The Alamance Gleaner
Vol LXVII . GRAHAM, N. C., THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 1941 -? No. 10 I
1
WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS By Edward C. Wayne
House Launches 'Rearmament Inquiry1
As Labor Disputes Continue Tie-Up
Of Plants Vital to Defense Program;
Balkans Hold Center of War Scene
(BDITOB'S NOTE?When ?pinions if* izfriuii la (km ithuua, UlT
mi thm of tko nows snsiyst ul sol aeeeeearUy if tkls iivipipir.)
by WmUio Newspaper ?
When the CIO called its strike at America's largest industrial plant?
the Ford Motor company's River Rouge plant?the plant was closed aad
?MM workers were on the Idle list. Above photo shows moon ted police
trying to hold off pickets daring one of the violent strike battles.
STRIKES:
Dominate News
While the question of whether or
not the United States was "in the
war" or not continued to be debated
by editorial writers, there was no
question but that the nation was in a
labor war, daily growing more and
more serious, with outbreaks of vio
lence hitting the front pages with
a bang. Congressional action in the
situation came when the house voted
*? 1 for investigation of
the re-armament program with spe
cial emphasis on strikes which
hamper the defense program.
Th? C. I. O. held the strike spot
light, the three major disturbances
consisting of various types of trou
ble involving unions of that organi
sation. These included the Ford
?bike, the Allis-Chalmers strike and
the soft-coal strike.
After sailing along for 11 weeks
with little happening except unsuc
cessful negotiations, the Allis-Chal
mers dispute broke into serious vio
lence. This followed closely on two
developments, statements by Knox
and Knudsen urging that the plant
be reopened, and the action by the
company in putting 500 rehabilita
tion men to work, and then throw
ing open the doors to "those em
ployees who wanted to come back."
About 1,250 out of 7,100 on one
?hift reported, and then the govern
ment of Wisconsin stepped in to at
tempt to give returning workers pro
tection through embattled picket
lines. The result? The plant had to
close down again. Governor Hell's
car was stoned, 40 persons were in
jured In a police-strikers' battle, and
the Governor informed President
Roosevelt that the trouble was be
yond all state, county and city police
to keep order.
'Biggest' Plant
Hardly had this cry reached the
President from Milwaukee when C.
I. O. workers struck at the largest
single industrial plant in the world,
Henry Ford's River Rouge factory,
employing 86,000 persons. Almost
immediately there were reports of
violence at this factory, owned and
operated by the only big industrial
ist who never has had a union con
tract.
The basis of the battle in the Ford
plant between strikers and manage
ment was a matter of 10 cents an
hour more or less to bring the Ford
wages, until recently higher than in
competing auto factories, up to the
General Motors-Chrysler level.
As the Ford strike brewed and
broke, 400,000 workers in the soft
coal industry, John L. Lewis' per
sonal C. I. O. union, stopped work
pending negotiation of a new wage
contract to take the place of one
which had expired.
This nearest strike brought from
President Roosevelt the "hope" that
this walkout would not be of long
enough duration to endanger the na
tional defense.
But the government, which had
put Dr. Dykstra in charge of a la
bor mediation board, and which had
dumped the ADis-Chalmera and oth
er strikes to, the lap of this new
organisation,' seemed to the public
to be making little progress in get
ting the full manpower of the U. S.
to work on national defense.
It was being plainly said in Wash
ington that unless there was some
immediate amelioration ot the labor
pfobleui, some form of national de
fense labor law would find favor
with the President.
JUGOSLAVIA:
Ready for War
It was apparent that Jugoslavia
was on the threshold of war, or if
the nation was bluffing, it was will
ing to carry the bluff to the verge
of actual hostilities.
Nazi reconnaissance planes flew
over a key city of southern Serbia
and there was a brief air raid
alarm. This was considered a good
intimation that the Nazis meant
business and that the 75,000 soldiers
amassed on the eastern frontier
would be increased and would be
the nucleus of an attacking force.
