T ' "
rHE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY. HF.RTFOKI. . t rMDAY, MARCH 24, 1944
PAGE THRES
IISIlTlBli
Bf 9gp S.' Sims. WaAir (rre(iet
piW" I!1"""'.1 ("''
fits F Bjuwcta tWit
Srvatnr Harry F. Bvrd. of Vim
.cinia. imtpose the summary liquid
" tion'vf'thei Hon Owners', Loan Cor
, pormtion, reporting; that a large
- .number of wxvate insJitiitions are.
I ready to "purchase the entire hold-
toga, of the HOLC at par in all states
l wnt .New York and Massachu-
'V etts."
t ' TiH proposal should be scrutinized
ver carefully.' The HOLC loaned
in 2ki.ono.000 between 1933 and
198$. It had 1,017,821,000 lban ac
,J counts, but these have been reduced
tn less than 700,000. The investment
,,1 has been cut to $1,632,000,000.
' The HOLC had accumulated on last
June a balance sheet deficit of $62,-
242,000 but it should be noted in this
connection that, in the last liscai
nv ve&n the Corporation earned
$4491,000.
It is somewhat peculiar for Sena
X' tor Byrd to propose the compulsory
'i liaoidation at the very time it is
. showing a profit and has a chance to
" ' recoup losses inevitably sustained in
foreclosing property in hopeless de
faults. John H. Fahey, head of the HOLC,
advises Congress that the present de
ficit will, in his opinion, be turned
into a net profit of more than $6,
000,000, if the Corporation is permit
ted to function during .the eight years
of life left to it by existing acts of
Congress.
Senator Byrd is regarded by some
of his enthusiastic friends as a
statesman of outstanding business
ability. It is strange that he would
compel the HOLC to go out of bus
iness when there are no buyers for
holdings in the State of New York
where the figures show that nearly
one-half of the homes held by the
Corporation, unsold after foreclosure,
are located and that one-fifth of the
money still owed to the HOLC is
involved in outstanding loans.
The Byrd proposal would require
K- the compulsory sale of HOLC hold
ings despite the fact that private
institutions do not seem to be inter
ested in New York and Massachu
setts real estate. The figures given
above show that the situation in
New York is bad. The fact that
"private institutions" are willing to
pay par for holdings in all except
N two states can be accepted as posi
tive proof that the HOLC is funda
mentally sound.'
The reader may be interested in
lohn H. Fahey, who is no enthusiast,
having made a fortune as a news
paper publisher and industrialist and
having beeiu enough of a business
) man to served President of the U.
NfL Chamber of Commerce. Mr.
' Fahsi asserts that the Byrd plan
"will make certain large and un-
necessary loss to the Government
3 - with no public advantages whatever."
Truman Committee -Finds
War Profits Are Large
There is every prospect v-tha.t J.fye
people of the United States will
eventually be amazed at the profits
made by individuals and corporations
in connection with war contracts.
The Truman Committee, which for
( two years has investigated various
phases of the war program, says the
bulk of war business has gone to one
hundred corporations and that "of
these corporations only nine have
been' found wholly free f excessive
profits in 1942." Whenthe figures
) for 1943 are scrutinized, the profits
vj will be greater.
The Truman Committee cites the
figures, leaving nothing to the ima
gination. It tells of a New York
A Aircraft Corporation which multi-
plied peace profits one hundred and
) sixty-eight times in 1942, after pay
'. ing taxes. A small Pennsylvania
airplane company, which had deficits
between 1936 and 1939, showed a
profit of $11,400000 in 1942 and an
Ohio locomotive plant jumped its
tip profits one hundred and sixty-five
' times.
The Committee says that this
"story could be extended endlessly."
