The Alamance Gleaner 1
VoL LXXI GRAHAM, N. C., THURSDAY, JUNE 28, 1945 No. 21
?? I ????? ???1???????????? ????
WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS <
Menace Early Jap Conquests;
Ask Overhauling of Vet Bureau;
Smoothen Big Three Relations
??????? Released by Western Newspaper Union.
iKMTWI NOTE: When opinions are expressed la these celsmns, they are these ef
W set era Newspaper Union's sews aaalysls sad aet necessarily ef this aewspaper.) I
, \
Tm Ike kit time since Nails came to power, the Roman Catholic feast
key af Cerpos Christ! was observed in Munich, with procession wendlnf
way kns{k bomb-battered city. Outspoken foe of Hitler's regime, Michael
Cbwffinol Faalbaber officiated at ceremony.
PACIFIC:
Item Campaign
IMw heavy attack in the north
am portion of their empire, the
fapo face equally heavy pressure
la Ihe sooth, with Allied forces 'un
*t imiiniand of Gen. Douglas Mac
faflnar moving into northern Borneo
fa a drive to conquer the island that
mo0y could be the prelude to
m campaign against the Indies and
lick in oil and rubber and pos
aeamng good ports and airfields for
? farust to file west, Borneo was
m 111 in by the Japs early in 1942
afafe the Allied cause in the Pacific
remained paralyzed after
(hart Harbor. With. Jap shipping
earning under increasing U. S. air
md sea pressure, Borneo's value to
fae enemy has been sharply re
faced. and Allied invasion forces
aaet only meager opposition as they
moved inland in the mountain
anw^u vau/ ugnuj ???
fnpiralively communicable coast
al regions, the Japs did Are the ex
feasm oil installations located
ftere in an effort to prevent their
mm bf the Allies for future opera
bans. Flames from the storage
tasks and wells could be seen for
VETS CARE:
Legion, VJF.W. Critical
Stung by the American Legion and
Y.F.W.'s ringing denunciation of
fee veterans administration bureau,
congress moved to look into the
whole question and give ear to the
comprehensive program outlined by
fesfe service organizations for effi
cient functioning of the department.
With a spokesman declaring that
fee bureau may eventually have to
handle the cases of 18,000,000 G.I.s,
fee American Legion suggested the
cieatiun of a deputy administrator
?nder Gen. Omar Bradley and a
realignment of authority under six
assistants to handle medical care,
srsurance, finance, loan guarantees,
^adjustment allowances, vocational
Warning, rehabilitation and educa
tion. adjustment of compensation,
ptaeitai and retirement claims, con
struction. supplies and contracts.
Though criticizing the overall op
es atiam of the bureau, the Ameri
can Legion and V.F.W. particularly
sapped vet hospital care, charging
feat <T per cent of the institutions
?v pre inadequate ircauiicm aim
? a-t instances of abuse in some
carters. To relieve conditions, the
I ' proposed increasing
M capacity; boosting wages; allow
tag author ities more leeway in secur
tag Up and supplies; more intelli
^at segregation of patients to speed
anni j, and replacing army with
osfltaa personnel.
RC THREE:
Smtoothen Relations
Troubled relations over Poland
having been seemingly smoothened,
tae Big Three looked forward to
taew forthcoming meeting for plan
ning the peace conference to reestab
tab the broken continent of Europe.
Hews of the approaching Big
Three confab followed announce
nest that officials of the U. S., Brit
ain anrt Russia would meet in Mos
cow with the Red-sponsored War
saw government and democratic
harten from within and outside ol
Maai ta discuss the composition of
a mate representative regime for
taatnaaental in smootbening Big
Three relations were Harry Hopkins '
and Joseph E. Davies, President
Truman's special emissaries to 1
Moscow and London. Following re
ceipt of reports from them upon 1
their return to the U. S., the chief j
executive expressed confidence in a
settlement of the Polish question,
declaring the Russians were as an- |
xious to get along with us as we
are with them.
