The Alamance Gleaner
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VoL LXVI GRAHAM, N. C., THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 1940 No. 18
WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS By Farnham F. Dudgeon
Powerful Attack by Nazi Army
Pushes Allies Out of Belgium;
U. S. Defense Board Is Selected
.
(EDITOR'S NOTE?When opinion* are expressed la these* columns, they
are these of the sews analyst and not necessarily of this newspaper.)
'Ralpaud b* Weatdrn Npwsnnnev TTnlnn
THE WAR:
Flanders Flight
When King Leopold m ordered
hi* 300,000 Belgian troops to lay
down their arms in their battle
against the military might of Adolf
Hitler, worried French and British
leaders saw that the forces they
had rushed into Belgium following
the German invasion were doomed.
For on the fields of Flanders their
armies were exposed to a great en
circling movement by the Nazis and
were in great danger of being cut
off from the main body of the troops
in central France.-'
Without waiting Adolf Hitler be
gan to close the jaws of his gigantic
trap of death. Attacking with great
ferocity the German machine moved
toward the retreating allies. With
out loss of impetus military objec
tive after objective was gained in a
tremendous show of force,.
In the sky, dive bombers swooped
toward the earth, cutting off supply
detiils, disrupting communications,
destroying immense stores of war
goods but failing to seriously daunt
allied morale and courage.
Their lines in formation, the Brit
ish and French retreated steadily
toward the English channel. For they
were outnumbered and the country
they had come to protect from in
vasion had been ordered by its king
to cease fighting. Their best chance
KING LEOPOLD m
His order started ? retreat.
for escape was across the Strait of
Dover to England or down the sea
coast to rejoin the main portion of
their troops along the Somme and
Aisne rivers in Prance.
While from Berlin came word of
the great victory being won, from
the first soldiers to reach English
soil in their retreat across the chan
nel, came reports that important
losses were being effected upon the
Germans as they advanced. But
even these sources admitted that
great stocks of war booty was fall
ing into Nazi hands. Supplies of
gasoline and munitions which any
army needs were being obtained by
the Germans.
Next
Next, with Belgium and much of
the vital industrial portion of north
ern France safely tucked away,
Adolf Hitler had a choice to make.
He could launch his long-threatened
air attack on the British isles or he
could strike out for Paris.
Feeling against France has been
running high in Berlin, judging from
current reports. Usually it has been
the British that have been the sub
ject to press attack by the Nazi prop
aganda machine, but now France is
getting its share of verbal abuse.
Some observers thought these at
tacks were a feint intended to lull
the British into believing they were
to be left alone and then when the
"hour" arrived it would be a sur
NAMES
... in the news
C Eleven 'months after he resigned
aa governor of Louisiana. Richard
W. Lethe, political heir of Haey P.
Long, went on trial on charges of
using the mails to defraud. The
charge grew out of a truck deal
which is alleged to have netted him
and two others, a cool $113,370.
C Motion-picture actor Walter Cm
nolly, outstanding character actor,
died at his Hollywood home.
prise blitzkrieg for Johnny Bull. But
England has taken strong defense
measures of late to be ready for the
worst and she has promised a warm
reception for any invader.
France's interior seemed a bit
stronger too, for as the Germans
moved against the trapped Flanders
army in the north the line of defense
across the nation's central axis was
decidedly bolstered.
U. S. DEFENSE:
Progress
President Roosevelt's fourteenth
fireside chat began a series of
events in the new
national defense pro
gram that was
marked by increas
ing attention to the
details of getting Un
cle Sam's house in
order?"come whaf
may."
Influenced chiefly
by the progress of
the German army in
its drive toward
Paris and London,
Americans of both
major political parties are getting
behind the President's announced
objective of building defenses of the
Western hemisphere "to whatever
heights the future may. demand."
Pleading for unity in the drive for
military security, the President in
his natien-wide radio address warned
against Troan Horse treachery with
in the nation's borders. He pledged
that the government would not ex
pect private capital to provide all
of the funds necessary.
Tax
This statement invoked discussion
as to how the government intended
to foot the necessarily large bill
of any such program. A defense
tax movement has been gaining
ground in congress. This is a com
plete about-face on the subject tfy
the legislators. When the first pro
posals were made to increase arma
ments, most members of the senate
and house passed over the matter
of providing the money by remark
ing that the important thing to do
was to provide the defenses and
worry about paying for them later.
Now the sentiment is that a flat
10 per cent increase in individual
and corporate in
come taxes might be
the best way to meet
the obligations to be
incurred by the bil
lion-dollar program
now under full
steam.
