THE ALAMANCE GLEANER
VoL LXI GRAHAM, N. C., THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1943 No. 38
WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS
Formal Declaration of War by Italians
Adds Impetus to Allied Drive on Rome;
Heaviest Air Raids Blast Nazi Plants;
Action Increases in Southwest Pacific
(EDITOR'S NOTE: When opinions ore expressed in these columns, they ore those of
Western Newspmper Union's news Analysis and not necessarily of this newspaper.)
?mmmm____Released by Western Newstjaiwr Union
FORTRESS EUROPE:
Hit From All Sides
Even as Allied forces crossed the
swollen Volturno river under the cov
er of heavy artillery fire in southern
Italy, hundreds of Flying Fortresses
escorted by speedy Thunderbolt
fighters delivered a hard blow at
the Nazis' huge roller-bearing plant
in Schweinfurt, Germany.
In crossing the Volturno, Allied
forces chose to span the narrow riv
er at its eastern point, where they
began working northward toward the
mountains overlooking the commu
nication lines used by the Nazis to
supply their embattled legions.
While the Germans held to the
west flank of the river, they were
brought under increasing pressure
of Allied fire from land and sea.
Hovering offshore, U. S. and British
warships pumped big shells into Ger
man positions inland.
In blasting Schweinfurt's roller
bearing plant, a record number of
60 Flying Fortresses were reported
missing. More than 100 of fighter
planes upon which the Nazis are de
pending to check Allied air, raids,
were brought down by the raiders.
Marshal
Badoglio
Italy Now on Own
Allied consideration toward Italy
will be greatly influenced by the de
gree of assistance
sne lends uruisn
and U. S. armies in
the war against
Germany.
When Badoglio de
clared war on the
Nazis, the Allies ac
cepted his Italian
government as a
partner on the
strength of its abili
ty to help beat back
the Germans and
thus snare U. S.
? and British lives.
It was made clear,
however, that Ba
uugiio s regime, as
it now is, would not be accepted as
a political partner; and the Allies
would only give Italy political rec
ognition upon the formation of a lib
eral democratic government.
Because of Italy's weakened in- 1
dustrial and agricultural position, it :
was presumed that some sort of as
sistance, possibly through lend- 1
lease, would have to be given her to 1
equip and maintain her for fighting.
SUBSIDIES:
To Dairy Farmers
To offset the increased cost of >
feed, the government will pay subsi- 1
dies ranging from 30 to 50 cents I
per hundredweight on whole milk .
sales, and from 4 to 6 cents a pound
on butterfat.
Based on increased feed costs,
the different rates were fixed to as- (
sist farmers who have to purchase
more feed than formerly, with max- j
imum payments going to farmers in (
drouth counties where feed crops
suffered damage.
Subsidies will be paid after farm
ers submit such satisfactory evi
dence as creamery statements as
to the amount of milk or butterfat
sold to their AAA county committee.
In all, 3t4 million dairy farmers are
expected to qualify under the 60
million-dollar program.
The whole subsidy question ap
peared to be headed for a thorough
going over again, with the house
banking and currency committee ad
vising congress to allow subsidy pay
ments to producers only, and not to
reduce retail food costs.
RUSSIA:
Battle Rages
The great battle for the Dnieper
river raged.
With Russian forces across the
river at several points, German
troops fought desperately to prevent
their organization for full scale en- i
Circling attacks, which would trap <
the Nazi armies from the rear. I
Far to the south of the 750-mile 1
front, the Reds assaulted Nazi posi
tions protecting their forces in the 1
Crimea. Since the Germans held (
shortened defense lines in this sec- [
tor, any Russian breakthrough would I
compel them to fall back to the (
Dnieper river and thus extend their t
battle front, or else trap at least 1
100,000 Nazis. ?
Standing behind prepared posi t
tions. the Germans bitterly resisted
the Reds' repeated attacks on their c
northern lines guarding the Baltic I
states and old Poland. c
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC:
Strike Jap Air Posts
Now that Allied ground forces have
driven the Japs from most of their
Southwest Pacific outposts, Gen.
Douglas MacArthur's command is
concentrating on the elimination of
all enemy air bases which might be
Gen. MacArthur: Blasts Rabaul.
used to harass further drives to the
north toward the Philippines.
For this task, imaginative General
MacArthur is using large air fleets.
Hundreds of Liberator and Mitchell
bombers poured 350 tons of bombs
on Rabaul, leaving that important
Japanese supply depot for their en
tire Southwest Pacific front, smok
ing in ruins.
