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The Alamance gleaner Vol LXVI GRAHAM, N. C., THURSDAY* AUGUST 22, 1940 Na 2ft _____ ? ? ? ?? WEEKLY NEWS REVIEW By Farnham F. Dudgeon 1,000 Nazi Bombing Planes Launch 'History's Greatest Mass Air Raid'; " Aliens in U. S. Start Registration; Aircraft 'Bottleneck' Slows Defense (EDITOR'S NOTE?When opinions lie expressed la these eolumni, they are those of the news analyst and not necessarily of this newspaper.) p*'"-?* by Western Newspaper Union ___________ A French soldier and sailor are pictured here reading the poster written bp General De Gaulle, head of the French military forces In England. It reads: "To all Frenchmen: France has lost a battle?but France has not lost the war." THE WAR: 'Greatest in History* Frofcn Wales to Scotland, German bombers attacked the island of Great Britain in what was being called the "greatest mass air attack in history." Always before as the Nazi planes attacked, their numbers could be reported in fives and tens but this time dispatches from both Berlin and London indicated that there were hundreds of planes in the air. One official British source esti mated that in a single day a Nazi air armada of more than 1,000 planes had rained bombs on all of England ? from Scotland's border right through the midlands to Wales. Even London itself was bombed for the first time during the war as the German pilots dropped tons of high explosives up and down the river Thames, concentrating on a terrific attack upon famed Croydon airport, one of Europe's largest and best equipped landing Balds. As usual both Germany and Eng land claimed that the enemy came out second best. England said that her famous fighter planes had driv en off the Nazis in time to prevent "great damage." But Berlin, while not at first admitting that London had been bombed, did claim that "the entire Thames valley witnessed methodical, irresistible German air attacks which threaten all military establishments with destruction." Southern Exposure Mussolini has chosen to attempt the Italian version of a blitzkrieg in Africa. He sent 250,000 soldiers streaking across British Somali land with control of the Suez canal and the British lifeline to India as stakes in the gamble. The campaign will be hot in more ways than one. This is the time of the year when intense heat of more than 120 degrees grips Somaliland and the monsoon blows from mid night to mid-afternoon. Clouds give little relief from the enervating sun and there is little rainfall. The British hold all the best oasis, where men must drink or die. ALIENS: I (have, have not) . . . Five million questionnaires in six key languages are being distrib uted to aliens living within the United States. All must answer 15 searching questions asked by the government before December M. Before that time also all residents not native born or naturalized must be fingerprinted. Most pertinent query reads: "Within the past five years I (have, have not) been affiliated with or ac tive in (a member of, official of, a worker for) organizations devoted in whole or in part to influencing or furthering the political activities, public relations or public policy of a foreign government." Solicitor General Francis Biddle isn't ruling at this time whether membership in the German-Amer ican Bund or the Communist party would require an affirmative answer to the above. The nation's 45,000 first and second class post offices will have charge of distribution of questionnaires and fingerprinting. They expect to com plete the records in six months, un der the supervision of Earl G. Har rison, Philadelphian who left a lu crative law practice to take over the Job. Questionnaires are printed in Italian, German, Russian, Polish, Spanish and Yiddish. DISCORD: On the Downbeat Radio sopranos, bellowing bari tones and swing bands may soon be sounding another tune. The Amer ican Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers faces a revolt with the National Association of Broad casters. The ASCAP collects royalties on 99 per cent of the music broadcast. Its anticipated 1941 revenue is $8,780,000, $ per cent of the income of virtually all stations. Next year it wants 7% per cent. But station executives threaten to do business only with Broadcast Uusic, Inc., which has a scale of only Hi to 2tt per cent. It the break is not healed before January 1, virtually all popular mu sic will be off the air. Many mu sical stars may even be forced to change the theme songs which iden tify them to millions. BMI controls oDly a few tunes, but expects to be in better condition before that time. However, such favorites as Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Victor Herbert, Cole Porter and the newer crop of composers are ASCAP standbys. THE CAMPAIGN: Repartee Republican presidential candidate Wendell L. Willkie, speaking in Dei Moines, Iowa, said he was glad to appear in the home town of "that eminent scholar and gentleman, Henry A. Wallace." The crowd booed and cheered. Wallace, Democratic candidate for vice president, posing for news pho tographers the following day. asked them to "see what you can do to make me look like an eminent scholar and