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Show WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS Allied Forces Meet Bitter Resistance In Final Phase of Battle for Sicily; Japanese Employ New Naval Strategy To Supply South Pacific Strongholds (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.) Released by Western Newspaper Union. I FDR: Help to Servicemen Declaring that America's servicemen service-men and women must not be demobilized de-mobilized into an environment of inflation in-flation and unemployment, to a place on a bread line or selling apples, ap-ples, President Roosevelt outlined a six-point program fbr post-war recovery. re-covery. The program was the highlight of a speech in which the President declared de-clared Mussolini's ouster "was the first crack in the Axis, and the initial ini-tial step in Italy's democratic re-eonstitution. The President's six-point program for demobilization includes: 1. Mustering Mus-tering out pay large enough to cover the period before employment is obtained; ob-tained; 2. Unemployment insurance; 3. Opportunity for education or trade training at U. S. expense; 4. Credit for unemployment compensation, old age pensions and survivors insurance in-surance for the period they were in service; 5. Adequate hospitalization, medical care and rehabilitation of disabled servicemen; 6. Sufficient pensions for disabled in armed forces. DOCTORS: Face Draft Out of the nation's 170,000 doctors, 47,000 already are in uniform, and out of the 70,000 dentists, 17,000 are in the services. However, the army has requested a substantial addition to these numbers, num-bers, and to meet the need, the War Manpower commission has planned to draft doctors and dentists between be-tween 38 and 45 years of age. Under the WMC's plan, the army would waive its prohibition against the drafting of doctors and dentists over 37. Faced with induction as privates, the men will rather seek commissions which their professions ordinarily are granted when entering en-tering the service. Heretofore, local and state committees com-mittees have recommended induction induc-tion of doctors and dentists. MIDWEST: Looking for Trouble August 16, farmers, small manufacturers manu-facturers and merchants from five midwestern states Here's the way the Allies work in setting up a base after landing on hostile shore. As the first Allied wave struck Sicily, men waist deep in water pass supplies ashore from a lighter, while men in foreground prepare pre-pare roads for tanks and other vehicles. will meet with 25 senators and congressmen con-gressmen in the Radisson hotel at Minneapolis, Minn., to present the problems prob-lems besetting them in a wartime America. Amer-ica. In calling the conference, con-ference, Representative Representa-tive August Andres- SICILY: Yanks' Test More than three divisions of Adolf Hitler's crack German troops took up positions around San Stefano in northern Sicily to await the assault of Gen. George S. Patton's charging American Seventh army. The San Stefano region loomed as the Axis' northern anchor for their shrunken lines in the mountainous corner of the island where they found themselves pocketed. Much like the Tunisian terrain, great difficulties diffi-culties confronted Patton's Yankees, who were faced with a tedious crawl up rocky slopes in the face of stiff machine gun and mortar fire. To the west of the Axis defenses, stood the Canadians, encountering the same obstacles as the Americans. Ameri-cans. To the south. Gen. Bernard Montgomery's British Eighth army poised for action against strong German Ger-man forces, which had held them up in the plains after a slashing tank attack. Thus the final phase of the battle of Sicily opened. Five Points for Italy Successful as a diplomat once before be-fore when he pulled Adm. Jean Dar-lan's Dar-lan's French North Africa over to the Allied cause, Gen. Dwight "Ike" Eisenhower addressed himself to another an-other soldier, this time Italian Premier Pre-mier Pietro Badoglio, in a bid for Italy's withdrawal from the war. Commending the Italian people and Italy's royal house for removing remov-ing Mussolini, General Eisenhower stressed five points in his address to the newly constituted government. govern-ment. Said General Eisenhower: 1. Only the Germans in Italy are blocking peace; 2. Cessation of hostilities is possible immediately under honorable honor-able terms; 3. Discontinuance of assistance by the Italians to German armed forces is a prerequisite of peace; 4. A pledge that Italian war prisoners will be returned if Allied prisoners in Italian hands also are returned; 5. If hostilities cease, the liberties and traditions of Italy will be restored. PACIFIC: Rip Jap Barges Although Japan's merchant marine ma-rine ranked No. 3 among the world's fleets before Pearl Harbor, her maritime mari-time position has since slipped in view of her losses and limited shipbuilding ship-building facilities. As a consequence, the wily Nips have devised a new system for supplying sup-plying their embattled South Pacific island forces: strongholds are now being supplied through small, swift coastal barges, in which the enemy sail at night, and in which they hide by day in the many coves along the shores lines. Well aware of the Japanese sys-, tern, American airmen have concentrated con-centrated much of their bombing against these craft. Barges attempting attempt-ing to stock enemy troops at beleaguered be-leaguered Munda on New Georgia island have had rough going at the hands of U. S. aviators, and a concentration con-centration of the craft at Rein Bay, New Britain, was the target for a heavy Allied assault. With the Allies threatening their sea-borne supplies and bombarding them