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Show Maldistribution Factor In Europe's Food Crisis Shattered Communication Lines Hamper Market Movements; Civil Strife Further Restricts Deliveries. By BAUKIIAGE Newt Analyst and Commentator WNU Service, Union Trust Building Washington, D. C. Recently I saw a list of 12 European Euro-pean countries with an estimate of the number of calories consumed In each now, as compared wift their Inhabitants' prewar diet. It was Just at the time when the Greek revolt was well under way and only a tight lid was keeping the Belgian pot from boiling over. The calorie consumption In those two countries was the lowest on the list, 67 and 63 per cent, respectively, of their prewar diet. About that time Myron Taylor, the President"! representative at the Vatican, was warning the Allies that If communism came to Italy. It would come over empty stomachs. Adding up this data the natural assumption as-sumption is that hunger Is the chief cause of unrest in Europe. But it Isn't as simple as that. I made some Investigations and came upon a bumber of Interesting facts which prove the dangers of over-simplification. Number one is: Low calories may be a symptom and not disease. In other words, disorganization and revolt re-volt affect the food supply as well as being affected by it Number two: Destruction and disorganization dis-organization are the chief causes of famine and the type of destruction which affects the food supply la not the destruction of food. It Is the smashing of railways and rolling stock and blowing up of bridges and doing other things that interrupt transportation. This has don more, to create areaa of starvation than any planned destruction of the crops themselves by the enemy. Number three: Conditions are frequently fre-quently worse after countries are liberated. One common misconception which needs te be corrected is the total mount and distribution of the food shortage. Since Europe's food problems prob-lems are of vital concern to America Amer-ica it might be well to clear up some of these erroneous ideas, Problem Varies in Different Countries In the first place, in the early years of the war the situation was painted too black. There were various va-rious reasons for this. Among them the fact that many countries exaggerated exag-gerated their plight, asking for more than they expected for tear of getting get-ting less than they really needed. Later the picture was painted far too rosily. Through all this time the experts were not fooled but the public pub-lic was. "It is wrong to say that Europe is starving. It is wrong to say that nobody is starving or will starve." I was informed by a person who is in a position to know if anyone is. The point is that the situation in various places varies greatly and here we come back to the Question of transportation. We might use Greece as an example of a place where revolt has Increased the seriousness se-riousness of the food situation. One of the chief concerns of persons who had no political interest whatever in whether Greece became a purple monarchy or a bright red spot of communism, but who were inter-esfed inter-esfed In seeing that the Athenians didn't starve, was the fact that because be-cause of the fighting, shiploads of food lay untouched in the harbor of Piraeus. Athens, Rome, Marseille are all in spots far distant from areas where surplus food exists. Normandy, Norman-dy, for instance, could share some of her product, with the south of France if there were any way to get the stuff across the country. The grain in the holds of ships in the harbor is no good to the people of Greece unless there is unrestricted passage to and from the docks and men who can unload and transport It to safety. This question of proximity to supply sup-ply explains why all over Europe the average consumption level of the farm population is 40 per cent higher high-er than that of the people in urban or manufacturing communities. One of the paradoxes of Europe's eating troubles is that in most countries coun-tries the situation often grows worse Instead of better after liberation takes place. Italy is an example of what mixed blessings liberation can bring. BARBS The production of safety razor blades is sufficient for the current quarter, the WPB assures us. No excuse for the five o'clock shadow. Stuart Chase says that once bik business, big unions snd big farmers moved In on the scene. It took big government to cope with them. Now if only John Q. Public grows