The illustrations given are not ex-
. . eADtinflii.1. ThAv hnnnon tn Vibvo Iwm
. . r
V"uibi at random irom among we
i t, 100 corporations holding the largest
volume of war contracts. For
smaller companies,, the profits picture
,?is equally as excessive." x
v ; There is one bright example that
i shines amid, the welter of war prp-
fits. This is the United Aircraft
- Corporation of Connecticut, whose of
'. ' ' fidals returned $286,000,000 to the
' Government : because "they were
ashamed to take the money." The
Truman Committee says, however,
that "after making these refunds,
the company still had left after tax
es, far the year 1942, $17,000,000 of
net profits, which Was a little more
than three times Its average profit of
$5,000,000 a year during the pre-war
i base period." ' . 1
These figures explain the energetic
'A campaign that z is being ' waged
?ht throughout the United States to pre
N vent effective renegotiation of war
contracts, It should be noted that
I , the Truman Committee points V out.
" tae profits picture of Smaller, corpor
l atkms is as extravagant and they,
too Join in the chorus of , complaint
that pours into Congress .? about the
.their taxes.
Nimit Ttks Of The Pacific
Where Distance 8tows Attack
American seapowes has risen from
344 ships to a present strength of
900, including battleships, cruisers,
carriers, f&orj cjrriert, 4estroyers,
destroyer escorts and submarines, ac
cording to Secretary Frank Knox.
The results of this growth are ap
parent in the Pacific where Admiral
iNimitz asserts that American sub
marines have sunk so many Japanese
tankers and supply ships that the
enemy has perhaps decided to with
draw his heavy warships from Truk
oecause they could not be refueled
and supplied.
The Admiral, who directs our
growing offensive against Japan,
says the situation in the Pacific is
very favorable and will improve as
time goes on. The United States,
according to this leader, has an ex
cellent team of air, sea and land
strength.
Admiral Nimitz insisted that what
ever success we have had in the
Pacific was due to the task force,
group and unit commanders, mention
ing seven leaders by name and in
cluding the 27th Army division, the
7th Army division and the Sevent'i
Air Force.
Once more the Admiral stressed
the fact that "the principal obstacle
in the Pacific is not Japs but geogra
phy" and that "all that is now re
quired; is time to ear out opera
tion.'' Neither nayaj or air unit
can operate without adequate bases
and it takes time to construct these
necessary adjuncts.
U. S. And Britain Produce
240,00ft Planes Since 1939
From March, 1941, to January,
1944, the United States produced
160,000 airplanes, of which some 28-,
000 were sent to Allied nations. The
British Government discloses that
British factories, since September,
1939, have produced 90,000 airplanes.
The combined production of the
Anglo-American combination reaches
the stupendous total of 240,000 planes
in less than four years and a half.
Backed by this vast production, the
aerial offensive against Germany in
creases in power but the average
person finds it difficult to under
stand why larger and more frequent
raids are not undertaken.
The vast training .program institut
ed o provide pilots, navigators, bom
bardiers and crew personnel has suc
ceeded and at present, as we under
stand the situation, there are ample
forces' available for our air offensive.
Out of the 150,000 planes produced
in this country, 122,000 have been
retained. This includes a large
number of trainers, fighters, observa
tion planes, transports and other
types as well as bombers. More
over, many planes are destroyed in
operational accidents, many others
wear out and these losses are in ad
dition to those inflicted by the
enemy.
The air strength of the United
States has been, of necessity, scat
tered widely. While no official in
formation is available along this
line, our aircraft are operating all
over the world, including South
America and many neutral areas.
When one considers that allot
ments must be made for China, India,
North Africa, Italy, the Southwest
Pacific and that the total includes
naval as wel as army aircraft, it is
easier to understand the difficulties
that attend the creation of an over
whelming force in Great Britain.
Land Says Aid To Russia
Helped Maintain Offensive
"It is no accident that Russia last
Summer was able to seize and main
tain the initiative against the Nazis,"
declares Rear Admiral Emory S.
Land, of the Maritime Commission.
Last Summer, he points out, lend
lease shipments to Russia exceeded
the monthly rate of shipments called
for and by January the shipments
were 133 per cent of the goal.
