The Alamance Gleaner
VOL. LXXH GRAHAM, N. C., THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 1946 No. 7
- ? I 1 1
WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS .1
U. S. Cracks Down on Russia;
British Loan Called Trade Aid;
Modify Emergency Housing Bill
Released by Western Newspaper Union. ??J
(EDITOR'S NOTE: When epialdns are expressed la these eelaaaas, they are these ef
Western Newspaper Ualea's news analysts and net necessarily e< this newspaper.)
DIPLOMACY:
Crack Down
First evidence of a stiffening of
U. S. policy toward Russia was con
tained in the state department's
warning that this country could
not remain indifferent to the Reds'
refusal to withdraw from Iran in
accordance with an agreement
made in 1942 and reaffirmed at
Teheran.
Oil-rich, Iran has been prominent
in the news since its northwestern
province of Azerbajain moved for
local self-rule and Russian troops
prevented efforts of the central
government to quell the revolt. Dur
ing negotiations between Russia and
Iran for withdrawal of Red forces
from the country, Moscow was said
to have pressed for oil concessions,
held exclusively by the U. S. and
Britain.
While the state department's note
to Russia emphasized that this
country could not sit idly by while
tri-partite agreements affecting an
other nation's sovereignty were bro
ken, it urged the Reds to retire to
promote the confidence necessary
for fostering world peace.
Having pressed the Russians on
the Iranian situation, the state de
partment followed with another pro
test to Moscow over the Reds' loot
ing of Japanese industries in Man
churia and their efforts to set up a
joint Russian-Sino economic rule
over the province to the exclusion
of other nations.
BRITISH LOAN:
Called Aid
Declaring that the alternative to
lending financial assistance to Brit
ain was a postwar economic dog
fight, the administration opened its
fight for the 3% billion dollar loan
to the United Kingdom with Secre
tary of the Treasury Vinson and As
sistant Secretary of State Clayton
endorsing the advance before the
senate banking and currency com
mittee.
Vinson and Clayton presented
parallel testimony to the solons, as
serting that if Britain were unable
to obtain dollars with which to buy
Vinson: Warns of Dog-fight.
goods, she would tighten up her ex
change regulations and conserve her
resources for careful expenditure
within a friendly trading bloc. The
result would be a return to high
tariffs, sanctions and other restric
tions which bogged trade prior to
World War II and spurred the de
velopment of totalitarian economy.
Disclosing that the U. S. had
turned down a Russian bid for a
six billion dollar loan, Vinson told
the senators the administration did
not contemplate direct loans to oth
er nations. However, money will
be advanced to foreign countries
through the Export-Import bank, set
up before the war to stimulate
trade and possessing limited loan
ing power of billion dollars.
HOUSING:
Emergency Bill
Though balking against imposi
tion of ceilings on old houses and
payment of 600 million dollars in
subsidies to building material manu
facturers to step up the flow of sup
plies, the house approved an emer
gency housing bill giving the gov
ernment broad powers to speed low
cost residential construction.
Pushed through by a coalition of
Republicans and southern Demo
crats, the bill gives Housing Ex
pediter Wilson Wyatt independent
authority to channel building mate
rials into home construction through
priorities until June, 1947; set prices
for such materials to increase out
put, and halt the export of lumber
or other scarce supplies.
Other provisions of the measure
establish preferenoe for war vets in
" /
the purchase of new dwellings; in
crease the FHA's resources to in
sure mortgages of ex-G.I.s by one
billion dollars; and set ceiling prices
on new homes.
BROTHERHOOD:
Truman Plea
With former Prime Minister Win
ston Churchill's plea for a U. S.
British military alliance posing the
question of American adoption of
the proposal or continued adherence
to the United Nations Organization
for maintaining world peace, Presi
dent Truman stood by UNO in an
address before the Federal Council
of Churches in America at Colum
bus, Ohio.
Though sponsoring Churchill's
speech at Fulton, Mo., Mr. Truman
apparently intended to await public
reaction to the proposal before tak
ing a position himself. Meanwhile,
the President avowed complete sup
port to UNO, declaring that this
country expected to defend it and
work for its perfection along with
the other member nations.
In addressing the 500 delegates,
representing 25 million Protestants,
Mr. Truman declared that only
through the observance of Christian
principles could any mechanism for
peace be successful. Extending the
thought to domestic affairs, he as
serted that only through religious
fervor ccnild the country develop a
social program designed to meet
the needs of the mass of people.