big enough, he may get a show. too. Here we begin to see how the twin demons of destruction work out. As Indicated, the direct destruction destruc-tion of food supplies either by bombing, bomb-ing, or battle, or German sabotage so far has not been a major factor. Of course, the more rapidly the Allies Al-lies remove the Germans, the less chance they have to steal the food or the crops and transport them. They had considerable time In Italy. On the other hand, on their hurried trip from Normandy to the Rhine the Nazis were far too busy moving to beg, borrow, steal or destroy. Where they have had a chance to squat as in the Netherlands, Poland and Czechoslovakia, the situation is worse. But until they knew they were going to have to get out of a country they did not wish to destroy de-stroy productivity and the natives were fed. They had to keep the people peo-ple alive to support their own military mili-tary and economic activity and they expected they would have plenty of time to exploit later when they set up their own new order in Europe. The factors In food production which suffered most were those in-vetoed in-vetoed in food processing. It is easier eas-ier and quicker to wreck a flour mill or a milk plant than a farm. Some fertilizer factories suffered, and of course In Holland there was wholesale whole-sale obliteration of arable land when the dykes were blown. This Is almost al-most permanent damage since the. salt from the sea water will sour the soil for years to come. Complex Economies Cause Trouble But there were other forces wtych began to work earlier. Europe, before the war, produced most of what Its own people ate. The things imported were tea and coffee, spices, and fats and oils. They also had to import much of their cattle food and fertilizer. Germany, Ger-many, striving to be self-sufficient, built many plants for the production of seed oils and raised many oilseed oil-seed crops. This was true elsewhere in Europe and because more food value can be produced from the same resources directly than indirectly indi-rectly through raising food for livestock, live-stock, the livestock was reduced. Under these conditions, in order to get the greatest value out of food products, strictest regimentation was necessary. When the Germans left a country and controls vanished, conditions immediately became worse unless, under liberation, a 'stable 'sta-ble government could step in immediately im-mediately and reorganize. This reorganization was impeded by the destruction of transportation, the disrupted economy and. In the case of countries like Italy, by the effect of fascist rule which has made the people lethargic, dependent and Impotent and, departing. left them leaderless. And so we see the vicious circle In operation disorganization hampering ham-pering the food supply, hunger and unrest preventing reorganization. For their own sake, the "haves" must feed the "have-nots." Time is of the essence, and casting bresd upon these unhappy waters will be as profitable an Investment as it is a gesture of mercy. ... When General MacArthur rides up the streets of Manila some day, we hope not far off, he may have a mounted cavalry escort and if be does, three of the high-stepping members may be veterans of the. battle of Bataan. The First cavalry fought for months overseas as foot soldiers. A part of their Job happened to be the capture of the racetrack at Taclo-ban Taclo-ban on Leyte. Naturally every man cast envious eyes on some of the horses left there. Later the horses were rounded up, and lo and behold, among them were three which were Identified as having belonged to the 26th cavalry which had fought at Bataan. They were repatriated with acclaim and formed the nucleus of a mounted unit which has been doing excellent reconnaissance on the Island. So history repeats. In the Spanish-American war of 1898 dismounted U. S. cavalry were sent to the Phil-ippines.. Phil-ippines.. Later a few horses were obtained and they proved so valuable valu-able that the whole regiment was mounted. by Baukhage A Tokyo broadcast tells of the decline de-cline in Jap revenue from excises not the only government that has a yen for taxes. Another farm land-boom Is on. according to the secretary- of agriculture, agri-culture, like the one In the last war. Well, there is nothing that brightens up a room in the poorhouse like papering pa-pering It with mortgages. AMERICAN WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS Nazis Fall Back in Belgium As Yanks Stem Offensive Threat; Living Costs Show Small Gain Reteaaed by Weetern Newspaper Union. . (KUITOK S NOTEl Whea ealalaae ate Wtiltll Noweaaaer D !' aaalrate W k" ;i, uhjfffl r i (ti '-uXiiij tY Btir'tnr i "mi il " ii -nmniiind Lt.