Newspapers / The Alamance gleaner. / May 15, 1941, edition 1 / Page 1
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The Alamance Gleaner Vol. LXVII GRAHAM, N. C., THURSDAY, MAY 16, 1941 No. 16 WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS By Edward C. Wayne Washington Debates Use of Convoys As British Shipping Losses Mount; Stalin Becomes Premier of Russia, Openly Assumes National Leadership (EDITOR'S NOTE?Whan iplnltm an expressed in these celsmns, they nrs these of the news analyat end net necessarily sf this newspaper.) by Western Newspaper tint?* \ I A split in administration policy over the new tax program was indicated when Leon Henderson (above), government "price eaar," testified before the house ways and means committee that he believed a large portion of the treasury revenue program to be "deflationary and unnecessary." It is indi cated that while methods of raising taxes may cause disagreement one thing is sure: taxes must go up to meet defense program costs.. - CONVOYS: Battle of Atlantic Mounting British losses in the bat tic of the Atlantic put the issue of convoying strictly and squarely up to the administration in Washing ton, and the answer was seen to be forthcoming shortly, if it had not already been made secretly. It had so far been largely a ver bal discussion, with the non-inter ventionists pointing to convoying as outright war, and the administration forces sending up one trial balloon after another to test American sen timent as to. whether it was ready and willing tor this important step. Briefly, the positions were these: Non-interventionists held that con voying meant shooting (quoting the President himself) and that shoot ing meant undeclared waf. The administration forces took the simple stand that congress had vot ed all-out aid to Britain, and that it was foolish to build billions of dol lars' worth of war material for the British and then send it out on the high seas to be sent to the bottom. The latter view was finally ex pressed in a long radio address by Secretary of War Stimson, who was reported to have consulted Presi dent Roosevelt about the address be fore delivering it. Stimson was frank. He went fur ther than the question of convoying, which he treated as a simple phase of the big issue?whether the Amer ican navy, ready and willing to "halt aggressors" on the high seas, should stand quietly by and let Britain be defeated through lack of control of the oceans, or should be turned to aid Britain and give Britain the mastery of the sea without which she could not hope to win. Secretary Stimson, not having the authority to order out the fleet into active aid to Britain, was Just mak ing a speech, and could not answer his own questions with action. Nei ther could Senator Pepper of Flor ida, an outright and frank advo cate of open war, who even went so far as to criticize the administra tion, with which he was entirely aligned, as not being bellicose enough in the present grave situa So the battle of the Atlantic, while it waa claiming American lives and American goods, was* still being fought, at least openly, by the Brit' ish navy alone, though the big scene of the fight was in the American halls of congress and in the Ameri can newspapers. Stimson's speech had one obvious effect, however, it served notice on the non-interventionists that the time was not far distant when talk would be replaced by action, one way or the other, and his talk had its effect, in rousing the anti-ad ministration orators to a new frenzy of appeal to the great "mass of the people" to speak out. Nobody spoke out, however, at least not in any mass that looked remotely like a majority. On the other hand, the administration seemed about ready to take action which would have far-reaching im portance. There was news from San Fran cisco shippers to their connections in Tokyo that the United States was planning to close the Panama canal in a short time to Japanese vessels. This would have the effect of lift ing a very practical bar to the trade - id* of the Japanese with the eastern coast of South and Central Ameri ca, as it would force these vessels to go around Cape Horn. The announcement was without of ficial backing, yet it was made at a time when certain Nipponese news papers were urging repeatedly that Matsuoka, recent guest at Axis cap itals, make a trip to the United States and try to improve Japan's relations with this country, perhaps reach a "perfect understanding" that would guarantee peace. The closing of the canal, however, would be a blow to Japan that she would not take quietly or without reprisals, if possible. It was viewed as the sort of blunt act that might, with distinct intention, shut Japan off from any further diplomatic traf fic with Washington. STALIN: In Saddle One of the most interesting devel opments, yet one on which the analyst could almost "write his own ticket," was the assumption of Josef Stalin of the premiership of Soviet Russia. The dictator of the Soviet has never before held political office, op erating entirely behind the scenes, with others to wear such togas as may be passed around. The commentators took every pos sible view of Stalin's assumption of personal office as head