After Rabaul, General MacAr
thur's bombers trained their sights
on remaining Jap air bases in the
Solomons, and with U. S. fighters,
attacked the main airdromes from
which the enemy has been raiding
Allied posts to the south.
Southwest China Periled
Trying to seal off the back door
of China, three strong Japanese col
umns drove toward Yunnan prov
ince's capital of Kunming.
The Japs attacked along the Bur
ma road, which leads into China at
the point of the enemy's new attack.
Chinese forces bitterly resisted the
Japs' drive, with the aid of the 14th
(J. S. air force, which pounded the
invaders' gas and oil dumps and
military installations.
With the Japs dominating much
of the eastern coast of China, key
to the entrance of the country lies
in the southwestern section, known
as Yunnan province. This section
assumes important significance with
talk of Allied plans of driving into
China from Burma.
LABOR:
Let vis Back in AFL
John L. Lewis' United Mine Work
ers were welcomed back into the
American Federation of Labor at
its 63rd annual convention in Bos
ton, with formal re-entrance delayed
William Green: For Leu-is.
intil settlement of disputes between
:ertain AFX unions and the UMW's
district SO, which organized in their
ields.
Once ridiculed by Lewis as an "Old
^ady," AFL President William
Jreen swallowed his pride and,
Heading for unity in labor, led the
Ight for the UMW's re-admission
igainst opposition from the floor of
he convention, mustered by the
Progressive Miners Union, which
tayed in the AFX when the UMW
>olted it in 1935.
Re-entrance of Lewis' 700,000 min
ts into the AFL will boost the or
ganization's total membership well
ver the seven-million mark.
Confederate General's
Widow Aids Uncle Sam
Widow of the famous Confeder
ate general of the Civil war, Mrs.
Helen Dortch Longstreet is learn
ing riveting In Georgia so that
she might take her place in a pro
duction line to help Uncle Sam
win World War II.
Refusing to disclose her age,
gray-haired Mrs. Longstreet re
sides in a trailer camp outside of
Marietta, Ga., and reports for
instruction each morning In
slacks.
Since the general's death in
1904, Mrs. Longstreet has worked
as a newspaper reporter, post
mistress in Gainesville, Ga., and
an employee in the veterahs bu
reau in Washington, D.' C;
INDIA:
Famine Relief
To relieve famine conditions which
reached their worst peak in Bengal
province, the central government of
India placed a ban on the export
of all grain from the stricken coun
try. ,
At the same time, officials said
every effort was being made to ob
tain more shipping for importation
of food. However, it was said that
India's famine was of such propor
tion that imports alone could not en- ;
tirely appease the hunger.
Worst conditions existed in Ben- '
gal province, where scarcity of rice ?
was aggravated by the high prices 1
being asked for" the staple despite '
the low level of the populace's in- :
come.
Government purchase of the en- j
tire rice crop and resale was seen 1
as partial solution to the famine '
problem. I
RECOVERY:
Would Use Old Models
In order to speed reconversion to I
civilian goods after the war, War 1
Production board officials have sug- '
gested manufacture of .1942 models
with tools already availeble.
If plans were made tor the pro- '
duction of new models, in the auto
mobile industry for instance, WPB '
officials said at least 18 months i
? uiguip uv IC^UUCU XKJX ICUA^llIlg. j '
WPB could enforce manufacture j
of 1942 models, it was said, if it ?
retained its control over the allot- 1
ment of materials. Such control ?
would be lifted when industries
would be on the way toward develop- '
ment of new models during the ordi- 1
nary course of production.
SALARIES: 1
U. S.'s Highest
Highest salaried official in the .
U. S. in 1941 was Hollywood ezecu- :
1
L. B. Mayer j
(top) and j
E. G. Grace j
tive Louis B. May
er, who drew $949,
765 from Loew's,
Inc. Second highest
was C. G. Swebil
ius, who received
$631,809 from the
management and
engineering firm of
the Dixwell corpo
ration. Third high
est was Eugene
Grace, who was
paid $537,724 by the
Bethlehem Steel
corporation.
Movie stars were
high on the list of
the top - salaried.
Claudette Colbert
drew $390,000 from
Paramount and
Twentieth - Century
Fox; Ginger Rog
ers received $355.
000 from RKO and
Twentieth Century,
and Charles Boyer
was paid $350,000 from Paramount, j
Universal and Warner.