from the sky with deadly torpedo tor-pedo and dive bombers, Jap troops, true to their tradition of fighting to the death, clung desperately to the last perimeter of their defenses at Munda. SHIPS: 1,496 Delivered In the first six months of 1943, Pacific Pa-cific coast shipyards turned out 393 vessels of approximately 4,200,000 tons; Atlantic coast shipyards completed com-pleted 259 of over 3,000,000 tons, and gulf coast yards produced 108 of 1,150,000 tons. Grand total: 760 ships of 8,350,000 tonsl Since Pearl Harbor, American shipyards have turned out 1,496 vessels, ves-sels, more than existed in the entire U. S. merchant marine before the war. This production has given the country a greater commercial fleet than Britain, and a larger one than Japan, Germany and Italy combined. com-bined. Once looming as the great bottleneck bottle-neck in Allied war plans, America's industrialists overcame the shipping , hurdle with a mass production technique tech-nique which also has given the U. S. supremacy in aircraft construction. Not only have war materials been flowing overseas in great numbers, but the improved situation has increased in-creased use of shipping for civilian supply. GAS: Sees More for East Completion of the "big inch" pipeline pipe-line to the East which will supplement supple-ment the railroads' transport of oil to that section of the country, will result in a reduction of the "A" and possibly the "B" and "C" gas ration ra-tion cards in the central states, Petroleum Pe-troleum Administrator Harold L. Ickes indicated. At present, "A" card holders in the East only receive 1 gallons per coupon, while the same coupon draws 4 gallons in the central states. Ickes indicated that central states' allotments may be cut down as much as two gallons. Gas rationing in the central states has been primarily .enforced for the preservation of rubber, Ickes said. Because oil was relatively plentiful in these states as a result of insufficient insuffi-cient transportation facilities to haul it to the East, rations were more liberal. Now that facilities are available avail-able for increasing the haul, however, how-ever, Ickes felt that the supply should be "equalized" as much as possible throughout the country. RUSSIA: Peak Offensive Peak of summer fighting in Russia Rus-sia centered around Orel. Here, the Reds exerted the greatest pressure pres-sure against stubborn German forces ringed from the north, south and east, with their principal railway supply line running westward to Bryansk seriously threatened. According to Russian accounts, the Germans used large forces of reserves to counterattack advancing Red units from the south and east. Admitting they were outnumbered, the Germans were said to have fallen fall-en back slowly under the trip-hammer blows of Russian armored columns. col-umns. The Germans told another story. They said their attack at Belgorod in the first stage of the summer fighting broke up Red concentrations at the southern end of the 160-mile front and compelled the Russians to concentrate on Orel. Here, the Nazis said, they were pursuing a policy of defensive fighting to exhaust the Reds' strength. Heavy fighting was reported south of Leningrad by both sides. Robert en Minnesota de-La de-La Follette clared: "One of the primary purposes of the congressional recess'was to permit per-mit members to secure first-hand information from their constituents on the prosecution of the war and the effect of the present federal policies poli-cies upon business and agricultural economy of our country." Regional in character, the conference confer-ence will not be confined to a single district, but will give the legislators an idea of the situation confronting confront-ing a variety of interests. Senators Robert La Follette from Wisconsin and Guy M. Gillette from Iowa have endorsed the parley, which besides being open to their states also will take in Minnesota and North and South Dakota. MEAT: More for Civilians Action by the War Food administration adminis-tration assured civilians of increased meat supplies. Whereas packers formerly were required to set aside 45 per cent of production for the government, WFA cut the figure 5 per cent Moreover, More-over, a temporary slash was made in the government's purchase of pork products. The action in beef was attributed to the heavy run of grass fed cattle cat-tle expected from the southwestern and western ranges, while the cut in pork purchases was made at a time when hog marketing declines. HENRY FORD: 'Would Have to Run' "If I felt any better, I'd have to run." With those words, sprightly patriarchic Henry Ford recently celebrated cel-ebrated his 80th birthday. Once again in active command of the great Ford works' for the first time in a quarter century as a result re-sult of the death of his son EdseL the elder Henry has supervision over his plants' production of motor equipment and bombers for the army. Declaring that the general welfare of the community should be the guiding moral principle. Ford said that business and industry must build the physical basis of the good society. "There must be more and more industry," Ford asserted. "It is essential es-sential to political and economic freedom." WHEAT: For Feed In an effort to bolster the nation'i dwindling feed supply, the Commodity Commod-ity Credit corporation went into the grain markets. The CCC started the ball rolling by bidding for one million mil-lion bushels in Chicago and revealing reveal-ing it planned to buy all wheat available avail-able at Minneapolis at the loan rate. The agency hoped to secure 100 million mil-lion bushels from Canada. If necessary, the CCC divulged, effort ef-fort also might be made to import wheat from Australia. |