Newspapers / The Alamance Gleaner (Graham, … / March 26, 1942, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of The Alamance Gleaner (Graham, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
The Alamance Gleaner Vol. LXVIII GRAHAM, N. C., THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 1942 No. 8 WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS By Edward C. Wayne Jap Dreams of Easy Conquest Fade As U. S. Aid to Australia Grows; President's 'Victory Plan' Depends On Successful Offensive in Pacific (EDITOR'S NOTE?Wktn eplnleas are expressed In these colsmns. they are these ef the news aaalyst and net aeeessarily ef this newspaper.) t?y Western Newspaper TTn<? ? VICTORY: For Navy Forces Almost coincident with the arrival of General MacArthur in Australia the first great word of an offensive against the Japanese had been re ceived, and the U. S. had hailed a great naval victory in New Guinea. First reports had been of the sink ing of 23 Japanese vessels, a dozen of them vessels of war, and though few details were announced, it was obvious that it had been a battle of the air rather than of the sea. Important in the first dispatches had been the word that they were "island based" forces of the United States and Australia, and this had been comforting in the extreme, for until this point America had not known that there were any island bases left to us in the Pacific thea ter with the exception of Hawaii. It had been learned, of course, that the Japanese, after taking Wake island, had later abandoned it, but few believed that our own navy had moved back in there. Aside from speculation about where the base was, a fact the Japs would like dearly to know, the victory it self was important. In the battle of Java sea we had lost one heavy cruiser ourselves, and our allies had lost four. In this battle the Japs had lost two heaVy cruisers, one light cruiser and other ships of war of lesser imr port. The rest of the ships sent to the bottom or put out of action were freighters, some of them being used as troop transports. OFFENSIVE: Aussies' Viewpoint Almost coincident with the arrival of General MacArthur, his chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Sutherland, and the rest of his party, official Australia began to talk and think in terms of an offensive against the Japs on a scale hitherto not dreamed of. As to the Japanese themselves, after having previously reported, weeks ago, MacArthur's flight from the battlefront to Corregidor and other untrue stories about the com mander, they were considerably tak en aback by the news that the com mander was in Australia. They did just what President Roosevelt had predicted, and de PRIME MINISTER JOHN CURTIN "American aid is doubly welcome." clared that General MacArthur had "run away" from the Philippines, and then went on to say that "Amer ican resistance in Australia would be shortlived." The resistance in Bataan had stood as a monument to Japanese falsehoods and false hopes of easy conquest, and some believed that MacArthur's assignment to Austra lia might give the Japanese pause in going through with the invasion. At any rate, Prime Minister Cur tin had said: "It is most gratifying that the American troops are now here in force. Their numbers are most sub stantial. "We are the base from which to strike at the enemy. "American aid is doubly wel come because Britain could not car ry the burden of the Pacific while engaged in a life and death strug gle with Germany and Italy. "Our nation must demonstrate to history that it has the moral and physical stature to stand up and trade punches with the enemy not for six weeks or months but year after year if necessary, giving odds, but fighting the enemy to a stand still. ? * MAC ARTHUR: And His Job The sending ol MacArthur from Bataan, where the man in the street had regarded him as a sort of "dead hero"?certainly a hero, but con demned, apparently to either death or a Japanese prison?to Australia, where he could start with a clean page in the defense of that continent had been greeted with wild enthu siasm from one side of the nation to the other. Paeans of praise had resounded not only in the press but upon the streets, and the general view was .that the whole move had been made cleverly, because while General MacArthur had given his Bataan job into the hands of General Wain wright, he was still technically in command, as the Philippines were placed under his jurisdiction. No less was the delight felt by the Australians, who had demand ed MacArthur to lead them. The Americafl public regarded it as sig nificant that the move had been ordered in late February, but had not been carried out until mid March, thus showing that MacAr thur was not rushing after personal honors or safety, and that he would Gen. Donglas MaeArthur Maj. Gen. Satherland not leave his command until he had been given time to arrange things to suit him. MacArthur was accom panied by his chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Richard K. Sutherland, and by Brig. Gen. Harold H. George of the air corps. Considerable editorial praise had been heaped on Mrs. MacArthur when it was learned that she and her son had not chosen the compara tive safety of Manila and intern ment, but had chosen to go to the battlefront