On the basis of tax rates applying
to 1941 rates, $654,554 would be paid
on a million dollar salary; $307,064 1
on $500,000, and $108,174 on $2(10,000. 1
POSTWAR:
Peace Plans '
To prevent future aggression and I
to preserve the peace of the world, \
a Rpnatp subcommittee Dronosed 1
that tha United Statei act through
constitutional processes to join with
free and sovereign nations in the es
tablishment and maintenance of in
ternational authority. . I
The subcommittee's proposal was
considered as a likely compromise
between advocates of broad partici
pation in international plans for pre
serving world peace, and advocates
of limited participation, who have
insisted on U. S. freedom to decide
her action on any particular meas
ure for maintaining order.
The subcommittee's proposal was
little different from the Fulbright
resolution adopted by the house,
calling for the " . . . creation of
appropriate international machinery
with power adequate to establish
and maintain a just and lasting
peace and as favoring participation
of the U. S. therein through its con
stitutional processes."
The Private Paperi
Of a Cub Reporter:
The Cafe Society Uptown propri
etor, who is so proud of the murals
there, said to Mike Romanoff:
"Prince, who did the decoration ot
your restaurant on the coast?" . . .
"Decoration?" replied Mike. "I am
the decoration!"
"Yes, I know that," was the re
tort delightful, "but who did the In
terior that pales into insignificance
when you are not around to give it
a glow?"
Betty Smith, whose first novel, "A
Tree Grows in Brooklyn," is a best
seller, will soon be a grandmaw,
and she's practically a girl herself
. . . Last Laff Dep't: A West Coast
biggie withdrew his 25 per cent in
terest in "Laugh Time," the hit, at
the last moment. The show is mak
ing nothing but money.
When Mountbatten was in Wash
ington recently they say he had a
session with Admiral King, who gra
ciously said: "If there is anything
you want, you may have it. Just
name it" . . . The Admiral, of
course, was speaking of ships, etc.
. . . Mountbatten replied: "There's
just one request. I hope you will
grant me a favor" . . . "What is
it?" asked Admiral King ... "I
would like," said His Lordship, "a
top button from your tunic" . . .
fCing seemed puzzled. Mountbatten
continued: "You see, I have Gen
eral Arnold's wings and General
Marshall's top button, and I am cer
tain that with yours we will have
good luck. Nothing, sir, can then
lappen to us."
"Salt Lake City, Utah, Oct. S:
Walter Winchell, New York City:
rhought probably the politicians in
Washington who are endeavoring to
speak for the young men of America
would be interested in the following
resolution: Whereas: We the Utah
State Junior Chamber of Commerce
represent a cross section of the
young married men of draft age in
Utah. And Whereas we fully real
ize our responsibilities to our coun
try in this time of war.
"And Whereas: Acts and state
ments made by misinformed per
sons have created the false impres
sion that draft age fathers wish spe
cial consideration from the selective
Bervice system on a dependency ba
sis notwithstanding military require
ments. Be it resolved: By the Utah
State Junior Chamber of Commerce,
in State Board meeting assembled
this third day of October, 1943, that
we urge the defeat of all legislation
which attempts to defer heads of
families on the basis of dependency
only and reaffirm the fact that we
have been and are ready and willing
to answer the call to arms if and
when we are summoned.?Pres.,
Provo Jr. C. of C., Provo, Utah."
Now that children no longer auto
matically become American citizens
when their parents are naturalized, j
the 11-year-old daughter of Gerhart
spoor formor m?mh?r nf this 1
Reichstag, was up before the immi
gration and naturalization examiner
. . . The child, who has lived most
if her 11 years in the U. S., was
isked the usual questions: "Have I
pou ever been a member of the
3erman-American Bund?" . . . "Do
rou favor anarchy?" et and cetera.
The child looked a little confused
'or a moment and then, smiling,
laid: "Oh, a quiz program!" . . .
thereupon the examiner stamped
ler papers and replied: "You don't
vant to become an American?you
ire one!"
The Eyebrow Raiser of the Week:
Common Sense magazine's editor
ippeals for subscriptions from
Americans to "repair any damage"
ve may do to Tokyo and Berlin . . . i
editor A. M. Bingham says a group
>f vigorous thinkers and famous
vriters will contribute articles to t
hat end. They include: Pearl Buck,
ituart Chase, Thomas Mann, Quln
ry Howe, Lin Yu-tang and John
iaynes Holmes . "Tokyo may
loon be destroyed," says Mr. Bing
lam. "The world's third largest
:ity will not be pocked with areas
rf destruction like stone and steel
milt London and Berlin. It will be
iterally gutted and 7,000,000 human
>elngs will be homeless ... To re
mild Tokyo, however, and Berlin and
Essen . . . will require real states
nanship and an application of gen
line democracy. Are you ready to
iclp do it, or shall we crucify de
nocracy on the cross of hate?"
