North Carolina Newspapers

The Alamance Gleaner Vol LXVII GRAHAM, N. C., THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 1942 No. 50 WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS By Edward C. Wayne 'Biggest Budget in World's History' For Expanding of U. S. War Program Will Cost Nation 56 Billion Dollars; Russians Continue to Push Back Nazis (EDITOR'S NOTE?When oplaleae are expresses In these eelamas. they nre these ef the news analyst an* net necessarily ef this newspaper*) _____________ (Released by Western Newspaper UnioA.) SOMEWHERE IN CHINA Veteran Chinese soldiers of this type, pic tured at a railway station "Somewhere in China," are advancing toward ; Malay a-to aid the hard-pressed forces of the British against the Japs. It was reported that veterans of this type took part in the slaughter of . Jap troops in the Changsha, China, sector. 1 TAXES: Billions on Billions Americans who had been given grim satisfaction by the President's stirring message to congress faced with what courage they could mus ter the huge bill that will have to be paid, 56 billions of dollars. Congress, to a man, had told the President "we will give you the money." OPM had said, "We can and will do it," and labor said, "we will not stop working." And the country, with surprisingly little grumbling, but with no small meas ure of worrying, decided to dig down into its earnings to foot half the bill this year. Twenty-seven billions of dollars, taxes of nine billions on top of 18 billions were to be levied to meet as much as possible of the due bill as it is spent. On the basis of 130,000,000 people, the ejg>enditure in taxes for the fed eral war program, added to what ever local and state taxes might be levied, would be $204 for each per son, man, woman or child; $813 for a family of four. That of course was an average, with those better able to pay shouldering the larger portion of the burden. The "overall" war expenditure estimate was thus brought to 131 billions, or three times the total cost to this country of World War No. 1. Mr. Roosevelt frankly had told newsmen it was the biggest budget in the history of the world. Gov ernment authorities said it was twice the estimated annual war expendi ture of Germany. On top of the taxes, it would be necessary to borrow 32 billions. The national debt, therefore, would sky rocket to $110,000,000,000, or about three times the huge figure of June, 1940. , The nine extra billions, the presi dent said, would be divided into sev en billions in direct taxes of various types, though he said he opposed a general sales tax. The other twfl billions would be in the form of new social security taxes. Existing taxes of all descriptions would be continued, and they have been estimated as due to. produce 18 billions. ~ The war allocations had been split as follows: 18% billions for the army; 17 billions for supplemental but un specified items; seven billions to the navy; 7% billions for the lease lend program; 1% billions for the ship program, the rest for mis cellaneous purposes' Perhaps a billion can be lopped off of non-defense government ac tivities, the President said?that is all. REACTION: Local and World Britain was exultant over the pro gram, believed it adequate for the swiftest possible victory, and praised the administration to the skies for the stand it was taking, and the X Y-Z or all-out plan to win the war. One London headline had been typical?"The Yanks Are Coming." which was the British answer to President Roosevelt's promise to send to the British Isles a large A.E.F. . , Australian premier, John Curtin, said the President's plan was one for "working and fighting." JAPAN: Still Pressing \ Reports from the Far Eastern fronts, with the exception of China, ( were uniformly continuing stories . of increased Japanese pressure in occupied zones, and uniform efforts , to extend Japanese operations. The British had doggedly been holding on in Malaya, but steadily , and slowly falling back toward Sing- ( apore. The Japs apparently had com plete mastery of the air in Luzon, and it was deemed only a question of time how long General MacAr thur's army could hold out. Where the main defense was com ing was obscure and remained a military secret, but there were cer tain indications which were said to be giving Tokyo plenty to worry about. For instance, the naming of Wa vell as supreme commander, and the placing of a well-trained Chi nese army in Burma, together with other Allied forces, readying them selves for an onslaught on the Jap anese rear at Malaya was one of these. Another was the American and Australian insistence that strongest possible aid be given to the Dutch. On top of this came the word that Java would be chosen as general headquarters of the Allied opera tions. A glance at the Southwest Pacific maps showed the position of Java and Sumatra and their relation to the Malacca straits and the open ocean route to the south to Darwin, Australia, and plainly, indicated the general tactic that was most likely to be pursued. Japan, to break supply lines along this route, would have to move a con siderable naval force out of the Chi na sea and into the open South Pa cific and