with the general, and then to take the long and perilous plane journey to Australia with him. As to the general's job in Aus tralia, it was the toughest of the whole war That was conceded on all sides. For he was taking on his shoulders the command in an area where all had been defeat thus far. The Japs were figured to attempt the Australia blitz, despite the fact that they had learned that American troops "in force" were on the con tinent and that more were on the way. The Australian occupation was so vital to the Japanese, however, that they were apparently ready to risk the showdown battle that would surely ensue. There was little question but that Australia was poorly prepared, for Prime Minister John Curtin had been stressing that since the begin ning. But with considerable Amer ican aid it was hoped that the de fense could be carried out success fully. Strategically, however, MacAr thur's job was even bigger than de fending Australia, for if President Roosevelt's victory plan were to be carried out, it was up to him not only to defend Australia successful ly, but to be "in at the death" of the Japanese hopes in the Pacific, and to carry on, from Australia as a hop-off spot, the successful offensive that would, at least so America hoped, knock the Nipponese out of the war. , MacArthur, on his arrival, had found more than just American troops on the ground, he had found an air force which was carrying out his own ideas on Bataan?striking often and fiercely at the enemy be fore he arrived on the scene. There were few who believed MacArthur, even by a miracle of strategy, could prevent Japanese landings on Australia, even as he was unable to prevent them on the Philippines. But many hoped that he could and would find some meth od of striking such forces such ter rific blows as to drive them into the sea and prevent their organiza tion into any sort of a successful land army. Navy Brain Truster Head of the brain trust of the D. 8. navy la Rear Admiral Frederick J. Horne. Right-hand man to Admiral Ernest J. King, commander-in-ehief. Horne is in charge of the naval op erations staff in the new navy set-np. RUSSIANS: Clamp Down The Russians, having carried out their continued offensive during the coldest of the winter, had clamped down on several important points, including Kharkov and Vyazma, and claimed that 200,000 German troops were trapped in the latter area. The Germans also, the Reds had asserted, were steadily giving ground in the Kharkov region, dubbed the Pittsburgh of Russia. There also had bedfc considerable favorable military activity in the district of Smolensk, which for a time, rumor had it, had been Hit ler's personal headquarters. In the meantime the Russians had taken over the suburbs of Kharkov and had started what they described as the fiercest sort of house to house fighting. In each of these encounters the Russians had been able to mass well-trained troops in superior num bers over the Germans, and in the Staraya Russa sector they had as serted that the Germans were re fusing to yield, and were gradually being exterminated. Even in the southwest, where Hit ler was supposed to have ordered a counter-offensive, the Russian ma chine was still moving ahead, Mos cow had reported. SUICIDE: Confirmed A roundabout method of confirm ing the suicide of General Homma in the Philippines by the hara-kiri method was discovered by Carlos Barry, a Chilean newspaper man stationed in Tokyo. He sent a dispatch to the news paper El Chileno in which he said the suicide of "General Masaharu Homma for failure to destroy the American and Filipino defense forces had been confirmed." He did not say that Tokyo con firmed it, but added: "The confirmation came through the fact that his successor General Tomoyuki Yamashitawas announced officially." Thio nn/lar tVin nilnf nf tKo Qamil. rai, can have only one meaning. Horn ma would not have been permit ted to live through this disgrace. He must, according to the code, re tire to his room and retire himself with a sword. LOTTERY: Number Three Washington's selective service heads, aided and abetted by draft boards from coast to coast swung into the task of classifying and call ing up 9,000,000 men, drawn in the third draft lottery. The word had gone out that not all would be drawn for military service, but that many might be drafted into defense industry. In the nine millions of men be tween the 20-44 age limits were many of the older men, more settled?the heads of businesses and owners of property, and their reaction to the draft had been just as enthusiastic as had that of the younger men in the previous groups. In this lottery, as in those pre vious, there had been some small errors, two numbers having turned up missing, 8,342 and 2,009, and one being duplicated, 2,885. MISCELLANY: Washington: In order to improve the war spirit of the people general ly, President Roosevelt had said that he would like to see more military parades. "It is time to wave the flag," the President said. Moscow: The Russian press dis missed with one paragraph the news that General MacArthur had been made supreme commander in Aus tralia. i Army Air Force Goal 2,000,000 Will Be Biggest in World; Million to Be Trained By End of Year. WASHINGTON.?A 2,000,000-man air force?the world's largest?has