of the Rus sian state. These views ranged all the way from an "about face" on the war, with Russia about to take an active role against Germany and Italy in the Near East, to the view of Keren sky, former Russian premier in 1917, who said he believed Stalin's taking of power might mean that Germany has a promise from the dictator erf active aid on the German side. It was a step down for Molotov, who went from premier back to for eign minister, a post he held before. Molotov was, perhaps, the finger pointing to the real reason for the change. He became foreign minis ter just before the dramatic sign ing of the Russo-German pact, a pact which hastened the actual start of the present war. ^ For it waa the signing of this treaty that made Britain and Franca realize that their hope of encircle ment of the Axis by land eras vain, and that they were really in a fight for their existence. The only official announcement came from Stalin, who said that Molotov was being relieved only after his own "repeated requests." London was inclined to a some what more rosy view of the situation than that of Kerensky, saying: "Soviet Russia has refused to sign a further German pact, and has openly taken the stand that Bulgaria was wrong in so doing, and that Jugoslavia was right to fight. "Stalin now takes command of the Russian empire at a time when a German drive to the east threatens what Russia regards as her sphere of activity in Asia." No positive statement there, but a general view that the whole move is inspired by Soviet disquiet over German advances toward the Black sea. The British believed the move meant a frank and active change in Russian policy. * Joins Army Hank Greenberg, brilliant De troit outfielder, hat been drafted into the army where he joint fellow American! from every walk of life. WAR: Vital Phases' It was evident that the war was entering several of its most vital phases, with Britain standing alone, though with constantly increasing American aid. The big test which the Churchill government faced at the hands of the British commons was only a part of the picture. The battle was three-fold?the air fight over England, with the chan nel crossing threat behind It; the pincers move on the Mediterran ean, especially Suez; the Battle of the Atlantic. Over England Hammer blows being struck at Britain by the Luftwaffe no longer were being shrugged off in dis patches as "some damage being done" or "some casualties feared," but dispatches from England told of most serious damage to Plymouth, which was practically ruined; to Liverpool, to Belfast, to the Clyde side, all of them much more vital to Britain's defense than the smashing attacks on London and the Thames c^iuaiJ. Apparently paying little attention to the industrial Midland section of England, Hitler thus was centering his attacks on ports, ports and more ports, apparently seeking to tie in the battle of England with the battle of the Atlantic, rather than to con centrate on a general air blitz against England's factories and her industrial production. Another development was the con stant increase of day fighting over the channel, regarded in many quar ters as a trial balloon to an invasion attempt as soon as midsummer calmer weather should arrive. \s always, the defense of Britain found its echo in this country, and the change in the method of Luft waffe attacks on England found President Roosevelt issuing an ur gent appeal, practically a command, to the air industry to concentrate on the production of the largest pos sible bombing planes. OPM said that America should produce 20,000 military planes in the 12 months to come, but Mr. Roose velt seemed to feel that a change in type would be needed. In fact, he conditioned the even tual mastery of the air by Britain on the American production of these very large bombers, and said that they must be built even if it means enlarging plants further. MEDITERRANEAN: Also Important Th? battle of the Mediterranean vu no ten vital and no leaa active than the battle of England. For on the eastern front the British found themselves, after the withdrawal from Greece, with new problems on their hands. The Iraq coup left them with the possible loss of the Mosul oil fields, and the all-important pipeline from Kirkuk to Haifa falling into the hands of the Nazi-inspired Iraq gov ernment of Gailani. The British swiftly landed an ex peditionary force, shot it inland, and sent reinforcements. Yet it was ob vious that the trouble in Moslem Asia Minor was on the increase, with the French in Syria frankly throwing up their hands and saying that they were unable to quell dis turbances on the part of Arabs there. Turkey offered her good of fices, and so did Egypt, but though there was religious unity in those directions, there was little unity of purpose, and it looked as though Britain would have to fight for her oil or give up and get oil somewhere else. The prospect also was dark be cause of the menace of German aid to the Iraqi, which might make the pipeline untenable even if the Brittah get hill control of it * Whaling Men See Big Season Larger School It Reported Off Coast of British Columbia. VICTORIA, B. C School is open, and from advance reports the at