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The Alamance Gleaner 1 Vol. LXVIII GRAHAM, N. C., THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 1942 No. 6 WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS By Edward C. Wayne Treasury Asks 7V2 Billion Tax Boost To Carry Out U. S. 'Victory Program'; Sweeping Soviet Advances Continue As New Assaults Puncture Nazi Lines (EDITOR'S NOTE?When opinions ere expressed in these eelnmns, they ?re these el the news analyst and net necessarUy ef this newspaper.) (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) . ta?Y1?LO $ ^OOO^OOQl J (PROPOSED) - 1 Secretary ot the Treasury Henry Morgenthau as he presented a new 7 billion 610 million dollar tax program to congress. If approved by congress, the new taxes proposed by the treasury, added to the present total, would yield approximately 23 billion 487 million dollars in 1942. This would be an average of slightly more than $175 for every man, woman and child in the nation. TAXES: War Not Cheap The job of digging $23,000,000,000 in tax money out of the pockets of the people of the United States had been placed squarely before Secre tary Morgenthau of the treasury, and he had placed a plan before the congress to accomplish this. He had prefaced his announce ment of the plan with the statement that it was a "victory program" and that "war was not cheap, but a mil lion times cheaper to win than to lose." The plan had called for a general doubling of income taxes between the bottom limit and $10,000, in creases of corporate taxes, increase of excise taxes, and a raising of the social security payment rates. One innovation was the secreta ry's suggestion that at least a por tion of the tax be raised at the source, employers withholding week ly amounts from their workers' pay and turning it over to the treasury monthly. Secretary Morgenthau admitted this might mean paying on two years' taxes at the same time after about July 1, but pointed out that it would reduce the burden the follow ing March, and also would prevent taxpayers from spending in infla tionary avenues to purchase goods that could not be produced, in suffi cient quantity to meet the demand. The first reactions of congressmen in general had been favorable. It was rimihtfiil if th^ fvpntual fa* hill would emerge in exactly the form as presented by Secretary Morgen thau, but that something substan tially like it would be adopted was considered certain. Samples of the Morgenthau sched ules called for single persons mak ing a net of $2,000, now paying $117, to pay $230; for married persons making $2,200 with no dependents, now paying $61, to pay $118; for married persons with two depend ents (average family) making a net of $2,700, to pay $64 instead of the present $29. RUSSIANS: 'Increase Pace It had been expected that as the spring thaws began to set in the Russians would find the going more difficult, especially as Hitler made ready for his "spring offensive." Some wonder had been caused when the Germans began issuing bulletins telling of enormous num bers of Red troops being shoved up toward the front, reports which were more or less confirmed from Red sources. There were two possible solutions to this?either the Germans were preparing their people for the ex pected report of the loss of the Six teenth field army, which had been trapped in the Waraya Russa dis trict, or they were trying to con vince the United States and Britain that Russia did not need and could not use additional lease-lend aid. However this might be, observers had considered it more likely that Stalin, having placed a large group of generals in the background posts of training new armies, was put ting these into the fight in order to halt the "spring offensive" before it could get going. To the westward the Russian army has captured large quantities of war materials. JAVA: New Psychology The word "offensive" had become increasingly important in the dic tionary of the Allied Nations. In Washington Chief of Staff Gen eral Marshall had struck the key note, and when the Japs came into Java, and General Wavell was shunted off to India, leaving Dutch Gen. Ter Poorten in charge, almost the first order to the men was to make an offensive out of the defense of the island. The troops, which included some Americans, British and Australians, but which largely were Dutch and natives, had hurled themselves at the enemy with considerably more force than had been evidenced by the British in either Malaya or Bur ma, and early successes were re ported. However, the estimated 85, 000 Japanese troops were able to turn the tide of battle against ap proximately 50,000 Allied soldiers. The Japs had landed at three points, the estimate being that 140 warships and transports had been used. One landing was on the Su matra point of the island, another in the north central portion, and the third just west of Sourabaya. Thougli most observers felt from the first that the battle for Java could have only one end, and though the Dutch, at the outset, were bit ter against the United Nations for not having sent sufficient aid, the battle was the first test of the new psychology, to be "on the