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THE JOHNSTONIAN - SUN, SELMA, N. C. — THURSDAY AUGUST 7, 1941
THE JOHNSTONIAN . SUN SOCIALISTIC TENDENCIES
M. L. STANCIL, Editor
Published every Thursday by The Johnstonian-Sun,
Belma, Johnston County, North Carolina. Phone 205.
Entered July 4, 1929 at the postoffice at Selma as
■econd class matter under an act of Congress, March
8. 1879.
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^PEESS ASSOCIATICN^
/ MIGHT BE ABLE TO HELP
She was a pretty little woman, brown eyed
and brown haired, and she wore a sheer blue
dress with a string of white beads around her
neck. Not at all the costume I had expected to
find an expert factory fore-woman wearing.
But then I found that the floor where she and
her girl companion were staying was as clean
as spotless as a well-kept kitchen, and as cool
as a breeze-swept living room. The girls them
selves were gaily dressed too and as well mani
cured and waved as girls in offices or schools.
“Why not?” she asked me when I expressed
surprise. “Working in a factory doesn’t make
a girl different, you know. She is just as fond
of pretty things and good times as any other
girl is.”
Then to my astonishment I found that this
older woman, who has become a supervisor and
holds a position of responsibility and trust in
a famous manufacturing plant, is pretty much
like the rest of us too, just as eager to “do
something useful” in this emergency as those
of us who are simply housekeepers.
I went to see her because she is one of the
women working on instruments for machines
used in the Army and Navy of the United
States—machines essential to defense. I want
ed to get the story of her career and hear from
her direct how it feels to be doing such impor
tant work for Uncle Sam. She explained about
her work and told me how responsible she feels
about it. But then, with eyes shining, she went
on to tell me about the Red Cross courses she
has taken this last year. She spent three even
ings a week all last winter getting the training
that makes her eligible to be a nurse’s aid.
“But why?” I asked. “You couldn’t be spared
from this important production work.
“No, I couldn’t. But I might be able to help
in some extra way with this training. I’d want
to be really useful and know how to give first
aid and things like that. I couldn’t bear just to
sit by and let other people do all the work.”
And so it seems that even a woman in the
front line of defense production isn’t satisfied
with her important work, but wants to be
ready to play a vital part in any emergency.
With a spirit of service like this among the
women of the country in homes and offices and
factories, there can be no question of America’s
ability to survive this crisis with our freedoms
as ■^ell as our countryside and cities unscath
ed.
PAUL REVERE’S HORSE
American industrial superiority, with its prom
ise of security today and of better living stand
ards tomorrow. Research, the Paul Reveie s
horse” that has achieved all this, can well be
proud of the role it plays.
“There is but one way to make sure that
help sent to Britain actually reaches Britain,”
said the New York Times recently. “There is
but one way to insure the freedom of the seas.
There is but one way to protect our own domes
tic freedom. That one way is to send our car
goes to Britain under the cover of our own na
val guns, and if cargoes or ships are interfered
with by Nazi pirates, shoot the pirates down.”
That point of view is based on the belief that
Hitler’s system of total dictatorship and our
system of total freedom cannot live in the same
world. The triumph of Hitlerism would inevit
ably mean the end of individual freedom and
free enterprise everywhere, and the death of.
social and economic democracy.
We are spending billions to aid England in
fighting aggression, and we are spending more
billions to defend ourselves against its spread
to America. All of this is being done in the
name of freedom and of the American way of
life. The American people have shown their
stern resolution to make any sacrifice to assure
the perpetuation of this nation. Therefore,
while we' are arming against the enemy with
out, we must likewise defend ourselves and our
institutions from the enemy within.
That means we must protect and encourage
the free enterprise system—the system which
has given the American people the highest liv
ing and working standards ever known in the
world.
Only in a land where any man can go into
any business he chooses and prosper to the lim
it of his talents and energies, can the people
know true liberty. The private ownership of
property—whether it be a home, a farm, ^ fac
tory or a railroad—is the very foundation of
freedom and democracy.
There are those in this country who wiuld
force some form of socialism upon the people.
We have seen this applied to the private elec
tric industry—despite the fact that this indus
try is vital to defense and has at all times prov
en its ability to meet any and all increases in
demand for power. If such efforts succeed, all
business, big and little, will be the prey of total
government, and freedom will be but a mean
ingless word in the dictionary.
