The Alamance Gleaner
VoL LXIX GRAHAM, N. C., THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 1943 No. 7
WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS j
New Ration Orders Assure Healthy Diet; j
Nazi's Kharkov Offensive Recalls Drive |
That Preceded Collapse in World War 1; .
Congress Ponders Postwar Security Plan |
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Whin ?ptnlene an infMNl la tkan uIibm, (hay an tkaaa a! ?
Walton Newspaper Valaa'i aavi analyita ail aat laaamrfly af tkla newspaper.) I
?_ Released by Western Newspaper Union. .?? ]
IRUSSiAl^j^y TT I!
Q 100 j oreM^^. .L) 1
STATUTE MILES f y !
/ |
/%> ""IT"0 ?
The direction in which the Nails launched their counteroffensive <
against the Russians in the Kharkov area Is indicated by the above map. I
Successful in its early states, the connteroffensive had driven the Ross 1
hack 1M miles and retained for the Nazis areas captured by the Ross <
winter drive. 1
WAR PROGRAM:
Centralization Needed
Like doctors in a clinic, members
of the senate's Truman investigating
committee gave the progress of the
war program a thorough examina
tion and emerged with three basic
reasons for "nearly all the failures
and shortcomings" found.
First reason was "inadequate
over-all planning within government
agencies at the beginning of the va
rious programs"; second was "con
flicting authority over various phases
of the war program"; and third,
"hesitancy of the government to
adopt unpopular or unpleasant poli
cies long after the facts indicated
such policies were necessary."
In recommending corrections, the
committee called for clearly defined
authority, centralized in a few of
ficials, during the coming year. In
cidentally, the committee warned
that the year ahead would be the
toughest and grimmest in U. S. his
tory.
RATIONING:
Healthy Diet Sure
Americans tightened their belts in
anticipation of the slimmer portions
of meat, canned fish, butter, cheese
and edible fats the new rationing
regulations effective March 29 would
impose.
To those who for months had been
following the Food Administration's
request to ration themselves volun
tarily, the new estimated ration of
about two pounds weekly of meat
per person "more or less" repre
sented only a slight shift downward.
Still unrationed as the orders went
into effect were poultry, fresh fish
and such rarely used meats as rab
bit and other game. The new ra
tioning orders had been accompa
nied by the heartening news that
coffee would be more plentiful, with
one pound every five instead of six
weeks, and that point values on dry
beans and peas had been lowered.
All things considered, the new reg
ulations would reduce consumption
of the foods they covered by from
12 to IS per cent. That supplies as
sured a healthy diet was empha
sized by Food Administrator Wick
ard. Estimates indicated that 1943
per capita civilian supplies of meat,
cheese, fats and other commodities
would be about equal to the average
for 1935-39.
NORTH AFRICA:
Axis Hopes Dimmer
Holed up in the Mareth line after
having received a punishing beating
Nazi Marshal Rommel has had to
face the consequences of being
ringed in by an Allied line of steel.
That those consequences were to be
serious and might even reach the
disastrous proportions of a defeat
rivaling the Axis rout at Stalingrad
was the opinion of seasoned ob
servers.
Faced by the increasing strength
of General Montgomery's British 8th
army and by the reinforced and bat
tle-seasoned American forces of
Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, Rommel
and his cohort. Col. Gen. Von Ar
nim, had their work cut out for
them.
NAZI OFFENSIVE:
Same Result as '18?
Military historians were drawing
parallels between the latest German
offensive whose initial operations
had hurled the Russians-back in the
Kharkov area, and the historic Lu
dendorff - Hindenburg offensive in
July, 1918, which preceded Ger
many's final collapse.
As in World War I, this new of
fensive was undertaken after weeks
of costly defeat. A major victory
now was urgently needed?the same
as 25 years ago, if the military gains
resulting from invasion were to be
held.
Whether the final result this time
would be as rapid as before, time
alone would tell. But it was clear
that the Nazis had thrown in supe
rior forces and equipment in a gam
ble to prevent a complete loss of
their conquests.
Further north the picture was dif
ferent. The fall of Vyazma had
clearly proved that Nazi pressure on
the Kharkov front did not prevent
the Russians from continuing their
advances toward Smolensk. With
Vyazma and Rzhev gone, the main
bastions protecting Smolensk from
the east were now in Russian hands.