that could only be done with grievous results to the land campaign. REDS: Increasing Pace News from Russia had been uni formly good, with 572 towns report ed captured in one week, 10,000 en emy troops slain, and huge quanti ties of booty taken. _Hitler went to the front, made his headquarters at Smolensk, and sud denly found he was only 45 miles from where the chief fighting was. He was believed to have moved his headquarters hurriedly farther to the rear. The Crimean debacle was equal ling the disaster befalling the Ger man arms in the north around Len ingrad. Turkey had temperatures far below zero, coldest in Turkish history, and that was an indication of what the ill-prepared Germans and tHeir Italian and Rumanian al lies had to stand in the Crimea, or dinarily the warmest part of Russia. The Germans were resisting most strongly on the central front. In the north the Russians had even re captured Hogland island, which had been taken by the Finns, and it was evident that the Finlanders, report edly deserted by their Nazi com rades, were rapidly getting into the safest possible places, and los ing one dangerous spot after an other. t In addition to the successes for the Reds on the Crimean peninsula, which were rapidly raising the siege , of Sevastopol, the Russians were , gaining in the Donets basin. Cause for Study Senator Walter F. George of Georgia, chairman of the Senate Finance committee, is pictured looking over the 1,172 pages of the 1943 fiscal year budget. His chief interest in the budget would be a study of it with a view of planning new tax meas ures. The war budget calls for tS6,000,000,000. FARMER: Has Prospects President Roosevelt was seen by senate leaders as opposed to the proposal of the farm bloc to have secretary of agriculture given the authority to exercise veto power on wartime controls of farm prices. Senator Brown of Michigan said that the President approves having a single price administrator handle all price questions, including those af farm products. Brown, however, conceded that the farm bloc had powerful support and that the vote on such a measure, if it came to that, would be close indeed. Secretary Wickard is getting sup port for the post of farm price czar from both parties. The dispute, Df course, is between him and Leon Henderson, the price administrator. Under the present bill. Brown pointed out, )1.40 wheat would be a possibility. The average market price on December 15 was $1.02. Cotton similarly could be pur chased for 16.2 cents a pound, and could go to 19.65 cents before the law would take over control. Beef, however, had currently been selling higher than it would under the bill, he added. Also getting considerable support was a Senator Taft proposal that neither Wickard nor Henderson be given farm price control, but that it be vested in a board of five mem bers. This Taft proposal might form the test of sentiment on the other two proposals. CHINA: Changsha Victory The Chinese victory over the Japs at Changsha was termed by Chiang Kai-shek as a possible turning point of the war. It was the third suc cessive setback for the Japanese at this city, and the most disastrous. Some Chinese newspapers were urging that the Chinese armies now strike into Thailand and Indo-China direct to menace the Jap rear and ?vnv ??. uiv. uu inoiaj a> The Chinese said that in addition to the 30,000 Japs killed in the battle, they got 7,000 more as the fleeing Nipponese attempted to cross a' nearby river, with Chinese lying am bushed on the far bank. A Jap force of 40,000 was said to be trapped in one locality. The total estimated Japanese strength of the drive on Changsha was 100,000 men. Few of them, according to Chung king, were able to get away to the north. ZEPPELINS: Raid the East? Army authorities in Washington said it definitely "was in the cards" that Germany might try to get their two huge dirigibles into the air for token raids on the east coast of the United States. It was revealed after the last war that the big transatlantic Zeppelin of those days was being groomed for just such a trip, but which nev er came 'off. The sister ship of the Von Hinden burg, which was destroyed by flames in New Jersey was said to be still in existence, together with another Zeppelin of the L-Z type, capable of flying the Atlantic. Each of them, army men said, could be loaded with 10 bombing planes, could drop them to take offs within easy flying distance of east-coast cities. Or, they pointed out, it would be possible for the airships themselves to be loaded with an enormous quan tity of bombs and to make a "sui cide" flight over one or more east ern cities, dropping their deadly cargoes before planes could shoot them down. '42 Will Be Record Year | For American Farm Crops | Food Goals Are Raised to Boost Production j As Agriculture's Part in Winning The War for U. S. and Allies. By BAUKHAGE National Farm and Home Hour Commentator. wnu service, 1343 H street, n-w, Washington, D. C. The farmer came across. He produced more the past year than any year in history. Never has America blossomed and borne fruit as she did. Next year the produc tion will be even higher for the de partment of agriculture