Our whole foreign policy today is based on
the belief that liberty is in danger, and that
every material resource of the United States
must be given to building arms to defend it.
That being the case, our domestic policy must
have as its cardinal principle the perpetuation
of freedom at home, and the maintenance of
the private enterprise system which has made
that freedom possible. Government control
of private enterprise leads directly to socialism
which just the reverse to the American way of
life.
LIBERTY OR DOLES
Announcement of a tiny new auxiliary en
gine that will extend the flying range of bom
bers, now in mass production for the Navy,
brought about a brief spurt of interest in its
inventor, Charles L. Lawrence. Lawrence has
invented other airplane engines in his time
which were used to break existing flight re
cords, but he has never sought or received the
public attention.
The occasion of his latest invention, which
will be of great service to defense, calls to mind
a story told concerning him. Once a well-wisher
inquired why Lawrence seldom received credit
when others, who depended upon his inventions
for their success, were wildly acclaimed.
“After all,” Lawrence answered humorously,
“who ever heard the name of Paul Revere’s
horse ?”
That quiet spirit of service is characteristic
of . American industrial research. All over our
country, thousands of research workers and en
gineers are making their individual contribu
tions to our national security. They served pro
gress in the past. Today they are helping to
make sure that the results of that progress are
preserved for the American generations that
lie ahead.
Often their names are not known or remem
bered. But the composite result of their efforts
is so plain that no one can miss seeing it-
CONVOY AND PATROL
OUT OF HARM'S WAY!
by^jAMES Preston
Week In DeFense
The influence of Dr. John Maynard
Keynes, the British economist who
visited Washington recently, is seen
by Washington observers in reports
that Administration officials are con
sidering a new plan to give a man
money but not let him spend it that
is not for some years to come.
The proposal under discussion is a
tax plan that is not a tax plan, for
the money that is collected no'w in
taxes would be repaid later on.
Briefly, the idea is to keep money
received as a result of wage increases
from forcing prices upward, causing
inflation. Ae taxpayer wojild be
given a credit (up to a certain maxi
mum) in baby or defense bonds, sav
ings stamps, or special postal sav
ings certificates equivalent to the in
crease in taxes resulting from reduc
tions of exemptions under the income
tax law.
Some government officials estimate
that as many as five million citizens
may be brought into the income tax
structure under such a plan. If the
plan goes through it will probably be
labeled a “compulsory savings plan,”
or some equivalent designation, in the
knowledge that the word “savings”
has a good connotation which is read
ily acceptable to the people.
“Nothing is ever going to be free in this
country,” wrote Paul F. Cadman, Economist of
the American Bankers Association, recently.
“Somebody will have to pay. To the extent to
which the government dispenses bounty of all
kinds and for all purposes, the burden on those
who work and save will increase. When the
rich, as a class, have been reduced to bankrupt
cy, and when the middle class have been driven
to dependence, further, contribution will be
forced in the form of compulsory labor. The
skilled will be compelled to offer their best. The
unskilled will be driven to offer the little which
they- have, and the whip of the super-govern
ment will be the incentative to human effort.”
That is a dark picture, but history fully jus
tifies it. When any nation divides the wealth,
the result is to multiply the poverty. The price
we pay for a super-state is the ultimate com
plete loss of liberty. Germany and Italy, with
■their slave economies, are sufficient proof of
this.
Today we have government in credit,, govern
ment in business, government in farming, gov
ernment in all lines of endeavor. Let that tiend
continue and increase—as it will unless an
awakened public stops it—and the future en
visioned by Dr. Cadman will come true. In oui
search for something for nothing, we have lost
sight of our traditions, of our system of free
enterprise, of all that history teaches- We are
destroying the sources of wealth,which means
we are destroying the sources of employment
and progress. That is the road to dictatorship
with a vengeance.
Theoretically, our Navy is not convoying Bri
tish shipping. It is simply patrolling the At
lantic- In actuality, many authorities believe,
there is little difference between a convoy and
a patrol. It has been announced that an Ameri
can destroyer dropped depth charges over a
German submarine. And American fighting
ships are at sea now,* warning the British
whenever they come on a Nazi raider. The
American Navy, in other words, is pretty much
in the war.
