North Carolina Newspapers

The Alamance Gleaner VoL LXVII GRAHAM, N. C., THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1941 * No. 2 WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS By Edward C. Wayne Washington Experts See War Crisis In Europe and Asia Within 90 Days As Hitler 'Promises' German Victory; U. S. and Ford Clash on Labor Policy (EDITOB'* NOTE?Wkta nliklu are uprtiMd to tkcte eetaaue, Iker are Urate af toa nn anatret and aal neceeearBy .7 tkte aewapaper.i i (Released by Weatern Newspaper itui*- > i. BARD1A, LIBYA. ? Tuo ! Australian soldiers of the British forces in Libya look ' at the name plate of the main street in this city. After en tering Bardia. the Aussies changed the street name from "Benito Mussolini" to "Aus tralia." ? I 60 TO 90 DAYS: * Crisis Will Come In Washington, where bets can be obtained on almost anything, the odds are 55 to 45 that the United States will be at war with Japan within 60 to 90 days. Peace is on the short end. The view is shared by competent observers. Whether there will be actual armed conflict probably will depend on what happens during this period. The predictions are being made not by goose bone prophets but on careful analysis of political, mili tary, geographical and economic factors. : Those most apprehensive in the capital are concerned with adoption of the lend-lease bill which would give President Roosevelt full pow ers to place the nation on an all out war footing. They believe Japan is a full partner of the Axis and will act on orders from Berlin. They believe that within 60 to 90 days Hitler will order the full force of his powerful attack let loose on Britain and they are doubtful of the outcome. They fear the United States will be faced with an enemy on the Atlantic and the Paijjfic at (he same time. For America the chief immediate political factor is the triparty pact arrfong Japan, Germany and Italy, signed last September. The pact provides for cooperative action if either of the others is involved in a war. These officials believe the tregty is.an outright offensive alli ance aimed at the U. S., just as Nazi spokesmen -said at the time. In Tokyo those immediately con cerned are seeking full powers for the cabinet headed by Premier Prince Fumimaro Konoye, who is pledged to the "new world ot#er." In both countries it-is the appar ent desire on the part of leaders to prepare public opinion for the worst so that there will be no outcry which would force modification of the programs Crisis Year President Roosevelt's birthday is a holiday in Germany, but not for the same reason. In Germany it is celebrated as the birthday of the Nazi acquisition of power. Annually Hitler makes a speech. This year was no exception. But his speech bade the German people to mark the year 1941 as an exception. He promised it would be the victory year. He said the attack on Britain was near, that R would come without fa? in sprjng, and he warned that no aid from the United States would be permit ted to reach England. Every ship carrying help to Brit ain, he said, wodkl be torpedoed, no matter what its ownership, no matter if it was convoyed or not. Also in the theater of war: C The British continued to make headway in Libya, besieging Ben gasi, the last main port held by the Italians and threatening to ex tend their lines to the border of French Tunisia. 4L In East Africa they also battered their way into Eritrea. The Italians retreated in trucks. An Italian army of 100,000 there was said to be in a bad way. C. German Big Berthas were firing from the French channel ports into England. Whereas before the pro jectile toppled into the Dover area, now they were reported to reach 10 miles inland. ( I WAR CONFIRMED: Senators Hear Report When Wendell Willkie decided to go to England to "aee for himself* toe progress of the war, there was sarcasm in some sources. It was said the G.O.P. nominee intended to confirm the rumors of war in Eu rope. Willkie went, he saw and hurried home. Hardly had he arrived in London when an announcement was "??? he would reduce the length of his stay in order to report home sooner. Even after that, an other 48 hours was cut from the "f *he request of Sate Sec rctary Hull who asked him to testify before the senate committee consid ering the lend-lease bill. Willicie's speed on the journey over and back seems almost a rebuke to the isola tionists who have emphasized how *ar sway England really is. wmw was more sarcasm for WiUkie , trip It came now from Republican sources. The national convention of Young Republicans meeting in Des Moines, Iowa' heard a resolution which condemned 1??der tor his support of the bill. The resolution was not passed. It met with displeasure at the handfi of many G.O.P. stalwarts who believed Willkie's position in support of the administration policy should not be criticized at this time. A few days earlier, in fact, the Pennsylvania state Republican com mittee itself went on record as fa voring the aims of the lend-lease bill and requesting