It was interesting that most of the
press attacks on the Jugoslavian sit
uation in Berlin were directed at
British Foreign Secretary Anthony
Eden, whose series of visits to the
southern Balkans and Turkey and
Greece were followed by Jugosla
via's firm decision to stand by Brit
ain and Greece, even at the cost of
bloodless revolution.
The Berlin papers referred to
Eden in the most caustic terms, and
it was apparent that even as Berlin
blamed Eden for the Jugoslavian sit
uation, so Eden would be getting
credit for it in Britain.
The crucial point in the Jugoslavi
an situation, was whether the Serbs
and Croats would get together and
achieve a united front. Macek, the
leader of the Croats, was still in
the new cabinet as vice premier, but
there was some doubt as to whether
he would stay.
He was one of the signers of the
Axis pact in Vienna, and one of the
few to remain in the government
after the overthrow. For some rea
son that was not immediately clear,
Simovic, the head of the govern
ment, appeared to be anxious to
keep Macek, but the Utter was ap
parently anxious to get out and put
some other Croatian in his place.
Political observers said that Ma
cek, while permitting his followers
to support Simovic, was finding it
personally embarrassing to serve in
Simovic's cabinet.
The Germans in their attacks on
JugoslavU in the press, were mak
ing a build-up for immediate mili
tary action on the ground that all
sorts of atrocities had Uken place
in JugoslavU.
U. S. SEIZURES:
Crews, Ships
Sensational was the American sei
zure of all German, Italian and Dan
ish ships in U. S. ports and the
jailing of 875 seamen of German
and Italian nationality.
CommenU from the Axis ranged
all the way from Virginio Gayda's
direct threat that another such act
would meet with "reaction" without
a decUration of war, to others
from Berlin and Tokyo on somewhat
a milder basis.
The general Axis reaction was
that the seizing of the ships was an
unjustifiable breach of international
Uw, but Cordell Hull quoted book,
chapter and verse to show that the
seizure was entirely justified under
a precedent established by Italy, no
less, in 1887.
In that instance Italy seized neu
tral and belligerent ships and Uter
either returned them or reimbursed
the nations. The American plan was
to put the Italiah and German ships
into the U. S. hemispherical service,
and to turn the Danish ships over to
Britain. The use of Italian and Ger
man vesseU to replace American
bottoms would release them for Brit
ain also, it was pointed out
Early Start
America's 1941 Forest Fire
Prevention campaign got off to
an early start when Secretary of
Agriculture C. R. Wickard accept
ed a painting by James Mont
gomery Flagg to be used on 300,
000 posters now being distributed
by the Forest service. "Forest
Defense Is National Defense" is
this year's slogan and aims to
ward an aroused patriotism to
cut down the huge annual fire
toll.
ITALIANS:
Still Losing
On the African front, British suc
cesses continued, Cairo reporting
that Britiah Imperial forces have
cornered nearly 100,000 Faaciat
troops in East Africa.
^The major action was on two
fronts, the Eritrean front, where As
the capital of Eritrea, fell to
British soldiers. The survivors of
this battle were estimated at 40,000
who had been in the battle of Cher
en, and who had escaped from there
to fight again at Asmara.
were now said to be trapped
with their backs to the sea, and the
Britiah navy blocking retreat.
In Ethiopia, the British forces
striking inland toward Addis
Ababa, capital of the country, on
the heels of the retreating army of
the duke of Aosta. The duke's
original forces at Addis Ababa were
estimated at 40,000 men. This army
was being added to by small garri
sons who were withdrawing toward
the capital and other parts of Ethi
opia and it was expected that when
| battle of Ethiopia finally was
staged the total of Fascist troops
would be around 80,000.
.T*1? '*u Asmara was accom
plished with little fighting, the Brit
ish army being met by a delega
tion which was carrying a white
nag.
Even while the Britiah were claim
tag to have 100,000 Fascists trapped
I in Africa, the Italian high command
now and then, was stating that "Ital
ian and German troops" were con
ducting successful engagements
One of these announcements wai
made at the same time that the
British announced the fall ot As
mara. The chief interest in these
claims was the inclusion of German
troops, showing that the Nazis had
some forces in Africa.