found that the farmer was willing to meet the goals set up last August, and even to exceed them. But that doesn't mean that the food-for-victory problem has been settled. Now the department of agriculture finds a part of the prob lem back in its own lap, for we are in the war ourselves and our allies depend on us for supplies. The farm er must be assured labor, supplies and machinery to carry out his part of the job. And the processor must have the equipment to take care of perishable products when the farm er lays them down at the door. Experts here tell me that the farm-labor problem is not unsolv able. The combined demands of war and industry mean that the farmer will have to put up with older hands, with less skilled farm hands. It means that schools will have to be dismissed at harvest time and when harvest time and cultivation time come together. It may mean a land army of women. But the farmer Will get the help he needs, even if it isn't exactly the kind of help-he would prefer. Can Get Repairt The farmer can also get the parts he needs to repair his farm machin ery. He will get some new machinery, enough to get by with. He may have to skimp a little on the nitrates and the phosphates al though at present there are reserve supplies. But the big problem is to provide the processor with the essentials he needs to teepare the food and to wrap it up si packages for the con sumers. Take for instance milk: some 24 new evaporating plants will have to be built, some 350 cheese factories will have to be put up. Ana fiLiS! tms year was a rec ord crop. Next year will be bigger. Will the packers be able to take care of the porkers which may be i waddling up at the rate of a possible thousand a day to squeal their last squeals for freedom? That is one thing which the secretary of agri culture is battling over now. It takes tin and stainless steel and a lot of other things which the army wants before you can change a pig into a portable meal. And the army is tighter than a Sunday shoe when it comes to yielding up any of those essential metals. It is interested chiefly in destroying, not preserving. Food Coals Raited The department of agriculture has raised the food goals?already it has called for a 25 per cent boost in the tomatoes wanted; 33 per cent in snap-beans, corn and peas for can ning. Russia is very likely going to ask for food that we had not figured on supplying, China may need more. And then, who knows there may be an American Expeditionary, Force, probably will be before we are through, which will have to be fed. Modern armies still move on their stomachs, but even in that position they cannot eat off the land as they used to. These extra, added demands were not in the cards when the original "food for freedom" goals were set up. But they will have to be taken care of. America's good earth can produce them, the farmers can and will raise them. The next thing is to wangle the means of putting them into the packages that will take them where they are going. It's a big Job?one of those which when done, will win the war. ? ? ? Wartime Washington? Crowded and Busy Wartime Washington . . . crowd ed press and radio conferences at the White House with no one ad mitted without a photographic pass, registered fingerprints or a special signed card issued only to known and guaranteed bearers. Special police, secret service men and two superintendents each from press and radio galleries to inspect each card ... a modification of the same system for entrance to all gov ernment buildings . . . anti-aircraft guns with their crews, like the one I can see from my window as I write, on top of buildings . . . more British reporters, no Japanese, Ger man or Italian newsmen ... a sign on the window of one of our many Filipino-driven taxis, "Philippines, U.S.A."?explanation from the grin ning driver, "Best take no chances" (many people take the Filipinos for Japanese). Fur coats on government workers which will be the last for a long time . . . "Paw" (Brigadier Gen eral) Watson, presidential secre tary, in his'-uniform like hundreds of others . . . black paint around the edges of the broadcasting sta tion's windows to keep the light from leaking out during blackouts . . . messenger-girls . . . tire-boot leggers and tire-thieves . . . traffic jams. ? ? ? Will the Horse Stage a Comeback? ?"My kingdom for a horse!" A lot of the people who own Amer ica's 30 million vehicles may mur mur that wish before long. - With sale of new autos and trucks banned, pending rationing and with the rationing in effect, "My kingdom for a horse" may become no idle wish. And nobody knows today when the farmer will be told he can have no new farm machinery when what he has wears out. , So the question naturally comes up, will the horse come back? In the city he just can't. Some cities won't allow horse-drawn vehi cles on certain streets. Washington is one of them and not long ago a man drove an old-fashioned carriage with a team of mules down Sixteenth street just to see if he could get away with it. He did?because after all, even a cop knows a mule isn't a horse. But the city man, even if he learns which end of the horse to put the crouper on, wouldn't