gentleman." When asked if he intended to debate with Willkie, Wallace wise-cracked: "I really do not know. Don't you think Willkie should endorse the Democratic ticket He's with ua now on the farm and foreign poli cies. AH he needs to do is get in line on social security and ths WPA." Back and Forth Additional signs that the campaign was wanning up came when Will kie suggested the Hatch act b? amended so that the President "and members of his family" would de clare their complete financial hold ings on - entering the White Houss and when they leave. ' Asked about the proposal Presi dent Roosevelt replied since enter ing public service he was much poorer and wiser. "We are all poorer since 1928," shot back Wfflkie. NAMES ? ... in the news C George ' Bernard Shaw, British playwright and vegetarian, is laugh ing at meatless rations. "I cannot hope that we will become a nation of Bernard Shaws," he said "that would be too much to hope for." ' C Herbert Hoover is backing the movement to feed Belgium and France, if the English will lift the embargo. C Bear Admiral Robert L. Ghorm iey expects to have a reserved seat for the British invasion. On spe cial orders of the President, he was sent to London as an observer, the highest ranking officer ever to hold this position in peacetime. C Manuel Quezon, president of the Philippines, was voted virtual dic tator powers by the national assem bly. He has control over wages, farming, industry, profits, transpor tation, rents and prices. C. Lady Byng, widow of the one time British field marshal, arrived in the United States as a refugee. Of the value of German bombing she said: "It was a bit wearying." Fugitive I Patricia WynnAP illiamt. little refugee from London?a fugitive from an aerial blitxkreig?is pic tured at the arrived in New York, en route for Chicago, where the and her titter will ttay with friendt until the war it over. She teemed a bit bathful at the cameraman pleadt for a "big smile." BUILDING PLANES: Speed Up U. S. arsenals and navy yards went on 24-hour schedule as con tracts for arms, ammunitions and ships began to pour out of the office of the national defense commission. Many industrial plants, bidding on thousands of articles needed to equip i and train an army, also were given . orders amounting to billions of dol ; lars. Bottleneck Production of vitally needed air planes still is the headache at all concerned. William Knudsen, pro duction chief of the NDC, said Amer ican factories now are prepared to turn out planes at the rate at 10,800 a year and by next January will have speeded up to the rate of 18,000 a year. But immediately following this an i nouncement came the depressing news from War Secretary Stimeon that although congress had appro 1 priated money for 4,000 fighting planes, contracts had been let for ' only >3 of them. And national guardsmen en ma neuvers at the Canadian border are 1 without equipment. Trucks are used I as make-believe heavy tanks, sta > tion wagons simulate light tanks, > logs are passed off as cannon, and gas pipes have signs informing those i to whom it may concern that '?this > is an anti-tank gun.' ' Stimson said businessmen wanted to know, before they undertook ccn 1 tracts, how they would be taxed, as 1 well as assurance of tax credits for the cost at plant expansion. Stim son said a company which under took building of new factories for de fense orders was taking an abnormal risk because the plants might turn out useless in case of "a sudden cession of the emergency." On the QT Inside dope is that some airplane companies are not waiting for con gress to make up its mind about taxes. Planes are being produced and put oo the shell When con gress passes the tax legislation, planes will be available at once. In the . . . HEADLINES DISMISSAL?WPA Commissioner F. C. Harrington announced 429 work reliefers who refused to sign affidavits that they were not mem bers of the Nazi Bund or Commu nist party have been discharged. CHRISTENING ? For the new navy aircraft carrier, soon to be launched. President Roosevelt has selected Bon Homme Richard, name of the flagship of John Paul Jones, father of the United States navy. Washington Digest Congressional Expenditures Pass Twenty-One Billion Dollar Mark This money Could Buy Entire Railway System of U. Sr Or House One-Fourth of Families in Nation, According to Survey by A. F. I. William Bruckurt, for many years Washington correspondent whole let ters appeared hs this newspaper, died suddenly Sunday, August 4. Temporar ily the Washington letter will he writ ten by Carter Field and others. IBtlaucd by Western Newspaper Unlaw.) By G. F. WASHINGTON. ? For the first time in American history one ses sion of congress has authorised fed eral expenditures in excess at $20, 000,000,000. lite nation was astonished and in dignant in 1913 when two sessions of congress appropriated $1,000,000,000. It was our first "billion dollar con gress." In 1934, we had our first $10,000, 000,600 session. Six years later, between January 3 and August 19, 1940, the third session of the Seventy-sixth congress authorized spending to the extent of $21,439,678,000. How much is $21,000,000,000. It would buy outright the entire