That these reports had good foun
dation in fact came later when the
British admitted that their troops
had withdrawn from Bengasi a
Libyan stronghold they had former
ly captured in their sustained mili
tary drive.
FRANCE:
And Refugees
Somerset Maugham, in a series ol
uncensored articles describing the
fall of France, laid considerable
stress onthe mistreatment of refu
from Alsace-Lorraine as al
least a partial cause of the French
collapse.
Now France found itself facing
growing bitterness and unrest
among about 30,000 foreigners ix
refugee camps in the unoccupied
portion of the country.
The daily bill for this camp was a
million francs, and yet this em.n
sum was cutting such a bole in tfaa
national pocketbook, that the
istration waa figuring ways to reduca
it.
Included in the 30,000 in
camps, were statesmen, authors
journalists and artiste. In
there were some 00,000 more, in la
bor camps and camps built for for
^8? ?o'die? These included Jews
anti-Nazi Germans and Re
publicans. For them, IS relief or
ganizations, most of them American
were working to do what they could
to make life more livable.
Oddly, the best internment cami
in France is operated by the Mex
ican government for Spanish wai
veterans. The heaviest penalty foi
breach of discipline is to be throwi
?it The Mexicans operate on i
budget at less than seven francs pei
person daily.
New Lens Bares
Bacterial Life
?
Microscope Proves SO Times
Stronger Then Any
Now in Use.
PHILADELPHIA. ? Liquid mus
cle*, protective armor plate and a
multitude at waving arm* like thoee
ob the devil fish, or octopus, have
been tound in bacteria in the newly
explored sub-microscopic world re
vealed by the new electron micro
scope which has achieved magnifica
tions of 100,000 diameters, Dr. Stuart
Mudd of the University of Pennsyl
vania medical school, Philadelphia,
announced at a symposium held at
the Chemists club.
Smoke from burning magnesium,
the metal used in incendiary bombs,
was shown to consist of beautifully
formed crystals shaped in millionth*
of a second in pictures exhibited by
Dr. R. Bowling Barnes of the
American Cyanamid company's
Stamford, Conn., research labora
tories.
Will Aid in Defense.
So great la the magnification pro
vided by the new electron micro
scope that if a baseball bat were
enlarged to the same extent it would
be about 90 miles long and 4 miles
in diameter, said James Hillier, who
with Dr. Vladimir Zworykin" devel
oped the Instrument at the Camden
research laboratories of the Radio
Corporation of America. The new
instrument, using electrons instead
of light beams for "seeing," pro
duces 50 times greater magnifica
tion than the most powerful optical
instruments, he said.
The new instrument is being made
available to commercial as well as
educational institutions, and in the
former may have important uses in
the national defense program in im
proving processes and products, Mr.
Hillier announced.
Dr. Barnes, who has been opening
up a new realm of research for the
medical world with the new instru
ment, informed the symposium on
"Exploring New Worlds With the
Electron Microscope" that bacteria
of certain kinds are shown by the
enormous magnifications at tha new
instrument to possess solid cell
membranes surrounding the fluid
protoplasm at the bodies and serv-1
ing as a protective armor.
Can Detect Movements.
"Not only is the means which bac
teria may use to protect themselves
from harm revealed by the electron
microscope, but their probable
method of moving from place to
place can be seen when they are
magnified to 100,000 times their nat
ural size," said Dr. Mudd.
"Outer shells have been found on
streptococci, pneumococd, bacillus
. subtilis, coliform and typhoid ba
I cilll. Two types of bacteria, Eber
, the 11a typhosa and coliform bacteria,
? are seen to be equipped with long,
? apparently tubular movable arms,
. called flagella.
1 "Evidence has been found that
' contractions at the fluid protoplasm
within the cells may produce pres
' sure changes in these tubes, thus
| causing the arms to wave and the
I micro-organism to move.
"Viruses, which cause many dis
eases but are so small as to be in
1 visible with optical microscopes,
1 have been photographed by electron
beams."
Paris Blood Donors Ask
More Food for Their Aid
PARIS. ? Professional blood do
nor* of Pari* hospitals have threat
| ened to strike unless demands tor
increased food rations, promised
by Seine Prefect Charles Magny,
are Immediately met.