FARM DEBTS:
Repayment Rapid
How farmers are using their war
expanded income to set their finan
cial house in order was indicated by
a department of agriculture report
showing that more than 100,000
farmer-borrowers from the 12 Fed
eral Land Banks had repaid their
loans in full in 1942.
A total of $303,000,000 was repaid
by all farmers during the year and
in addition they deposited $21,239,169
to be used in paying future in
stallments on land bank and commis
sioner loans.
The demand for new farm mort
gages was about 22 per cent less in
the last six months of 1942 than in
the corresponding period of 1941.
CRADLE TO GRAVE:
Security Plan Proposed
A postwar economy in the United
States in which "freedom from
want" would be translated from a
pious theory to an operating reality
was envisioned in a revolutionary
social security plan drawn up by
the National Resources Planning
board and laid before congress by
President Roosevelt. '
Stating that it should be the de
clared polity of this government
"not only to promote and maintain
a high level of national production
and consumption," the board's re
port urged:
1?Guarantee of a job for every
man released from the armed forces
and war industry after the war's
conclusion, with fair pay and work
ing conditions; 2?Government un
derwriting of full employment for all
employables.
Among other recommendations
were plans for joint private-govern
ment partnerships in various post
war industries; creation of a nation
al unemployment compensation
fund; increased old'age benefits; ex
panded public works programs.
rAX PLANS:
Ruml Revived
Like the cat with nine lives, the
Rumi plan to skip a tax year and
put America's 44,000,000 taxpayers
m a pay-as-you-go basis, was hard
to kill.
Even though the house ways and
means committee had approved a
plan imposing a 20 per cent with
lolding levy from pay envelopes ef
fective July 1 and making "pay-as
pou-go" optional with each taxpay
er, proponents of the Ruml plan,
principally in the ranks of the Re
publican minority, had ranged them
selves solidly behind a bill embrac
ing the Ruml principles.
Sponsors of the house ways and
means committee's tax program
pointed out that the withholding levy
would not be a straight 20 per cent
ieduction against wages and sala
ries, but against the portions of such
iarnings remaining after deductions
were made on the basis of depend
ents. The levy would not be an
additional tax, but merely a means
>f collecting actual taxes through
wage and salary deductions.
LEND-LEASE:
Diplomacy Weapon
Predictions that lend-lease ship
ments in the coming year would
Iwarf all previous records and that
Jncle Sam would use it more and
more as a means of obtaining agree
ments with nations receiving it for
postwar security, were voiced by
Washington observers, after the
touse and senate had approved ex
tension of lend-lease for another
rear.
What eventual payment this na
tion will seek for its wartime aid
to its allies and friendly neutrals re
mained to be seen. Two major prin- :
:iples were involved, however. One
was the promotion of a stable eco
lomic situation throughout the world ,
ifter the war. The other was the
necessity of America obtaining ad
ditional naval and air bases to help
prevent a recurrence of Axis aggres
sion.
A report to congress by Edward
R. Stettinius Jr., lend-lease admin
istrator, disclosed that aid extended
by the United States under the act
aggregated $9,632,000,000 in its first
two years of operation. Mr. Stet
tinius reported Russia was allotted
29 per cent of all lend-lease ship
ments last year, including half of
all tanks shipped and 40 per cent
of all tactical planes.
CHINA AIR FORCE:
Victory for Mme. Chiang
The labors of Madame Chiang Kai
shek had not been in vain. One of
the first fruits of her American visit
and Washington conferences was
the creation of a full-fledged U. S.
air force command in China.
Hailed as the fulfillment of long
deferred Chinese hopes this move
indicated a sizable expansion of
MME. CHIANG KAI-SHEK
... first fruiu sweet.
American air power in the China
wear theater and a new phase in
the war against Japan.
Under the new arrangement the
newly activated 14th U. S. air force
under command of Brig. Gen. Claire
L. Chenitault replaced the former
China Air Task force. Famous as
the trainer of the "Flying Tigers"
which scourged Jap air invaders,
Chennault with augmented manpow
er and planes would now be able to
expand his operations greatly.
FRANCE:
Patriots Fight
As repressive measures by the
Nazis had failed to halt the under
ground revolt by French patriots
against conscription into German
slave legions, it became clear that
this movement was well organized
and had the leadership of key men
in General De Gaulle's Fighting
French forces.