The late President Roosevelt's
No. 1 confidante, Hopkins appeared
to have played an especially key
part in the discussions abroad,
with Mr. Truman revealing that he
not only conferred on the irksome
Polish situation but also persuaded
the Russians to surrender their de
mands for vetoing the right of ag
grieved nations to air their com
plaints before the postwar peace
organization.
While the step toward bringing
together the dissident Polish ele
ments was considered an encourag
ing move for the development of a
representative rule, the Polish gov
ernment in exile in London denied
the authority of the Big Three to
supervise formation of a regime for
the liberated country. Not directly
included in the Moscow parley and
long at loggerheads with the Reds
because of alleged political inter
ference in Poland, the exiles
branded the plan as a concession to
the Russians.
BIG HARVEST:
Mounting Problems
Even as the department of agri
culture predicted a bumper wheat
yield of 1,084,652,000 bushels for
1945, along with another banner gen
eral crop year, Kansas undertook
the harvest of 215,000,000 bushels of
its winter wheat with a heavy
shortage of both men, machinery,
storage and transport.
Premier winter wheat producing
state of the U. S., Kansas needs an
additional 20,000 hands; 2,000 com
bines; 2,000 trucks; and many ra
tion points for feeding extra work
ers. Because of the local elevator
glut resulting from the freight car
shortage, farmers expect to dump
sizable quantities of wheat on the
ground after filling up vacant
houses, store buildings, filling sta
tions, etc.
Typical of the problem confront
ing other southwestern states, Kan
sas' transport situation devolves
from the inability of the railroads
to divert sufficient cars for the grain
trade in the face of heavy war pro
duction traffic and the redeploy
ment of U. S. forces to the Pacific
through the country.
In the face of impending harvest
and transport difficulties, the USDA
looked forward to not only a bump
er wheat harvest but heavy oats,
hay and rye production, and another
banner truck and fruit crop. De
spite wet weather, two-thirds of the
com crop has been planted, USDA
said.
With his Chisf sf tlmff ASm. WUUass ?
Lsahr slasiiss hr. FrssMsat Traaaaa ra
cslTM rsasvt si sTsrssss sslsslsns sf lssssh
Dsrlss (Uft) ssS Hsrrr Bspklns (rlfht).
}PA:
7arm Prices
Passed by the senate as part of
i bill extending OPA for one year,
i provision requiring that farm pro
lucers be granted cost plus profit
leaded for rough treatment in the
louse, with Pres. Harry S. Truman
oining to oppose the amendment.
Drawn by Senators Wherry (Neb.)
ind Shipstead (Neb.) and adopted
ly a 37 to 30 vote, the cost-plus pro
vision stipulates that "It shall be
inlawful to establish or maintain
kgainst the producers of any live
stock, grain or other agricultural
commodity a maximum price . . .
which does not equal all costs and
expenses (including all overhead
expenses, a return on capital and
in allowance for the labor of the
producer and family) . . . plus a
reasonable profit thereon."
While President Truman de
scribed the provision as bad and
loped the house would knock it
Hit, other critics declared that it
vould create confusion by replacing
the present parity formula, scaling
'arm prices according to general
costs. Countering this argument,
Senator Wherry said the provision
vould apply if parity prices failed
so meet expenses.
SUGAR:
2" - rk a
1KI \rUUlUS
Though distribution of sugar
through the first five months of 1945
exceeded that for the same period
In last year, the War Food adminis
tration fixed rigid quotas for govern
ment and civilian users for July
August-September, with the home
Front obtaining 10,000 less tons than
at present.
From January through May, dis
tribution of sugar totalled 2,955,906
short tons compared with 2,747,543
last year, it was revealed.
Reflecting criticism that the im
pending sugar pinch has resulted
from loose allocations of the com
modity in the face of over-optimism
over supplies, figures showed that as
of June 2 raw sugar stocks amount
ed to 275,746 short tons compared
with 442,234 last year, the beet in
ventories totaled 374,052 short tons
as against 465,222.