rail road system of the United States? every mile of track, every bridge, terminal and yard, every piece of rolling stock and locomotive equip ment, every mile of telephone and telegraph equipment, plus every sta tion and siding. The official reports of the Inter state Commerce commission place the current value of American rail roads at roundly $20,000,000,000. The nation built up this railroad system over a period of 119 years. ? ? ? It is difficult for the mind to grasp such spending. But we may re duce this authorizations of the pres ent session to familiar terms. Let us assume that the whole amount authorized since January had been devoted to building bouses at $3,000 each. That would be a substantial house ? better than the average American home today. Federal ap propriations for these eight months would build 7,000,000 such houses, or one for every fourth family in the United States. ? ? ? Translated into bushels of wheat at current market prices, the ex penditures approved for the pro gram since January this year tall a more impressive story. Assuming a farm price of TO cents a bushel and an average yield of 30 bushels per acre, we arrive at a gross production of $21 per acre. This means that it will take a bil lion acres of wheat to pay for the federal spending authorized in eight months?assuming the government took every ounce of the national farm production. But, of course, we could not raise a billion acres of anything in a sin gle year. The combined harvested area of all American farms and all crops is only 300,000,000 acres. This means it would take the full crop of three successive harvests, plus one third of the fourth harvest, to pay the federal spending bill as ap proved in the year 1940 to date. Steted another way, every Ameri can farm would have to produce its normal crop and turn everything over to the government for more than three years to pay for this first *20.000.000,000 congress. This would mean nothing left on the farms for feed, seed, or family food supplies. It would leave noth ing for routine operating expenses. ? ? ? Our federal government is the fastest growing "industry" in the United States. Recent official figures show pub lic employment in 1 as 125 3 per cent of 1999?despite a small de crease in the combined state and local payrolls over the decade. Only one taaj4r sector of Ameri can industry employed mere per sons last year, as compared with i 1939?the electric utilities, with em ployment at 103.4 per cent But total factory employment for 19)9 was but 90.4 per cent of 1939. , Employment in retail trade was 75.? per cent; and railroad employ ment, 94.7 per cent. ? ? ? The U. S. civil service commis sion's July report shows a few more than 1,999,999 civil employees on the federal payroll?against 594,497 on March 4, 1933. ? ? ? American industry in 1939 paid taxes aggregrating $911 for every person on the payroll. This is the fig ure reported by the American Fed eration of Investors, on the basis el detailed reports from 193 leading corporations. All taxes were 94 per cent of com bined net before taxes. Seven cor porations earned a profit but landed in the red after paying taxes. Taxes were $3.05 per common share outstanding, against dividends of $1.63 per common share t>aid for the year. These corporations maintained av erage employment of 3,378,299 per sons. Conclusion of the study: "Ever mounting tax burdens are not only a handicap to the national welfare, but also raise added problems for every manufacturer and business man. They directly affect every em ployee and stockholder. They in crease the cost of doing business, and reduce or wipe out profits." They Call It POLITICS By CARTER FIELD WASHINGTON. ? Aid to Britain has slipped into second place, with our own preparedness now first. This is not because President Roosevelt wants it that way. The President believes that aid to Britain is the best possible policy for the United -States?that every day Britain holds off the Nazis gives the U. S. that additional day to prepare, that ev ery weakening of Germany under the British defensive blows will make the eventual task of the Unit ed States that much easier. Put a little stronger, he believes that when we give the British soldiers and sailors something to fight with, we save the lives of American boys later on. There is a very strong following for this theory throughout the coun try, entirely distinct from the group which sentimentally favors Britain either as a country or as a form of government, in contrast with the dic tatorship. Actually it is believed here that the Republican high com mand feels the same way, with the exception of the vice presidential nominee, Charles L. McNary. Yet it is politics which has caused the President to turn cagy on new steps to aid Britain. He has to be SURE that he is not endangering his own re-election. Not becsuse the high command of the Republi cans would attack such an action, but because the isolationists are making such s determined effort to convince the public that RooeevWt is leading us down the path to war. For instance, take the matter of these 90 destroyers. Ambassador Lord Lothian said in a radio inter view a few weeks back