-Gen. Mark Clark, commander ef all Allied forces In Italy, polnta eat former German positions ea Gothic line to delegation of visiting congressmen. EUROPE: Bulge Shrinks With 28 of the U. S.' 44 divisions reported in action against the German Ger-man bulge in Belgium. Nazi Field Marshal Von Rundstedt's great winter win-ter blow appeared blunted, with field dispatches indicating that he was pulling his lines back. But four miles from the Meuse river and 23 miles from Sedan at the peak of their offensive, the German Ger-man lines shrank sharply as Lieut Gen. George Patton'a 3rd army s'i"it up from the Saar im attack (torn the south and Lieut. Gen. Courtney Hodges' 1st army recovered recov-ered its balance to slash in from the north. Von Rundstedt's withdrawal movement move-ment was favored by the rugged terrain, ter-rain, for, in surprising the 1st army on December 16, he chose the rough and hilly Ardennes countryside. As Von Rnndstedt tried to poll in his forces under the heavy pressure of the 3rd and 1st armies, he sent ent swarms of Nail planes to blast at airdrome air-drome behind the Unee In an attempt to prevent the superior Allied air arm from raking his moving colamna.1 Even so, looming V. 8. fighter-bombers and bombers ripped op enemy armor and trucks. With U. S. pressure on the Saar relieved by the switch of Lieut Gen. Patton's forces, the Germans went on the offensive against Lieut. Gen. Alexander Patch's 7th army on the southwestern end of the front, scoring scor-ing small gains against stiff Yank resistance. Ruin of a City As both sides disregarded a plea from Pope Pius XII to withdraw from the city and spare residents the horror of bombardment house-to-house fighting reduced the once beautiful Hungarian capital of Budapest Buda-pest to a shambles, with fanatical Axis troops resisting Russ advances. Bndapest's streets reverberated reverberat-ed with gunfire, as self-propelled artillery and tanks rumbled down thoroughfares, swung sharply around corners, and orned point-blank fire en opposing oppos-ing salts, feharssheotlng from cellars. Axis troops linked themselves them-selves sp ky breaking holes through adjoining walls. Hitler Talks Declaring ". . . In this war the German people cannot be brought to their knees by strength of arms nor will there again be a 9th of November, No-vember, 1918 ..." a subdued but defiant Adolf Hitler told a suffering Reich on New Year's day that the end of the war will not come be fore 1946, unless by a Nazi victory. Said the fuehrer: ". . . Except for the Jews, nobody in the Allied camp knows for what he is fighting. But the aims for which we are fighting are clear to all of us. It is the survival sur-vival of the German people, it is our fatherland, it is our 2.000 year culture, cul-ture, it is the children and grandchildren grand-children of our people . . ." Referring to the attempt on his life last summer, Hitler said: ". . . The 20th of July brought about at the fronts sad military consequences . . . Nevertheless the day has become a turning point in Germany's destiny because the attempt to annihilate the German people's social state by a plot hatched at the most bitter struggle has failed . and I am in a position to assure you that this was the last attempt of its kind . . ." 'Forgotten Front' With all attention focused on the great battles being fought .In, w$st;, "ern 'Europe. Italyl. ft "'norms'.' Is the 'forgotten front" of the present world war. Despite the overshadowing of the Italian sector, it is still one of the most bitterest of the w ar. with Allied gains measured in yards and at a heavy cost of n en .n.nnsl a fanatical fanat-ical foe cleverly d. u-to he mountainous moun-tainous terrain, nnd Riving ground only after painful .ipm n.n hes to his position. FORK CITIZEN, AMERICAN la UeM eelemna. tker aa act aeeeaaarlly of thU aeweeaeer.i FOOD STOCKS: At Pre-War Levels Although not as high as in similar periods since 1942, food stocks through the first thrte months of 1943 should be sufficient to provide civilians with supplies equal to the prewar levels, the U. S. department depart-ment of agriculture reported. Potatoes and butter supplies will be below prewar figures, the USDA said, with -meat, lard and fresh vegetables about average, while stocks of fluid whole