Show news BENI THE by PAUL MALLON LON released by western newspaper ne union 1 WHAT AMERICA FACES IN YEAR AHEAD washington the official headlines have cheered us with almost daily victories through 1943 but any sober contemplation of 1944 must make us look behind them at the reality of our war effort in italy the pacific islands and new guinea we have been engaged in costly brave but token scale fighting A very small fraction 0 of our massive army has even now a month more than two years after the war started seen the enemy there have been official estimates that possibly about a third of our preparing army will be overseas by new years day official pronouncements di disclose 1 that we had four divisions in action in tunisia five in sicily and four or five in italy about to men fighting at a time about half these divisions have carried on through so that only half of them may be assumed to be additional troops these considerations would furnish arf an estimate that a little over men had yet seen action on this front on guadalcanal Guadal canal and in the solomons i three different divisions have been mentioned in new guinea elements of two more have been officially fici ally declared A division is supposed to have been involved at attu aatu thus in the pacific the estimate could be safely placed at around 80 in action plus the regulars who fought for the philippines certainly few more than troops one tenth of the land force supposed to be overseas now and only an infinitesimal wi 2 per cent of the army we have been raising and training to beat the axis have yet been turned upon the enemy this does not mean their fighting has not been great and historic valor and greatness in combat do not rest on numbers nor will any future action of this war be more important than the work they had to do the only point of this cold truth is we are still in the preparatory phase of this war now more than two years after its start REASONS FOR forgetting that none of us has fully appreciated these facts however is due to several natural reasons in the first place collapse of the german war machine was anticipated because of a shortage of oil and raw materials and this proved unjustified secondly the air corps expected bombi bombings rip of german cities to bring a possible capitulation due to the same reasons and this may c ome come any day but it has not come yet furthermore Further mori it was wise and ne necessary c for us to make the nazis continue to believe new invasions of europe were imminent in order to keep as many germans as possible away from the russian front finally the profound extent or of nazi stubbornness in continued fruitless resistance to the russians has been truly amazing only a na nation ti on which wants suicide dei could continue to lo 10 face what germany faces with the new year the end of the war in E europe drope is is surely to be expected this coming year var fuller use of our great power is practically promised officially 4 not on far scattered atolls but in concentrated power places where the blows are to be launched have almost officially been bugge suggested sted disappointments cannot continue to de delay laythe the inevitable yet if we continue only to plod along remote rem te sand island by island in the pacific and mountain by mountain in italy aw w th h no more than men in action on land anyone can see this war could last interminably the ong long hard years originally forecast my best guess is germany will yet crack and quickly that the war in europe will certainly end in the first six months of 1944 probably th the a first carter quarter and that japan will last less than a year longer g y GETTING ELECTED AND TAX VOTING A young lawyer friend of mine in the southwest decided to enter politics as a career he started the right richt way at the bottom botto m getting himself elected to a county board of supervisor i at ron once however he raised the tax ta x levy on all real estate in the he county caused an increase in 1 the validations visions and just about doubled ahe the tax bill on all the people I 1 thought nought that would nip his political poli Ucal career carder practically in embryo but S he ran for the state and was elected almost unanimously both he and I 1 found that not a single taxpayer resented or kemem hered his permanent doubling ot if their hear 6 cost of living in his commini ty y but a small group of individuals whose lands were benefited by building a sewer through their prop erty thereby increasing its value and certain farmers who obtained county roads through their prop property clearly remembered his work in their interests tote rests development of the county I 1 suppose they would call it and d they whooped up P almost 1 unanimous sentiment for him his actions paid daid off |