that the greatest aid this country could give Britain IMMEDIATELY would be 60 of those World war destroyers. These are the destroyers which up until the present war broke out everyone thought would eventually be broken up tor scrap. They had been packed In grease, with no thought of their ever being put in commission until last fall, when President Roose velt ordered them put in shape for use. At that time there was much talk about the "neutrality patrol." But later there came the torpedo boat episode. It developed that the United States had built som? of these little ships with 18-inch tor peao (UDti, tnc size used oy tfie British. We have no 18-inch torpe does; our navy does not like them, preferring the 21-inch type. Congress discovered by accident that these torpedo boats were to be turned over to the British and there was a terrific outcry from the iso lationists. They protested despite the obvious absurdity of our keeping a type of boat which fires a different sire torpedo from the one wo use whan the British were eager to pay for them, and we could use that money to build the type we do want. 84 eager is the President to aid the British that there is no doubt he would have forced the issue, and have forced the issue more" recently on the 90 old destroyers, if he were not alarmed by the strength shown by Wendell Willkie in the poll*. As it is, he is afraid of alienating the followers of the isolationists?Just a few of them voting against him in November might decide whether or not there is to be four more years of the New Deal. But he is working on public senti ment. The fact that Secretary of State Cordell Hull virtually sum moned photographers to picture him congratulating Gen. John J. Persh ing, after Pershing's radio appeal to let Britain have the destroyers, speaks volumes. General HUGH S. johnson sJaur: THE UNPREDICTABLE NEW YORK.?General Pershing said that no matter what else we do to mix up in the European war, we shall never send an expedition ary force to Europe. On all the military probabilities he is right, as he usually is on such questions. But the unerringly certain quality about strategic planning is its unerring un certainty?its utter unpredictability. Who would have dreamed in 1913, for example, that before Novem ber, 1913, we would have more than 2,000,000 American soldiers in France?a larger combat force than Great Britain ever had there? I'll tell you some who didn't dream it? the President of the United States and the general staffs of Germany, France, England, Austria, Italy, Belgium and the U. S. A. When the first selective draft started I wrote a memorandum, in July, 1917, suggesting that it be for 1,000,000 men?not to take them be fore they were ready, but to classify and warn those who would have to go. It came back ink-spattered by an angry pen-point that had punc tured the paper and spurted indig nation. It was initialed "W. W." and said, in effect, that the Ameri can people would never stand tor a draft of a million men, that our con tribution was to be largely in money and supplies, that it was absurd to think of an offensive in any such terms?just as General Pershing says uxiny. That was perfectly understand ably The Allies were then saying that all they advised was a "token" American force of a few divisions to "show the Sag" and boost French and British morale, that they need ed our factories, our supplies, our money and the available shipping to keep business as usual much mora than they would ever need our un trained levies. The enemy general stalls agreed. They did not count on Americans in mass until are ac tually began to send them, after the British debacle of March, 1918. We in the selective draft organi sation never agreed. As the system started, it was not geared to get 100,000 men a month. In Decem ber, 1917, I revised the entire ma chine to examine and the whole 10,000,000 pool of man-power. A result was that when the pres sure came in 1918 and the Allies began to scream for "men in their undershirts," it was enabled to step up the monthly taking from some 30,000 or 40,000 to 400,000 men a month?without a ripple. I shall al ways believe that this change did much to win the war. Anyway, it burned in on my mind the fact that no man is smart enough to foresee the course of war once the fateful decision is made to en gage in it We do a lot of talking about "defensive" war and "defend ing" the Western hemisphere. No country at war can completely de cide its own policy any more than Joe Louis could decide what he had to do against Max Schmeling in their first fight The enemy has some thing to say about that If we get into this shindy we may have to send men in the army to Europe, Africa or eastern Asia. We almost certainly will have to send men in the navy and marines to all those places. As has frequently been re marked in this space, in a knock out fight you can't afford to "hit soft" and you can't enter any fight with ooa hand tied behind your back or one foot hobbled to a post Germany Is fighting this war as always fought her wars? to win. If are get into it that is the way are must fight?with every thing we have and anywhere on the surface of the globe arhere a