tendance is much better than it has been for several years. The school is the school of whales at the southerly tip of the Queen Charlotte islands, oft the coast of British Columbia. v Whaling men may drift to softer billets between seasons?but few of them can resist the call when the fleet prepares to sail again. Some of the oldest among them resent modern changes which have taken much of the hazard out of whaling, but the first call for whalers brings them back just the same. It was good news for whaling men that all six ships of the Victoria fleet would go north this year. Last year only three of the ships were worked. The Victoria "boats should get an increased haul this year, as American ships that usually engage in the annual tpint will not put to sea. Many Veterans Return. After an enforced lay-off, many veterans returned to the trade they love when the six ships?the moth er, S. S. William Grant, and the brood, White, Blue, Black, Green and Brown ? pointed their prows northward. To these men, the cry "Thar she blows" from the lookout man in the crow's nest is the sweetest music in the world. It whips the little party of seamen into activity with greater effect than the king of swing at a jitterbug's convention. "Thar she blows" brings tension to the 10 or 12 men aboard the little 200-foot boats. To the green hand it is an eventful experience. To the old hands it's always a thrill?even though they miss the harpooning from a rowboat of the old days. The modern method is to fire the harpoon from a gun. The whalers of the Victoria fleet are expert marksmen. Lately many of them have been speculating on what would happen if they sighted a U boat. The general consensus is that they could harpoon it easily. The U-boat certainly would not put up such a fight as a 60-foot sperm whale or an even larger hammer head. Sperm whales fight like a battling salmon, and the hammer head can charge a boat like a bat tering ram. Whales Left to Float. When a whale ha* been subdued, it is towed to the side of the boat and pumped to bloated proportions with compressed air, so it cannot sink. A pole, similar to a survey ors' pole with the flag of the ship that caught the whale, is stuck into the carcass, and the whaling ship loaves it drifting. A whaling tender spots the kill and takes it to the whale ry at Hose harbor, in the Queen Charlotte. There the whale oil is extracted, the whale cut up and packed to Vic toria. Virtually every part of the whale is used. Whaling business has been slack the past few seasons, partly because the school of whales seemed to be playing hookey for a time, and part ly because the price of whale oil went down. Whale oil is not yet up to the prices whalers recall during the World war, when it went as high as 960 a barrel. Now it runs around $14 or $15, but may go higher. It is useful in making margarine, to valuable in Britain today as a substitute for but ter. All whalers have a vision of El dorado?the chance that they may And some ambergris. It is worth lte weight in gold. Rookie Represents 'Make Believe* in Easier Way CAMP ROBINSON, ARK. - The new army will have plenty of re serve energy if all recruits are like one at the big training center here. A tough sergeant was putting a group of green infantrymen through a "make-believe" air raid drill. When he shouted that enemy planes were strafing the troops, the soldiers were supposed to dive into the brush and lie there until the "all-clear" signal was sounded. In the mind's eye of the sergeant there was plenty of strafing, and one soldier, pfier falling on his face a dozen or more times, grew a little tired. When the next order came, he calmly sat in the center of the road. "What are you doing?" the ser geant bellowed, wondering what to expect next. "It's all make-believe anyway." the unruffled recruit announced, "so I'm pretending I'm sitting under a ? - * ft CaWL m&er-r Too Young for Car, Youth Owns Plane High School Student Wins Juniors License. MEDINA, N. Y.?Not old enough to own an automobile, but he owns his own airplane?that's John Bar ber Jr., a 17-year-old Medina high school student. Young Barber, an aviation enthu siast ever since he began construct ing airplane models as a sixth-grade student, always had dreamed of the day when he could have an airplane of his own. His seventeenth birth day marked the realization of that dream, when he landed his own Pi per Cub training plane at the Albion airport near here after a flight from Buffalo. The young pilot purchased the plane, as a birthday gift for him self, from motley left in trust for him by an uncle. Although the es tate was not to be turned over to Barber until he was 21, Orleans County Judge William H. Munson made it possible for the youth to buy the plane. John learned to fly last year dur ing his summer vacation. Working seven days a week as a mechanic's helper at the Syracuse airport, he earned enough money to pay for fly ing lessons. After only eight hours of dual in struction he was allowed to solo and came through with flying colors. He received his junior's license last summer. Asked what was the most impor tant thing for a young pilot to keep in mind, Barber said, "No stunt ing!?The pilot who tries to