offensive" instead of the defensive at all times. The battle for Java marked the closing phase of the beginning of the Southwest Pacific war. Japa nese successes in that area, won at a huge cost of man power, were largely the result of overwhelming air superiority. RIOM: 'Inside Story' More of the "inside story" of the fall of France and the reasons for it had been aired by outspoken Eduard Daladier, ex-premier who had been placed on trial. At the same time ex-Generalissi mo Maurice Gamelin had stood stiffly at attention, refusing to an swer a single question hurled at him by Pierre Caius, the prosecutor. But Daladier, giving still more im port to the reports of dissension and lack of co-opera tion within the na tion, charged that the entire war ef fort of France had been "sabotaged" by the lack of in terest of several large steel indus tries. He told of two concerns which had been ap proached by the government long Eduard Daladier before the war to take part in a gov ernment-private industry combine which would have set up huge arma ment works in northern Africa. There, Daladier had testified, the government would have been able to have strengthened her armed forces. But the industrialists approached refused to consider the plan until France was at war with Germany, when it was too late, he had said. x POLICY: Change Toward Paris Indicated by Bombing ? Though the British had systemati cally bombed enemy installations ih occupied Europe, particularly those nearest the channel coast, Paris, ex cept for the token bombing in 1940 had been virtually untouched by the war. However, with a sudden day and night attack against the huge auto factories on the outskirts of Paris, Britain apparently had told the world that her policy toward the queen city of France had been changed. A large squadron of heavy bomb ers, meeting considerable anti-air craft fire, had flown over the city and suburbs all day and far into the night, dropping deadly loads in the neighborhood of the Renault, Citro en, Hispano-Suiza, Potez and Reg nier motor works. Vichy did not reveal the amount of the damage, but said there "were civilian casualties." London had been terse about the affair, simply stating that the Re nault auto factory, to France what Ford is to this country, had "be come the symbol of French col laboration with Germany." The company, said London, "is known to have been engaged in the making and repairing of transport vehicles, tanks and airplane engines for Germany." ACE: Made in a Day From the Pacific theater had come the story of a determined at tempt by Japanese heavy bombers, evidently operating from an island base, to put one of our largest air craft carriers out of action. The vessel, thanks to the vigor ous defense of the pursuit personnel, escaped "without a scratch" the navy had reported. Out of it emerged Lieut. Edward O'Hare of St. Louis, Mo., as the war's first "ace in a day." The Japs came against the car rier with 18 bombers in two flights LIEUT. EDWARD O'HARE Navy's uAce in a Day." of nine each. Only two got away. Yet the attackers came in with such ferocity that one of them attempted a "suicide crash" with his load of bombs on the deck of the ship. "So close was it" the navy had re ported, "that he was shot down by point-blank anti-aircraft Are when less than 100 yards from his objec ' tive." O'Hare got six of the enemy planes all by himself. The other pursuit fliers got the other ten. Two returned to the Jap base unscathed, apparently. Two American planes had been shot down, but the pilot of one was rescued. It was a dramatic affair and one which showed the American pilots were being tried in combat and not found wanting, also that the Jap losses, if they continued at five to one or better, soon were bound to be reflected in a loss of momentum for their drive. STRATEGY: Decided Upon While there had been litte ques tion that the Atlantic Charter and a possible spring offensive on the Eu ropean front, plus the keeping of supply lines open to Britain and Russia were the primary American military objectives, a significant strategy had been decided upon in the Pacific theater. This strategy called for the use of Australia as a basing-ground and a hop-off point for the eventual win ning offensive against the Japanese. There had been numbers of "to ken" bombing raids on Port Darwin and other points of importance to Australia, and the Aussies believed that these were laying the ground work for an eventual all-out assault. But it was with the offensive, not ' the defensive thought in mind that Australia was planning with the ! United States for supplies, men and munitions with which to make the continent a springboard for attack j rather than defense. 