been announced as the army's even tual objective, with hall that num ber to be mustered before the end of the year. This tremendous program, aimed at giving the United States crushing air superiority over all its enemies, was disclosed by Henry L. Stimson, secretary of war, who, before Pearl Harbor, had set a goal of 400,000 men in the air force by next June 30. It compares with a reported strength of 1,000,000 to 1,250,000 in the Nazi Luftwaffe and of about 1,000,000 in the British Royal Air Force. It is, too, more men than the army had in all branches at the outbreak of the war. As a part of the expansion plan, a number of cadets at the military academy at West Point will be graduated as pilots and thus save a year for air training, now required after graduation. The announce ment was authorized by General George C. Marshall, chief of staff. He said flying instruction at the academy would be added at once. Navy Has Program. Mr. Stimson did not break down the over-all 2.000,000 figure into categories of pilots, mechanics and others. It is known, however, that the original goal of a 400,000-man force called for training of 30,000 pilots a year. Presumably, this training program will eventually be quintupled. In addition to the army's plans, the navy is preparing an immense air arm. Frank Knox, secretary of the navy, announced a program for training 30,000 naval air cadets each year. The 2,000,000-man air lorce was closely tied in with plans for produc ing 185,000 warplanes this year and next. It would work out to a ratio of 10 or 11 men for each plane. With the need for navigators, bombar diers and ground crews, as well as pilots, such a proportion has long been considered about right. A million men for the 60,000 planes that are scheduled for pro duction this year would give a ratio much higher than that and permit thorough training for a considerable number of men while their fighting planes are under construction. Whence They Will Come. The men are to come, it was as sumed, from volunteers and drafted men. An important source of men lies in the graduates of the civil aeronautics commission's training courses. They have turned out 75,000 civilian pilots, all pledged to make themselves available to the army and navy when and if needed. Elementary, basic and advanced flying training will be given at Stew art Field to all West Point cadets who desire pilot training and can pass the required physical examina tion. Cadets receiving flying in struction will receive the'same acad emic instruction as others, but the flying training will replace certain parts of existing tactical studies. The initial group to begin flying training will be members of the class of 1942, graduating this year. They will complete elementary in struction before graduation on June 10, and on July 5 will commence basic training. By November 10 they may receive their wings. Qualified members of the 1M3 class, however, will complete the entire schedule of training during their final year at the academy and on graduation in June, 1943, will be commissioned as full-fledged air corps officers. Boa* la Getting Tired, So Giyes Store to Clerk OCONOMOWOC, WIS. ? W. B. Stevens, for 20 years owner of a drug store, made an outright gift of his business to a 34-year-old clerk who had worked under him since 1924. Francis C. Madole, the new owner, now is the employer of his former boas. The 82-year-old Stevens remarked: 'Tm getting too old to wait on trade. All that I wish to take care of are the prescriptions. I hope he (Madole) won't be too hard a boss." 600-Pound Amphibian Plane Is Easy on Gas ST. PETERSBURG. FLA.-Lois F. Beard, garage owner and avia tion enthusiast, believes he has in vented the answer to a poor avia tor's prayer?an amphibian plane which can be operated inexpensive ly. The machine carries only 11 gallons of gasoline, has a top speed of 65 miles per hour and weighs less i than 600 pounds. WPB Gives Pointers For Raid Defense Tape for Windows Should Be Homemade. WASHINGTON?The War Produc tion board passed on to the public directions (or using homemade tape, of a type which does not employ materials vital to military and ci vilian needs, to prevent shattering of window glass from bombing. The plan came from the Pennsyl vania college of pharmacy and sci ence, which tackled the problem after the health supplies branch of the WPB urged that adhesive tape, containing rubber and zinc oxide, not be used on windows. Here are the directions: Cut old bed sheets into one-inch strips. If old bed sheets are not available use a cheap material such as unbleached muslin. Lay the pieces on a board and with a paint brush generously daub them with the paste made according to the formula below. Criss-cross the pasted strips on windows, keeping the pieces about an inch apart in both directions. Then make two diagonals clear over the corners of the pane. All ends should reach and overlap the edge of the window frame. The formula for the paste is as fol lows: Wheat flour, six ounces; powdered alum, half ounce; corn syrup, four fluid ounces (a quarter pint); wa ter, two pints. Rub the flour and alum to a smooth paste with the water and syrup. Heat quickly to boiling with constant stirring to avoid burning. Remove from the Are at the first indication of