The donors, who supply about 400
quarts of blood monthly to Paris
hospitals, say that extra monthly
rations, consisting of approximately
tour pounds of meat, one pound of
sugar, a pound of fat, audi as but
ter and the like, are necessary if
they are to continue giving blood.
Official*, however, have consist
ently refused to honor ML Magny'?
promise. If hospitals are deprived
of Mood donors it is feared hundreds
of lives would be lost.
Ancient Document Proves
Citizenship of Women
SALT LAKE CITY ?Mrs. Matilda
Steed, 74, of Salt Lake City, ia an
American citizen?thanks to a man
born 114 years afo in England
Mrs. Steed asked immigration of
ficials to confirm her citizenship.
'She explained she was born in
Switzerland, but had married a nat
Utilized
After careful search, officials dis
covered Mrs.- Steed's husband,
Thomas, was naturalized in 1850 at
Fort Madison, Iowa.
In 1809 Steed?than 78?married
the present Mrs. Steed. Five years
later he died.
Navy's Biggest Ship
Nearly Completed
Washington to Be Placed in
Commission in May.
PHILADELPHIA.?Sped through
construction she months ahsad ot
schcdula at the Philadelphia navy
yard, tha new 35,000-too battleship
Washington will be placed fat com
mission here on May IS, It was an
nounced. She was launohed last
June 1, Just two years after the lay
ing of her keel.
The new $08,000,000 vessel, carry
ing nine 16-inch guns and a heavy
secondary and anti-aircraft arma
ment, will be commanded by Capt.
Howard H. J. Benson of Baltimore,
according to Undersecretary of the
Navy James V. Forrestal, who made
the announcement at Washington.
The Washington is the largest and
most powerful capital ship ever
built for the navy, and will be the
second to go into service since the
.West Virginia was commissioned in
1913. The first since that time will
be the North Carolina, a sister-ship
of the Washington. She is being
completed at the Brooklyn navy
yard and is to be commissioned in a
few weeks.
Construction speed-ups on tha
Washington not only will permit her
commissioning far ahead of the con
tract time of next December 1, but
outpaced the builders of the North
Carolina, whose kael was laid nine
months earlier than that of the ves
sel built here.
Although from six to nine months
are ordinarily devoted to "shake
down" cruises for ships of the Wash
ington's class, this time will be re
duced to permit her to join the fleet
in September, it was indicated.
The Washington is 704 feet in
length and has a speed of 27 knots,
with a cruising range of 5,000 miles.
She will carry a crew of about 1,800
men.
Business Laws Traced
Back to 2,000 B. C Era
CHICAGO.?The origin of business
administration has been traced
back <4000 years, according to Waldo
H. Dubberstein, research associate
in the Oriental institute at the Uni
. veraity of Chicago.
Dubberstein cited a six-foot pillar,
bearing the administrative code of
King Hammurabi of Babylonia, writ
ten shortly after 3000 B. C., as evi
dence that business followed a def
inite pattern then. He said the orig
inal pillar is now "somewhere in
France."
"Hammurabi's code included,
among other things, fixed commod
ity prices, a minimum wage law
providing higher wages for sea
sonal workers and a maximum in
terest rate of 20 per cent," Dub
berstein said.
From 3000 B. C. until approximate
ly the time of Hammurabi's code,
Dubberstein added, real property
was owned almost exclusively by
the State and the church, and there
was little evidence of private enter
prise.
However, by Hammurabi's time,
Dubberstein said, Babylonians had
come to own land and houses and
goods, and it became necessary for
someone to codify whatever busi
ness laws were in unwritten effect.
Lost Evidence in Army
Trial of 1889 Unearthed
BOSTON.?A rusty cannon ball?
which 53 years ago would hava been
evidence in convicting a private of
the attempted murder of his cap
tain?has been discovered at the
bottom of an old cistern at historic
Fort Warren in Boston harbor.