'Man of Peace' Promotes' Korean War Against Japs Dr. Syngman Rhee, President of Exiled Govern - ment, Heads Conference in Washington To Plan 'Life and Death' Revolt. By BAUKHAGE News Analyst and Commentator. WNU Service, 1343 H Street, N-W, Washington, D. C. Washington has just witnessed a most remarkable ceremony. It was what might be called the laying of the cornerstone of a new revolution. Not a mere revolution of ideas, not a scatterbrained plot of wild radi cals, but the orderly preparation for a real, powder-and-ball, life-and death revolt. The Korean Liberty conference has just met in Washington to com memorate* the March, 1919, revolu tion and make plans for a 1942 revo lution. The most remarkable thing about this first step toward the smashing of a tyrant's power is that its mov ing spirit is a wistful little figure who describes himself as a man of peace born in the Land of the Morn ing Calm. He is Syngman Rhee of Korea, president of the Korean gov ernment in exile since 1919, and revolutionary since 1905. With a group of Koreans from Hawaii and others living in the United States, and with the help of a group of American friends who make up the Korean Committee of Los Angeles and Honolulu and the Korean-American council. Dr. Rhee is now busy getting ready for the revolution of 1942. Korea, Dr. Rhee points out, was the first victim of Japan's long planned "new order." He foresaw the present war between Japan and America and tried to warn this country. More than a year before the Pearl Harbor attack he said: "If the Koreans had seen Japan in 1894 as they saw her in 1592, the year of Hideyoshi's unsuccessful in vasion of Korea, they would have saved their country and themselves from the plight in which they find themselves today. On the other hand, if the American people had seen Japan in 1894 and 1904 as they see her today, they would have looked askance at the annexation of Korea and would have tried to meet Japan's expansion of sea power which now offers a powerful threat on the other side of the Pacific." ?Boy Defense Bonds? Long Yeart Of doing Warnings This quiet little man who has been imprisoned, tortured, exiled, had a price set on his head by the Jap anese, has been haunting interna tional conferences for nearly four decades. At Geneva, at London, in Chungking, he has moved among the statesmen and delegates quietly whispering his warnings,. patiently explaining and urging, ceaselessly working for the freedom of his own I people and seeking to build the co j operative effort of all free peoples. For many years he has- lived in Washington. "It is one of the great ironies of history," says Dr. Rhee, "that Jap anese animosity is now directed par ticularly against the very nation which broke the shell of her insular ity and introduced Japan to modern civilization. When, in 1854, Commo dore Matthew Perry negotiated the treaty which marked the first step in opening Japan to foreign com merce and residence, he helped, all unwittingly, to set the people of the Rising Sun in the path which was to bring them later full tilt against the American people." At the liberty conference just con cluded in Washington, three main steps were taken: The Korean dec laration of independence of 1819 was reaffirmed; the United States was called on to recognize the provision al government of Korea, and Korean allegiance was declared to the cause of the United Nations. Without bitterness or recrimina tion these devoted patriots pointed out that the United States has its obligations to them, for the treaty of peace and amity and mutual protec tion between the United States and Korea still exists although we stood by without interfering when Japan reached out and "tightened her grip," as Dr. Rhee puts it, on his country back in the days of Theo dore Roosevelt. As the leader of these gentle revo lutionists, Dr. Rhee at 87 watches his predictions coming true he merely feels that the goal is nearer. With the philosophy of his great master?Rhee was educated in a Confucian school?he looks on a world in flames with new courage. The forest fire will not extinguish itself,"' he says. But it will be ex tinguished: "At long last?perhaps sooner than we dare to hope?" he says, the democratic forces of the world will thrust Japan back on her islands and peace will reign in the Pacific. In that day, Korea will re join the ranks of the free and again become known as the Land of the Morning Calm." ?Buy Defense Bonds? It the U. S. Complacent About War? Is America complacent about the war? That is the great question which is agitating the various agencies of government which consider it their function to stir America to the high pitch necessary for maximum war effort. The letters which I receive fairly bristle on that subject. Complacent? We aren't complacent, they say, it's you people in Washington who are the complacent ones. Recently I was in a gathering where three speakers told in great detail what the movie industry was doing as a part of the war effort. It is doing a lot?donating its time and its facilities. Many members of the industry are in Washington with army or navy commissions or on civilian salaries far less than they earn at their regular jobs?like the dollar-a-year men. Some are patri otic. They are too old to join the fighting forces and they want to do. their bit. Some, I daresay, like many "parasites" who have swarmed to Washington are here for less altruis tic purposes. War, like patriotism as Dr. John son defined it, can be "the last refuge of scoundrels" as well as the medium of the supreme sacri fice. " Whether or not the nation as a whole is complacent is a question which nobody