milk, non-fat dairy products, eggs, fish, margarine, marga-rine, cereals, dry peas and citrus fruits should assure high consumption. consump-tion. Although at prewar levels, supplies sup-plies of meat during the first three months of 1945 will be substantially below corresponding wartime periods, pe-riods, USDA said, with low inventories, inven-tories, declining production and military requirements cutting into stocks. LIVING COSTS: Small Gain Effectiveness of the nation's price control In combatting inflation la re- -t i,v1 (WtXri In th fart that although national na-tional income rose to 135 billion dollars dol-lars in 1944 and there was a sharp reduction in the stocks of con-sumers con-sumers goods prices only increased 2 per cent. Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins Per-kins declared. Because of sub francos Perkins stantial boosts in 1941 and 1942, however, when a rising ris-ing business activity brought up the general level of depression prices, retail costs have Increased 28 per cent since the outbreak of war, Miss Perkins said. "Even though the price rise is less than half as great as during the First World war," Miss Perkins stated, "an advance of nearly SO per cent is dangerous. The rise in cost to families with very low Incomes In-comes has been greater ... because be-cause of the disappearance of low-priced low-priced merchandise and because of the rise in food prices. ..." PACIFIC: U. S. Goals Even as U, S. aerial forces stepped up their attacks on enemy shipping and installations in the Philippine islands preparatory to the pursuit of the American offensive offen-sive in thatvisrst great bastion guarding the Asiatic .mainland, Adm. Chester W. Nimitx told a Pearl Harbor press conference that it would be neressary to occupy Japan to win the war. "I think that the only safe plan is to assume we must invade their homeland and line up our forces accordingly," ac-cordingly," the admiral said. With American advances In the Pacific, Admiral Nimitz indicated, Jap war industry was faced with strangulation through increased attack at-tack on its supply lines bearing raw materials from southern Asiatic conquests and through bombardment bombard-ment of factory areas. To step up juch bombardments. Admiral Nimitz repeated that one of the major U. S. objectives was a landing cm the Chinese coast to establish air bases for bitting the enemy's homeland. MISCELLANY Again, shipbuilding leads all heavy industry in .the earnings of its workers. The prevailing average hourly wage rate In the Industry ber ing abmt $1 33, while weekly earnings earn-ings in a recent month were $63 68 on an average work week of 47.6 hours. Payrolls for the year in private pri-vate shipyards will approximate $4.000.0iio.K)0 shared by workers in almost every state. FORK, UTAH aaaaaaaaaaaaa"aaaaaaaaaaaaBaaaaaaaaaaa""0"BBB""B""",B"aaB - U.S. SPENDING: At Peak With the gov-rnment spending 8 billion dollars on the war alone, total to-tal U. S. expenditures reached 97 billion dollars in 1944 to establish an all-tyme record, preliminary Agues Ag-ues showed. This compared with the outlay of less than 10 billion dollars In 1939. , In addition to spending more than at any other time in the nation's history, the government also collected collect-ed more at 49 billion dollars and borrowed more at 62 billion dollars. For the first time, three war loan drives were held in one year. Deducting the amount collected from that spent, the government wound up the year with a deficit of 52 billion dollars, to bring the total national debt up to 232 billion dollars. The 1944 figure of 52 billion bil-lion dollars, however, was about H4 billion dollars less than the deficit in 1943. TRAIN WRECK: 48 Killed Slowed up by a freight train stalled by mechanical trouble, the Southern Pacific railroad's Pacific Limited with 300 persons aboard was creeping through the early morning over the Salt Lake marshes near Ogden, Utah, when a 20-car mail and express train roaring behind crashed into its rear, throwing coaches along the 40-foot causeway like Jumbled links in a chain. Late counts showed 48 persons killed and 81 injured as rescue workers work-ers cut through the twisted wreckage wreck-age to remove the victims, many of Injured soldier lifted from trala wreck. whom were service personnel en route to duty after spending holiday furloughs. Because of the shallow marshlands marsh-lands below the causeway, automobiles automo-biles could not be driven to the scene, complicating rescue