the state's Re publican congressman to vote for It. Some G.O.P. newspapers, however, ""w pleased- Ob* declared Willkie, by supporting the Roosevelt foreign policy, was a "Quisling" to the Republicans. CRACKDOWN: For Defense The war department announced award to the Fargo Motor com pany of Detroit of a I10.J88.1J8 con ?ES..L?uck*' At "rae "me it let it be known that the Ford Motor company was low bidder but that their estimate was thrown out be cause Ford refused to agree to labor policy restrictions. The specifica tions of the contract called for ob servance of the labor policy state ment adopted by the defense com mission last fall. Through this part of the specification the Ford bid had drawn a line in red ink, block ing it out. The refusal of Ford to observe the provisions of the bidding is not the first difference between the com pany and the government, nor is it the first business the firm has lost. The automobile manufacturer held out against the NRA, and the gov ernment stopped buying Ford cars In Pennsylvania the state also can celled an order then for several mil lion dollars. Last fall Ford refused to accept a defense commission con tract for airplane engines because the material was scheduled- to be shared with Great Britain. - Supporters of the most recent ac tion within the government declared that it was wrong to award defense contracts to a manufacturer who has been held guilty of Wagner act violations. A Ford spokesman asserted that while the manufacturer would re fuse to make defense material re quiring compliance .with the law he was willing to make any material possible without any profit to him. Land of Liberty? - NEW YORK.?Nine-year-old Michael Storrie of England, gat ing at the Statue of Liberty, when he was taken to Ellis Is land for an immigration hearing. When he arrived in the II. S. re cently, it was found he did not have his visa to enter. His fa ther may have forgotten the pre cious document when the boy sailed from Lisbon. PEACE: It's Wonderful Japan long has eyed the rich area of Indo-China and the port of Saigon, through which is exported 80 per cent of IndoChina's rice, fish, salt and timber. Last September Siam (Thailand) which is known as a "cli ent state" of Japan, suddenly de clared war on the French who con trol Indo-China. The French, occu pied elsewhere, were forced to fight only an enfeebled campaign. Now Japan has stepped in as a "mediator." "A Japanese flotilla sailed into Saigon and ordered me diation end the conflict. Seven Japanese diplomats called represen tatives of the two powers to the warship and ordered "peace." Japan claimed the right as the pro tector of the "new order" in the Far East. But Japan revealed she was not interested in peace alone. As pay ment for bringing peace, Japan de manded that 80 per cent of each year's crop in Indo-China be sold to them. The demand gave point to the argument that Japan had delib erately encouraged the Thai attack so that it could step in and make peace, at a price. Power Meanwhile the Japanese naval force continued to base itself in Saigon, just opposite the Philippines which stand between Japan and the Dutch East Indies. The Japanese navy already has occupied Hanoi, opposite the northern tip of the Philippines. Only other base in the area is the British fortifications at Singapore. Japan has said that if America takes over that base, through negotiations with Britain, it will be regarded as an act of war. Peace. It's wonderful. YOUTH: Sponsor Lost The American Youth congress is a group with affiliations from hundreds of organizations, religious, political, fraternal and educational. Or ganized in 1934, it claims 3,400,000 affiliated members. But the group has had plenty of critics. The Dies committee inves tigated it for communism. The ; President chided it last year when convention delegates called at the White House. In return he was booed. But through all the criti cism, Mrs. Roosevelt remained one of its champions. She attended meetings, made speeches and denied the charges of communism. She in vited delegates to the White House for dinners. But the organization now has come out against the selective service act, has opposed the lend lease measure for aid to Britain and has declared the nation is being led to dictatorship. So many of the for mer supporters are leaving the group. Invitations issued for the convention this year were turned down by Sidney Hillman, C.I.O. vice president and national defense commissioner. Secretary?and Mrs. Roosevelt. MISCELLANY: C Big salaries in the United States are fading, the Institute of Real Es tate Management was told, by its vice president, A. William Wal strum, of Ridge wood, N. J. Excess profits taxes and emergency levies are acting as great leveiers of fancy incomes, he said, adding that statis tics show that the trend of top sal aries shows them limited to between $15,000 and $15,000. Public Places 'Censorship' Upon Undesirable News Opposing Viewpoints Dismissed as False; Government Aims to