can answer. The real problem which we have before us is to turn a nation, naturally attuned tn npflrc a nation whnsp military tradition is limited compared to the countries of Europe. These peo ples of different language, race and j customs are crowded within narrow frontiers?boundary lines which have been drawn and redrawn In the blood of thousands who were taught from childhood that the word "for- I eigne r" was almost synonymous with the word "enemy." We have lived and worked and had our being, between two unforti fied borders and with two once friendly oceans to guard us. Sud denly we are being forced to play a part in a world which has accept ed "might is right." We know we are mighty. So mighty that it has never been a question in the hearts of even the most arrogant war lords of whether we could defeat them. Only a question of whether we would make the effort. Whether, in other words, we would be complacent while they "strut and trot their hour upon the stage." History proves that only a short space of time Is granted ! for tyrants to oppress freemen. Longer than that no tyrant has ever existed. And America, once awak ened, will number their days. Conaervatives Disagree There are plenty of conservatives who will contest this statement. They will tell you that SOMEBODY has to foot the bill, that even if Germany and Japan and Italy man age to struggle on with no major military defeats, that unless they are totally victorious they will total ly collapse financially. This viewpoint is expressed by those who believe that eventually the thing will happen that many of us were told would happen long ago. How often did you hear before Pearl Harbor, "Japan is almost broke now, she can't afford to go to war with a major power." Or, "Ger many is on the verge of absolute and financial collapse." Perhaps these orthodox econo mists are correct. Perhaps it is money that makes the machine gun go as well as the mare, and when the money stops the nations which are on the verge of bankruptcy now will fall like a house of cards. But the new-school thinkers are able to marshal a lot of evidence to support their theory that there are a lot of things that money won't buy and that there are a lot of things which, if you love 'em you don't need money. Genius Foresaw War With Japan After 30 Years Experts Now Honor Man Navy Once Turned Down. WASHINGTON.?Virtually ignored for nearly 40 years, Homer Lea, crippled, five-foot military genius, who, barred from United States service, is now coming into his own. Lea is' not alive to enjoy his be lated honor, for he died in 1912, three years after he had penned startling predictions of war with Japan, which he saw as inevitable, and had forecast, with amazing pre cision, the course the war has actu ally taken. It was in 1909 that the Colorado born Lea's magnum opus, "The Val or of Ignorance," was published; yet an astonishing number of his predic tions have come true?among them the statement that the Japanese would capture Manila within three weeks after the declaration of war. It actually took them three weeks and five days. Lea also predicted the treacherous surprise attack by the Mikado's min ions. Foretold Nazi Rise. He foresaw the rise of Germany as a great, aggressive military pow er and feared that this country, fat with prosperity and commercial power, would fall easy prey to com bined attack from the Atlantic and Pacific. Lea himself was a strange char acter. Born in Colorado, he was reared in Los Angeles and attended Stanford university. Curvature of the spine gave him a hunched back, reduced his stature to a mere five feet. Early drawn to military mat ters, Lea found it impossible to enter West Point because of his affliction. He early developed a fondness for the Chinese and sympathized with them in the persecution they then suffered on the Pacific coast. Going to China, he became associated with Dr. Sun Vat-sen, father of the Chi nese republic. He served in the revolutionary army, gaining the title of lieutenant general and practical application of his theories of war. Aided Chinese Patriots. On his return to the United States he set up as a military con sultant, was often visited by Chinese patriots at his Los Angeles home. The little general devoted many pages of "The Valor of Ignorance," published by Harper & Brothers, to demonstrating tnat tnere always naa been wars, always would be. He also showed that nations rise to power, grow (at and contented, lose the militancy that took them to the top and Anally bow to other nations whose militancy is on the rise. Like virtually every other writer who has studied the military history of the United States, he bemoaned our lack of militancy and of a large and well-trained defense force. Not only did he call the turn on the speedy capture of the Philippine islands, but Lea also provided a map of Luzon, which revealed the very routes the little brown men would take in landing and advanc ing on Manila. Other maps showed the routes by which he thought the Japanese would try to invade the United States?first landing in the North west, then occupying southern Cali fornia, and finally striking at San Francisco. His predictions along this line were made, however, without knowl edge of the fact that the outbreak of the war, 33 years later, would find this country already well embarked upon a huge defense program. 