power ful blow may bring victory. Let's make no mistake about that or be fooled into any action on the error that any war is a picnic or that either combatant can call his shots arithout regard to arhat the enemy may do. ? ? ? PATRIOTIC UNDERSTANDING I can't see much tha matter vtth the Preeident'e avoidance of a di rect endoraement at tha Burke Wadaworth conscription bill hi its present form. He haa at least twice indicated his belief in the principles at selective service. The coet of registration is utterly ' negligible. You simply use the exhrting local machinery for regis tration for elections. The service is voluntary and uncompensated. The only expense is for forms, station ery, postal and telegraph bills. That win have to be borne whatever the age limits, and toe additional coet for registering man up to M would hardly equal that of governmental mimeographed political handouts for one day. SPEAKING OF SPORTS By ROBERT McSHANE taniUtatalll l Ml I | \Mm Baseball and Conscription W/'HAT will happen to oompeti T* tive (ports if conscription comes? Will football, baseball, boxing and all the rest be things of the past if the nation again calls upon its young men tor compulsory military serv ice? These questions are bothering quite a few people just now. Ami well they might. It is taken tor granted that every form at com petitive sport, whether professional or amateur, is completely second ary to the call for national defense. It is just as certain that an athlete, trained to meet opposition and kept in fine physical condition, is the bod equipped individual tor military purposes. It is very unlikely that any form of conscription will have much ef fect on this year's sports program. Baseball's regular season will be completed and the World series a thing of the past before toe full force of any draft measure is folt. The same is likely to be true at j football. The effect of conscription on base ball is a milch-discuaaed subject largely because baseball, more than any other, is toe great national pastime. Authorities bold that toe age range of the proposed tost draft class 11 to 31?will take in more than 80 per cent of baseball's hired hands. Of course, it is improbable ?though not impossible?that all eligible* would be called at once. Different Story for *41 Present plans call for training ta begin October 1. It is unlikely, how ever, that toe program will be so far advanced on that date. Bid a tar different story is likely to be written in 1M1. There will be many, many changes next year. The average person's blood pres sure would ascend several notches if any attempt was mads to exempt ball players from the draft. He at tempt will be made. Bob FaBer will be just another soldier's hams *. to the powers behind toe dnft. That is as it should be. Aihlatas, professions! or simon-pure, claim so mccift] nriviUflBB. Baseball occupies an important place in tha everyday or heme at thing*. More than IS,000,0(0 people paid to aee the minor leagues play last season, and more than 1M00, 000 paid .to see the big league teams in,action. All at which prove* that the game is important to a lot of people. Millions of people who can't afford to Join a golf club, sail a boat or engage in other recreational activities, find their amusement in the country's ball parks. Regardless of one's dctsooiI fed ings, it would be a difficult situation if conscription put an end to the amusement of so large a share at the population. And that by no means is meant to infer that ball ; players should be exempted from the proposed draft. Training Period Suggested Rather, it leads up to a suggestion made by a New York sports writer ?Joe Williams. His suggestion is that immediately after the season is ended every baseball eligibis should be placed in an army camp and kept there until spring training ?tarts. Williams' suggestion?If adopted ?would give the players Ave months of intensive military training. That, of course, would be teas than tha usual conscript receives, but tha trained athlete has quits a tar ad vantages with which to begin both in physical and mental conditioning. Tha public would likely look woo tha plan with favor. Every ball player at military aga would be ready to take his proper place bt time of conflict. And in the tnoen time the nation's boll parks would provide an outlet for John Q. Pub lic's inhibitions. There is always the chaws that the country's position will rentals as H is. Then the ball player could be sent back to military camp at the end at the next season. But if any conflict occurred during that time, the next step would be ob vious. The nation's parka would be closed and no ono would object. Sport Shorts D ABE PRATT, Alex Shibicky and 0 A1 Ceilings at the New York Rangers hockey team have enlisted with the RoyaT Winnipeg Rifles , , . Paul Chriatman, Missouri's football star, and BUI DeCorrevont, North western's gridiron luminary, both spent part of tha summer in a hos pital?the former for a tonsillec tomy and the latter for an appen dectomy. iS ?
The Alamance Gleaner (Graham, N.C.)
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Aug. 22, 1940, edition 1
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