Increase Trade With Latin America. By BAUKHAGE National Farm and Home Hour Commentator. WNU Service, 1395 National Pren BldfWashington, D. C. WASHINGTON.?Aa emotions rise here over the debate of American foreign policy and America's role in connection with the European war a strange sort of censorship is set tling down upon the nation. I can feel it in the mail which I receive from listeners -to my broadcasts. It is not a government censorship. It has nothing to do with company rules and regulations, it isn't even voluntary deletion on the part of writers or commentators. It is a censorship which the public itself invokes and it is quite as effective | as the kind imposed by Herr Goeb bels. I have encountered it before. It is simply a flat refusal on the part of the individual to believe any thing he doesn't want to. He puts it into operation with a twist of the dial when he hears something he doesn't agree with on the radio or by tossing the newspaper into the corner when his eye catches a senti ment of which he doesn't approve. But let me give you some striking examples of this "audience" censor ship?of how the public will believe only what it wants to. The Athenia was sunk white I was in Berlin. Shortly thereafter, com ment of a high American official was cabled to German papers. This ^official in Washington had re ferred to the "torpedoing" of the ship with the implication that the Nazis did it. The Germans with whom I spoke (people who couldn't have known any more about what really happened than I did) were astounded. "Even if we wanted to torpedo a ship full of Ajnericans," one of them said, "we wouldn't be quite dumh, enough to do that when the last thing we want is to get the United States into war If it was torpedoed at all the British did it to get you in on their side." When I got back to the United States I found that it-was accepted without argument that the Germans had done it. To the best of my knowledge it has never yet been determined just what happened to the Athenia. British Fliers Interviewed. I'll give you another example. While I was in Germany I had a chance to interview the first three British airmen shot down in raids over German territory. To be per fectly frank I found them, even the two who were laid up with injuries, extremely satisfied with their treat ment. Naturally they had a good deal of attention being "firsts." And in those days the feeling wasn't so bitter. I did report the factual things they told me?1 interviewed them with no Germans present snd are all spoke freely. But did the British public believe it? I should say not. An Internation al News Service dispatch from Lon don to American papers the next day quoted "diplomatic circles as being concerned" and stating that "one spokesman labeled the broad cast an obvious fake." But no Englishman at that point wanted to believe what those boys said about their treatment or their personal feelings toward their cap tors. Broadcast Cat OB. The third experience was the most amusing. I was broadcasting from Berlin and I wanted to get .over the idea thy Amdrinen listeners that while I was well treated I was under cen sorship and that if I departed from my censored text I would probably be cut off. So I said this: "It is very much as if I were in the office of a man whose whole fu ture is suddenly at stake, still he is kind and courteous to me. He of fers me his hospitality. He let's me use his typewriter and now be pushes bis busy telephone across the desk to me to let me talk to you, right before him." And right there I was cut off the air. The American listeners knew what I was driving at and imme diately surmised that the Germans had cut me off because I was criti cizing the censorship. But a few days after the event I was sum moned to the German foreign of fice and questioned at length by a highly suspicious underling. "Why," he asked haughtily, "did the National Broadcasting Company cut you off when you were praising the Germans?" Ueanwhile I had been notified of what had happened and I explained, truthfully that I had been cut off be cause I had reached the end of a period and that had I continued, it would have interfered wtth a regu lar commercial program. But did my Nasi accuser believe? Did my American friends believe when I re turned? Definitely not! That is the censorship which is growing as the nation is stirred over the debate on the lend-lease bill. And not only do pros and antis defend their cause with patriotic fire but each is ready to declare that the other who disagrees must be silenced for the good of the Repub lic. That is the kind of individual censorship against which no protest, however powerful, can prevail. * ? ? Seek to Improve Latin American Market "Good fences make good neigh bors." 1 once quoted that line from a New England poet to a Dakota farm son and he flew into a rage. He said it was typical of the unneigh borliness of the Yankees. Well, be ing prairie-bom myself with a long line of New England ancestors I am inclined to sit