And aa the rising
war hysteria spread
over the nation it
seemed likely that
this suggestion would
not meet the disap
proval such a tax in
William 8.
Knudsen
crease would ordinarily encounter.
Reading reports of the fierce power
of German military might, U. S. cit
izens may prefer to dig down in
their jeans for preparedness than
feel home defenses were insecure.
Commission
A presidential commission of sev
en, appointed to muster the coun
try's economic resources in connec
tion with the preparedness drive,
was announced in Washington. This
commission represents a lay "gen
eral staff" which will work with
government officials and agencies in
lining up men, materials and plans
for speeding up armament produc
tion.
The commission:
Edward R. Stettinius Jr., U. S.
Steel company chairman, who will
supervise proaucucm
of raw materials;
William S. Knudsen,
General Motor* pro
duction wizard, who
will direct his atten
tion to manufactur
ing problems; Sid
ney Hillman, Amal
gamated Clothing
Workers union pres
ident, responsible
for labor matters;
Chester C. Davis,
Federal Reserve
Chester
Daria
board member and former AAA di
rector, who will guide agriculture's
course; Ralph Budd, president of
the C. B. A Q. railroad, transpor
tation; Leon Henderson, chairman
of the Securities commission, will
check on stabilization of wholesale
prices; and Miss Harriet Elliott,
University of North Carolina, who
will guard the consumers interests.
* PEEK-OF-THE-WEEK
Here it Lauriston Taylor,
physicist of the V. S. Bureau
of Standards, directing the plac
ing of the corona cap atop of
the world"t largest X-ray ma
chine. Capable of generating
rays to a power of 1,500,000
volts, it was assembled in the
high voltage laboratory of the
bureau in Washington, D. C. Its
use will set a standard for other
such machines in hospitals and
cancer clinics throughout the
country.
GOOD NEIGHBORS:
To the SoiUh
Not such a "good neighbor" is
what many Mexicans are thinking
these days of Leon Trotsky, exiled
Russian political leader, who has
taken up a haven of refuge from
his Soviet enemies in Mexico's in
terior. The recent attempt, to as
sassinate Trotsky has caused at
least a few Mexican officials to be
lieve that no good can come from
his remaining in their country and
they are anxious for him to move
on. Trotsky's home is constantly
guarded but despite this "protec
tion," Joseph Stalin's arch-rival is
not especially loved or admired by
some of his "neighbors."
A neighbor further south has been
having a bit of trouble with a little
-uprising of its own. Reports from
Panama indicate that the govern
ment nipped an alleged plot for a
revolution which was scheduled to
prevent that country's 1940 presiden
tial election.
An indication that U. S. business
was attempting to regain some of
its foreign trade lost by the Euro
pean conflict was evidenced by news
that the Moore-McCormack lines
were opening a new shipping serv
ice between North and South Amer
ica on both the Atlantic and Pacific
seaboards. In announcing the new
shipping routes and ships to be used
in the service the company's presi
dent, Albert V. Moore, said: "The
surface of trade possibilities be
tween the U. S. and South America
has only been scratched." This
was good news to business men for
the commerce department's current
trade report shows a $27,000,000 de
cline in export trade for last month.
Some real "scratching" will be nec
essary to build up this loss.
To the North ,
A career diplomat, Jay P. Moffat
was nominated by President Roose
velt to replace James H. Cromwell
as U. S. minister to Canada. Mof
fat, now chief of the western Euro
pean division of the state depart
ment, is not expected to create the
flurry that Cromwell did when, as a
U." S. representative, he made his
now-famous speech expressing a de
cided sympathy for the British
French cause in their struggle with
Hitler.
SOCIAL SERVICE:
Trouble, Trouble
There is no (roup of persons in
the United States that is closer to
the nation's vital problems of un
employment, relief, youth move
ments, etc., than the National Con
ference of Social Workers. Basic
human needs are the social workers
stock-in-trade. Meeting in Grand
Rapids, Mich., in national conven
tion, that organization discussed,
debated and "resolved" these prob
lems in their relationship to the cur
rent domestic and international pic
ture.
MISCELLANY:
d. Six army flyers were killed in
the crash of a Douglas bomber near
Mojave, Calif. The crash, which
carried the two officers and four
crew members to their deaths, oc
curred in a night trial flight over
the army's desert bombing range.
C Fifty thousand civilian pilots in
the U. S. can be trained by the Civil
Aeronautics authority, "without any
loss of efficiency and safety," ac
cording to an announcement made
by that governmental agency.
