North Carolina Newspapers

The Alamance Gleaner VoL LXVI GRAHAM, N. C., THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1940 No. 40 ' ?*-" 1 ' 1"?"?"""?"?1???????????????????????? WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS By Edward C. Wayne Axis Powers Continue Balkan Drive, Attempting to Cut Britain's 'Lifeline'; Turbulent Labor Convention Forecast; Selective Service Lottery Completed (EDITOR'S NOTE?When opinions are expressed In these colnmns, the, are those oi the news analyst and not necessarily ol this newspaper.) by Western Newspaper Union.) BATTLE FOR EMPIRE: Balkan Adventure Reinforced by an "understanding" with Gen. Francisco Franco, dicta tor of Spain, and Vice Premier Pi erre Laval, acknowledged leader of France, the Axis powers rode off on a new highway of conquest. Be nito Mussolini served a six-hour ul timatum on Greece to surrender its' strategic airports and harbors "to guarantee peace." Then without waiting for an answer, fascist le gions drove across the border to ward Athens from their bases in al ready-conquered Albania. Meanwhile Adolf Hitler, estab lished in Rumania, made ready to attack Turkey, swinging through the lone remaining independent coun tries of Bulgaria and Jugoslavia. Hitler predicted that by December 1 he would hold Istanbul and the Dar danelles. Meanwhile there were indications that German troops would find free passage through Spain to attack Gi braltar. France's role was to turn over air and naval bases in Africa and the Near East for the battle on Britain's life line in the Mediterra nean. What seemed to be happening was the result of Hitler's failure to make England capitulate on schedule. London was still taking a severe beating from the air but still holding out and apparently giving Germany as good as it received. So, unable to conquer Britain, Hit ler swung his force on conquest of the British empire with a pincer movement on both ends of the Mediterranean. Outposts In this movement, Greece and Turkey were the last outposts linked to England in the fight against to talitarian domination. Outside at the Western hemisphere no independent nations lived, with the exception of parts of the British empire, virtually cut off from their mother country if the Nazi conquest succeeded. There seemed little in the way of that success. Greece with an army of but 200,000 regulars, 400,000 re Here U General Alexander Papa tot who has been appointed by King George of Greece to lead the land forces of his country in their battle to light off the Invasion by Italian troops. serves, and 175 warplanes was hardly more than a wooden barrier across the road in the path of a juggernaut. Turkey boasted of 2,000,000 warriors, outflanked on all sides. Appeals to Britain were answered immediately, but Britain could ill afford to assemble its scattered na val power for a definite issue in the Near East. Its Mediterranean fleet went into 'Immediate action, occu pying the fortified Greek island of Crete, which bars the way to Suez, and landing in Crete, which gives them a base near Italy. AS TO WAR: Call for Service President Roosevelt stood at a microphone. Near him was War Secretary Henry Stimson, blindfold ed. The cabinet member readied into a glasa bowl with his left hand, I pulled out a capsule and extracted a slip of paper. He handed it to the President "The first number," the President said, "is 158." A woman screamed. It was the number as signed by a draft board to her son. It meant he was first on the list in his district to answer the nation's selective service call. The woman was Mrs. Henry E. Bell, wife of a World war veteran who was on duty outside the build ing in a legion guard of honor. As a memento she was given the cap sule which contained her son's num ber. Later her husband, a District of Columbia fireman, also was per mitted to draw a number from the bowl. Earlier, dignitaries of the federal government drew numbers, and lat er Boy Scouts, veterans, newsmen, radio announcers and volunteers from the audience were given the honor. The pulling of numbers, be gun at noon, went on all night and continued hours after the sun had struck the Capitol's dome. Nine thousand in all were listed serially. In that order, providing the young men pass physical tests and have no dependents, they will be sent to army camps for a year's training. The first, a mere trickle, will leave home November 15. Before spring 800,000 in all will be in khaki. Army mnatmMmfsemamiMmmmmmttimmiammmmim This fellow typifies (he expression of many "158s" as they learned that their numbers were the Brst drawn in the selective service lottery. He is Encene Kolb Jr., of San Francisco. officials estimated only those men whose serial numbers were among the first 1,500 selected will be ex amined for service this year, and half of them will not be accepted. President Roosevelt ruled that no man may be taken unless he has been given five days' notice by his draft board, in order to settle per sonal affairs. Mexico Weakens The republic just south of the Rio has decided to lift an embargo on supplies of war to Japan. The em bargo had been decreed five days earlier by President Cardenas. It was indicated there still may be some restrictions on oil and scrap, which are government monopolies. Otherwise