have any place to park the animal?he couldn'tleave it out beside the curb all night the way many do their cars. 4 Vi a 4 n 4k a Kama man ko V/u Uic toiiu Wit IIU1 at uia; wv come a necessity. But his return will- not be achieved overnight. In the first place every year with the increased mechanization of the farm, the supply of horseflesh has been dwindling. The situation isn't as bad as it was some years ago be fore vaccination scotched the sleep ing sickness that threatened to re duce the equine population still fur ther. But considering that it takes nearly four years after breeding be fore you get a horse in shape for regular heavy work, a market couldn't be built up to supply any increased demand for some time. It is true that in 1932 and 1033 when money seas scarce and feed . was cheap a lot of farmers used horses instead of trucks. But the American is a mechanical minded man and unless he just naturally takes to animals he would a lot rather drive a motor. As one horse expert said to me: "What's more a lot Of folks are afraid of horses. Many men who will drive a farm truck 30 miles an hour nowadays would think he had a runaway on his hands if a team he was driving broke into a trot." On the more serious side of the question however, is the possible long-time demand of the army for essential materials that* go into trucks and tractors and which may cut down perceptibly the machines that run farms today. A lot of farm ers, like a lot of city people, really can't afford to own the machinery they have. It makes work easier. A horse is more trouble than a ma chine. But a machine is not always necessary to do farm work any more than a car is necessary to the city dweller to do the work his own father made a shank's mare do. Also, a horse can eat a lot of non salable roughage, which food Is much cheaper than gasoline is going to be while we need it for tanks and airplanes and army jeeps. ? ? ? The United States now has 100,000 civilian pilots at the end of 1041, or five times as many as it had an July 1, 1938. About 69,000 of the new pilots were trained in the Civil aeronautics administration program begun in 1939. ?Bay Defease W?d< Bridge of Ships ' Rising Rapidly Despite Simultaneous Pro duction of 2-Ocean Navy, Records Tumble. WASHINGTON. D. C.-America's "bridge of ships" is building fast. In steady procession from the hun dreds of shipways along our Atlan tic, Gulf and Pacific coasts, new merchant vessels of many differ ent types are descending to the sea is token of America's pledge to move all-out aid to the powers fighting Axis aggression. Each entering splash recalls the critical days of the last war when our shipbuilders were engaged in a similar effort to offset the ravages of German submarines. Vivid is the memory of Hog Island, Philadel phia, where 122 vessels of nearly a million deadweight tons were pro duced by the most gigantic ship building plant ever built, despite early discouragement, shortages of men and materials and much pub lic impatience. Completed too late to be of much service before the first World war had ended, the big merchant flotilla to Which 76 other American shipyards added another 13,200,000 deadweight tons before the end of 1921, served to demon strate America's genius for volume production. Shift to High Gear. Today American shipbuilders have shifted once more into high gear production. This time they will not be late, as they were in 1918. This time they are primed to estab lish a production record that will far outdistance the emergency effort of the first World war. Already they are delivering at the rate of three new merchant ships a week and ex pect by the last part of 1942 to be completing two a day. And they are doing so.at a time when Amer ica is also engaged in building a two-ocean navy of a magnitude never dreamed of in the last war. Ninety merchant vessels of 1,000, 000 deadweight tons are scheduled for delivery during the first three months of 1942; 146 vessels of 1,400,000 deadweight tons in the sec ond quarter of that year, 154 vessels of about 1,646,000 deadweight tons in the third quarter, and 184 vessels of nearly 2,000,000 deadweight tons in the last quarter of 1942. The first quarter of 1943, final year of the present emergency project, will see another 220 ships aggregating 2,270, 000 deadweight tons placed in op eration. Aneaa 01 noria mar no. i. A recent report prepared by the United States maritime commission compares the present program with that of the first World war. In terms of deadweight tonnage, which best indicates cargo carrying capacity, the comparison reveals that in the present program the production of steel seagoing vessels of 1,000 gross tons or more will, by the end of 1943, be about equal to that produced in the entire World war construc tion period (1912-21); and that in reaped to speed of output, the cur rent program which began in 1937 will, at the end of 1943, be three years and more than 10,000,000 deadweight tons ahead of the cor responding year 1918 when the armistice was signed. An essential factor in the magni tude and speed of the current prc> gram was the action of the mart time commission in starting an or derly long-range