According to an old army story,
a private in 1MB dropped the 65
pound cannon ball from the fort
wall. He missed only because his
bard-bitten captain failed to make
his customary stop for a smoke in
a certain comer of the tort.
The story describes how two of
the private's com pen inns hid the
cannon ball under cover of night.
The private was set free at a trial
when the all-important evidence?
the cannon ball?could not be pro
duccd. ?
Army records show the captain
died in the Philippine islands in 1903
and the private left the army in
1910 and died in 1935.
Honored for Putting 9
Children Through College
SEATTLE.?For sending nine sons
and daughters through the Univer
sity of Washington, Mr. and Mrs.
John H. Reid of Seattle were award
ed the honorary degree of "Par
entees Extraordinarii" by the uni
versity.
It was the first such award grant
ed by the university since 1889. The
only other recipients were the late
Marshal Ferdinand Foch, French
World war hero, and Fredric James
Grant, an early Seattle newspaper
editor.
Government to Encourage
Greater Food Production
Prepare for Increased Aid to Democracies;
Newspaper Men From Small Town
'Make Good* in Washington.
By BAUKHAGE
National Farm and Home Horn Commentator.
WNC Service, IMS 'H' Street, N. W.,
Washington, D. C.
WASHINGTON.?Before long the
government will take steps to give
the American farmer an incentive
tor raising more animals and in
creasing the egg and milk output for
this arsenal of democracy, it can
be safely predicted at this time. Fur
thermore, with the incentive will un
doubtedly go some type of guaran
tee, as in the case of the manufac
turer, that the farmer will be pro
tected at least from possible loss in
such undertakings. At most, he
might even be guaranteed a profit.
Here is the background of the situ
ation, details of which government
officials are not ready as yet to
make public:
Food is as much a munition of
war as guns. The United States in
pledging its aid to democraciea is
starting to send food supplies to
them.
Important Food-Weapons.
One of these food-weapons is
wheat. We have plenty of that grain.
The department of agriculture esti
mates that at present there are
more than 325,000,000 bushels in ex
cess of domestic needs.
Another food weapon, and a vital
one for fighting men, is the proteins
?meat, milk, milk products, poultry
and eggs. Rationing of these prod
ucts is becoming severe in England.
American agriculture does not have
surpluses of these things. But farms
are the factories wtvere. they can be
produced, and we do have surpluses
of one of the chief raw materials
for the process, namely, corn. Pres
ent estimates indicate that the corn
surplus trill reach 700,000,000 bush
els by October 1.
How many more cows, pigs and
chickens do we need in order to be
able to feed ourselves as well as the
fighting democracies? That is a hard
question to answer. The department
of agriculture calls it an "imponder
able." It also admits that if every
body in this country right now were
getting a square meal we would not
have enough of the protein foods to
go around.
Hence, the plana-in-the-making to
encourage American farms to
"manufacture" proteina in the in
terest of national defense.
? ? ?
Rural Nowtpapor Men
'htako Goo* in Washington
Two small town boys, both trained
on weekly newspapers, have mads
food in the radio world in Washing,
ton and neither of them can get ttu
country out of his blood and is proud
of it.
One is a lanky, red-haired Hoosier
Robert M. Menaugh, and the other
scholarly looking D. Harold Mc
Grath, who grew up in the Crippls
Creek mining district in Colorado
They are the superintendents, re
spectively, of the new house and
senate radio galleries.
"My favorite newspaper," sayi
Bob, "is the oldest in Indiana and
the one I used to work on. It's the
Salem Democrat"
McGrath, who has owned two
weekly newspapers, says: "I' have
made seven auto trips from coast
to coast in the last seven years and
I noticed that the weekly newspaper
is on a much more solid basis than
it was when I was a publisher 29
years ago. I still think the weekly
is the best read news publication in
America."
Bob is the veteran of the two ir
radio because it was the house a
representatives which first recog
nixed that radio men needed th?
same facilities that the members o
the long-established press gallery
have if they are properly to covet
the doings of congress. So in May
of 1939 the lower chamber approprt
a ted money for a superintendent am
an assistant and amended its rule
so that radio newsmen had thai
own little comer?a pew railed at
from the visitors' gallery right nex
to the newspaper men's seats abovt
the speaker's rostrum.