C In Chicago, a 10-day milk srike,
in which labor union drivers had re
fused to make home deliveries
pending the outcome of a wage dis
pute, was ended in a truce.
Bruehearfu Wathington Digest
New Program for U. S. Defense
Crowds Politics Into Background
Rising Tide of War Hysteria in Nation's Capital Endangers
Advancement of Many New Deal
Social Reforms.
Br WILLIAM BRUCKART
WNU 8ervice, National Press Bldg.,
Washington, D. C.
WASHINGTON.?There is a new
kind of political conflict developing
in Washington. The extent to which
it will go depends, obviously, upon
developments in Europe's war. It
la fair to say, nevertheless, that at
this moment died-in-the-wool New
Dealers are frightened within an
inch of their lives from fear of what
the war hysteria is going to do to
their pet social program.
It should be said by way of ex
planation that President Roosevelt's
defense program is
likely to require the
best industrial and
military brains avail
able. That means
the President must
turn to the captains
of industry?so cor
dially hated by real
New Dealers ? for
certain types of help
and guidance for a
preparedness pro
gram.
Through these last
several weeks, ob
Bruckart
servers nere nave wnnesseu new
Deal reformers making strenuous
efforts toward warding off any
changes in their programs that
would set back the schemes they
have been fostering through the last
seven years. Those New Dealers
who have the President's ear have
gone so far as to persuade him to
issue a warning to congressional
leaders that none of the New Deal
reforms or social advances shall be
abrogated by defense legislation.
In the meantime, however, most
every observer also has witnessed
a tendency on the part of those
charged with official responsibility
to take steps leading to more work
able plans in hastening defense
preparation. Indeed, right now there
is an intensive study being made
under guidance of the army and
navy of such things as wage and
hour regulations, and limitations
upon private financing. Other things
that amount to handicaps upon the
nation's productive capacity also are
being examined. The idea behind
all of this is, of course, to learn
whether the numerous so-called re
forms will help or hinder speedy
development and production of the
war materials which must be avail
able if Europe's war gets further
out of bounds.
Minimum Wage Scales
Art Being Investigated
As showing how the New Deal ad
vocates are resisting any encroach
ment upon the reforms which they
have fostered, it is necessary only
to report, as an example, that the
federal contracts board has been
holding hearings on proposed mini
mum wage scales. The board Is
functioning under the Walsh-Healy
act This statute permits the de
partment of labor to fix minimum
wages paid in any industrial plant
which is manufacturing under a
government contract if the materi
als which the government is buying
cost more than $10,000.
The board has been going right
ahead with hearings on its recom
mendation that a minimum wage of
52 Vi cents per hour be established in
the entire electrical industry. It has
done this notwithstanding the fact
that anybody must realize how use
less the procedure is if it becomes
necessary for the President to use
war-time powers and require emer
gency schedules of production to be
maintained.
Moreover, it is doubtful that the
Information collected by the board
will have any value in any event.
This is true because war-time con
ditions abroad naturally are influ
encing our industrial conditions. The
data being collected probably will
be meaningless if the war continues
another six months.
With respect to the question of
limitations of hours which employ
ees may work, the same story is
true. In addition, it can be said, I
believe, that congress will waste
very little time in removing the re
strictions on hours of labor if the
emergency requires complete mar
shaling of American productive ca
pacity.
Europe's War May End
Many Theoretical Ideals
I could go on with other illustra
tions of the character mentioned
here. These serve, however, to il
lustrate the point I have been at
tempting to make. They illustrate
also the possibility that a further
expansion of Europe's war proba
bly means the end for many of the
theoretical ideals about which the
New Dealers have been prating
through these many months.
There is a bit of humor in the
grim reality of the conditions fac
ing this country today. I have writ
ten in these columns many times
that the New Deal pay rollers were
leading the drive to re-elect Mr.
Roosevelt for a third term. That is
the only manner in which they can
be certain to hold on to their jobs.
Now, however, we find Mr. Roose
velt's candidacy moved forward
very definitely by the impetus of
Europe's war, while at the same
time we find the avid New Dealers
being slowly pushed into the back
ground while practical men are
called in to direct and manage the
defense program.
There is also to be noted, in con
nection with the excited conditions
incident to war preparation here,
that certain groups are exerting
selfish pressure. It will be said, of
course, that a democracy permits
selfish interest to employ pressure.