construction pro gram of SO ships a year in 1937. The report shows that the produc tion of steel ships in 1942-43 will more than treble that of 1917-1918, while the production for 1942 alone will exceed by 20 per cent and for 1943 by 40 per cent the output of the peak year, 1919, when about 5,123, 000 deadweight tons were produced. New Zealand to Breed More Hones for War Use WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND. ?The interna] affairs department, in a statement revealed that while the -ountry was busy mechanizing the army with a tank-building program and the organization of pools for motor transport with which to fling all the oil-driven vehicles possible against an invader, the government is also pushing ahead with the rais ing of suitable horses for use in areas where auto transport is dif ficult This is being done under the Re mounts act passed by parliament during the World war. The act provides for transport of approved stallions around the coun try to improve the quality of the nation's horseflesh, the government paying subsidies to enable the plan to be carried out The department said that the total number at stallions available would be no fewer than last year, | when 800 foals were born. Great Britain Has New Secret Weapon Proves Effective Method of Protecting Convoys. LONDON. ? Latest of Britain's secret weapons, the fighter catapult plane?which is shot into the air from the decks of certain ships to combat attacking bombers ? has proved an expensive, if effective, method of protecting convoys. Considered by pilots as one of the toughest jobs in the R.A.F., the plane is launched by means of a catapult from its storage place aboard the vessel. After shooting down the raider?or driving it off? the plane attempts to reach shore, or, if it is too far at sea, comes down into the water. The pilot is usually picked up by ships in the convoy, but the plane is inevitably a total loss. Costing more thai $20,000, this is' an expensive way of combatting convoy raiders, but when It is taken into considera tion that the four-engined Focke Wulf?chief long-range ocean bomb er of the Luftwaffe?costs more than $200,000, the dividend is rela tively high. Pilots ? all volunteers for this work ? realize that their only chance of safety lies in either reach ing shore or being picked up by the convoy. When the plane hits the water, an automatic dinghy is re leased which provides?except in very rough weather?the pilot with some means of buoyancy until he can be picked up. Despite the dan gers of the service, men from all sections of the R.A.F. flock to volun teer for it. One of these pilots?a former Grand National jockey, and of the 1939 race ? Lieutenant Robert Everett has just been awarded the Distinguished Service Order for shooting down one of the Focke Wolfe Condors. Voodoo Cults in Haiti Are Found to Be Waning WASHINGTON, D. a?The Haiti an voodoo cult, famed for its "Made magic" religious ceremonies, is nearing its last days, according to Dr. Alfredo Metraus, Smithsonian Institution archeologist, who' has just returned with one of the finest collections of voodoo ceremonial paraphernalia. The decline of voodooism is asso ciated with an intensive drive by missionaries, who discovered that some of the most ardent members of the cult Were prominent in vari ous Christian churches. They recog nized no essential discrepancy be tween the two loyalties. as a resuu 01 ut missionary en deavors a great number of voodoo objects?vases, drums, pipes, wood en bowls, satchels of earth, stone axes, rattles and images of saints? have been discarded. Sacred fig trees are being felled and large posts representing African gods are being destroyed. The voodoo cultista also are tak ing oaths to forswear any associa tion with the African deities of their forefathers, and only in the remote jungles of the West Indian republic is voodoo ism still practiced as be fore. Dieting Adda Pound a Day, Gets Him Into Air Corps LONDON, ONT ?Recently a sbm, good-looking young Londoner ap plied for enlistment in the R.C-AJ, as a pilot observer. "You are an 'A' medically, but you are four- or five pounds under weight," the medical officer ad vised. "You had better fatten up and come back in a month or so." So the young man studied up an fat-producing calories, doubled up on his meals and went to bed early each night. A few days ago he returned to enlist. A surprised medical officer weighed him and found he had gained at the rate of a pound a day. Being several pounds over fits minimum requirement, he was im mediately enlisted. A careful search failed to produce any lead weights. Only Cariosity Keeps British Taxpayer Afire LONDON.?London business men are chuckling over this letter which is circulating throughout the finan cial district: "The Collector of Taxes. Dear Sir?For the following reasons I am unable to meet your demand noia for income tax. "I have been bombed, blasted, burnt, sandbagged, walked upon, sat upon, held up, held down. Has tened out and squeezed by t~?"t tax, super tax, tobacco tax, pur- , chase tax, beer tax, spirit tax, mo tor tax. "The only reason I am dinging to life at aB ia to aee what ia going tq happen next"