In considering the . church's posi
tion in the postwar world, the coun
cil unanimously adopted a resolu
tion condemning any form of racial
segregation.
Presenting the resolution. Or.
Henry Sloane Coffin, noted Presbyte
rian theologian, rapped church or
ganizations themselves for practic
ing discrimination against Negro
and other minority groups. Many
church - supported hospitals, schools
and theological seminaries were
guilty of the offense in varying de
grees, he said, and some churches
themselves refused to hire people on
racial or other grounds.
DENAZIFICATION:
Germans Help
To speed the arraignment and
trial of between 1,500,000 and
2,000,000 Germans charged with
Naziism, U. S. military authorities
approved a law promulgated by
provincial governments of the
American occupation zone providing
for prosecution of suspects in
local courts.
Applicable to the U. S. zone only,
the new procedure is expected to al
low rapid disposition of pending
cases and removal of much of the
uncertainty affecting sectional
economy. Germans hope that con
victed persons might be substituted
for war prisoners presently em
ployed as forced labor by the Allies.
To be tried by anti-Nazi prosecu
tors and three-man tribunals, de
fendants will be classified into four
broad categories, including major
offenders, active promoters of Hit
lerism, youthful adherents and
nominal party members who joined
the movement for business or social
convenience. While penalties for
major offenders and active pro
moters include forced labor, confis
cation of property and restriction on
employment privileges, the other
groups would be subject to occupa
tional curbs and fines.
STRIKE:
Crisis Brewing
As the ClO-United Automobile
Workers strike against General Mo
tors proceeded through its fourth
month, pressure grew for settlement
of the walkout to avert a crisis re
sulting from the prolonged idleness
of 175,000 production employees.
With the union and management
remaining one big cent apart from
agreement on wages and both sides
indicating no inclination to budge,
the city of Detroit appealed to
President Truman to personally
intervene because the strike was
seriously impairing the economic
life of the community. To provide
funds for growing relief applica
tions, the city authorized an appro
priation of $400,000.
Increasing bitterness developed
between the UAW and G M. over
the company's refusal to go above
its offer of an 1814 cent an hour
wage increase or submit the issue
of paying 19V4 cents to an impar
tial arbitrator. With the UAW con
vention scheduled for March 23 to
II, union spokesmen charged that
the company hoped to prolong the
strike to create dissatisfaction over
.present officials and open the way
for their onster.
Ingrained Tradition
Though loon to be shorn of powers
under new Jap constitution, Hirohito
retains reverence of these Jap repa
triates, bowing to the ground upon
his entrance to their quarters at
Kampi.
JAPAN:
New Sun
Emerging over the horizon of a
defeated Japan, a new sun arose.
It spread the hope and aspiration
embodied in the new constitution
drawn up after five months of de
liberations between American and
Nipponese officials.
Endorsed by General MacArthur,
Premier Shidehara and Emperor
Hirohito himself, the new constitu
tion strips the mikado of all his sov
ereign power, provides for the free
election of two representative
houses and assures freedom of
thought, press, religion and speech.
Of particular interest was the con
stitution's prohibition of an army,
navy, air force and other war facili
ties, and the renunciation of the use
of force in settlement of internation
al problems. In declaring that Japan
was willing to become the first na
tion to outlaw' armaments, Nippon
ese spokesmen hoped that the rest
of the world would accept the same
principle and follow the example.
OPA:
Ease Price Control
Though price controls were re
moved from musical instruments
and a wide variety of miscellaneous
items ranging from ice bowls to bull
rings, OPA threatened to restore
regulations if retail charges bound
ed from reasonable levels.
Included in the items freed from
price control were such sporting
equipment as fishing, archery, ski
ing, croquet, bowling, baseball, bas
ketball, football, .golf and hockey.
Though playing uniforms were ex
empted, control was maintained
over shoes because of their general
usefulness.
Among the miscellaneous items af
fected by the OPA action were low
cost kitchen utensils, cowbells, buck
ets, coffee servers, unglazed flower
pots, safety goggles and industrial j
cloth ipg designed for protection
againft hazardous occupations. With
supplies adequate, price control was
temporarily relinquished over
phonograph records, electric lamp
bulbs, firearms and ammunition.
STEEL:
Kaiser Balked
World War II's outstanding entre
peneur, big, burly Henry Kaiser was
forced to exercise all of his ingenu
ity in procuring sheet steel if he
was to go ahead with plans for the
production of his postwar autos.
