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Show I WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS . Harmony Note of Big Three Meet; Mighty U.S. Aerial Blows Carry War to Heart of Jap Homeland ' Released by Western Newspaper Union. (EDITOR'S NOTE: When opinions are expressed in these columns, they are- those of Western Newspaper Union's news analysts and not necessarily of this newspaper.) I CONGRESS: Busy Session Solons were putting in a busy session ses-sion on capitol hill, engrossed in semi-political, financial and insurance insur-ance legislation. Wallace Curb Passed by the senate, the bill removing re-moving the Reconstruction Finance corporation, with its vast loaning powers, from the U. S. department of commerce and Liberal Henry A. Wallace's reach if appointed secretary secre-tary of that office, went up before the house. In addition to stripping Wallace of authority over RFC funds, which conservatives feared he might use for promotion of plans for government govern-ment spending to provide "full employment," em-ployment," house Republicans sought to remove the secretary of commerce from the board of the 700 million dollar export-import bank, used to finance foreign business. busi-ness. World Finance Up prominently for congressional consideration was the administration-backed Bretton Woods postwar world financial agreement, under which the U. S. would contribute about 6 billion dollars for two funds: (1) to provide countries with foreign for-eign exchange at par rather than open-market value to stimulate their purchasing powers, and (2) to guarantee guar-antee private loans made to countries coun-tries to help build up their economies. econo-mies. In asking for congressional approval ap-proval of the Bretton Woods agreements, agree-ments, President Roosevelt said they were the first step in a broad program for international economic cooperation, also including an Allied food and agriculture organization, expansion of the reciprocal trade act of 1934, reduction of trade barriers bar-riers and orderly marketing of certain cer-tain world surpluses. Insurance Continued state supervision of Insurance In-surance companies, but with stricter strict-er control in harmony with federal anti-trust laws, was promised in congressional approval of legislation postponing antimonopoly prosecution prosecu-tion against such businesses for three years and allowing states that time to set up tighter regulations. Brought to a head by a recent Supreme court decision declaring declar-ing insurance companies subject to anti-trust laws, the question of federal fed-eral control over the business drew little support from congress, with legislators contending that the individual indi-vidual states were best qualified to regulate the matter according to their particular requirements. Freed by daring U. S. Ranger attack on Cabanatuan prison camp, liberated liber-ated Yanks joyfully make their way back to American lines for transfer to evacuation hospital in Philippines. PACIFIC: Mighty Strike To Tokyo's 8,000,000 terrified residents, resi-dents, it was as if the whole host of demons themselves had swooped from the skies; to American aviators and sailors, it offered the supreme satisfaction of slapping a vicious enemy en-emy in his own backyard, and to millions mil-lions of people at home, it represented represent-ed the opening of the battle for Japan itself. Thus shaped Vice Adm. Marc A. Mitscher's mighty strike against Tokyo and the home island of Honshu, Hon-shu, with 1,500 Hellcats, Helldivers and Avenger planes taking off from about 15 to 20 carriers of the 27,000-ton 27,000-ton class, escorted by a formidable Leading daring liberation of 511 Yanks from Luzon pnson camp by Rangers who overpowered Jap guards were (left to right) Captain Prince of Seattle, Wash.; Lt. Col. H. A. Mucci, Bridgeport, Conn.; and Sgt. T. R. Richardson, Dallas, Texas. Farm Credit Standing High By WALTER A. SHEAD WNU Staff Correspondent WASHINGTON. For every dollar dol-lar farmers borrowed in 1944, they repaid $3.50 on loans made prior to that year, reducing the farm mortgage debt to the lowest point in 30 years, according to a report of the Federal Land Bank system. For the year the volume of farm loans outstanding was reduced re-duced 17 per cent. The total volume vol-ume of land bank and commissioner commis-sioner loans made in 1944 amounted to $105,292,000. During the year a uniform 4 per cent interest rate was established on most outstanding land bank loans. Farm mortgage loans in good standing reached a new high at the year's end with 93.6 per cent of all Federal land bank and 91.7 per cent of commissioner loans current on all payments of principal prin-cipal and interest. EUROPE: Postwar Pattern Their historic conference at Yalta having ended in agreement, the Big Three departed from the balmy Crimean Cri-mean watering resort determined to maintain equal harmony on the implementation im-plementation of the new course they struck for trodden Europe, envisaging en-visaging the return of democratic government and obliteration of Nazism and Fascism. Thorniest problem in Allied relations rela-tions before the conference, the Polish question was met by U. S. and British recognition to Russian annexation of part of eastern Poland, and the agreement to include in-clude independent democratic leaders lead-ers into the Red-sponsored provisional pro-visional government until the people themselves can name their own regime re-gime in a free and open election. In respect to free elections, guaranteeing guar-anteeing the people of all the liberated liber-ated countries the right to pick their own governments, the Big Three pledged their support to assist as-sist any nation in measures designed to bring about such polls. ' With agreement on the vexatious Polish problem and restoration of democratic government in the new Declaring that the Big Three's terms for Germany released its people peo-ple from all moral scruples of warfare, war-fare, Nazi propagandists said: "Every "Ev-ery enemy will be met by fanatical men, women and children, who know what treatment is in store for them, and, therefore, wish to kill, murder and poison all who attempt to oppress op-press them. . . Europe, the Big Three also moved toward maintenance of such an order or-der by further discussion of steps on a postwar international security organization, with the talks at Yalta designed to meet Russian objections to the Dumbarton Oaks plans for prohibiting any nation charged with aggression from voting on measures meas-ures to bring it in line. Overwhelming agreement was reached on treatment for a defeated Reich, with Messrs. Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin determined to crush German militarism by dissolution dis-solution of the wehrmacht, breakup break-up of its general staff, elimination of all industry that could be used for war production, and complete eradication eradi-cation of all Nazi and Junker influences influ-ences in the nation's life. Further, Germany would be made to pay for war damage, with an Allied commission set up in Moscow determining on the extent of reparations, repara-tions, probably in terms of manpower man-power and goods. Allies Advance With their hopes of an Allied division divi-sion blasted . at Yalta, and with the combined weight of the U. S., Britain Brit-ain and Russia drawn up against them, the Germans maneuvered in both the west and east for a last-ditch last-ditch struggle. In the east, so-called "alarm units" and the "people's army" were thrown into breaches to hold open avenues of retreat for German forces falling back from Silesia to Saxony as the Russians drove on this all-important Nazi industrial district. dis-trict. As the Reds pushed ahead, one wing of this offensive nosed northwestward toward Berlin, sorely sore-ly pressed by a frontal assault of Marshal Zhukov's forces. In the west, the Germans fought hard to thwart the Canadian and British attempt to turn their far northern flank, drive into the industrial indus-trial Ruhr and trap Nazi forces guarding the Rhineland from the rear. WAR COSTS With this war costing the world some S200 billions a year, or more than $500 millions a day, in direct military expenditures alone, the annual an-nual expenditure is roughly equal to the whole direct cost of the First World war, estimated at $208 billions bil-lions by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Staggering though these figures are, they do not include indirect : costs of war. such as the value of human life lost, property destruction, destruc-tion, etc. screen of fast battleships, cruisers and destroyers. Though meeting strong opposition, the aircraft shot up enemy planes, cratered airdromes and pulverized other military installations instal-lations around the Jap capital. While the major attack roared on, with the once vaunted, since battered bat-tered Jap imperial fleet failing to challenge Mitscher's force riding 300 miles off of Honshu shores, other American warships and army planes hammered the Volcano and Bonin islands, 600 miles to the south. WAR PRODUCTION: Schedules Increase With emphasis on more bombers and engine parts, the government increased its war contracts in recent re-cent weeks, indicating that the rapid pace of the conflict is forcing readjustment re-adjustment of needs. Besides the boost in the bomber and engine parts program, it was revealed, ground troops were scheduled sched-uled to get 21.9 per cent more ammunition, am-munition, heavy artillery and tanks. To meet a critical emergency of engine parts in battle zones, the government gov-ernment has undertaken a 50 million mil-lion dollar expansion of the industry, and established special panels, or committees, in the seven major plants for speeding up of output. Labor Relations Supplementing its previous policy of plant seizures to back up War Labor board rulings designed to settle set-tle industrial disputes, the U. S. drew a new weapon to force compliance com-pliance through cancellation of a firm's government contracts. In following such a course of action ac-tion against the E. A. Laboratories of Brooklyn, N. Y., Economic Stabilization Sta-bilization Director Vinson said that the U. S.'s procedure was legal, insofar in-sofar as the courts have frequently held that no business has an automatic auto-matic right to getting a government contract. Despite the U. S.'s power to influence influ-ence compliance with WLB orders through plant seizures and withholding withhold-ing of priorities, in addition to contract con-tract cancellations, OES Chieftain Vinson said that still more effective action could be obtained through legislation furnishing non-compliance. G.I.s Long for Civvies Discharged G.I.s are so anxious to get back into civilian clothes, a survey of the Northwestern National Life Insurance company showed, that they want alterations on their new suits "done in the next ten minutes"; min-utes"; they shun cheap clothing and buy good quality suits averaging about $45 in price; they don't shop around, but go to one store and buy as nearly a complete outfit as the store can supply; they usually pay cash, even when they could "charge it," and they seldom shop alone. NEW INSTRUMENT: Aids B-29s One of the war's most remarkable scientific achievements an "air position indicator" has been playing play-ing an important role in charting the long skyroads to Tokyo for navigators navi-gators of America's B-29 super-fortresses, . the army revealed. Developed by engineers of Bendix Aviation corporation in cooperation with the army and navy, the indicator indica-tor records continuously and automatically auto-matically the exact "air position" of a huge super-fort in flight on a single dial giving the navigator an instantaneous reading of his longitude longi-tude and latitude and saving hours of complex calculations. No larger than a quart milk bottle, bot-tle, the computing device not only shows "air position in degrees oi longitude and latitude," but also gives the navigator a continuous record of air miles flown from the take-off point and indicates the correct cor-rect compass heading of the airplane, air-plane, engineers explained. From these readings, plus a check of wind drift, the B-29 navigator can continuously con-tinuously plot his ship's "air position" posi-tion" on the map and keep his plane more accurately on the bombei route to Japan and return. SOIL CONSERVATION With the year marked by widei understanding and use of the U. S Soil Conservation service's lane classification specifying the best employment em-ployment of tracts on the basis ol slope, soil, degree of erosion, pre vious use and other factors, mor than 65,000,000 acres were produc ing under the soil conservation sys tern in 1944, SCS Chieftain Dr. H. H 1 Bennett reported. This compared with the figure of 37,500,000 acrei for the year 1941. |