show off by stunting'is taking too great a risk. This brings trouble, not only to the pilot, but to his family and to the cause of aviation." The 17-year-old high school sopho more is marking time until gradua tion when he will enroll in the two year course at Parks Air college. Air Gun Tested Firing 10,000 Shots s Minute LOS ANGELES.?A compressed air gun which the inventors say will shoot 10,000 times a minute?and possibly much faster?was demon strated with half-inch ball bearings as bullets. At 100 feet, the missiles pierced airplane armor plate and cut a three-inch oak plank in two. The gun emitted only a gentle hissing noise. The steel balls shot out so quickly they struck brilliant sparks from each other at the tar gets. The gun muzzle was colder after the firing than before. Instrument dials indicated the air pressure was 190 pounds a square inch. The in ventors said 2,000 pounds pressure would be feasible. The inventors are William B. Hale and Durand Beam, associated with Roger J. Adams, Hollywood engi neering research technician. Anyone who can spray plants with a hose could knock down a div ing plane with this gun," Mr. Hale said. Total War Doesn't Put Any Fear in U. S. Ants DAVIS, CALIF.?Total war stri dently wouldn't bother American ants. They always are among the first forms of life to appear after an area has been swept by fire or flood or held in the frigid (rip of winter, says Dr. J. E. Eckert, Uni versity of California entomologist. During forest fires they simply go underground and stay until the sur face cools off. They can stand freez ing temperatures or submergence in water for several days, Dr. Eckert reports. They are long-lived. Workers live five or six years and queens nine to ten years. Dr. Eckert once had a queen ant that lived to the ripe old age at 15. Jail Attached to Hotel; Both Get the Same Food NEWFANE, VT.?Charles Whit ney manages Windham county's combination jail and hotel but has no trouble with his two classes of patrons. The jail accommodates 25 and is attached to the ltt story wooden ho tel which Whitney leases from the county. Food cooked in the hotel kitchen supplies both prisoners and guests. Hen Is Trying to Get In Right With Her Bom MORETOWN, VT.?One of Clem Joslyn's hens is trying to get in right with the boss. The other day when Clem gath ered the eggs from her roost, he found one with the letter "J" raised in bold relief upon the shell. Clem gave the event due notice throughout the surrounding country side. ? Wickard's Policies Studied By Farmers, Consumers Both Groups Decry Price Fixing Program; Wayne Coy Appointed to 'Chaperon' ? Federal Defense Budget. By BAUKHAGE National Farm and Home Hour Commentator. WNU Service, IMS B Street, N. W., Washington, D. C. WASHINGTON.?Secretary of Ag riculture Wickard hat discovered that 1 he has been elected chief devil by < the leaden of two large groups of I Americans?farmers and consuro en. You know you cannot be a sue- ! cessful group leader of any kind un less you have a devil to fight. And so the otherwise genial gen tleman who runs the department of agriculture has learned something new. It is something that all news and editorial writers and all radio commentators know: namely, that if you can make both sides in any j controversy mad you can sleep with | a pretty clear conscience because that means you are walking a fairly just and middle course. In Secretary Wickard's case the farm group leaders say he is forc ing down prices. They say he has deserted his own and gone con sumer-minded. They say this be cause he announced on April 3 that the government would support prices of bogs and poultry and eggs in the open markets at certain prices. These prices are somewhat below the level of the so-called "parity prices" and that is one rea son why he is a devil to farmers. Parity prices, as all farmers know, were established in the twenties and were written into the agricultural adjustment acts in 1933 and 1938. These prices were established in this way: The prices the farmer had to pay for the things he bought and the prices which he got for the things he sold in the years 1910 to 1914 were averaged. That ratio thus established was accepted by farm leaders as a goal to shoot at j in the long fight in the twenties when agriculture tried to obtain legislation which would give it an equitable share in the national wealth. Later the parity figures were recognized by congress in the drafting of the agricultural acts, the purpose of which was to obtain for the farmer a decent return for his efforts by adjusting supply and con I suming power as a part of the re covery program following the de i press ion. Desires Higher Prices. Nov Secretary Wickard wants prices to go up. He does not say how far. All he says is that the government will support a price up to a figure which, admittedly is be low the parity prices but higher than they were when he made the announcement and as high as his advisors felt the present situstioo required. He has received plenty of com plaints and what is more he has encouraged complaints by saying that he would take full responsibil ity for his sction. Now we know that one man's mest is another man's poison. Prices that are not high