Bombs Take Heavy Toll
A commander in the lamed V. S. 21st
bomber force in the Marianas, CoL
Alfred F. Kleberer, estimated that SO0f
000 Japanese had bean killed in B-29
raids on Tokyo, with the possibility
the figure might even be 1,500,000.
"Look at Yokohama," he said. "One
minute it is there and the neat it has
disappeared. I believe we KUlea zw,
000 there."
Because burns caused by B-29 fire
bomb} require the care of two or three
people arid the Japanese lack the per
sonnel to attend to the injuries, one
21st force medic opined the death rate
must be enormous, Klaberer said.
SAN FRANCISCO:
Peace Force
With Trench delegate Joseph Paul
Boncour declaring that the confer
ence was erecting "the keystone of
the peace structure," the United Na
tions meeting in San Francisco
moved to approve plans for the first
international army, navy and air
force in history. .
Directed by a military staff com
mittee, with regional sub-commit
tees throughout the world, the world
peace force may draw an one-third
of the U. S.'s present army and
navy, American authorities re
cently estimated. All members of
the United Nations will have to
grant the international force free
right of passage through their terri
tory in the event of hostilities.
Use of the peace force will be
subjected to the unanimous ap
proval of the Big Five ? the U. S.,
Britain, Russia, China and France?
and a majority of the security coun
cil of 11.
SHIPYARDS:
Workers Needed
The rush of workers to peacetime
job* is seriously impeding the con
struction as well as repair of war
vessels, the navy revealed, with
the situation equally serious in both
west and east coast shipyards.
With damaged vessels receiv
ing first call on facilities ter re
pair, the building of new ships
necessarily mast await their fix
ing, With the Brooklyn navy
yard in need af S.Nt additional
workers at once, the new 27 jet
ton aircraft carrier Reprisal is
five months behind schedule and
the Oriskany Is a beat half com
pleted. Approximately IjefiJM
man days of work will be re
quired an the super U Jit-ton
flattop Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Both east and west coast shipyards
have been losing about 000 cm
ployees a month in the shift tc
peacetime jobs, with the tight man
power situation in the west reflected
by the necessity to tow the famec
flattop Franklin to Brooklyn for re
pair.
Idtwl by wmm Nnrapasn union.
WHAT 'BIO BUSINESS*
MEANS TO AMERICA
MOST OF US are prone to take a
kick at big business, Just because it
is big, and without knowing much
about the details of its operation;
who owns it, what it provides in the
way of jobs, what it does and what
becomes of the money it takes in.
United States Steel is big business,
the third largest industrial organiza
tion in the nation, its $2,106,062,468
of assets is exceeded only slightly by
Standard Oil of New Jersey and
General Motors. Its assets are more
than twice that of the Ford Motor
company, and Ford is no "small
potatoes" in the industrial field.
United States Steel does many i
things in the way of producing goods
and services for the people of the
nation. It operates mines, owns and
operates three or more railroads,
owns and operates both lake and
ocean steamships, builds ships and
bridges, and does a number of other
things in addition to producing steel
of various kinds.
In 1944 the sales of United States
Steel amounted to $2,082,200,000. Of
that sum i\ paid as wages $887,200,000
to its monthly average of 314,888 em
ployees, a weekly average of $54.37
per worker. It paid $818,400,000 for
materials and services, such as
transportation. Uncle Sam and state
and local taxing uhits took $105,800,
000 as taxes. To its 225,414 stock
holders, holding its 12,306,083 shares
of stock, an average of 55 shares per
stockholder, preferred and common,
it paid as dividends $80,000,000 for
supplying the money that provided
the plants and tools that meant the
314,888 jobs. These stockholders re
ceived as compensation for the use
of their money $45,800,000 less than
was paid in taxes. There were oth
er smaller items of expense, includ
ing $33,074,988 paid out as pensions
to retired workers. When all the
bills were paid there was left $758,598
with which to keep the fires burning,
and men working, through such
times as orders might stop coming.