Sonata Fellows Stot.
The senate, being a more ponder
pus body, followed suit some month
later.
When the question came up to th.
speaker of the house Ys to wb
would be his choice for the superio
tondent on his side of the Capitol
there wasn't any question about Bo
Mmaugh a qualifications. He ha
| Sp?" ? well-known figure around th
Capitol ever since he came to Wast
ington with Representative Crowe
from his own Indiana district.
Although his family roots go clear
back to the "beginning of Salem, Ind.,
history, there is an ancient tale
which makes him a little uncertain
as to who he really is. It seems
that four generations ago two little
boys were stolen from two different
families, the Menaughs and Hine
leys, by the Indians. One was four
and one was five. Later, a trapper
reported that ha had heard that one
of the boys, he didn't know which,
had died. Still later, the other boy
returned to the village. But which
boy? Six years has passed. The
little fellow had an Indian name and
he had forgotten his own. Both fam
ilies claimed him and finally a pub
lic trial was held and he was award
ed to the Menaughs. Bob is a great
grandson of that boy.
High Behest Mart.
Bob started newspaper work in
high school, buying an old press and
setting the type himself. Later he
worked on the Salem Democrat, the
oldest newspaper in Indiana He
says that his greatest thrill came in
speaking on the first national broad
cast celebrating the opening at the
radio gallery on June 36, 1939, an
honor shared by your correspondent.
McGrath, head at the senate aide
started work in 1910 at the age at
16 as a reporter, succeeding LowaB
Thomas on the Victor (Colo.) Rec
ord. The Record was a four-sheet
daily and McGrath was to have other
reportorial training in Boise and
Wallace, Idaho, before he got the
urge to own a weekly.
He paid a hundred dollars down
and fifty dollars a month for the
Kellogg (Idaho) Record. Equip
ment, one job press, one Cotrell flat
bed newspaper press and lots ad
hand type.
'Mrs. McGrath and I," he says,
"learned to peg type and with the
help of one printer got out the paper
until I joined the army in 1916."
After the war be secured the Je
rome County (Idaho) Times which he
ran until he sold out a 1922. Ha
came to Washington with Senator
Sch we lien bach at Washington and
was with him until he took over the
gallery job.
? ? ?
Minority Party in U. S.
Is Still Important
I walked along the couhhs of the
1 Capitol building, turned down a nar
< row hall, got into a still narrower
' elevator and went up to the eeceod
| floor. Opposite the elevator door is
1 the office of a email town editor.
The office eras not a newspaper
' office and the editor was not editing
? at the moment?he has to do that by
remote control most at the time
' nowadays for his newspaper Is lo
cated in North Attleboro, Mass. He
' is Joe Martin, minority leader of
1 the house of representatives and be
ginning his second term as chair
1 man of the Republican national com
1 mittee.
The subject at our conversation
had to do with what a minority party
does when a national emergency ex
ists and partisan politics is supposed
to be forgotten. Chairman Martin
told me the Republican party has
plenty to do.
"The Republican party has tsro
1 big jobs ahead of it today." this
Scotch-Irish Yankee said. "The first
1 job is to keep congress from getting
ahead of the people."
I asked him just what he meant.
1 "I've been out in the country," he
answered, "and I know the people
' don't want us here in Washington
' to do anything that wfll get the na
' tion into war. If it weren't for con
r tinual unspectacular work on the
' part of the minority, saprrially fat
' committees, the country would be
1 in far worse shape then it is today."
' But a still bigger task lies ahead,
! Joe Martin told me.
"Our second job," he said, "la to
prepare for the situation when the
' chaos of the World war which has
produced the present emergency is
over. .Then it will be the responsi
- bility of the Republican party to get
s back the democratic processes
which are being sacrificed today by
e the emergency grants of power to
t> the executive."
Of course. Chairman Martin be
I, lieves the country will turn to the
b Republicans then, as what he calls
? a stabilizing force. Meanwhile, he
e says they must continue to police
i- the majority petty policies. ,