take positions in
the central part of the country,
readily accessible to the northern
frontier.
Die Is Cast
The move by the British meant
that they had cast the die, that
they were going to move in full
force to the aid of Greece, and
hence that if Germany wants to
force a separate peace with Greece
it will have to be a real military
victory, and not merely diplomatic
pressure.
This move, together with the land
ing at Salonika, was not without a
powerful effect on Turkey, which,
unlike Yugoslavia, seemed to have
some ability to stand out against the
Nazi inroads, and to hold herself in
alliance with Greece and Britain, in
accordance with the wishes of the
government majority.
While Berlin refused to confirm the
reports, and refused to comment on
them in any way, it was considered
ominous that the statement should
be made in a Nazi communique that
"the moment had now come for a
decisive act in German-Greek rela
tions."
ENVOY:
' Means Business '
W. A. Harriman marched up to
newspaper men on the Bristol, Eng
land, airport a-> a special represent
ative of President Roosgvelt and
said these words:
"Believe me, the United States
means business in this war."
They were cheering words to the
English, and at the same time in
this country President Roosevelt's
lease-lend plan went zooming ahead,
with congressional approval of the
$7,000,000,000 implementation of the
law a certainty.
It was within the same week of
the passage of the British aid act
that the nouse subcommittee swept
into instant action and approved the
amount.
President Roosevelt already had
"sold" senate and house leaders that
the amount was no figment of the
imagination, thought up hurriedly,
but was, rather, the carefully con
sidered amount which would take
care of a sizeable aid to Britain pro
gram for the life of the bill ? July,
1943.
The newspapers printed careful
breakdowns of the 7 billion amount,
showed how this and that had been
divided out, and how safeguards had
been thought out as to the question
of moving funds from one category
to another.
It was all placed before the pub
lic succinctly and with h!s usual
compelling power of or, ory by
President Roosevelt him.' f in an
address to the nation. Without tell
ing any secrets, or tipping off ad
verse powers, the President took the
people into his confidence, and just
on the eve of the consideration of
the measure, too.
That clinched the situation, in
view of congressional leaders, who
figured that in three days, at most,
it would be all over, and the ad
ministration would have, practically
intact except for some dozen amend
ments, his fully implemented aid-to>
Rritain olan.
IAMI BEACH.? The keen com
bination of two Dodger man
darins, Larry MacPhail and Leo
Durocher, nominates two stars for
nn exceptional season. They arc
Ducky Medwick and Peewce Keese.
MacPhail believes that young
Reese will be the star inficlder of
the National circuit and thai Med
wick will be the star outfielder for
1941. This may be peering into the
future with rose-rimmed glasses, but
that happens to be the way Mac
Pniil and Durocher feel about it
as the training sca.soii gets well un
der way.
"I've never seen a fellow train
harder than Medwick has trained
this spring," MacPhail said. "He is
not only in great physical shape, but
he will show you more spirit than
you've seen in a long time. There'll
be no tightening up as there was
last summer. He is still in his
prime, ready to move at top speed."
The Riplu Way to Train
"I've discovered," Mcdwick told
me, "that the best way to get in
shape is to keep in shape. That's
what I've done all winter. I was in
shape before the bunch arrived. I
DUCKY MEDWICK
can honestly say I've never faced a
season with the keenness I feel now." i
"I'd like to bet somebody," Mac
Phail said, "that Brooklyn will show
you the finest spirit in either league.
Every man on the club knows we
are all shooting for a pennant, and
that we have a first-class chance to
win."
"What about those Red pitchers?"
I asked MacPhail. "Meaning Wal- !
ters, Derringer and Thompson, to
mention only a few?"
"They may not be as tough this j
season as they were the last two
years," MacPhail said. "Paul Der
ringer is still a great pitcher, but
he isn't any rookie.
"For that matter you are going
to see much better pitching this sea
son on the Brooklyn side of the
fence. Much better. Higbe alone
will make a big difference. I think
he'll do better than 20 wins. He
may even reach 25 with his share
of the breaks. Hamlin will be more
than useful. So will Wyatt. Out of
the lot we'll get at least four good
starting pitchers, with others who
can help a lot.
"And don't forget what I told you
about Reese. He means a lot to a
ball club."
Brooklyn is still the "people's
choice." No other club in baseball
has so many far-flung hamlets work
ing along Rooters' Row, pulling for
Brooklyn to win.