exporters may engage in free trade, including much needed mercury. One diplomatic source said a change may be made in the order after President-elect Manuel Cama cho takes office in December. This spokesman said Mexico was anxious to co-operate with the United States and would recall the embargo if Washington indicated the interna tional situation made it necessary. The four days' trial, however, cost Mexican exporters hundreds of thou sands of dollars, since the war has shut off all other shipments. REVOLT IN C. I. O.: Lewis Is Target What is forecast as likely to be one of the most turbulent con ventions in American labor history is due when the Congress of Indus trial Organizations meets at Atlantic City. John L. Lewis' endorsement of Wendell L. Willkie in the just closed presidential campaign was coupled with the announcement that he would resign if Roosevelt were elected. Lewis already faced growing op position in the C. I. O. Sidney Hill man, president of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers, split with Lewis on national defense. Hillman was named to the defense commission. Becking Hillman was the powerful Textile union. Lewis' endorsement of Willkie split away from him heavy factions of the automobile, steel, rubber and electrical workers. If Lewis fails of re-election, many look upon Philip Murray, quiet voiced steel chieftain, as the possi ble successor, rather than Hiiim.n THE GLEANERS: Championship Irving Bauman?1946 Champion, National Corah us king Contest. In a field of 21 expert nubbin toss ers, Irving Baumsm, Eureka, Illi nois, tossed 46.71 bushels of corn against the bangboard to win the National Cornhusking Championship at Davenport, Iowa. He barely nudged out Marion Link, of Ames, Iowa, who husked 46.36 bushels in the 80 minute contest. Bauman, a renter, married and with a three year-old son, gets the gold cup and $100 prize. NO REST: Carol Pursued The turbulent road to exile trav eled by former King Carol of Ru mania struck a new detour. One month on his way from Bucharest to Portugal and still not at his goal, the king learned that the Spanish government had ordered his consort, Mme. Lupescu, and his palace min ister, Ernest Urdareanu, returned to Rumania. There they likely will stand trial before an Iron Guard court for crimes against the state. Carol was informed of the order by Spanish police. "Pray, who gave those orders?" he asked. "My su periors," said the officers. "Who are your superiors?" asked the king. There was no answer. LOST COLONY: New Clues In 1591, when George White, gov ernor of the colony of Virginia, re turned from a two-year trip to Eng land, he could And not a trace of the settlement he had left on Roanoke island, N. C. The only clue was the word "Croatan" carved on a tree. It was the name of a local Indian tribe. Until recently historians were mystified at the disappearance of the pioneer men and women. Three years ago a 21-pound quartz stone was found on the bank of the Chow an river, near Edenton, N. C. In Elizabethan English it told of the death of the colonists from "misery and war." Included in the dead was Virginia Dare, first white child bom in America. Now 46 other stones have been unearthed along a trail which showed the colonists plodded through North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. Twenty of the nation's fore most experts on pre-Colonial folk lore, led by Dr. Samuel E. Morison, have declared the stones authentic. Most recently discovered stone told of the marriage in 1599 of Virginia Dare's mother to an Indian chief. ASIA: V. S. Interests In Asia, the current situation had important complications. Japan, now linked to Italy and Germany by the new triple alliance, said it would fulfill its obligations. These may be interpreted by Tokyo to call for sei zure of Hongkong and Singapore. The British base at Singapore al ways has been considered to prop up one end of the American lifeline. The United States took action in another direction. Premier General Petain of France was notified in a personal note from President Roose velt that if France surrendered bases to the Axis powers, the United States would feel duty bound to oc cupy French colonies in the Carib bean. TREND... how the wind it blowing Auto Sale*?Retail sale at auto mobile trucks this season is run ning 20 per cent higher than in 1030. For the full year the manufacturers expect to pass the record of 1937, which was 947,000 units. Entertainer ? The daehess of Windsor soon may enter the radio field as a featured program. Radio circles announced they were hunt ing for a sponsor. The daehess will broadcast from Nassau and give her earnings to the British war relief fund. Washington Digest Excitement in Washington Calms As Election Ends Party Hostility Successful Candidate Will Be 'Everyone's President'; Future Farmers Hold Annual Convention; Neutrality Is Hard to Grasp. By BAUfcHACE (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) It's sort of quiet along Main street again. I mean along the street that runs from the marble steps of the Capi tol, up past the front porch of the White House and on out by the stores where you trade and the house where you live or maybe where your lane turns off. It's all the same street with different names