As hundreds of thousands of
youths were reported fleeing from
their homes to escape conscription,
the flareup of anti-Nazi sabotage and
terrorism resulted in the wrecking
of'German troop trains, the killing
of Axis soldiers and attempts to as
sassinate pro-Nazi French leaders.
Country Press
In the Job of
< *
It 'Went to War' on the Day
Pearl Harbor Was Bombed
And It's Still Waging
A Valiant Fight.
By ELMO SCOTT WATSON
Released by Western Newspaper Union.
WITHIN 24 hours after the
Japs made their sneak at
tack on Pearl Harbor, Raymond
B. Howard of London, Ohio,
president of the National Edi
torial association, was tele
graphing to President Roose
velt:
I am tore yon will find a milt
ed presa backing a united nation
in the defense of our country
and flaf. I am sure that I speak
for the small dallies and weekly
newspapers making up the
membership of the NatioiuU Edi
torial association, in assuring
yon of our complete support. It
is fortunate that we have a free
press in America with which te
enlighten and solidify ear ef
forts.
On the same day a similar
message went forward to the
White House from the president
of Newspaper Association Man
agers, Inc., the organization of
field secretaries and managing
directors of more than 30 state
press associations.
Such was the promise. What
has been the fulfillment?
Well, It is difficult to estimate in
exact figures the contribution to
America's war effort since Decem
ber 7, 1941, of the 11.000-odd dailies
and weeklies that comprise the na
tion's "small-town press." A large
part of that contribution?perhaps a
major part?has been in the realm
of that intangible, but vitally impor
tant, thing called morale?in "hold
ing the home front."
As a matter of fact, the country
press of America began making this
contribution long before' Pearl Har
bor. It started with the beginning
of the national defense program
when the menace of Hitlerism to
the democratic way of life became
more and more clearly apparent.
For one thing, the country press
contributed thousands of columns of
its space, both editorial and adver
tising, to promoting the sale of de
fense bonds. When the selective
service act was passed, the country
editor told the people of his com
munity why it was necessary for
their sons and brothers to leave the
farms and stores and offices of rural
America and go into training so that
they could be prepared to defend
their country when that inevitable
day of attack by the aggressor na
tions came.
Morale Wu Low.
And it was during that period,
when the morale of the selectees, in
adequately equipped, not yet adjust
ed to the change from civilian to
military life and not having the in
centive of the existence of a "state
of war" to make real the necessity
for training, might easily have
slipped to a dangerously low level.
Recognizing the fact that the draft
ed man's receiving his home town
paper was next best to receiving a
letter from home, some country
publishers began sending copies of
their papers free of charge to the
boys in camp. Hundreds more vol
untarily followed their example and
the good effects of this practice, in
terms of heightened morale among
the citizen soldiers, was so appar
ent as to win special commend?ion
for the country press from the mo
rale division of the war department.
The same practice was continued
after America entered the war and
its benefits have been even more
apparent. It requires little imagina
tion to realize what it means to a
soldier, sailor or marine in an out
post in Alaska or Greenland or on
the fighting front in North Africa or
New Guinea to open up a copy of
his home town paper and read there
how the folks back home are "back
ing him up" by their buying war
bonds, by their contributing to the
Red Cross blood bank, by their help
in "getting in the scrap" and all
the other ways in which civilians
can aid the war effort. More im
portant still, perhaps, is the way in
which it satisfies their hunger for
the other news from home?the doz
ens of little items about the normal
life in their communities to which
they hope to return some day soon.
Important as has been "free pa
pers for servicemen," it is but one
of the ways in which the country
press has fostered morale not only
among the fighting men but also
among their families. Some publish
ers have sponsored "send-offs for
selectees" ? celebrations in which
the whole community joins in paying
honor to the men as they merch
?way to war Instead at allowing
their departure for their great ad
venture to pass almost unnoticed ex
cept by the presence of their rela
tives at the railroad station as they
leave. Other publishers have de
voted the front windows of their of
fices to displays of pictures of serv
icemen from their communities and
almost without exception the country
press, from the beginning of the
war, has printed "honor rolls" of the
names of the community's fighting
men, pictures of them and their let
ters.
Typical of the numerous ways in
which the country press has built
morale, both military and civilian,
are these examples:
A New York weekly that
founded a "War Service Clab"
which performs a variety of
services for the community's
men in the armed forces, includ
ing the sending each month of
two dozen home-made cookies to
every man.