The answer is that Brooklyn is
baseball's daflfiest baseball town,
with the lone exception of Detroit.
Baseball to Brooklyn is something
more than a pleasant way to kill off
a summer afternoon. It is a big
part of the soul of the old city,
where the average fanatic begins
practicing quick starts for the bug
house early in March.
And now Brooklyn has a showman
and a ball club that carry an even
deeper appeal than usual. Both Reds
and Cardinals will have to be strong
er than they were last summer to
keep these Dodgers from boiling
over.
Their Main Problem
A' wording to most of the master
minds connected with the Dodgers,
their main problem is center field.
"If we get this spot fixed op In
the right way I don't think any club
can beat us," one of them told me.
"If we don't, the job will be a lot
touKher. You know how important
center field play is to any champion
ship club. The line of winning
strength runs through the middle ?
catcher - pitcher - second base and
senter. Both shortstop and second
baseman are concerned with second
base play. I think we'll get this
fixed up. But it is the only spot
now that Is giving us any worry."
springs tL tKouoKt
tKu.t'.s true,
it rrvt^Uej me fe&I M
a pr5u? ^yjelF
A* if Id
done it too.
lfcTC**"l
SALESMEN WANTED
Salesman wanted: Candy, Drug. Tobacco.
Sell original Candy Mint Laxative 10c tn
rolls. Your jackpot! Mail 10c. Samples, ter
com. Erie Cathomint. SSItWiiynr. Erie. Pal
BABY CHICKS ~
Blood-Tested Chicks. Popular breeds $SJ0
100 assorted for layers S4.f>r?. Cockerels
S2.35. Postagr prepaid. KtSIlTON Lft>
FOLLETTE, Bok 345, Milltown, lad.
Man's Power
It is impossible to imagine the
height to which may h~ carried in
a thousand years, the power of
man over matter . . . O that
moral science were in a fair way
of improvement, that men would
cease to be wolves to one another,
and that human knowledge would
at length learn what they now
improperly call humanity!? Ben
jamin Franklin.
FOR HEAD
COLDS
fust 2 drops
enetro Nose
Drops will in
stantly start
you on the
"open-nose"
way out of
colds* misery.
. . . rush out
(logging miseries
? nt%h in vitalizing
heali?!j air.
Kemember, free and easy hreathing
takes the kick out of head cold:-.? helps
cut down the time these colds hang on. So
this winter ? head of! head colds misery
with genuine Penetro Nose Drops. Trial
size, 10? Large regular size, only 25*5.
Need of Patience
How poor are they that have not
patience! What wound did ever
heal but by degrees? ? Shakes
peare.
DON'T BE BOSSED
BY YOUR LAXATIVE -RELIEVE
CONSTIPATION THIS MODERN WAY
? When you feel gassy, headachy, logy
duo to clogged-up bowels, do as million t
do? take Keen- A- Mint at bedtime. Nest
morning ? thorough, comfortable relief,
helping you start the day full of your
normal energy and pep, feeling like a
million! Feen-A-Mint doesn't disturb
your night's rest or interfere with work the
next day. TVy Feen-A-Mint, the chewing
gum laxative, yourself. It tastes good, it s
handy and economical ... a family supply
FEEN-A-MINT lot
Happy State
A sound Mind in a sound Body,
is a short but full description of a
happy of State in this world.?
Locke.
WITH WEAK, CRANKY
NERVOUS FEELINGS?
You women -who suffer pnln ol
ular periods and ore nervous, era ok j
due to monthly functional disturo
nnccs should find Lydia E. Pin*
ham 'a Vegetable Compound simpiy
marvelous to relievo such annoym*
symptoms. . ,
Plnkham's Compound Is rnaao
especially for women to help relieve
such distressing feelings and tnw
help them go smiling thru sue
"difficult days." Over 1 .0?H>.000wotric
have reported remarkable
WORTH TRYING! Any drugstore^
WNU ? 7
13-41
CREAM p HEALTH
TO ORDER
? Advertising creates ne
wealth br thowiiw people
and better ways of 1 itniw.
wit creates new wealth it to
1 tributes to the prosperity o
everyone touched by the now or n>
which it act up. In thi? way, don /
gee, advertising is a aocial force wn
working in the interest of every one
every day of the year, t ringing o?
wealth to uae and enjoy. _