operations, opera-tions, and injured were removed by train for treatment NAZI AGENTS: Seized by FBI Trained In the use of high explosives, ex-plosives, photography and radio operation op-eration in Germany and Holland, two Nazi saboteurs were nailed by FBI agents in the New York district dis-trict before being able to do any damage. Landed by submarine off the coast of Maine with $60,000 in U. S. currency, forged birth and draft certificates cer-tificates and secret inks, the two saboteurs were making the rounds of New York night spots in an effort to pick up information to radio to Germany at the time they were nabbed. According to the FBI, one of the saboteurs was a former U. S. navy seaman named William Curtis Cole-paugh, Cole-paugh, alias William C. Caldwell, who was discharged from service early in 1943 because of suspicions he held pro-German sympathies. Arrest of the two saboteurs brought to ten the number captured by FBI agents after landings from submarines, six having been caught previously after alighting in Florida, Flori-da, with six of them subsequently executed. MANPOWER BARREL: To Scrape Bottom Uncle Sam will have to scrape the bottom of the barrel for manpower to meet production and military requirements re-quirements in 1945, War Mobilization Mobiliza-tion Director James F. Byrnes told a New Year's press conference, declaring de-claring that Selective Service "work-or-flght" orders, employment ceilings ceil-ings and restrictions on civilian output out-put may not be sufficient to meet all labor needs. - With the army increasing its call for replacements and thus further draining the manpower pool. Byrnes said the drafting of the nation's 4,000,000 4-F's for industry or non-combat non-combat military duty would help maintain war production and release more active servicemen for fighting. fight-ing. -Because the largest remaining source of young men is in agriculture, agricul-ture, he said, the basis for farm deferments de-ferments may have to be reviewed. Terming government seizure inadequate, in-adequate, Byrnes asked for g strengthening of the War Labor board's authority to enforce its decisions deci-sions on both capital and labor, so as to prevent the loss of production through work disturbances. MEDICAL MARVEL Weighing but IH pounds at birth tiny .Elisabeth Ann- Revmn h f.' - MUI 1 San Diego, Calif., has grown to 3 pounds. ounces within 65 days in one of the strangest cases in medical medi-cal annals. Confined to an lncubatnr u,i physicians Intend to keep her until i.e uuuus, uuie Eliza beth has been relatively tri able to kick about freely from birth inougn oniy one out of a 100 babies a little over her weight have chance of living at delK, . v" 1 3 0- 'Nothing Can Stop the Army Air Force f With B-Z9s ranging ever Tokye si-most si-most dally it's tough for the imagination to conceive that three years ago our air forces' only asset as-set was the moxle of its men. . . . Bataan was saved at least once by the wizardry of our air force personnel per-sonnel who had plenty of ingenuity as well as courage. . . . Enemy ships were trying to land troops on the shore one night. Though there were no bombers with which to stop them, our airmen weren't fazed. . . . Mechanics rigged up three pursuit pur-suit ships with a device whereby two 300-pound bombs could be attached to the wings and released by pull-tog pull-tog a wire. ... The three ships made three trips that night and bombed and strafed the Jap boats, preventing the troops-from landing. . . . What made their feat of stalling stall-ing the Japs and gaining time for us even more of a miracle was that most of the pilots had never before flown at night! The newspapers not long ago carried car-ried a story telling how there were no trees In the far Aleutians and that pilots had brought In a single tree, planted it and labelled it "Umnak National Forest." What the news story failed to mention men-tion was why the tree had been flown In for the exclusive use of a flier's' pet dog. A flyer who had been stationed on an island for too many months developed de-veloped a crush on a half-native girl, who looked very beautiful after months In the South Pacific. . . . In his barracki one day he was getting poetic about the girl when his buddy, thumbing through a movie magazine, suddenly turned to a photo of Betty Grable in a bath ing suit . . . "How's this?" ex citedly asked the buddy, holding up the picture. - - The pilot took a brief look and snorted, "White trash!" On a recent bomber mission ever