Another New York weekly that
promoted a "Happiness from
Home" box to bring Christmas
cheer to all local men in the
service.
A New Jersey weekly that
sponsored a special Armistice
day ceremony, honoring the
mothers of four local boys who
had been killed in aetioo.
A Virginia weekly that spon
sored a "Write Bight to Fighting
Men!" campaign to offset the
ill effects of the hhui of dis
couraging letters which some
people write to men In the armed
forees.
One other great service of the
country press in the realm of morale
was the part it has played in putting
this nation in a "fighting mood."
Back in the days when we were
still calling them "defense bonds,"
certain government officials?also
some big city columnists and com
mentators ? began accusing the
American people of being too com
placent about the war. Thereupon
a weekly newspaper down in Florida
printed an editorial which was at
once a reply to that accusation and
a trumpet call to action. It said in
part:
. . . It you want the American people
la snap out eg their "complacency." then
tor the aaka at all that's holy start rail
ing ATTACK! Can the defense bonds
VICTORY BONDS Call the defense
Councils WAR COUNCILS.
This Is a Sgbttng nation. This la a
mighty nation. Stop low-rating us. We
common men and women know what
war la. Wa have no Uluffloos about tt.
intend to be a slave race, or
a subject race, or a passive race. We
know that our nation la at stake. Further
mora, we more than a little suspect that
the entire future of mankind la at stake
Give us a battle cry I
That this was not an Isolated case
was shown by the fact that about
the tame tima a small community
out in Montana had aet aaide a
certain day to sell a certain amount
of bonds?not "defense bonds" but
WAR bonds and they called it
BONDbardment Day. Commenting
on this project, the editor of the local
weekly which had sponsored the
event said:
Wa think wa have the answer ban the
SSfl? " 07 complacency W.
Think the people are suffering from a sort of
emotional starvation. Wa are going is trr
and bring back too spirit of tbo old Fourth
'W eehbratiene-that Is that put which
Invoked the deep spirit of patriotism. We
fee] that tt will be a laboratory test We
are sure that scolding and charges ad com
placency are not the anawer.
Needless to say this BONDbard
ment Day in that Montana town, as
in many others throughout the coun
try, was a tremendous success. And
it is significant that as the result o)
a UC W 3^U 1| WiUUI awcpi U1C bUUU'
try, aided by the efforts of hun- ,
dreds of country editors, soon there- ,
after they were no longer called
"defense bonds" but "war bonds"
or "Victory bonds."
Nor has the work of the country
press in behalf of the sale of war
bonds through its editorial, news and
advertising columns been the only ;
contribution it has made to the war
effort in the realm of tangible things.
There was the scrap metal cam
paign carried on to salvage from
the farms of the nation the thou
sands of tons of metal so urgently
needed by the steel mills to make
battleships, guns and other weapons
of war. A Florida weekly drama
tized the effort to "get in the scrap"
by capitalizing upon the reputation
of a scrappy American fighter?Gen.
Douglas Mac Arthur. So that com
munity set aside a day for bringing
in all kinds of scrap material and
called it "Gen. MacArthur Day."
The event was an overwhelming suc
cess.
He Sets aa Example.
Nor does the average country edi
tor merely urge the people of his
community to do their patriotic du
ty. Frequently he sets them an ex
ample by going out and doing it
himself. There was the editor of a
New York weekly who has made
his office the center of a 24-hour
service as communications head
quarters in case of enemy air raids.
There was the editor in a little Kan
sas town who not only managed the
salvage yard in his town but whc
personally collected and shipped
some 60 tons of scrap iron. More
than that he personally did all the
work of cutting up the iron with an
acetylene torch and supervised the
loading and sorting of the entire lot
?all this in addition to his regular
duties as editor, publisher, advertis
ing solicitor and printer of his news
paper. And finally there was one of
the leading country publishers in
California who did something about
the manpower shortage besides writ
ing editorials about it. When trained
sawmill workers in his town began
leaving because they feared they
would be "frozen" in their Jobs, he
signed up for work as a lumberjack
in a sawmill on the night shift?
from 5 p. m. to 1 a. m. He sleeps
the rest of the night, then puts in a
full day at his publishing duties.