We just want to know one thing
?efore we send in our check . . .
What kind of monument will mark
he spot In Tokyo where our fliers
sere beheaded?
The Plow Is NOT the Enemy of the Farmer,
Says a Noted Agronomist, Who Replies to
That Charge in a Recently Published Book
By ELMO SCOTT WATSON
Released by Western Newspaper Union.
IS THE plow the arch-villain
in the tragedy of soil erosion
that costs American agricul
ture two billion dollars a year
through the loss of precious ni
trogen, phosphorus and potash
from the nation's farms? Or is
it one of mankind's traditional
benefactors? Will the plow
eventually become an obsolete
implement and a museum piece,
or will it continue to be one of
farming's main reliances?
Americans, especially farmers,
who have learned to "revere the
plow" and who read the book "Plow
man's Folly" written by Edward H.
Faulkner and published recently by
the University of Oklahoma Press,
or who saw articles in the newspa
pers based upon that book, no doubt
were startled when Mr. Faulkner
told them that the plow was an en
emy rather than a friend of agri
culture. But the old saying about
there being "two sides to every ques
tion" has proved true again, for no
less an authority than Dr. William
A. Albrecht, head of the soils de
partment of the University of Mis
souri, how comes forward to defend
the plow and to offer a rebuttal to
Mr. Faulkner's charges against it
Dr. Albrecht both agrees and dis
agrees with the author of "Plow
man's Folly." He acknowledges that
farmers in the silt loam soil areas
of the United States have, in the
past, plowed too much. As a result,
the heavy rainfall in these regions
has washed away priceless soil. But
the question, "to plow or not to
plow," cannot be answered "yes"
or "no" nor .is it safe to make hasty
generalizations in any other respect
while dealing with this subject. The
crux of the whole question lies in
the soil and climatic conditions of
the geographical region involved.
"We need to plow less on some
soils and, conversely, we need
to plow more?and deeper?on
others," asserts Dr. Albrecht.
"We need to learn that the M
ferenees in degree of soil devel
opment according to climatic dif
ferences are factors in deter
mining bow Important the plow
is."
In "Plowman's Folly," Mr. Faulk
ner charged that the moldboard plow
"now in use on farms throughout
the civilized world is the least satis
factory implement for the prepara
tion of the land for the production
of crops . . . The truth is that no
one has ever advanced a scientific
reason for plowing." Moreover, he
says that the plow is responsible for
"all the erosion, the sour soils, the
mounting floods, the lowering water
tables, the vanishing wild life, the
compact and impervious soil sur
faces" that have harassed Ameri
can farmers for a generation.
And there the University of Mis
souri scientist disagrees. He holds
that even though the average farmer
can't give a scientific answer to the
question "Why plowT", the men of
science can provide plenty of valid
reasons for doing so. High on his
list of reasons is the tact that this
practice supplies the soil with oxy
gen which helps transform its chem
ical components into usable plant
food for growing crope.
Aerating the Soil.
"Any microbiologist will testify
that plowing aerates the soil," he
says. "As a consequence of the
change of atmosphere in the soil and
because of the stirring by the mold
board plow, there is new 'life.'
"The soil is a factory in which
energy is expended. Tons of carboo
are being burned to form carbon
dioxide. Sulphur is oxidised into sul
phur dioxide. Ammonia is changed
to nitrate. Other similar combus
uons are rasing place.
"A 40-acre corn fleld under maxi
mum (rowing activity in July bums
an amount oif carbon equal to the
coal used in running a 40-horsepower
steam engine in order to form car
bon dioxide. Can anyone deny the
necessity of air tor such a perform
ance? Surely no one would close
the draft by refusing to plow and
thus destroy such crop producing
power.
"This burning business in the soil
by means of oxygeq from the air
must go on. If the plant nutri
ents tied up in chemical combination
with carbon are to be released for
repeated use by other plants that
follow. Were this performance not
proceeding in the soil, life on the
globe would soon become extinct
The soil's productive power would
seen be expended. As a result, the
Plowing scenes snch as this will not soon vanish from the American
scene, says a noted agronomist who refutes the charges in a recently
published booh that the plow is the enemy of agriculture.
DB. WILLIAM A. ALBRECHT
?oil could offer nothing and no
growth could occur."
Plowing has the further scientific
value of helping the (oil supply a
larger amount of soluble nitrogen
tor growing crops than would other
wise be available, according to Dr.
Albrecht. Studies of the nitrate sup
ply in soil planted to corn forcefully
support this finding.