Germany the flight ran Into serious opposition from both fighters and flak, and a B-17 waa hit. A 20-mm. (hell struck the top turret, and the gunner fell to the floor Covered with blood. ... A colonel whe had eeme along as an observer rushed back to give first aid and, seeing see-ing the lad's rigid form, thought he was either dead er dying. ... He was about te administer adminis-ter a hypodermic when the gunner gun-ner opened his eyes. . . . The colonel bent ever him, putting his ear close te the lad's lips, expecting some last feeble words. . . . "Colonel," was the gunner's comment, "I'm beginning begin-ning te think there Isn't much future In this racket." Despite popular misconception, boys of the AAF aren't as pin-up-happy ss people think. . . . This verse was penned several months ago by s B-17 radio operator-gunner who failed to return from a mission mis-sion over Italy: "Oh, Hedy Lamarr is a beautiful gaL . . . And Madeleine Made-leine Carroll is, too. . . . But you'D find, if you query, a different theory. . . . Amongst any bomber crew. . . . For the loveliest thing of which one could sing. . . . (This side of the Heavenly Gates). ... Is no blonde or brunette of the Hollywood set .v; But an escort of P-38s." Pet story ef Gen. Hap Arnold, chief of the AAF, concerns the Wright brothers, who had repeatedly repeated-ly tried to fly a heavier-than-air craft Finally, one December day. at Kitty Hawk, N. C. they did what no man had ever done before. They flew! . . . Elated, they wired their sister, Katherine: "We have actually actual-ly flown 120 feet. Will be home for Christmas" . . . Katherine ran down the street and breathlessly handed the telegram the news scoop of the century-to the city editor of the local lo-cal paper. He read it carefully and smiled: "Well, well! How nice the boys will be home for Christmas!" A fighter pilot (veteran ef the famed Flying Tigers) took en half a dozen Jap planes la a dogfight and downed two. Then his ammunition ran out. Ramming his plane Into a third he balled oat and managed te land safely near the wreck. Removing Re-moving the one undamaged ma chlne gun from the debris he rsrrled It to his base where he promptly reported to bis commander, Gen. Claire Chen-nault: Chen-nault: "Sir, may I have another airplane for my machine gunt" Owing V raid w fienwelnfurs . everal months ago one ,.,0fr 0Ur bombers. "BatUV Bobble," was hit and two of her engines were knocked out . . . For 500 miles the bomber hedge-hopped over trees, roof tops and enemy pillboxes. . . . All the time the plan, limped long her crew kept praying the two smoking engines wouldn't blow up .nH Zh'n flnaIly rch' home and the perspiring Pilt climbed out of the ship, his comment was, "We a chapel out of that airplane CLASSIC ' " M l ! AGENTS wane r mat Ha, tiTfm elud.i auch scare, laundry aop. Llbri2 L ""Mi Edwards'lfojf COMI IDWIUd""! POULTRY WHITE LEGHd your p uur. ,h I pur. top rankfnj 7nI?S' lathorn chick, h.'C?" S to 6 years old Str ai.k? let chick. S28 .oo cijSSS.aii iw. volume discount w." 0AHAMHTr,,rRTrriIJ OFFICE EQUjpP Office Furniture, me. tot Machine! Safe, cIaP tT LAKE DESsfxct SS Waat Breaaaai. SaH tSa Used Cars Trail; E AlllM Rallr TV,,:. T-J -4 Messa 2 rr a V L 1 V The destruction nf wires by the Nazis retreat nKc auu me Liow i not interfere with th. tions of the Dtirsuin AmJ Colliers. They were tamJ a new cable that, altta larger than a pencil, carriai telephone and four tekptf cuits, is laid alongside thta fast as the troops advanct) This cable transmit! V bled" messages which, ii cepted without a special jc I ri Ibei I' s sound to the enemy fit 1 ries of meaningless sqssir in squeals, Uw-latSWk AM retiove Are Ones las Of CearHaaHwl ) For eonstipatloo tab lat Bemedy (NE Tablets). 0k chemicals, no minerals, ainV rivativi. NE Tablets ad different fW; a combination of 10 lejfti credienta formulated mlr t ago. UBooated or eudassi action is dependable, faVnej L Sue. Get a 2 Coniitn rv itioo: Tiktoatraifat: a Nf TO-NIGHT, TOMOttOM AIl-VEGETAElf IT C2 xned fail 'fV 0.2 WORD SLCr POtl ACID mwesz wit ewt lot Beware Co fee JkM AffA That HaifJ Creomulsion reUenj t& wuseltgoeirighttotMas trouble to help germ laden phfegm,"1 to soothe and heal named bronchial braneg. Tell your bottle of CreomuWoBW, derstandlng you mia' mnckly allays the eoutJi to have your money f, CREOMUL forOiugni.ChestCeWj las May Wars T7 f Kidney A- llooW.il' aad ether tap"""' J Yea ea eosw ( headehM'ny Whiaaeerbta7. 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