Such are only a few of the high
lights in the story of what the coun
try press of America has done and
is doing since it "went to war." De
spite the loss of revenue from de
creased advertising linage and in
creased production costs, despite the
shortages of materials essential to
the printing business and despite
the loss of manpower when its news
writers and advertising men and
printers went into the armed forces,
it is carrying on valiantly in the
fight for freedom and it is doubtful
if any other class of patriotic Amer
leans, either as a group or aa in
dividuals, are contributing more in
mora different ways to the victory
that will eventually be ours.
of America Is Vital Factor
'Holding the Home Front'
It'? "Jut Like a Letter From Home" to Him!
Who's News
This Week
*r
Delos Wheeler Lovelace
CanottrUtad Futures.?WHO Bstesas.
NEW YORK.?About 19 yean ago
a British officer was killed in
Egypt and Sir Archibald Clark Kerr
got mighty tough with Egyptian offi
Gett Tobacco, Not
Ultimatums. From ing hurt feel
Stalin, to Smoha ???. I"*?
had to pre
tend to take Sir Archibald down a
peg. He was withdrawn from the
main current of British diplomacy
and set to drift in South American
backwaters. The spanked boy came
back after a time unabashed and
with a Chilean wife, Maria Teresa
Diaz Salas. It was a late marriage.
Sir Archibald is 90 yean old now.
But along with his admitted tough
ness It has helped keep him out in
front ever since.
Palling these days m the in
creasingly tangled problem at
Basse - British relations. Sir
Archibald Clark Kerr has one
great asset. He is mare friendly
with Stalin than any British aao
bassador before Mm. Kremlin
Joe sends him good Bassiaa te
baeee when provisos plralps
tcatUries got semi-altimatama
to pat in their pipes and smoke.
The Ambassador was educated
privately, but his sheltered start
doesn't seem to have handicapped
him. He got into the diplomatic
service 35 yean ago and has repre
sented Britain in Sweden, Irak,
Egypt, Morocco and, as noted, in
South America, taking time out for
a stretch with the Scots Guards
back in 1918. Before he went to
Russia he had the China assign
ment, where be said a good word for
this country off and on because he
is a notable friend of the United
States.
?
\y HEN men like Dr. Huge L
* * Dryden talk of a near future in
which any man may fly through the
air with the greatest of ease and
That AU May Fly
With Eate, Safety, risk, they
Dr. Dryden Labor* ]urn the
fancies of
"Looking Backward" into facts, just
about. The doctor, speaking from
the eminence of the presidency of
the Institute of Aeronautical Sci
ences, argues that even now the saf
est way to make a long journey ft
by air.
He speaks with nearly youthful
enthusiasm. He is only 43, a smooth
faced thinker whose forehead tapers,
whose chin comes to a point; a man
his friends can call a pleasant-look
ing egg and mean it two ways.
Poeomoke City, off the salty
Chesapeake, would get tnta print
seldom if be hadnt been born
there, and he adds luster even
to Johns Hopkins university
which gave him a PH. D. He
b a Maryiander who knew ear
ly what he wanted. Before be
finished his schooling he had
hired out to the Federal Bureau
of Standards and he has been
with it ever since. He can un
ravel the snarls ef aerodynam
ic i and hydrodynamics into sim
ple speed and performance al
most before Boeing can set up
a production line.
Whenever he hasn't anything bet
ter to do be builds another wind tun
nel, because he always has a few
new notions to try out. Wind
tunnels, he says, save life, time and
cash for any man trying to build the
foolproof airplane of the future. It
was wind tunnel experiments which
earned him the Reed a ward-for re
search in aeronautics three years
back.
?
r\ R. OTTO GEORG THIERACK
doesn't exactly say with the
great Louis of France that be is the
##?. Legal (Often ^ut *
Lethal) Minuteman primed to *
For Herr Hitler d"* up any
needed stat
ute that isn't already on the Reich's
books. At this time he warns, in
Cologne, that justice must knuckle
down before the policy of the state.
His status he had declared
earlier when he said, "Every
Reich judge may call an me when
he feels compelled to render a
decision not compatible with
real life. I shall then pros ids
him with the law he needs."
Write cue on the spot, if neces
sary.
For six months now Thiersch
has been Nasi minister for jus
tice. He has the power af Hfo
and death and toe concentra
tion camp. No one may appeal {
his decisions. Only Hitler may
revoke them.
Dresden, in placid Saxony, is his
birthplace. He must have distilled a
queer elixir from the town's china
and chocolates, cigarettes and post
cards. to become the man bo is