Tests were made on three adjoin
ing plots planted to corn. One plot
was unplowed. The second was
plowed. The third was both plowed
and cultivated. The soluble nitrogen
supply in the plot that was plowed
and cultivated was at least 30 per
cent greater than in the unplowed
tract. In the plowed tract it was
between 23 and 30 per cent greater.
"Crop yields correspond to the
level of these nitrate supplies," says
Dr. Albrecht. '-'The farmer may not
know that these higher levels of ni
trate are responsible for his im
proved crop yield. Nor may he
understand that they are the result
of his making the soil 'turn turtle'
with his plow. He simply plows
ahead of the corn to get a better
crop. His inability to point out the
underlying scientific channels through
which the effects of plowing are
transmitted to the crop, does not put
the plow into bad repute in his eyes.
"Surely the hundreds of thousands
of corn producers will not suddenly
discard so ancient an implement
merely because they cannot call to
their aid scientific evidence, when
someone concludes for them that the
plow is the cause of increased ero
sion and other devastation that is
so easily associated with it."
Villains at Erosion.
To Hr. Faulkner's charge that
plowing is solely responsible for ero
sion, Dr. Albrecht counters with the
assertion that the real villains are
continuous cropping and the steady
removal of plant food elements year
after year without any effort to re
plenish the soil's resources of nitro
gen, phosphorus and potash.
"It is true that plowing and crop
ping a soil year after year bring
with them declining crop yields," he
says. "For these one might readily
pounce upon the plow as the culprit
in the case. But the fact Is that
declining crop yields have other
causes than merely the plowing op
eration. They cannot be explained
away by the simple belief that the
explosive separation of the soil mass
wrecks all capillary connections
temporarily'; and that the organic
matter sandwiched fa further ex
tends the period of sterility of the
soil due to dryness.' Crop* ere not
declining or failing because plowing
is drying out the soil.
"The forces that turn plowed land
into bare, eroded fields are not die
mold-board plow and the horses or
tractor that pull it. They are the
continued removal of soil fertility
with little or no return at needed
plant foods. Plowing is not the
cause of the depletion of the fertility
supply. Depletion occurs because of
the fertility removed when the crop
is hauled off to market. The piew
is not the exploiter; rather It is the
farmer. The plow is merely the taei
that facilitates his exploitstiew at a
faster rate and ever mere acres thaa
before the plow was gives him. The
plow has helped him feed many of
us too far removed from the land
to appreciate its exploitation."
In urging that the plow be junked
as an agricultural implement, Mr.
Faulkner's book advocated the use
of the disc harrow as a means of
producing more and better crops,
because it would incorporate crop
residues, green manures and organ*
ic matter into the top soil. To this
suggestion Dr. Albrecht had the fol
lowing to say:
"The author of 'Plowman's Folly*
condemns the plow because it inverts
completely the upper portion of the
soil profile. In its place, however,
he advocates the use of the disk har
row which carries out a
process, differing only in degree."
To Mr. Faulkner's contention tAat
crop residues or organic matter
from plants allowed to grow of their
own accord should be incorporated
into the top soil without the addition
of manure, lime or other fertilizers.
Dr. Albrecht replies:
"Such a proposal does not take
into account differences in vegeta
tion in type or quality. Weeds or
forest trees as ancient as the se
quoias are taken on a par in the
'Plowman's Folly' thesis with leg
umes as soil rejuvenating agencies.
The author cites 'every wooded
country' as a perfect example of
?oil maintenance, but neglects to
mention the low level of fertility acid
the difficulty Involved in maintain
ing life."
Mr. Faulkner's belief, that the
prevalence of wild life on the west
ern plains was due to the fact that
this region was unplowed, comes in
for some critical analysis, also. Dr.
Albrecht points out that the un
plowed wooded areas of New Eng
land which our Puritan ancestors
first settled, supported only a few
wild turkeys and squirrels.
In further refutation of the con
tention in "Plowman's Folly" that
"principles which are valid in the
forest are valid in the field," Dr.
Albrecht asserts:
"In view of the fact that the soils
differ as widely as they do under
forest and under prairie, we surely
cannot subscribe to the belief that
all 'principles valid for the forest
are valid for the fields."
Summarizing his views on the en
tire subject. Dr. Albrecht con
cludes: "TMfc Indictment of the plow
by the book 'Plowman's Folly' will
not stand against the facts of sci
ence nor the judgment of experi
enced farmers. This publication will
fall far short of helping us to realize
that 'the Garden of Eden, almost
literally, .lies under our feet almost
anywher^ on earth wa cart to step,'
provided are allow vegetation to
grow and wa cling to the disk harrow
aa a means of turning it under raUs
er than to the mold-board plow." .