Out of every 100 vessels carrying
lend-lease cargoes to Russia only one
is Deing sunk now although a year
ago the losses were twelve out of a
hundred. The ships were loaded
"with urgently needed tanks, trucks,
guns and weapons of all kinds."
Regarding our ocean-borne dry
cargo shipments, the Admiral says
that in 1943 forty-two percent o.
the tonnage was for the U. S. Army
and Navy, forty-two per cent repre
sented lend-lease and the remainder
was essential civilian cargo. Alto
gether, the 1943 tonnage was 46,
369,000 long tons.
Referring to total losses of lend
lease shipments through enemy ac
tion, the official stated that whereas
they were five per cent in 1942, the
figure was cut to less than two per
cent in 1943.
The hot spot that was the convoy
route to Russia in 1943 is emphasized
by the figures which reveal that our
total losses for the year were 2 per
cent of shipments but that, on the
Russian run they were 12 out of
every hundred vessels.
Equipped
"My f.iend here wants to be
President of Mexico."
"What qualifications has he?"
"A machine gun."
Worth Ail The Beet
She (after quarrel) Evjerrydng in
the house is mine money, furniture,
clothes. What did you have before
you married me?
Husband' Peace.
FIRST
ESN OF A
USE VVV
466 TABLETS. SALVE. NOSE DROPS
From where I sit ... ly Joe Maralv
How to make a
real post-war plan
Sure's a lot of talk going around
nowadays about post-war plan
ning... folks passing resolutions
. . . statesmen holding confer
ences . . . governments making
promises to each other.
Bat as Bert Childers says:
"What good is all this drawing
up of plans unless each one of
us decides to make his corner
of the world a better place to
live in?"
From where I sit, Bert's put
the problem in a nutshell. Gov
ernments can pass all the reso
lutions and make all the treaties
they can think of -and it's still
up to the people themselves to
see to it that the world is ruled
by tolerance and understanding.
Unless we make up our in bide
to respect the other fellow's
rights and liberties whether
it's the right to enjoy a glass of
beer occasionally or the right to
vote according to onr conscience
all onr post-war planning woa't
be worth the paper that it's
printed on.
n
(
C 1944, BREWING INDUSTRY FOU IV Tiou t
Edgar H. Bain, Stale Director, iOt 617 Iu,l,
h, N. C
i ' '.
WHEREVER he may be, his country
has provided him with the best
guns, the best uniforms, the best food
that skill and money can produce.
But there are some things that cannot
be handed out by Government Issue.
And these are the things he misses most
. . . his Dad's friendly counsel, his moth
er's homey touch. These are the things he
needs ... the things he gets through the
Red Cross, your Red Cross ...bis home
away from home.
They seem like little things in print ; ; :
coffee and doughnuts after a long march
. . . a bed with real sheets when he is on
furlough . , . real American cigarettes and
.chocolate bars . . . ant) men and women
stationed everywhere, at every tiny out
post . . . to bring bim comforts, service
and companionship.
Litde things? Perhaps.
But these are the "little" things that
count the things that help your boy to
do his man-sized job. These
are the things that prove to
him when the going is
toughest that bis people
haven't forgotten him.
For Red Cross is at his side.
You have given your sons . ; .
CIYE ID THE
RED CROSS
You have done the extra work . .
nated your blood and bought your bonus.
Yes, and you have helped the Red
Cross before. Giving to the Red Cross has
always been a great proud habit of thirty
million American families . . . proud thai
they could give . . . proud of Red Cross
that made giving worthwhile.
But this year, when the need is greater
than ever, when we serve more than
eleven million American boys
all over the whole world
this year you will want to
give more ... to give freely to
your own Red Cross ... to
your own sons in the service.
This year dig deep and be
glad. For wherever he is
The RED CROSS is of his side
trn fhe Red Cross is YO U !
fiinmaims (Cmmwj:y E&edl (Dirs (Cflnap tor
Si
f
s
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pugnt or corporations . they pay
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