President Roosevelt sent a special
message to Congress saying “we
stand, as we did in the closing months
of 1915, at the beginning of an up
ward swing of the whole price struc
ture,” and asked authority to set
ceilings for prices and rents, to pur
chase commodities when necessary to
assure price stability, and to deal
more extensively with excesses in in
stallment credit.
He said the “facts today are fright
eningly similar” to the situation in
the last war when the wholesale price
index increased nearly 140 percent
between October, 1915, and June,1920.
In the past 60 days wholesale prices
have risen more than five times as
fast as during the preceding period
since the outbreak of the war in
Europe, he said.
“The whole production machinery
falters under inflation,” he said, and
“the unskilled worker, the white-col
lar worker, the farmer, the small
business man and the small nivestor
all find that their dollar buys ever
less and less.”
The Bureau of Labor Statistics an
nounced its index of prices, as of July
26, stood at 88.8 percent of the 1926
average, 15 percent above a year ago.
Price Administrator Henderson said
the crisis in the Far East necessitates
a price ceiling on raw silk and may
make necessary a ceiling on its prices.
He asked dealers and consumers not
to pay high prices for high grade
waste paper above those prevailing
July 26, “pending an investigation of
the price structure.”
Economic Defense
President Roosevelt created an
Economic Defense Board consisting
of Vice President 'Wallace, Chairman,
seven Cabinet members, and such ad
ditional members as Mr. Wallace may
select. The President said the new
Board will formulate the nation’s in-^
ternational economic policy, coordi
nate the economic activities of de
fense agencies and plan for post-war
reconstruction.
Foreign Affairs
The President ordered the freezing
of all Japanese credits in the United
States and extended the order to
Chinese assets to protect China
against Japanese use of assets con
trolled from occupied China. The
President also placed the Army and
Navy of the Philipine Commonwealth
within the command of the armed
forces of the United States, and
named Gen. Douglas A. MacArthur,
former Chief of Staif, commanding
general.
The State Department protested
the dropping of bombs by Japanese
planes near the United States Gun
boat “Tutuila,” and announced the in
cident closed after the Japanese Gov
ernment promised full investigation
and reparation. Acting Secretary
Welles denounced Germany for its
note to the Mexican Government with
regard to the blacklist recently is
sued by President Roosevelt and for
the Nazi Government’s reported
threats of reprisal.
Aid to Russia
Lend-Lease Administrator Hopkins
arrived in Moscow to discuss expedit
ing of needed war materials to the
Soviet Union and the Russian Mili
tary. Mission conferred with President
Roosevelt and the State Department.
Acting Secretary Welles said Lend-
Lease aid has not been discussed be
cause the Russian Government can
purchase needed materials with cash.
Tax Anticipation Notes
The Treasury placed on sale at
Federal Reserve Banks tax anticipa
tion notes intended to help taxpayers
set aside sufficient money to meet in
creased tax bills of the coming year.
The notes are redeemable in cash or
as payment for income taxes and
bear interest up to 1.92 percent. Ses-
retary Morgenthau, in a letter to all
banking institutions, said, “It is im
portant that the taxpayers of the na
tion become aware of the unpreceden
ted taxes they will have to pay next
year on this year’s income, and they
should be encouraged to set aside
funds now with which to meet, those
later payments.”
Army
The War Department created five
air support commands in order to co
ordinate the activities of aviation
units and ground forces. The Depart
ment announced the Signal Corps has
developed electrical sentries that will
warn of invading aircraft “long be
fore they are actually sighted,” but
said the Army needs 600 men from
the radio engineering field to learn
to operate the secret devices.
War Secretary Stimson said 1,000
airplanes and 10,000 Air Corps offi
cers and enlisted»men will take part
in maneuvers stressing coordination
of ground and air strength in the
Beauregard, La., area from Sept. 1-30
in the simulated warfare between 50,-
000 men of the Second and Third
Armies, and in the First Army ma
neuvers to be held in the Carolinas,
Nov. 3-30.
Oil
Defense Petroleum Coordinator
Ickes recommended 100,000 gasoline
filling stations in the following States
be closed from 7 p. m. to 7 a. m.
every night beginning Sunday, Aug.