indif ferent places. It's quieter because the howdy-do over election is through with, the people have cast their votes and chosen their President and have taken up their daily tasks again. Before election day finally ar rived, cool-headed writers and pub lic men were warning that quadren nial campaign animosities should be forgotten as soon as the vote was counted. That the lame ducks should muffle their squawks and limp off the scene as quickly as possible, and that sore heads should be nursed with patience and with out post mortems. As Alf l*andon said in October, "Whoever is elected will be my President for the next four years," and I believe what he said ought to go for all of us. Federal Employee Reeenti 'Loafer' Charge The other day I was sitting in the office of a man who has served the government for 30 years. He has had at least three offers from private business with a lot more salary than he's getting. But he wouldn't take any of them. He has an important job and he likes it. He has no politics. He was ap pointed in Woodrow Wilson's day. He has never voted because he's a citizen of the District of Columbia and like the rest of us residents here is classed with idiots and children, and has no vote. He heard a lot about thd New Freedom before we got into the war in 1917; he watched with a slight smile as the country went "back to normalcy"; he trav eled peacefully, if a little skeptical ly, along Calvin Coolidge's "perma nent plateau of prosperity"; saw one or both chickens escape their pots in '29, and lived through the New Deal without being plowed under or made over. And after election day, 1940, he went back to his office ex actly as he had done every other time, to do the work for which he gets his wage. He is as trustworthy a hired man as ever wore a pair of Uncle Sam's overalls. Every President is his President, too. But he put it a little differently to me: "The only kind of a political argu ment that makes me sore is one where some partisan gets up and hollers about 'those loafers' (Repub licans or Democrats, according to kicker's politics) 'down in Washing ton.' They forget that the vast ma jority of us carry on through one administration after another, doing the work we have to do. The loaf ers come and go, it's true. I don't mind -kicking about them myself. What I object to is this loose idea that the government is just one po litical party or the other. Most of us here belong to no party. For the rest of the people, one day in four years is enough to give vent to their partisan passions. The rest of the time, we ought to be just plain Americans and nothing else." 'Fat or a Farmertf Are Bulwark of Democracy While Uncle Sam is preparing to welcome the first draft of the citi zen army which is to bulwark our democracy, another gathering at youngsters who are fighting every day tor the democratic idea with out perhaps realizing how important their work is, are having a big cele bration. I mean the Future Farmers of America who are holding their an nual convention in St. Louis. I have known about these boys for a long time. I have been on radio pro grams with them and have met a lot of them who come down here to Washington to talk with their execu tive secretary, W. A. Rosa. But I never realized until this week what a powerful influence for the preser vation of the American system these fellows are. I have two reasons for saying they are a bulwark at democracy. First, their ideal is Just the oppo site at "let George do it," the way at people in a dictatorship. The Fu ture Farmers learn "do it yourself." That's one reason. The other it that they all seem to be imbued with the desire to own and develop the land. No room for fascism or communism in that outlook. I met the young president, Ivan Kindschi, from an 80-acre farm in Prairie du Sac, Neb., up in the dairy country. He was in Washington on his way to the convention. I asked Ivan: "What are you preparing to do?" "I'm going to own a farm," he said. And that, I figured out, after a lot more questions is why most of the boys join the Future Farmers. It's simple enough?they are fu ture farmers. "How did you get interested in the organization?" I asked him-. "Because they do interesting things." That's simple and sensible enough too, and those interesting things in clude learning to be better farmers and following a great principle of democracy that gets kind of rusty in the city and in the country too helping to make the community better. These boys build investments in farm land, live stock and farm ma chinery through money they earn on their projects. Nothing anchors a man to democ racy like property he's sweated for. And they learn not only how to judge cattle, soil conservation, but all the other practical things a farm boy has to learn such as how to handle a hog from farm to market so when the packer weighs he won't have to cut a chunk out of a ham where somebody encouraged the poor porker aboard- a truck with a boot. Trained in their chosen profession, trained in leadership in their com munity, co-operative effort, thrift; and with this first phrase of their creed in their minds, "I believe in the future of farming," these young Americans are a defense of Amer ica "terrible as an army with ban ners." Haghet May Retire Before Next Election The new President la probably go ing to have an important task to perform which hasn't been officially announced: The appointment of a new chief justice of the United States. Chief Justice Charles Evaps Hughes will undoubtedly resign be fore another four years are over. He's in good health and spirits, and if you were to meet that familiar figure on one of his dally walks, you'd hardly believe that he will soon pass his eighty-third year. And even if you had never seen him or IHs picture, you'd be very likely to say: "That man looks like what a chief justice ought to be." Mr. Hughes ought to be, and is. No head of our highest tribunal ever fitted the solemn setting of the Supreme court better. Here is the law in all its dignity come to life?