on that fence and look both ways. Perhaps we ought to say that there is nothing unneigh borly in a good fence so long as it I has a gate. And Uncle Sam reels tne same way about the "Good Neighbor" business as it applies to South Amer ica. The farmers on both sides of the international fence, the Latin American farmers and the North American farmers, while they are all for unity, economically, political- 1 ly and culturally, are a little wary about competition. That is why the department of agriculture talks so much about "complementary" or non-competi tive products in its program for de veloping trade with Latin-America. We want to sell goods to South America. We have lots of things they want. But in order to buy our goods they have to have American dollars. They can get the dollars if they can sell their goods to us. Many of the things they would like to sell us we already have?especial ly agricultural products. Therefore certain questions ad dressed to the department of agri culture are pertinent. Here they are along with the official answers: Principal Imports. What are the principal agricul tural products we now import from Latin America? "Our agricultural imports from Latin America are of two general types," says the office of foreign agricultural relations. (1) "Complementary-or non-com petitive agricultural products, con sisting for the most part of coffee, cocoa, bananas, sisal, henequen, special types of wool, spices, essen tial (volatile) oils, and tagua nuts. Such products are normally import ed to meet the whole of our re quirements since they are not pro duced at home." (2) "Supplementary or competi tive agricultural products. These include cane sugar, vegetable oil seeds, cattle hides, unmanufactured j tobacco, meat products, vegetables and vegetable preparations, dutiable wool, goat and kid sldns, and lin seed, to mention the more impor tant." How does the department of agri culture propose to increase trade be tween the United States and Latin America? Hy developing In Latin America tor United State* consumption the tropical and semi-tropical products which are not competitive with our agriculture." Does Latin American co-operation mean increased imports into the United States of supplementary or competitive agricultural products? "No, that is not the aim of the department's program." What are the complementary or non-competitive products of Latin America, the imports of which can be increased? They consist of crude rubber, cinchona bark from which quinine is made, abaca or manila fiber, valu able for the making of ropes for the navy, rotenone-bearing plants ex tremely valuable for insecticidal GENERAL NIMH S. JOHNSON Jaur: i*M r?? J twwrtt Washington, D. C. SELF CONTRADICTION The proponents of the Morgenthau "lease-lend" bill are certainly talk ing themselves into a position at self-contradiction which it may take their lifetime to explain. The ex planation required may not be merely lack ot logic?it may be of why they helped to ruin their coun try by using their official positions to dignify statements that, from a private citizen, wouldn't stand two minutes cross-examination before a Justice of the peace. Secretary Morgenthau, who began by trying, without consulting public opinion at all, to divert our war sup plies to France, where. Hitler got them, says that if we do not pass that bill, Britain will have to stop fighting Secretary Stimson, also urging this particular bill, says that it must pass at once, because if Britain stops fighting, we are subject to attack. Mr. Morgenthau's argument is that "they haven't any dollars left." That may or may not be so, and probably isn't, but if the secretary means that they have nothing which they can pledge as collateral it cer tainly is not so?not by billions. There is considerable apprehension in Canada that, if we begin giving our manufactures away to Britain, Canada will lose a lot of business. The British have to pay Canadian industry, slso British industry, not to mention all the other nations at the British Commonwealth and the whole of the rest of the world. Only Uncle Sam is rushing out again to give away his?well, let's call them innards?when even the assooiation of British nations give not theirs. O. K., failing a franker and more credible statement of this finan cial problem, most of us are willing to give England money outright to buy our just share of aid to her and to the precise extent?and not one inch further?than it really contrib utes to American defense. We want congress to control these appropri ations for the efense of Britain just as it must control appropriations for the defense of America. The "lease-lend" bill doesn't do that. It < authorizes the President alone to make, buy and give Britain unlimit ed billions worth of our resources without consulting congress. It, therefore, as Secretary Mor genthau has said, it is only a ques tion ot dollars for Britain, no argu ment is left for the much wider powers of the "lease-lend" bill. Other official "opinions" that : Great Britain can lick Germany on the continent with our aid, that if Great Britain doesn't, Germany will ' lick us etcet, etcet; aren't worth the paper on which they are written or the breath with which they are spoken. Modern war is too unpre dictable. There is only one rule for us?a burning lesson at this terrible age. "Arm for impregnable Amer ican defense. Rely on no other na tion?on nothing but the strength of our own resources and the courage, ingenuity, patriotism and devotion of our own people." m m ? DEFENSE AUTHORITY Secretary Stimson says that one reason (or bum's-rushing the in creasingly discredited "lease-lend" bill is that it will cure the "disorder which has existed (or nearly two years in the manutacture o( muni tioitft." His point is thgt the President must purchase all supplies (or our several defense departments and also (or any allies because, other wise, they would compete with each other, raise prices and create coo fusion Whatever confusion has "existed" is not traceable to any lack of ex ecutive authority. Up to the middle of last year, our government had no plans whatever for adequate defense and then, in a moment of panic, dumped indigest ible billions of dollars of totally un co-ordinated orders into the lap of an unwarned industry. It is due also to the long and inexcusable lag in setting up any single authorised and intelligent control. That hasn't been done yet. It was not because government had pot been warned by the voice of intense and highly successful ex perience. B. M Baruch warned it over and over again as to precisely what was wrong and what was nec essary to cure it. To use the excuse that Mr. Stlm son thus advanced for tht mium of this totalitarian bill?thte fratui tous American assumption of re sponsibility for the world-wide con duct of this war?is either a confes sion of ignorance or it is an attempt to frighten this notion into such an< abandonment of democratic and con stitutional processes as is neithef necessary nor desirable I lllf HII If MM*! Sfxeakuuf oj I glpfDIBITS 1 ? By ROBERT McSHANE | ? !?*??0 By Wmw Mn??yirU*? Tnniiiiiiaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiaaaaaaar CTRITZIE ZIVIC, current king of 1 the welterweight division, has one of the oddest boxing careers an rec ord, having whipped some of the greatest fighters in the uouuUy and having lost to some of the worst sec ond raters. Daring the past seven years Fritxie has foogbt lit times and last only a. He has Mhast geetW ETT.oTaTerw? shle'be licked Henry Arsutiiw twtee than half a year after being etented KspUn'?Milt AreaTch^?wted>aad a beet el ethers. Fritxie, one of five Zivic brothers, all of whom have at one time or another made a living with their fists, is slightly on the screwball FE1TBE XIT1C aide. According to Scotty Stratcb am, a Detroit promoter, Pntrie tail light 10 times a week if the boada can be arranged. No Training Slave While the K-yaaretd mi.bmgh yaath^atay like U ight. he isn't he Is practically las as? Is trahdag rales. It has been saggestad that ha atays ep te fear er In h As Basra Is a great Barren is Law Career, Us manager, bat te gate Mr. Oar Jrtdeh hij'tghMnr"il'^MUg atltate. The youngest of the Znric boys has one or two other ideas which are strictly original. OeeamonaDy he will send Carney back to Pittsburgh and tour the country alone, K~~n"g himself and making his own con tracts While this may not be an ideal arrangement tram a manage rial standpoint, Carney still gets his share of the swag. Self-Analyst Whether or not he's the family's best fighter, Fritzie is quite wen pleased with himself. He knows, too. why he has the unhappy habit of dropping an occasional fight la a dope. That, he says, is because the Zivics are an emotional lot. He ad mits that at times Us fighting is far from inspired. And that's barauss the opiKjsition hasn't the ike to more him?isn't dangerous enough to bo taken seriously. He was inspired fair the Armstrong brawl, however. He was go anger to meet the champion that he in structed Promoter A1 Abranw to offer Armstrong a SB,000 guaran tee. Zivic was willing to fight tor ex penses in the match, is l|Uoll| scheduled for Pittsburgh. hBfct Ja cobs was so impressed by the set up that he booked the fight tor Mad ison Square Garden, figuring the bout was good enough fbr New York. The rest is ring histdry. Hsmmerta' Henry lost, then lost again in s re turn engagement. If aver s fighter cease by Me trade aatarally, Fritsie did. A Brio who oondat scrap wield have been at the five bays Wdoses that ha ceaM. daring his prima, have whipped aay and an ef Ma brothers. To make it even more baffling, their friends agree with them. To do anything else would not be dip lomatic. Zivic never will be known as the greatest welterweight champion in ring history. He doesn't take his business seriously enough fbr that But when the blue chips are stacked high on the tabic, and the competi tion is tough, then Fritzie gives the family plenty of reason for its Zivic nrWd