Kaiser's difficulties arose over his
inability to obtain sheet steel from
major producers, who claimed that
supplies were limited and prefer
ence was being given to established
customers. Only two companies
considered shipments, Kaiser inter
ests said, but they conditioned
their action upon the consent of
other firms to deliver material.
Boiling over. Kaiser and Joseph
W. Frazer, his auto-making associ
ate, asked the department of justice
to investigate the steel companies'
action, charging impairment of
competition. They also called upon
the economic stabilization board to
allocate available supplies to users.
Though Kaiser operates a steel plant
at F on tana. Calif., be has no sheet
rolling facilities and Installation of
such equipment at the govarnment
owned plant be is thinking of buy
ing in Gary, Ind., would cost 29 mil
lion dollars.
Innocent Bystander
The Cine magicians: Paved with
guffaws, "Road to Utopia" has Bing
and Bob performing their whackro
batics. . *. "Sunbonnet Sue" packs
the nostalgic charm of a family al
bum?playing a heartful of Gus Ed
wards' lilts. . . . "Open City" (which
was produced in Italy) is a slam
bang-up tribute to the intrepid Ital
ian Undergrounders. . . . "The Sailor
Takes a Wife" is a fluffy little ro
mantic fable with Robert Walker
and June Allyson whipping up the
froth. . . "Six Gun Man" is a
stenciled plot, repetitious as hiccups.
. . . Advance reports say that "Jour
ney Together," an importation from
Britain by Terrence Ratigan, will
be a big click. . . . "Phantom Ex
press" co-stars a yawn and a snore.
The Radio: The newest man-wife
combo on the air is Mr. and Mrs.
Earl Wilson of Akron, Ohio, and
these parts. Via Station WLIB once
weekly. . . . Billy Halop's emoting
on CBS' "Aftermath" is a welcome
addition. He recently returned from
the wars. . . . "Duffy's Tavern" is
cooked up by oitly 11 gag-writers.
. . . "Dead End" was loaded with
earthy lingo. But the roughest word
in the Theatre Guild's version on
the networks was "jerk."
Bigtown Newircel: Honorable
John Coffee of the House of Repre
sentatives week-ending from the
Capitol at the Pierre. . . . Anita
Colby, the model's model. . . . Ann
Sothern, the star, paying an unex
pected visit to the 52nd street Joynta
and delighting the proprietors of
same. . . . Don DeFore (the orches
tra leader in the film, "Stork Club")
in town to rehearse with "Judy
O'Connor," which opens in Apr. . . .
Claudette Colbert, whose husband is
a specialist on hay-fever and aller
gies, but she suffers and suffers and
suffers all year 'round. . . . Martha
Raye carrying her beautiful baby
from the St. Moritz to a waiting
cab and the choo-choo to Chi.
Sallies in Our Alley: Jackie
Green, the Embassy Club clown,
was in a Broadway restaurant and
asked a waiter the price of dinner.
"We have two dinners?one for 22
and another for $5," was the reply.
. . . "What do I get extra on the
$5 dinner?" asked Green. ... "Pres
tige," was the snapper. . . . Har
vey Stone says Sinatra has muscles
now ? from carrying all that
money to all those banks. . . . Latin
Quarter boss Lou Walters asked an
actor if he knew what an atheist
was. . . . "Sure," was the retort,
"someone who don't believe in
Looey B. Mayer!"
Novelette: When Harry Tugend
(who wrote the film "Wake Up and
Live") was an unknown writer, he
courted Jean Barkow. ... At the
time she was Billy Rose's Girl Fri
day. . . . "Why do you go around
with a nobody?" Rose asked her.
"Hook up with a success or some
guy likely to be one!" . . . Jean die-!
regarded the counsel and married
Tugend. . . . They've been living
(happily ever after) in Movletown,
where Tugend is now Paramount
Studio's executive producer. ... He
will soon produce Paramount's
film, "The Life of Billy Rose."
Three months tfo the U. S. Army
in Germany discovered the lists of
Nazi sympathizers in the U. S. A.
Army officials promised the lists
would be made public. The State
Dep't promised the lists would be
made public. A Cong. Committee
promised the lists would be made
public. . . . And what happened?
Absolutely nothing I After all those
promises ? the lists are still a se
cret And even the reason the lists
are being hushed up?is a secret
Quota ties Marksmanship: K.
Roos: Shall we split a kiss? . . .