boiling. A slower method involves the use of the double boiler. If this paste is to be held in stor age, refrigeration will keep it sweet for several days. U.S. Army Engineers Cut Road Along Panama Canal BALBOA, CANAL ZONE?A new Panama canal safeguard has been established in a 48-mile trans-Isth mian highway?the first such road ever built?over which army ma chines can travel ocean-to-ocean in two hours. At places the route is only a one way graded trail hacked through dense tropical jungle, but army trucks traversed it for the first time this week, demonstrating its avail ability in any emergency involving the vital canal and closely parallel ing railway. The highway adds a third and well separated route td the canal and railway, which hitherto were the only avenues of heavy transport across the Isthmus of Panama. Begun in December, 1940, as a joint Canal Zone and Republic of Panama enterprise, the highway as sumed enormous military signifi cance after the United States and Panama entered the war. Now it becomes the job of the Pub lic Roads Administration, during Panama's present "dry season," to lay a two-way 50-mile-an-hour con crete highway before arrival of the "rainy season" that would speedily reduce this strategic highway to the jungle from which it was so recently reclaimed. Granted a full quota of dry weath er, the job will be done in two months, John Humbard, public roads engineer in charge of the project, predicts. Four Brothers in Nary Total 80 Years' Service WASHINGTON.?Eighty years of service in the navy is the record set by the four Woods brothers of San Diego. William P. Woods, 47, and Joseph M. Woods, 40, have each put in near ly 21 years of service. Younger brothers, Arthur H., 38, and Edward F. Woods, 37, have each served al most 19 years. All but the last hold the highest possible enlisted rating?chief petty officer. Edward is a petty officer, first class, but one step below his brothers. He recently transferred to the West Virginia so that he could com plete his service in the company of his youngest brother, who now has served at various times with each of his brothers. Old French Guns Given To Army by Chic&foatn WASHINGTON ?Three old French 73 mm. guns, the property at Mrs. Robert T. Crane Jr. of Chicago, were donated to the army by her. The field pieces were given to Mrs. Crane's late husband, an exporter, in 1920. They were the gifts at the president and senate of France. Ordnance officials said the cannon could be reconditioned and modern ized. Fate of Free Enterprise Rests With Small Business Economic Processes Altered as Producers Seek to Beat Enemy Competition; Profit Motive Relegated to Background. By BAUKHAGE Neuis Analyst and Commentator. WNC Service, 1343 B Street, N-W, Washington, D. C. "The war is placing the United States on a basis of non-competitive economy." A cabinet member made this statement in a private gathering in Washington at which I was present a few days ago. He was urging the need for a study of post-war condi tions. "If we are going to maintain the principle of free enterprise," he went on, "we must begin to think now about how we are going to change back from a non-competitive system to the normal democratic system of individual enterprise." What the cabinet officer was get ting at is this: the major part of the energy of the nation is gradually be ing turned into war production. War production is a national enterprise. The objective is to obtain the great est amount of armament and other supplies and necessities demanded for the creation of a huge military machine, as quickly as possible. This Is an entirely different econom ic process from that upon which free enterprise is based. Free enterprise is the production of goods for civilian consumption on a competitive basis at a profit suffi cient to encourage the producer to keep on producing. Under war conditions the only competition is with the enemy. Prof its may be made by the producer but every phase of his business must be government controlled. The gov ernment already says that automo biles or ice boxes or radios or phono graphs cannot be made for ordinary civilian consumption. The govern ment tells the manufacturer what he can have in the way of raw ma terials and tells him what he can do with them. The big corporations for the most part are already on a non-competitive basis working for the government. Prices are con trolled. Big business which is convertible to war production has already been fitted into the new design. Big busi ness which is not convertible and which makes an essential civilian product is able to adjust itself. Small Basinet* Problem* But small business (aces a differ ent problem. By small business is meant, according to government definition, a manufacturing plant employing 100 employees or less, wholesale establishments with less than $200,000 annual net sales vol ume; retail stores, service estab lishments, hotels, places of amuse ment and construction establish ments with annual net sales or re ceipts of less than $50,000. About 35 per cent of the smaU businesses of the country, of which there are l(t$M establishments, ac cording to the classification of the United States department ef com merce, are capable ef conversion from civilian to war production. This leaves fit to (5 