But the thing observers note around
Washington these days is the very
early activity of some groups which
are striving, apparently, to make a
profit out of the war. Mr. Roosevelt
has publicly declared that extraor
dinary profit is not going to be per
mitted. His statement, however,
does not assure prevention of the
selfishness. It will take a great
many thrusts and some punishment
to accomplish the purpose.
Some conversation has already
been heard to the effect that Mr.
Roosevelt must piacs more confi
dence in private business leaders if
his defense plans carry through. The
President, as everyone recalls, has
seemed to enjoy cracking the whip
over business at frequent intervals
during his entire seven years in the
White House. The more conserve
tive members of the administration
recognize the cleavage betwedfi the
President and general business, and
LOUIS JOHNSON
Not mb nchm Mraw iruA Ait ba.
they are seeking to heal the wounds.
But the New Deal reformers?the in
ner circle?will not listen to such
advice. Many of them will frankly
say that business is not to be trust
ed, and they are not going to allow
business leaders to ride in the sad
dle of defense management.
Chang? m Preeent Cabinet
Arm Being Called Far
As the war situation in Europe un
folds, some of the saner minds in
Washington are calling for changes
in the President's cabinet. It seems
quite obvious to that school of
thought that a real secretary of the
navy and a real secretary of war
are badly needed.
It is well known that Secretary
Woodring and Assistant Secretary
Johnson of the war department are
at odds. In fact, until a few months
ago Mr. Woodjing and Colonel John
son were not on speaking terms. It
is the general understanding that
Colonel Johnson is doing a reason
ably good job, but the condition
within the department is such that
no complete cooperation can be ex
pected. Mr. Edison, wbo is running
for the governorship of New Jersey,
has been no howling success as sec
retary of the navy.
Speaking of Sports
Yankees Face
Tall Hurdle in
Pennant Race
By ROBERT McSHANE
(lUlsuad by Wiiurn Ntwlptptr Union.I
T HE most frequently asked ques
tion in- sports today?"What's
happened to the New York Yan
kees?"?is one of the hardest to an
swer. It's difficult to realize that
the once-proud Yanks, quoted as 7
20 favorites by betting authorities
when the season opened, now are
not even money against the field.
Those t to 1 odds, the shortest
price in all basebaU history, are
dow a thing of the
past. The big
change came when
the faikeet
dropped to the
American league's
tail end position bp
losing eight games
in a row.
No experts, self
styled or real, are
saying, "I told you
so." And for a good
reason. Most of
them were on the
BUI Dicker
Yankee bandwagon?it was only
natural. The few who picked other
clubs to assume command at least
placed the Yanks in a near-top posi
tion.
Now comes word thst Manager
Joe McCarthy has called on the
American leagne, in the best Inter
ests of baseball and the circuit, to
kill the new rule .which prevents the
Ysnkees from making a trade. Me- '
Carthy explained that he plans on
msking his light with the team
which won last year, bat that if last
year's com bins tioo proves ineffec
tive, It will be time to "do some
thing drastic."
McCarthy refused to elaborate on
his "drastic" measures, but it is
1 held likely that if the club can't get
back in 1939 form it will be shaken
up and replacements brought in
from the club farm system.
No Yankee Alibis
Admitting that he has never seen
anything like the Yankee slump in
baseball before, McCarthy offers no
alibis. The Yanks had a cold
spring on the way north?but so
i did the other clubs. Then, however,
the world's championship team
went into a slump.
Sad to say, a slump feeds on it- I
self. It can begin with one man
and spread to a greater part of the
team. But it's not in the cards for
men like Bill Dickey, Joe Gordon,
and Charlie Keller to fail when the
chips are down. Players like these
usually snap out of it in a hurry?
one or two good days and they're
back in hitting form.
McCarthy doesn't expect to have
to take any unusual steps. Be
won't bo satisfied with a two or
three-week winning streak. Be
wants the Yankees to climb on top
and stay there. Be knows they're
a-team that can do tt. It's abont
the same ehib that ran away from
both leagues last year, with superla
tive players In every department.
A Three-Way Jinx
Dickey, Gordon and Keller agree
with McCarthy that their troubles
were in trying too
hard. They agree,
too, that the (lump
will wear itaelf out
and the Yanka will
be on their way.
Through the Kid
dle of May, Diekey
waa hitting aUgMly
mere than .ltd.
That waa a mark te
break the heart et
cwl*7 KeUer deadliest eracial
Utters. Jee Gordon wasn't deiac
mack better, tad the "seeead year
Jinx" apparently had visited Char
ley Keller.