Anon: Rudeness is the reply we can
not think of. ... J. M. Barrio: I
am not young enough to know every
thing. . . . Virginia Faulkner: The
decoration eras not so much period
as exclamation point. . . . Stefan
Zweig: The lark whirred upward
like a skyrocket of delight . .. Chris
Morley: The extraordinary insect
obligato of Summer nights. . . .
H. V. Morton: Conversation as for
mal as a minuet. . . . C. E. Coe:
As naked as a peeled banana. . . .
O. W. Holmes: Sin has many tools,
but a lie is a handle srhich fits them
all. . . . Sax Rohmer: A smile 30
years her junior. . . . Heywood
Broun: The ability to make love
frivolously is the chief characteris
tic which distinguishes the human
beings from the beasts. . . . Gelett
Burgess: A secret as fascinating as i
a loose tooth.
KANSAS SAHARA . . . la 19J6 there were desolated homes sneh as
this around Liberal, Kansas. Pasture lands were rained and grasshop
pers aided drouth in destruction of crops. In mid-summer not a green
thing was in sight.
m m m am ^ ?
Many Sections Fearful
Of New Dust Bowl, in '46
(A WND News Feature)
THE "dust bowl's" rich land, after several good years, is dry
enough in some spots to take wings again. But whether it will or
will not is the 64-dollar question. Millions of people would like to
know the answer?before the soil starts moving.
so iar, mere nas oeen "a urue?>
blow" out in western Kansas and [
Oklahoma and it's dry too. But no '
one who went through the "black"
blizzards of a decade ? ago would
compare this year's storms with
those years.
"Another dust bowl may develop,
but conditions would have to grow
a lot worse than they are now be
fore I would climb out on a limb
with any such prediction," one
Kansas official has stated after snow
and rain fell.
The winter has been a dry one in
all the old dust bowl states. Wheat
made little growth in some areas.
And the U. S. department of agri
culture has reported that a new dust
bowl appeared to be forming in the
"redlands" district of Kansas and
Oklahoma.
Some wheat damage has been re
ported at Pratt and Liberal, Kans.,
but recently snows and rains have
improved the wheat lands west of
Hutchinson. At Amarillo, Tex., Gene
Howe, newspaper publisher, is op
timistic, pointing out that con
ditioni are not yet critical, and
spring snows and rains may end the
threat of a drouth.
Both farmers and the government
combatted the tendency to plow up
grasslands for planting during
World War II, as was done In World
War I. The land is tied down better
this time. Farmers have learned to
plow and cultivate so as to leave
more stubble to hold the soil.
In some places in the old dust
bond there has been little or no
moisture all winter, and undoubted
ly wheat is In bad shape. Whether
or not it will survive much longer
no one knows. Perhaps the fate of
many fields hangs in the balance,
and not until late spring will the
verdict be known.
Even experts in the winter wheat
belt differ widely in their opinions.
Some say the wheat is already
gone; others hold out for an 80 per
cent yield. Still others think that
rain any time within six weeks will
give the fields new life.
Wheat supplies are lower than for
many years. Some of the mills are
working only five days a week. In
some places in Texas, Oklahoma
and Kansas, a black market in
wheat has sprung up. Latest fig
ures show visible U. S. wheat to
half, compared to a year ago. Mill
ers are paying all the traffic will
bear to keep their mills going.
Newspaper editors in the wheat
lands, who make it their business to
know crop prospects, have made
their own surveys. To a man they
say "not yet" to the government's
prediction. It is going to take a lot
more dust and dry weather to scare
some of those grizzled old farmers
who weathered the worst nature
had to offer in the '30s.
Where does the dust come from?
That is easy, say the editors:
"Oklahomans say it comes from
Kansas; Jayhawkers say the dust
plague originates in Oklahoma."
The rivers aren't very low yet,
cither, one Kansas citizen reported.
"They're a little too wet to plow
and a little too muddy to drink."
Some Scoff
Aft Idea of
New Drouth )
TOPEKA, KANS. ? There won't
be a repetition of the 1834-38 "duet
bowl" in Kansas, Texas and Okla
homa. At least that's what a lot of
people out here say as they scoff
at the U. S. department of agricul
ture's report that another drouttt
is developing.
"Of course, if it doesn't rain for
four years, it'll go blowing again,"
Eck Brown, banker and rancher at
Dalhart, Tex., admitted: "but the
soil is tied down now."
The agriculture department's pes
simistic prediction prodded a sore
spot in the memories of Sooners
and Jay hawkers alike. Farmers
? t I ^ ?