That represents a lot of big
lpvei on a big business, bnt a
bit of consideration of them may
give ns an idea of the place big
business really occupies in the
economic life of a big nation. I
found them instructive and in
teresting. ,
? ? ?
TWO PARTY SYSTEM
AND BUSINESS OPERATION
A TWO PARTY SYSTEM of gov
: eroment, such as ours now is, and
government operation of industry
mi a m A*
wlu noi iuhluuu wgcuici. vuv wi
the other must fail. For example:
Should the railroads be nationalized
every employee would be on a gov
ernment payroll. So long as wages,
hours, working conditions were sat
isfactory those government railroad
employees would vote to retain in
power whatever party was respon
sible for that condition. Should any
demand made by those government
employees be refused those em
ployees would vote to oust that par
ty. Under such conditions the de
, mand would be met regardless of
its merit or its effect on the general
public. Hie same conditions would
apply to all other lines of industry.
Government control would be in the
hands of government employees. It
would be a one, rather than our
present two party system. A one
party system inevitably leads to dic
tatorship.
? ? ?
! REGULATION DOESN'T FIT
AMERICAN CITIZENS
IN ENGLAND, some 300 or mora
years ago, the king's decree was the
only law of the land. He told each
one what he could do and not do;
where he could go and net go. The
shoemaker's son must be a shoe
maker, the farmer's son must also
be a farmer. No one could move
from place to place without the
king's permission. The world does
move but it may be in circles.
We, the progeny of those English
men of olden days, are also being
told what we caa do, and where ws
can go. Wa are being regulated
much as were those ancestors. In
sofar as that is in actual support oi
the war effort we do not object. That
part of it, and there would seem to
be a part, that serves only the
purpose of satisfying the ego of a
bureaucrat in demonstrating he can
tell us where to head in, we object
to with good reason. It savors too
much of those old days of absolute
monarchy.
? ? ?
IN GERMANY the Allied armies
i completed the Job of destruction that
- was started by Hitler.
I ? ? ?
> HE WHO MEETS the calls of to
- day worries but little of the tomor
rows.
Homesteading Opportunities
In Alaska Interest Veterans
a
Vast Frontier Land
Has Much to Offer to
Hardy Young People
RtUiMd by WeiUrti Ntwtpapcr Union.
Veterans of World War n
dream as avidly of establishing
homes on the land as did the sol
diers of the Continental army,
Grant's blue-clad veterans, or
Pershing's doughboys in 1918, it
is pointed out by the United
States department of the in
terior. Requests for information
on available public lands, Secre
tary of the Interior Harold L.
Ickes points out, have literally
inundated the department's of
fices. The average number of
requests for information on
homesteads alone in the general
land office runs higher than 3,000
monthly and the number is in
creasing.
Exservicemen who desire to set
tle on public land, either in the con
tinental United States or Alaska,
will avoid many heartbreaking dis
appointments if they first fully in- .
form themselves concerning all of
the possible pitfalls.
One of the prime requisites, for
instance, in obtaining title to public
land is three years' actual residence
hf>ffinninff within dv mrmthi aft*r
permission to enter has been
granted. There are numerous other
requirements concerning such sub
jects as the building of a habitable
dwelling, the cultivation of the land
and other details, about which pros
pective settlers would do well to in
form themselves before filing an ap
plication.
The principal advantage that vet
erans have over other eitisena is
that service in the armed forces,
?P to a maximum of two pears, is
credited toward the three-pear resi
dence requirement. This applies
generallp to ail cltlsens over 21
pears of age who have served at
least 90 daps in the armed forees
and who have been hooorablp dis
charged fierefrom. Veterans also
enjoy a M-dap priority in filing ap
plications for settlement on pubUe
land classified for that purpose.
Any veteran of World War II under
21 is entitled to the same rights un
der the homestead laws as those over
21 who map be veterans of this or
other conflicts. Residence require
ments of such minors will be sus
pended until six months after their
discharge from the service.