3: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont,
Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode
Island, New Jersey, Delaware, Mary
land, North Carolina, South Carolina,
Georgia, Florida, District of Colum
bia, and “all marketing areas in or
east of the Appalachian mountains in
the States of New York, Pennsylvania
Virginia and West Virginia.” He ap
pealed for a voluntary cut in con
sumption and said he hoped closing
the stations in Eastern States nightly
“plus voluntary curtailment will be
enough to put us across.”
Priorities
Director of Priorities Stettinuis is
sued an order freezing all stocks of
raw silk because of “unsettled condi
tions in the Far East.” Mr. Stettinuis
announced a new plan to grant blan
ket preference ratings to projects
which musj^ be completed promptly.
He issued a limited preference rating
to 40 manufacturers of mining ma
chinery and to 75 producers of cranes
and hoists needed by defense manu
facturing plants.
Agriculture
0PM Director Knudsen told Agri
culture Secretary Wickard the 0PM
will cooperate to meet shortages of
farm equipment ^ and machinery now
hindering efforts to increase farm
production. The Office of Price Ad
ministration revised its allocation
program to increase storage space
for farmers for the current grain
harvest by increasing the quantities
of steel and zinc for grain bin con
struction.
Materials
The 0PM Production Division form
ed a defense advisory committee of
the pulp and paper products industry
and said defense requirements will
increase consumption of the indus
try’s products by 2,000,000 tons this
year and an additional 2,000,000 tons
next year.
0PM announced plans to increase
the scrapping of worn-out automo
biles by 1,000,000 tons a year, and
One school of thought in Washing
ton has held consistently over a
period of months that rising living
costs justify labor’s demands for
wage increases. Figures just devel
oped, however, raise an interesting
question regarding this argument.
Living costs, it is revealed, increas
ed 3.5 per cent between last October
and the end of June. Factory wages,
on the other hand, increased 22 per
cent from October, 1940, through May
of this year.
At a time when business men serv
ing the government in Washington
are generally agreed that “business
as usual” is no longer possible and
at a time when one industry after
another is curtailing normal produc
tion in the interests of defense,
Washington observers wonder when
politicians will come to a similar rec
ognition in connection with “pet proj
ects” of one kind and another.
In this connection, the proposed St.
Lawrence seaway and power project
has been criticized roundly by repre
sentatives both of labor and of indus
try. One industrial spokesman sum
med it up as follows: “The first order
of the day is naturally the. produc
tion of arms, equipment and supplies
necessary for the Army, the Navy
and civilian defense to protect Ameri
ca. Anything that hampers or im
pedes this prime objective should be
rejected promptly or deffered for
consideration at a later date. The sea
way project should be definitely re
jected because it will result in a tre
mendous diversion of labor, funds
and materials to a non-essential proj
ect.”
Commenting upon the fact that the
House of Representatives, while con
sidering means to raise some three
and one half billions in revenue, takes
time out to consider an appropriation
bill to spend over seven billions for
the Army, Navy and Maritime Corn- ,,
missiion, one Congressman ■was heard
to say; “That’s catching up like the
frog in the well that slipped back two
hops to every hop forward.”
said 'one car provides enough scrap
for a light cannon, and 20 cars will
provide enough for a tank. 0PM
asked zinc producers to set aside 27
percent of their June production dur
ing August for an emergency pool,
and said the supply of fabricated al
loy steel for air-craft manufacture
will be tripled before the end of next
year.
Labor and Employment
Labor Secretary Perkins reported
non-agricultural employment increas-'
ed by 484,000 during June to reach a
new all-time high of 38,799,000 - an
increase of 3,365,000 since June, 1940,
and 1,900,000 nore than the June,
1929, record. WPA employment drop
ped 77,000 and NYA, 96,000, she said.
0PM Associate Director Hillman
asked airplane companies to employ
and train women in defense jobs
without lowering wages or working
standards.
The Navy, War and Commerce De
partments jointly proposed the 60,-
000,000 Americans born in this coun
try but without documentary proof of
citizenship apply to State bureaus of
vital statistics and similar agencies
for “delayed birth certificates” to
break the bottleneck by which na
tive-born workers are barred from
jobs in defense plants for lack of
such proof of citizenship.
Gyrene—Going north for maneu
vers this summer, sailor?
Gob—Ye-up, we’re being sent down
to Iceland. ,
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