Keller finished the 1839 season
with a batting average of .334 and
blasted out three home runs In the
World Series against Cincinnati, hit
ting at a .438 clip in the fall classic.
This year be visited the sidelines,
benched by McCarthy tor weak hit
ting after chalking up a .231 mark
in 21 games.
McCarthy eaa't understand why
left-binded pitching should play a
very important part In the Tank's
tlnmp. They beat southpaws It
times last year and loot only 14 deci
sions to them. Bat while the Tanks
were at their worst they dropped
their tenth game to left-handed A1
Smith of the Cleveland Indians, be
ing en the short end of a 1# to 2
count.
A slump is hard to explain,
whether It hits one man or the
whole team. The Yanks don't in
tend to do any explaining. They're
out to win ball games. Knowing
they're a first-place ball chib, they
intend to climb into that position.
GENERAL
JOgNSON
Jour:
?A BUNCH OF BUrffct*
Washington, D. C.
One principal reason why J went
to St. Louis, the metropolis ot the
great valley, was to check up as
well as I could on oertaia state
ments so frequently repeated in the
East recently.
One Is that this great hinterland
people so short a time ago opposed
to our taking any part in the war
in Europe have now changed their
minds. Another is that the Presi
dent's message on defense has so
"electrified" and "unified" them for
his foreign policies that an election
this fall would be a mistake?that it
is no longer necessary.
They want a third term for Mr.
Roosevelt as a measure of national
preparedness.
Walter Lippcnann, Miss Qorothy
Thompson and radio commentator
H. V. Kaltenborn seem to have fall
en for. this line, or at least have
stressed various angles of the move
to suppress our two-party system on
a belief that what we need is unity.
That is also the White House janis
sariat and third termite line. It is
at the bottom of the President's dra
matic but'tricky presentation jjf the
preparedness bill and of his coquetry
to seduce a healthy opposition party
by the so-called coalition cabinet
idea. i
? ? ?
Well, it ia my observation among
this valley people of my own begin
nings that it is all a bunch ot bunk.
This mid-western country no more
approves the President's policy of
sticking our necks out into the for
eign embroglios of Europe and Asia
than it ever did, and that was not
at alL
It does approve the spending of
whatever is necessary for Ameri
can defense. It always did. It need
ed no "unification" on that either by
the President's speech or "coalition
cabinet."'
It is shocked to learn at so late a
date thaf this administration, while
spending so many billions for boon
doggling and some useful works, has
permitted us to remain so delin
quent in defense that Ve have prac
tically no armament against the
dreadful weapons ot modern war.
It is beginning to realize that it
has not heretofore been (old the
truth about this defenselessneas.
It is especially indignant to learn
that as early as 1933 when Hitler
started the "mechanization and mo
torization of army tactical units'*
which is now conquering civiliza
tion, and which then erased the un
employment problem in Germany,
Mr. Roosevelt was authorized by
congress to spend any part of $3,300,
000,000 that he chose for the same
purpose?and spent it and many bil
lions more for other and far less
necessary purposes.
? ? ?
Mr. Roosevelt mad* an effective
rearmament speech and got a lot of
applause. But the facts are leaking
out that he was making a virtue out
of his own neglect and inaction in
defense, that the appropriation ha
asked for was unplanned and inade
quate.
That the speech and the tubas
quent coalition cabinet stuff was
pure third-term politics and had lit
tle to do with increased industrial
defense production?which is the es
sence of our problem.
? ? ?
INDUSTRIAL SENSE
At the end of a luncheon of B. M.
Baruch with the President, Steve
Early warned newshawks not to be
gin guessing that there would be a
new war industries board. Ha add
ed that the government is muoh bet
ter organised than it was in 1>17.
1 think Mr. Early is partly right
But the statement carries hints
which, if intended, are altogether
wrong. The war industries board
was an over-all control of oar en
tire economic system, including de
mand and supply, price and produc
tion, transportation and commerce.
We were organizing a "nation in
arms" for total war by overseas
attack. ? That required us to shoot
the works?to make many times the
effort we are called upon to make
today for defensive preparation. It
is true that we do not need to re
peat precisely the war industries or
ganization.
It is also true that governmental
organization is "different" from
that of 1917, but Steve is also re
ported to have said It is "better."
If that means "better to get the
maximum effort and production out
of industry," it is nonsense.
To say this government is better
organized to do this job of rapid in
dustrial production for rearmament
could be described aa a colossal
though tragic joke?if it were not an
tragic.