enough for the farm leaders are too high for the consumer group leaders. It gives ! them a fine opportunity to get to gether and chant: "In a crisis you mustn't boost prices." The dead cats from both camps ; fill the air and all Secretary Wick ard has to do is duck with a quick eye and a clear conscience. And, incidentally, he is getting a I few moribund felines that are really ; tor Leon Henderson whose Job is price fixing under the OEM. Mr. Henderson announced that farm machinery should not sell for any more than it did in the first quarter of this year. And immediately the department of agriculture received a flood of letters which, instead of say ing "hurray for our side," said that Mr. Wickard was letting his colleague, Mr. Henderson, get away with murder by fixing the cost of farm machinery at what the writers say Is already exorbitant. And so nobody is exactly happy but the unhappiness, according to Wickard (including his own) is fairly equitably distributed! ? ? ? President Appoints Coy To 'Chaperon' Bad get A little over a decade ago a young Hooeier from the town at Franklin moved to Delphi, Ind., not with the idea of becoming a Delphic oracle but to run a newspaper. He bought the Citizen and met a lot of other citizens around the court bouse and ever at the post office. Today, former assistant Federal Security Administrator Wayne Coy is executive assistant to the Presi dent of the United States with the Job of chaperoning the biggest peacetime defense budget in history. He was recently made liaison W Bcer for the Office of Emergency Management. Mr. Coy has Just moved from his office in the Federal Security ad ministration building into a corner of the bureau of the budget office in the state department, with one end of the hall screened off for a secretary. But his quarters do not eoncern him. He is used to mak ing himself at home where he can hang his bat. Just what a President's executive assistant does is not easy to de scribe. He is supposed to have "a passion for anonymity" and likewise a passion for keeping quiet. His function is to take as many details off the President's mind as possible, to carry messages and give other officials as many right answers as possible. In other words, help them settle problems about which other wise they would insist on talking to the President. Before a budget is accepted there must first be hearings before the bureau of the budget where the vari ous departments present their needs. Then there are the emigres lional committee hearings. Today, with a whole new layer of rtrfwiea agencies spread over the regular de partments and divisions and sec tions it is easy to see that Mr. Coy, as liaison man for the whole Office of Emergency Management which m the over-all holding company for de fense has plenty on his hands. Ha knows his budgets for he wuthed to the bureau of the budget himself and he had already had plenty at ad ministrative experience before ha reached Washington. 9 Supported McNatt. Everybody in Indiana knows Suit Wayne Coy was the man behind McNutt. He left the Delphi Citizen to become McNutt's secretary when "handsome Paul" was pvrnar of Indiana in 1933. When the governor became high commissioner of the Philippines, Coy went along. He returned to ran the presidential campaign for his boss Earlier, when he was stale relief administrator, be had met Harry Hopkins. At the Democratic convention in Chicago last summer he met him again. This time Harry was engineering the third-term nom ination and Coy and his boas had to step back. But Coy and Hopkins are still close friends. That helps in .J the present job with Hopkins, vir tual first assistant to the President. Harry can answer s tot e< Wayne's questions without bothering the Chief. Wayne Coy started out when he was in high school to be a news paper man. He was a reporter en the local paper in Franldto before he became a publisher to his own right in Delphi. I talked with him as he sat to his temporary office to the stately Fed eral Reserve building with its marble panels and its indirect light ing?quite a contrast to the office of a weekly newspaper. Naturafiy I saked him if his editorial experinaon had been any help to his present lob. He paused a moment and than tog, but there is nothing mors valu able than having to live with people. That's what you do on a eiekiy newspaper. You live the lhrss at your subscribers. "Here to Washington too many people forget the people to the coun try oeats. toy evpartonce has helped me to visualize programs to terms of people. That helped me especially when I was to the Social Security administration. It helps you fo *** that your administration is carried on the county toveL The tendency in the federal government ; is to carry on at the state toveL" At this point a secretary popped to. "Brigadier General Watson on the phone," she said. "Hello, Pop," said Coy. I knew this was going to be a very ?hMtMtie * 1 ? _ fl M J flal -in private conversation, ntuaenuw Assistant Coy was going to talk with Presidential aide Watson (known to his intimates as "pop") about af fairs of state. I left the es-editor j to his new job. , i "M
May 15, 1941, edition 1
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