per cent of these small businesses, which employ nearly 2H million men, in an ex ceedingly precarious position. The vast majority of the people in the United States and the officials in Washington believe that small busi ness must be preserved if free en terprise is to continue. What's to be done about it? Well I spent an hour in the office of the man selected by the department of commerce to fight the fight for small business. It is a very plain office? the only wall decorations are a cal endar and a map of the United States. At the desk sits a man with iron-gray hair and a fine Scotch burr. Up until three months ago his business card read "William Shep erdson. Financial Consultant, tele phone Worth 2-6400, 55 Liberty Street, Twenty-seventh Floor, New York." Today his card reads "William Shaperdaon, telephone District 2300, Division of Regional Economy, Bu reau of Foreign and Domestic Com merce, Department of Commerce, Washington, D. C." The Alternative. Mr. Sheperdaon takes his job very seriously. He believes that if small business is not preserved two steps must follow?one?big business will get bigger and small business will vanish?two?the government will have to take over. That is what he wants to avoid. His first function is to get the facts concerning the problems of small business together; his second is to get these tacts before government officials and before members of con gress before they act; his third is to assist group action wherever it is necessary to assist private effort. Mr. Sheperdson cautiously points out that he can not solve the indi vidual's problems as such but wher ever a group of interests are con cerned or wherever the individual represents a group of allied inter ests, he can and will be of assist ance. He admits that winning the war is America's first job. A part of small business can help in the war effort and the government can help small business in this field by advising the 35 or 40 per cent Of small manufacturers who are "con vertible" in changing over their es tablishments to produce war prod ucts. Specifically his job is to an swer an avalanche of inquiries. This he tries to do in simple, straight forward language. One of his chief tasks is to help the small manufacturer to answer the complicated questionnaires and to fill out the forms required by all who get government contracts. His division has 31 representatives in the field talking to small business men personally. He has 12 consultants in Washington with him. He has also the tremendous resources of the bureau of foreign and domestic com merce of the department of com merce. And he has the co-operation of a group in congress very much concerned with the plight of the small business man and he has the sympathy of Donald Nelson, head of the War Production board. Central Authority As as example of this sympathetic co-operation, by the time this is writ ten congress win peebaMy have ap proved of the formation of a bm dred million dollar corporation of which Donald Nelson, himself, wB be the bead, so there wffl be as split authority to war poodnotion This corporation will have the poor er to nuke contracts for mihtary supplies, it will see that these con tracts are let exclusively to Iks smaller manufacturers who are ca pable of converting their plants Is war production. As to the 60 to 65 per cent of America's small businesses which cannot be converted, Mr. Sheperd son is rendering such aid and com fort as his long experience, his knowledge of the ability and the shortcomings of the small business man and his wide general knowl edge make possible. "Small business," says Mr. Shep erdson, "is usually managed by one, sometimes two, and rarely, three men. Big business has management specialists who hire brains. Big busi ness has research departments. Small business cannot afford these things. Many business men cannot even read blue prints. They do one job and do it well They may have learned their business from their fa thers. They have energy and genius or they would not have succeeded. But they need leadership and edu cation. - "Many of them keep no records. As a matter of tact 80 per cent keep none. In most cases the prob lem they are facing today boils down to management. "The department tries la help In their edaeattsa. It is new prepar ing a bastaees guide and there Is net a tve deOar ward tn it. It Mlities. It says -what de yea ewer and 'what de yea ewa?' " That guide may chart the course of many a small business through the stormy waters ahead and keep the flag at tree enterprise flying. (Incidentally, if you are interested in obtaining a copy, I shall be glad to paas your request on to Mr. Shep erdson.) ? ? ? Washington Cancels Cherry Wessons Fntioml There sriB be no cherry hloeeom festival in Washington this year. For years people from all over the nation have been coming te Washington to see the cherry blos soms along what we now call the Tidal Basin and what used to be more poetically known as the La goon. I have lived in Washington?on and off?since 1914. But I never loaa the thrill I had when I first walked under that magic arbor of white Dink hlosansns ?m
The Alamance Gleaner (Graham, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
March 26, 1942, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75