Moreover, homestead claims of
veterans of World War D, initiated
prior to their entrance into the serv
ice, are protected against for
feiture during the period of their
service and for six months there
after. Such veterans who are hon
orably discharged and because of
pnysicai incapacity oue to tneir
service are unabla to return to the
land, may make proof without fur
ther residence, improvements and
cultivation.
Go North. Young Man.
By far the greatest opportunities
for obtaining title to and establish
ing homesteads on public lands lie
in Alaska. This territory covers an
area of 986,400 square miles, rough
ly equal to one-fifth of that of the
United States. More than 90 per cent
of the territory is under the juris
diction of the department of the in
terior. The major portion is still
open to settlement under the home
stead laws.
But, while the chanceStdn Alaska
are undoubtedly vast, there are
many difficulties to be overcome.
Considerable progress has been
made in developing the territory on
j a stable basis, but it is still no
* place for the fainthearted. Those
with sufficient financial backing and
with courage and tenacity may
reasonably count upon success in
the long run, but without these es
i sentials veterans and others would
be arise to look twice before they
. leap. Much also depends upon the
' arise selection of land, as to quality
A
?IIU awkCMiuun;.
Many misconceptions about Alas
ka have been dissipated as a re
sult of the war. Many who have
seen service there have been fas
i cinated" by its picturesqueness, and
impressed by its obvious possibili
ties. The territory has largely lived
down its old and undeserved repu
tation as "Seward's icebox" ? a
i reputation that was pinned on it by
i the critics of Secretary of State
Seward who negotiated the terri
tory's purchase from Russia in 1807.
To speak of the climate of Alaska
; is as aaisleadlag as is speak of the
climate of Europe, or ef Asia. The
climate varies widely from that of
southeastern Alaska, where It Is
virtually as mild as, hot maeh wet
ter lhaa, that of Virginia, to that of
the froien wastes oI the Arctic
circle and the lop and wiUlwawa
of the Aleutian islands.
Veterans have the came prefer
ence accorded to them by the home
stead laws of the United States. In
addition, where lands are newly
opened or restored to homestead
entry veterans will be granted a
preference right of application for
a period of 90 days before the lands
become subject to application by
the general public.
In addition to homesteading in
Alaska, on sites limited to 160 acres,
any adult citizen of the United
States, whose employer is engaged
in trade, manufacturing, or other
productive industry in Alaska, or
who is himself engaged in such
business, may purchase one claim.
iiui cxi-ceoing o acres, ox nonnuii
eral land at $2.50 an acre, but (or
not less than a minimum of $10.
An applicant for such a tract is re
quired to pay the cost of the survey.
Any citizen of the United States
after occupying land in Alaska as
a homestead or headquarters in ?
habitable house not less than live
months each year for three years
may purchase such tract, not ex
ceeding Ave acres, if nonmineral in
character, at $2.S0 an acre, but for
not less than a minimum of $10.
Such an applicant is not required to
pay the cost of the survey.
For Farming and Mining.
Fur farming has been carried on
in the territory for a sufficiently
long period to demonstrate that the
raising of such fur animals as
minks and blue foxes is profitable.
This is especially true in southeast
ern Alaska and along the general
coast line where Ash, a basic fur
animal food, may be procured
cheaply.
Certain areas of Alaska are ad
mirably adapted to the production
of fur of good quality, and there
Is plenty of room for expanding this
industry. There are hundreds of li
censed for farmers In Alaska, the
majority of whom are raising minks
and bine foxes, although some silver
foxes are raised in captivity.
Mineral resources are known to
be large and varied, and there are
undoubtedly large and rich mineral
areas still unexplored. Notable evi
dence of this has been disclosed by
extensive searches for war-needed
metals and minerals by the geologi
cal survey and the bureau of mines.
A large part of the territory's na
tural mineral wealth consists of
gold, silver, mercury, antimony,
tin, coal, copper, iron, lead and
platinum. There also may be con
siderable oil reserves in some
parts of the country, but to what
extent remains largely to be seen.