-the classic forehead, the keen and friendly eyes, the white beard of the patriarch. He not only looks the part but acts it. No one will begrudge Chief Jus tice Hughes a rest when he chooses ' to step down from the bench and up again to a high place in his tory. It will not be easy to find a worthy successor. Strict Neutrality Hard to Grasp Neutrality is a hard state of mind to grasp. I mean neutrality at mind on everyday subjects as well as toward nations in a war. Old Dr. "A. B. C." Fletcher, weU known to an earlier generation as the great advocate of chewing your food, learned about neutrality while serving as a member of Hoover's commission that fed Belgium in World war I. In that job you had to be neutral or destroy your own usefulness. Once he told me that you had to learn to be neutral?that it is an art. You just have to roll up your emotions and put them in a corner and look at everything objectively. Finally you get so that if a chicken runs across the road, it's still just a chicken whether you own it or i whether you're the man who mixer it up with his fenders. I've learned a little about neu trality myself in trying to be non partisan on the radio hi election years. It really isn't so hard U practice when you get used to it but the difficulty lies in persuading i other people that you are reall) I nonpartisan. SPEAKING OF | SPORTS i I By ROBERT McSHANE | Uo>Mk|W?MiNn*o|i?lUai 8 \X7HEN Ogden D. Miller, new " chairman of the athletic coun cil at Yale, put commercialized big time football on the pan he merely added fuel to an argument which has been waging for the past 15 years. Fresh from witnessing Old Eli's recent M to 7 defeat by Penn, Miller told the New York Football Writers association that "college athletics and even school athletics h my opinion are at a critical stage . . . Intercollegiate football is now reach ing a peak ef emphasis in many col leges which it reached elsewhere many years age." The opinion expressed by Miller is receiving much serious thought from a majority of those individuals in the gridiron business. Most of them ad mit that there is entirely too much proselyting, recruiting and paying for good players. Miller's ideas aren't new. Robert Hutchins, presi dent of the University of Chicago one of the nation's outstanding edu cational mills?gave voice to the same thoughts last year when he announced that his institution was withdrawing from football competi tion in the Big Ten conference. Two-Sided Question To be sure, the paying of football players is net condemned unani mously. Many ask, "Why shouldn't | a peer boy whs can play losthnll have his way paid through college? especially when gate receipts may total more than 1200,MS per game?" Perhaps the big-time football play er should be paid, especially if the college feels that way about it But those colleges should play among themselves. The play-for-pay ath lete is one of the top-notchers in i his line. Otherwise he wouldn't be drawing a salary. But obviously it is unfair to match a semi-pro team against a team selected from a simon-pure student body. That kind of competition is beneficial to | neither party. The kind and amount of help giv en players varies tremendously. The player may be granted an alumni 'loan" or he may be given a Meek of tickets to sell for each game. A wealthy and influential grad may get him a summer Job at a salary snfBclent to care for expenses dar ing the academic year. Tangled Deals It is no exaggeration to state that at least two-thirds of the better play ers belong to the proselyted group, | one way or another. The coacb or the college itself may have had noth ing to do with the financial deal ings. Indeed, in many caaes they might be in complete ignorance of the transactions. The deal may have been made with the boy or with his father, neither of whom would be likely to talk about it. College football is big time. In two months it draws far more spec tators than big league baseball does in a seaaon three times as long. Baseball teams can lose dozens of games and still draw customers. College teams must win consistent ly to keep the turnstiles clicking. With so many enormous stadia dot ting the natioo's landscape, it is ob vious that there are bills to be paid. Winning football teams can pay those bills Hired football players help insure winning teams. Ne college wants to pay its play ers. And because of that the solu tion may come automatically. Part of the answer is in conference sched ules. The Ivy league stays close to Its own