I
j f
\^TEXA3
DWINDLED . . . The aid tat
bowl of the Ite gradnslly taw- .
died until it wms no more. There ,
has been plenty of rate the last
few years.
were fighting then to hold title te
their land in the depths of a depres
sion, prices were low, and dry, pow
dery dust was piled in fence rows
like snow drifts. The vagrant winds
were "swapping" the fanners' real
estate like careless horse traders.
The people out in this part eC
the nation don't like "gloomy Gus" ~?
predictions. They've seen drouth,
grasshoppers, blizzards, and trther
plagues, but they've managed te
come through them aH A little
"Dustbr" doesn't scare them, and
rain always comes?just IS mirmtea
before it's too lstel
Kansan Says
He Predicted
Drouth 6Cycle9
PRATT, KANS. ? TJ>e dry cycle
is here again?just as Fred Reece
predicted 11 years ago in an arti
cle in the Pratt Daily Tribune.
Recently Fred dug out the old
article he had written in 1934 under
the title, "Sun Spots." And then he
sat down and wrote another one,
in which he stated:
"In my 1934 article I noted that
observations over almost a century
showed these increased sun spot
outbreaks occurred at (airly regu
lar intervals of about llti years. No
body knew why or if that rate would
continue. But on the theory that
it might continue, I ventured that
1940 might find us in the midst of
another series of dry years. That
year is here; the sun tornadoes are
here, perhaps a bit late but they
started their upsurge more than a
year ago. Last year's wheat crop
was not much affected, probably be
cause see have learned to conserve
moisture. This year's crop hangs in
the balance between good subsoil
moisture and a hot, dry, blowing
surface. Maybe the memories of
the dust bowl days of the '30s will
enable you to guess the next two or
three.
BACK IN 1935 . . . Sand storms worked havoc to Oklahoma and other J
plains states. The above picture was takes to Western Oklahoma osi
shows drifts of sand around buildings on an abandoned farm.
China, Australia and Iran
Plan Irrigation Projects
WASHINGTON, D. C. ? In IMS,
more than 170 engineers represent
ing 30 foreign countries visited the
United States for the purpose of
studying reclamation and irrigation
projects, and they are now return
ing to their native soil to begin work
on similar works in their own coun
tries: *?
Heading the list is China, with M
engineers, while India follows with
24, Australia with 11, and other na
tions famous for deserts ? Iran,
Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan?have
sent delegations varying in number'
from one to nine.
Through unified development oC
such famous river valleys as the
Ghanges, Yangtse, Euphrates, Ti
gris and Irrawaddy. it viQ be pos
sible for surrounding areas to be
irrigated, and for the owner-nations
to establish hydro-electric bower
production, flood control, municipal
water supplies and improved navi
gation. In many cases the United
States will send its own engineers
abroad to assist these areas, in
terior officials said.
t
Wornout Land Needs Cultivation
And Fertilizing to Regain Vigor'
The notion of giving worn-out
farm land a "rest cure" haa for
tunately just about passed, says J.
C. Hackleman, professor of crops
extension at the University of Illi
nois college of agriculture.
"Calcium leaches out of the soil,
and every ton of beef, pork or
mutton or milk produced on these
pastures removes nitrogen, phos
phorus, potassium and calcium or
lime just as surely as does a crop
of corn, oats, wheat or hay,"
Hackleman says. "In addition, as
these permanent pastures become
less productive they provide less
cover, and the result is more loss
through erosion, until on rolling pas
tures the present crop is largely
weeds or unpalatable weed
grasses."
But these worn pastures are not
hopeless, according to the crop spe
cialist, and the response of most
ef them to treatment Is almost mir
aculous. Five simple steps will
transform the average worn-oat pas
ture into a productive acreage hki
one or, at moat, two years. The!
steps are to test the soil and treatj
It with needed minerals, disc these;
minerals thoroughly while prepar
ing a reasonably good seedbed, re
seed with a mixture of legumes and
grasses, control grazing for at leastl
a year and clip weeds, giving the'
legumes and grasses a chance.
Because of an increase of culti
vated acreages during the war, a
greater acreage is now really
ready for legumes than before the,
war. Hackleman says. A majority1
of the fields limed in recent years)
have not yet grown a legume, he
believes.
Rock phosphate which eras used'
to the full extent of Its availability
during the last war years will ate)
show up In improved alfalfa and;
clover production. _ A