'If We Lose, We Lose All,' Wails Goebbels BERLIN. ? The German home front must remain hard and calm, Propaganda Minister Paul Goebbels said in a speech. Pointing out that "the little nuis ances and sacrifices" which Ger mans at home must make are of no importance compared to the hero ism of soldiers on the front, Goeb bels said that the important question is, "How will the war be finished?" If "we win we win everything," he said. "But if we lose everything is lost." Top Kick Plagued With Two Sets of Twin Names CAMP BLANDING, FLA.?When 1st Sgt. William Moulton of Burling ton, Vt., yells down the company street for "Private Meunier" his troubles begin. From various tents emerge four Privates Meunier?Leo, Leo, Rene and Rene. To add to the sergeant's confusion, they are all from Burlington, though unrelated. Fortunately they have different middle initials, and to simplify mat ters the sergeant now calls them by initials such as "L P.." "L-Z.." "R.J." and "R.R." U. S. Has Two Years Supply of Quinine Dutch Indies Is Principal Source of Drug. WASHINGTON?Before war broke out in the Pacific, the United States had laid in a 10,000,000-ounce supply of quinine, precious drug used in the prevention and cure of fnalaria, a report from the National Geo graphic society points out. "Because 90 per cent of the world's quinine?obtained from the bark of the cinchona tree?comes from the Netherlands Indies, the United States has placed the sub stance on the nation's list of strate gic materials, the only drug thus singled out. "A record total of 7,920 tons of cinchona bark was exported from the Netherlands Indies in 1940. But new supplies of quinine from the Far East now are cut off, temporar ily at least. At the normal rate of consumption, the 10,000,000-ounce quinine reserve would meet all United States needs for from two to three years. In an emergency it could be spread out to satisfy all probable demands for from four to five years. ' "The malarial mosquito thrives in the wet tropics. The advance of full scale war into the equatorial regions therefore in all likelihood will neces sitate increased use of anti-malarial drugs. "Although chemical substitutes for quinine have been developed in the laboratory, quinine sulphate, from the bark of the cinchona tree, still is the staple malaria remedy. "The United States can obtain considerable quinine from South America. "Quinine has other uses than in combatting malaria. It is a tradi tional cold and influenza remedy, and also finds its way into hair ton ics, bitters for cooking and bever ages, including 'tonic water.'" Orders Are Orders for This Private Soldier BELOXI, MISS ?Back and forth in front of post headquarters one morn ing paced Pvt. Ernest J. Minster Jr. of Ruffdale, Pa. In front of him were 12 commissioned officers, in cluding a lieutenant colonel, a ma jor, two captains, a number of lieu tenants, five privates and two civilians and he was holding them at bay with one small white stick because they had no passes. ^.1:4. V...4 riiVdlC lUUUlCI W a3 JJUUVC UUI firm. He said to each officer appre hended : "I'm sorry, sir, but no one is allowed in post headquarters area without a pass. Those are my or ders." And no one got into post headquar ters either, despite appeals from of ficers inside post headquarters who did have passes. After an officer of the guard was called the "prisoners" were allowed to enter. To Private Minster, gen eral orders were more than just something to memorize. Says 25,000 Tons of Wild Rubber Hidden in Weeds BERKELEY, CALIF ?More than 29,000 tons of wild rubber is hidden in the stems and roots of rabbit brush, a weed that grows thick an alkali flats and other wastelands of the West, declares Prof T. Harper Goods peed, University of California botanist. He has called attention to this unutilized resource in mes sages to the federal government and the governor of California. Rabbit brush is a shrub that grows from knee-high to twice the height of a man. Its rubber occurs in solid bits and shreds embedded in the tis sues, as it does in gum yule. Hence, the same methods of harvesting and! processing could be used that have been successful in extracting guay ule rubber. It is not claimed that rabbit brush rubber would be good enough to compete with the East Indian prod uct, and it costs more to prepared Professor Goodspeed estimates about 49 cents a pound. Refuses to Put in Claim For Goods Lost on Guam WASHINGTON. ? The Charles Green Sales company of New York has declined to accept reimburse ment for merchandise in the marine post exchange at Guam which was lost when the island was captured by the Japanese, the navy said. "We are not in the least bit in terested in placing a claim for the amount due us from the post ex change at Guam island," Charles Green wrote the marine corps. "Under the circumstances, may we suggest that the amount due us be used to buy a good-sized shell to blow the aggressor nation back to helL"
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