boundaries. The Big Ten gets around considerably more, but manages to play colleges with the same scholastic ranking and a simi lar coda of ethics. Retaliation Some colleges have seen fit to re taliate against the Southeastern con ference for its realistic sttitude on the problems of recruiting and sub sidization. Notre Dame, for instance, is dropping its game with Georgia Tech next year. Dartmouth can celed a game with Georgia on the ground that it could provide no suit able place to play in late season. , j There would be little nailed linen washed publicly If teams with about the same scholastic ranking and eth ics played among themselves. Then, If one conference believed In the . open subsidisation of players, aero weald be ne one to shriek "unfair." By the same taken, these schools , completely free from professional Ism weald bo matched mere evenly, There is little doubt but that con ference supervisors will exert mors ' authority in the future. It will bt ' up to them to aee that schools withix ' their circuit obey both the spirit and ? letter of regulations. When that sit ; uation arrives, collegiate football nc longer trill be subject to the Burner ous attacks now directed against it GENERAL HUGH S. * JOHNSON JcujJlL Withinyt?. D. C. DEPRESSION FIGURES In the campaign now closed Mr. Roosevelt's first "political" speech was forced, be said, against his intention to be "drafted" as an unwilling candi date?forced by the "misrepresentation" at his opponents. The chief "mis representation" at which he complained was their assertion that this depression is still with us. Mr Roosevelt said Hugh JibauB that times are better than in 1919. And he further stated, "The output of our factories and mines is now about 13 per cent (renter than the peak of 1919; 1919, mind you, not 1933. It is at the highest level ever recorded." Col. Leonard Ayrea, a jtefiokal au thority on production, writing in the Cleveland Trust company bulletin, says: "There has recently been pub lished a perplexing revision of the Federal Reserve index at the vol ume of industrial production. Ac cording to the new index, our indus trial production has been much greater in recent years than the old , index led us to believe." "This seems hard to reconcile with j the fact that an a per capita basis our national income last year was only 83 per cent as large as it was in 1936. Freight loadings per cap its were 58 per cent as large. Au tomobiles made were 8T per cent as many. Bank chads drawn were 99 per cent as much. All construction was 64 per cent as great hi value. Industrial employment was M par cent as large. Department store , sales were 75 per cent as great. There are many more similar dis crepancies which appear irreconcil able with the claim at the new in dex that we produced last year an large volumes at industrial goods per person in our population as we did in the boom years of 1938 and 1938. This bank will regretfully refrain from reliance on the new index and will substitute for it an index com puted in its own offices and com piled from component sources mak ing up the Federal Reserve index." Colonel Ayrea, who made these computations, was this government's World war statistician. He has just been recalled to that service by the war department. He is a leading authority on this subject He made these remarks long before the Pres ident spoke. The figures be quotes are not syn thetic deductions such as overall in dexes of production must be. Thay are actual counts. ? ? ? NATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS Now that the numbers have been drawn (or America's first peacetime conscription, an incident which arose during the draft lottery of HIT can finally be told. At that time a young lady with oversized shoes al most upset the entire draft mechan ism. Great ceremony and close in^eo- h tion accompanied the drawing of fit* first few numbers by various hi^i officials But the numbers were picked out of the bowl for hours after the "novelty" had worn off, and lesser lights performed the tedious work for Id more boors. One of the employees was a girl with shoes too large for her. Hie historic work aha performed wee also very tiring, so aha eras glad when she could return to her room that night. She kicked off her shoes with a sigh of relief, and?horrors?a draft capsule rolled out. Almost frantic, she rushed to a ' telephone and explained the whole story to an unnamed general who promptly told her to rush back to headquarters. The authorities held a short, secret conference and selected the only course that seemed open to them: They palmed the capsule and dex terously slipped ' it back into the bowL And no one was the wiser. ? ? ? German overlords apparently are trying to use America's sympathy for the French as a lever to break the British blockade. At least this ! is the opinion held by some govern ment officials who are watching the efforts of H. Gaston Henri-Haye, French ambassador to America, to release frozen French assets in this country. They note that any advantage se cured for the Vichy government' could be utilised by the domtoat ing Germans. The prestige and ex perience of tha French consular and ' diplomatic tot* in Washington ' place them in a far more favorable position than the German legation. ?