Transportation is, of course, a prob
lem.
Since Alaska, a natural scenic
wonderland and sport fisherman's
paradise, is expected to grow in
importance as a vacation land and
as a goal for tourists, there will
undoubtedly be great opportunities
for veterans and others who desire
to go into businesses catering to the
tourist trade. Tourist facilities are
comparatively meager, especially
in many picturesque localities off of
the beaten path.
However, here again, those con
templating the establishment ol
such businesses should do so with
their eyes open. It must be remem
bered that in many places in Alas
ka the tourist season is short, and
that the permanent population ol
the territory is normally less thar
100,000 persons, or about one-eightl
of the number of persona living iz
Washington, D. C.
As a general rule. It may be said
that settlement en public land b
Alaska Is eneenraged bat not urged
Those who cheese Alaska as their
future hemes should de ss with
caution. Then is little denbt that
ultimately Alaska is destiaed to be
come aa tmpsrtaat crossroads at the
top tt the world. It is a aataral
way station oa air liaes to Asia
and eastern Europe.
But Alaska itself, as well as those
who settle there, will be better off if
it has an orderly and stable de
velopment. It is hoped, for the
benefit of all concerned, that sudden
rushes of hordes of people with get
rich-quick ideas but with no sus
tained interest in healthy growth,
may be avoided.
Dam Projects
Could Create
A Million Jobs
Material Makers as Well
a A. i n ?? )
As Actual construction
Workers Would Benefit
Jobs (or thousands of skilled and
unskilled workmen will be created
in every part of the country when
congress approves [dans and pro
vides funds for building more thaa
400 irrigation and power projects
proposed by the bureau of rec
lamation in its $3,000,000,000 post
war inventory.
Although these proposed irrigation
and power projecta will be located
in the 17 western states, where the
bureau of reclamation since 1901 has
been responsible for the conserva
tion and wise use of water re
sources, their construction will era
ate job opportunities from Maine te
California.
Behind every man on the con
struction job there will be one ar
more helpers who may be thousands
of miles away. An employment
analysis of the bureau's postwar
inventory reveals that of the 4,159,
000.000 man-hours of labor required
to construct all the projects a boat
1,<90,000,000 mas-hours will be re
quired at construction sites. <.
Materials tram XI States.
The materials needed for rec
lamation work, of which such basic
products as iron and steel, cement,
electrical equipment and supplies;
foundry and machine-shop products,
and lumber are of primary impor
tance, must be obtained from widely
separated sources. Much of this ma
terial and equipment will come
from the 31 states outside the arid
and semiarid regions of the west.
If feeds are made available lee
construction of all the pi ejects.
bureau officials estimate that mass
than 454,SOS man eoeld be pet te
work the trst year, less than halt
at these at eeeatmetioB sites. At
peak empiayment in the nint
er third year almost 1,144,444 man
, eoeld receive pay envelopes h af
ferent parts of the country aiart
I salt of this mighty effort.
Agricultural and industrial enter
- prises in the West will help to sup
t port and give homes to servicemen
i and others who have expressed their
? desire to settle on irrigated fauna.
- Of the 2,000,000 westerners in the
I armed forces, it is estimated that
r 265,000 will want to return to the
t lavu)
Veteran lefiilatkm, iitkuM
i and pendinf, |i?ti lenrieemea pri
ority at Nttimnt an bnraan at raa
I tarnation prajeeta. On name pea*
i aata public tin da ?? ka apan In
Servicemen end nan get pointer* on Alaik* land settlement free*
Commissioner Fred W. Johnson, general land oflee. Left to right: Pfo.
Richard Bean, tJ. S. army, (Newport, N. H.), Chief Warrant OfBeer
Joseph D. Joiner, V. 8. navy (AttaaU, Oa.), and Yeoman 1/e Mildred
H. Dietrich of the WAVES (St. Naslans, Wise.), learn at chances ler
future on public lands administered by the Interior department.